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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-09-05 - City Commission Budget Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC TOWN HALL MEETING CITY OF TAMARAC FY 2008 BUDGET TAMARAC COMMUNITY CENTER WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2007 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco called Town Hall Meeting to order on Wednesday, September 5, 2007 at 6:00 p.m., at the Tamarac Community Center (Ballroom), 8601 W. Commercial Boulevard, 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 Jacob Horowitz, and City Clerk Marion Swenson. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco led the pledge of allegiance. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco welcomed everyone to the Town Hall meeting and said two issues of great importance to the community are the bus service and the Fire Department. Hopefully, staffs presentations will answer many questions and concerns. At the conclusion of the presentations the meeting will be open to public comments, which will be limited to three minutes per speaker. The budget, as it stands, belongs to the City Manager and staff, whose recommendations to the Mayor and City Commission are taken under advisement. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco introduced the Mayor and City Commission, City Manager, Assistant City Attorney, and City Clerk, and acknowledged department heads and staff. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco said in addition to those here tonight, many letters, a -mails and phone calls have been received regarding the budget, and the Mayor and City Commission are aware of the public's concerns. We have been placed in this position by the Governor and legislature, under the guise of property tax reform. They did not really take a look at the consequences tax reform would have on local government. The need for these budget cuts came to us from Tallahassee and it is up to the elected officials to do the best we can with the hand we are dealt. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco said she hopes the residents will speak to their legislators and the Governor about what is going on. City Manager Miller said this has been a tough year for local government in Florida, as the Florida legislature required a roll back on the millage rate and capped revenues. It does not look like things will get better next year if the constitutional amendment passes. We reduced our budget $5 million this year and next year will reduce the general revenue fund an additional $5 million if the amendment passes. When the Financial Services Director and City Manager met with department directors, we asked them to cut their budgets 10% - 15%, which they all did. We have been able to keep most services at acceptable levels and there have been no reductions in the BSO budget; we are in good shape in the area of fire safety. The TRIM notice is confusing Town Hall Meeting September 5, 2007 Page 1 of 6 since the legislature required Tamarac to reduce revenues and taxes and at the same time required the School Board to raise their millage to replace revenues lost from the State budget. Properties that are not homesteaded may see a slight increase in their taxes since property appraisals have gone up. We will see a decline in property appraisals on next year's tax bill. All the department directors are here tonight to respond to any questions you may have. Director of Financial Services Chapman gave a presentation on the proposed budget and said reductions are the result of decisions made in the state legislature this past session and spoke of the January 29, 2008 referendum for a constitutional amendment. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner gave a presentation on the transportation services, costs, revenues and projected future savings and explained the modified system which will connect with the County's fixed route system. Additionally, we will keep our para-transit service. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner spoke of the $.50 increase in fares for the City's system as well as added/deleted stops. Fire Chief Budzinski gave a presentation and said fire/rescue is funded through fire assessments (44%), general fund (44%), and user fees (12%). Fire assessments will remain at $141 per residential unit; commercial varies depending upon size and use. Fire Chief Budzinski spoke of reductions as follows: five vacant positions, overtime, and vehicle replacement for this year only. No firefighters will be laid off and the service level will be maintained. Director of Financial Services Chapman said the City had no choice but to reduce services to balance the budget, and there were $3.8 million in cuts across all departments. Mayor Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco opened the floor to public comments. Ruth Asis, 9200, Lime Bay; Lucy Rotellini, 10115 NW 71 Court; Shirley Hammer, 8010 NW 102 Way, and June Dreiten, 6713 NW 59 Street spoke in opposition to changes to the bus service. Patti Lynn, 6411 NW 58 Street spoke of overspending and suggested cutting consulting, lobbyist and contractual services. Rose Lyn Chale, 4903 NW 45 Avenue and Alvin Weiss, 6071 NW 61 Avenue, spoke in opposition to changes to the bus service. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco confirmed modifications to the bus routes and Commissioner Dressler confirmed the Tamarac system interacts with the County bus system. Commissioner Portner said the Commissioners received petitions and phone calls, and he asked Director of Parks and Recreation Warner to look into adding back special buses once every two weeks to go to Sawgrass Mills and 44t" Street. Ellis Donsky, 7715 Southampton Terrace spoke of hiring an auditor, questioned the GIS system, parks, the proposed purchase of a parcel of land on Pine Island and Commercial Boulevard, and the lack of provision for long term maintenance. Diane Simpson, 8131 NW 68 Avenue spoke in opposition to the purchase of the Chevron gas Town Hall Meeting September 5, 2007 Page 2 of 6 station, cost of water conservation as it pertains to restaurants, increase in gym fees, Main Street, boat ramps, and bonuses for employees. Frank Steiger, 6903 NW 70 Street, spoke about 55+ communities and asked about the affect on our tax base if these communities were to be opened to families. Irene Thompson, 8400 Lagos De Campo Blvd., spoke in opposition to the purchase of the gas station. Judy Margolis, 4704 Queen Palm Lane, spoke about an auditor or group of concerned citizens to review the budget, priorities, automobile allowances, employment agency fees, guidelines for Human Resource staff per number of employees, and budget cuts. Claudia Krysiak, 4965 E. Sabal Palm Blvd, #212, spoke in opposition to changes to the transit system and questioned whether public transportation is a basic city service that any city should provide and the cost of the yearly Tamarac Calendar. Financial Services Director Chapman said a common theme this evening is to cut back on parks, and asked City Manager Miller to address that in his comments. Financial Services Director Chapman addressed the issue of hiring an auditor, and the costs associated with this position. Vice Mayor Sultanof confirmed Tamarac has received a National Award for Financial Reporting for 19 years in a row, and our books are audited by an auditing company each year. Additionally, we are mandated by state and federal law to maintain a certain ratio of park area per 1,000 residents. Financial Services Director Chapman spoke of the City's five-year Capital Improvement Program and said we continue to invest in infrastructure, and we have an interest in the economic viability of our City. With regard to the Chevron Station located at Pine Island Road and Commercial Boulevard, it is projected to be purchased for $2.5 million, but no decision has been made to date. The $2 million grant from Broward County is, in essence, free money, and the remaining half million will come from the City's CIP fund; if we can find additional state, county or federal grants to cover the half million, we will do so. Financial Services Director Chapman spoke of other grants received by the City. New people, construction and residences are coming to Tamarac. The State legislature required that we go to the roll back rate, which allows the City to collect the same amount of money next year as we collect this year. If the assessments increase by 50% in the coming year it will not help us because we are required to reduce the millage, so the only benefit to Tamarac will be new construction. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco said she believes the 55+ communities are mandated by homeowner association documents. Financial Services Director Chapman agreed these are deed restrictions and the property owners would have to get together as a group and have them removed through the courts; these are homeowner association issues and not city issues. Vice Mayor Sultanof spoke of the 80/20 ruling for 55+ communities. Assistant City Attorney Horowitz explained the general concept of 55+ communities has been challenged a number of times throughout the state and has been constitutionally Town Hall Meeting September 5, 2007 Page 3 of 6 upheld. A majority vote of the community is needed to change the deed restrictions. This is not a city issue. Financial Services Director Chapman addressed the question regarding the GIS system and confirmed the City only has one system and in governmental accounting the costs are divided in relationship to use. In Tamarac the GIS system is used and paid for under general fund, stormwater fund and utility fund. The system is a major asset for the City of Tamarac. Financial Services Director Chapman addressed the questions about medians, which are paid for with grant money; the automobile allowance is an employee benefit which is an aid for retention. Employment agencies are used when temporary services are needed to get through times of peak workloads; during the past year we refunded monies as a result of a lawsuit and we hired temporary employees to help with this huge undertaking. Regarding the eight staff members in the Human Resources Department, we can look into the matter to see if the percentage of Human Resources staff to employees is accurate or adequate and the Mayor and City Commission can make a policy decision on this in the future. The reduction in the number of summer campers we will accept and the reductions across the board in every department were not decisions that we, as a City, wanted to make, and these cutbacks came with great stress to Department Directors and the City Manager. The Mayor and City Commission will make the decision as to whether these cutbacks meet the priorities of the City. Every decision was gone over multiple times and great care was taken to come up with the best solutions and minimum impact on our citizens. City Manager Miller spoke of the disparity in taxes and people who feel they are trapped in their homes due to taxes and decreasing home values, and explained the City's hands are tied as the tax reform measures were set by the legislature. The boat ramps are not suitable for public use; they are for the purpose of City workers gaining access to the canals in order for us to get our boats into the canals to clean them. An outside auditor looks at our finances every year. With regard to the guidelines for Human Resources, City Manager Miller asked residents to take into consideration that this department also includes Risk Management. Bus Transportation becomes an issue of priorities. Tamarac is one of 31 municipalities in a large urban area. The County provides E/W and N/S transportation and the cities have to provide community systems that hook into the County system. We are still providing that service and we are doing our best with what we can afford. Our priorities are public safety (fire and police), repairs to roads, stormwater, clean water, and sanitary sewers. These are the major missions of government. We are required to have a certain amount of parks per 1,000 residents. Tamarac was originally planned as a retirement community, but now with the influx of young families we have to provide public recreation. Since the City was not planned with that in mind at the outset, we have to purchase park land. We are able to do this most of the time through grant programs on the state, county and federal levels, and this is a benefit to taxpayers. Bernard Herman, 7877 Granville Drive spoke of the purchase of the Chevron Station; Yetta Biarritz, 9409 NW 70 Place spoke of the elimination of the bus stop on 44th Street; Rose Lyn Chale, 4903 NW 45t" Avenue, asked if the overpass contemplated would Town Hall Meeting September 5, 2007 Page 4 of 6 have an elevator; and Diane Simpson, 8131 NW 68 Avenue, spoke in opposition to Main Street and the purchase of the Chevron Station. City Manager Miller said the City would look into a grant for bus stops. The Chevron station is located in the middle of the Main Street project and behind the Community Center. It is strategically located and a take -off point for the pedestrian overpass, for which we already have grant funds. It is the entryway to the community and a fantastic opportunity for us with a $2 million grant from Broward County. We hope to pick up the rest of the funding from other grants. We are purchasing property along what is to be the Main Street Project but we will not hold the property; we will sell the property to developers to build the Main Street project. Tamarac will secure a major tax base by building Main Street, which will contain shopping, recreation and entertainment. It is the only way we can enlarge our tax base. Additionally, commercial growth does not have the same drain on services, such as police and fire, as residential growth does. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco said it is important to understand, when we talk about grants, that it is a very protracted process. Just because we apply does not mean we will be accepted. Vice Mayor Sultanof said we must buy as much land as we can get our hands on or we will become stagnant. Vice Mayor Sultanof spoke about annexation. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco said she appreciates everything staff has done, There will be two more public hearings: September 13th at 5:05 p.m. and September 19th at 5:05 p.m. at City Hall in Chambers. All are welcome to attend and the Mayor and City Commission look forward to further dialogue and appreciate everyone's attendance at tonight's meeting. Commissioner Dressler thanked everyone for coming to the Town Hall meeting and sharing their views with the elected officials. While the Mayor and City Commission understand the residents would like to have the same services as they had in the past, we are not in a position to keep things as they were. Sometimes there are no good decisions to be made and it becomes painful for the Mayor and City Commission. Commissioner Dressler said he recently lost his mother and brother, both of whom needed special transportation arrangements, and he does care about the residents of Tamarac. But financial decisions are difficult ones to make. Commissioner Dressler thanked staff for their work in coming up with multiple budgets, since we did not know what the legislature would do and the impact on the City. If the referendum on January 29th passes, that, too, could cause us to make more extremely difficult decisions with regard to how we spend your and our tax money. Commissioner Dressler said he looks forward to seeing everyone at the next budget hearing. Commissioner Portner thanked everyone for coming to the Town Hall meeting. It was his idea to hold this meeting in order to hear everyone's concerns. Commissioner Portner had asked that when people come before the Mayor and City Commission with concerns they also come with solutions. Tamarac is trying to survive for everybody who Town Hall Meeting September 5, 2007 Page 5 of 6 lives here and everybody should get the same treatment; the City provides for everybody, not just one group. Commissioner Portner asked that people not place themselves above others, but have feelings for everyone. Vice Mayor Sultanof thanked everyone for coming to the Town Hall meeting and said it is not an easy job to be an elected official, but we try to do the best we can. The Mayor and City Commission think of everyone. Vice Mayor Sultanof said we have not cut out the para-transit, and people can call Parks and Recreation to make an appointment for this service, or go through the Area on Aging. Commissioner Atkins -Grad said she sees people in the audience who are not happy, but the Mayor and City Commission are not happy, either, with some things that are going on, and many things are not of our choice. Commissioner Atkins -Grad said she is grateful so many citizens came to the meeting tonight, and she is here for the residents. Commissioner Atkins -Grad said she has an open door policy. With no further business to come before the Mayor and City Commission, Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco adjourned the meeting at 7:50 p.m. Marion Swenson, CMC City Clerk 1 Town Hall Meeting September 5, 2007 Page 6 of 6