Ben Sorensen

speaker

9,257 appearances 42 recordings 1 series first heard Sep 2023 last heard 15 Sep

Ben Sorensen’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 12 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 4.

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Fort Lauderdale City Commission · City Commission Joint Workshop with BAB and Conference Meeting on 2026-06-16 1:00 PM - Jun 16, 2026 · 16 Jun 2026 meeting

And with the downturn of the housing market,

CONSTRUCTION MARKET AND COMMERCIAL, THERE'S A POSSIBILITY THAT FOR THE NEXT TWO TO THREE YEARS UNTIL THE INDUSTRY MAKES AN ADJUSTMENT, WE'RE GOING TO SEE THAT DOWNWARD TREND.

SO THE BOARD HAS TAKEN ALL THESE PROJECTS AND BROKEN IT UP AS TEAM, INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS AND DOVE IN, AND WE'LL COME BACK AS I MENTIONED IN AUGUST WITH A MORE DETAILED REPORT ON THAT.

WE ARE FACING A TURNING POINT IN OUR BUDGET.

THE EXPENSES ARE FAR OUTSIDING THE REVENUES COMING IN.

AS YOU KNOW, 61% OF OUR BUDGET IS PUBLIC SAFETY AND SALARIES AND BENEFITS.

I THINK 63%, MAYBE SLIGHTLY HIGHER, IS THE REST OF ALL CITY EMPLOYEES.

AND THAT'S OUT OF THE OPERATING BUDGET.

SO WE'RE MINDFUL OF THE FACT THAT THE PIE IS ONLY SO BIG.

AND IT CAN ONLY BE SLICED SO MANY WAYS, AND THOSE SLICES HAVE TO MEET THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES SET OUT IN THE PRIORITIES OF THE CITY COMMISSION.

AND AS I MENTIONED, THE DOWNTURN IN THE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT AND THEN WITH THE MICROECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY OF THE COST OF GOODS.

We're seeing an increase on projects that we had budgeted for in the CIP that are having to do change orders because of inflation and everything that weren't anticipated when they were designed and planned five years ago.

So that puts a lot of strain on the budget as well as we move forward in 2027.

Just some of the insights that I've talked about is on the

THE OPERATING BUDGET AND PERSONNEL COST.

CURRENTLY, WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE CITY IS IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH PUBLIC SAFETY UNIONS, POLICE AND FIRE, FOR A CONTRACT.

THAT'S GOING TO HAVE SOME IMPACT ON THE FY27 BUDGET IN FUTURE YEARS, DEPENDING ON THE LENGTH OF TERM OF THE THREE-YEAR BUDGET.

So we have to have some budget reform and recalibration of salaries for other departments as well.

Currently, we've been informed that there's a study being done by HR for salary alignments.

One of the big concerns that I can tell you that we hear from the residents is there is a perception out there that the city's kind of bloated with the number of employees and our salaries.

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