HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-10-07 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC
7525 Northwest 88 Avenue
Tamarac, Florida 33321-2401
September 25, 1991
NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING
CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA
Phone (305) 722-5900
Fax (305) 722-4509
There will be a Workshop Meeting of the City Council on Monday,
October 7, 1991, at 9:30 a.m, in Conference Room #1, Tamarac City
Hall, 7525 N.W. 88 Avenue, Tamarac, Florida.
1. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss possible Charter
Amendments.
2. 21MULL PARTICIPATION - Any member of the public may speak
to any issue which is not agendized for public hearing at
this meeting. Speakers will be limited to three minutes
during this item and at public hearings. There will be a
thirty (30) minute aggregate time limit for this item, and
speakers are encouraged to sign up in advance with the City
Clerk prior to their participation.
All meetings are open to the public.
In the event this agenda must be revised, such revised copies
will be available to the public at the City Council meeting.
Carol A. Evans
City Clerk
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THE CITY OF TAMARAC IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER AND DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS
City Council Workshop Meeting
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Page 1
CITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1991
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting
Monday, October 7, 1991 at 9:30 a.m. in Conference Roo
City Hall, 7525 Northwest 88 Avenue, Tamarac, Florida.
PRESENT•
Mayor Norman Abramowitz
Vice Mayor Dr. Larry Bender
Councilwoman Diane Glasser
Councilman Henry Schumann
ABSENJ AND EXCUSED:
Councilman Irving Katz
ALSO � REA&XT *
John P. Kelly, City Manager
Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager
Alan F. Ruf, City Attorney
Karen Jackson, Secretary
to order on
m #1 of Tamarac
1. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss possible Charter
Amendments.
Mayor Abramowitz summarized the prioritizing procedure. He said at the
last meeting there were some housekeeping and vital items decided on by
Council for consideration to place for Referendum. He said the Charter
Board and Council had agreed on most of the issues. He asked what
Council feels is important to be placed on the ballot for Referendum.
City Manager Kelly said one of his greatest concerns is the Council's
vacation schedule which needs to be addressed and longer terms of
office, which he recommended being for three or four year terms. He said
some cities stagger three and four year terms. He said the limitation on
the terms should be decided.by the public.
City Manager Kelly said City Clerk Evans had expressed her concerns
regarding the City being redundant in some areas by adopting some things
that are not needed to be done again.
City Attorney Ruf said almost the entire financial section of the
Charter regarding how a budget is to be submitted, advertising the
budget and how to prepare a Capital Plan are all served by the State
Statutes. He said there are many things in the Charter which can be
brought into conformance with the State Law.
Mayor Abramowitz asked if the State Law supercedes the City Law and City
Attorney Ruf said the City is required to comply with both based on
which Law is more restrictive.
City Attorney Ruf said this would solve the duplication issue that the
City Clerk's office has.
V/M Bender said he had met with the previous Finance Director, Ken
Burroughs, on May 4, 1990 to discuss the Financial Procedures on Article
7, Page 13 of the Carla Coleman report. He said he had obtained a lot of
information from Mr. Burroughs where the City conflicts with the State
and where the State or City should prevail. He said he will supply
Council with all of this information.
City Manager Kelly said there are three opportunities in 1992 to place
Charter amendments.
V/M Bender said Council should already have all of the priorities
compiled from previous meetings.
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C/W Glasser expressed her concern regarding receiving the Carla Coleman
report and the memo from City Clerk Evans immediately prior to the
meeting.
C/W Glasser said she feels that the Council vacation schedule needs to
be addressed due to the budget process. She referred to Section 4.02 of
the Charter and said something is written improperly. She said it reads
that Council members shall not succeed themselves for more than one term
and City Manager Kelly said Council cannot succeed themselves for more
than one term.
Mayor .Abramowitz said he feels that the method by which each member of
Council, including the Mayor, has an expense account is not good. He
said the Charter instructs Council as to how they can spend the money
and how to get it reimbursed. He said he feels that it costs the City
double the amount to monitor it than the amount of money given to
Council to spend. He said there have been recommendations to give the
amount to Council and whatever is leftover after expenditures, is to be
declared on their income tax, He said there was a recommendation to
place a level of the amount of money to be expended.
Mayor Abramowitz said he feels there is a better way to monitor the
expenditures of the Council. Discussion was held regarding the
monitoring of Council expenses,
C/M Schumann referred to Section 7.13 of Carla Coleman's report which
limits capital projects to 2.5% of the current budget without Referendum
authority. He said the language does not clearly define what funds will
be considered as part of the City budget.
C/M Schumann referred to the suggestion of giving Council the total sum
for expenses and whatever is left is to be declared on the income taxes,
would not be considered an expense account but is then considered
income. He said when a;sum of money is issued and must be backed up wit
r
the required expense vouchers, this is an expense account, which is a
non-taxable item. He asked if Council would be required to turn over the
expense vouchers if the money is given as a lump sum and, if not, it
would have to be reported as income.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Mayor and Council are invited to a lot of
affairs due to being the Mayor or Council person of the City. He said
these functions should be paid out of the expense account.
City Manager Kelly suggested the money be issued on a monthly basis and
these accounts itemized, leftover money returned. C/M Schumann said this
could be worked out any way possible as long as expense vouchers were
turned in, which would classify it as being expenses, but without a
voucher, it is classified as income. Further discussion was held
regarding this.
City Manager Kelly said there are gray lines separating political and
functional affairs when the Mayor and Council are invited to various
functions. Discussion was held regarding these functions.
C/M Schumann said Council needs to define who the beneficiary is in the
function, whether political or charitable. He said he feels that if it
is charitable, then it is a valid City expense but if it is for a
political candidate running for office, then it would not be a valid
expense.
Mayor Abramowitz said this definition should be in the Charter. Further
discussion was held regarding this.
V/M Bender referred to Section 4.04 of the Charter, which explains how
the Mayor and Council should handle their expenses and he asked what is
considered duties. He said this needs to be redefined and given to
everyone equally.
Mayor Abramowitz said there has been a lot of money spent in the City
due to the ambiguous language in the Charter.
V/M Bender said he would like to eliminate the expense account and
whatever functions that Council feels are required to be done by the
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Page 3
City, should be paid for'by the City. He said there is no need for
separate bookkeeping for this.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Charter requires a change regarding expense
accounts.
C/W Glasser said the decision will remain up to the City Manager if this
is eliminated.
V/M Bender said the City Manager must work on an agreement as to what
the responsibilities of Council are which will be the deciding factor.
Further discussion was held regarding this.
V/M Bender said the Ethics Commission uses a different set of rules to
determine whether it is in line with an elected official's duty or not.
Mayor Abramowitz said he has contacted the Ethics Commission several
times and has been told by them that if it falls within the duties as
Council or Mayor, it is allowable, but they will not send it in writing.
V/M Bender said the Ethics Commission gives Section numbers and other
backup for their basis. He said Council is entitled to utilize the same
information as the Ethics Commission.
City Manager Kelly said he will contact the Ethics Commission regarding
this and V/M Bender requested the definition of expenses in writing.
C/W Glasser asked what the date is for the Referendums to be prepared
for the March election and City Manager Kelly said January 17, 1992 is
the deadline.
Mayor Abramowitz recapped the areas of concern by Council as follows:
Compensation, Section 4.04, Page 5; Vacancies and Forfeiture of Office,
Section 4.05, Page 6; Redistricting, Sections 6.01, 6.03, and 6.07, Page
10; Arrangements for Elections, Section 6.09, Page 12; Financial
Procedures, Article VII, Page 13-16; Requirements of Referendum, Section
7.13 and 7.18, Page 17.
V/M Bender expressed his concern with the combining of the Utilities and
General Fund monies and Mayor Abramowitz said the report by David M.
Griffith addressed this.
Mayor Abramowitz referred to Page 4 of the Carla Coleman report
regarding two year terms. He said he feels that Vacancies and
Forfeiture, Page 7, should be reviewed carefully.
V/M Bender said he has reviewed the Financial. Procedures section and the
City is in conflict with the State in many areas.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Requirements for Referendum, Page 17, was high
on the list of priorities by Council. He said Paragraph 1 of the Carla
Coleman report addresses the situation regarding the clear definition of
what funds will be considered as part of the City budget.
C/M Schumann said when the City publishes the budget, both the Utilities
and General Fund budget are posted giving a grand total, which people
assume is the total budget.
TAPE 2
City Attorney Ruf said that Cooper City had recently handled this same
incident and one of the recommendations was to take the Utilities out of
the requirement because the City is using non -tax dollars. He said
anything affecting utilities or anything mandated by State or Federal
Statute should be exempt from this Referendum requirement. He said it
was suggested that the Utilities issues be taken out because the City
would not be using ad valorem taxes, but user fees to pay for them.
Mayor Abramowitz asked what happens assuming that they mandate the Storm
Water Drain Act and the funds that the Utilities Department generates do
not cover the expenditure.
City Attorney Ruf said the City would not be able to sell the bonds and
the City would be in court with the Federal Government. Mayor Abramowitz
asked what would happen then.
City Council Workshop Meeting
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Page 4
City Attorney Ruf said the City would have to raise the rates.
V/M Bender said the money would also have to be stretched depending on
what the Federal Government allows.
City Attorney Ruf said anytime that the City pledges ad valorem money a
Referendum is needed. He said most cities do not have this provision,
which is a very unusual one.
Mayor Abramowitz said it makes sense if it is about taking the Utiliti
out of the 2.5% cap and if there are no tax dollars being used.
City Attorney Ruf said Cooper City increased the percentage, but their
budget is approximately half of what Tamarac's is. He said the City only
has to go to Referendum if borrowing money.
C/M Schumann asked if there is anything contrary to State Law which
would prohibit the City from deleting the cap and City Attorney Ruf
said, no, but the City would have to go to Referendum to delete the cap.
City Attorney Ruf said the City attempted to do that over the years but
it had been rejected. Further discussion was held regarding this.
Mayor Abramowitz said Council had totally disagreed with the Carla
Coleman recommendation on Page 23, last paragraph. He said no elected
member has the right to go to a member of Staff for requests. He said
everything should be directed through the City Manager and V/M Bender
said except for purposes of inquiry and information.
Mayor Abramowitz said he feels that an elected official should have the
right for information whenever needed. Discussion was held regarding
this.
Mayor Abramowitz said he would like Council to review this a little
further and bring it to a meeting for Friday, October 11, 1991 for
further discussion. He requested that City Manager Kelly and City
Attorney Ruf bring any information to the table at that time that they
feel, may be beneficial to the City.
V/M Bender suggested a priority list be made and given to the new
members of Council for review.
Mayor Abramowitz asked that Council express their concerns regarding the
Charter. He said one of the major issues is the method of compensation.
City Manager Kelly said there is an issue on refunds. He said there are
people who have made applications with the City for permits and have
decided not to follow through on their project due to the economy. He
said they have requested refunds from the Building Department. He said a
survey was done with other cities regarding refunds and some cities
issue refunds and some do not.
City Attorney Ruf said in the Building Department, there were a few
refund requests that were approximately $600 individually. He said the
Chief Building Official suggested that the administrative costs be
deducted and only refund the costs for permits and inspections. He said
there is no obligation under the Code for refunds.
C/M Schumann said he agrees with charging for administrative costs.
City Attorney Ruf said there is authority under the Charter for the City
Manager to make refunds not to exceed $1,000.
City Manager Kelly said refunds made in the past were for duplicate
payments and other such incidents.
C/W Glasser said there may be trouble if the City issues refunds and V/M
Bender agreed.
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: ALL AGREED - NO REFUNDS
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C/W Glasser suggested that the "fees are non-refundable" be placed on
the documents and City Attorney Ruf said they could be stamped with
this.
2. PUSLIC PARTICIPATTON - Any member of the public may speak to
any issue which is not agendized for public hearing at this
meeting. Speakers will be limited to three minutes during this
item and at public hearings. There will be a thirty (30) minute
aggregate time limit for this item, and speakers are encouraged
to sign up in advance with the City Clerk prior to their
participation.
Mayor Abramowitz OPENED and CLOSED the Public Participation with no
response.
With no further business, Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED this meeting at
10:45 a.m.
CAROL A. EVANS
CITY CLERK y
"This public document was promulgated at a cost of $92.31 or $2.05
per copy to inform the general public, public officers and employees
of recent opinions and considerations of the City Council of the City
of Tamarac."