FELLSMERE — The Fellsmere City Council isn’t expecting a large increase in property values, nor is it planning to raise taxes. Instead, the Council appears ready to stay the course and continue on its current track ahead of its budget workshop.
Property values in Fellsmere increased by not quite 2 percent last year. What Fellsmere can expect to see this year remains uncertain.
“I don’t think we need a tax increase,” Mayor Susan Adams said during the Council’s visioning and prioritizing discussion Thursday night. “If we give it enough time, it’ll (property values) come back.”
Vice Mayor Joel Tyson agreed, noting that Fellsmere has long been ahead of other cities in its decisions and actions.
“Fellsmere is setting the tone,” he said, explaining it was the first in the area to implement a stormwater utility fee, which is now under consideration by other municipalities. “I think we’re right on track…we don’t wait for it to be a crisis.”
The Council wants to continue to build on its success from over the last year, encouraging the development of a research campus at the Florida Organic Aquaculture site, preserving its historical structures, and supporting its police and public works departments by supplementing their respective staff.
A new officer’s position was funded in part last year through a COPS grant. City Manager Jason Nunemaker told the Council that, in the event the City doesn’t receive the grant again this year, the City would find a way to cover the difference.
Other issues the Council said they’d like to address over the next fiscal year included adding more lighting to various streets and enforcing the City’s codes.
“FPL is always happy to put in a light and send us a bill,” Nunemaker said, responding to the request for more street lights. He encouraged Council to think about what streets and what areas they’d like to have street lights and prioritize the list.
Adams suggested the Council consider the possibility of hiring an employee – even if just part-time – to help with code enforcement.
“I know it’s not popular,” she said, but added that it might be necessary if the City wants to develop and grow as it has envisioned.
Nunemaker concurred, noting that as Community Development Director Mark Mathes becomes more involved in higher level administration and planning he will have less time to deal with code enforcement complaints.
Nunemaker recommended that the Council prioritize the codes they most want to have enforced. Any staffing would be funded through the City’s general fund, Nunemaker said, explaining that the Community Development Department’s budget would not be able to support it.
“This is like our Christmas list,” Adams said to her fellow Council members, adding that even if their items can’t be funded, they should still put it on the list and see what can, in fact, be done.
The Fellsmere Council will meet again in July after the property valuations come in from the County Property Appraiser’s Office and the City finds out what is going to happen to its insurance rates – the two big “X factors,” Nunemaker said.