2021 Apopka City Council Budget Workshops: Smaller departments keep proposed costs close to last year

By Ava Niemeyer, Interning Correspondent with The Apopka Voice

The smaller departments at the City of Apopka have all shared their expectations for growth and presented their budgets for FY-2022. And although there were minor changes to each department's budgets, in many instances, their figures looked a lot like last year.

IT

The IT department plays an important role in overseeing the installation and maintenance of computer network systems within the City's departments. Robert Hippler, the Information Technology Director, presented for the IT department. Their 2021 budget was $2.8 million, and they proposed $3.1 million for FY-2022 - the biggest raises coming from overtime and intangibles.

Keeping an overall good cost control, the IT department’s percent change was only 8.09%.

City Administration

The City Administration Department has the responsibility of providing management support around the office and directing, planning, and coordinating activities that help the organization run efficiently.

Apopka City Administrator Edward Bass stated that he has not changed much of the budget from last year except for training, expecting a need for it throughout the department’s process of growth in the coming year.

The total cost for the 2021 budget was $404,069 and they proposed $397,948, making the administration department's total percent change -1.51%.

Finance

Finance Director Gladymir Ortega hopes to enhance the efficiency of her department in FY-2022, which provides accurate and timely financial information to the city departments, management, and the City Council.

Ortega was able to decrease the budget by $14,291, the major change due to professional services. Going from $163,185 to $45,185, the professional services budget was decreased by $118,000.

City Attorney

With all other budgets in the department either slightly decreased or staying the same, City Attorney Michael Rodriguez explained one increase to the City Attorney Department.

“After confirming with the clerks’ office, I found that we have to pay the full filing fee that banks pay for mortgage foreclosures," said Rodriguez. "It’s $900 per case to file a foreclosure action, plus an extra fee for each summons.”

This being the one significant cost, there is a 5% increase in the overall budget from last year to this year. $2,113,485 was the 2021 total cost budget and $2,220,372 the proposal for FY-2022, the percent change total cost at 5.06%.

City Clerk

City Clerk Susan Bone explained the two major increases in her budget. The projected costs for the 2022 election are causing an increase in contractual services. The second is printing services - codification of the ordinances.

Bone also requested a full-time records clerk.

Commissioner Diane Velazquez asked if this is something Bone believes is necessary.

“We would like to consider it because it’s gotten busier," said Bone. "The lien searches have grown, were filling up the cemetery and we have a lot of things we could do more efficiently if we have more help.”