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September 13, 2010 EXCERPT FROM THE MINUTES OF 9/13/10 CITY COMMISSION MEETING Commissioner Holzman: The only thing I want to talk about, the way your budget is set out, it doesn't include furloughs. I'd like to add furloughs and I'd like to discuss the animal control division and real difference. I really need to understand from the City Manager the difference in the annual cost between having the officer and/or using funds, donation accounts funds, in order to supplement keeping a reduced animal cruelty or animal control division. I really want to understand exactly what the break down points out. Commissioner Hay: That sounds like a no. Commissioner Holzman: What's that? Commissioner Hay: As for support his budget as he stated. Commissioner Holzman: I'm just asking a question. Mr. Bressner: Let me give you the good news and the bad news. The good news is that the animal control operation, if it is morphed back into a lower grade animal cruelty /impoundment operation can be operated around $103,000. It would need approximately $16,000 from the donation fund. The donation fund is approximately $90,000, somewhere around there. That has been generated over 20 some years. So the amount of donations that come into the animal control fund is about $2,000 a year. About four years ago the City Manager, me, authorized a grant to be put in that donation fund. That was the biggest donation or deposit into that fund. They say what they say about good intentions. The difficulty we have is that the $75,000 number that was on your spread sheet for August 31. I apologize, that is the base salary plus some benefits but not total. And the appropriate number that needs to be added in any event to cover the operational as well as benefit cost is an additional $27,939. That is how we get to the $103,000 number. Then to actually feed the animals which I guess if you are going to impound them, you have to feed them, then the dollars — that's where the $16,000 would come from the donation to fully operate the program — albeit at a lower staffing level. It would only be one part time kennel worker. The full time associate we would not hire that position. I didn't authorize it to be filled this fiscal year, held off on that. The staffing level would basically be one and a quarter or one and a third positions. Commissioner Holzman: So how much would it be if we just — we ended the program and we created the — Mr. Bressner: -- animal cruelty investigator. Commissioner Holzman: Exactly, with the benefits. Mr. Bressner: My guess it would be pretty close to $95,000, somewhere around there. 1 Mayor Rodriguez: Didn't we use $108,000 before. Mr. Bressner: $103,000. That restores the part time kennel worker. Vice Mayor Ross: Twenty hours a week. Mr. Bressner: Twenty hours a week. Commissioner Holzman: So it would be cheaper to restore at a partial basis using the money from the donation account at $91,000 than just creating the officer position. Mr. Bressner: Yeah, the burn time on the donations will be a lot faster if you start using it. We suggested around $16,000 to spread it out. If you want to go the full bore, you could take up to $40,000 for two years and leave the number at $75,000 in the fund and come up with the same program. Not a duplicate of what we have now, but a lower grade. Commissioner Holzman: What do we do with those donation funds currently? How much do we spend on a yearly basis? Mr. Bressner: Very little if any. I think we've really been very persnickety about spending any of those dollars. That is why there is $90,000 there. It might be $1,000 here or $1,000 there, but that's it. Commissioner Holzman: It sounds to me like, on the short term, it would be cheaper to restore it fully, not fully, but to the extent you mentioned here using the $16,000 out of the $91,000 versus if we all want the animal control, instead of having the officer position which would cost $95,000, now we are saying it only cost $91,000 to actually have the full time program installed. Vice Mayor Ross: It is one and a half people. Mr. Bressner: $103,000 with a reduced animal collection and holding operation in place and that is largely because you are cutting back your kennel worker. We are not hiring the full time assistant to Liz so that the total cost — we estimated the total cost of that slimmed -down operation would be about $103,000 a year. Commissioner Holzman: Minus the money used from the donation fund. Mr. Bressner: Well, that's what you are going to have to come up — Commissioner Holzman: I just want to — for me it is a no- brainer, if it is cheaper to just do it this way. Ms. LaVerriere: You have to add the $103,000. The $103,000 would be the impact on the General Fund. But we still need the $16,000 and change to — for the kennel /shelter 2 operation that would come out of the donation fund, which does not have a General Fund impact. Commissioner Holzman: So it is $103,000 plus the $16,000. Ms. LaVerriere: Plus the $16,000 gives you a modified program. But the $16,000 does not impact your General Fund which is the number you are struggling with. The $16,000 would come out of the donation account. You can do that for five or six years and still be able to support pretty much a status quo operation. Vice Mayor Ross: The $90,000 is there. Ms. LaVerriere: $103,000 would support Liz or the animal control supervisor position and the reduced part time position. It eliminates the animal control officer position that was in the original proposed budget. Mr. Bressner: The $75,000 number was incorrect and it should have been higher, should have included some of the bennies. Ms. LaVerriere: It was a rough estimate, too rough. Commissioner Holzman: So looking at the budget from August 31 whatever the day was, where we added back the animal cruelty officer, that day we agreed to. Take that number, just so I know, take that number out and let's say you put it in as this attachment three states, everything else being equal — what's the net effect? Ms. LaVerriere: $27,000. Mr. Bressner: $27,000, $28,000. Commissioner Holzman: Plus. Ms. LaVerriere: Added. Commissioner Holzman: Added back into the General Fund or - -? Mr. Bressner: A cost, additional cost to the General Fund. Commissioner Holzman: Additional cost, okay. Then that answers my question. Vice Mayor Ross: I have a question for the Commission. I'm just curious, did any of you get calls from people telling you or asking you to not support the division or remove or eliminate the division. I got a lot of calls and written messages to keep the division going. Commissioner Hay: I got messages also to keep it. 3 Vice Mayor Ross: Keep it. Did anyone else get phone calls or written messages. Commissioner Orlove: I received a couple of emails to keep it. Vice Mayor Ross: To keep it. What about the other two Commissioners? Mayor Rodriguez: I got everything. Commissioner Holzman: I got emails, conversations. I think the biggest point during my conversations with all the citizens were, if we can find a way to keep this at a cheaper rate than having an animal cruelty officer I would be all for it, but it doesn't look like in terms of continuing it on a long term process, I don't know if that is possible. Mayor Rodriguez: Let me bring this back. I just want to let the Commission know that we don't necessarily have to make a decision on the furloughs tonight because that is only going to help us. It is not going to hurt us. It's not going to be on the other side. It's not extra cost, it is extra revenue. So, we can actually agree to 6.7 and then still have further discussion on the furlough to add to the reserve. Follow? Commissioner Holzman: I understand what you are saying. But, if we agree to 6.7 we can't go back, we can't go up. Mayor Rodriguez: You can't raise the millage rate, no. (Discussion continued regarding the millage rate and the resolution on the millage rate was passed. Discussion on adopting the budget began and the meeting was recessed to allow copies to be made of the changes that would be addressed individually.) Meeting reconvenes. Mr. Bressner: I think for purposes of — because our conversation just before we entered the break clarified a couple things. So it might be helpful for you to go through the list, particularly to reaffirm the positions and the changes that were basically restored because I think there were a lot of questions. Mayor Rodriguez: Okay, let's — I'll start with police adjustments which by the way the Shopper Hopper is in there so that is being restored. Then the $17,000 for the advertising is back in there cause it goes hand -in -hand, right? Okay so restore two to four, use three records technicians restored, took the credit on the police PAL officer, we restored all the Community Service Officers, deleted the animal control division, so I took the credit on that. We inserted the animal control, cruelty investigator so that number is so — is that changed now? Mr. Bressner: That number would be $103,000 -- 4 Mayor Rodriguez: That's the cost? Mr. Bressner: That's not total of the cost. We need to — if we are talking about just the animal cruelty investigator about $90,000. So, it is a $15,000 bump. Vice Mayor Ross: She said $90,000? Mr. Bressner: About $90,000, yeah. Mayor Rodriguez: And that's from the General Fund? Mr. Bressner: That would be General Fund and supplemented with some donations if necessary. Mayor Rodriguez: Okay. (Discussions continued relating to other positions.) 5 Mayor Rodriguez: That's the cost? Mr. Bressner: That's not total of the cost. We need to — if we are talking about just the animal cruelty investigator about $90,000. So, it is a $15,000 bump. Vice Mayor Ross: She said $90,000? Mr. Bressner: About $90,000, yeah. Mayor Rodriguez: And that's from the General Fund? Mr. Bressner: That would be General Fund and supplemented with some donations if necessary. Mayor Rodriguez: Okay. (Discussions continued relating to other positions.) 'te:: // ( t "r' !: Judith A. Pyle, CNJ;E' Deputy City Clerk 5