Crestview City Council convened a workshop in which staff presented a draft fiscal-year budget and sought council guidance on several policy and personnel items, including a proposed pilot paid-leave program, police staffing additions, and capital projects for parks and downtown.

The draft budget shown to councilors includes a marked increase in total reported revenue driven largely by planned State Revolving Fund (SRF) proceeds and bond proceeds earmarked for major utility infrastructure projects. Wendy, finance staff, said, "the additional revenue sources are SRF proceeds and bond proceeds," and clarified that those funds are recorded in the budget to show funding for projects even though the city has not yet drawn the money down.

Council members received a page‑by‑page review of draft line items and raised questions about several large percentage changes. The memo accompanying the presentation and staff remarks emphasized that the document is a draft: staff identified a likely coding error on workers' compensation estimates and said they would correct it before the final budget is released.

Key items discussed

Police staffing: Council members noted seven positions shown as additions in the draft budget, primarily in the police department. Staff said not all listed vacancies represent brand‑new roles; some are reclassifications. The police chief (not named in the transcript) described the department's recruitment and training timeline, estimating roughly a year from interview to a sworn officer on the street and explaining the city’s staffing target: "What we're trying to do is we're trying to get to the Florida average of 2.3 officers per capita," which the chief said would equate to roughly 67–69 officers compared with a current allotment of 55. Staff also said the budget currently includes funding for equipment and full‑year costs for only three of five of the newly listed officer positions, reflecting the likelihood some hires would not be in place for a full fiscal year.

Paid‑leave pilot: Staff proposed developing a pilot paid‑leave program designed to supplement unpaid Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. The concept would be tiered by length of service, provide time-limited paid leave for qualifying medical reasons, and not roll into the city’s existing PTO bank. Staff framed the pilot as an alternative to purchasing short‑ or long‑term disability insurance, which they said would impose fixed premium costs to the city even if few employees used the benefit. Councilmember Bullard offered consensus to proceed with drafting a pilot.

Culture and recreation capital: A jump of roughly 169% in culture and recreation capital outlay drew questions. Staff attributed the increase to a package of park repairs and upgrades identified in a recent facilities assessment: irrigation repairs at multiple parks, dog park and splash pad maintenance, backstops at Durelli Park, batting cages at Spanish Trail, shade structures, new cameras at Twin Hills Park, a senior‑center parking addition, bridge repairs, and golf‑course improvements (the latter described as not funded through TDC). Staff said some items are carryovers for design work on future sports facilities.

Special events and downtown initiatives: Operating outlays for citywide special events increased about 191%, a change staff said is largely offset by sponsorship revenue projections. Staff pointed to Food Truck Friday, Mardi Gras and an expanded July 4 program as drivers of higher event costs and said sponsorships obtained so far informed the revenue side of the forecast. Separately, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) budget will include downtown lighting, Christmas displays and grants to help businesses upgrade façades; staff said vendors used local photographs for new downtown banners and the council discussed keeping string/ambient lighting up year round for ambiance and pedestrian safety.

Library and digital materials: The library’s operating supplies rose about 25%, which staff attributed in part to a new RFID checkout system and to higher digital‑content rental costs for services such as Hoopla or Libby. Staff said approximately $25,000 of the operating increase reflects higher rates and usage for those digital lending services.

Fee studies and stormwater: Staff said the city will conduct a required public‑safety impact‑fee study before proposing any meaningful change to that fee and will also review the stormwater fee schedule, including the current cap on equivalent residential units (ERUs) for commercial properties. Staff noted the stormwater fee currently covers personnel and operations but not major capital projects and described plans to use GIS data to verify commercial impervious surface measurements for any future fee adjustments.

Budget process, timing and technical corrections: Staff reiterated the draft is preliminary and that the tentative millage and TRIM notices have been submitted. They committed to correcting apparent anomalies (for example, the unusually high workers’ compensation line) and circulating a revised final budget in advance of the next hearing. Staff said the draft presented is balanced based on current accounting assumptions and financing sources.

Quotes and attributions in this article are drawn from councilors and city staff during the workshop; direct quotations are labeled with the speaker’s role as provided in the meeting transcript.

Ending

Councilors offered general support for staff continuing to refine the draft budget, asked for corrected figures on flagged anomalies, and requested final proposals for the paid‑leave pilot and the stormwater and impact‑fee studies before any formal votes. The agenda for the night had been approved at the meeting’s start by motion of Councilman Hayes, seconded by Councilman Frost; the motion carried 4–0 with one absence.