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Ocoee approves FY2025 budget amendment, allocates $4.5 million for Forest Lake lease
Summary
City Commission approved a FY2025 budget amendment that reallocates existing funds, covers higher health-insurance costs and sets an interfund loan of $4.5 million to implement the Forest Lake lease’s Seventh Amendment. The measure does not raise taxes.
The Ocoee City Commission on a unanimous vote approved an ordinance amending the fiscal year 2025 budget that reallocates existing reserves and authorizes a $4.5 million interfund loan to implement the Seventh Amendment to the Forest Lake lease agreement.
Chief Accountant Aileen Mirena told the commission the amendment includes multiple targeted changes: a $42,000 revenue increase and $27,000 expense increase in the recreation program fund for the baseball league; $80,902 for police contractual and legal services; $1,254,895 across funds for higher employer health-insurance contributions; and $4,500,000 in an interfund loan to implement the Seventh Amendment for the Forest Lake Golf Club lease. The finance department identified $529,611 from completed capital projects to return to general-fund reserves, lowering the net budget requirement to $5,306,186.
City staff said the amendment does not raise tax rates. “To the commissioner’s question, we are not raising taxes with this budget amendment. We are taking money that we have, and we’re appropriating it in an amendment to our budget, but the tax rate remains the same,” a city staff member said during the hearing.
Commissioner Ferschner moved to approve the ordinance; Commissioner Kennedy seconded. The commission voted unanimously to adopt the amendment with Commissioner Oliver absent.
The amendment also included appropriations for utilities and enterprise funds: $675,000 for water and wastewater consulting and legal expenses; $194,137 for employer health insurance contributions in those funds; $43,323 additional appropriation in an identified fund; $11,092 for the Solid Waste Fund; and $9,552 for the CRA fund, all for employer health insurance contributions. Mirena told commissioners the city is partially self-insured and recent catastrophic claims drove much of the insurance-related increases.
The vote was taken at the meeting’s public hearing and second-reading stage. City staff said the amendment will allow the city to continue operations without changing the millage rate. The ordinance will be effective per the city’s normal adoption schedule.
Ending: The commission approved the amendment after brief public comment and staff explanation; no tax-rate increase was proposed or adopted as part of the measure.
