INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Board of County Commissioners has a lot on its plate Thursday and not much time to consider it. Except for the Emergency Services District budget, which has been allocated more time to allow for presentations from both the County and the firefighters, and the consitutional officers, which have about nine minutes each on the schedule, other County departments are scheduled to get from 1 minute to 2 1/2minutes each if there are no public or staff comments. Non-departmental agencies will be alotted an average of 5 minutes each.An additional half-day of workshops is booked for Friday, but those items, which include enterprise funds, miscellaneous funds and capital projects, will be wrapped up Thursday if there is time. The total recommended County budget is $301,601,307, which would result in a millage rate for he general fund of 3.0892, a decrease from the 2009-2010 rollback millage rate of 3.0689. On top of that, residents pay separate millage rates to the Municipal Services Taxing Unit fund, the Emergency Services District, the Land Acquisition Bond and the Land Acquisition 2004.The owner of a home in the unincorporated County valued at $200,000 with a $50,000 homestead exemption would pay $1.28 less in taxes next year than in 2008-2009. That person’s property taxes to the County would be $941.65 under the proposed rate, which does not include taxes imposed by the School District of Indian River County, other municipalities or special taxing districts.The following schedule is tentative, as it does not take into account time for public comment, but comment will be allowed after the budget for each department, fund or agency is read into the record.Thursday, July 23 9 a.m. – General overview by Joe Baird, County Administrator9:15 to 9:45 a.m. – General fund (most County departments)9:45 to 10:15 a.m. – Municipal Services Taxing Unit10:15 to 10:30 a.m. – Transportation fund10:30 a.m. – Break10:45 a.m. – Emergency Services District, Aggregate Millage and Environmentally Sensitive Land Acquisition bond.11:15 to 11:30 a.m. – Street lighting districts11:30 to noon – Internal service funds and other Municipal Service Benefit UnitsNoon – Lunch break1:30 p.m. – Solid Waste Disposal District Public Hearing1:35 – Constitutional officers (Clerk of the Court, Tax Collector, Property Appraiser, Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections and Value Adjustment board.2:30 p.m. – Non-departmental state agencies, economic development, children’s services, Sebastian and Fellsmere community redevelopment areas, “Choose Life” license plate program, quasi-nonprofit organizations, non-profit organizations, Dori Slosberg driver education safety act.5 p.m. – AdjournThe workshops will take place in the County Commission chambers in Building A of the Indian River County Administration Building, 1801 27th Street, Vero Beach.
