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Minutes 09-11-00CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WORKSHOP HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM 208 S. SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1'1, 2000 AT 6:30 P.M. PRESENT STAFF Gerald Broening, Mayor Ronald Weiland, Vice Mayor Bruce Black, Commissioner Charlie Fisher, Commissioner ABSENT Kurt Bressner, City Manager Dale Sugerman, Assistant City Manager Sue Kruse, City Clerk Wayne Segal Public Affairs Director Diane Reese, Finance Director William Sherman, Mayor Pro Tem CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Diana Johnson, President Tony Newbold, Chairman Elect Mike Bottcher, Vice Chair Community Affairs Michael Micallef, Co-Chair Economic Development Committee I. Greetings & Introductions - City and Chamber of Commerce Mayor Broening called the meeting to order at 6:45 P.M. and asked everyone to introduce himself or herself. The Mayor commented that the joint Commission/Chamber meetings had been going on since 1989. I1. Overview of City Financial Picture Mr. Kurt Bressner, City Manager, commented first, saying that this agenda item was in response to a Chamber of Commerce request in an earlier meeting. Mr. Bressner mentioned the Commission's meeting prior to the Chamber Joint meeting where the Commissioners ranked a list of Capital Improvement Projects for the Fiscal Year 2001-2005, coming up with a list of "A" priorities and a list of "B" priorities. Mr. Bressner related that when he was considering the job as City Manager for Boynton Beach he was struck by the relative financial health of the community as far as the bond rating and overall revenues. He was also struck by two potential problems, the first being the amount of funds set aside for operating reserves was much lower than is customary for local governments. In Boynton Beach that figure is approximately one to one and a half months of operating reserves. Many communities are operating with operating reserves of approximately four to six months. The other problem area was the fairly limited resources available for capital construction projects. The amount of money Meeting Minutes Joint Commission/Chamber of Commerce Workshop Boynton Beach, Florida September 11, 2000 identified in terms of new revenues for new construction projects was somewhat less than many other communities experience. He learned after coming here what it was like to have an assessment practice where the maximum growth that would be allowed on any individual property was 3% a year. Also he mentioned the fact that other than new development, because of property tax cap regulations, the only relative gain you get is on the basis of new development being captured for that year and then it also falls into the 3% increase. There is some artificiality that occurs with respect to growth. But those communities that enjoy good solid development or redevelopment are in better shape than those who have not. The other dimension is that if the City's tax rate exceeded the 10 mil number for operating purposes it would no longer have any financial independence. He stated that the City was a people-intensive organization. The personnel costs related to the operation of the City represented 65-70% of the overall expenses. The vast majority were dedicated to police, fire, and public works services. Mr. Bressner commented that he was very happy to be managing the City of Boynton Beach, saying it was a marvelous City and that the City and the Chamber working together could accomplish great things. Mr. Bressner introduced Ms. Diane Reese, the City's Finance Director, who presented an overview of the City's financial condition. Ms. Reese commented that she had prepared an overview of the current millage rate and the dollars generated from it. When the City advertises in the paper saying there will be a millage rate increase, it is not paid in the current year. The state calculates it by having a rollback rate, which would bring in the same dollars that you brought in this year. Our rollback rate is 7.6504%. However, what the City is proposing is the exact same millage rate as we have the current year, which is 7.8160% for general operating. In addition to that there is a debt service millage rate. That's why you will see the advertised increases in debt service. The additional dollars we generate from taxes this year is not a significant amount, only approximately $900,000 that we are getting from ad valorem taxes. She showed a 5-year trend on the City's millage rate and she tracked it from 1995-96 when they had 7.9251% and it had been brought down a little to 7.8160%. The millage rate works out to be $7.81 per thousand of a property owner's assessed value less the $25,000 homeowner's exemption. She compared Boynton Beach's millage rate to other surrounding cities. Delray Beach had 8.15%, Lake Worth has 8.94%, Boca Raton is 3.15% with their assessed values, and West Palm is 8.14%. As was mentioned earlier the cap is 10 mills and you cannot exceed that in this State. You can exceed it for debt service if it is voted on by the citizens. She next showed the proposed budget for 2000-2001 on which public hearings would be held starting on Thursday, September 14, 2000. The final public hearing will be on September 20, 2000. The total proposed budget this year is $95,974,250 for all expenses including utilities. The next topic was a chart showing the sources from which the City gains money. The majority of the City's revenue, 47%, is from ad valorem taxes and this is why it is so important to develop and increase the City's ad valorem tax base. 2 Meeting Minutes Joint Commission/Chamber of Commerce Workshop Boynton Beach, Florida September 11, 2000 State-shared revenues were reviewed next, and the ¼ cent sales tax, which represents the second largest source of revenue for the City. A five-year revenue trend was shown for the General Fund, which is what the ad valorem taxes pay for. The Utilities funds and sanitation funds are paid for by user fees. She showed a five-year trend in ad valorem revenues and they had increased over time but not significantly. The following chart showed where the money goes and 68.6% goes to the Police, Fire and Public Safety departments. The rest of it is for general government, City Hall, City Manager, and the operating departments. Ms. Reese mentioned that the amount that was spent for salaries was a fixed amount and that was why it was important for the City to generate additional revenue dollars. A five-year trend in expenditures was reviewed. Ms. Reese stated that personnel costs had continued to go up along with operating costs. The controllable piece of this is the capital outlay portion. The last chart reviewed the potential CIP funding sources and the methods whereby the City could get additional dollars for capital expenditures. The City can also go to the voters to approve a General Obligation bond issue. The Florida League of Cities bond and its debt service would be a budgeted item and did not need the approval of the voters. Another method of getting money was to borrow from a commercial bank. A 15- year loan for $10 million at 5% interest would cost $964,000 a year to pay back. The same loan for 10 years would have an annual payment of $1.2 million. The source the City is considering to pay the debt service on a Florida League of Cities bond loan would be the $1.2 million in public service taxes the City gets annually. The City would apply this towards the debt service so they could get $10 million up front and do more capital improvement projects. The last funding source considered was MSTUs, special assessments for fire service where you assess residents for the expenses of the Fire Department. Mr. Tedtmann asked how much was still owed from the lawsuit on Tradewinds? Ms. Reese said the Tradewinds issue came out of the public service tax money and there were eight more years left on the debt, with about $10 million remaining. The City pays about $1 million a year in principal and interest on the loan. The original amount was approximately $18 million. Ms. Reese stated that Tradewinds had been combined with the issue to build Hester Center. The bonds issued for Tradewinds originally were $8 million and they also issued $10 million to build Hester Center. They were re-funded a couple of years later into one issue which made up the $18 million at that point in 1985. Mr. Tedtmann also inquired as to the City's long-term indebtedness. Ms. Reese said she would get the figures and call him. Mayor Broening said that when you were looking for sources of revenue, the shared revenue portion, the second-largest part of the revenues, had been going down by about 5.4% over the last several years and was a cause for concern. He said this trend pointed up the value of development and redevelopment. 3 Meeting Minutes Joint Commission/Chamber of Commerce Workshop Boynton Beach, Florida September 11, 2000 Mr. Tedtmann asked where the money was coming from for the projects on the CIP list and Mayor Broening said these projects were on a "wish list". Also, he said that some of the projects were already funded but nowhere near the $65 million. He said that some of the money for the projects would probably come from a note from the Florida League of Cities and the rest from MSTUs which would take about a year to get in motion. He stated that all of the foregoing combined with existing funds and the revenue streams seen now came up to about $23 million. This accounted for the prioritization of projects and why it was so important. He believed the City was being very fiscally responsible. Ms. Diana Johnson, Chamber President, thanked everyone who had prepared and given the City's financial presentation at the Chamber's request. III. Special Events Ocean Avenue Bridge Opening Mayor Broening discussed the opening ceremonies for the Ocean Avenue Bridge. He related that Ocean Ridge did not wish to participate in any kind of joint ceremony for this opening and that the City had to decide how it was going to mark this historic event. The Mayor directed the discussion to Mr. Segal, the City's Public Affairs Director. Mr. Segal said they wanted to find a way to involve everyone in the ribbon cutting. One of the possibilities was to have the ribbon running the length of Ocean Avenue and let everyone have an opportunity to cut it. They are thinking of some daytime fireworks also. The ribbon cutting would be one part and the other part would be a party and the thinking is that this could be held later in the year, perhaps at New Year's Eve. Mr. Mike Bottcher and Ms. Diana Johnson both offered the help of the Chamber for this event. Mr. Segal said he was waiting for the firm date for the ribbon cutting ceremony. In discussing the Ocean Ridge participation, Mr. Bressner said they may be receptive to a lower-key type of ceremony at the bridge. GALA Ms. Johnson stated that they had started meeting on GALA already for 2001 and that it was coming along and inquired about the site. Mr. Majors responded that due to the construction projects they would probably be using the same site as last year. Considerable discussion ensued as to what type of event GALA should be: fine arts, a family affair, a business expo, circus-type rides and games or a combination thereof. The issue of whether the event should be held at all and who should be responsible for it (the City, the Chamber or an outside firm) was raised. The idea of a committee composed of representation from the community, the City and the Chamber was discussed. The historical view pointed to a certain lack of effectiveness in the steering- committee approach to the event in the past and a reluctance to form such a committee at this time. The Acting Recreation Director, Wally Majors, said the City welcomed and was appreciative of all assistance and suggested interested parties give him a call. There was also debate about whether this coming year's event could be changed or whether it was already firmly set. It was concluded that the nature of the event was still subject to change to a certain extent. It was acknowledged that having the rides 4 Meeting Minutes Joint Commission/Chamber of Commerce Workshop Boynton Beach, Florida September 11, 2000 definitely brought in more people but that the people who came for the rides did not normally patronize the art vendors. The proliferation of such events in south Florida was mentioned as well as the fact that the event sometimes had a loss. It was mentioned that the City spent considerable man-hours on the planning and execution of the project and that this expenditure was largely unaccounted for, suggesting that the event was even more costly than it appeared to be. Some wanted to divide the event into two sections held on different days - one weekend for the rides and another weekend for an arts and crafts festival. Greater participation by and focus on the business community was also desired. City Manager Bressner suggested that a regular City advisory board be established with a sunset clause of three years, whose job it would be to come up with an outline for a community partnership to define GALA, decide if it should continue, and who is going to be responsible for doing it, where it should be held and related issues. What may emerge from that is a possibility of a partnership that would engage the not-for-profit organizations and the business community under the overall umbrella of the advisory board. The sunset clause would put everyone on notice that this was not to be a "forever" thing and that there would be a definite deadline by which their results would be reviewed by the City Commission. This group could either move GALA up to the next level or eliminate it. It can be evaluated as to its value to the community, its timing, venue and purpose. One of the things talked about in staff was how to recruit some of the not-for-profit organizations to participate in GALA. Mr. Bressner stated that a technique that had been used successfully in other communities has been that for every commercial booth that was funded, the pricing structure for the booth guarantees that they also sponsor a not-for-profit organization to provide a blended exposure. He said that the advisory board could take a look at the numbers the Chamber generated 2.5 years ago when they were thinking of taking it over, acknowledging that the Chamber had put a lot of effort into the analysis. Mr. Bressner said that the more community involvement that could be solicited from the community, the more successful the event would be and the less it would cost the City. The City would still have to provide the core, basic services such as public works, sanitation and related services. Someone mentioned getting Kiwanis, Rotary, and other civic groups who might want to get involved in the project. The consensus of the group was that such an advisory board was a good idea and that the idea would be further developed at the next meeting, when people would be charged with responsibility of nominations and related functions. Others felt, however, that the group needed to be set up immediately so as to have an effect on the upcoming GALA celebration. Mr. Bressner stated a study group could be set up between the City, the community, and the Chamber with no more than five people. This group would have a few work sessions, develop a profile for an ordinance, and set up the guidelines for establishing an advisory board to define the issue. Mr. Bottcher summed up the feeling of the Chamber by saying, "You guys don't know if you want to get rid of it, we don't know if we want it, we don't know if there's anybody else in this community that wants it and the role of this study group is to do some homework to answer some questions." Meeting Minutes Joint Commission/Chamber of Commerce Workshop Boynton Beach, Florida September 11, 2000 The Chamber asked that the City not sabotage the study group by sending out invitations to participate, prefacing them with requests for $5,000 to become a part of the group. He stated that this had turned people off the last time this was attempted. Mayor Broening asked for a nod-of-heads consensus from the Commissioners and the Chamber representatives that the City Manager be directed to put together an advisory board to study issues pertaining to GALA. After discussion Mayor Broening added that the board be charged with some short-term and some long-term tasks. The group came to a consensus on the issue. Mr. Bressner said he would come up with some kind of framework for the steering committee. Winter Holidays Commissioner Fisher said he had met with staff concerning the lack of holiday events in the City. They discussed moving the parade from Sunday to Saturday as many people were unable to come due to church time conflicts. They also discussed having a tree lighting ceremony, moving the parade from Federal Highway to Congress Avenue, and having a celebration on the Ocean Avenue end. Commissioner Fisher stated he would be responsible as chairperson for the holidays but he wanted a Chamber partner at the executive level as liaison to make sure the business community worked with the City on holiday plans. He mentioned selling $25 tickets where a person could go to the chocolate shop and get something, then go to the Banana Boat and get something else, and so forth, to make it a destination on this end of town. The Chamber needs to play a big role in it. He felt that businesspeople were more inclined to get other businesses to participate. Commissioner Fisher said it was to be a month-long celebration. The Chamber said it was always willing to consider things that were for the good of the community. The idea of moving the parade to Congress Avenue did not meet with approval. IV. Economic Development Mr. Tedtman commented on a perceived lack of focus in the City on economic development, saying there was no agenda for it and no emphasis on it. He asked what was going to be done to improve the economic development of Boynton Beach? He mentioned the Master Plan of the City of West Palm Beach who have blocks defined as to how they are going to be treated. They have building types which have their own requirements; each of the building types has about three pages of regulations and the approval process takes place in the Planning Department. They don't have to go through the Planning Development Board, they don't have to go through public hearings, and they don't have to go before the Commissioners and get involved in all the politics. What they did was had it happen right up front with the master plan when they had it approved. They took it to public hearings, they took it through the political process and it became a matter of codification. He mentioned a large firm that was going into West Palm Beach to do a large project on Clematis and that the reason they went there was probably the ease with which they could get the approvals easier. They had a 15- minute approval process because they completed their 14 pages of application and did everything that was required of them in the pages related to the building and the block' they were building in. If you are going to attract business that is the way to do it. We have to define methods for doing things and their process is pain-free. Mr. Wische 6 Meeting Minutes Joint Commission/Chamber of Commerce Workshop Boynton Beach, Florida September 11, 2000 replied to Mr. Tedtmann, bringing his attention to the economic research analyst on staff at the City, Ms. Hannah Matras. He advised Mr. Tedtmann to contact Ms. Matras and ask her to look into the West Palm Beach process. Mr. Tedtmann wanted to see the empire-building and the politics taken out of the approval process. Mr. Taylor mentioned that Visions 20-20 was a Master Plan and that what needed to happen now was the overlay zonings and once that was done, the guidelines would be set down for whatever was done in that block. V. Boynton Beach Schools Ms. Johnson mentioned the Educational Issues Roundtable meeting held the previous week between members of the School Board, the high school and college principals, the public, the Chamber Business Partnership, and the City's Education Advisory Board. We have schools affected by boundaries that will make them almost 100% minority schools: 1) Poinciana, 2) Congress Middle, and 3) Galaxy Elementary. The new high school is 48% black because the lines have been drawn. She stated that people had to increase their awareness of what was happening with the schools in Boynton Beach. Ms. Johnson was asked if all the adult classes had been moved to Palm Beach Community College? She replied that they did not know what they are doing with that. Commissioner Black commented that it had been an awakening experience to see the lack of mutual understanding between the principals and the school board. Ms. Johnson also commented on the lack of understanding on the part of the school board on the state of the schools in its jurisdiction. It was agreed, however, that it had been a good idea to allow the chief players to participate in a face-to-face discussion of the issues. Commissioner Black brought out the fact that South Tech had no money in its budget for the next five years and that there were a number of things they wanted to do but could not for lack of money. VI. Adjournment The meeting was duly adjourned at 8:45 P.M. 7 Meeting Minutes Joint Commission/Chamber of Commerce Workshop Boynton Beach, Florida September 11, 2000 ATTEST: C~ Clerk Recording Secretary (two tapes) ONB~ Vice Mayor ~rMay°r Pro Te~.~ Commissioner 8