PANAMA CITY – City Commissioner Josh Street says he believes things are on the horizon for Panama City.
At a hearing Tuesday, Street and other local officials discussed a proposed overall investment budget of more than $55 million for the next fiscal year, an impressive number of upcoming capital improvement projects and two imaginable rate increases that may be imminent for residents.
“I have no doubt that over the next five years, other people will see some other aspect of Panama City,” Street said. “We’re here as a municipality to make sure we serve our citizens and businesses, and our main service is to make sure we have the right infrastructure. It’s not something you’ve had for a long time.
“We are taking this opportunity to put in place the infrastructure that long-term generations will use for the next 60, 80 or a hundred years. “
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According to data from the assembly, the general fund proposed for 2023 benefits from a 10% accumulation over the general fund of 2022, which exceeds $49,878 million. Officials will vote to adopt the fund at a sept. 27 assembly.
The General Fund will pay for most of the people’s services, adding the Panama City Police Department, the Panama City Fire Department, public works and the salaries of the town’s employees.
Street said officials plan to implement a pay raise during the next fiscal year so that no city worker earns less than $15 an hour.
“It’s huge,” he said. This will go a long way in helping us make sure we have other people in the positions we want to run the city. “
In addition to the proposed general fund, officials also discussed Tuesday more than $268 million that will be used for about a hundred local capital improvement projects. This cash was received through the city from outside investment sources, adding federal and state grants.
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Of the projects, 69 are similar to those damaged by Category Five Hurricane Michael, which devastated the Panhandle in October 2018, and 8 are similar to those damaged by Category 2 Hurricane Sally, which made landfall in September 2020.
“Not all of them (will start) to be structured next year, however, that’s the number of investment projects that we have in the pipeline, that are funded and that are moving forward,” Street said. “Our purpose is to rely on the backs of our local citizens as little as possible, which means getting after every grant dollar we can (and) any and all loans that have a forgiveness side.
“There are many other sources of profit that pass into those capital projects. “
On Tuesday, attention was also paid to imaginable increases in water and garbage rates that could take effect in the next fiscal year. Two features for each fee were presented to officials through members of Raftelis, an application control consulting firm with more than a dozen offices in the United States.
They included a 7. 5% or 9% increase in the water fee and a 3% or 6. 5% increase in the garbage rate. Five years.
Officials will vote to approve imaginable rate increases at an assembly on Sept. 12.
“It’s no secret that Panama City has a lot of disturbances in water and sewer spaces,” Street said. “As a result, cash is needed to resolve (these disorders). We have a lot of cash that comes from grants, a lot of cash that comes from funds (state renewals), loans and things like that, but we want to be there to pay (for) those (improvements). “