Monroe County panel hears FSG warning: Senate Bill 1 could cut millions from county revenue; hiring chill, overtime limits discussed

Monroe CountyLong Term Finance Planning Committee members were told on Feb. 21 that Senate Bill 1, as currently drafted, could sharply reduce county property-tax revenue and force near-term spending restraints.

Charlie, a consultant from FSG, told the committee the bill would set the 2026 growth quotient at 0%, then 1% in 2027 and 2% in 2028, and that the countycould lose roughly $1.4 million in property-tax growth in 2026 under the current draft. "The current version is much better than the original version, but it's still a big negative impact to the county," Charlie said. Greg Garitas, also of FSG, added that the bill's other provisions (changes to assessment rules and homeowner deductions) could increase the impact.

The projection in the committee packet shows a county general-fund levy that rose from $17 million to $21 million in the baseline assumptions; FSG said that whether the county may "reclaim" lost levy capacity from prior years is uncertain and could materially change the revenue outlook. "That'll be the $3,000,000 question," Garitas said of whether lost levy capacity will be restored.

Why it matters: Committee members said the county may need to limit discretionary spending now to preserve flexibility for 2026 and beyond. Auditor Bree Gregory and council staff urged departments to provide fiscal-impact data in a timely format to update FSGprojections.

Merit-deputy salary request: The Sheriff's Office request for merit-deputy pay increases and senior-staff adjustments was discussed but not approved. FSG said its draft sustainability model did not include those increases. Committee members and consultants agreed the legislatureoutcome should inform any permanent pay changes. FSG presented the packet numbers for the Sheriffrequest: a merit-deputy fiscal impact of $435,122 (assumed to start Feb. 2025) and an additional $73,001.37 for senior-staff adjustments. Those totals were described as the amounts in the materials provided to the committee.

Potential short-term restrictions discussed: committee members and staff listed a menu of near-term measures to limit budget stress if the bill passes in its current form: delaying nonessential travel and out-of-state training; pausing large equipment purchases; a hiring chill or controlled replacement of vacant positions; tighter review of grant matches before accepting obligations; limiting overtime and compensatory-time accrual where feasible; and, as a more aggressive option, targeted deappropriation of funds to offset new appropriations.

Councilor Liz Bridal and Councilor Hawk emphasized caution about making permanent commitments while state action remains unsettled. "At a minimum, we would recommend to wait until the legislature wraps up to find out what the real impact is gonna be," Garitas said. Auditor Gregory confirmed that some payroll additions since adoption of the 2025 budget were not included in the report and will be forwarded for modeling.

Next steps: FSG will update projections after legislative changes and as the council provides corrected 2025 budget figures (including recent additions such as court-reporter and HR staff changes). The committee scheduled further review at its next meeting and urged departments to submit fiscal-impact statements for any new grant or staffing requests.

Ending: Committee members emphasized preserving personnel where possible and using smaller operational curbs to avoid layoffs; they asked departments and FSG to return with updated numbers after the legislative session concludes.