Winter Springs Commission audit talk spirals into stormwater rate brawl 

The Winter Springs City Commission received the presentation of its latest audit almost two months ahead of schedule during its April 28 meeting. But the night saw little discussion of the audit itself as it quickly became the background for a bout of political infighting and accusations of misappropriated budget items amidst the city’s stormwater infrastructure issues. 

Ron Whitesides of Purvis Gray, the firm which has handled the city’s last four audits, led the presentation on the city’s 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. He said while the firm’s first audit with the city had gone as expected, the same could not be said for years two and three, which suffered in part due to “high turnover” in the city’s finance department that led to completion issues. 

“So those are a couple of tough years, getting these audits done, getting behind the timeline and getting them completed,” Whitesides said. “But this year … we have gotten back on track.” 

The issues in question referred to when the city failed to send its 2022 audited financial statements to the state’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee by the JLAC deadline of Jan. 15, 2023, leading to a jeopardization of state grants and reimbursement dollars. 

“From an audit perspective, the city is in good financial condition,” Whitesides said. 

Whitesides explained the audit evaluated revenue, costs, income, assets and liabilities in the city’s financial statements, but did not take into account future costs of current infrastructure, such as the city’s wastewater and stormwater needs. 

Things took a turn when Commissioner Mark Caruso asked Whitesides his opinion on if the city could transfer general funds to the stormwater fund. That’s a move Commissioner Paul Diaz has proposed instead of raising the city’s stormwater rate for the first time in 20 years saying it “punishes” residents. 

“The majority of monies in the general fund are available to be transferred to stormwater,” Whitesides said. “It might not be fiscally prudent to transfer too much of it, because you do need reserves in the general fund to handle cash flows.”

Caruso asked if he thought the city had a spending problem -another nod to Diaz – and if the budget was “over-inflated” compared to other municipalities. Whitesides answered no to both, but clarified those questions were not the intent of the audit. 

The audit also showed roughly $10 million left over in general funds, which Diaz used as a launching point to discuss the feasibility of moving money directly into the city’s stormwater fund that day before turning his questions to Finance Director Holly Queen. 

“Was there any formal proposal [in fiscal year 2024] made to reallocate money from the general fund to stormwater throughout the year?” Diaz asked Queen, to which she said no.

“Considering the fund balances, you don’t think there should be?” Diaz said. 

“At the time I walked in [13 months ago], financial statements hadn’t been completed for two years,” Queen said. “The budget was put together with the numbers that I had at the time … at that point in the financials, there wasn’t a particular direction in transferring money to the stormwater fund.”

“So when we move money from one fund to another, considering that it’s legal to do so … it’s really just a matter of what we would prioritize over, for example in this case, moving money to stormwater?” Diaz said. “So when we spend money on promotional items, that was a priority over stormwater, at that moment when that decision was made.”

Queen clarified the budget was not the finance director’s budget but the city manager, which City Manager Kevin Sweet affirmed and said any decision to move money “happens right here at the dais.” 

Diaz said there was an immediate need for “life and property” ahead of hurricane season that required a transferring of funds and not an increase of the stormwater rate, forcing Queen to ask Mayor Kevin McCann for a point of order as the discussion was currently on the city’s audit. 

Diaz continued, asking Queen if she would be able to answer if the city had $1 million to move to stormwater after she’d previously told him at a prior meeting she was “unprepared” to answer at that time. 

“Let her answer the question,” Diaz said to McCann, who attempted to steer the discussion back to the audit. “She’s the one testifying.” 

“Let’s try this again,” Commissioner Cade Resnick said, cutting Diaz off. “Try that again.”

“You’re really hostile today,” Diaz responded, telling Resnick he was “off his meds” before Resnick responded by calling him a “chauvinist.”

The commission later voted unanimously to accept the audit report. 

Resident Art Gallo said that while nobody expected members of the commission to be silent, they did expect them to be civil. 

“We want to be respectful, and we didn’t have some of that tonight,” Gallo said. “So I’m asking you all to be introspective here. We’re here for the residents of the community. You all love the community and that’s why you’re in the position that you are.”

Stormwater rate revisited 

The upheaval of the audit discussion set the ground for the commission’s next discussion item added by Diaz, in which he called for $1 million of the city’s general fund be moved to the stormwater fund as opposed to the rate increase.

“Move the million dollars today,” Diaz said. “We have the money. It’s been proven we have the money.” 

Diaz said the city needed the funds immediately ahead of hurricane season, not $80,000 in recurring revenue, though Sweet later said a “one time influx” of project funds would still require money transfers to deal with resulting revenue shortage in the existing budget.

McCann later submitted a document detailing $13 million in funded stormwater projects underway in the city and answering common questions about the rate, emphasizing the need to “shore up” the stormwater program long term.

“A quick infusion of cash isn’t going to do anything,” McCann said. “We’re going to get our wastewater treatment plants built, but stormwater will be an issue this community faces for decades. We’ve got to start thinking long term.”

McCann also read into the record a letter submitted to the editor of the Sanford Herald by Diaz, who wrote the stormwater rate increase was “a symptom of a deeper problem, a symptom in which unelected staff drive the agenda and elected commissioners rubber stamp it out of habit, fear or convenience.”

“Look, I’m a conservative guy,” McCann said. “I believe in fiscal responsibility, but this has gotten into just absolute chaos.” 

Resnick said the city could not afford to defer its stormwater infrastructure maintenance and that the city had already been forced to do “more with less” in recent years, which “wasn’t healthy.” 

“Our future depends on doing the right thing,” Resnick said. “If doing the right thing gets me voted out, I’m here for 40,000 people. I’m not here for my own preference, but I want to make sure Winter Springs survives the way it’s supposed to.” 

Sweet said the city was already operating with low staff levels in addition to its lacking stormwater funds, comparing the similarly sized neighboring municipality of Oviedo to the city as an example of how little they have to work with. 

“We have four people maintaining the entire city of Winter Springs, of boots on the ground,” Sweet said. “Folks, that’s three workers and a foreman to maintain substantially more ponds, creeks and areas than in the City of Oviedo, and arguably much more complex and difficult stormwater infrastructure to deal with.”

According to 2022 Seminole County Census Data, Winter Springs has a population approximately 40% larger than neighboring Casselberry, and 160% larger than Longwood, but has an overall budget that’s 10% less than those nearby cities. Compared to Oviedo, Winter Springs, at just under 40,000 residents, has a nearly identical population but a city budget that’s nearly 25% smaller than Oviedo’s. 

While resident approval of the rate increase appears to be split, former Commissioner Robert Miller told the commission it needs to prioritize the future of the city above all else despite a history of elected officials avoiding tax increases. 

“That’s going to be your problem right now if you support this tax thing,” Miller said. “You will not be re-elected, but you’ll save the city — I hope. If that’s what it comes down to, save the city or get re-elected, you have to do what you have to do to save Winter Springs.” 

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