OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Balanced and consistent, words to describe the budget process for the City of Ocala.
City staff, departments, the mayor, and city council worked together to approve the municipality’s budget on September 11, 2024. They adopted the proposed budget for 2024-2025, which was created through workshops and careful planning. The city is ready to move ahead for 2024-25, with clear priorities set for the upcoming year.
The city’s budget is $1,063,605,182. The general fund for the budget is $172,849,452. The balanced budget is a testimony to the city’s fiscal responsibility. There were no changes to the budget from the first public hearing that was held Sept. 3, 2024, and the final hearing on Sept. 11. A budget workshop took place on August 13, 2024, where the council received all the details, asked for feedback, and requested changes.
“It’s a very large budget but we offer electric utility services, we offer water and sewer, sanitation services, airport services, Wi-Fi, and all of those go to make up the budget,” says James Hilty Sr., Ocala city councilman. “The fact that the general fund budget is only $172,000,000 itself; of that $1,063,000,000, a lot of that money is because of the services the city offers.”
Jay Musleh has been a member of the Ocala City Council since 2012, and this has been the 12th time he’s been through the process. He says that this year in many ways has mirrored years past.
“We do our homework prior to, we do a workshop, all of us conduct one-on-one meetings with the city manager and with Tammy (Haslam) our budget director, if needed, to find out where any issues may be,” says Musleh. “Our goal for the last eight years has always been to present a balanced budget. From the very beginning of my tenure, that wasn’t the case.”
“The process seemed to go seamlessly with those involved understanding of how much they would need to spend, with the city knowing what the raises were going to be for their contract employees, and non-contract employees,” says Musleh.
“The biggest variable in the budget is the fuel purchases,” says Musleh. “And by far, that’s the biggest item in the budget. I’ve always said that the city is well run, and not just because I serve on council. I like our form of government, our strong city manager appointed by the five council members with the mayor being the ceremonial head, but also in charge of the police department. It’s the best of both worlds legislatively. We have a long history of getting things done.”