NSBNEWS.net photos by Sera Frederick and Henry Frederick. Interim City Manager Khalid Resheidat and Bouchelle Island resident William Koleszar are likely to have major differences of opinion on the proposed $49.29 million fiscal budget for New Smyrna Beach, with two days of hearings starting Wednesday in the Deberry Room at the Utilities Commission Building on Canal Street. Day 1's session begins 8:30 a.m.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The proposed spending budget was a work in progress, throughout the day, before two expected days of heated workshops Wednesday and Thursday, calling for either a 26 percent millage-rate increase. Or if the mill rate remains the same as this year's budget, there's the potential for massive layoffs, allof the above due primarily to a 20 percent decrease in property tax values.

Interim City Manager Khalid Resheidat is hoping to strike a compromise somewhere in the middle with the help of reserves and the rollback rate, a funding formula that takes into account the potential of increased assessments due to new construction, which should be minimal at best. That is if the City Commission shoots down his spending plan that requires 3.94 mills.

The new budget calls for a 26 percent mill-rate increase, more than twice the 11.2 percent mill-rate increase proposed for this year's fiscal budget that was ultimately unanimously shot down by the commission after threats of voter recall by Bouchelle Island resident William Koleszar.

And Koleszar wasn't backing down from his tough talk today, saying he's chomping at the bit to go after any elected member of the City Commission that suports a mill rate increase above the 3.1 mills adopted for this year's budget.

"This is going to carry over in November," Koleszar warned. "They have to learn to tighten their belts like everyone else."

Up for re-election are Mayor Sally Mackay and City Commissioners Randy Richenberg and Jack Grasty. Only Richenberg at this point has a declared opponent in Judy Reiker.

Last September, Koleszar brought a couple hundred neighbors with him to a public hearing on this year's budget, which called for a 3.44 mill-rate increase, half of what the city is now seeking. After threatening to recall all five members, including Commissioners James Hathaway and Lynne Plaskette, all five agreed to cut $1.3 million to meet the 3.11 mills and City Manager John Hagood was eventually ousted by the commission.

Now Interim City Manager Khalid Resheidat is proposing a budget that requires 3.94 mills. Cutting that to 3.11 mills would mean reducing the city's spending plan by $2.09 million, a move that he said would certainly lead to "massive layoffs."

"Nobody's getting a raise with this budget," Reshediat said of the city's 258 budgeted positions, one of which calls for an assistant city manager at about $105,000. Five open positions in the police department, including that of a commander, are being frozen.

There is one possible exception for a raise and that is the city manager's position. The city last week offered the job to Tampa Bay resident Pamela Brangaccio, with a salary range of $120,000 to $140,000, plus benefits, including a car allowance. That contract is yet to be negotiated.

The average municipal salary in New Smyrna Beach is $40,630.

Because property values shrank, the city needs to tax more in order to maintain this year's status quo, Resheidat said. Even if the city opts for the rollback mill rate of 3.7499, the budget would be short by nearly half a million dollars, he said.

Should the City Commission opt for Resheidat's proposed budget, taxes would increase by these amounts, based on property values:

# Properties assessed at $160,000 would pay an additional $104.24 over what was paid this year with a mill rate of 3.94 per $1,0000;

# Properties assessed at $200,000 would pay $142.13 more than this year;

# Properties assessed at $225,000 would pay an additional $165;

#Properties assessed at $250,000 would pay an additional $189;

# Properties assessed at $350,000 would pay an additional $284;

# Properties assessed at $400,000 would pay an additional $332;

# Properties assessed at $428,000 would pay an additional $365.