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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-06-19 - City Commission Budget Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP Colony West Golf Course 6800 NW 88 Avenue Tamarac, FL 33321 June 19, 2008 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco called the workshop meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, June19, 2008, at Colony West Golf Course, 6800 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac, FL. PRESENT: Mayor Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco, Vice Mayor Marc L. Sultanof, Commissioner Edward C. Portner, Commissioner Patte Atkins -Grad, and Commissioner Harry Dressler. ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Jeffrey L. Miller, Assistant City Attorney Julie Klahr, Deputy City Manager Michael C. Cernech, Assistant City Manager Diane Phillips, Financial Services Director Steven Chapman, BSO Chief Marc Duguay, Fire Chief Jim Budzinski, Public Works Director Jack Strain, Director of Utilities Ray Gagnon, Human Resources Director Maria Swanson, Building Operations Manager Ken McIntyre, Director of Parks and Recreation Greg Warner, I.T. Director Levent Sucuoglu, Public and Economic Affairs Officer Andy Berns, Management and Budget Analyst Kareyann Ashworth, Special Projects Coordinator Mike Gresek, City Clerk Marion Swenson, and Acting Assistant City Clerk Pat Teufel. City Manager Miller gave an Introduction. Commissioner Portner spoke of selling City property. Financial Services Director Chapman presented budget alternatives. Vice Mayor Sultanof said he is in favor of a utility tax, in increments. Commissioner Portner suggested going with a 90% fire assessment, millage remaining the same, and an 8% utility tax. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco left the room at 9:09 a.m. and returned at 9:10 a.m. Vice Mayor Sultanof said he is in favor of a 7% utility tax; fire assessment at 90% and millage rate at the highest allowable 5.3 mils. Commissioner Atkins -Grad said she is in favor of the 5.34 millage, no utility tax and a fire assessment of 90%. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco called for a recess at 9:11 a.m. and reconvened the meeting at 9:22 a.m. with all present as before. City Commission Budget Workshop June 19, 2008 Page 1 of 4 Deputy City Manager Cernech and Fire Chief Budzinski gave a presentation on fire department operations and spoke of the City's need to look at ways to reduce costs. Commissioner Portner left the room at 9:27 a.m. and returned at 9:28 a.m. Deputy City Manager Cernech and Fire Chief Budzinski reviewed the history of fire department budgets, staffing and equipment. There was discussion regarding the highest allowable fire assessment. Commissioner Portner questioned privatizing the fire department and Fire Chief Budzinski said it could be done but the value we deliver would not be equaled by private providers. Commissioner Dressler said regional or sub -regional coordination will reduce costs by economies of scale. There was discussion regarding the implementation of the portion of the MOU dealing with overtime. Deputy City Manager Cernech explained we are committed to the labor agreement through the end of FY09 and discussed the need to fully implement the MOU in order to control overtime cost. There was further discussion regarding the number of firefighters in the drop plan and anticipated retirements to take place over the next few years. Commissioner Dressler said he would like the Mayor and City Commission to have a shade session to discuss strategic issues before going into negotiations. Commissioner Dressler left the room at 10:21 a.m. and returned at 10:25 a.m. Commissioner Portner spoke in favor of regionalism. Commissioner Dressler said when residents ask why we are increasing the fire assessment a good answer would be because we will not sacrifice the quality of fire services to our residents. Commissioner Atkins -Grad questioned using the Sheriffs office for our fire department and City Manager Miller said there were preliminary discussions with BSO some time ago but a number of things have happened since that time. Prior Bills in the legislation to set up a countywide fire district never got out of committee. This will come up again next year. There was discussion regarding reciprocal agreements. Commissioner Dressler suggested the FLC and our lobbyists get involved in educating the legislature on revenue formulas for cities. Vice Mayor Sultanof left the room at 10:46 a.m. and returned at 10:52 a.m. Commissioner Portner left the room at 10:48 a.m. and returned at 10:50 a.m. Deputy City Manager Cernech said staff would provide talking points to the Mayor and City Commission. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco called for a recess at 10:55 a.m. and reconvened the meeting at 11:15 a.m. with all present as before. I.T. Director Sucuoglu and Director of Parks and Recreation Warner gave presentations on new programs. I.T. Director Sucuoglu spoke of the Microsoft Licensing Enterprise City Commission Budget Workshop June 19, 2008 Page 2 of 4 Agreement, webcasting, Interactive Voice Response System (IVR), and the technology improvement plan. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco left the room at 11:26 a.m. and returned at 11:34 a.m. City Manager Miller said this technology will relieve the pressure in building and customer service, and allow for continuance of high service levels. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner spoke of the New Customer Service Initiative, which is broken into three Phases. Phase I will be implemented January 1, 2009. Vice Mayor Sultanof suggested a drop box to replace Satellite City Hall once it is closed. After discussion it was decided Publix would be a better location for the drop box than the Fire Station, due to ease of ingress and egress. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner discussed the benefits of the customer service system. There was discussion regarding security at the Tamarac Community Center once the customer service center is opened. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco said she wanted the Parks and Recreation Board to be included in discussions. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco called for a recess at 12:00 noon and reconvened the workshop meeting at 1:15 p.m., with all present as before, with the exception of Commissioner Portner who arrived at 1:50 p.m. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco said she would like to see where specific budget cuts were made before discussing the budget in a final setting. City Manager Miller said a comprehensive list would be put together. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco spoke of discussions with the press and City Manager Miller said we would follow the same process used last year, where highlights of the budget were presented to the press. Vice Mayor Sultanof left the room at 1:32 p.m. and returned at 1:40 p.m. Financial Services Director Chapman explained the utility tax does not have to be decided on at the time the budget is prepared and voted upon. It can be done at any time by ordinance. Financial Services Director Chapman explained the difference between the maximum allowable millage with a majority vote and the maximum allowable with a unanimous vote, as dictated by the legislature. Commissioner Portner questioned various line items in the budget. There was discussion regarding webcasting vs. televising and it was decided to add $50,000 more to the budget, but not to move forward with broadcasting in either form at this juncture. All were in agreement. There was discussion regarding the Main Street project, and Deputy City Manager Cernech explained the City must decide what direction they want to go in with regard to the mixed use corridor. Commissioner Portner and Vice Mayor Sultanof said they wanted to see some movement on this project before they left office in November 2008. City Commission Budget Workshop June 19, 2008 Page 3 of 4 Commissioner Dressler left the room at 2:28 p.m. and returned at 2:30 p.m. City Manager Miller said there would be further discussion regarding the Main Street project at a future workshop. Commissioner Portner said he would like to see the state and county lobbyists contracts reduced by 10% or at the least, remain the same as FY08. Commissioner Portner asked that charitable contributions be cut by $250.00 each. Commissioner Dressler asked that the Broward Health contribution be increased to $5,000.00. After discussion, all agreed to leave the charitable contributions as they are in the proposed budget but raise the Broward Health contribution to $5,000.00 from the contingency fund. After discussion there was an expression of interest wherein all agreed to the following: Millage for FY09 5.3; Fire Assessment for FY09 at 90%; and NO Utility Service Tax for FY09. The City Manager was then authorized to make the changes as directed and rebalance the FY09 proposed budget. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco thanked everyone for a productive two days and said this is the last budget Vice Mayor Sultanof and Commissioner Portner would work on as Tamarac Commissioners. City Manager Miller thanked staff and the executive team for putting together this difficult budget; in particular Financial Services Director Chapman, Special Projects Coordinator Gresek and Management and Budget Analyst Ashworth. Commissioner Dressler thanked everyone. There being no further business to come before the Mayor and City Commission, Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco adjourned the Budget Workshop at 3:35 p.m. f s arion Swenson, CMC City Clerk City Commission Budget Workshop June 19, 2008 Page 4 of 4