City will reveal amended 450th budget Monday

When the city published the agenda for Monday night’s meeting of the St Augustine City Commission, a major item of interest for Historic City News readers will be a closer look and discussion of the budget for what some are calling a bloated “450th Commemoration” department.

When originally presented in a budget workshop in August, Commissioner Leanna Freeman said the $938,000 budget proposed by the department head, Dana Ste. Claire, did not seem to be in line with the city’s priorities.

With City Comptroller Mark Litzinger just returning from two weeks in Spain yesterday, Meredith Breidenstein, deputy director of finance, budget and management, will make Monday night’s budget presentation. The finance department has been working with the 450th department to “adjust” estimates of revenues, not previously considered, to arrive at a lower projection of cash required from the city’s general fund.

First the overall expenditures were reduced to $799,320. The spending for events was cut from $429,500 to $303,000. A chunk of that came from the main celebration in September 2015, said Breidenstein. The amended budget requirement for the 450th department will be $560,738 from the city, the difference from ticket sales and other sources.

Commission approval would be required before funds could be diverted from enterprise accounts, such as the Historic Downtown Parking Garage. Some fears have already been expressed that with the current administration’s dogged determination to produce an “Olympic scale event”, it doesn’t matter what the budgeted number is because commission approval for additional funding is virtually guaranteed under Mayor Joe Boles’ control.

The plan to be proposed Monday, anticipates charging for the feature exhibit, “Tapestry: The Cultural Threads of First America,” which focuses on the multicultural founding of St. Augustine. The department estimates that ticket sales from that event alone will account for about $59,000. That is an estimate of over 11,000 paid admissions at $5 per person.

If you plan to attend, the regular meeting of the City Commission will be Monday night beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Alcazar Room of the City Hall Building located at 75 King Street in St Augustine. You can watch the meeting live on Comcast Government Television channel 3. Meetings of the City Commission are available for live and on-demand viewing at www.cosatv.com.