Loading...
Minutes 02-25-13 TUTS OF THE FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE TI HELD ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013, @ 6:00 P.M., IN THE BOYNTON BEACH CITY LIBRARY, ROOM 66 A", 208 S. SEACREST BLVD., BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT. Don Scantlan, Chair Tim Howard Finance Director Fakhry "Ed" Boulos Jeffrey Grady Steven Grant 1. Call to Order — Don Scantlan, Committee Chair • Should any members not be able to make the meeting; contact Tim Howard ( o ardT(M fl.us or (561) 742 -6311 by 3 pm Monday as the meeting may be cancelled for lack of a quorum. Chair Scantlan called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. The Recording Secretary called the roll. A quorum was present. Chair Scantlan added a second item to Item 5 of the Agenda: Discussion of the Board's size. There were no other changes to the agenda. Motion Mr. Grady moved to approve the agenda as amended. Mr. Grant seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 2. Resignation of Terry Lonergan Chair Scantlan announced Ms. Lonergan's resignation. He noted aside from himself, she was the last of the original appointees to the Committee. He wanted the members to be aware he was running for the District IV City Commission seat. 2. Introduction of new member Fakhry Edward Boulos • Tim will bring updated list of members Mr. Boulos gave a brief presentation and explained he is known as "Ed ". Mr. Boulos was born in Egypt and came to the United States in 1968. He is a biochemist and has worked in the lab, in the fields of microbiology and biochemistry. He decided to work on the chemical sales side and went back to school and received his Masters Degree in 1976. He then marketed and sold chemicals for Armour Chemicals, a subsidiary of Armour Foods. He was general manager of the business unit in Chicago which was successful. He then retired and volunteered as a tax preparer, providing free tax Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL February 25, 2013 services through AARP, but he wanted to do more. He moved to Boynton Beach two years ago from Stuart, Florida. 4. Approval of December 10, 2012 Minutes There was a question on Item 6 of the minutes, on page three. The sentence should read: "A company with a doctor, nurse, physician assistant could be contracted to man the clinic, which are all governed by the HEPA HIPPA rules." The sentence in Item 8, page four of the minutes was changed to read: "He also commented that the Financial Advisory Committee was a Board that does not allow a member to be a an alternat member of another Board." Motion Mr. Grady moved to approve the minutes as amended. Mr. Grant seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 5. Discussion about Vice Chair • See attached Ordinance No. 12-005 Chair Scantlan reviewed the enabling Ordinance that created the Committee. Originally, the City Commission appointed the Chair and Vice Chair position; however, when the Ordinance was amended, this was changed so the Committee could self- appoint from its membership. Mr. Grant offered to serve as Vice Chair. Mr. Grant explained he moved to Boynton Beach in 2010 after completing law school. He has a general practice encompassing criminal work, civil litigation and estate planning. He has a multi-jurisdictional practice and often travels to Washington, D.C. and Maryland and works for firms there. Currently, his focus is on collections and estate planning. Previously, he was a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley before becoming an attorney. Nomination Mr. Boulos nominated Mr. Grant (to serve as Vice Chair). Mr. Grady seconded the nomination which was unanimously approved. Discussion followed about the Committee's membership. City Manager, Lori LaVerriere, believed the Committee originally had nine members to accommodate certain skill sets. Each member essentially does an independent study on their tasks until it was time to discuss the results. There is very little interaction between the members. Instead of having seven members, Ms. LaVerriere inquired if five members would be adequate, which the Chair agreed was sufficient. 2 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL February 25, 2013 Chair Scantlan believed the Committee was one of the hardest working committees in the City and it has difficulty obtaining members. The Committee's tasks are important, and he noted the Committee has only had a full membership for the first two or three months of its formation. As to meeting monthly or twice monthly, Chair Scantlan explained in the past, the Committee's work was targeted for completion during the beginning of the budget process. The process starts in April and the budget hearings are in July. The Committee first creates the City Services Survey. A cost - benefit analysis could be done by the City, but there is not much benefit data. The survey is to obtain that input and determine the benefit of the various services. The Financial Advisory Committee (FAC) determines the survey questions. Chair Scantlan handles the data analysis and then writes an Executive Summary as the first page of the report. The number of meetings held was a function of the workload. The purpose of meeting twice per month was to ensure projects were being completed and to ensure the Committee is ready to prepare the final recommendation documents. Members present their findings to the rest of the Committee and there is a vote whether it would be recommended to the City Commission. Motion Mr. Grant moved to reduce the standing Board size from seven members to five, still retaining two alternates. Mr. Grady seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Mr. Howard agreed to forward the request to the City Manager. 6. Review and Discuss Committee Member Study Topics and Potential Assignments for FY 2013 -2014 • See attached listing from 12/10/12 meeting • Discussion of reassigning number 9 (On -Site Health Clinic) and 12 (Development Fees- Comparison to Other Cities) Chair Scantlan explained in the past, tasks were promulgated by the Committee; however, this year, they were assigned by the City. No specifics were given. Ms. Lonergan had resigned and had agreed to handle Item 12, "Comparison of Development Fees to Other Cities ". Mr. Boulos was asked if he would take her tasks and it was explained that in the past, the FAC member contacted the Department Director for a meeting. During the meeting, they would educate the member as to what they do and the member could then check with other cities. In this instance, it was possible the Department Head may already have a list of all the fees charged in Item 12. If so, the member could then build a table and list the comparison results. Discussion followed Mr. Grady was handling Item 5 - Make /Buy Other Services. He noted in academia, such as the University of Florida, they have already reviewed 30 3 Meeting Minutes Financial Advisory Committee B oynton Beach, FL February 25, 2013 City Services and determined whether it was feasible to make or buy them. Much information was already available and it may not be necessary to reinvent the wheel. Mr. Boulos contemplated handling Item 8, the On -site Clinic as opposed to Item 12 and indicated he preferred to handle one item. He later reconsidered and thought maybe it was better to handle Item 12. Chair Scantlan explained the recommendations should be submitted at least two weeks before the City Commission receives their information for the budget workshop. He also explained members are prohibited from talking to one another about Committee related business outside of the meetings. 7. Discussion of City Services Survey • City has not started budget process for FY 13/14 as of today, normally first part of March, no preliminary information yet. • Tim will bring copy of survey to meeting for review. Tim Howard, Finance Director, distributed the draft survey with the changes incorporated from the last meeting. He commented last year, the survey was closed on March 31st, so the Committee was behind in its schedule. He noted he rearranged the questions based on his notes. He updated the numbers related to the budget questions and revised the prelude to the budget section. City staff has not begun the budget process and did not know the deficit so he reworded Question 6 to read the City used $2.9 million of its Reserve to fund this year's budget. He commented then the questions fell into place. He noted in the current economic climate, it was likely there would be a deficit this year and instead of listing the deficit in Question 16, it would be reworded to ask, "What specific suggestions would you have to close any projected general fund budget gaps for the next fiscal year? The survey would be posted on the website and advertised. Mr. Grady suggested incentivizing the survey and indicating if the participant provides their email, they would be sent a copy of the report when it is completed. The participant would have to click yes and opt in to receive the report, as the radio button cannot be pre - populated in the affirmative. They would have to click yes or no and there was agreement to add this to Question 15. Motion Mr. Grady moved to accept the amended survey and proceed with its distribution. Mr. Grant seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Mr. Howard agreed to send the members an email when the survey was distributed hopefully, by the end of the week. Discussion followed on methods of distribution. The survey would be posted on the City's website, department websites, via hard copy at City Hall and the Library, Twitter, Facebook, the marquee at the Fire Station, and via news releases. 4 Meeting (Minutes Financial Advisory Committee Boynton Beach, FL February 25, 2013 There is a receptacle, in City Hall, available at the front desk that could be used. A suggestion was made to have golf pencils available to fill out the hard copies and submit them and Mr. Howard agreed to look into obtaining the pencils. Discussion followed taking the survey electronically was effective. It was noted one of the first items instituted that saved the City money was offering customers the opportunity to opt out of receiving paper water bills and receiving them electronically. . Other Business Chair Scantlan commented he was unable to attend the March 11th meeting and Mr. Grant commented he would be out of town and could not attend the March 25th meeting. After brief discussion, there was agreement to keep the meetings scheduled because the City Commission will meet on March 5th and another person could be appointed or the Committee size reduced. If so, the meeting could move forward if all else attended since the quorum requirements would be met. Mr. Grant commented his address needed to be changed. Mr. Howard agreed to obtain the information. Mr. Boulos inquired about Ethics and the Sunshine Law; however, the City Clerk had prepared information for him which he received at the end of the meeting. 9. Adjournment Motion There being no further business to discuss, Mr. Grady moved to adjourn. Mr. Grant seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 6.54 p.m. a, d i �.... b.o$... Catherine Cherry Recording Secretary 022613 5