Editor's Note: This is the third in a five-part series about Apopka Mayor-Elect Bryan Nelson entitled "The First 100 Days". The series will outline the path Nelson will take in his first 100 days in office. What are his priorities? How will he lead Apopka? What will the budget look like under a Nelson administration? How will he handle the City staff and who will his department heads be?
To read part one of the series, go here.
To read part two of the series, go here.
There are a lot of theories swirling around as to why Orange County Commissioner Bryan Nelson won the 2018 Apopka Mayoral Election so soundly. Many point to his promise to turn off the red light cameras. Others believe it was his vow to cut the mayor's salary in half. But perhaps the most critical issue that Nelson focused on in this election cycle was the fiscal budget and the general fund reserves.
Apopka Mayor-Elect Bryan Nelson
At every opportunity, Nelson pounded home the idea that the Kilsheimer administration was mismanaging the budget and reserves and that under Nelson's guidance, the City would return to fiscal responsibility.
And with 4,103 votes and 63.4% of the electorate voting for him, Apopka seemed to share his assertion, and hand him a mandate-style victory. But tied to that mandate may be a call for reform on spending and saving taxpayer money.
It's all about the budget.
But how can he accomplish this? How will Nelson recoup the lost revenue when the red light cameras are turned off? How will he increase general fund reserves? What about the unexpected expenses of water meters, and a replacement fire truck? How can the 2017-18 fiscal budget absorb all of these blows and still balance?
Although Nelson isn't sure what the 2017-18 fiscal budget will look like yet, he sees the budget as a long-term project.
"It won't be all in the first year," Nelson said. "The first year we're just trying to make things balance. The numbers don't add up. I don't know exactly what will happen until we see the financials. We haven't seen any since September 2017."
It also won't be by raising taxes.
"There was $6 million taken out of reserves to balance the budget this fiscal year," he said. "So if you apply that to the ad-valorem that would be a 50% tax increase. So obviously we're not going to do that. We are absolutely not going to do that."
An ad valorem tax is based on the assessed value of an item such as real estate or personal property. The most common ad valorem taxes are property taxes levied on real estate; however, ad valorem taxes may extend to a number of tax applications, such as import duty taxes on goods from abroad. In Apopka, ad-valorem refers to property taxes and millage rates, which is a tax Nelson isn't going to raise in order to reconcile the budget. Spending cuts, however, may well be the direction he takes initially.
"I don't think employees have been as frugal with taxpayer dollars as they should have been," said Nelson. "So we're going to have a real sit down with everybody and say 'Listen, this isn't your money it's the taxpayer's money. You need to spend it like it's your mom and dad's money.' We've got to have a real clear understanding on that."
But after the sit-down, Nelson has an idea to lower costs within each department through employee bonuses or time off work.
"Obviously, we're going to be looking for savings. This will take Council approval, but I'd like to somehow incentivize employees to come up with better and less expensive ways to do their jobs, and then incentivize them for it. Whether it's a cash bonus or an extra day off, I want to reward them for their cost-saving ideas."
It may seem difficult to go backward on spending or lowering taxes, but Nelson references a precedent not so far in Apopka's past.
"You only have to go back four years when we were making it on the lower ad valorem taxes... So obviously we can do it. You just have to separate the needs from the wants. We're going to take care of the needs. We're going to take care of first responders and we're going to take care of our public works... which to me are the needs. Those are the two most critical pieces of the city budget... our streets, water, sewer, fire, and police."
The first step Nelson will take in budget reform is an exercise he learned while in the Florida Legislature.
"I will ask our department heads to create a budget with zero increase, then a budget that's 5% less and then 10% less. So you prioritize their spending for them. In the legislature, we would ask them to give us a good argument as to why they need what they say they need. We find savings. For instance, we shouldn't be spending money on overtime until we get this thing under control. You have to look at every line item. If we can't afford something, let's figure out a way to get by without it."
For Thursday: In part four of "The First 100 Days", we return to the budget that will shape the Nelson administration. How will he change the workshops? What will he cut? How will he handle events and discretionary spending?
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