The Port St. Lucie City Council on Monday adopted an ordinance amending the fiscal year 2024-25 budget to recognize roughly $107 million in additional appropriations and to carry forward capital and project funds into the next fiscal year.

Caroline Sturgis, director of the Office of Management and Budget, told the council the proposed amendment increased the city's total FY2024-25 appropriations by $107,064,817 to a new total of $958,106,832. Sturgis said the amendment reflects several categories of adjustments already authorized in the city's capital plan, including hurricane response costs (Hurricane Milton), land acquisitions for parks and green space, major capital projects such as the Tom Mackay Boulevard extension, Discovery Way signal, Torino roundabout, police training facility and city hall renovations, and utility capital needs.

Sturgis explained that many items are carry-forwards from prior-year projects that were budgeted but not spent in the year and therefore require ordinance approval to move the appropriation into the current fiscal year. She said the funding sources for the amendment include reserves, interfund transfers, grants and other revenues, and that the package meets the city's financial policy on unassigned reserves.

Council members asked how staff would summarize the amendment for taxpayers; Sturgis and other staff said the amendment is largely a technical step to authorize spending on previously-approved projects, and that staff would work on a concise public explanation. Other council members asked for clarifications on specific line items, such as purchase versus renovation costs for the Peacock building (the purchase was included in this amendment; renovations will come later).

After the public hearing on the ordinance, the council voted in favor of ordinance 25-56 to adopt the budget amendment.