Loading...
Minutes 01-09-11 MINUTES OF THE FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE HELD ON MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2012 AT 6:00 P.M. IN THE LIBRARY ROOM "A," AT THE LIBRARY 208 S. SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT Don Scantlan, Chair Barry Atwood, Finance Director Dennis Dougherty George Feldman Jeffrey Fisher David Katz Terry Lonergan William Shulman Chair Scantlan called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. The Recording Secretary called the roll. A quorum was present. 1. Approval of Agenda Chair Scantlan advised he wanted to move Item 3 to before Item 2. Motion Ms. Lonergan moved to approve the agenda as amended. The motion was seconded and unanimously passed. 2. Recognition of the appointment of two new regular Committee members • David Katz • Jeff Fisher (moved up from an Alternate Member) Chair Scantlan congratulated Mr. Fisher on becoming a regular member. Mr. Katz was introduced as a newly appointed member and he shared his background with the Committee. 3. Approval of Minutes — December 19, 2011 The following are changes to the minutes: On page 5, second full paragraph, Mr. Shulman was not in agreement with the wording. He was of the opinion that the wording misconstrued that the City billed for attorney services, rather than the attorney. Wording was changed to read City attorney bills for additional services. In addition, in the same paragraph the word the should be that. Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL January 9, 2012 In addition, in the following paragraph, Public Oversight Board of Accountants was misstated. On page 2, third item, third line should read economies of scale, not . Motion Mr. Shulman moved to approve the minutes. Ms. Lonergan seconded the motion that unanimously passed. At the last meeting, each member was asked to bring a survey question regarding the Old High School. Ms. Lonergan inquired whether the City thought about moving the police department there. Chair Scantlan advised it was one of the options among the many being discussed. There was in -depth discussion regarding the possibilities that had been investigated and are currently being investigated. There was discussion on possibly including a question on the survey asking the citizens what they felt should be done with the Old High School and how much they would be willing to contribute to keep it. It was estimated it would cost between $5 million and $10 million to refurbish it. In response to Mr. Katz's request regarding the purpose of the Committee, Chair Scantlan explained what the role of the Financial Advisory Committee was, and what the City Commission expects from them. 4. Identify member(s) who may have an interest in serving as Vice Chair and submit name(s) to Commission for appointment Mr. Fisher was the only individual expressing interest in the Vice Chair position. The Board accepted the nomination and it would be presented to the City Commission for appointment. 5. Review and assign /reassign any selected study and assignment areas for next year Mr. Katz requested numerous items be provided to him. These included pension contribution percentages by general employees, police and fire and what percentage the City covered. He also requested information on City employees that receive a car allowance and how much it was, a list of who had take -home vehicles, a list of City issued cell phones and Blackberries, who they are assigned to and what the monthly charges were for the last two years by individual. He also requested information on the line item in the budget labeled "attorney legal" and what was spent. Mr. Atwood would provide the information as those studies had already been completed last year. 2 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL January 9, 2012 There was discussion regarding the purpose of the pension study how it relates to employee benefits and compared to other cities. There were no other recommendations or comments from the Committee members. 6. Review and approve updated questions to use in the next citizen survey There was discussion on how the general public was made aware of the survey and possibly new ways to get participation involvement. There was a short discussion on the suggestion Mr. Feldman previously had about utilizing Starbucks for distribution of the survey in return for a free coffee. - Draft 3 — based on discussion at last meeting: 1. Inserts in the Introduction section how citizen response to the survey helps the City Commission. Mr. Atwood advised he added a sentence to read "We are responsible to assist the Commission to obtain the role of the people regarding certain budget decisions." Chair Scantlan had comments on question #10. He wanted to add other wording to replace the suggestion that some questions are optional, so that the public would know that the information assists the Committee to better make recommendations to the Commission. There was discussion among the Committee on what other questions could be included and which to exclude. On survey question #10, Mr. Atwood would work on rewording the question. 2. Adds the following topics for formulation of questions: #18 — open ended question regarding suggestions to close projected deficit #19 — continued City financial support for the Schoolhouse Museum #20 — favor restoring Old High School at taxpayer expense Mr. Atwood read the questions and Chair Scantlan called for discussion on them. With regard to item #18, there was discussion relating to the budget deficit and how the public would respond to that question. There was consensus to add question 18. 3 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL January 9, 2012 With regard to adding question #19, discussion took place and there was consensus to add question #19. With regard to adding question #20, with three disposition options given, and its impact, there was consensus to inform the citizens what the dollar impact would be should their taxes be raised. 3. Consider deleting questions #8 (respondent's age); and #9 (respondent's family income) There was discussion as to whether someone responding would be honest when answering these questions. Chair Scantlan was a proponent of leaving the questions in, but the majority did not see a need for it. Ms. Lonergan suggested eliminating the request for a name in Question #10, and then there would be no need for question # 8 or 9. Motion Mr. Katz moved to omit questions #8 and 9 from survey. Ms. Lonergan seconded it with discussion. Motion failed 1 -6 (Chair Scantlan, Messrs. Shulman, Feldman, Fisher, Dougherty and Ms. Lonergan dissenting). 7. Recommended dates and techniques for collecting citizen survey responses Mr. Schulman advised he suggested at the last meeting that in addition to the Starbucks idea, he felt the Commissioners should assist by speaking with their constituents. The Chamber of Commerce should also be contacted. A suggestion was made to utilize all the news outlets that are available. Ms. Lonergan advised that on the HOA list, there are many email addresses that the HOAs could utilize to alert homeowners of the upcoming survey on Survey Monkey. The local newspaper could also advertise the survey. Mr. Feldman reiterated the discussions he had with Starbucks regarding making the survey available to residents and when completed, receiving a free cup of coffee. There was discussion on paper copies versus getting the survey online and measures that would have to be put in place to prevent people from getting more than one cup of coffee. Paper surveys are put in the Library and City Hall. Assignments are that Ms. Lonergan would notify HOAs, Mr. Feldman would coordinate Starbucks, Mr. Shulman would communicate with Commissioners, and Chair Scantlan would contact the newspapers, leave surveys in the Library and City Hall, and contact the Chamber of Commerce. 4 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL January 9, 2012 8. Update by Committee members regarding progress to date of their study and assignment areas. Mr. Shulman updated the Committee on his assigned areas of business license tax and business fees /assessments. He advised he met with Mr. Atwood and also sent emails to the City of Lake Worth, Delray Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and Wellington. He also used the internet to obtain the fees charged by Boca Raton. He had not received a response from all, but received responses from Lake Worth and Wellington. He would follow up with Delray Beach and Palm Beach Gardens. He and Mr. Atwood would then put the various license fees and assessments on an excel spreadsheet and provide the results and comparisons. Mr. Fisher provided an update on his assignment on the tax base. He received an email from Ms. LaVerriere and read it to the group. He passed out two spreadsheets indicating that it was the report discussed briefly at the last meeting. Ms. LaVerriere wanted more detailed direction on what the Committee wished to do, but advised the City was addressing the issue via an economic development plan. In addition, he explained his progress to date on the local sales tax. He read the rule from the Florida Tax Handbook which stated that a local tax could be implemented by a county, municipality or school district. Boynton Beach was not included in the municipalities. Mr. Dougherty updated his assignment, Parks and Recreation. He advised he met with Mr. Majors and received a good overview. He received the report that was completed last year and wanted to know what the objective was for this year. As to the update on the Schoolhouse Museum, he contacted Amy Hever and had not heard back from her. In regard to the public communications hub, a study would be provided by the Police Chief when completed. He would call and introduce himself to the Police Chief. Ms. Lonergan advised she also called Mr. Majors as she was not sure how to begin her assignment, City Parks Usage Analysis. She was advised 12y Mr. Majors indicated he would never close a park because there was a per capita requirement. Each community that had a park changed it so it met specific criteria for them the community it served. She wanted the Committee to explain what her project entailed. Chair Scantlan suggested that if it was a study that could not reduce costs or gain revenue, he would recommend the item be dropped from the list. Mr. Feldman updated the Committee on his study assignments, Capital Improvement Plan Analysis and Public Works Services. He spoke with Jeff Livergood about various items and was provided a Capital Improvement Plan which had been submitted to the City Commission. Since there was a lot removed from the previous years, he wanted clarification on how to handle this item and wanted to know if he was expected to reduce it even more. He felt nothing more could be done. Chair Scantlan suggested he talk to Mr. Livergood and clarify what had been done and complete a financial analysis indicating what money was being spent. On the utility side, he discussed the issues of 5 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL January 9, 2012 sale and privatization with Mr. Livergood and was referred to Kofi Boateng. He would contact Mr. Boateng and set up a meeting to discuss all the utility assets. Chair Scantlan advised this year the Committee should discuss the value of having each department head discuss their budget once the City Manager puts out the budget cutting strategy. Should it be handled the same as last year? Was it valuable to the members in doing their studies? Mr. Atwood indicated the purpose was to provide familiarity with the scope of the departments. After discussion, it was the consensus not to have general discussions with each department head. Ms. Lonergan's area of study was contracts without expiration dates. Since the City Attorney was the only contract with no expiration, she would set up a meeting with him. There was clarification that the City Attorney was here at the pleasure of the Commission and was appointed. At any point in time, the Commission could vote him out. He would be the only "department head" contacted at this time. 9. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, Mr. Feldman moved to adjourn. The motion was duly seconded and unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m. o Ellie Caruso Recording Secretary 6