Robyn Still, member of Marathon City Council, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been going on in the city.
The city council will meet tonight for the final budget hearing.
Still said, “I think we’ve met every week this month. We’ve had a regular meeting. We’ve had our initial budget hearing, then our first public hearing, and tonight’s our second public hearing, and tonight should be the night that we adopt our budget for next year. I don’t expect there to be anything other than that. But then again, you don’t know until you get there, but I personally expect we’re going to adopt it and move forward into our next budget cycle. It should be pretty quick. And something notable about this budget cycle, as well as the last three, is if it’s adopted tonight, we will meet rollback, and that’s for three years in a row, and that’s also while increasing services. So that is amazing. That’s something to be proud of. Also, we go into it with at least 12 months of reserves, which says a lot, too. We have other municipalities that have less than that. I think there’s one that has just over 90 days. We have 12 months. So I think we’ve been pretty fiscally responsible to make sure the city is going to be in good shape if we have an emergency or have an event, and it’s really important. A lot of people don’t put a lot of value in at least 12 months of reserve. But you don’t know what’s going to happen if we have an event. Not to say a bad word, hurricane, but if we have something like that, those 12 months in reserve are extremely important to keep our city running until you can get reimbursed. Right now, with the way things are in the world and everywhere else, you don’t know where you’re going to stand with some of that reimbursement. So you need to make sure that you are financially sound and healthy so you can keep level of service to your residents.”
How much of a factor was that uncertainty this year in trying to come up with a budget?
Still said, “For me, it was pretty important. You need to think about all of that stuff, because you need to plan in terms of, are you self sufficient? And if you don’t get these funds, how are you going to continue those level of services? So in thinking about the budget, that was on my mind, and I didn’t really talk a lot in the budget hearings, because some of the other council members covered what I was going to talk about, and there’s no point in me saying it again, because they covered it, and we still cut things out of the budget and kind of trimmed it down to get to where we are. I don’t know if there’ll be more trimming tonight or not. It kind of remains to be seen, but I do expect that we’re going to move forward with a good, sound budget.”
Is there public input still at this stage of the game?
Still said, “Absolutely, the public’s allowed to comment. In fact, we listened to public comment before we had our discussions last meeting, and I would hope that’s what happens tonight. I think that’s important. So I mean, there still could be some things going on tonight. If anybody wants to read 70 something pages worth of budget, you can go to the city’s website. You can pull that up. It’s public record. You can get a copy of every page that I have, including those two resolutions, so you can see exactly what each department is budgeted and where your tax dollars are going to be going in the upcoming year. So I just urge everybody to get a copy of that. It is on the website. You can print it off if you want to print it. I put it on my iPad. I have an app that I can put it on, and I can search for keywords if there’s something in particular I’m looking for. So there are a lot of different ways that you can grab a hold of it and take a look at it.”
How is the Tourist Development Council faring with budget uncertainties?
Still, a member of the TDC, said, “We have a great CEO, Kara Franker. She’s doing an amazing job. I think we’re pretty resilient, and I think we’re doing good. People are still coming, people are still visiting. Obviously, we have a slow season right now, but that is normal for us. But I think going into season, we’re looking okay.”
If the state does away with property taxes, that could have a huge impact.
Still said, “That’s a scary thing for me. I do believe, I could be wrong in the percentage, but I think 47% of our county budget goes to public safety. That might not be the exact number, but it is huge. If you cut property taxes, how are you funding that? If something’s happening at your house, if somebody’s gotten hurt, or if somebody’s breaking in your house, you call 911, you’re going to want them to come. How is that going to be funded if those property taxes are cut?”
Marathon Community Theater will present Rocky Horror Picture Show that starts Thursday.
Still said, “If you’ve got not gotten your tickets, get them. One thing I’m really looking forward to, the city of Marathon has started Movies in the Park again at Community Park. I’ve not been yet. My kids are big, so they don’t like the Disney movies anymore. I can’t convince them to go with me, but Polar Express is coming November 15, and I don’t think anybody’s too old for that movie. That’s great. So I’m looking forward to that, and to date me and age me, Jaws. I remember the movie Jaws, and if you were a fan, the Lagoon at Grassy Key is having a float in next month where you can go watch Jaws. So you can go online to the city’s website, our Facebook page, and find the dates and information on that. But I think that’d be super cool. Let’s go float in, sit on the water and watch Jaws. Community Park has a community yard sale on October 4, there’s still time to get a table.”