Ocoee Commission looks to adopt budget amendment

During tonight’s Ocoee City Commission meeting — Tuesday, May 5 — the commission will hold a second hearing and public hearing regarding an amendment to the city’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget.

Back on Sept. 25, 2019, the commission adopted an annual operating budget of $52,476,498 for the city, but staff identified the need for additional appropriations for the general fund, sanitation fund and wastewater fund.

A few of the costs includes the need for funding for new vehicles for the Ocoee Police Department, funding for public works to cover unanticipated costs in repairing and/or replacing HVAC systems at multiple City facilities and additional appropriation for the road impact fee fund to begin construction on the intersection of Fullers Cross Road and Ocoee-Apopka Road.

Given the concerns, staff recommended that the Commission approve additional funding for the general fund of $805,552, the police impact fee of $72,528, the sanitation fund of $500,000, the road impact fee fund of $1.4 million, the wastewater fund of $1.5 million and an increase in general fund franchise fee revenue of $258,000.

Amending the Interlocal Agreement between Ocoee and Orange County

In August 2018, the City of Ocoee entered into an Interlocal Agreement with Orange County in relation to the improvements to the Fullers Cross Road and Ocoee-Apopka Road intersection.

The idea was that the city and county would jointly improve the intersection, which sits in a region that has seen a surge in construction industry costs. 

Since 2018 the city and county have evaluated the Guaranteed Maximum Price proposal that was submitted by the awarded construction manager at Risk, Oelrich Construction, Inc. The pricing was found to be in line with the current industry standards, but the price exceeds the funding limits set in the 2018 agreement.

In order to fix the issue, the commission added an emergency item to Tuesday night’s agenda, which seeks to amend the agreement to increase the limits 50% to allow the project to move into the construction phase. The city’s increase is funded through Road Impact Fees, with the adjustment covered under the separate second reading of the FY 2020 budget amendment agenda item.

If approved the amendment will be sent to Orange County for formal approval and execution.