PANAMA CITY BEACH — A 13 percent increase in revenues from a tax on purchased goods could help fund a wide range of expenditures in the coming fiscal year’s budget.
The City Council on Friday morning endorsed a budget proposal that calls for, among other things, a 2-percent cost-of-living increase in pay for city employees, three new police officers, one new fire department officer, a “Pier Park Loop Road” project and funding to help pay for a new municipal complex.
The public will have a chance to comment on the proposed budget in upcoming public hearings.
The business receipts tax is a 1-percent fee on goods purchased in the city limits. The city does not have a property tax.
Through August of this year, this tax brought in about $7.8 million, compared to $6.9 million through August of last year.
The business receipts tax revenues are the largest funding source for the general fund budget, with other funding sources being franchise fees, utility fees and others.
The council on Friday morning held a workshop where they discussed each department’s budget requests.
The law enforcement budget includes three new officers. The total budget for last fiscal year was $7.37 million. This year’s budget request is for about $10 million, but it includes $3.6 million to help fund a new police station that will be part of the municipal complex under construction in the coming year. The total project cost of the new police department building is $4.23 million, of which $2.5 million is being funded with impact fees.
“The three new police officers will get new cars and new equipment and it will be paid through impact fees,” said City Manager Mario Gisbert.
This fiscal year’s budget includes $410,000 in overtime, which is mainly used to patrol Spring Break. Gisbert said he has budgeted the funds to replace a K-9 dog that was recently killed by lightning, which will mean four K-9 dogs will be patrolling the beach this coming Spring Break.
Councilman Keith Curry asked Police Chief Drew Whitman how many police officers should be hired in the city based on established formulas.
Whitman explained that the formula doesn’t work well in Panama City Beach, because the city has 14,000 residents but police handle many calls from thousands of visitors.
“We only have 14,000 people, but you take an average week, or an average weekend, and it’s 100,000, so we should have a 100,” Whitman said.
Whitman said the department will have 57 police after the new hires.
He said Panama City Beach’s staff numbers are based on the number of calls for service, Whitman said.
“I try to be proactive,” Whitman said. “Once you go to reactive law enforcement, you’ve lost, and you don’t serve your community well. … That’s why I’m asking for one officer per shift. With North Pier Park coming on, there is more traffic of course, and more wrecks, more shoplifting, more crashes in the park.”
Councilwoman Josie Strange questioned whether it would be better to have more full-time officers than pay the $410,000 budgeted in overtime, so some of the longer-tenured officers could take vacations during the busy times of the year.
“I love to say yes,” Whitman said. “But I’d be lying to you. We live in a resort community, and during Spring Break, everybody has to work 12 to 16 hours, the same time with the summer.”
He said even during the off-season now there are many events that bring people to the beach.
“Now there is something going on every weekend,” he said.
The fire department’s budget includes a new employee.
Mayor Gayle Oberst said she’s pleased at how the city has been able to raise the salaries for firefighters.
“I remember years ago when I was first up here the fire department’s starting salary was so low we often talked about it and said, ‘Oh my gosh, how do they even live?’” she said.
The street budget for the coming fiscal year includes a $2.6 million allocation for the proposed new Pier Park Drive extension. Under the concept, which was approved in a 4-1 vote at the council’s last meeting with Commissioner Keith Curry dissenting, the city would fund the $2.6 million to develop a two-lane loop road, and the property owner, the St. Joe Co., would convey land for it and provide engineering work and mitigation services.
Curry said Friday that it seemed like very little was being put into maintaining its 55 miles of city roads at the same time it is proposing to spend $2.6 million to build a 1.5-mile road.
The Pier Park Loop Road would curve for about a 1.5-mile stretch in a northwesterly direction from the end of North Pier Park Drive up to State 79.
“It’s in the budget but it’s still not an approved project, so we still have to come back to the council with it,” Gisbert said.