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Minutes 02-27-12 MINUTES OF THE FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012, AT 6:00 P.M., IN THE BOYNTON BEACH CITY LIBRARY, ROOM "A ", 208 S. SEACREST BLVD., BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Don Scantlan, Chair Barry Atwood, Finance Director Dennis Dougherty David Katz Terry Lonergan ABSENT: Jeffrey Fisher 1. Call to Order Chair Scantlan called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. Announcement of Committee Member resignation Roll call was taken. A quorum was present. Motion Ms. Lonergan moved to approve the agenda. Mr. Dougherty seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Chair Scantlan announced a member, (William Shulman) had resigned from the Committee and requested the members encourage those with the needed financial qualifications to submit an application. It was noted in three months, four members resigned. It was also announced an organizational chart which had been provided to Mr. Dougherty should be updated to reflect the existence of the Financial Advisory Committee. Barry Atwood, Committee Liaison, agreed to update the chart. 3. Approval of February 13, 2012 Minutes — Kindly review in advance of the meeting The following changes were made in strikethrough and underline: Page 1, Mr. Feldman was not present at the meeting. Page 2, last paragraph, " ... discussion, Mr. Dougherty -Fisher agreed to handle Item 27,..." 1 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL February 27, 2012 Page 2, in the motion paragraph, " . . . to amend the Ordinance so volunteer -far -the members could elect the position of Chair . . ." Page 5, sixth paragraph, "Mr. Katz explained he had met with two of all the Unions and was reaching out to all of them as he has . . ." Page 6, fourth paragraph, "He explained the form he received last week was based on 2010 population. He inquired how current the information was and Ms. LaVerriere agreed to update the information." A member noted that neither a question that was asked at the last meeting about what was being done to close the budget shortfall, nor the response given by Ms. Byrnes was reflected in the minutes. After review of the audio, the matter, as stated in the minutes captured the discussion which was reflected on page 3, last paragraph continuing onto page 4 as follows: "The Development Department planned to offer incentives to help move small businesses into the City. Much of the groundwork for the basis was being done. As to closing the $3 million shortfall for 2012/2013, the Building Department was already at 64% of its projected revenue and it was anticipated it would close a good portion of that gap. If they stayed on track, the Department should accumulate $750,000 to $1,000,000 over their projected revenue." Motion Mr. Katz moved to approve the minutes as amended. Ms. Lonergan seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 4. Review Commission Agenda Item requesting the Commission to amend the Ordinance creating the Committee • Select its own Chair & Vice -Chair • Update Member qualifications for consistency with the Committee Appointment Application Chair Scantlan explained the members requested this item be heard by the City Commission. The item was submitted to the Committee for their review and would be placed on the March 6, 2012, agenda. As referenced above, the amendment pertained to the Committee electing its own Chair and Vice Chair, and changed Section 2.243(b)(1) of the Ordinance to conform the Ordinance to the actual Advisory Board application. The category of "Auditing" was not intended to replace a "Financial Professional" and the application did not contain "Financial Professional," only "Auditing, Banking, Pension Plan Management and Financial Planning." 2 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL February 27, 2012 Motion Ms. Lonergan moved to approve. Mr. Katz seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 5. Citizen Survey discussion to include possible extension beyond February 29 • 136 electronic attempts • 25 hardcopy responses will be entered next week The members were provided with a snapshot of the survey results, to -date. Since the number of responses received this year was approximately half of what was received last year, Chair Scantlan proposed to extend the survey to the end of April. He would then prepare the data in a manner similar to how it was presented to the City Commission last year. Brief discussion followed about how the data was organized and it was noted that last year, the joint workshop was held on May 12, 2011. Since the Committee would have to prepare an agenda item for this year's workshop, it was recommended the survey only be extended to the end of March, and extended again if necessary. Chair Scantlan requested a motion to extend the survey to March 31, 2012. Motion Ms. Lonergan so moved. Mr. Dougherty seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 6. Update by Committee members regarding progress to date of their assignment areas Mr. Dougherty noted he was listed as handling Item 24, Ad Valorem Tax, Historical Tax Rate, which was not his item, nor was Item 23, Business Fees /Assessments — Comparison to Other Cities. Mr. Atwood agreed to remove his name from those tasks. Mr. Dougherty gave an update on his tasks which were Item 2, Capital Improvements Plan; Item 19, Children's Schoolhouse Museum; and Item 31, Public Safety Communications Hub. He had a meeting scheduled with Jeff Livergood, Director of Public Works, on various items related to the Capital Improvements Plan and had conducted more research from other libraries for Item 18. As to the Public Safety Communications Hub item, a Public Safety Report was due in mid -March which he could not obtain any sooner. Suggestions were made to assist him to complete his tasks. No recommendations were put forth at this time. 3 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL February 27, 2012 Ms. Lonergan provided an update on her tasks which were Item 16, Municipal Elections Costs; Items 34, 35, and 36, Police, Fire, and General Employees Pension Plans, respectively, as they related to an Intercity Comparison of Benefits; and Item 8, City Park Usage Analysis. She expressed she had a meeting scheduled with Janet Prainito, the City Clerk regarding the Elections. Mr. Atwood had provided her with information regarding the pensions and as to the City Park Usage Analysis, she had met with Recreation and Parks Director, Wally Majors. Suggestions were made to assist her to complete her tasks. No recommendations were put forth at this time. Mr. Katz gave an update on his tasks, which were Item 20E, Employee Cell Phone Allowances & City Cell Phone Costs; Item 20D, Employee Car Allowances & Take Home Cars; and Items 34, 35, and 36, Police, Fire, and General Employees Pension Plans, respectively, as they related to an Intercity Comparison of Benefits. Mr. Katz did indicate his recommendations associated with Items 20E and 20D, Cell Phone Allowances and Phone Costs and Employee Car Allowances and Take Home Cars respectively, were cut and dried. His recommendations would be to eliminate them. He clarified he was only speaking to the allowance portion of the two items and cutting those portions would save the City approximately $122,000. In reference to the pension plan items, Mr. Katz's involvement pertained to discussions. He was attempting to meet with all the Unions to obtain feedback from them in an effort to reduce the City's Annual Required Contribution (ARC) by $600,000. This could be accomplished through an increase of approximately 2% from each pension plan participant. The City contributes millions of dollars each year to the plans. He had met with the Blue Collar and Fire Department Unions who appeared to be amenable to the 2% increase. The thought was that although the increase would reduce the employee's pay, the employee would receive the benefit upon retirement. The White Collar Union also appeared amenable to the same suggestion. He commented he had not yet met with the Police Union. Mr. Katz explained he was meeting with Kofi Boateng, Utilities Director, and Jeff Livergood, Director, Public Works, about privatization and sanitation fees. A two dollar a month increase in sanitation fees would generate close to $900,000, and it was more politically palatable than a tax increase. He did not feel reducing any service levels was appropriate, nor did he favor or think privatization would be beneficial. Health Insurance was discussed. Presently, the City pays 100% for the employee and zero for dependents. It was noted in the private sector, employees pay a portion of their health insurance; however, this item would not be addressed at this time. Mr. Katz pointed out the amount of money spent on legal fees compared to the City of Delray Beach and thought there could be a savings. Delray Beach has an in -house City Attorney. He guessed the amount of money Boynton Beach paid to the City Attorney's firm was between $1 million and $1.5 million . He thought for $1.5 million, the 4 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL February 27, 2012 City could have an in -house City Attorney, two assistant attorneys and a legal secretary, such as Delray Beach has. Mr. Katz believed the legal issues in Delray Beach would not be any more extensive than those which occur in Boynton Beach. Chair Scantlan explained he had not made progress on his items He requested assistance reviewing the information associated with Item 5, Franchise Solid Waste Services from Mr. Atwood. Chair Scantlan was planning to study a public /private competition with the A -76 model and determine what City staff might be available to work in a different function the different roles required for an A76 study. In reference to Item 17, Paperless Billing, the original discussion was to obtain a complete wrap- around system; however, the software was cost prohibitive. There would also be maintenance fees imposed Discussion followed if each household opted out, it would equate to a savings of $1 per bill. It was noted Bealls department store charged $1 to issue a paper bill each month. A suggestion was made to change Item 17 from Paperless Billing to Electronic Billing and address the item next year; however, Chair Scantlan wanted to leave it on the matrix although it would not be addressed this year Discuss due dates for Committee members to submit their individual recommendations for full Committee review and voting prior to presentation to the City Commission. (Copy of Recommendation Form is attached) • Committee vote was taken at the March 28 meeting last year • Recommendations were submitted to the City Commission at the April 5, 2011 meeting 7. Discuss date to request Joint Workshop with City Commission (Thursday, May 12th last year) This item was discussed at the last meeting; however, the Committee had to request a date. It was noted that if the survey was extended and was not completed until March, 31, 2012, the recommendations would be due April 9th. There was agreement the recommendations would be due and voted on in April and presented on May 10th or May 17th, with May 17th being the target date. 8. Review recommended changes to Utility Meter Services fee schedule. This initiative was undertaken by three of the meter readers in the Utility Department. It was noted the employees put a lot of effort into the study, which included a comparison of fees with other jurisdictions, and they were not paid for their work. The study was excellent. It was known that 20% of the meters in Boynton Beach do not read. A suggestion was made to discuss this item at the next meeting Mr. Atwood pointed out this item would not affect the General Fund budget, and suggested the Committee's time 5 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL February 27, 2012 may be better spent on items what would affect the General Fund. After further deliberation, there was agreement to defer this item. Mark Karageorge, Community Redevelopment Agency Board Member, commended the Committee for their work. 9. Adjournment Motion There being no further business to discuss, Mr. Katz moved to adjourn. Ms. Lonergan seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 7:06 p.m. L UA ' Catherine Cherry Recording Secretary 022812 6