Vice Mayor Skip Williams

Inflation is still here and doesn’t seem to be subsiding. Investments, if you have been able to afford any, have taken on a rocky road lately. We still have to run the city, pay our bills and keep our most important asset, your Critical City employees. We’re adequately staffed to keep our city running, but the county and other municipalities are starting to up their pay scales to match, or beat, ours. So, it’s becoming more challenging to fill the positions we have open. You might want to check the city website for our open positions, you may qualify, we have excellent benefits and the local commute reduces fuel costs.
   As we enter the budget cycle for Fiscal Year 2023 which starts in October, I’ve requested our City Manager to develop a budget option that does not increase our current property tax millage rate, to be transparent it will still qualify as a minimal tax increase based on property values increasing. We will gain additional Ad Valorem Tax revenue to help fill the gaps in our future city budget. We also have another year of American Rescue Plan money from the Federal Government to offset some of our specific expenditures.
    On a day-by-day basis, your city is running smoothly, all our current bills are paid and our capital projects are on-going without impedance.
    My priorities have always been and remain the same for our residents and businesses: Safety – Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services, then Infrastructure (e.g., our environment, roads, water, power, sewer, stormwater, waste services, phone and internet utilities), followed by maintaining our current recreational facilities.
     God Bless You all, take care and thank you for allowing me the honor of serving as your Vice Mayor. Please email me at skip.williams@cityofcocoabeach. Or call me at home 321-783-1850 with any questions or concerns.