BOARD OF
SPECIAL
MEETING
MAY 1, 2008
The
following is a non-verbatim transcript of the BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING OF SEMINOLE COUNTY,
Present:
Chairman Brenda Carey (District 5)
Vice Chairman Mike McLean (District 2)
Commissioner Bob Dallari (District 1)
Commissioner Dick Van Der Weide (District
3)
Commissioner
Clerk of Court Maryanne Morse
County Manager Cindy Coto
Deputy Clerk Carylon Cohen
The
Invocation was given by Commissioner Henley.
Commissioner
Dallari led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Chairman
Carey stated this meeting is the opportunity for the
Commissioner
Van Der Weide asked Ms. Coto to explain what kind of action is expected of the
Ms.
Coto advised she will make opening remarks and will go over the actions
requested of the Board.
Chairman
Carey asked Ms. Coto to talk about the budget process before making her opening
remarks and how all this came about as a part of
Ms.
Coto stated that, typically, in May or June, she will present the Board with
the financial forecast, but they have done budget development a number of
months prior to that. On July 15, the
Board is usually presented with the budget and work sessions are held in late
July or early August; and the public hearings are held in September. This year, because they have two years of property
tax reform and economic down turn, she has found it necessary to go through a
six-month process in evaluating all the services the County provides to the
residents and is making recommendations and seeking direction from the Board so
she can begin the budget development to present a balanced budget in July. As the Board is aware, this is the second work
session in preparation for this fiscal year’s 2008-09 budget. Last week, she presented the present
financial status and causes for same.
Today, she will present recommendations as to how to move forward to try
to create stabilities in the organization and community. Her recommendations are related to how they
try to obtain that financial stability.
She will focus on maintaining the quality of life they have come to
expect in their community in light of extreme financial constraints. She said it is a little unusual to have a
special meeting to discuss the budget versus having a work session, but because
of the financial situation they are facing, she believes it is necessary, for
some recommendations, for the Board to take immediate actions for the overall
financial progress and health of the County.
She said this County has not experienced a scenario like this in the
past. They have faced and been able to
tackle financial down turns, however, this year they are faced with
implications of two years of property tax reform as well as the overall
economic down turn. The situation is
further stressed because even when the economy recovers in the future, the
financial growth will not match what they have seen in moderate growth years. Typically, they have seen in the past
anywhere from a 6% to 8% growth on the average as it relates to the revenue
stream. In the future, they are looking
at 3% to 4% growth. She stated today she
will be recommending how to move forward and will request direction to best
address this present situation. It will
require the vision of the Board that they have demonstrated in the past. She said her recommendations are not made
lightly but are the result of a six-month process. Management reviewed every service the County
provides and asked who, what and why as it relates to that service. She understands decisions are difficult, but
she believes the options at this time are limited. Many of the recommendations are not to be
implemented until October 1. However,
she believes the service level reductions should be implemented
immediately. These reductions represent
$9.8 million towards addressing the financial stability. For the balance of this year, that equates to
$4.1 million in savings that would be carried forward into the FY 2008/09
budget. She said for each day they delay
the decision, they have a loss of savings in the amount of $28,000; and that
does not account for the loss of productivity as employees contemplate what the
future holds. She referred to page 3 of
the County Manager’s letter to the Board in the FY 2008-09 Budget Book (copy
received and filed) and presented the actions she is seeking today as
follows: Approve reductions to outside
funding agencies effective October 1, 2008; Approval to proceed with changes to
services to Seminole County governmental agencies effective October 1, 2008;
Approval on service level reductions and authorization for the County Manager
to take all necessary actions to implement in accordance with current policies;
Approval to evaluate and perform additional analysis of using Tourist
Development taxes for the construction of Jetta Point Park; and Board direction
on future revenue alternatives.
Ms.
Coto advised each department and division representative is present today to
respond to any questions.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Henley, Ms. Coto advised if the Board approves the
service level reductions as recommended, she will look at May 2, 2008 as the implementation
date.
Ms.
Coto began a PowerPoint presentation (pages 5 through 8 in the Budget Book)
covering the following topics: Purpose;
Property Tax Reform Implications FY 2008/09 Budget; and General Revenue/Revised
FY 2008/09 Budget Summary.
Commissioner
Henley asked if the expenditure figure of $248.5M is based on current or
projected. Ms. Coto stated it is based
on projected. This is the expected
expenditures if every item presented in the budget is accepted by the
Board. She explained two items are not included
in that amount. Staff has gone through
and evaluated all the rolling stock related to the General Fund. They have reduced all that with the exception
of about $60,000 in the Leisure Services Department. That represents turf equipment, such as aeration,
and equipment to drag the fields. The
other expenditure that was not deducted is regarding
Chairman
Carey said on rolling stock, when they are looking at the kind of implications
they are faced with, if it is not a broken piece of equipment, she would not
think the staff would buy anything. She
said she went through the Budget Book from last year and looked at what some of
those items were; and if it’s not broken, she will not support any new equipment.
Ms.
Coto said the information in the tentatively approved 2008/09 budget is no
longer an active reflection of where they are, including the rolling
stock. The only items that remain are
three pieces of fire apparatus that staff is evaluating, and they have not done
the Enterprise Fund for Solid Waste and Water and Sewer because those do not
rely on ad valorem.
Commissioner
Dallari asked if Ms. Coto had talked about having a lease for equipment when
it’s actually needed. He said that
should reduce the maintenance.
Ms.
Coto said in the past they have had leases with maintenance included for some
of the operations.
Frank
Raymond, Administrative Services Director, addressed the Board to state
currently in the budget, there is no heavy equipment except for Solid
Waste. That is for equipment that is not
normally in the landfill. That has been
traditionally leased. He said the
numbers come out better to own than lease because the equipment lasts quite a
bit over time. There are certain
advantages in leasing if they are willing to finance, and the leasing company
can take the depreciation.
Commissioner
Van Der Weide continued discussing leasing vs. renting. He said equipment rental is more expensive
than long-term leasing.
Mr.
Raymond said there is no equipment for short-term projects. Leasing of equipment for the landfill is
long-term leasing, and they let the equipment company take the risk.
Mr.
Raymond advised Chairman Carey that staff has been looking every year to
decrease the amount they spend on optional equipment. This year they are trying to spend the least
they can, but what they are recommending this year is going to come back
eventually.
Commissioner
McLean said his concern is for what can be done to remove the $13.6M
deficit. He hopes they will have
discussion about how to bring that number down.
Chairman
Carey stated as they go through this presentation, they will have that
discussion. They have to discuss
changing the process they have lived under in the County for a long time.
Commissioner
Van Der Weide said regarding Jetta Point, he assumes Ms. Coto has checked with
the
Ms.
Coto advised she has a memorandum on that.
She continued her presentation with the topic of General
Revenue/Projected Ending Fund Balance Summary.
Chairman
Carey asked if Ms. Coto had a freeze on overtime.
Ms.
Coto said she had a management meeting yesterday and talked about that. They have limited the overtime. In cases of emergencies, they understand in
some cases, they will have to pay overtime; however, there are two other tools
recommended to be used. That is
compensatory time off and the other tool is if there is a project on a Sunday,
and it is a scheduled project, they will amend the employee’s work week so that
he can work Sunday through Thursday instead of Monday through Friday. The work week would remain at 40 hours.
Upon
inquiry by Chairman Carey, Ms. Coto said they have seen significant overtime in
the Enterprise Fund. She will provide
information later to her on the annual amount of overtime there has been.
Commissioner
Dallari asked how many people are being ordered in and what is the dollar
figure associated with that.
Ms.
Coto stated there are a mber of elements in the County contracts that are
related to time trades, overtime and such.
Fire
Chief Leanna Raw addressed the Board to comment on the fire contracts and overtime. She said what creates the overtime is the
number of people that are permitted off each shift and they may have workers
compensation injuries and those types of things. Overtime persons have to be hired to fill
those positions to keep their minimum manning hours.
Upon
inquiry by Chairman Carey, Ms. Raw advised that she will provide the information
on the total salary budget for her department.
Tad
Stone, Public Safety Director, addressed the Board to state they do have to
maintain minimum manning. They have a
number of overhire slots scheduled into each shift. Sometimes, they have to have additional
people come in to provide the minimum manning.
He said all that is built into the contracts.
Mr.
Stone advised Commissioner Dallari that they consistently go through the hiring
process, and they constantly fill from the bottom. He thinks they are down to six positions now.
Ms.
Coto advised the Board that the amount of dollars in the General Fund last year
was approximately $600,000 for overtime.
Chairman
Carey said much of the discussion today will probably need to apply across-the-board
because the other funds don’t have the projections they had hoped to have.
Ms.
Coto explained that when she speaks of the General Fund, she is including
Transportation, Trust Fund, Stormwater and some of the others. She continued her presentation with the
General Revenue/Ending Fund Balance Projections.
Chairman
Carey clarified that when Ms. Coto speaks of the beginning fund balances, she
is talking about what the Board thinks of as reserves.
Ms.
Coto said the reserve account is now at about 5% of the budget. Even if they take $9 million out of reserves,
they would have 10.7% reserves and still maintain the policy they have
established and can get through FY 2009/10 before she believes they would get
themselves into a precarious situation.
Chairman
Carey said when they do the mid-year budget, she would like to see where that
money came from to clearly see where it is fluctuating.
Ms.
Polk stated there is a detailed section in the Fiscal Performance Report for
Ending Year 2006/07 that explains what the beginning fund balances would be for
2007/08.
Chairman
Carey said the revenues have not come in where they anticipated, and the Board
needs to see it currently.
Ms.
Coto said the Board may not have seen the document Ms. Polk referred to as it
was just distributed last week. She said
staff would break out and provide that information in greater detail.
Commissioner
McLean said his concern is that they are not taking steps beyond the current to
be able to deal with what they can see as a deteriorating situation. They also have the challenge of unfunded
“band aids,” (new initiatives coming from
Ms.
Coto stated if they don’t reduce the expenditures, they will have less money to
carry forward and, with revenues not growing at the rate they have in the past,
they will find themselves in a declining situation.
Chairman
Carey said at the end of the day, the expenditures have got to be less than
revenue. They need to live within their
means and need to figure out a way they’re going to do that.
Commissioner
Dallari asked if staff had looked at or spoken to the bond rating agency to
make sure they are not moving money around or depleting their revenues that
will affect the bond rating.
Ms.
Coto said the County is still in very good fiscal health compared to many
others in the state of
Chairman
Carey said in her conversations with the bond counsel a couple years ago when
they made the decision not to increase their reserves, that helped the strength
of their situation.
Commissioner
Van Der Weide asked what the penalty is if their bond rating is down-graded.
Ms.
Coto stated they would end up having to take out insurance and won’t get as
good an interest rate.
Commissioner
Van Der Weide said things in
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Henley, Ms. Polk discussed what assumptions were used
to arrive at the projections.
Ms.
Coto said once she receives direction from the Board, staff will go back and go
through the typical process that they will see in July. That would be additional refinement as it
relates to the personal services line and operating lines.
Commissioner
Henley expressed his concern with going ahead and approving the recommendations
now and then finding out they are in a better position than they thought they
would be. They would then have to try to
go back and implement those things or let them ride because of the future
projections.
Ms.
Coto said, typically, in the past, she believes they have been very
conservative. She stated she would not
tell the Board they were as conservative in their forecast looking into the
future. They tried to be optimistic that
the economy will turn around in 24 months.
Staff is presenting the best scenario they can. She added she doesn’t believe the financial
future is going to get brighter in the next few months.
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Chairman
Carey recessed the meeting at 9:58 a.m. and reconvened it at 10:08 a.m. Clerk Maryanne Morse did not return to the
meeting at this time.
Ms.
Coto continued discussion on the financial forecast. She said when she met with the Board last
week, she identified that even though they had cut approximately $14 million
from the budget, that was offset by $7.2 million in revenue loss, primarily
from the funding sources of the gas tax and sales tax. Even if there is an immediate rebound in the
economy and they start to see the gas and sales taxes rebound, they would still
be looking at $9 million to fill.
Ms.
Morse returned to the meeting at this time.
Chairman
Carey said all the forecasters are not predicting a quick turn-around, but they
are saying it will be about a year or two before they will see recovery.
Ms.
Coto continued her presentation with discussion of Outside Agency Funding. She said last year the funding to the
Community Service Agencies was reduced to approximately $800,000. Her recommendation this year is to reduce this
funding level to $637,000. She reviewed
the new recommendations for the agencies as given on page 13 of the Budget
Book.
Commissioner
Dallari asked if the agencies have received additional grants or an increase in
their operating budgets.
Dr.
David Medley, Community Services Director, addressed the Board to state he was
waiting to get the Board’s direction and he hopes to get applications in from
the agencies by mid-June.
Chairman
Carey said the message has been the last couple of years that the agencies need
to look more to private sector funding.
She said she is concerned about the Lighthouse agency’s decreased
funding.
Commissioner
Henley stated the decision Ms. Coto is asking for is for approval on the total
amount and the Board can jockey the funding within that amount.
Chairman
Carey also expressed concern with Workforce being cut 100%.
Ms.
Coto continued with review of the other outside agencies, page 9 of the Budget
Book.
Commissioner
Henley said the status quo funding for Lynx is actually a reduction because of
the cost of gas, tires and so forth and the increased cost of operation.
Commissioner
Dallari said he would like to have a presentation from Lynx.
Under
discussion, Chairman Carey asked what the balance is in the JGI funds.
Bill
McDermott, Economic Development Director, addressed the Board to state he was
not sure what the ending balance is. Ms.
Polk said the projected amount for 2007/08 was $220,000; and the prior year was
$942,000. However, Mr. McDermott said he
didn’t think that figure was correct.
Ms. Polk said staff has projected $892,000 for the Grants-In-Aid line
for this year. Discussion ensued.
Chairman
Carey asked Ms. Coto to verify if MetroPlan’s budget was reduced last year.
Commissioner
Dallari asked Ms. Coto to verify what happens to the
Dr.
Medley stated he did not know directly what the School Board is anticipating. He said the Board needs to be aware that a
funding cut to the Boys and Girls Club will also affect the Midway Safe Harbor,
so that would be a “double whammy.”
Dede
Schaffner, School Board, addressed the Board to state the School Board has not
even discussed not funding this program because they know how important it
is. It would be a “double whammy” if
they have cuts in the Boys and Girls Club as well as this program. She said the School Board feels this program
is a real important part of the Midway community and is making such an
impact. Crime has gone down in that area
and this program keeps the kids off the streets. She would hate to see it cut.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Dallari, Ms. Coto said she had not spoken to the
Sheriff about the drug forfeiture funds and if they could be used for this.
Commissioner
Dallari stated he wants to make sure they are not causing some inevitable
problems in a neighborhood they have been trying to fix for a number of years.
Commissioner
Henley said he thinks it would be appropriate for the Chairman or
Ms.
Schaffner advised the Sheriff currently gives $15,000.
Chairman
Carey asked if a staff person could make contact while this meeting is ongoing
so that by the end of the day, the Board may know if the Sheriff could use
those funds to make up the $10,000 difference.
Ms.
Coto advised that the funding for MetroPlan for last year was originally
proposed at $244,790 and the County reduced it to $220,311.
Commissioner
Dallari asked if staff had looked at using Tourist Development dollars for the
Arts program.
Ms.
Coto said she thinks they would have to look at whether or not any programs
actually bring individuals from outside the community for overnight stays;
whether they are drawing tourists in order to be able to justify that. She thinks that might be a difficult
justification.
Commissioner
Dallari asked Ms. Coto to look into that.
Commissioner
Henley said use of Tourist Development funds is based on how many room nights
are going to be sold.
Commissioner
Dallari stated he thinks staff needs to look at whether some of those dollars being
spent are bringing more money into the County.
Chairman
Carey said other agencies use Tourist Development dollars for the arts and they
are all under the Florida Statutes. She
said she would have concern about reducing all the funding to the arts. She added that this is a legal question.
Mr.
McMillan stated that generally for funding the arts, you can provide funding
for events and certain things but it has to be used for advertising. He thinks the County provides some Tourist
Development dollars for certain events, but he will have to check on that.
Mr.
McDermott said he has been having conversations with the Seminole County Arts
group and if they can assist them in developing and printing marketing
materials to be distributed to people outside the County, that would be a
legitimate use.
Chairman
Carey said she has a concern about going to $0 per capita for something (United
Arts) they all talked about that helps create a high quality of life.
Commissioner
Henley stated the Tourist Development budget is not huge and most of the money
goes for bringing events to the County.
Upon
inquiry by Chairman Carey, Ms. Polk advised the Tourist Development budget is
$3.5 million.
Commissioner
McLean said they should, at the bare minimum, keep the funding the same.
Commissioner
Henley said he thinks it would be appropriate for the Board to be briefed on everything,
particularly what the advertising program consists of now. There are some projects that bring in a $3
million return on the investment.
Commissioner
Van Der Weide stated he thinks it would be good for them to have a presentation
and said they have an extensive advertising operation.
Mr.
McDermott advised on the Tourism web site all the local attractions are listed
along with events that are going to be taking place. They have talked about having one document
showing all the arts listed.
Ms.
Coto asked for direction from the Board at this time.
Commissioner
McLean said it makes sense to fund any entity that is bringing in contributions
more than the County’s contribution.
Commissioner
Henley stated he doesn’t recall any requests from the Arts Theatre for dollars
to help promote them and yet everybody else makes a request.
Chairman
Carey said she thinks the ruling in the past has been that they could not use
Tourist Development dollars to do that.
Mr.
McMillan added that the Board is not using those dollars to budget the
program. He doesn’t know of anything
that prevents them from allowing for specific events that are eligible for
advertising or marketing dollars.
Commissioner
McLean said he would relay the information to the Arts Board at the meeting
this afternoon and he guarantees they will be glad to make the request.
Chairman
Carey reiterated her concern about cutting organizations 100%, particularly in
the not-for-profit organizations. She
specified SWOP,
Ms.
Coto said she is looking for a total figure and not necessarily each
agency. The Board can concur with the
dollar amount and can discuss further today or at a future point how they wish
to allocate those dollars.
Commissioner
Henley stated he hoped they would go through all the expenditures including any
revenues before they begin making decisions.
Chairman
Carey said she did not see any information from the Constitutional Officers and
what kind of reductions they might expect to see from them.
Ms.
Coto advised their budgets are due for the May/June time line. The Tax Collector and Clerk are fee
officers. She has not seen any of the
budgets for the Constitutional Officers that the County funds, as they are not
due yet. She said staff has provided the
Sheriff with a lot of information on the process they went through for
reductions and she is anticipating seeing some reduction recommendations from
the Sheriff.
Commissioner
Henley asked if Ms. Coto had gotten a definite figure from the Tax Collector as
to the “hit” the County will take with regard to his decision to offer driver
licensing.
Ms.
Coto said in the past, the County has seen approximately $6 million from the
Tax Collector in return of excess fees. He
has indicated that this fiscal year will be close to $2 million and that amount
will increase up to about $4 million at the end of 2008/09. She doesn’t know if he has the answer yet on
whether they will see additional revenues with the new office.
Commissioner
Henley said under those circumstances, he would like to see the Board send a
letter to the Tax Collector asking him to postpone any further expenditures until
they know exactly what the County’s situation is going to be. He doesn’t question the Tax Collector’s right,
but he questions the timing about offering another driver license office.
Chairman
Carey noted that as an elected Constitutional Officer, the BCC has no authority
over the Tax Collector and he has the right to make that decision.
Chairman
Carey reviewed that the total amount of the reductions is $723,305 for outside
agency funding. She said she thinks the
Board should hear the whole presentation before making decisions.
Commissioner
McLean said he thinks it would be difficult until they get the total picture of
what they have and then they can make the decisions.
Ms.
Coto continued her presentation with Services to Governmental Agencies, page 15
of the Budget Book.
Commercial
Driver’s License Testing
Ms.
Coto recommended the amount of $300 per person and $75 for retesting.
Fleet
Repairs
Ms.
Coto recommended $80 per hour with no charge to those Constitutional Officers
funded by the County.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Henley on the fee-based officers, Clerk Maryanne Morse
stated the County will receive the money in excess fees or in non-court-related
activities, so they get it one way or another.
Whereupon,
Commissioner Henley said he agrees unless the Constitutional Officer decides to
do something else with the money.
Chairman
Carey said that is true in the Clerk’s case but not true in the Tax Collector’s
case as he has a lot more flexibility with what he does with his money.
Fuel
Costs
Ms.
Coto recommended discontinuing this service and operating on the open market or
increasing the charges to cover overhead.
Mr.
Raymond explained what is included in the overhead costs, such as ordering
fuel, tracking the fuel, replacing cards, and money spent on the tanks for tank
tests, certification, and equipment for pumping the fuel.
Chairman
Carey asked if the $.05 per gallon surcharge did not cover those costs.
Mr.
Raymond said the surcharge does not cover the cost of the fuel sites, maintenance
of the sites and administering the system.
Commissioner
Dallari stated if they talk about cost, they should also talk about the savings
that bulk rate would give. Commissioner
Van Der Weide pointed out the other consideration is the convenience to the
taxpayer.
Ms.
Coto said her primary concern is with State agencies and municipalities, which
is only
Commissioner
Dallari expressed concern about the County losing sight of being on the cutting
edge of partnering. They can’t ruin that
partnering with friends in the cities and other Constitutional Officers, as
well as State agencies.
Chairman
Carey suggested they go back and look at a surcharge as a percentage or some
other fluctuating number. They don’t
want to totally do things that are going to have a negative impact on the County.
Commissioner
Henley stated he thinks the County would be ordering to the capacity of the
tanks any way, so it may be to their advantage to stockpile. He said he strongly believes in partnering,
but the question is can they continue to operate in the future with the way
they have done in the past. They might
need to look at more partnerships that have much more of an impact on their
quality of life to provide more services at lower costs.
Switchboard
Services
Ms.
Coto asked if the Board would want staff to do any evaluation of whether it is
worth it to see if they should have a charge to the agencies. Now the County absorbs all those costs.
Chairman
Carey said for any State agencies, they should look at trying to recover costs.
GIS
Ms.
Coto stated if the Board agrees, staff can evaluate this and bring back some
information.
Chairman
Carey asked staff to do an evaluation on all the services and bring back that
information to the Board.
Telephone
Services
Ms.
Coto advised this is for information only.
Chairman
Carey suggested reviewing this when they replace the telephone systems.
Infrastructure
Phone Service
Ms.
Coto said if they go to the Voice Over IP, staff believes there are some opportunities
with the Constitutional Officers and municipalities in providing those services
as revenue generators. Staff is now
looking for a third-party vendor to get support for the current system, but
have not found one. As she gets
information, she will come back to the Board.
Network
Service
Ms.
Coto asked for approval to evaluate this charge and bring back to the Board her
recommendation of what the County should be charging.
Tower
Collocation Services
Ms.
Coto stated staff believes they could have a significant increase in revenues
in looking at this. She wants to
research it and bring this item back to the Board.
Commissioner
Henley said he wants to know the sunset date in the agreements.
Ms.
Coto stated many of the agreements date back to the 1970’s and 1980’s and
established a flat rate that rolled over from year to year. In her opinion, it would be a good idea to
evaluate all agreements and bring them up to the current standards.
Chairman
Carey asked staff to not exclude the private sector in this also.
Jim
Beach, Public Works/Stormwater, addressed the Board to advise staff is
currently in the process of evaluating the towers. There are currently 10 towers and seven have
no more capacity. They are presently
evaluating how they can strengthen the towers.
Chairman
Carey said they could look at every governmental building for opportunities,
any property the County has along the interstates and all County properties.
Fiber
WAN
Ms.
Coto said there is a fee charged for this service. Staff is looking to do an overall cost
analysis and hope to have that information by late June and will bring that
forward to determine if they should increase fees.
Interoperability
Radio Systems
Ms.
Coto stated her recommendation is to look at these and determine whether the
County is recouping its costs.
Chairman
Carey said the Commissioners all agree this is something they need to look at.
Field Maintenance
Bryan
Nipe, Leisure Services Manager, addressed the Board to discuss the agreement
the County has with the School Board. He
said the County is not using these fields at this time.
Whereupon,
Chairman Carey said if the County is not using the fields, the County should
not be maintaining them. The other Board
members concurred.
Highway Embankment
Maintenance
I-4, 17-92 On/Off Ramps
Chairman
Carey questioned why not use drought-tolerant materials on the embankments.
Mr.
Nipe said the County did terminate a portion of this program. They have terminated the east side and will
just maintain the west side. He said everything
used is very drought tolerant.
Under
discussion, Chairman Carey asked Ms. Coto to go back and look at reducing the
level of service.
Parking Lot Maintenance
Chairman
Carey asked for concensus from the Board on not mowing the six-acre grassy
overflow parking lot for the Zoo.
Chairman
Carey said probably the County can do some one-time maintenance things, but not
on-going maintenance.
Mosquito
Control Program
Ms.
Coto said her recommendation is for funding into the future. She said the Mosquito Control Advisory
Committee is looking at this and will be discussing it with all the partners
and staff will bring this back within the next few months. She thinks this is something they need to
look at as she believes the County’s agreement was for a couple of years.
Public Safety Dispatch
(Fire/EMS)
Animal Services
Emergency Management
Emergency Medical Services
QA/Training, Etc.
Ms.
Coto said she will leave it open to the Board about charging for dispatch and
animal services.
Chairman
Carey stated if they didn’t have the training facility, other governments would
have to send their firefighters somewhere else and they would pay for it.
Ms.
Coto said she will work on that. They
have indicated to the municipalities that, for a fee, others can use the
facility.
Chairman
Carey stated she thinks staff should be promoting use of the facility to
surrounding counties that send their folks out to have them trained.
Commissioner
Dallari said for the facility to be what others would want, they would need a
burn building and the County does not have one.
Commissioner
McLean stated he thinks staff should look at both dispatch and animal services
to see what the magnitude of the dollars are.
Ms.
Coto advised staff will evaluate that.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Dallari about outsourcing animal services, Ms. Coto
said her experience is that the County will still have to do the back-up,
particularly in outsourcing the kenneling.
Chairman
Carey reviewed the Board’s consensus given as follows: For the Commercial Driver License testing,
the County will institute a charge of $300 plus $75 for retakes; For Fleet
Repairs, there will be an $80/hour rate charge, which is a reduced rate from
what the market would be; the Board will not talk about Fuel Cost at this
point; Switchboard Services, GIS, Telephone Services, Infrastructure Services,
Network Services, Internet Services and Data Services will all be reviewed as
part of the Administrative Services allocation and how that would be computed
(staff will do an evaluation); Staff will review the Tower Collocation Services
publicly and privately to see what can be done to generate some additional
funds; the costs for the Fiber WAN, Interoperability Radio Systems and
Addressing Services will be evaluated, not to make a profit but to recoup
County costs; the County will no longer pay for the Greenwood Lakes Middle
School or Central Florida Zoo maintenance function; Staff will evaluate revamping
services at I-4 with DOT; the County will honor its commitment on the Mosquito
Control Advisory Committee and look at the extended use she thinks the Commissioners
had all contemplated and look for the Advisory Committee to make that recommendation;
and staff will evaluate and bring back before the Board the Public Safety
Dispatch, Emergency Management, Animal Services, and Emergency Medical Services
AQ/Training, Etc.
Chairman
Carey recessed the meeting at 12 noon, reconvening at 1:04 p.m., with all Commissioners
and all other Officials (with Clerk of Court Maryanne Morse entering late),
with the exception of Deputy Clerk Carylon Cohen, who was replaced by Deputy
Clerk Eva Roach, who were present at the Opening Session.
At
the request of Chairman Carey, Ms. Coto updated the Board on the discussions
from this morning relating to Outside Agency reductions. She stated Chief Fleming of the Sheriff’s
office informed her that
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Van Der Weide, Ms. Coto advised Safehouse Midway and
SERVICE
LEVEL CHANGES
Ms.
Coto reviewed the proposed Service Level Changes and Implications for the
following Divisions of the Administration and Administrative Services offices
as outlined on pages 23 through 29:
Ms.
Coto informed Commissioner Dallari that staff is looking at automating
Purchasing’s Inventory Control through bar coding. As it relates to the overall process of RFPs,
staff will be looking at doing an overall efficiency study. She stated there may not be a potential to
save money as in actual dollars, but it would be efficiency of getting better
utilization of staff.
Upon
inquiry by Chairman Carey, Ms. Coto advised some of the recommendations they
have addressed reduces some duplication but they will be doing others that
require a much more comprehensive review.
Ms.
Coto continued by reviewing the proposed Service Level Changes and Implications
for Administrative Services/Support Services (Page 30); and Community
Information/SGTV (Page 31).
Chairman Carey stated she would like to know
if it is necessary for SGTV to entertain 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with
programs. That may be something that
staff can look into.
Ms.
Coto continued by reviewing Community Services (Personal Services for Extension
Services, Low Income Assistance Program, Probation, and Veteran’s Services)
(Pages 34 through 37).
Commissioner
Van Der Weide stated he knows a long-term employee who has been off on sick
leave and he believes he will need a doctor’s clearance to go back to
work. Whereupon, Ms. Coto said she has
not figured that in.
Commissioner
Van Der Weide stated he has talked to some of the veterans and they have
special problems. The County needs to
respect their employees if they are out on sick leave and if they have a
doctor’s clearance to come back to work, they have to honor that. He added that veterans have very specific and
complicated issues.
Ms.
Coto agreed that the veteran ranks are growing due to the recent world
situation. The two Veterans’ Services
officers are both trained. She stated
she understands the Board’s point and she has had discussions with Human
Resources as it relates to that situation.
David
Medley, Community Services Director, addressed the Board to advise the two
officers that are currently working at Veteran Services are Navy veterans, and
the other individual is not actually a veteran but has worked in the
Ms. Coto continued reviewing the proposed
level changes for Court Support/Judicial (Page 39).
Chairman
Carey stated no foster children in
Commissioner
Dallari stated he would have to agree with that to a certain degree. When they are talking about adults it’s one
thing, but when they are talking about children, he would like to see that
funded until the end of the fiscal year.
The
Board consented to keeping the
General Master through the end of the fiscal year.
Ms.
Coto explained to Commissioner Henley how one other county handled this and
what the impact will be for the reduction.
Discussion ensued.
Ms.
Coto continued reviewing the Service Level Changes for the following: Economic Development; Fiscal Services/Grants;
and Human Resources for Employees Programs (Pages 41 through 46). The Board discussed in length with Ms. Coto
and Janet Davis, Human Resources Director, the Education and Tuition Refund
Program, the Citizens Academy, employee picnic, and distributing turkeys during
Thanksgiving. The Board recommended suspending the Tuition
Refund Program at the end of the budget year or revising it, with staff to
bring back additional information. Ms.
Coto concluded the Human Resources proposals by reviewing the Recruitment and
Training Divisions.
Upon
inquiry by Chairman Carey, Ms. Coto advised staff will bring back information
on the Wellness Program.
Commissioner
Dallari stated he would like staff to bring back information on how eliminating
the Wellness Program will affect the medical insurance premiums.
Ms.
Coto reviewed the Service Level Proposals for Information Technology and the
following Divisions for Leisure Services:
Administrative Office;
Discussion
ensued relating to dissolving the Natural Lands (Page 59) as a division and
putting the program under the Streetscapes & Trails Division.
Ms.
Coto recommended closing five branch libraries (Page 62) on Fridays and
reducing the hours of operations from 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m., Monday through
Thursday. Discussion ensued relating to
how Friday was chosen to close the libraries.
Ms. Coto reviewed the Museum proposal (Page 63) by reducing the number
of hours the Museum is open, eliminating the traveling exhibits, and
discontinuing any new Historical Markers.
Commissioner
Dallari requested staff to look into whether or not they can use TDC dollars
for the museum.
Ms.
Coto reviewed Planning & Development Divisions (Pages 66 through 69) as
follows: Administration; Planning;
Development Review; and Building-Development Review Fund.
Upon
inquiry by Chairman Carey, Ms. Coto advised this proposal would result in
putting about $100,000 a year back into the Reserve Fund. A consultant firm, KPMG, is doing a study and
she is planning to meet with the consultants later this month to go over
it. She said she will bring back to the
Board what she believes needs to be charged associated with cost recovery. Discussion ensued.
Ms.
Coto reviewed the Service Level Change proposed for Public Safety (Page 71) and
Public Works (Pages 73 through 86) for the following Divisions: Business Office; Roads-Stormwater (Contracted
Services, County-wide Operations, and District Operations); Stormwater
Field/Water Quality; Engineering (Support Services and Production Service);
Traffic Engineering (Striping Outsourced Services, Utility Locates, Signal
Retiming Program, Traffic Calming Program, and Capital Projects); and Public
Works/All Divisions. Discussion ensued
relating to the sales tax, pedestrian overpasses, and the Unpaved Road Program.
Chairman
Carey recessed the meeting at 2:30 p.m., reconvening it at 2:40 p.m.
Chairman
Carey advised the Supervisor of Elections, Mike Ertel, has informed her that
the County should expect him to return about $100,000 at the end of this year,
and about $230,000 from the special election that was not held.
Ms.
Coto concluded her presentation by reviewing the Revenue Alternatives as
outlined on Pages 87 and 88.
Maryanne
Morse, Clerk of Court, entered the meeting at this time.
Ms.
Coto reviewed the Public Service Tax, Special Assessments, Regulatory Fees, and
Library Fines & Fees. She stated as
the Board may recall, when the original property tax reform was found to be
unconstitutional, the Legislature had to rewrite that constitutional amendment
before it was actually put on the ballot.
When they did so, they failed to fix their trim notice. There is a glitch bill going through the
Legislature to address this but since they failed to address the trim notices,
the Board can go back to the rolled-back rate of 4.3578 mills. Under the property tax reform, the
rolled-back rate for next year is 4.6 mills, which is greater than their
present millage rate and that would result in $8 million in additional
revenue. The maximum millage rate would
be 4.8 mills, which is $14 million.
Chairman
Carey stated that would be increasing their millage rate and that means a tax
increase, and she is not interested in doing that.
Commissioner
Dallari stated he would agree as that wasn’t the intent that the voters
understood.
Chairman
Carey stated she doesn’t have a problem looking at cost recovery for the
services they provide, but she is not in favor of levying any new taxes at this
time.
Commissioners
Dallari and Van Der Weide agreed with that.
Commissioner
McLean stated he also agrees with that, but given the uncertainty of what they
deal with now and what may come in the next two or three years, it may make
sense for them to begin the process to consider the concept of a stormwater
fee.
Chairman
Carey stated there are a lot of things the Board needs to look at and make
tough decisions on.
Commissioner
Dallari asked if staff has looked at any of the lease spaces to see if they can
consolidate.
Ms.
Coto stated if the Board accepted her recommendations and service level
reductions that she has proposed today, there is some lease space that they can
vacate in the Reflections building. The
entire Public Works staff can be moved from the first floor to the second
floor. If they proceed forward in any
direction with respect to the Sheriff’s Office and Probation, that would
eliminate the lease space in the
Commissioner
Dallari stated there is a lot of office space in the
Ms. Coto advised she would have to do a
complete analysis of all of the leased space they have. The
Chairman
Carey recommended that Ms. Coto look into the lease space and open space and get
back to the Board during the budget process.
She clarified staff has found out that the Sheriff’s Office can make up
for the Midway Safe Harbor and maybe staff can look at reducing the proposed
reduction for community services agencies to $150,000. She stated she has concerns about eliminating
the clinic as that is a very important program.
She said she also has concerns eliminating money for the United Arts and
that is something they need to think about.
Commissioner
Henley stated he would recommend that the Board accept the
Chairman
Carey stated she feels the Board will have to give the
Motion by Commissioner Van Der Weide,
seconded by Commissioner Henley to accept the recommended reduction of
$7,496,167 for Outside Community Agencies.
Under
discussion, Commissioner McLean stated he feels the Board needs to look
carefully at eliminating those entities completely from the budget.
Commissioner
Henley stated he doesn’t think the Board is sending a message that this is what
they want to do. The Board is required
by law to balance the budget and as he sees it, the Board is giving the
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Dallari, Ms. Coto advised she understands the motion is
to fund $7,506,167 (which includes the $10,000 for Midway Safe Harbor), and
staff would come back to the Board with any additional revenue savings that
they receive from the Supervisor of Elections to try to address some of the
Board’s concerns in the areas of Local Health Council, United Arts and
SWOP.
Chairman
Carey stated she feels that number is just too high and if they don’t adjust
the recommended reduction number, they are going to find themselves in October
not knowing what the final number is going to be. She said, therefore, she is not going to
support the motion.
Districts
1, 3 and 4 voted AYE.
Commissioners
McLean and Carey voted NAY.
SERVICES
TO GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES
At
the request of Chairman Carey, Ms. Coto advised that she is recommending the following for services
provided to governmental agencies: the
County would charge other entities that would use Commercial Driver’s License
Testing ($100 per test for a total of $300); Charging $80.00/hr. for Fleet
repairs; Staff to do a further analysis for Switchboard Services, GIS,
Telephone Services, Network Services, Tower Collocation, Fiber WAN and
Interoperability Radio Systems, and bring back to the Board an estimate as to
whether or not there is an interest, and what the associated revenue would be
on those; terminate the maintenance of Greenwood Lakes Middle School athletic
fields; discontinue maintenance of the Central Florida Zoo’s grass parking lot;
await the recommendation from the municipal counsel relating to funding options
for the Mosquito Control Program with municipalities; evaluate the Animal
Services and Public Safety Dispatch and bring back recommendations to the
Board; and staff is not proposing any charges to the Emergency Management and
Emergency Medical Services. She informed
Commissioner Henley that she did not include the fire training center but she
can include that as well.
Upon
inquiry by Chairman Carey, Ms. Coto advised staff will also look at reducing
the overall cost for Highway embankment maintenance.
Motion by Commissioner McLean, seconded
by Commissioner Van Der Weide to approve the changes to services for
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
SERVICE
LEVEL CHANGES
Ms.
Coto reiterated the changes to Service Levels including the following: review
the Wellness Program; Tuition Program, revisit the overpass issue relating to
the trails; look at the Reflections lease; as well as approving the funding of
the General Master position until 9/30/08.
She stated she would recommend those reduction of service level changes
take effect immediately and will be handled in accordance with the current
personnel policies as adopted by the BCC, including reduction in force and any
information will come back during the budget process.
Motion by Commissioner McLean, seconded
by Commissioner Van Der Weide to approve service level reductions as
recommended by the
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
REVENUE
ALTERNATIVES
Ms.
Coto stated staff will be bringing back the building and development fees, as
well as the library fines and fees.
Motion by Commissioner Dallari,
seconded by Commissioner Henley to authorize staff to evaluate and analyze the
use of TDC funds for the construction of
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
PUBLIC
INFORMATION PROGRAM
Ms.
Coto stated staff will be working with Community Information to put together a
program relating to placing pamphlets and flyers in County buildings to notify
the public of all associated changes and reduction in services they will see in
light of the property tax reform.
Commissioner
McLean stated he feels they could have done a better job last year of getting
the information out so that people would understand the ramifications and how
it would have affected them.
Ms.
Coto stated staff will be doing it with minimal dollars and they will be doing
it within existing resources.
Chairman
Carey stated the Board would like to see the pamphlets prior to distributing
them to the public.
Commissioner
Dallari stated doing this is not an easy task as this is one of the hardest
things they have had to do. He stated he
feels that for the Board to do this in good conscious they need to have some
skin in the game. Therefore, he would
suggest the Board reduce their salaries by 10%.
Motion by Commissioner Dallari,
seconded by Commissioner Van Der Weide to authorize reducing the
Under
discussion, Commissioner Dallari stated if they expect the employees to feel
the pain then the Board should feel the pain as well.
Chairman
Carey recommended eliminating the $75.00 stipend as that would be a 12%
reduction.
Commissioner
Van Der Weide stated in order to change an ordinance they will have to have a
public hearing.
Chairman
Carey stated the Charter amendment changed the way the BCC salaries are
adjusted.
Commissioner
Dallari stated the Board can reduce their salaries by a motion.
Mr.
McMillan stated the Board will have to amend the ordinance by having a public
hearing.
Commissioner
Dallari reiterated his motion is to
authorize scheduling a public hearing to reduce the Commissioners’ salaries by
10%.
Commissioner
Van Der Weide stated he feels this should be an annual thing and the Board can
reevaluate it next year.
Commissioner
Dallari stated this would be effective immediately assuming it is approved.
Chairman
Carey stated the motion is to authorize a public hearing to reduce the
Commissioners’ salaries on the first pay period after the public hearing.
Commissioner
Van Der Weide stated it seems to him that if this motion passes, the reduction
will certainly be approved at the public hearing.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
Ms.
Coto stated Commissioner Henley has asked for a recap relating to the sales tax
and staff will get that to the Board some time next week.
Commissioner
Henley stated he would like to commend Ms. Coto and staff for the amount of
time they have put into this. It was
something that they and the Board did not want to do, but when the Legislature
and the people spoke, they are the ones who put the County into this
situation. Under the law, this is
something the BCC had to do from a standpoint of balancing this budget. Over the last eight years, there have been
471 unfunded mandates handed down to local governments and that is a tremendous
burden placed upon local revenues. On
top of that, they have gone through two years of reductions and the future
doesn’t look bright. He said what they
have done today is going to impact the services the public gets. The public has asked for a reduction in
revenues, therefore, there is going to be a lapse in the amount of services
that is provided.
Chairman
Carey stated the County could have dealt with this if they just had the
property tax reform, Amendment One, or the economy, but since all three
situations were combined it caused them to make these decisions today.
Commissioner
Van Der Weide stated he feels the County needs to disclose the number of
positions that were eliminated.
Ms.
Coto stated in excess of 100 positions were eliminated including 71 fill
positions.
Commissioner
McLean stated he has been a business owner for 14 years and he has had this
type of situation more times than he cares to think about. The Board understands that they have done
everything to mitigate this situation as best as they could. The challenge is this is dictated to them
and he feels they could have gone through this if they had to deal with only
one of those issues.
Chairman
Carey stated every major employer in
Commissioner
Dallari stated the BCC is very sorry for doing what they have done, but it is
not this budget cycle that they are worried about, it is the next cycle they
are trying to plan for.
Ms.
Coto thanked her department directors and division managers for their help as
it was a team effort. She stated she
would like to thank the Board for their support as well. She said she would like to let the employees
know that they have evaluated them for months to try to come up with any other
alternative other than the one they presented today. She added she needs to send a message to
those employees who are funded out of the General Fund and the Development
Review fund that reductions of those funds discussed today are done for this
year and there will not be another “shoe dropped” over the next few
months. She acknowledged that she will
be looking at the Solid Waste and Water and Sewer Funds.
There
being no further business to come before the Board, the Chairman declared the
meeting adjourned at 3:40 p.m., this same date.
ATTEST_______________________Clerk_____________________Chairman
cc/er