The following are comments provided by Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin during the Special Budget Workshop on August 30, 2022.
President Ronald Reagan once said:
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things; he’s the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”
I underscore President Reagan’s words, as I believe it is my responsibility to guide Palm Coast to do the greatest things for us now and for our future generations.
In my tenure as your Mayor, I have made it clear that I am not afraid to make gutsy and sometimes unpopular decisions so long as my research and experiences guide me to believe that these decisions are in the best interest of residents of our city. We are experiencing healthy growth across our community and in our home values this year and it’s time for City Council to make some very tough decisions and maintain the same millage rate as the past year to maintain the quality of life in our city while we invest in our future.
The City of Palm Coast’s annual budget process is complex and transparent, supported by the highest levels of oversight and due diligence. Smart, managed growth requires planning, personnel, and procedure alongside this process. Blending these together equips us for success.
A few months ago, each Council member determined their Strategic Action Plan priorities to meet the needs of our citizens. We each prepared a ‘shopping list’ of our most important items. Now, as we implement these priorities,
we cannot simply roll our shopping cart full of priority items to the checkout counter and suddenly ask to pay less!
These items are needed to address complex aging infrastructure with funds and resources so we can remain financially and structurally secure into the future. What happens when we have issues with Weirs? Pep tanks? Sidewalks? Water pipes? We can’t go backwards now and try to catch up later. It’s our responsibility to maintain our community in the same manner we’ve come to expect and deserve.
Still other items in our shopping carts need to suitably fund compensation and support for existing City employees and new positions required for our departments. Their duties are becoming more intricate and laborious with the addition of thousands of new residents across all neighborhoods and the expansion of our footprint westward. City staff has never let us down, whether it be massive growth or major health pandemic challenges. Council must never let them down as we progress prosperously to our future.
And with so many new Palm Coast residents, City communications becomes even more important than ever. Our public needs to know about important decisions being made on their behalf.
They need to TRUST what we do for them. Sound communication helps residents feel heard by their city government and elected officials.
When I think of Palm Coast, I think of a slice of paradise. Living in a safe, clean, and well-functioning city comes with a price. In our private lives, we pay for increased costs to repair our homes or fill our gas tanks. Your city must have the ability to do this, too – for nearly 94,000 residents and growing.
And where are we growing? We are on the doorstep of one of the most important opportunities in our history. Plans are in motion this year to unlock 40,000 acres of present and future city property, a few miles west of US1. Westward economic expansion is the solution to financial sustainability. It is a monumental step towards welcoming more industries, hospitals, research centers, pharmaceutical companies, and cloud-based businesses to the city. We reap the benefits of these new businesses as they will carry a fair share of the tax base. It is extremely important that these businesses trust that our city is sustainable and financially secure.
Families who live here now – parents and grandparents – are tasked with making sure their children will grow up living securely in Palm Coast – without the burdens of crumbling infrastructure or inefficient funds. Our leadership requires the courage to maintain our millage rate to benefit our next generations. Anything less is nothing more than a temporary band-aid that panders for attention. We all get one chance to do this right and that chance is now.
I therefore will vote in favor of City staff’s recommendation and approve a millage rate equal to last year’s value of 4.61 mils and I ask my colleagues on the City Council to stand alongside me. Smart managed growth is the long-term remedy providing financial sustainability for Palm Coast and reduced future tax increases to residents.
Together, let’s do something truly right for our citizens now and for generations to come in Palm Coast.
