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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-08-11 - City Commission Budget Workshop Meeting MinutesCity Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 1 CITY OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETING TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1992 Mayor Bender called this meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 11, 1992 in Conference Room 1, City Hall, 7525 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. PRESENT: Mayor H. L. Bender Vice Mayor Henry Schumann C/M Irving Katz C/M Joseph Schreiber C/M Norman Abramowitz ALSO PRESENT: Join P. Kelly, City Manager Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager Mitchell S. Kraft, City Attorney Mary Blasi, Finance Director Peter Mack, Personnel Director Tom Gifoli, Risk Manager Jim Budzinski, Fire Chief Kathy Calabria, Insurance Coordinator Ellen Wood, Secretary C/M Katz said two meetings are needed for the items that should be placed on the November referendum and he would like to formally agendize those items for the City Council meeting on August 12, 1992. He said he would like the City Manager to direct the City Clerk to formally agendize those items. He said he would like to discuss the items at the end of the workshop. Discussion was held on the four items that C/M Katz wanted agendized. C/M Katz said Council directed Mr. Kraft to prepare these items so that Council could have two meetings and send them in before August 31, 1992 for the November ballot. Mr. Kelly said he would rather have a special meeting so that there is ample notice. C/M Katz said that C/M Schreiber would not be here from August 13 to August 20 and Council has a limited amount of time. He said if Council could have a meeting on August 21 and August 26, 1992, then he has no problem. Mr. Kraft said a ten day notice was needed. C/M Abramowitz said these items could change the direction of the City and he would be uncomfortable in not giving enough notice to the public. V/M Schumann said it is important to meet the time requirements to get the items on the ballot. He said it has to be done by August 31, 1992 and has to have two meetings with a ten day interim period. Mayor Bender said it would be discussed at the end of the meeting and agendized for the August 12th meeting. C/M Katz asked if this was timely and was there anything else that has to be done before the meeting. Mr. Kraft said a 24 hour notice was needed. CITY ATTORNEY Mr. Kelly said the City Attorney budget is the first item up and Ms. McDermott said it is on page 20. City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 2 Mr. Kraft said he had distributed a revised proposed budget to all members of Council that included salary increases for the legal secretary and the City Attorney. He said he proposed $27,000 for the legal secretary because of experience, amount of work and because she is certified as a paralegal. He said she is currently making $24,000 and with the cola, $24,960.00. Mayor Bender said the first change recommended will affect line 120, regular salaries and Ms. Blasi said lines 120, 210, 220, 225 and 281 will be affected. Mr. Kraft said the sum total of changes is on the last page. C/M Abramowitz said he does not like the idea of putting the City Attorney and his legal secretary in one line. He said there is consideration due to the City Attorney. He said the legal secretary was hired through the Personnel Department and the proposed increase would be a 12.5% increase. He said 4% is the normal raise and he cannot go with 8.5% on top of it. C/M Abramowitz said he felt the City Attorney was entitled to receive a raise but at this time he did not know how much. Mayor Bender said the City Attorney's memo dated August 10, 1992 included a survey of other cities with salaries of the City Attorney and legal secretary. C/M Schreiber said the people of this City are facing increases in several areas and the economy is not good so the City has to hold the line whereever possible. He said the Attorney knew the salary when he took the job and after six months is asking for a $12,500.00 increase in pay. He said a slight increase could be considered but that was too large a raise. He said the secretary has been with the City five months and the increase being asked is assessive. He said there is also a request for automobile allowance which seems high. He said the City should adopt a policy eliminating automobiles for all department heads and just pay them mileage allowance as per IRS. He said the City should be giving the best service for the dollar that the tax payer is Paying• C/M Katz said the City Attorney should be separate because he is responsible to Council and his secretary is responsible to the Personnel Department. He asked the City Attorney if. he wanted an increase in benefits in order not to pay IRS or in salary. He said he feels it is a high increase that is being requested. Mr. Kraft said he was asking for an increase in deferred compensation on which tax is not paid. C/M Abramowitz asked that this matter be deferred to the next meeting in order to examine the numbers. He said Council has the obligation to see that the City runs in the manner that benefits and enhances the City. . Mayor Bender said he is happy with Mr. Kraft's performance and it is fair that he get an increase but the amount will have to be determined. He said this matter will be readdressed at Thursday's meeting. Mr. Kelly said that is personnel services but the rest of the budget needs to be addressed. It was decided to defer the complete City Attorney budget until Thursday. PERSONNEL 1 Peter Mack and Tom Gifoli entered the meeting. City Council Budget Workshop 06/11/92/elo Page 3 Ms. McDermott said the Personnel budget begins on page 36. She said after Personnel, Risk Management's budget would be reviewed. Ms. McDermott said the Personnel budget has several changes since the Risk Manager is taken out of Personnel. She said it also affected several individuals in the department. Mr. Mack said the Risk Manager is being paid from the City salary line, whereas the previous arrangement was contractural. He said this is now a permanent, full time position. He said a secretarial position was moved from Personnel to Risk Management. ,Ms. McDermott said those salaries are not reflected in the Personnel Department but in the Risk Management Department. C/M Abramowitz asked why line 306, Special Supplies and Services, has such a dramatic raise. Mr. Mack said it includes funding appreciation lunches and awards for the City volunteers plus articles for the veterans. Tape 2 V/M Schumann asked about the reduction to zero in Labor Relations and Mr. Mack said it was transferred to the City Attorney's office to be more appropriately managed. Mr. Kelly said there was concern that people could not find out where all the legal expenses were. He said they were always in the budget but in different areas, now they will all be the the budget of the City Attorney because he signs off on them. C/M Katz asked if the transferring of Personnel is in accord with contractural obligations to the Federation of Public Employees. Mr. Mack said, yes, and the guidelines are provided by State Statute. He said the City is in the process of reviewing the entire City Personnel status and intend to go to PERC (Public Employees Relations Committee) in Tallahassee and ask for a reading on several positions in the City. C/M Katz said money is going out on legal services. C/M Abramowitz said he does not see those things. C/M Katz said he will furnish C/M Abramowitz with anything he has. He said he sees dollar signs and he does not want office staff against each other. He said if the City is in agreement contractually, his question is answered. Mr. Mack said the City has made every effort to maintain that relationship. C/M Schreiber asked about line 320, Audit and Accounts, why is it needed when nothing was spent this year. Mr. Mack said there is an increased responsibility and requirement this year that did not need to be faced last year, the American Disability Act. He said in January, 1992, it was enacted into Federal law. He said it will have a significant impact on all hiring practices and personnel matters. C/M Katz asked if it was required by law to have an annual audit and Mr. Mack said, no. Ms. McDermott said it is very specific in regard to the IRS. City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 4 Mr. Mack said it is the IRS requirement in regard.to payment and employer relationships plus the American Disability Act (ADA) which requires the City to audit personnel functions and matters. Mr. Kraft said the ADA new requirement hit recently and it is going to be quite expensive. C/M Schreiber asked on line 338, Employment Agency Fees, why $1,500.00 is being requested. Mr. Mack said the Personnel Department is responsible for temporaries throughout the City and he anticipates using all the funds. Mr. Kelly said all temporaries have to be approved through Personnel now. C/M Schreiber questioned line 340, other Contractual Services. Mr. Mack said it gives the opportunity to bring in consultants regarding the ADA. He said all the job descriptions need to be redone and possibly an appeal to PERC regarding what he just discussed with C/M Katz. C/M Katz asked about line 230, Health Insurance, where is the increase. Mr. Mack said for planning purposes for the budget there is a 15% increase and the number reflects that. Mr. Kelly said this is Risk Management area. He said traditionally 15% is budgeted yearly. He said this year it may not fall in that range. He said the 15% is not an obligation for the Council to provide. He said it can be reduced or increased. He said the burden can be put on the employee. Ms. McDermott said there are decreases in some of the line items because there is more accountability for Risk Manage- ment in itself. V/M Schumann questioned why Line 59C, Stores Services, is reduced to zero. Ms. Blasi said it is non -departmental. She said purchasing is an internal service fund and will be reviewed this afternoon. Ms. McDermott said for the supplies themselves, each depart- ment has to pay. She said the service to provide those supplies is in one account to have better accountability. She said each department issues purchase requisitions under line 510, Office Supplies. ' Discussion was held on office supplies and store services. C/M Abramowitz asked Mr. Kelly if the salaries were within the perameters that were previously explained. Mr. Kelly said, yes. RISK MANAGEMENT Ms. McDermott said Risk Management/Insurance starts on page 248 and the actual budget printout is on page 252. Mr. Mack introduced Tom Gifoli to Council. He said Mr. Gifoli has a great background in Risk Management and will be good for the City. Ms. McDermott said this is placed in the Internal Service Fund, it is not in the General Fund. She said the Risk Manager is full time and has the benefits of regular City City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 5 employees. She said the department includes the Risk Manager, Insurance Benefits Coordinator, Secretary and Safety Co- ordinator. She said the Secretary and Safety Coordinator used to be in the Personnel budget. C/M Abramowitz asked what the Safety Coordinator did for $37,000.00. Mr. Gifoli said Mr. O'Brien has extensive experience in safety and his responsibilities are City wide. He said Mr. O'Brien saves money on investigatory services, any accident that takes place within the City is investigated by him. He said Mr. O'Brien gives extensive safety programs and instructions to all City employees and he constantly checks safety hazards feeding information back to Risk Management so that it can be corrected. He said in general, Mr. O'Brien keeps the dollar value of any specific accident as low as it can be. He said the man pays for his salary. C/M Abramowitz asked if this position is a saving factor on insurance premiums and Mr. Gifoli said, no, but from the self -insured retention program, yes, because his expertise puts the Risk Manager in a better position to negotiate with attorneys on settlement of claims at a lower dollar figure and enables him to enact.safety programs. He said the information received from Mr. O'Brien keeps the severity and the current numbers relatively low. C/M Katz asked if the City still carries the million dollar insurance loss reserve. Mr. Blasi said on page 257, what was budgeted in the past on insurance loss reserve is what the increase of that reserve will be, not the balance. She said last year $100,000.00 was budgeted and the claims have been above what was originally projected and budgeted so a transfer was required of that line item. C/M Katz said Council has had to approve transfers of money because there was not enough to pay the claims. He asked if the City should be funding insurance reserves so that this does not have to come back to Council. Ms. Blasi said instead of putting it in insurance loss reserve it is in contingency. She said the amount is $50,000.00 and in workmans compensation is $200,000.00. Ms. McDermott said there are several items on the table at the same time. She said first is the actual operation of the insurance department, then C/M Katz asked about the insurance loss reserve which is another account that can be explained in full detail. She said C/M Schreiber has asked about another account, workmans compensation. She suggested that it be done in order and one at a time. She said each page has to be covered. V/M Schumann asked about line 493, Safety Expenses and Charges at $12,500.00. Mr. Gifoli said it is for safety classes and to supply facility people with protective belts, shoes and wrist bands. Mr. Kelly said to reduce that to $10,000.00 and Mayor Bender said to cut it back to $2,500.00. V/M Schumann said line 230 jumped from $3,600.00 to $14, 000.00. Ms. Blasi said a Secretary and Risk Manager were added that both have family coverage and the 15% increase. C/M Katz said the City is paying 20 to 25% of an employees salary for family health insurance. City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 5 C/M Abramowitz said it seems that the City is stuck with one health insurance company all the time and he would like more companies to have the opportunity. V/M Schumann asked Ms. Calabria what the loss ratio was last year and she said average. V/M Schumann asked what the insurance company justifies increases on. Mr. Mack said increased expenses. C/M Katz said the Union does not have a health plan and he feels that possibly they could provide health insurance. He said AFL -CYO could be consulted and see if there is such a thing that the City could get involved with. Mr. Gifoli said they would definitely look at that. He said the high expense is an administrative expense that is passed on to the City by Humana. He said they know they can be the lowest bidder and, therefore, come in at the edge of the amount of money the City budgets. He said the City budgeted 15% and they came in at 14.4%. Mr. Gifoli said the bid is in process now and by the end of September this situation should be completed. C/M Schreiber asked what happened to the theory of self- insurance on health insurance and Mr. Gifoli said it would be unwise to consider it. C/M Abramowitz asked if the City had a history because one of the problems has been that a'history could not be supplied. Mr. Gifoli said he has not found one yet. Mayor Bender said several years ago the City was not getting bids due to the risk of age of the employees in the City. Mr. Mack said that is part of it. He said the average employee's age has gone down slightly but not much. He said a bigger reason than that is that insurance companies are reluctant to bid on municipal business because it changes all the time. He said insurance companies do not want to come in for a year or two, they want long term. C/M Abramowitz asked why the City does not have a history and Mr. Mack said the City has been provided with the lost run and it is part of the bid package. V/M Schumann asked how many people were part of line 230. Ms. Blasi said the health insurance for the Risk Manager and Secretary printed out at $5,178.00 and should be $4,503.00. She said the 15% increase was done twice. She said it is a savings on line 230 of $1,350.00. She said this brings the total to $13,147.00. She said this is four employees where previously there were two. She said the two employees that were there before have single coverage. Ms. Blasi said if the City was to eliminate the subsidy of the increased premiums, it would save the General Fund about $95,000.00. C/M Abramowitz said the City has the bid for 14.4% and it cannot be wished away. C/M Katz asked what line 59E on page 253 was for and Ms. Blasi said the Insurance Service Fund has one vehicle for Mr. O'Brien and a pool car. She said the charge back for Fleet Services is per vehicle and that is how much it would cost per vehicle. She said this is it's own fund, Internal Service Fund. City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 7 V/M Schumann said $550.00 is high and Ms. Blasi said they needed a standard for a charge back. She said the total fleet services budget divided by the number of vehicles is how much it is. Mr. Kelly said there are two vehicles in that department. Ms. Blasi said if the figure is reduced, the General Fund for Utilities West would have to be increased because this Fund is being charged back to them. She said it comes to how much time the City wants to spend on the allocation. She said it could take another person to monitor all the repairs for every vehicle to charge back an exact amount. She said there is one figure for each fund, General Fund, Utilities West and each Internal Service Fund has a figure because they are accounted for separately. V/M Schumann said they appear to be inflated and C/M Abramowitz said the dollar amounts do not change no matter what is done. C/M Schreiber said it is an inaccurate estimate for each vehicle. He said the books and records should be accurate. Ms. McDermott said they are. She said Fleet Services will be reviewed with Public Works. She said Fleet Services budget includes all the operations, mechanics, labor, salary, tools, parts and the charge -back is all inclusive. Ms. Blasi said Fleet Services Budget is $685,000.00 and its revenues are solely the charge -backs from General Funds, Utilities West and Insurance. She said the $685,000.00 is divided by the number of vehicles that each fund has and that determines the charge -back. C/M Abramowitz said they are trying to do the same thing with Council expenses right now, to stop spending $50.00 to monitor a dollar. Ms. Blasi said the General Fund is charged $441,000.00 and Utilities West is charged $220,000.00 for Fleet Services and the difference is from Insurance. C/M Schreiber asked if there is a record of how many vehicles and each repair and Mr. Kelly said, yes, each department has one. Ms. Blasi said this also includes gasoline. Mayor Bender said every time they request replacement for a vehicle the maintenance record is attached for justification. Ms. McDermott said they were still on Insurance Administration, page 252. V/M Schumann asked about line 331, Administrative Fees and the increase. Mr. Gifoli said Crawford and Company administer the insurance program from a workmans comp point of view and also, Claims Management to a certain degree. He said it is the fund used to pay their bills on administrative fees and services. Tape 3 Mayor Bender asked what the City was doing on Subrogation and Mr. Gifoli said since he has been with the City about $7,000.00. He said he is handling them on a daily basis. Ms. Blasi said when the Subrogation money comes in, it goes back into the Insurance Fund and is a revenue for the Fund. She said up to June 30, they received $1,400.00. Ms. McDermott said more Subrogation will be seen in 1992/93. City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 8 Mr. Gifoli said when a City vehicle would be involved in an accident, there would be a situation where the City would be a third party so he would send out the necessary notices that the City is exercising its Subrogation rights and wait for a response. He said if the person ignores it and he feels the City has a case that should be pursued, he would take it to Small Claims Court or the Attorney would advise. C/M Schreiber asked if there is a way to avoid litigation and V/M Schumann said arbitration. C/M Schreiber said a panel could make a decision to eliminate litigation expenses. He asked if a municipality could be a member. Mr. Gifoli said he could ask that specific question. He said they can be involved with the third party insurance carrier and he can directly negotiate with them. C/M Schreiber said the City is subrogating against the carrier but if they deny the claim, the next step is litigation or dropping it, whereas, if the City was part of an agreement it goes to a panel to pursue until the end. C/M Abramowitz asked if in line 331, anything could be handled in-house. V/M Schumann said they do the investigation and have an independent adjustor. Mr. Gifoli said the administrative services being provided by Crawford are strictly the things that Crawford needs to do which could not be handled in-house. V/M Schumann asked for a ball park figure as to what the reserve is now in the Insurance Fund and Ms. Blasi said $993,500.00 in cash and investments in Insurance. She said as of September 30, 1991, accrued workmans comp payable are $291,000.00 by basically estimating maximum exposure with claims currently pending and accrued liability claims payable of $307,000.00. V/M Schumann asked if all the money is not used by the end of the year where does it go and Ms. Blasi said it stays right there in the Insurance Reserve Fund. Ms. Blasi said the self-insurance fund is basically the fund that is set up,just for the reserve of money for potential liability in the future and for payment of administration, insurance premiums and claims payable during that current year. Ms. Blasi said with a self-insurance fund, a certain level must be reached and maintained to keep the City protected. Mr. Kelly said V/M Schumann is correct, the intent of the previous Risk Manager was that the amount be put in each year until the City reached the threshold that the Insurance Advisory Committee was supporting. V/M Schumann said a million and a half was to be the minimum as a safety factor. C/M Abramowitz said Council was also told at the time the decision was made to go self -insured that the longer the City is self --insured the more claims it was going to have because the first two years the City had nothing. C/M Katz said line 983 on page 257, Insurance Lost Reserve is at zero and the number of $993,500.00 should be indicated somewhere. Ms. Blasi said it is cash and investments and is what is in so city Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 9 the fund to pay claims. Mayor Bender said there is close to a million dollars in the fund and the interest should go into the fund. Ms. Blasi said, it does and an interest income is also a revenue in the budget that reduces the charge -back to the General Fund and the Utilities West Fund. She said there is close to $60,000.00 in that fund budgeted next year for interest. C/M Schreiber asked how anyone looking at this budget could know what the reserve is and Ms. Blasi said because the reserve amount at the end of the year is not known. Mayor Bender said the reserve does not stay constant. He said the Finance Director can tell the amount in the beginning and at the end with a final inventory. V/M Schumann said in today's market, the City is under reserved. Mr. Kelly said traditionally it is not in the budget and Ms. Blasi will provide Council on a quarterly basis with the status of this fund. Ms. Blasi said the City should not touch that money, enough should be budgeted to pay next year's claims. She said the reserve is in the budget as an expenditure item. C/M Schreiber said this document has to be for everyone, not just for Council. Mayor Bender said this is an operation document going from year to year to show what the anticipated expenses will be and what money is needed to cover them. He said,there are many accounts that have nothing to do with the budget and that can come from trial balance. He said the trial balance tells what accounts do not have anything to do with the budget but are fixed amounts that have to do with the reserves. Ms. Blasi said the Annual Financial Statements will also give this information. C/M Katz asked on page 256, Worker's Comp Insurance Claims at $200,000.00, if more money is needed for this does it come out of the Insurance Loss Reserve. Ms. Blasi said $50,000 was budgeted in Contingency for this year. She said last year $150,000.00 was put in Insurance Loss Reserve to increase the million to one million one fifty and this year the City has many claims to be paid and the money was needed so the reserve could not be built up. Ms. McDermott said any time a transfer is done it goes before the City Council. Ms. Blasi said hopefully what is budgeted will be the extent of what the City pays and the City will be able to maintain close to a million dollars. She said if it is not, every year the City has a potential liability. C/M Katz asked what number is realistically being looked at in compensation reserves before transferring money from Insurance Reserve. Mr. Gifoli said his understanding is that at the $200,000.00 level as the City spends dollar amounts, the Contingency Fund is constantly paying to keep it at that specific level. He said when that fund is gone, the Reserve Fund is constantly feeding to keep the City into that particular dollar amount. C/M Katz asked at what dollar amount would a transfer of City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 10 funds be needed from Insurance Reserve to Compensation. V/M Schumann said only to satisfy a claim. Discussion was held on when money should be transferred. Ms. Blasi said these claims are not paid when they are filed. She said the Risk Manager will assess what has to be paid in the next quarter and next six months. She said he will look at his budget and if he feels more than $200,000.00 will be needed by the end of the year, he will get the appropriate documentation together to present to Council. Mr. Gifoli said it is almost on a claim by claim basis. He said on a quarterly basis that money is requested to bring them back to the $200,000.00. Mayor Bender asked if there were any more questions regarding the Risk Manager's and hearing none, he concluded the Risk Management Budget. Mayor Bender called for a five minute recess at 10:40 a.m. and reconvened the meeting at 10:45 with the same people present. FIRE DEPARTMENT Mayor Bender said the next department is Fire and Ms. McDermott said Fire is on page 48. Mr. Kelly said a considerable amount of time has been spent reviewing the City's Fire Department. He said the budget, man power, equipment, contractural and mandated obligations, pension, skills, training level of service, potential and power were all analyzed. He said the challenge was to see if and how the City could improve the level of service and to do it cost effectively. He said several options were considered, one was to contract with Broward County to provide fire protection. He said the process would be similar to BSO. He said he meet with Broward County. Mr. Kelly said the second option was forming a taxing district with the County or with other neighboring cities or within the City of Tamarac itself. Mr. Kelly reviewed these opportunities and the tax burden within the City. He said he would only further recommend establishing a taxing district within the City if it is legally possible. He said the five city recycling experience has dimmed his enthusiasm for attempting a practical and politically effective taxing board for the multi -city makeup. Mr. Kelly said after reviewing the County it is concluded that the level of fire service provided by the City depart- ment is at least equal to and in some areas superior to that which the City would hope to provide by contracting with Broward County. He said financially the City could not begin to realize the cost savings. He said it would be prohibitively expensive in the long run especially with pension liabilities. Mr. Kelly said the City has a fine Fire Department with dedicated, competent and loyal employees. He said they have made contributions to the thought gathering and decision making in this endeavor. He said they have interacted with the union and gotten feedback from them. He said they are all in agreement that they should work within the traditional framework that the City has and the budget process to try to improve and expand the delivery of service of fire protection in the City for the residents. Mr. Kelly said the budget has to be addressed and he has the County budget line by line to share with Council for further research and to substantiate his position. 11 1-1 City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 11 C/M Katz said he does not see any advantage in going with the County, however, he would like to suggest that the City look at a multi -city or regional fire department where the City can control and possibly there could be cost savings. He said the City should have a workshop so that intelligent decisions can be made on next year's budget. C/M Katz said page 98, Employees currently on the payroll, has a number of vacancies. He said a fire inspector is some- thing the City has to have, however, he asked what the advantages would be in having a Fire Marshall and a Probationary Fire Fighter. Mr. Budzinski said the Fire Marshall duties have been split between himself and Mr. Viele, who assumed the role of plans examiner and inspections for Certificate of Occupancy. He said he retained the Fire Code Official designation for the City which is required by the South Florida Building Code. He said he is the only one currently certified as a Fire Code Official. Mr. Budzinski said an additional inspector would allow the department to comply more closely with the South Florida Building Code and return funds to the City. He said it is a revenue producing position through the annual inspection fees. He said other duties regarding fire prevention have been distributed. He said the administrative duties of that position and coverage duties have been shared by the Commanders. He said he still has the main responsibility for that. He said this has caused some areas of the Commanders' responsibility to go unattended. He said Paul Forsburg, Commander, has been assigned the role of training officer and at this point he schedules the training but does not have time to participate or oversee. He said the training is done at a lower level or by the outside. Mr. Budzinski said one Commander does maintenance of the vehicles and building maintenance. He said Mr. Van Mehren has been working with Ms. McDermott on grants and has been successful in bringing a number of grants to the City. He said these are time consuming issues along with the routine administration of the department. He said he would like to fill the Assistant Chief position and have the Commanders more actively involved with the department training and responses. C/M Katz asked if an existing employee could be promoted to Commander to eliminate pressure without increasing monetarily the City's obligation. Mr. Budzinski said the position is there with the Assistant Chief position. He said to raise a position to Commander would mean eliminating someone that responds to emergencies and it cannot be done. He said he does not have positions on the bottom end to move up. C/M Abramowitz asked Mr. Budzinski if he felt the City is adequately protected and Mr. Budzinski said they provide a minimal level of emergency services at this point. C/M Abramowitz discussed the issue going on with the South Florida Building Code and the annual inspections. He said until this issue is settled he does feel a Fire Inspector should be put on if he cannot legally do his job. He said he would like to add what is needed and if the City is being put at risk he could possibly change his mind. He said the records need to be reviewed that show what calls the Fire Department responds to. He said the Fire Department costs three million dollars a year and it is a necessary expense. He said he does not see the reason for an Assistant Fire Chief. Tape 4 City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 12 Mr. Budzinski said service is minimal and the department has the capability and desire to do more. He said they need another inspector in order to adequately do the inspections. He said currently they are not doing them and are not in compliance with the South Florida Building Code. Mr. Budzinski said there are ground ladders on all of the equipment and the aerial runs when they have the manpower and the aerial is sent out when the call dictates that it is needed and the manpower is there. Discussion was held regarding manpower and positions required for each shift. Mr. Budzinski said the position of Fire Marshall/Assistant Chief would be open'to the outside. He said there is a requirement for the Fire Marshall or Fire Code Official to be qualified by the Board of Rules and Appeals. He said the Assistant Chief would be over Commanders and Lieutenants. Mr. Kelly said his priority is the Fire Inspector. He said there has been discussion of the Commanders having greater responsibility and being compensated accordingly and the position of Assistant Chief remaining unfunded. Discussion was held on whether the Commanders had time for additional responsibilities and it was agreed that they were doing more work now and need to be compensated for it. Mr. Budzinski said the Commanders have assumed the responsibility of purchasing, bids, quotes and the fire prevention activities. He said the duty of plans examiner and grants have been assumed. Discussion was held on the fire department responding to accidents and being responsible for containing the incident. Mayor Bender said the vacant positions equate to $121,000.00 and he would like to see them removed from this budget until they receive clarification of the utilization of the positions. Ms. Blasi said these 45 positions are budgeted, not new positions. C/M Abramowitz said mutual aid teams are a saving grace and Tamarac's part in this is the diving team. He said if there was a problem there is mutual aid. Mayor Bender asked about the entry regarding incentives and Mr. Budzinski said it is required by Union contract. Ms. McDermott said the IAFF contract expires in one more year. V/M Schumann asked about Temporary Upgrade Pay and Mr. Budzinski said it is when an officer is on vacation and is replaced temporarily according to contract. Discussion was held on the clarification of annual fire inspections in conjunction with the annual inspections conducted by the Building Department. Mr. Budzinski said a Fire Inspector is needed regardless of the clarification in the South Florida Building Code. C/M Schreiber asked what part of the Fire Department is hurting the most and needs the vacant position filled. Mr. Budzinski said they are short on manpower and any filled vacancy would be a start. Discussion was held on the equipment that cannot be used City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 13 because of a shortage of manpower and the number of men on each shift. Discussion was held on the disagreement between the South Florida Building Code, the Board of Rules and Appeals and the Broward League of Cities. Mr. Kelly asked if any determinations were going to be made on which direction to go. It was agreed not to fund the assistant position. Mr. Budzinski said in the interest of the City the Inspector and Probationary Fire Fighter are priorities. Tape 5 Mr. Kelly said it appears that there is a consensus that the Fire Marshall/Assistant Fire Chief would not be funded. V/M Schumann said he wants to see justification. Mr. Budzinski said hiring one man will not correct all the staffing problems but it is a start and a step in the right direction. Discussion was held on manpower, structural calls, false alarms, time of day calls increase and efficiency. Ms. McDermott said these are vacant positions that are already in the budget, they are not additional positions. Mr. Kelly said Mr. Budzinski will go over justifications with V/M Schumann. He said the position of Probationary Fire Fighter and Fire Inspector will be revisited and the position of Assistant Fire Chief will be eliminated. C/M Katz said on page 48, item 464, maintenance on buildings has too much money being spent on it. Mr. Budzinski said item 464, Office Equipment, covers air condition units, the bay doors, stoves, water heaters and generators. He said item 503 is maintenance to land and building improvements which is major repairs to the building and bathroom. C/M Katz said the City has to do everything it can inhouse and not contract out for services and Mr. Budzinski said repairs to the building and equipment are funneled through Public Services Division and they determine if they can make the repair which the Fire Department pays for. Mr. Budzinski said item 466 are the items that are not covered by Public Service Fleets Maintenance, such as aerial ladders and pumps. Mr. Budzinski said item 475, Protective Clothing, is replace- ment cost on the protective equipment that the men wear. Mr. Budzinski said Employee Wellness is an account to allow capital purchase of equipment last year for the wellness program that is required by the contract. He said $7,500.00 must be allocated each year. Mr. Budzinski said item 640 is for replacement of one sedan because two vehicles are out of service with safety problems. C/M Abramowitz said he is waiting for the Fire Department and the Fire Union to tell the City how it is going to make all that money because they have indicated that there is big money to be made. He said the information should go to the City Manager and the City Manager will bring it to Council. Mr. Budzinski left the meeting at 12:25 p.m. City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 14 Tape 6 C/M Katz said it was agreed that discussion would be held on the items to agendize at the end of this meeting. Mayor Bender. said to discuss the items that will be agendized at this time. He asked C/M Katz if he wanted to agendize what is contained in the memo dated July 30, 1992 and with the updated revision on August 3, 1992 regarding Redistricting. C/M Katz said item 1 is Single Member Districts and has to do with the person running in a district only having to carry the district and campaign in that district. He said the electorate cannot vote in any other district other than the one they live in except for the Mayor and Charter Board. He said this would only affect Council. He said he feels there is a disservice due to expenses in campaigning throughout the City. He said it is discriminating in not allowing people who may be intimidated if they had to run outside their district. C/M Abramowitz said he opposes Single Member Districts for the following reasons. He said Single Member Districts were put into play because of a discriminatory practice against electing minorities. He said this is a disservice to the residents because everyone in the City pays the salaries of Council and has a right to make that decision. He said the people of the City should be allowed to choose their elected officials. He said everyone should present themselves to the electorate and let the electorate make the choice. V/M Schumann said any referendum that goes on the ballot is up to the electorate to make the decision. He said the people will decide if it is a disservice. Mayor Bender said this is on the November ballot and has to be in by August 31, 1992 and C/M Katz said it has to have two meetings. C/M Katz said he would prefer the City Clerk agendize 'it so that everyone that receives an agenda will be aware that it is on the agenda for the meeting. Mayor Bender said he will ask the Clerk to agendize this item and revise the agenda to include Temp. Ord. #1616. Mayor Bender said the second item is to limit duties and powers of the Charter Board, Temp. Ord. #1622. C/M Katz said at the last joint meeting Charter Board Attorney Novack said he was not adverse to what Mr. Kraft put in as limiting the duties and responsibilities of the Charter Board and removing certain items that are presently in the Charter. He said the only one that is not in this section is the redistricting because it is a separate section in the Charter. C/M Katz said he would like these items agendized for the City Council meeting and it would take effect after the electorate approves it. C/M Abramowitz said he felt the Charter Board should have more than four hours notice that it is coming up and C/M Katz said there is an August 31, 1992 deadline and it takes two meetings so it has to come up. C/M Abramowitz said the Charter Board does not have enough time to respond to this. C/M Katz said between the two meetings is time enough to discuss and things are not chiseled in stone until the electorate approves it. Mayor Bender told Mr. Kraft to review and recount the words City Council Budget Workshop 08/11/92/elo Page 15 on all the items to make sure the City is in compliance. C/M Katz asked to have item 3, Temp. Ord. #1623, withdrawn. He said if the duties and obligations of the Charter Board are defined there is no need to include this for the referendum. C/M Katz said item 4, Temp. Ord. #1624, eliminates the Charter Board from participation and appointment on the Redistricting Committee. He said he does not know what function is served having the Charter Board participate. V/M Schumann said the Charter Board only participates in appointing people on the Committee. He said there is no reason to have a Redistricting Committee if the report is not taken at face value. C/M Katz said the Redistricting report should be made to the legislative body who makes the final decision. He said the report is a recommendation and Council can override the report. C/M Abramowitz said he does not have a problem with the Charter Board appointing people to the Committee. He said his objection is that the Redistricting report is final and Council should have the final word. Discussion was'held and Temp. Ord #1616, 1622 and 1624 would be agen-sized by the Clerk and the agenda revised. Temp. Ord. #1624 will be revised to allow the Charter Board to make the appointments but the advisory report will be submitted to Council for approval. These items will be for the November referendum. Mr. Kelly asked if an effort should be made to advise the Charter Board as a courtesy. Mayor Bender told Mr. Kelly to advise Chairwoman Muriel Davis and/or Vice Chairman Winter of the position that has been taken by Council. Mr. Kelly said he will have the Clerk call each of the members. Mayor Bender said Council could meet again Wednesday after- noon and Mr. Kelly said a meeting notice would be put out for a City Council Workshop Meeting on Wednesday, August 12, 1992 at 1:00 p.m. Mayor Bender ADJOURNED the meeting at 12:55 p.m.