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Minutes 07-25-96 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1996, AT 6:30 P.M. PRESENT Gerald "Jerry" Taylor, Mayor Shirley Jaskiewicz, Vice Mayor Matthew Bradley, Commissioner Henderson Tillman, Commissioner Jamie Titcomb, Commissioner Carrie Parker, City Manager James Cherof, City Attorney Sue Kruse, City Clerk I. CALL TO ORDER - Mayor Jerry Taylor Mayor Taylor called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. Commissioner Bradley offered an invocation which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Commissioner T[llman. I1. AGENDA APPROVAL: A. Additions, Deletions, Corrections Commissioner Bradley added Item IV-A, "School Board Member Lobbying". B. Adoption Commissioner Bradley moved to approve the agenda as amended, Commissioner Titcomb seconded the motion which carried unanimously. III. PUBLIC HEARING - Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 1996/97 None IV. COMMISSION COMMENTS A. School Board Member Lobbying Commissioner Bradley advised that on Monday, the School Board will meet to decide the capital budget. This is the budget that we have been trying unsuccessfully to get the high school listed under. There are efforts underway to lobby the School Board members. It is believed that we have two votes at this time. He encouraged the Commissioners to call the following seven Board members: Bob Hayes, Paulette Burdick, Diane Heinz, Jody Gleason, Gall Bjork, Bill Brown, and Dr. Richmond. He urged that the Commissioners contact these members to let them know that each Commissioner is strongly encouraging them to consider the 237 Loan as the funding option. MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 25, 1996 Mayor Taylor advised that he contacted Bob Hayes today for this reason, and reminded him that he is our representative. Although Mr. Hayes said he would have to think about it, Mayor Taylor was somewhat encouraged by his voice. Commissioner Bradley felt the fact that Mr. Hayes offered to think about it might be some movement. Commissioner Bradley encouraged the public to contact these School Board members as well. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz was hopeful that the comments she made relative to the roll-back rate were not misconstrued. She does not want to remove the $312,000 allocated for Visions. She is strongly in favor of Visions. One of her goals will be fulfilled when we begin to implement some of the things that evolved from that process. After listening to comments made by the Mayor and Commissioners, it only amounts to a difference of $10 on a $100,000 home. She does not think anyone would suffer any extreme hardship. In addition, we have a Reserve Fund and we would be supplementing that somewhat by doing that. Se reminded everyone that our millage has slightly decreased and the only way we would have a slight increase is if the property assessments from the County increase. Commissioner Titcomb raised a question about what happens with line items in the budget when there is an allotted personnel expense or expenditure which is not spent. City Manager Parker advised that the money rolls into the Fund Balance. City Manager Parker explained that a department head has the ability to move money from one line to another Within the department. This must be approved by the City Manager's Office. However, interdepartmental transfers must be approved by the City Commission. Commissioner Bradley feels the budget was. very well prepared and clear cut. He noted that some of the departments used narratives and some used a "what happens if" scenario. He feels it would be good for all departments to take a narrative-type of approach and be consistent across the board. The information was helpful but somewhat confusing when reading all of the material. City Manager Parker advised that the Clipper Cove sale closed. We checked to see if the value was in the tax roll which we received on July 1 from the Property Appraiser. It was listed as tax exempt. Therefore, the dollars we anticipated receiving from the taxes were not included. Per our agreement, they have to make a payment in lieu of taxes. Therefore, if we use the current millage rate, there will be an additional $99,000 available from Clipper Cove in the tax line. The bad news, however, is that the Property Appraiser valued it at only $12.5 million, the same value as last year. We will discuss increasing this value with the Property Appraiser. Commissioner Bradley confirmed that the payment in lieu of taxes will arrive concurrent with tax revenue. City Manager Parker further advised that they are entitled to the same discount. The $99,000 is the full payment; however, it could be discounted by one percent. We will receive that money in November. MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 25, 1996 Mayor Taylor reminded the Commissioners of the lengthy discussion which was conducted relative to the new positions in the Fire Department. He pointed out that if everything is approved this evening, we will still have two additional hearings on the budget in September. There is still time to make changes during those hearings. This budget includes the three Battalion Chief positions. In Mayor Taylor's opinion, these are new positions and the best-qualified people should be selected to fill those positions. Although he is a proponent of promoting qualified people from inside, he would not hesitate going to the outside to fill those positions if that quality is not available on the inside. Mayor Taylor requested that he be supplied with a copy of the job description for this job. City Manager Parker advised that Human Resources writes the job description with the assistance of the Fire Department. That the job description will be included on the City Commission agenda for approval or changes. Commissioner Tillman expressed concern about the "to be" plan. He is hopeful that once the determination of the final cost of the entire system comes in, we should look forward to each department head building that cost into what that department wants to budget for a particular year. In this way, the Commission will not have to look at a big fluctuation in numbers in terms of this system. When each department begins to put this in the budget for the coming year, that percentage of the new system will be part of their budget and this will provide a system of tracking how this system is coming together. Mayor Taylor added that the budget was presented in an outstanding manner. He realizes that a lot of hard work was put into the preparation of the budget by the departments. Mayor Taylor appreciates the patience of all who provided answers to the questions posed by the Commissioners. PROPOSED RESOLUTION NO. R96-103 Re: Adopting a proposed millage rate (Fiscal Year 1996/97) and setting forth the date, time and place of the first Public Hearing to consider the proposed millage rate and the tentative budget Attorney Cherof read Proposed Resolution No. R96-103 by title only. In reading the Proposed Resolution, Attorney Cherof added the figure of 7.9251 as the proposed millage rate. He announced that the first Public Hearing will be on Wednesday, September 4, 1996, at 6:30 p.m. City Manager Parker advised that the Public Hearing will be held during the regular City Commission meeting. The regular meeting has been moved to Wednesday since there isla Primary Election on Tuesday, September 3, 1996. Mayor Taylor reminded everyone that once the millage is approved, it can be decreased at a later date, but it cannot be increased. MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 25, 1996 Motion Commissioner Titcomb moved to approve Resolution No. R96-103 as read. Commissioner Tillman seconded the motion which carried 5-0. VI. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the City Commission, the meeting properly adjourned at 6:55 p.m. CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH ATTEST: City ~'erk August 1, 1996 Commissioner Co/n~i~sioner / 4 MINUTES OF THE CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1996, AT 6:30 P.M. PRESENT Gerald "Jerry" Taylor, Mayor Shirley Jaskiewicz, Vice Mayor Matthew. Bradley, Commissioner Henderson Tillman, Commissioner Jamie Titcomb, Commissioner Carrie Parker, City Manager James Cherof, City Attorney Sue Kruse, City Clerk CALLTO ORDER Mayor Taylor called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. and advised that the Commission will be recessing to go into an executive session. After the executive session, the budget workshop will reconvene. CitY Attorney Cherof advised that the executive session will last approximately 15 minutes. At the executive session, the Commission will discuss the settlement of the Vincent Finizio lawsuit. He, the members of the Commission, the City Manager, and Tom Sheehan, special counsel to the City, will attend the executive session. At 6:41 p.m., Mayor Taylor declared a recess to go into executive session. The meeting resumed at 7:15 p.m. FINIZIO LAWSUIT City Attorney Cherof announced that we have been engaged in settlement discussions with Mr. Finizio through his attorney, Don Boswell, for the last several weeks. We have reached a tentative settlement in the form of an employment separation agreement which would accomplish the following: It would be a settlement of all pending and threatened lawsuits by Mr. Finizio. It would consolidate all of the monetary claims, including the court's most recent award reinstating Mr. Finizio and awarding back wages for the time period since his layoff. In addition to the back wages, the City will pay a flat amount of $385,357.30 for complete settlement of all claims, including attorney fees, court costs, and future and pending claims that Mr. Finizio ceuld assert against any previous or current Commissioner, official, officer, employee or agent of the City. Mr. Finizio will execute a general release in favor of the City and all of its past and current officers, officials, and employees, expressing those terms. He waives ar]y claim to future pension benefits. He is resigning. He waives all future claims to reinstatement recall, employment or rehire or any other benefits except his COBRA benefit, which is his right to continue to receive the medical insurance available through the MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 City to its employees for a limited period of time, provided he makes the payment. The City, by the agreement, accepts his resignation and will make a notation on his payroll card that he has resigned for personal reasons. There will be no purging of his personnel file. No documents will be removed under the terms of the agreement. The City is not agreeing to limit disclosure of information about the employee if questioned by outside sources or by inside sources. The current Court Order which the City has on a Motion for Rehearing will be rescinded by the Court and in its place the Court will enter an Order indicating that the parties have amicably resolved their disputes. It will adopt the terms and conditions of the separation agreement, and the case will be dismissed with prejudice. Motion Commissioner Titcomb moved to accept the employment separation agreement as of July 24, 1996, with an effective date of the agreement being the date of the exchange of checks and releases spelled out within the body of the separation agreement. Commissioner Bradley seconded the motion. Mayor Taylor stated that this was a situation that this Commission inherited. It was a very difficult problem that needed to be dealt with. He felt this Commission has dealt with this problem with the interest of the City in mind, both currently and in the future. It eliminates the current lawsuit in which the Court had already levied significant money that the City was going to have to pay out unless we appealed. It would have cost us additional significant dollars to appeal. After discussing this matter with our attorneys, we felt it was best to try to reach an agreement instead of appealing. In addition, the appeal would be solely for this particular lawsuit. There was another ~awsuit pending that could have been even more expensive than this one. All lawsuits concerning this individual will be settled. Also, if we returned this individual to the work environment, it could have had an effect on the work environment as far as other employees are concerned. Also, for years to come, we would have been paying an employee for a position which this City has deemed not necessary and had eliminated. Mayor Taylor felt that in the long run, the City is going to come out in the best possible way as far as creating and keeping a positive work environment and financially. The motion carried 5-0. At this time, City Attorney Cherof and the City Clerk, Sue Kruse, left the meeting, and the budget was discussed. 2 MINUTES CiTY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 BUDGET In response to the Commission's questions last evening, City Manager Parker distributed a multi page chart of the Budget Recap General Fund (the General Fund by department). It showed the 1995 total budget, the 1996/1997 recommended budget, the increase or decrease in the dollar amount, and the percentage change from 1995/96 to 1996/97. Some of the capital outlay was moved to different funds to give a total accurate picture of the actual budget even though it was not impacting the General Fund. The last column shows the percentage change, taking into account all the funds that were impacting the particular departments. City Manager Parker also distributed the summary of the book donation account for the library for the last fiscal year, and the listing of the current City grants, excluding the Police Department grants, in the amount of $3,000,513.00. At the last meeting, the Commission also had a question about the cost saving and projections for expenditures in the future with regard to the computer system. Dale Sugerman, Assistant City Manager and Director of Human Resources, gave a verbal report with approximate figures and said he will provide the Commission with the final numbers in writing at a later date. With regard to the amount of dollars that would be saved on maintenance because of the hiring of a Network Hardware Technician, he said the budget contains $69,881 for computer maintenance. Over the course of the next year, we will be able to take computers off the maintenance contract and assign that to the Network Hardware Technician. Therefore, the computer maintenance contracts will be reduced by approximately $32,665. We will be able to save just about the value of the Network Hardware Technician. That is a savings just in the maintenance contracts. The Network Hardware Technician will be doing a lot more than just maintaining those PCs and printers that are on the current maintenance contract. With regard to the total amount of dollars it will take to finish the implementation of the City- wide network installation and the recommendations from the master plan, Mr. Sugerman s'~ated that he would need a whole year to do this budget process. However, he gave the Commission a range. He stated that two years ago, the City Commission budgeted approximately $700,000. There are four stages of implementation. Phase 2 was approximately $700,000. He believes the expense is also running around $700,000 for Phase 3 in the proposed current budget year. He believes the City-wide computer system could be finished for about $690,000; however, there are a couple of variables. 3 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 We have to convert the data from the present system and place it on the new system. He estimated $250,000 for that data conversion. That is a wiId guess. The number could run as Iow as $150,000 or as high as $500,000. He thinks each of the three phases for implementing the City-wide network would run around $700,000. He would like a swing of another $250,000 to $300,000 either way and he will nail those numbers down a year from now at budget time. He did not think it is going to take $2 million to $4 million to finish this. He believes we can finish it a year from now for around $700,000, give or take $250,000 or $300,000. He will try to nail those numbers down a little more and provide them to the Commission in writing. With regard to the figures for data conversion, Commissioner Titcomb asked if current employees will convert the data or if additional people will be hired specifically for this task. Mr. Sugerman explained that some of the data conversion is very simple and we could hire data entry clerks to enter that data at a fairly reasonable hourly rate. However other types of data conversion might be a little bit sophisticated (police records and utility billing) and we may need to hire a firm to help us with that conversion. None of the current employees will be converting the data. However, they will be trained to do their own data entry from the moment the system is available forward. For example, we are doing weekly payroll data entry almost by hand right now. We are entering it into a computer, but two or three employees are rekeying the same information as it is passed along by hand. It is not passed along electronically. It is passed along in hard copy. The new system will allow all departments to enter payroll information on line in their department. With regard to a question that came up yesterday regarding police recruitment, City Manager Parker advised that in addition to the money that we talked about yesterday, last year we spent $18,000 on academy fees and recruitment into the academy. This year, another $10,000 is budgeted in this year's budget, in addition to the money identified yesterday, for advertising and recruitment in the police budget. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz asked what the ratio of minority employment in the Police D~partment was over the last two years. City Manager Parker said we were at 4 or 5 percent. Right now we are at 14 percent. We are in the process of hiring three additional employees that will bring our percentage to over 14 percent. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz asked how many minority officers were hired over the last two years. City Manager Parker advised that 19 were hired. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz recalled that when she was on the Community Relations Board, there were only three. She did not want anyone to get the impression that we are lagging in this area. 4 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 Mayor Taylor clarified that the line item that we discussed last night that showed $2,500 is not our total minority recruitment package. That was for reimbursement for travel. Much more money goes into our recruitment program. Commissioner Tillman would like to see exactly how much is being spent on recruitment. He was concerned about our turnover rate. If felt that if we are serious about retaining people, then the level of finance should reflect that. If we do not pay attention to bringing in good people from the start, then we are going to have a revolving door. He said maybe the quality or the amount of money we are spending is not bringing in the type of people we need. He suggested sponsoring good candidates. He asked if our turnover rate is tied directly to the amount of money we are spending on recruitment and the amount of money we are spending on sponsoring and training. City Manager Parker pointed out that the three officers we are losing are long-time officers and it has nothing to do with training or recruitment. She advised that we have slowed the revolving door of the new probationary officers. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz knows we have a very competitive salary and working conditions, and opportunities for training during the working period. She asked what other cities are doing that we are not. Commissioner Tillman stated that some cities offer sponsorships. City Manager Parker explained that the City of Boynton Beach does sponsor people and pays them a full salary while they are in the academy, in addition to the academy tuition, books, and academy expenses. We sponsored nine last year, six this year, and have budgeted for five more. Police Chief Marshall Gage advised that we are paying some of the minority recruits a salary, and we are simply sponsoring other recruits by just paying their tuition. If it is demonstrated that there is a real need, we pay recruits while they are going through the academy. It is based on qualifications and the recruits' individual needs. Chief Gage hopes to take some of the CSO positions that open up and give some of the recruits part- time jobs while they are going through the academy, if a need is demonstrated. Mayor Taylor stated that candidates for this position are thoroughly screened. Besides having to graduate from the academy, the candidates are given multiple tests, including alpsychological test. It is a very competitive and tough field to get into. In addition, police officers are on probation for one year. It is a stressful job and you are going to have tdrnover. He did not think our City has any more turnover than any other city. He was not ju!st talking about minority officers. He also pointed out that there is a turnover in any 5 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 occupation. Last year, the City turned over 147 people just in average jobs. He thinks we have spent a considerable amount of money on recruitment and that our record of minority recruitment in the last two years shows the City has been very serious about recruiting minorities. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz suggested a way to retain all the budget items, including the $312,000 that was set aside to begin implementing some of the Visions initiatives, and still go to the rollback rate on the tax millage. We have $435,000 coming in from Clipper Cove that has not been budgeted. This is in addition to the 28 percent that we will get at the end of the year when they figure their proceeds and profits. If we use those funds, we will have funds available to absorb the $312,000 and give the taxpayers some relief while stil} making progress in our City in every area of the budget, including the Vision process. The CRA budget comes to $310,000. We could transfer some of the Clipper Cove proceeds into that budget and still have a rollback rate. City Manager Parker advised that the CRA budget does not impact your taxes. The only General Fund money in the CRA budget is the $57,000. Anything in the General Fund budget is what is supported with your tax dollar. Mayor Taylor was concerned that if the $435,000 is spent, then we have zero, and he does not know what is going to come up this year. This year we were asked to put some more money into the summer program, and people want additional bus service. We also have to take into consideration that some employees are leaving the City's employ and we may not be able to replace them at the budgeted amounts. Mayor Taylor referred to the book donation account for the library. City Manager Parker advised that this is in addition to the money we provided for books. She said we only had just under $400 in book donations this fiscal year. Mayor Taylor took this opportunity to praise staff. He pointed out that the meeting ended ai 10:40 p.m. last night. The Commission had several questions, and in less than 24 hours, they were provided with printouts of data to those questions. He felt staff does a great job, and this is an example of what kind of people we have working for us. The enterprise funds were discussed next. 6 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 Utility Fund City Manager Parker advised that there are two major changes in this fund. One is an accounting change and one is an operational change. With regard to the first change, we are consolidating the Stormwater Fund and the Water and Sewer Fund. This would enable us to utilize all revenues and expenses as expenses and revenues of the total fund. That was originally authorized in the 1992 bond resolution that set up the Stormwater Fund. The City Commission finalized that in the last utility issue that we did a few weeks ago. City Manager Parker recommended those Funds be combined effective October 1st. This would enable us to keep our stormwater rate at $1 per ERU. Surrounding cities are running between $2.75 to $3.75 per ERU. She felt that would also be an economic incentive for major businesses to locate here. She explained that they compare cities' utility rates when deciding where to locate. For example, one business we spoke to recently used almost a million gallons of water a month. Therefore, a few cents in the utility rate per month can make a difference in a business' decision on what city to locate in. The operational change City Manager Parker spoke of earlier is to move the Warehouse Division that is currently in Utilities into the City-wide Warehouse and have one Warehouse Fund, which is an internal service fund. The fund would get its revenue from all the user departments. This change would provide more space for the Warehouse Division in Utilities, as well as for the Public Works' yard. The Warehouse would still fall under the current Warehouse manager. Other than these two major changes, we are not recommending any changes in the water and sewer rates, the stormwater rate, or any of the other fees and charges in any of these three divisions. City Manager Parker advised that the utility billing function is in this division. We had been looking at possibly privatizing the billing and collection function. If we do not do this, the envelope billing system has been funded in this year's budget to allow us to go to the envelope billing system and provide the opportunity to send flyers, handouts and information to the citizens. Commissioner Titcomb asked if that line item includes the price of producing the informational inserts. City Manager Parker responded negatively. She said that would come from the various user departments. 7 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 Commissioner Titcomb asked who would control the policy of inserting information with the bills. City Manager Parker stated that it would be coordinated through the City Manager's Office. Mayor Taylor questioned the recommendation for zero dollars for Meter Reading and Services on page 236. City Manager Parker advised that page 236 merely reflects the capital outlay of the various departments, which fluctuates from year to year. There was no capital outlay in Meter Reading this year. City Manager Parker advised that page 237 reflects nonbudgeted programs that are coming out of the Renewal and Replacement Fund of the bonds. These are the capital projects that will be done under the Renewal and Replacement account. These funds are not contained in this budget. They are in a separate bond budget, but they are all funded. Mayor Taylor asked when we would have to decide if we want to privatize Meter Reading. City Manager Parker advised that the Commission can decide that at any point in time. The budget is funded for a full 12 months. She assumed we would only pdvatize Meter Reading if it was shown that a cost savings would occur. Therefore, we would have enough money to do it at any time. Commissioner Tiliman asked how many employees would privatization eliminate. City Manager Parker advised that there are a total of 15 employees in Utility Billing, Meter Reading, and Customer Service divisions. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz asked if this is the department where there is a huge turnover. City Manager Parker advised that the Meter Reading division has a high turnover because it is a repetitive job. The other two divisions do not have a high turnover. Golf Course Fund City Manager Parker advised that the only fee change that we are recommending is the summer daily rate only. There is no change to the winter rates. Joe Sciortino, Director of the Golf Course, explained that the fee during the months of November, December and April are higher than in the other months. Therefore, we were losing some daily fee players in November, December and April. This year, he proposed charging $29 during November, December and April, and $37 during January, February and March, instead of $33 for the entire winter. This includes the 8 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 cart, greens fee, and tax for the championship course. Since 3,800 more rounds are played in January, February, and March, we will gain about $14,000 in total revenue. The residents, who typically play in November, December, and April, would see a decrease because they would be paying $29 instead of $33. Most golf courses in the area are doing this to address the change in the winter season. It is no longer a six month winter season. It is a three month winter season. This will not affect the annual permit holders. They will pay the same rate that they paid for the last two years. Mayor Taylor would like to see the rates for Delray Municipal, Boca Municipal, South Winds, and Boynton to see how much in line we are with them. He felt golf should be affordable for the average City resident. City Manager Parker will provide this information to the Commission. Mr. Sciortino pointed out that the City is under a handicap because it does not own the land. Delray, Boca, Lake Worth, North Palm Beach, and West Palm Beach have a resident and a nonresident rate. The nonresident rate is 50 percent higher than the resident rate. More than 50 percent of other golf courses' play is nonresident rate. We are precluded from doing this in our arrangement with the County. We must charge everybody the same rate. If you average the resident rate and nonresident rate of other golf courses, our rate is lower. We have to get this premium in January, February, and March so that we can afford to charge our residents $17 in the summer this year, $19 next year, and $29 during the shoulder times. That includes taxes. Other golf courses quote their fees without tax. Mr. Sciortino said he is extremely sensitive to making golf affordable. Mr. Sciortino said when you compare fees, you have to look at how expensive annual permits are in the various golf courses. In Boca, there are 393 permits for their championship course; 160 are residents; 230 are nonresidents. The nonresidents are paying $1,000. Mayor Taylor asked if we have ever petitioned the County to remove that restriction from us. He said they might not lift it for Palm Beach County residents, but they might lift it for out-of-state residents. Mr. Sciortino pointed out that this could create problems if someone lives in another state for six months and owns or rents property in Florida. Mice Mayor Jaskiewicz asked if December could be considered a premium month because of the influx of visitors during the holiday period, so that the summer rates could be maintained at $17.50 to achieve the same revenue. Mr. Sciortino said people do not spend money on golf during December. They spend it on gifts. Most businesses are down in December except retail gift giving. MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 Mayor Taylor asked about the logic of increasing the summer rate from $17.50 to $19.50. Mr. Sciortino said we have been at $17.50 for a long time. The total revenue increase is about $26,000. People are paying $17 for the charity card, which is a discount. $19.50 is still a reasonable rate. He felt we have some responsibility to our citizenry who play on this golf course to also make sure that the golf course is top notch. Mayor Taylor said it is top notch right now at the current rates. Mr. Sciortino attributed this to ali the programs that have been instituted over the years. We spent over $1 million to improve the golf course since it has been open. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz asked if it is currently self-sustaining. Mr. Sciortino advised that it has always been self-sustaining. Mayor Taylor pointed out that it is better than self- sustaining and wondered why we have to raise the fee by $2. Mr. Sciortino stated that as of last year, we were $44,000 short of fully funding ali of our internal (cart and equipment replacement) and external (bond) reserves. He explained that we budget $50,000 every year to replace equipment. Some years we spend $150,000 and other years we spend $20,000. All the programs are only successful if they are fully funded. Even though we have a "$1 million" in retained earnings, we were $44,000 short of being fully funded as of last year, partly due to the bond refinancing. We are barely self-sufficient. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz felt the increase would result in fewer players and rebellion from some of our City residents who are already upset. Mr. Sciortino reiterated that the increase will not affect the permit holders. That $17.50 would only affect the daily fee player. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz said this always comes up when she addresses groups. They point out that they are City residents and it is difficult for those on retirement incomes to pay that price. Mr. Sciortino advised that there are other alternatives for people who cannot afford to play the championship course. They could play the executive course, which costs $5 to walk nine holes in the summertime, or $8.50 to ride in a cart. He pointed out that it costs the City $20.00 to produce a round of golf. Mayor Taylor said it is great to have a championship course, but we want a municipal course that the average person in Boynton Beach can afford. City Manager Parker pointed out that only 90 of our 625 permit holders are City residents. If you have a permit, it is cheaper to play a round of golf. Our City residents have never taken advantage of the permit policy, even though we advertise it frequently and offer 10 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 preferential sale dates for City residents. From the beginning in 1984, the majority of the permit holders have been County residents. Mr. Sciortino felt part of the reason for this is that our citizens could not afford the up front money, which is one of the reasons why he tries to drop the up front money to $50 and add a small surcharge when they play to make it more affordable. However, we still lost 48 of our City permit holders over the last two years. Mayor Taylor asked if a percentage has to be maintained between City and County permits. Mr. Sciortino advised that according to the lease agreement, we have to offer 55 percent to the City and 45 percent to the County. However, if either category does not take its full allotment, the other category can. City Manager Parker said we have never been close to 55 percent. Mayor Taylor asked when the last time was that you could have bought a permit in the City. Mr. Sciortino advised that it was three years ago. If there was a demand by City residents, he would love to sell permits again. However, if 20 permits go on sale next year and only one City resident buys one, the other 19 will be bought up in a minute by County residents. City Manager Parker stated that the subdivisions around the golf course are in the County. Therefore, the residents who live there are utilizing that golf course and do not have a problem paying for an annual permit because the golf course is convenient to them. Mayor Taylor asked if we could designate a certain number of permits for City residents and if they are not sold, if we could hold onto them for future residents. Mr. Sciortino said that cannot be done unless the lease is changed. He pointed out that when we went down from 800 permits to 625, we went up $150,000 in additional greens fee money. If that trend continues, the ability to drop rates or stabilize rates goes up. As you play less discounted rounds, permit holder rounds, you have more greens fee rounds that are being fed into the mix. Therefore, the rates can be stabilized or they can come down. Mayor Taylor asked why the summer rate has to be raised by $2 when we eliminated some p~rmits. Mr. Sciortino said we are eliminating rates through attrition slowly. At the start, we lost 110 a year. Now we are losing between 40 and 60. People realize they are a bargain and are holding onto them. If the attrition rate had been quicker, we could have dropped rates this year. We could take the $26,000 out of retained earnings, but we are $44,000 short of being fully funded. Maybe we will make that up after this last, but he did 11 ~should read, *~...up front money to $500 " MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 not know. He said that is part of the problem of doing the budget before you get your year- end figures. Commissioner Bradley stated that some residents are taking advantage of the golf course, but not many. Therefore, he thinks we have to run it more as a revenue and make sure that we make enough money and stay competitive. He believes Mr. Sciortino is doing a good job at doing this. Commissioner Titcomb suggested proposing to the County that some preferential programs be developed for City residents. He inquired about the increase in the advertising budget. Mr. Sciortino explained that one of the major complaints of the annual permit holders is that they cannot get enough access to the golf course. We take their money up front and then we do not provide tee times for them. Our advertising budget was $5,000 the first year to get people exposed to the golf course. Now we are careful not to promote too hard to get a strong demand until the permit holders tell him they can get tee times. It is easier to get a tee time now so we are slowly going into a promotional mind set. We are contacting the Executives Women's League to talk about creating a league. We are having a league set up through the restaurant on Tuesday nights. We are trying to fill some non prime times through personal contacts and newspapers ads to let people know about this, but we are also being careful not to promote it big time. Last year we were approached by Cable News to put together a television advertising campaign with the other municipal golf courses. We budgeted for it this year, but that employee is no longer with Comcast Cable. Therefore, that has been taken out of next year's budget. However, Mr. Sciortino is planning on doing more print ads and more personal contact by approaching communities to see if we want to form leagues to fill dead time. Sanitation Fund City Manager Parker advised that this fund handles our residential and commercial garbage collection as well as recycling. A decrease in the commercial rates is being proposed. The rate is based on the size of the dumpster and the frequency of pickups. The decrease ranges between 5.6 and 7.8 percent. Aisc recommended is a decrease in the single-family residential rate to $9.75 a month. The multi-family will stay the same at $6 per month. The new replacement vehicles that are being purchased are a front end loader for the commercial division, and one recycling truck. Three Code Enforcement Inspectors who are assigned to the Code Enforcement Division are funded out of this budget. The Martin Luther King Boulevard area cleanup program is being continued. There are no other new projects or programs in this department. 12 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 Commissioner Titcomb asked where the funds come from to do a major cleanup. City Manager Parker explained that when we have a neighborhood cleanup, we bring a couple of dumpsters into the area and the neighbors get together, dean up the street, and put the trash in the dumpsters. Then the City hauls it away over a weekend. The costs are absorbed in this budget. The salaries and tipping fees are in this budget. Account 499.07 is a separate line item in the budget. It funds several contract employees who clean up the vacant yards on MLK and the Sara Simms and Heritage Park areas three times a week. With regard to community cleanup, Commissioner Bradley pointed out that we get some free labor from the Juvenile First Offender Program, which is a great program. Vehicle Service Fund City Manager Parker advised that this is an internal service fund similar to the Warehouse Fund. The City garage is under this fund. This fund purchases all of the vehicles in the other operating funds. The dollars are transferred into this fund and purchased from this fund. Commissioner Bradley stated that the Vehicle Maintenance division has done a good job of keeping vehicles on the road; however, they do not look very good. He pointed out that this division may be saving us money, but the image of the City maybe suffering some. City Manager Parker explained that we have a program to replace a certain percentage of the fleet in the Police Department each year. Those vehicles trickle down to the other departments as admin vehicles as they retire from the road. We are also moving them into the Citizens on Patrol Program. in the other departments, it is a pay as you go situation. Mr. Sciortino's depadment is the only department that has a pure depreciation situation where he has a 10 year schedule of all of his equipment and funds a declining percentage each year. Therefore, when the time comes to replace that vehicle or club car, he has the money to do so because he has been funding a small portion. We, in the General Fund, have not had the cash luxury to do that. Therefore, we have been doing it on a pay as you go basis when the vehicle sort of falls apart and we cannot use it anymore. COmmissioner Bradley pointed out that some of the vehicles are an embarrassment. He felt it says a certain amount for the image of the City when vehicles are in good shape. City Manager Parker advised that this year, we have replaced more vehicles than we have 13 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 in the past three years. All the trucks in Parks and Rec should have been replaced this year, but we could not afford to do so. Mayor Taylor asked about the average life expectancy of a police vehicle. City Manager Parker advised that we only use them three years on the road. Commissioner Tillman inquired about the average life of garbage trucks. City Manager Parker advised that the life span of the big trucks is five to seven years. Carel Fisher of Public Works explained that the trucks are re-evaluated after five or seven years. If they are still in good shape, we run them another year. If they are still in good shape next year, we run them another year until we can anticipate the end of their life expectancy, then we request a replacement. Commissioner Bradley pointed out the term "good shape" would be defined differently by a City Manager who is trying to crunch dollars and a City that had the luxury of relatively new vehicles. Mr. Fisher pointed out that some of the trucks only have 30,000 miles on them. The rust is created by the cargo that they haul. The chlorine contents cause the material to rust. However, the trucks are mechanically and physically sound. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz asked if they can be painted. Mr. Fisher advised that we have been doing that on some vehicles. Publicity Fund City Manager Parker advised that the Publicity Fund used to have a dedicated millage. That millage was dissolved about five years ago and is now being funded from an interfund transfer from the General Fund. This fund handles the holiday parade and the Black Awareness Day festivities. Local Option Gas Tax Fund City Manager Parker advised that this is the fund we seek from the State and County for the gas taxes. Out of the $1.5 million we receive, we transfer $650,000 into the General Fqnd and $113,000 into the bus system. The other major program in this fund is street resurfacing. In the last four years, we have traditionally budgeted about $120,000 for street reCurfacing. We have increased that to $200,000 this year because the residents would like more resurfacing done with the swale developments. MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 Commissioner Bradley wanted to know what percentage of the $1.5 million is going to the swale project. City Manager Parker advised that the majority of it comes from the stormwater fee because that is what we implemented that fee for. Commissioner Titcomb asked if the street resurfacing list is being followed. City Manager Parker answered affirmatively. Warehouse Fund City Manager Parker advised that we are transferring the warehouse personnel from Utilities into this fund. There are no other major changes in this budget. We are also purchasing a computer scanning system and we will be bar coding most of our inventory for better inventory control. Selflnsurance Fund City Manager Parker advised that this fund handles our workers' comp insurance and our liability insurance. The employees in this division consist of a Risk Manager and an Administrative Assistant. The list of the type~ of insurance that we have to carry is outlined on page 373 of the budget. Mass Transit Fund Referring to page 377 of the budget, Mayor Taylor asked if the personnel for transportation is going to be adequate because of our decision with regard to the buses. City Manager Parker advised that last year we funded this account at $244,000. This year we funded it at $231,000. We kept the same number of employees, etc. It is our goal, as well as the Commission's instructions, to structure a shopping/doctor route with the five employees and the two buses. We are currently running from 7:00 to 7:00, five days a week. If you are going to cut down on some of the hours, we should be able to offset that with some of the other routes. We are still continuing the door to door service for the handicapped residents, and we recommend that Palm Tran continue to do the qualifications on the residents. Mayor Taylor asked if we run this bus. City Manager answered affirmatively. She explained that we have four buses. Two are the actual route buses. One is the handicapped bus, and one is the backup. 15 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 Recreation Proqram Fund City Manager Parker advised that this is an "in and out" fund. We structure our recreation fees to generate the $50,000 transfer back to the General Fund. We are resurfacing two of the clay tennis courts and the hitting wall. We are buying a new portable podium, an ocean kayak, a fancy surfboard, a television for the Wilson Center, serve ace, and a copier for the lifeguard's office. Mayor Taylor asked how much the copier cost and why it is needed at the lifeguard's office. City Manager Parker advised that it cost $795 and that it would save the employees time by enabling them to do their paperwork there at the lifeguard's office instead of driving back and forth to City Hall. Mr. Frederick further explained that a lot of other work besides lifeguard services is done at this office. COmmissioner Titcomb inquired about line item 472.00 on page 383 (the printing and blinding expense) which increased from $3,300 to $39,000. City Manager Parker advised that this is for the Funfare magazine, which has been moved into this budget from the General Fund. CRA Fund City Manager Parker advised that there are some major changes in this budget. This budget is funded from the ad valorem tax differential from the City and County from the tax increment district, as well as a small transfer from the General Fund this year. Three full-time employees are budgeted in this fund. The Development Coordinator is an identified position this year in this fund. It was previously a contract position, but it is now a full-time position with benefits. Interviews for this position are being conducted next week. The Loan Specialist was retitled as the Community Development Program Specialist. She deals with the CDC and our community development block grant funds. The Construction Coordinator will assist the Community Development Program Specialist with the construction elements of new homes. The third employee is the Development Coordinator. This year we have added some new items. We added $5,000 for advertising and $5,000 for marketing. For the past three years, the Paint Up/Fix Up Program has been funded between $5,000 and $6,000. We increased that to $75,000 this year. Last year we funded thc Infill Housing Program in the amount of $51,000. The previous two years it was funded ati$18,000 and $3,000, respectively. This has been increased to $60,000 this year. We 16 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 anticipate that this should fund 10 new homes. The new BHIP program will provide funds to leverage the loans of people with Iow incomes who are going into the banks for home improvements. We anticipate we wilI be able to service 20 people at $7,500 each. Mayor Taylor asked if this is a grant or a loan. City Manager Parker advised that it is a grant. City Manager Parker stated that because of the new Community Appearance Code~ we may be citing people who do not have the money to fix up their homes. Therefore, instead of putting a lien on their properties, we budgeted $25,000 for a program to provide them with financial assistance to fix up their houses. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz asked if there is specific criteria that they would have to meet in order to qualify for this program. City Manager Parker advised that the criteria has not yet been developed. If this program is approved, the criteria will be developed by October. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz was in favor of this program. However, she hopes it will be restricted to owners and not to renters. She did not want to relieve the owners of their responsibility to care for their properties. Mr. Hawkins advised that Lake Worth has a program similar to this and it has been successful. We have already started citing people for violations of the new Community Appearance Code. Scott Blasie, the Code Enforcement Administrator, stated that he has al,ready come across hardship cases and from what he has seen so far, the entire $25,000 would be used. The properties are owner occupied, and most of the owners are elderly and on a fixed income. He feels most of these people will qualify for this program. Mr. Hawkins felt this would help take the edge off of our enforcement efforts and it would be good community relations for the City. Mayor Taylor was interested in the criteria. He did not mind helping people; however, he felt there should be some commitment from them. Mr. Hawkins stated that there will be income guidelines. The people we are dealing with are usually poor elderly people living on fixed incomes who cannot afford to fix up their property or who cannot fix it up themselves because of their physical limitations, or who cannot afford to hire someone to do it. There are people who have already been cited for violation of the new Community APpearance Code who probably would be eligible for these dollars. City Manager Parker advised that we only estimated 15 residents at $3,000 each. Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz advised that some people have volunteered their labor if the City sqpplies the materials. She pointed out that the City could service many more people in 17 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 this manner. She felt the overall aesthetic improvements to our City and pride in our community and homes will be a tremendous asset to our City. She supported this project. Mr. Hawkins added that this would also be a tool for the Neighborhood Specialist because that person is going to be confronted with many of these concerns. Commissioner Bradley felt this program may be under funded and maybe more money should be put into it with criteria to make sure it is not abused. He felt once people hear that the City can help them fix their homes up, there may be a lot of enthusiasm. City Manager Parker suggested evaluating the program for six months to determine the average cost. City Manager Parker advised that we have budgeted $75,000 under the capital account of land acquisition for land assemblage on MLK or purchasing additional lots for infill for land purchases during the upcoming year. Mr. Hawkins stated that if we are serious about doing some things along the MLK target area, we are going to have,to buy some property. This will show some good faith effort that the City means business with regard to that portion of the development plan. Commissioner Titcomb advised that the City of Delray Beach used a program where they went into the West Atlantic Avenue area and worked out a lease program with property owners in problem areas. For about $1 a year, the City took over problem properties and, at City expense, put in irrigation, sod, and landscaping, and maintained those properties for the purpose of beautifying an entire area to bring up the overall value. The property oWner retains essentially all rights to the land and could take it back if he or she decided to;sell it. Not only would the City be able to beautify the property, but there would be a contractual clause in the lease contract that allows the police to go into the property without having to contact the owner. This could alleviate loitering and criminal activities on properties. The cost of the program essentially is the cost of the maintenance of the property. He suggested this program be implemented in Boynton Beach. Commissioner Titcomb clarified for Commissioner Bradley that this program would be for unapproved property (vacant lots). Commissioner Tillman stated that this program was earmarked for the West Atlantic corridor. The down side of that program is that they have drug their heels in terms of cohtinually redeveloping that area. He felt it was a decent idea but that it is a half-hearted effort in terms of proceeding with the full job. They mainly just created two greenway corridor easements off of West Atlantic Avenue, which makes it look good but does not do an~hing for the infill property itself. Therefore, they have a wider green space area but the preperty still has not been developed. 18 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 Commissioner Titcomb felt the concept of the program is to act as a stopgap or a segway temporary program to improve overall areas while you do other things such as the charrette or conference on MLK in September to make it more attractive. Unfortunately, in Delray Beach there was a lot of apprehension in the community because of plans that had preceded this plan that basically spelled bulldozer. He did not think we are talking about doing that here. He said we are looking for ways to make the City look more attractive and bring attention to potential areas for development. We have a different geographical situation and we might be able to use it more effectively in multiple areas around the City. Mayor Taylor felt this was a great idea. Commissioner Tillman would not want to do anything to impede the progress of developing the entire area. He would not want to divert any funds to something that may be piecemeal and may only serve an asethetic value for a short period of time rather than a long term solution. Mayor Taylor questioned the $28,000 for the Downtown Coordinator on page 390. City Manager Parker explained that this is an expense account, not a salary account. This is an operating account for any office supplies that this person may need, such as brochures or part-time secretarial assistance. This account is not for personal expenses or travel. Capital Improvement Fund City Manager Parker stated that usually the only money in this fund comes from the public service differential which has been running between $500,000 and $600,000 a year, plus any interest earnings. This year, $2 million is being transferred into this fund from the General Fund. The list of capital projects currently under way is on page 394, followed by the proposed capital projects. C0mmiss oner Bradley inquired about the rainy day fund. City Manager Parker advised that this is in the fund balance, not in the budget. It is shown in the annual audit that shows all the fund balances of the different funds. After this budget, it will be $874,000. Mayor Taylor was concerned about keeping the millage versus the rollback. He said the COntingency Fund should contain 10 percent of the budget, which would be about $3.5 million. We are transferring $2 million from the Contingency Fund into the Capital Improvement Fund for the City Hall cleanup, which leaves less than $1 million in the Colntingency Fund. Mayor Taylor was very concerned about that and felt this is a good argument for not going with the rollback. 19 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz asked what the estimated tax increase would be on a $100,000 home with the millage rate. City Manager Parker advised that it would be 1.6 percent. With the $25,000 exemption and an effective value of $75,000, the difference between the rollback and the current millage would be $11.48 for the year. Commissioner Titcomb referred to the refinancing of the utility bonds which produced roughly $2 million to the City recently. City Manager Parker advised that it is closer to $1.568 million, plus the $385,000 lump sum, for a total of $1.953 million. This money is not earmarked, and is available for appropriation by the Commission. Commissioner Titcomb was concerned with how much the sick building cure is going to cost. He agreed with Mayor Taylor that we should be tucking a larger chunk away each year for emergency contingency. Mayor Taylor pointed out that if we maintain the millage, we are going to be dropping two hundreds of a percent. We are going to go from 8.40 to 8.38 if we maintain the current millage without going to the rollback. City Manager Parker advised that the citizens' millage rate will decrease because of the debt service. Mayor Taylor inquired about the three positions in the Fire Department. City Manager Parker advised that she and Fire Chief Floyd Jordan would like the Commission to approve the Battalion Chief positions. The Commission does not need to approve the methodology or the criteria for those positions. The job description sets forth the criteria for those positions. We will be developing job descriptions for all the new positions in the budget this year and they will come to the Commission on October 1st. Other than that, the Commission does not have any input into the actual hiring procedure. Mayor Taylor believes that if a position is created, then the most qualified individual should be promoted into that position. He does not feel that somebody should be promoted into a position just because they are next in line. He felt people should be promoted for merit, regardless of their standing. Commissioner Bradley inquired about the cost of the bus service and the benefit of Palm T~an. City Manager Parker advised the City did not purchase the buses. They were purchased with a Federal grant. However, City money is used to operate the buses. We lease the buses from Palm Tran for $1 a year. Commissioner Bradley asked if that grant would be available if we want to expand the bus system. City Manager Parker said it would take about two years to process that grant through the Federal government, and they will n6t give us a grant for a shopper hopper. 20 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 Commissioner Bradley wondered to what degree the regular routes would have to be reduced in order to do neighborhood hopping, and what impact it would have on people. City Manager Parker said it was her understanding from the instructions from the Commission that we were totally eliminating the regular routes. Mayor Taylor concurred. He said Palm Tran is going to duplicate the routes. In addition, they are going to come every half hour instead of every hour. Commissioner Bradley pointed out that Palm Tran is not going to duplicate the routes exactly. City Manager Parker advised that the main areas that they are not going to duplicate is Boynton Bay, the clubhouses in Leisureville, and up the main street in VRG. With regard to minority hiring levels, Commissioner Titcomb said yesterday City Manager Parker referenced an organization that set goals. City Manager Parker said she was referring to the 1992 Murphy/Mayo report, which basically stated that the minority hiring target should reflect the minority percentage of our City's population. Commissioner Titcomb suggested trying to exceed the numbers in that report because it seems that we dO quite reach the goal. Then we have certain problems in attrition within those numbers, so we always fall short of the goal. Mayor Taylor commended City Manager Parker on the budget presentation, and announced that the public hearing on the proposed budget will be held tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. 21 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 24, 1996 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the City Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 9:32 p.m. CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH ATTEST: City ~,le~k - Recording Secretary (Three Tapes) Commissioner Commissioner Co/n:~ssioner 22