Palm Bay Council Set to Reshape City Departments, Approve $2M IRS Payment at April 2 Meeting

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Palm Bay, FL -- Thursday’s Regular Council Meeting carries the most significant administrative restructuring City Manager Matthew Morton has proposed since taking office in spring 2025. Three ordinances on final reading would rename the Community and Economic Development Department, strip it of its housing functions, and hand those programs to Growth Management. The same agenda includes a $2 million payment to the IRS, an urgent upgrade to the city’s 911 dispatch consoles, and the schedule for FY2027 budget workshops.
The meeting begins Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 6:00 PM.
* 📍 Where: Council Chambers, 120 Malabar Road SE, Palm Bay
* 🕕 When: 6:00 PM
* 📺 Watch live: palmbayfl.gov (https://www.palmbayfl.gov/) or Swagit stream
* 🗣️ Public comment: In-person at the meeting
What the Three Ordinances Do
Morton’s reorganization spans three separate ordinances, each touching a different chapter of the city code. Together, they redraw the administrative map in ways that will affect how the city handles everything from housing assistance programs to business tax receipts.
Ordinance 2026-06 amends Chapter 31, the foundational list of departments that report to the City Manager. It formally adds Parks and Facilities as its own department, codifies Procurement as standalone, and changes the name “Community and Economic Development” to “Economic Development” in the city’s official department roster. This is a final reading with public hearing.
Ordinance 2026-07 amends Chapter 37, the Growth Management chapter, expanding the department’s composition. The new text adds a Long-Range Planning Section, updates the Land Development and Code Compliance division descriptions, and formally adds the Housing and Community Improvement Division under Growth Management’s umbrella. Under the ordinance, Growth Management Director Althea Jefferson will oversee a department that now covers planning, zoning, code enforcement, and federal housing programs.
Ordinance 2026-08 amends Chapter 39 to complete the other side of the transfer. It renames the department from “Community and Economic Development” to simply “Economic Development” and strips out the Housing and Community Development division language. What remains: business attraction and retention programs, economic development incentives, business tax receipts, lien searches, and tax deed sales.
All three take effect immediately upon enactment. The housing budget does not move until October 1, 2027, so the current fiscal year is unaffected.
Why the Reorg Matters Now
Morton’s legislative memo, identical across all three ordinances, is direct about the intent: “This proposed reorganization is a proactive step to position the City as a favorable environment for economic development. By seizing economic development opportunities, the City can strengthen its commercial tax base, attract greater capital investment, and foster job creation.”
The practical meaning: Housing programs are being separated from the economic development brand. The programs themselves are not eliminated. The Housing and Community Improvement Division will continue administering federal Community Development Block Grant funding, affordable housing programs, fair housing compliance, and the Community Development Advisory Board liaison function. It will just do so from inside Growth Management instead of inside CED.
The timing is notable. Jefferson was confirmed as Growth Management Director just weeks before these ordinances come to a final vote. Her department is also the one currently processing several of the largest development applications in the city’s recent history, including Palm Vista Everlands West (the 2,360-unit Millrose/Lennar project headed for a Council vote after last night’s P&Z hearing on April 1), and multiple rounds of the Eden at Bayside Lakes proposal. The LDC Workshop series, with Workshop 3 scheduled for April 8, falls directly in Jefferson’s expanded portfolio.
The reorganization also signals a priority shift at a moment when Growth Management is being asked to do more with those development applications. The department that now holds housing assistance programs is the same department managing concurrency determinations and land use reviews for projects adding thousands of homes to the St. Johns Heritage Parkway corridor and Malabar Road areas.
The $2 Million IRS Payment: Not What It Sounds Like
The most eye-catching dollar figure on Thursday’s agenda is not a loss or an overpayment. It is federal compliance, and it reflects the city’s investment managers doing their jobs well at a time when bond rates were near historic lows.
Palm Bay voters approved a $50 million General Obligation Bond in November 2020 for road improvement projects. The city issued those bonds on February 4, 2021. Federal tax law, specifically Internal Revenue Code Section 148, requires municipalities that issue tax-exempt bonds to “rebate” to the IRS any inve...

Видео Palm Bay Council Set to Reshape City Departments, Approve $2M IRS Payment at April 2 Meeting канала Thomas Gaume