Flagler County Administrator Heidi Petito presented the county's balanced general fund budget at a July 2, 2025 workshop, telling commissioners the plan holds the line on millage while setting aside $14,300,000 for three infrastructure priorities: beach management, roadways and stormwater.

Petito said the plan allocates about $8,100,000 to beach management, $5,300,000 to roadways and $800,000 to stormwater next year, funded by a combination of sales-tax carryover, tourist development contributions and interfund transfers. She cautioned the board that these investments are a one-year plan and may not be repeatable without changes to property values or state funding, and she warned road and stormwater needs across a 10-year horizon could total more than $100 million.

The presentation outlined operational efficiency moves: reductions of several vacant or duplicative positions across general services and fleet, a $162,000 reduction in certain capital maintenance projects, and a suggested transition of outside-agency funding to a competitive grant model in 2026-27. Petito said those internal adjustments permitted roughly $1.4 million in operational realignment toward higher priorities.

Library staffing and Nexus Center operations featured prominently. Petito offered three staffing scenarios for the new Bunnell Nexus Center and the existing Palm Coast Library: adding six FTEs (higher cost and more hours), adding three FTEs (estimated at about $178,000) as a scaled-back option, or adding none (which would sharply reduce Palm Coast hours). Petito recommended option 2 (three FTEs), a course the board agreed to in the workshop; commissioners also left passport-fee revenue intact rather than using it immediately to offset staffing costs.

On human services, Petito presented analysis of the county-run adult day-care program. County staff said the program registers roughly 23'25 people, with daily average attendance of 9
0, averaging 5.5 hours per client; staff advised outsourcing did not currently show a clear cost or quality advantage and proposed options including not taking new clients or phasing out the service over time. Commissioners asked staff to plan a careful phase-out option rather than an immediate closure and set a target to complete a phase-out discussion within six months, with carryover money kept in the budget if needed.

On compensation policy, Petito and HR Director Charlie Picano reviewed plans to move toward a merit-based performance-pay system. Picano said the county has begun implementing an online performance-management platform (NeoGov) and plans training and a one-year rollout; staff proposed holding $500,000 as a reserve for merit awards but agreed that the board could leave the money in reserves until a formal merit plan was presented. Commissioners directed staff to develop a formal merit-pay plan, train managers on evaluations, and return with details before funds are distributed; several commissioners asked that, absent a plan, the $500,000 be pulled from the tentative operating line and reserved until a clear program and criteria are approved.

Petito and Budget Manager Brian Echinger briefed commissioners on other operating changes: reductions in some outside-agency line items, a reallocation of vehicle and facility costs into appropriate departments, and technical accounting changes tied to new financial software. Brian noted that some previously budgeted items now appear differently on summary slides because of accounting reclassifications.

Why it matters: the budget directs limited county resources to what staff and the board described as the county's most urgent infrastructure needs (beach, roadway, stormwater) while also balancing near-term staffing and service questions (library opening, adult day care). Commissioners asked for additional workshops on beach funding strategy and to begin outreach to municipalities about beach MSBU options for 2027.

What's next: Petito said staff would incorporate changes for the tentative budget presentation on July 14, 2025, and return with more detailed proposals on the adult day-care phase-out, the merit-pay plan, and MSBU interlocal outreach with Flagler Beach and other municipalities.