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Minutes 07-20-10 Budget MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL BUDGET WORKSHOP HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, 208 S. SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, AT 1:00 P.M., ON JULY 20,2010 PRESENT: Jose Rodriguez, Mayor Marlene Ross, Vice Mayor William Orlove, Commissioner Woodrow L. Hay, Commissioner Steven Holzman, Commissioner Kurt Bressner, City Manager James Cherof, City Attorney Janet Prainito, City Clerk CONTINUED BUDGET DISCUSSIONS Mr. Bressner opened the meeting at 12:58 p.m. He handed out supplemental information regarding the Building Department activity. Another item was an analysis for data on cell phone allowances, car allowances, business meetings and other common accounts by department. Another version of the spread sheets with the updated information was also distributed for further discussion. The fund balance starts with a negative $412,000 and ended with a $545,756 surplus and pension and insurance adjustments. Mayor Rodriguez did not know why restoring the three firefighters was included in the computation. Mr. Bressner replied it was on the wish list for discussion. Mayor Rodriguez had suggested Chief Bingham review his administrative expenses. Commissioner Orlove agreed and recalled the Mayor asking if these three were added back, what the Chief would be willing to do to get to that point. Mr. Bressner indicated the list would build. The firefighters were deleted from the list and there was now a deficit of $11,530. Mayor Rodriguez commented the previous day hearings had gone well. Maintaining the wish list with a running total assists in managing the process. He did want to discuss the growing pension challenges facing the City of Boynton Beach and the impact on the budget. It was important to sustain the City and if there was a cost driver growing at a disproportionate rate to the revenue, it had to be discussed. Mr. Bressner remarked about an article in the Wall Street Journal. Boynton Beach is in relatively good shape compared to some communities in California. The communities initiated reworking how they operate and the various ways they accomplished the task. The reality was Boynton Beach would have to do layoffs of some members of the City Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 family. It was very difficult for staff to accept. Any layoffs would be based on economic or operational reasons. Reassignment may be possible with flexibility between departments and employees willing to take less pay. Opportunities for inward movement may be available in some instances if it is appropriate and matches the knowledge, skills and ability of the employee. Commissioner Holzman thought the deferred compensation aspect should be visited since there was no money to pay, what he perceived as a bonus, and letting other people go. Everyone has to tighten their belts with a team effort. Mr. Bressner explained deferred compensation had been provided to a number of employees as a result of employment contracts with the City of Boynton Beach. It is defined by the IRS as a salary reduction or salary deferral. The purpose of the deferral is a benefit to the City and the employee. The income is put into a trust account and is paid by the City over which the employee has no control and it is tax deferred. The benefit is the overall earnings for Social Security purposes and IRS taxes are reduced by the amount paid out for deferred compensation. The income is not subject to earning calculations for any of the three pension funds. There was an instance where deferred compensation was paid to offset the fact one employee had dependent medical coverage paid for by the City. In other instances, deferred compensation was used as an incentive to employment. For others, a deferred compensation increase was used as a reward for performance. City-wide it is $118,000 to $119,000. Mayor Rodriguez referred back to his original question regarding pensions. He wanted discussion on where the City was headed to control pension costs. To follow up on Commissioner Holzman's remarks, Mayor Rodriguez asked what concessions senior management or the highest earning paid employees were making toward the challenges facing the City. He expected the leadership of the City to lead by example. Mr. Bressner indicated he would talk to the employees involved as a group and ask what they intend to do. There is a contractual relationship with the individuals and the employer regarding this aspect. He had lead the staff literally and figuratively with a salary freeze for the last two years. The salary freeze has slowed down the cost impact to the City for pensions. The markets are volatile. The Police and Fire systems are aligned with Chapters 175 and 185 and administrative rulings made in Tallahassee have been ongoing. Each time the employees contribute more, the legislature requires the employer to increase benefits to the pension participants. There is no legislative interpretation for the action, merely an administrative ruling accepted by pension funds. The hindrance has been Police and Fire are not impacted in the same manner as the general employees. The question of equality was an issue. The League of Cities organizations need to be looking at legislative cures to assist the municipalities. A State wide approach is required. 2 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 Commissioner Hay indicated he would follow up on the topic with the Palm Beach County League of Cities. Commissioner Orlove suggested a discussion be added to the Future Agenda Items for the Commission. Vice Mayor Ross wanted to talk about economic development and District 4, specifically with regard to business retention. It did relate to the budget. Quintus Greene, Director of Development, recalled in October, 2006, 70 people had taken part in an assembly to create a shared vision for the future of the City of Boynton Beach. One recommendation involved the hiring of an economic development director and staff to develop an economic development program for the City. The primary task would be to identify the type of industries and business the City should attempt to attract and identify and develop incentives to assist in relocation to the City. Mr. Greene argued it should be business retention rather than business attraction. Retention is a core activity for the City of Boynton Beach. The most important jobs and businesses are the ones that a City already has. He defined business retention as, "An ongoing, cooperative partnership involving city government, local chamber of commerce and existing business for the purpose of identifying opportunities to assist local companies in expanding their facilities, creating jobs and diversifying the local economic base." It was a goal of Mr. Greene to implement an economic development program. Business surveys were sent out to determine their concerns and perceptions of doing business within the City of Boynton Beach. About 25% of those businesses contacted responded and half of those were willing to do follow up interviews. When completed, recommendations can be made to the City Commission regarding strategies and programs to address the needs and concerns. The ,next step would be to identify the types of businesses that would be targeted to be recruited to the City based on their business profile. Vice Mayor Ross wanted this type of program to be considered for funding, if possible, to help create jobs and business retention. It should be a priority for the Commission to consider. Mr. Greene advised he would be coming back to the Commission with specific recommendations that the Commission can do to assist local businesses. Mr. Bressner referred to a request regarding permit activity and there was a synopsis of the current status. There is also a report listing by name the number of projects that are in the pipeline. Nancy Byrne, Assistant Development Director, explained only one year in the cycle had been utilized. Mr. Greene spoke about an up tick in the current economic environment. Looking back to 2005 through 2007 and the reductions in staff and the consolidation of services with inspectors doing business tax inspection and community improvement work, greater efficiency was gained. There has been an increase of 5% on residential applications and 17% in commercial resulting in greater permits on the back end. The 3 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 economic trend is turning upward. The staffing levels are way down. A more comprehensive report can be submitted. Jeff Livergood, Director of Public Works and Engineering, pointed out Public Works had seven divisions, five of which are in the General Fund. Overall, the seven divisions were able to meet the budget reduction goal. Engineering made a modification and reduced a staff member through attrition creating a vacant position. One program is looking at reconfiguring some of the department activities. Public Works administration is a support department and very few changes can be made. The Facilities Maintenance Division were able to have a significant reduction of $122,000 by changing custodial services. The proposal was to layoff three employees, two custodians and crew supervisor for City Hall and West Wing. The services would be done on a contractual basis and provide the same service as done by the existing staff, but at a lesser cost of $121,000. There would be no impact on the service levels. The streets division had very few changes and Mr. Livergood pointed out the personnel cost is approximately $200,000 out of a $900,000 budget. One of the biggest cost in the division is over $500,000 for street lighting, a direct payment to Florida Power and Light. Turning off street lights would not be an option. The forestry and grounds division would eliminate a vacant crew worker position. There would be some minor landscaping changes throughout the City. Maintenance levels could be increased in the future without losing a tremendous asset The streets division and forestry and grounds divisions are working under one manager. The employees of the two divisions work interchangeably. Trying to staff every department to operate at peak levels is not realistic because peak levels are at different times of the year and cross training can accomplish more with less staff. It has been very successful. Mayor Rodriguez asked for the savings on the janitorial changes and Mr. Livergood replied $121,758 with a vendor. The right balance of contractors and staff maintenance has to be found for the greatest return on the investment. Janet Prainito, City Clerk, advised her budget for the upcoming year was reduced as requested. The services provided are mostly State mandated and there is very little that can be changed. There are six full-time employees and one part-time staff. Commissioner Orlove pointed to the election expenses and noticed the expenses had gone up. Is the increase due to an election next year, legislation or state mandates that will continue to rise or is it cyclical? Ms. Prainito responded the expense would continue to rise because the Supervisor of Election costs continue to rise. The cost of poll workers and polling locations goes up. This year the cost decreased with only two districts having elections rather than a City-wide election. The following year, there will be no election costs. The reduction in the election expense made the budget goal attainable. 4 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 Commissioner Holzman asked if the election costs were greater than the previous two district elections. Ms. Prainito estimated the cost was greater by $10,000. The main expense was the increased cost of poll workers with 37 precincts and three to four poll workers at each polling location. Mayor Rodriguez advised the staff did a tremendous amount of work and were always busy and the work is very manually intensive. He asked if there was consideration of some automation in the office. Ms. Prainito indicated a service called Net Assets was being investigated to allow title companies and attorney offices to do municipal lien searches online. It would eliminate the manual process and it could be a very big revenue generator for the City. Mr. Bressner added the procurement process has to be verified first. There is exploratory work to be done at this stage and projecting revenues would be speculative at best. The expense, if any, may be offset by the revenues. Commissioner Holzman asked if it would free up staff to take on other responsibilities. The staff member would be able to assist other staff members and perhaps take some load off the recording secretaries who are overburdened. Commissioner Holzman remarked the department should keep up the good work. Mayor Rodriguez wanted to set aside time to discuss the four ten-hour days. Lori LaVerriere, Assistant City Manager, discussed the City Commission, City Hall and City Manager budgets. The City Commission budget increased from $243,000 to $254,000. The change reflected the increase in hospitalization and $4,000 was added to the business meetings account for follow up retreats. The overall budget is $254,000. There are large membership fees including the Intergovernmental Coordination Program with annual dues of $895 a year, Florida League of Cities, $6,650 and Palm Beach County League of Cities is $13,650. Palm Beach County Elected Officials is $150. Mr. Bressner noted there were benefits to being a member of the League of Cities, but it is not a requirement. All municipalities are members. The City Manager's budget has decreased $700 to $800 and includes absorbing the increase in hospitalization cost. The main item of reduction is a decrease in business meeting expenses by 50% and the City Manager will pay for his attendance at the International City Manager's Association which is part of the ongoing credentialing. Ms. LaVerriere attended one annual State conference and she will pay for her meals personally. The City Manager does attend a winter meeting in the State for the Florida City and County Managers' Association. The Palm Beach County City Managers' Association has a one-day retreat also. Mr. Bressner and Ms. LaVerriere are required to have 40 hours of training a year and participation at the National Managers' Conference, as well as any additional course work taken on his own. His employment agreement does indicate the City would pay for those expenses, so the contract will have to be amended. There was agreement to amend the City Manager's contract and bring the line item up to $4,000. City Hall budget had decreased from $1,669,000 to $1,534,000. It is a catch-all division for such things as postage in the City Clerk's office or energy costs to run City Hall. 5 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 Commissioner Holzman requested information on opening City Hall for half a day on Friday. Mr. Livergood quickly responded it was not efficient to start the chiller and put it down for four hours. Ms. LaVerriere pointed out the line item for electric service has decreased from $350,000 in 2008/09 to $260,000. There is a small contingency account for catastrophic needs fund for $169,000. It has been reduced to $50,000. It basically covered the use of the fund balance if there was an emergency. Mr. Bressner discussed the Child Care Center subsidy for $22,500. Based on discussion the original $11,250 was added in for the balance of this fiscal year. The entire $22,500 was put in for the next budget year. The staff report suggested the Boynton Child Care Center should transition to their own fund raising by using CRA funding or qualify for Community Development Block Grant Funding. Funding would not be available until October 2011 if they were successful. Commissioner Holzman expressed concern with continuing the full funding. It appears the City does not know where the money goes or what it funds, except for the dollars. The organization receives funds from Palm Beach County to run the Head Start program. It would not be proper to lay people off in different departments to write a check to any organization without knowing where the money is be used. He recommended either the City take control over paying expenses up to a certain amount or match funds that they provide their own money too. Mr. Bressner had received documentation for their payouts for the last payable cycle. He was waiting for additional information on insurance costs. They are transitioning to more accountability. It is a program that has been in place since the 1980s at the same amount. Commissioner Hay had visited the Center and reviewed the books. He understood an audit had not uncovered any irregularities. He suggested the Commission visit the Center and ask questions. They do a terrific job with the kids. Mr. Bressner had requested information on an insurance expense that was questionable since the City owns the building. There is unfinished business relating to the County's lease and the City no longer leases the building to Boynton Child Care Center. The building is leased directly to Palm Beach County Head Start. Boynton Child Care Center does not agree. They can continue to operate as long as they do not conflict with the primary use of the building being Head Start. Commissioner Orlove was in favor of restoring the monies, but they are 501 (c)(3) and now is the time for them to start fund raising. They have made no effort from the 1980s and the City is subsidizing the Child Care Center. The monies should be diminished in some respect and they should take more responsibility for funding. Ms. LaVerriere advised funding could be done for one more year and they may be eligible for other sources of funding. Vice Mayor Ross advised the food bank is another service they provide and serve 130 children and families. Most of the funds the City provides goes toward their tutoring and 6 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 after-school programs. Vice Mayor Ross recalled the Boynton Child Care Center had started earlier than the 1980s. Mayor Rodriguez inquired if there was $10,000+ spent on maintaining the building in the budget. Mr. Bressner established it was part of the benefit of going with the County. It was not in the budget. Mr. Livergood indicated the landscape maintenance was built into the staff's responsibility and it is absorbed. Mayor Rodriguez alleged it was not $22,000 and probably $32,000 to $35,000 annually. He had been there many times. The Center needs to be self-sufficient on some level and may have to accept something less in the coming years. Giving them more money would not be an incentive for them to take on their own fund raising. Some lesser figure would be sufficient. Commissioner Holzman reiterated it was not related to the service they provide, rather spending taxpayer dollars. Perhaps the City could take more control of the dollars. Mr. Bressner wanted an arms length relationship with their non-profit organization. Mayor Rodriguez suggested the amount be reduced by $5,000. Mr. Bressner supported $5,000 as a transition figure. Commissioners Holzman and Orlove agreed. Mr. Bressner was working with an individual who had been part of the community for many, many years. It is a big change for her and she is taking small baby steps on resolving the issue. Mr. Bressner had put the $22,500 in the budget anticipating the matter would be discussed. Commissioner Hay wanted to discuss the matter with legal and requested a roll call vote on the issue. Attorney Cherof advised it could be done if the Commission wanted to establish that protocol. It was not the usual practice. Attorney Cherof advised it would be a decision for the Chair. Mayor Rodriguez wanted to move on. Wayne Segal, Public Affairs Director, works with other departments, City Manager and City Commission to disseminate information and messages about the City's programs and services. He also facilitates two-way communication and transparency in government. His budget was reduced by slightly more than 6% with reductions over $9,000 in an area that will not adversely impact the public. It will mean greater reliance on BBrv and social media sites. The City was leading the field in social media by his initiative and made Boynton Beach the first municipality in Palm Beach County to use social media and was recognized by the University of Pennsylvania. Commissioner Orlove asked if people were responding and if social networking was a way for the municipality to work with the community and disseminating information. Mr. Segal affirmed that the use of the site was growing. Mr. Bressner noted information has been sent out digitally, including the Citizen's Guide, City Commission agenda, the budget and information is available as timely as possible and in a format that is easily accessible. Mr. Segal is directly responsible for making sure the information is available using as much technology as is available. He works with all department heads and the City's Water Report is among the best distributed. It is a multi-faceted responsibility. The younger citizens in the community use Twitter and Facebook extensively. It is an intergenerational approach. 7 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 Commissioner Holzman commended Mr. Segal for his work and asked if there would be any way to turn the use of social media and alternative public relations into revenue generators. Mr. Segal responded advertising on the web site could be considered. There were ways that could be accomplished. Mayor Rodriguez indicated it would be hard if you were not selling anything. Mr. Segal noted we were selling the City. Placing the audio of the City Commission meetings on the web site has been very popular. Mr. Segal would look into the possibilities suggested by Commissioner Holzman. Mayor Rodriguez identified there were three public information officers/public relations personnel for the City. Ms. Slater in the Police Department does much of the same type of work. He asked if there would be efficiencies to combine those three positions and skill sets. Mr. Segal could only comment on what he did. Mayor Rodriguez asked the idea of combining the positions be discussed in the future. Mr. Bressner advised the portal the Police Department and Fire Department has is different in terms of the information they convey. In terms of Ms. Slater's responsibilities, they relate to crime stories. The social media of the Police Department would not be a major function of the Public Information Officer. It is more of a benefit, although the Police Department was the first agency to have a Facebook and Twitter present. Chief Immler indicated they had been on Facebook, UTube, Twitter, plus Citizens for Safe Communities. Ms. Slater is Chairman of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Social Media Committee. It is not their primary function, but it is way to get additional information out. Any videos are published through UTube and it saves many man hours. Ms. Slater maintains 24-hour contact with the reporters and puts out four to five press releases a day. Mr. Segal does more marketing while the Police Department focuses on compliance operation. James Cherof, City Attorney, noted there were two positions within his department; the City Attorney and a paralegal. The City Attorney is actually 11 attorneys, two paralegals and seven administrative assistants. The budget was reduced by $20,000. The only other item that could be reduced would be access to West Law which is a research publication service. The system is also maintained in the Delray office. There are negotiations to consolidate the service for use by the City for a reduction of approximately $3,000. The only change would be a slight delay if something is requested that is produced through West Law. Mayor Rodriguez asked for the impact when Attorney Cherof became the sole legal source for the CRA and City. Attorney Cherof advised it would be reflected in the CRA budget. It fluctuates between a 25% to 30% reduction in the cost of providing legal services to the CRA. Discussions that cover both the CRA and City are covered in the retainer line item. For the City, it is a monthly retainer of about $14,000 and no matter what hours are required on general matters, the total hours is the basis for arriving at an hourly rate. The target goal is the long-term relationship and fluctuations year to year can be absorbed. The CRA budget would reflect a significant reduction in Legal 8 Meeting Minutes Specia~ City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 Services since Attorney Cherof had taken over as counsel for the CRA also. There is a lot of work that applies to both the City and CRA. Wally Majors, Recreation and Parks Director, gave an overview explaining there are three domains; recreation, parks and transportation. Recreation division includes eight facilities and the pool. Parks consists of 28 existing parks consisting of over 170 acres maintained and 65 acres yet to be developed. The transportation division consists of the Shopper Hopper and support services to recreation programs such as after-school programs and summer camps. The Department is the liaison to four advisory boards; Recreation and Parks Board, Education and Youth Board, Cemetery Board and Senior Advisory Board. Out of 5,000 Recreation and Parks Department, the City is included in the 10% that are nationally accredited. In the Recreation Division, Mr. Majors recommended the elimination of four positions. One is an administrative associate at the Arts Center. It has been vacant since the summer of 2009 and the duties have been reassigned. There is an Administrative Secretqry position that could be filled by using part-time employees. A park maintenance worker would also be eliminated in the special events group. The position has been vacant due to frequent illness and adjustments have been. The employee took advantage of the Voluntary Separation Program. A recreation specialist position would be eliminated that is allocated to the Hester Center primarily. None of the changes would impact the management of operations at the facilities. Jody Rivers, Parks Superintendent, indicated there would be elimination of one-half parks maintenance specialist funded out of Parks and the Cemetery. A similar type employee could be shared with Public Works. A crew leader position would be eliminated that has been vacant. Other reductions include eliminating the stipend given to the Little League and maintenance for a park that has not been completed. There was questions relating to the amount given to the Little League. Ms. Rivers explained four years ago the Little League offered to take over the operation of the fields maintenance but needed a step down approach. A $30,000 stipend was given the first year, $20,000 the second and $10,000 this year and no funds are allocated in the upcoming budget. Mr. Bressner added a letter had been received from the Little League requesting the stipend be increased. The zero figure may not be realistic. Mayor Rodriguez disclosed he had received calls from people concerned about how they were going to manage the operation. He was concerned the City had agreed to a plan to reduce the funding and now they cannot comply. There are serious issues how the operation is managing Little League field and using the dollars. The financials needed to be reviewed. Commissioner Holzman inquired what the cost would be to maintain the property. Ms. Rivers could not estimate the potential cost, but the current manpower levels would not be adequate to undertake the task. Mr. Bressner noted the arrangement was beneficial for both parties and some employees were eliminated based on the agreement. 9 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 Operational issues have not been discussed at all. The City let the Little League use the area and it became a cost issue several years ago. Commissioner Orlove recalled the Little League was not happy with the mowing cycle and they decided to take it over so the grounds could be treated the way they wanted it done. Mr. Bressner remembered the cost to rebuild the field was $700,000 and the City had contributed almost $250,000 to replace the lights and irrigation repairs in the other field. There was some reimbursement from Hurricane Wilma so the net cost was approximately $100,000. Mayor Rodriguez wanted to tread lightly on the issue. Mr. Majors shared the transportation division began last year with one full-time supervisor and three full-time drivers and one part-time driver. One full-time driver retired. Responsibilities were shifted and one position was upgraded. Commissioner Holzman brought up the issue of the Shopper Hopper. Commissioner Orlove related the total ridership is over 65,000 and Mr. Majors advised there was a slight decrease from previous years of 10% to 15%. Commissioner Holzman sought clarification on the specifics of the program, how it operates and what it was intended to do. Mr. Majors stated the vehicles were obtained through a County transportation grant and it funnels back to the City to provide transportation services primarily to seniors. It had been established there was a need for the transportation in a very specific corridor. It has been adapted to current needs. They provide transportation to points of interest within the City and the pickups are where there is a high concentration of people who request the service. There is a schedule that is posted annually. On Mondays residents can call in and request the service and based on the volume of calls a more specific route is designed to meet the need. Tuesday and Wednesday the route goes to Publix, Thursday is Walmart and Friday it stops at Target. Mayor Rodriguez asserted Boynton Beach has been a retirement community and this service has been offered, along with the Senior Center, supported by the seniors. The City is getting younger. There is a large number of citizens who need assistance. Commissioner Orlove had received letters and there is a large senior population that rely on the service. Mr. Majors reported the fare for seniors was $.50 each way. Commissioner Orlove wanted to save the program, but the revenue was insufficient and the City subsidized the program with more than $200,000. He wanted to at least increase the cost to increase revenues. Mr. Bressner had calculated raising the rate by $.25 per round trip would generate an additional $10,800 in revenue. An increase of $.75 per round trip would generate $12,500. As the rates go up there would be a reduction in ~idership. Commissioner Orlove contended the rates would still be reasonable and still cheaper than Palm Tran and TriRail. Some individuals are being picked up at their home similar to a taxi. Mayor Rodriguez pointed out Palm Tran and TriRail are used by working class individuals. Commissioner Holzman wanted it to go on the wish list. It did provide a great service and there was a need to raise the rates, but it would be pennies on the dollars in terms 10 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 of the cost. A cut back to four days a week may be an option. Commissioner Orlove agreed and the service is valued and the Commission should be willing to make cuts elsewhere to acknowledge the needs of the seniors. Commissioner Holzman noted the advertising revenue had also gone down. Mr. Bressner clarified it was a long-term contract for displays on the bus shelters. Commissioner Hay felt the Shopper Hopper is a wonderful program. It boils down to, is it a service or funding source and the expenses would never be totally offset by the revenue. There needed to be some type of balance and more revenue generated to limit the expense. Mr. Majors added the organizational structure was changed to reduce expenses from $278,000 to $212,000. The rate has never been increased and has been in existence for over 20 years. Vice Mayor Ross agreed with all the comments and hoped something could be worked out to retain the service. There was consensus to raise the rate 25% to add in the additional revenue. Restoring the service takes the money out of the General Fund and returns it to mass transit according to Mr. Bressner. Raising revenues would affect the mass transit fund and not the General Fund. Sharyn Goebelt, HR Director, stated no layoffs were proposed and the required cuts were made in other areas. The ratio of employees to staff is very lean in comparison to other municipalities. The Department does their own human resource investigations. Ms. Goebelt was the chief negotiator for white and blue collar. All pay and class studies are done internally. Many things outsourced in other organizations are done in-house. Physician exams were reduced significantly due to contract negotiations with Bethesda Health Care and is down $60,000 over the last three years. There have been less physicals, even with an average of 129 hires in the last nine years. Business meetings budget was reduced by $1,050. Both the Director and Assistant Director have been personally paying for many travel expenses and meals. Printing and binding costs were reduced by using online publications with limited paper copies produced. Advertising costs were reduced by $10,000 because fewer positions were being offered and utilized more web sites and implemented an online application process. Recruiting expenses were eliminated. Exam supplies were reduced and testing was reduced by $340 with the vendor. A trainer from HTE was brought in so the software could be more efficiently utilized. Organization Development phased out a software to track training for a savings of $5,410. Catalogs on training were no longer published and training notifications were done online. The cost for trainers had been reduced by negotiating with the vendors. The employees and departments are being held more accountable to attend training as scheduled. Mayor Rodriguez asked Ms. Goebelt to address the personnel records management. Ms. Goebelt reported all personnel files are scanned. Many things are confidential in officers' files that are redacted by the records person. Security is a major concern and every step is taken to prevent the theft of any information. Mayor Rodriguez inquired if 11 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 there was a standard of what should be in a personnel file. Ms. Goebelt advised there was a standard. Anything dealing with payroll is maintained through Finance. Mr. Bressner added all City staff fill out a time sheet. It provides an audit trail of the time taken and vacation and sick hours. The Police Department does theirs electronically but each officer is responsible to fill in the forms and be signed off and the Fire Department has a similar program. Ms. Goebelt stressed that each payroll record is signed by the employee and supervisor. Craig Clark, Library Director, advised over the past five years business had increased 38%. Staff reductions would go from 33.8 full-time equivalent employees down to 28. There would be three staff layoffs; one full-time and two part-time. Anne Watts, Assistant Director, reported there would the loss of an administrative associate that processes new materials from vendors or donations. A half-time librarian position would be lost. It catalogs the materials as they are received. A half-time library aide would be lost who does the processing, labeling and things used to check materials out of the Library. To meet the budget obligations, the process would be outsourced. Materials will come in shelf ready from the vendors. No donations will be processed. Shelf ready means the numbers and labeling are on the books and an electronic file will be included to add the materials to the catalog. Last year 12;000 items were added to the Library with 25% coming from donations. The average cost per item was $13.50 that was processed by staff With a budget of $40,000 less and outsourcing and not accepting donations, the cost would rise to over $20 an item. It has been estimated that 55% less materials will be available to the customers. Ms. Watts noted the three positions have different skill levels. Mr. Bressner questioned if the opportunities could utilize volunteers. Mayor Rodriguez questioned if it was productive to make the change. Ms. Watts opined it would be unproductive because there would be fewer items to borrow. It was the only way to make the budget obligations. Commissioner Orlove proposed volunteers could be trained to do the work. Ms. Watts advised certifications were required. The data, when an item is cataloged, goes nation-wide and national standards must be met to fully participate in the wider library community. The cataloguing function requires a Masters Degree from a Library school. Mayor Rodriguez noted there were tentacles through the Library Board to the community and the Friends of the Library organization would reach out into the community also. Ms. Watts felt the one half-time position could be replaced with a volunteer and a learning process. The other two positions were highly skilled with a great deal of experience working with bibliographic information who knows the rules. Commissioner Orlove thought the positions could be reinstated when times improved and move away from vendor provided services. Ms. Watts cautioned there was no vendor who would take donated materials and catalogue the items and return the materials. Mr. Clark advised cuts were made in the line items as best as possible. He was giving up his City cell phone. The other staff had already gone to a phone allowance. It would be a savings of approximately $1,000 a year. Telephone service and postage for the 12 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 Museum was deleted since the Museum is now independent. It would save the Library $1,800 a year. There would be savings of $27,302 on electrical service by closing on Fridays. Mr. Clark estimated the Cafe would cost an additional $300 a month after it opened. The Cafe paid $1,000 a month and would increase to $1.700 after six months and then 3% each year for three years. Reused water is utilized for irrigation saving $2,500. Extending the contract on the copy machine saved $8,600. Closing on Friday would save one day delivery for $575. Some expenses increased due to price increases. The big cut was the periodicals budget by eliminating 85 titles. Commissioner Holzman wanted to know the cost of opening the Library for a full day. Mr. Clark would have to research and supply the figure. Commissioner Holzman wanted to investigate opening the Library on Sunday. Mr. Clark cautioned the Sunday hours would be overtime or time and a half. Commissioner Orlove felt Fridays were the slowest day and Mr. Clark agreed, explaining the Library was only open eight hours on Friday. Mr. Bressner noted periodicals that the citizens use are being cut and staff was bringing in personal magazines to maintain the collection. Mr. Clark advised an Adopt-a Subscription program was being discussed to have the public sponsor some magazines. Commissioner Orlove would gladly participate in the program. Rolling out the program was urged to be done as soon as possible. There would also be a 20% reduction in newspapers, 52% in serials and 40% reduction in databases including the genealogy database. The historical newspapers would be lost as well. Phyllis Koch, ITS Director, had decided to keep all services going. It was done by attacking all vendors and redoing many contracts, looking for savings. The phone bill was cut by $75,000. The department was getting close to the bone. There was the addition of Fire Station #5 and EOC loaded with technology. Warranties will have to be absorbed the next year. One vacant position was being eliminated due to retirement and Ms. Koch was resigning for personal reasons. It was being recommended that the job be shared internally. One GIS Analyst would be shared with Utilities to offset costs and share the benefits. The PC and printer replacement programs were being eliminated. Many of the hardware and software maintenance agreements were not renewed or downsized. The operational costs would continue to be closely monitored. The LambdaRail has gone through the County instead of paying a higher fee to a commercial carrier. Ms. Koch cautioned the equipment would age, repairs and maintenance would go up and replacement would be necessary. Commissioner Orlove inquired if several people or departments are able to utilize one printer. Ms. Koch advised networking is done as much as possible and duplex printers have been implemented to save costs on paper. The copiers are leased. Most small 13 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 printers the City owns. Many of the copiers are networked as printers also. It is often more economical to have a bigger copier in a central location to print and copy than to have several smaller units. Commissioner Holzman noticed the personnel services were $890,000 and next year the cost is $1.2 million. Ms. Koch responded two divisions had been combined. The GIS department was merged into ITS. The figures are flat. One position paid by the Building Department is now being funded through ITS. The overall headcount did not change. Those who participated in the Voluntary Separation Program are not reflected in the individual budgets. Mayor Rodriguez wanted to make sure the savings from the program were calculated into the budget. Commissioner Holzman asked if there were any hot items that needed to be replaced or repaired. Ms. Koch had reviewed the equipment list and one that was an emergency was the $100;000 for the AS 400. The City is currently two or three releases behind in upgrades. The solution was to run the new program remotely and new hardware would not be necessary and ongoing costs would be lower. The system would now be in hardened site and disaster recovery expenses would be decreased. It consists of all the core systems such as payroll, accounting, and personnel systems. Mr. Bressner commended Ms. Koch for her long range vision. Mr. Atwood informed the Commission his budget has reduced from $1.2 million to $1.164 million reduction all in personnel services. Mr. Atwood gave up participation on governmental financial boards and Tim Howard, the Deputy Director of Finance, took up the local responsibilities. Commissioner Orlove wanted to be sure the loss of membership did affect any accreditation or certification. Mr. Atwood indicated a lot of information was garnered for day-to-day accounting and new regulations. It would have no impact on any personal accreditation. Mr. Bressner wanted to highlight that it was anticipated to layoff the accountant position. He had concerns about maintaining accurate internal controls and verification mechanisms. Mr. Atwood advised the duties of the position would have to be redistributed among other staff to perform second reviews. A part-time position was also being eliminated. Mr. Davidson added the part-time and full-time positions were at least $63,000. Mr. Atwood mentioned the two positions had completely different skill sets. It was agreed the accountant position would be added to the wish list. The warehouse is part of Finance, but the monies are in a warehouse fund to be redistributed to all departments. The duties of the storekeeper have been redistributed also. Mr. Bressner stressed there are three sites and the warehouse operation is used to achieve savings with bulk purchases. The impact if the position was restored means the individual line items in the operating departments would have to pay the incremental amounts. The net impact to the General Fund would be about $32,000. Mr. Atwood 14 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 continued that some automation had been undertaken and costs were cut in other areas. The pension expense was reduced across all departments. Mayor Hodriguez asked if the elimination of the warehouse position was to get to a number or not enough work being available. Mr. Bressner asserted it was to get to the number. The work is still there. The warehouse audits are wonderful and the inventory control is on point. In terms of efficiencies, Mr. Bressner thought it was a necessary position. It was agreed the position would be added to the wish list. The automation involved all paychecks were now direct deposited and paper pay stubs have been eliminated. The information can be accessed online. It is a time savings also. Herb Suss, 1711 Wood Fern Drive, asserted he was a taxpayer and there were serious situations that had to be addressed. If the firefighters were not reinstated, it would be on the conscience of the Commission if any citizen suffers. The Library visitors are up 38% and with the hard economic times people are using the Library for entertainment. The positions have to be placed on the wish list to restore some of the services. Quality of life was being reduced for the citizens. Mr. Suss thought the millage rate should be increased. If it was not reduced several years ago, the economic situation would be much different now. The layoffs will have to be done, but the quality of life has to be maintained to attract business. More items need to be added to the wish list to provide for the citizens of Boynton Beach. Victoria Castello, 406 S. Seacrest Boulevard, advised she was the Chief Financial Officer for a family owned business and the top people take the biggest hit and all others were kept with full benefits. The 401 K match was discontinued. She thought upper management should volunteer to take a percentage decrease. All departments are being watched and the deadwood would be eliminated next year. Mayor Rodriguez stated, for the record, that the Commission did increase the millage rate last year. Mayor Rodriguez adjourned the meeting at 4:06 p.m. (Continued on next page) 15 Meeting Minutes Special City Commission Budget Workshop Boynton Beach, FL July 20, 2010 CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH ATTEST: ~ 16