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Minutes 10-19-91 (2) MINUTES OF CITY COMMISSION BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1991 AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT Arline Weiner, Mayor Edward Harmening, Vice Mayor Jose Aguila, Commissioner Lillian Artis, Commissioner Lynne Matson, Commissioner J. Scott Miller, City Manager James Cherof, City Attorney Sue Kruse, City Clerk CALL TO ORDER Mayor Arline Weiner called the budget public hearing to order at 7:00 p.m. AGENDA APPROVAL AdoPtion There being no additions, deletions or corrections to the agenda, vice Mayor Harmening moved to adopt the agenda. Commissioner Artis seconded the motion which carried 5-0. City Manager Miller explained some of the Federal regulations with regard to Florida Statute 200.065(2)(d). These rules are necessary to adopt the millage rate and budget. He read from Memorandum No. 91-246, a copy of which is attached to the origi- nal copy of these minutes on file in the City Clerk's Office. He explained the first issue to be discussed would be the millage rate. The rollback rate has been calculated to be 7.4846 mills. Thei proposed millage rate at this time is set at 7.7528. This represents a difference of .2682 or a 3.6% increase. The speci- fic reason for the increase in the ad valorem tax revenue is to maintain the current level of municipal services, programs and activities. City Manager Miller further explained the General Operating Budget before the Comtnission is balanced. However, the budget is a financial guide. The ad valorem taxes now are 7.7528 and can- not, be increased. However, they can be lowered. The'other reve- nue~ sources appropriated are at the highest level of anticipated collection at this time. City Manager Miller pointed out that Governor Chiles has stated the condition of the economy has forced down the State sales tax. This means a loss of $2.2 million to the cities. The City lost $400,000 last year for this reason. Also, challenges to property - 1 - 'MINUTES OF CITY CO~MISSION BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 19, 1991 assessments have doubled this year. Last year, the Assessment Board of Palm Beach County granted reassessments which produced a loss in real estate tax of $83,000. City staff has built in a 1.5i% uncollectible rate should this happen again. Thiis budget consists of limited enhanced economic benefits, the layi off of nine (9) employees, and cuts in programs. Any changes or iadditions to this budget must correspond with a decrease or displacement of another employee, an activity or program elsiewhere in the budget. The budget must be balanced. City Manager Miller advised the Commission will adopt the final mllilage rate first. The final budget will then be adopted. The adoption of the budget and millage will be done by resolution. P_U~LIC HEARING A. i Final Budget and Aggregate Millage Rate for Fiscal Year ~1991/92 MAYOR WEINER OPENED THE PUBLIC HEARING. Eddie Mitchell, 329 NE 12th Avenue spoke on behalf of Claudette Parke-Lekettey. She is an Accountant III in the Finance Department. She will be terminated as of September 30, 1991. SheI holds degrees in accounting and has made the best of a bad situation since coming to work at the City. She has been here twol years. He claimed she was hired as an Accountant III, but herl duties are everything except those of an Accountant III. Non~ of her co-workers took time to help her learn her job. However, when her work was checked by auditors, she was shoWered with memos from her superiors criticizing her performance. He poiinted out that if she was going to be late for work, she would cali~ in; however, the time was removed from her vacation time while other department employees were permitted to make up such time during lunch hour or by coming in early. He referred to her letiter dated September 9, 1991 and read Paragraph 4 where she claims to have been victimized and discriminated against by the Finance Department. He Suggested the City Manager monitor the Finance Department. He fee~s other departments might be experiencing similar problems. He ilhoped the City is not supporting segregation and racial discrimination and ignoring civil rights laws. He felt employees deserve the same dignity afforded to the citizens of the City. He !!stated there are ways to trim the budget. He claimed the experts at City Hall have their priorities mixed up. He referred back to Ms. Parke-Lekettey's letter. In Paragraph 3, she~' stated she took the initiative to collect the receivables. - 2 - ~MINUTES OF CITY COMMISSION BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 19, 1991 City policy has been to write, off uncollected funds annually and turn them over to a collection agency. This agency is paid for by tax dollars. That agency has not collected $1.00 since Ms. Parlke-Lekettey has been in the Finance Department. He suggested thei City trim the collection agencies frOm the budget and not Ms. Parike-Lekettey. She has collected thousands of dollars of reve- nue! for the City. He claimed that because of her, most, if not alli, outstanding debts to the City are current. She collected $12i,182 from one customer of which 2,432 had already been written offl. He recommended Ms. Parke-Lekettey be designated as the "EmPloyee of the Year". He iurged the Commission to reconsider keeping Ms. Parke-Lekettey in her current position. Gary Small, 949 Brookdale Drive, spoke about the recent reaissessments and tax increases. He lives in Boynton Isles. Mosit of the residents are retired citizens. Most people purchased their homes for approximately $70,000. Today, most of those homes are valued at $250,000. The residents cannot afford to ipay the taxes. He suggested the homes be assessed at their true value and added that the millage rate should be lowered. He als° pointed out that he attempted to sell a building on Ocean Avenue and 1st Street. He cannot sell it for the price he paid. He.lcannot make any money at that location, but the taxes keep going up. He stated he can not take care of the building if he can't make any money. May~r Weiner explained that the City's millage rate is exactly the! same as last year's rate. The County has raised assessments andi the City has no control over that. Chris Yannuzzi, 75 Cedar Circle, addressed the Commission. He is currently a sergeant in the Police Department and has been a member of the Department since July of 1980. He discussed actions which had occurred over the last few months and days which he objects to. He became a member of the Civil Service Rules Committee which was established by the City Manager in January of 1990. He read from J. iScott Miller's Memorandum #90-029 to all department heads wherein he Stated the Civil Service Rules and Regulations needed revision, updating, amending and in some cases, elimination. The committee was being formed to work with the Civil Service Board andithe City Manager's Office to handle this task. On March 6, 1991, the City Manager addressed the Committee stating the Civil Service Rules are non-economic issues. He stated economic issues needed to be removed from civil service since guidelines are addressed, or will be addressed, in an - 3 - MINUTES OF CITY COMMISSION BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 19, 1991 Administrative Policy Memorandum. Discussion focused on the 5% step plan versus developing a 0, 2½% and 5% plan based on merit. This was the first time such a concept was brought to the Committee. The meetings continued and work was done on the manual in a word- by-word manner. Some sections were left, some were modified and some were removed. The meetings continued for almost one year. Thel meetings then stopped and on February 1, 1991, Sgt. Yannuzzi received a draft of the proposed Civil Service Rules. (A copy of Draft 1 is attached to the original minutes of this meeting on file in the City Clerk's Office.) Arthur Lee suggested this draft be reviewed and asked members to be prepared to comment at the~ next meeting. Upon review, members became aware changes existed which they had not recommended or voted on. At the next meeting, the members revised the revisions. The meetings stopped after two meetings. On ~August 24, 1991, the second draft, dated July 20, 1991, was distributed. (A copy of Draft 2 is attached to the original minutes of this meeting on file in the City Clerk's Office.) Many changes were made which the Committee never discussed. Rule ~6 was dramatically changed. It deals with the total elimination of the step plan. Sgt. Yannuzzi quoted Paragraph #5 of Rule 96. On Tuesday, September 17, 1991 at 8:10 a.m., Sgt. Yannuzzi was informed of a Civil Service Rules Committee meeting to be held at 9:00 a.m. that morning. He knew the situation could become heated because of the changes made without the Committee's knoWledge. At the meeting, the members were given six proposed rule changes which they were told must be pulled out of the package of changes and brought before the Civil Service Board on TueSday night. The rules would then be brought before the City Commission on September 19th and they would be passed at that meeting. That package of rule changes not only included the com- penSation plan as worded by the City Manager, but changes in the waylthe Deputy Chief and Fire Chief are selected, changes in the vacation accrual method, changes in sick time accrual method, changes in how long an employee is paid workers compensation for a job-related injury and changes in the method of lay offs. None of these changes were ever discussed by the Committee. Mr. Sullivan explained to the Committee these changes were from the City Manager and had to be presented to the City Commission at the September 19th meeting for approval. Committee members feel they were pawns. The City Manager seized control of the process whereby benefits are given to the employees. In non- binding arbitration status, the employees are powerless. When Mr. Sullivan could not get the Committee to agree to these - 4 - 'MINUTES OF CITY COMMISSION BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 19, 1991 changes, Mr. Miller and Ms. Parker entered the meeting. Mr. Miller stated he needed the last line of Section 2 in Paragrah 2, on Page 12 changed because he did not budget for the increase. Situations like this are what brought about the development of civil service. Civil service protected government employees from political interference. The meeting ended with no support for any of the proposals from the Committee. Ms. Parker stated she would only present two of the proposals to the Civil Service Board; a one-sentence revision of the compensation plan which would eliminate fiscal 1991/92 automatic merit raises and the proposals involving the Fire Department. At the Civil Service Board, Ms. Parker gave him a package which included the sentence on automatic raises, a reworded section regarding the Fire Department, vacation changes, and sick leave changes. She had told the Committe these would not be included. The Civil Service Board unanimously tabled these changes and returned them to the Committee to be included, if the Committee so desires, and after employees have an opportunity for input, in a total revision package, to be submitted at a later date. He also brought up the subject of lay off. He pointed out that according to the Rules, temporary and probationary employees must be dismissed prior to the dismissal of regular employees. Ms. Parker felt the City Manager would have to look at all City employees and then eliminate all temporary and probationary employees before any regular employee was eliminated. The Committee felt the same and voted not to change that section. However, she was informed by Mr. Sullivan this is not how it was done in the past. Sgt. Yannuzzi questioned when there was ever a lay off in the City of Boynton Beach. He dis] emp exp urg, sid, rea~ the urged the Commission to identify those employees being hissed and their standing with the City. He guaranteed [oyees would be found who should be removed first. He ~essed shock and disgust at the handling of this situation and ~d the Commission to question what is happening and to recon- ~r the budget. As a representative of the employees, he is ay to work on the revision of the Rules taking into account :best interests of the employees and management. ClaUdette Parke-Lekettey, Account III in the Finance Department exp!ained she is being laid off because it is an opportunity for thei department to eliminate someone they tried to eliminate in January but were advised there were no grounds to do so. Two employees have left and not been replaced. In May, a full-time Accountant changed to part-time status. Two employees are on a - 5 - 'MINUTES OF CITY COMMISSION BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 19, 1991 36-hour work week. full-time work. The part-time employees are not interested in Ralph Marchese, 1901 Roma Way, requested the Commission continue to hear about the actions which have taken place over the last few months and last few days. He spoke as a member of the Civil Service Board and a resident of the City. He explained that on Tuesday evening, at 5:00 p.m., he received a copy of the propo- sals the Civil Service Board were to approve at its meeting. This subject needed much discussion. He felt the attempt to pass this through was underhanded. Good administration on the part of the City Commission and City management is necessary for a City to progress. There are many disgruntled employees. If there is a need for change, procedures should be followed. There is no need for emergency meetings. This should have been planned months ago. The City Manager's Office "goofed". He spoke about thel checks and balances procedures. He refused to vote on a monetary matter. He also advised Attorney Cherof he knows his job on the Civil Service Board and needs no memorandum to tell him what that is. His job is to go by the rules. He suggested the Commission take a hard look at the City Manager and his undertakings. The demise of an organization is based on its management. He begged the Commission to treat not only the employees but also the citizens in a fair and equitable manner. Art~ Matthews, 1262 Gondola Court, spoke as an advocate for the youth of Boynton Beach. He asked for consideration to completely fund the Ezell Hester, Jr. Park. He feels postponement of this now will cost much more down the roadl He reminded the Commission that the voters mandated, through the passage of a bond issue, the kind of recreational facilities they wanted in Boynton Beach. He feels this park is owed to the children. He submitted a letter from Maretha Medeus which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Morton Goldstein, 30 Brentwood Drive, suggested the Commission con~ider the facts presented very carefully before making a deci- sion. The most revealing thought he had is that if these revi- sions are passed without careful study, too much power will be given to one single person. This can be very dangerous. Ron Washum, 112 S. Atlantic Drive, addressed the issue of funding Hester Park. He is a member of the North Boynton Beach Task Force. He asked for consideration for the northern population as well as the entire City. Civic pride is needed in this area of the City which can be accomplished with the construction of this park. - 6 - MINUTES OF CITY COMMISSION BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 19, 1991 Greg Seider, 3650 Dorrit Avenue, is a member of the Fire Department. He expressed the full support of Sgt. Yannuzzi's findings. The Fire Department feels this was mishandled, the Committee was misguided and it is a "mess". Someone needs to get to ithe bottom of this situation. He ispoke about the Fire Inspection positions. He mentioned there is ~a possibility one Fire Inspector will be laid off. The Fire Department cannot afford to let that position go. It can be worked out in other ways. Inspections must be done. This posi- tioin does not have to be lost. Pati Laclef, of the Data Processing Department, requested con- sid~ration be given to keeping his position. He is the only Programmer assigned to a new billing project. He is also working in the Building Department. There are only four Programmers. He cla!imed it would be to the City's benefit to keep his position. Richard Sto~e, a City employee, addressed the issue of raises. He !questioned whether the employees will lose the raise they should have received in FY 1991/92; specifically, if an employee is ientitled to two more anniversary raises, will the raise be defSrred or is it lost? He felt it is unfair to take away these raises which are due the employees. It is his feeling the anni- versary raises should be deferred. AccOrding to Carrie Parker, the employees will lose the raise. Vice Mayor Harmening concurred the employees will lose the raise forl one year. He stated if times are worse next year, employees will probably lose next year's raises also. However, if times arel better, raises may be granted. Vicie Mayor Harmening read out some of the wages received by City employees. He explained these are people in the middle wage income bracket. Most of the salaries were in the $50,000 bracket in the Fire Department. He read out the salaries of the middle third of the Police Department. These salaries ranged in the area of $45,000 to $50,000. These amounts are salary only and do not~ include fringe benefits. Chr~is Yannuzzi again approached the podium to ask the purpose of Vice Mayor Harmening reading out these wages. Vice Mayor Harmening wanted the public to know the City employees are decently paid and should not be starving. Ed Hiller¥, Police Chief, stated he is proud of his job and the Cit~. It is his job to care for the safety of his employees and the public. He has been here twenty-one years. Many things have changed, but the Civil Service Rules have remained constant. When necessary, they were used. The Civil Service Board was - 7 - MINUTES OF CITY COMMISSION BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 19, 1991 available to settle arguments. This system worked. The Rules and the Board served a purpose. It worries him when the Rules must be changed overnight. Something as important as these changes should have been approached with input by those who are governed by this system and those who are governing the system. Everyone should understand the change and it should be gradual. Anything which will affect all of the employees should be approached very carefully and in a fair and equitable manner. The morale in the Police Department is very bad. Police Officers spend more time thinking about what is happening here and how they will be affected. If the Police are not concentrating on what they need to do, the people of the City are not getting the best possible service. They are also putting themselves in danger. Police work requires full attention to the job. He urged the Commission to get things back on track. He pointed out that the same officers who are behind him now, gave him a "no confidence in the Chief" vote four years ago. However, he has learned to communicate and work things out. June Muller, a City employee, felt it was necessary to speak for employees other than Fire and Police. She spoke about her posi- tion and the fact that her salary is approximately $18,000. She pointed out that she does not make $10 after five years with the City. She would have gotten a 5% raise in December which would have helped. A 5% raise is only about $6.00 more per week. She also addressed the issue of lay offs. She has stayed with the City because of the security, vacation and sick leave. If this is taken away, what else is left? She is currently doing a SecretarY I job at a Clerk II salary. She feels fairness is the issue. MAYOR WEINER CLOSED THE PUBLIC HEARING. LEGAL A. Proposed Resolution No. R91-151 Rate for FY 1991/92 Re: Adopt Final Millage Attorney Cherof read Proposed Resolution No. R91-151 in full: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BOYNTON iBEACH, FLORIDA, ADOPTING A FINAL MILLAGE RATE OF 7.7528 MILLS FOR THE CITY'S GENERAL OPERATING FUNDS FOR THE--FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 1991 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1992; PROVIDING THAT THE FINAL MILLAGE RATE OF 7.7528 MILLS IS 3.6 PERCENT (3.6%) ABOVE THE COMPUTED ROLLED-BACK RATE; PROVIDING - 8 - ~INUTES OF CITY COMMISSION BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 19, 1991 FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, a Final Budget has been reviewed and considered by the Cit~ Commission of the City of Boynton Beach, Florida, for the ensuing year, with detailed information, including revenues to be deriived from sources other than ad valorem levy, and the City Manaiger has made recommendations as to the amount necessary to be appriopriated for the ensuing year; NOW,i THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, THAT: Section 1. The final millage rate necessary to be levied against ad valorem valuation of property subject to taxation in the City of Boynton Beach, Florida, to produce a sufficient sum which together with departmental and other revenues will be sufficient to pay for appropriations made in the budget for the Fiscal Year beginning October 1, 1991 and ending September 30, 1992, is hereby set at 7.7528 mills plus .5638 for Voted Debt Service for a total Final Millage rate of 8.3166. ..... Section 2. The Final Millaqe rate of 7.7528 mills is 3.6 percent (3.6i%) above the computed rolled-back rate. Sec%ion 3. If any clause, section or other part of this ResOlution shall be held by any court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or invalid, such unconstitutional or inva- lid ~part shall be considered as eliminated and shall in no way affect the validity of the other provisions of this Resolution. Section 4. Ail Resolutions or parts of Resolutions in conflict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict. Section 5. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon passage. Motion Commissioner Matson moved to approve Resolution R91-151. Vice Mayar Harmening seconded the motion. The vote was polled by City Clerk Sue Kruse. The motion carried 5-0. B. iProposed Resolution No. R91-152 !FY 1991/92 Re: Adopt Final Budget for Attorney Cherof read Proposed Resolution No. R91-152 by title only: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ADOPTING A FINAL BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR - 9 - 'MINUTES OF CITY COMMISSION BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 19, 1991 Proposed Resolution No. R91-152 Re: FY 1991/92 Adopt Final Budget for-~ Attorney Cherof read Proposed Resolution No. R91-152 by title only: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ADOPTING A FINAL BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 1991 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1992; DETERMINING AND FIXING THE AMOUNTS NECESSARY TO CARRY ON THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY FOR THE ENSUING YEAR; DETERMINING THE AMOUNT OF APPLICABLE FUNDS ON HAND; ESTIMATING RECEIPTS FOR THE GENERAL FUND; VOTED DEBT SERVICE FUNDS; CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND; PUBLICITY FUND; UTILITIES FUND; VEHICLE SERVICE FUND; SANITATION FUND;, LOCAL OPTION GAS TAX FUND; WAREHOUSE FUND; CRA/COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT FUND; GOLF COURSE FUND; PUBLIC SERVICE TAX BONDS FUNDS; AND SELF-INSURANCE FUND; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Motion Vic~ Mayor Harmeninq moved to adopt Resolution No. R91-152. Commissioner Matson seconded the motion. The vote was polled by City Clerk Sue Kruse. The motion carried 5-0. C. Ordinance-First Reading Proposed Ordinance No. 091-68 Re: Adopting the Budget and setting appropriations for FY 1991/92 Attorney Cherof read Proposed Ordinance No. 091-68 by title only: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ADOPTING A BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 1991, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1992; AND SETTING FORTH APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE OPERATION OF THE GOVERNMENT; ESTIMATING RECEIPTS FROM TAXATION AND OTHER REVENUE SOURCES FOR THE GENERAL FUND; VOTED DEBT SERVICE FUNDS; CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND; PUBLICITY FUND; UTILITIES FUND; VEHICLE SERVICE FUND; SANITATION FUND; LOCAL OPTION GAS TAX FUND; WAREHOUSE FUND; CRA/COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT FUND; GOLF COURSE FUND; PUBLIC SERVICE TAX BONDS FUNDS; AND SELF-INSURANCE FUND; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY, CONFLICTS; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Motion Vice Mayor Harmening moved to adopt Ordinance No. 091-68. Commissioner Matson seconded the motion. The vote was polled by City Clerk Sue Kruse. The motion carried 5-0. - 10 - ~MINUTES OF CITY COMMISSION BUDGET PUBLIC gEARING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 19, 1991 Comments by Mayor Arline Weiner Mayor Weiner addressed the audience by stating that the morale of the Commission is not very good. The City is faced with very serious fiscal times. There is no light at the end of the tunnel' for this recession. She explained the Governor is $500 million short. Some of that money will come from the cities. She stated the Commission tried to be fair and hold onto as many employees as possible. The Commission tried to consider the senior citi- zens who cannot afford any more tax and the young families who are struggling. She pointed out it has been very difficult making the decisions which had to be made. ADJOURNMENT There being no further buSiness, the meeting properly adjourned at 8:30 p.m. ATTEST: ' Cf~ ~ler~ '-- ng Secretary (Two Tapes ) THE CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH ~mmissioner Commissioner - 11 -