09/18/2017 - Budget CLEARWATER DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT BOARD
SECOND AND FINAL MILLAGE AND BUDGET HEARING
September 18, 2017– 5:30 PM – City Hall –2nd Floor, Room 222
Members Present: Paris Morfopoulos Chairman
Dennis Bosi Vice-Chairman
Tony Starova Member
Stu Sjouwerman Member
Also Present: Bill Jonson Ex-Officio/Councilmember
Seth Taylor CRA Director
Anne Fogarty France Board Administrator
Absent: Thomas Wright Member
1. Chairman Morfopoulos called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. asking the board and
Ex-Officio members to introduce themselves.
2. Citizens Comments--Items not on the agenda—CRA Director Seth Taylor announced that
Tampa Bay Business Journal reported on the top 100 fastest growing Florida companies and
Downtown Clearwater's KnowBe4 was #5 and Stratus Video was #6. He congratulated
Member Sjouwerman on this exciting recognition.
3. Second Public Millage Hearing—Resolution 02-17. In accordance with Chapter 200 of the
Florida Statutes, which defines requirements for the Determination of Millage and the rules
governing Truth in Millage (TRIM) compliance, the DDB must hold two public hearings to
adopt a final millage rate for the new fiscal year. The adoption of this resolution to establish
the millage rate and the related budget resolution are an integral part of fulfilling these
requirements. The DDB set a tentative millage rate of 0.9700 mil on August 2, 2017, which is
the rate that appeared on the TRIM bill notices mailed to taxpayers in August.
Resolution 02-17 is presented in order to adopt the millage rate of 0.9700 mils to support the
operating budget for the 2017/18 fiscal year. Member Sjouwerman read the resolution into the
record.
Member Sjouwerman moved to adopt Millage Resolution 02-17 on second and final
reading. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was:
"Ayes": Member Morfopoulos, Member Bosi, Member Starova, and Member
Sjouwerman.
"Nays": None.
Motion carried.
4. Second Public Budget Hearing—Resolution 03-17— Chairman Morfopoulos advised that In
accordance with Chapter 200 of the Florida Statutes and the rules governing Truth in Millage
(TRIM) compliance, the DDB must hold two public hearings to adopt the budget. The adoption
of this resolution adopting the 2017/18 millage rate and budget are an integral part of fulfilling
these requirements. On June 7, 2017, the DDB approved a Preliminary Budget that outlined
proposed estimates of revenues and expenditures for the 2017/18 fiscal year. The preliminary
Downtown Development Board Meeting—September 18, 2017 1
budget was also discussed at the August 2, 2017, DDB meeting. Member Starova read the
resolution into the record.
Member Bosi moved to adopt Budget Resolution 03-17 on second and final reading.
The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was:
"Ayes": Member Morfopoulos, Member Bosi, Member Starova, and Member
Sjouwerman.
"Nays": None.
Motion carried.
5. Final Comments
Member Starova hoped that everyone was okay after the storm. He thanked the Church of
Scientology for all they did to help Downtown Clearwater weather the storm.
Member Sjouwerman was interested in a post mortem after Hurricane Irma. He thought there should
be a plan for office buildings to assist them in such emergency situations. He also thanked the city for
their pressure on Duke Energy for the office buildings.
Chairman Morfopoulos echoed the thanks to the Church of Scientology for their assistance.
Ex-officio Councilmember Jonson advised that he had called Lisa Mansell of the Church of
Scientology to thank her.
Mr. Taylor advised that they will be better prepared for next year.
6. The meeting was adjourned at 5:47 p.m.
Downtown Development Board Meeting—September 18, 2017 2