Soccer fans share concern at commission meeting; tax office has come to collect

The topic of soccer again dominated the latest City Commission meeting, with fans of the current state of the sport in Coral Springs showing up to say they want to keep things the way they are for local youths.

While the item wasn’t on the agenda for the meeting on Wednesday, March 4, coaches and parents stopped by the commission chambers to speak in support of their program, in response to the city’s plan to solidify a comprehensive soccer program.

“The city is looking at a soccer comprehensive plan to improve coordination and collaboration within our soccer programs and better serve the community,” city officials wrote of the plan. “This effort will help ensure consistent facility usage, clearer scheduling and more streamlined operations, creating a positive and reliable experience for families, players and coaches.”

The city put out a request for proposals (RFP) soliciting any organization that wanted to submit plans, and now it’s up to the evaluation committee to consider the submissions.

Last commission meeting, supporters of the Coral Springs Youth Soccer club — which reportedly did not submit a bid — packed the chambers to speak on behalf of their program. This time, several speakers were in support of Springs Soccer Club, which did submit a bid for the RFP.

City Attorney J.J. Hearn warned speakers about interfering with the proposal procurement process, saying city officials learned emails went out encouraging residents to go to the commission meeting to speak on the plan, including with certain talking points.

Hearn added this could violate the RFP process if people were speaking at the urging of an organization that’s up for a bid, which could cause the bid to be thrown out.

Residents who wanted to speak of their own accord were welcome to do so.

Laurie Thomas, the operations director of Springs Soccer Club, spoke about the impact of her club, saying her remarks didn’t have to do with the RFP.

“This is more than a soccer club,” Thomas said. “This is Springs Soccer Club. One vision, one club, one community. What began as a simple idea has grown into something much bigger. A place where kids believe, where families come together, and where a city finds pride in its youth.”

Hearn said he would assess whether Thomas’ remarks constituted a violation of the bid process.

Diego Perez, a Coral Springs resident and the founder of Agape Soccer Academy, said his experience directing a soccer club has demonstrated to him the importance of local recreational leagues.

“Based on my experience, when a city only allows one soccer entity to provide soccer classes in all parts of the city, this creates a disappointment for a portion of the citizens,” he said. “Families want to have freedom of choice when selecting a soccer program based on their needs and their values.”

After the speakers, city officials tried to assuage fears that certain programs would be eliminated under the proposal. They did the same at the last commission meeting.

“This is the same exact process that happened six years ago that we’re repeating now because they’re at the end of the contract,” City Manager Catherine Givens said.

Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen asked for clarification that neither recreational soccer nor travel soccer would be eliminated.

“The intent is to be able to bring a recommendation back to this commission so that there is enough time for the travel soccer program to be able to have tryouts so that we can continue to have travel soccer,” Givens responded.

Tax and other topics

The next topic that received discussion was authorization to let the Broward County Tax Collector’s Office keep up to 2% of non ad valorem assessments it collects and remits back to the city.

“Based on the fiscal year 2026 assessments that we have, and we have three — fire assessment, solid waste and stormwater assessment — the fiscal impact to us is about $828,000 and on top of that possible administrative charges,” said Ileana Kyriakides, the city’s Director of Budget and Sustainability.

Mayor Scott Brook said it might be a silly question, but he asked if it was negotiable.

The new county office was established in 2025 following a voter-approved referendum in 2024, so cities haven’t had the opportunity to budget for the 2% it would have to give up to the county office, Givens said.

She said they discussed the issue with the tax collector’s office, and the office agreed to charge only 1% this year, although it can charge up to 2%.

The mayor said he was almost inclined to say no.

“The law does allow them to go up to 2%,” Hearn said. “So the 1% is saving us, in quotes, $400,000 right now, but it’s a heck of a lot more than it was last year.”

Commissioners approved the item.

During the meeting, the city also proclaimed March as Irish American Heritage Month, Women’s History Month and Anal Cancer Awareness Month, with the mayor discussing his wife’s battle with the disease about 17 years earlier.

The commissioners also proclaimed the 49th annual Broward County Waterway Cleanup, which is Saturday, March 7.

Police Chief Brad Mock read an amendment to the city ordinance that would authorize certain personnel to trespass people from city property, but also created an appeals process for someone cited for trespassing.

The next commission meeting is Wednesday, March 25.