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Home My WebLink About1991-08-16 - City Commission Budget Workshop Meeting Minutes0 7525 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE • TAMARAC, FLORI CIA 33321-2401 TELEPHONE(305)722-5900 NOTICE OF CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETINGS FOR FISCAL The following Budget Room #1 of Tamarac 10, Florida: July 31, 1991 YEAR 1991/92 Workshop Meetings will be held in Conference City Hall, 7525 N.W. 88th Avenue, Tamarac, City Manager Budget Message Revenue Review Millage Summary Division 105 City Council 106 City Attorney 110 City Manager 178 Economic Development Division 112 City Clerk 712 General Services 713 115 Telecommunication Finance 501 MIS 502 Central Stores -- Purchasing 872 Non Departmental Special Revenue Funds Debt Service Funds Grand Opening Public Services Administration Complex Divi.qinn 1.42 Community Development 227 Building Department 235 Code Enforcement 223 Fire Department 226 Ambulance Services Division 178 Personnel Department 607 Social Services Board Safety Advisory Board 704 Insurance Administration 705 Insurance Operations 709 Insurance Claims 739 Insurance Loss Reserve AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS Division v220 Police Services 167 Charter Board 170 Public Information Committee 181 Consumer Affairs Board 183 Veterans Affairs Division 405 Public Works Administration 407 Grounds Maintenance 191 City Hall Operations 193 General Government Buildings 222 Police Building 411 Streets/Roads 417 Canals Drainage Division 550 Recreation Activities 552 Multi -Purpose Recreation Center 555 Park Facilities 503 Fleet Services 1*00 R-m. to 4:00 n_m- Division 155 Engineering 413 Street Lighting Utilities All meetings are open to the public. Carol A. Evans City Clerk CAE/nr City Council Budget Workshop S/16/91/PP Page 1 CITY OF TAMARAC ._ CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1991 Tape 1 ALL TO ORDER :Mayor Norman Abramowitz called the Budget Workshop to r er,at a.m. in Conference Room #1, City Hall. PRESENT Mayor Norman Abramowitz Vice Mayor Dr. H. Larry Bender Councilman Henry Schumann Councilwoman Diane Glasser Councilman Irving Katz ALSO PRESENT John P. Kelly, City Manager Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager Mary Blasi, Finance Director Thelma Fagelbaum, Deputy Finance Director Peter M. Mack, Personnel Director Susan M. Tillman, Risk Manager Helen Sobel, Director of Social Services Phyllis Polikoff, Secretary The purpose of this meeting was to review the budgets for fiscal. year 1991/1992. PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT: Pa a 24 Mayor Abramowitz said that the position of Records Clerk was reduced from this year's budget and Peter Mack said, yes. Mayor Abramowitz said there were five full time positions and City Manager Kelly asked how the position was reduced. Peter Mack said the position had been filled last year by a part-time employee and after the budget process, the position was eliminated. #309:LABOR RELATIONS - C/M Schumann asked about this Account and Peter Mac sai it represented assistance with labor negotiations, grievance and arbitration procedures. He said this figure was reduced from last year's budget. He said the Department took a larger and broader role in resolving problems which previously utilized the City Attorney or outside legal counsel. He said much of the legal work was being done in-house and some in the Department, also utilizing the in-house Attorney. Mayor Abramowitz said last year $20,000 was paid to Attorney George Tucker for legal fees and he asked where these dollars came from. Mr. Mack said it came from the City Attorney's budget out of the Personnel Department's budget. He said he did not believe the amount was $20,000 but closer to $4,000. Mayor Abramowitz said the amount was closer to $20,000 and last year when the grievances were settled with Attorney Tucker, it was more than $4,000. City Manager Kelly said giving Attorney Tucker $20,000 bothered him. Mayor Abramowitz said there were a few grievances and Peter Mack said it was an Unfair Labor Practice claim and part of the settlement was for attorney's fees. Mr. Mack said he believed the figure was $4,000 and Mayor Abramowitz asked Mr. Mack to check on this. Mayor Abramowitz said he remembered when the settlement took place and it did come out of the City Attorney's budget and he thought it was closer to $20,000., Mr. Mack said it came from the Personnel Department in the Labor Relations #309 line item. C/M Schumann said this was not clear to him and asked if the in- house people the City was utilizing were salaried and if they were double charging. Peter Mack said as much as they could: He said City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 2 they were not charging if there were charges above and beyond the requirements of that office, it would come out of #309. C/M Schumann asked Peter Mack what he meant by "above and beyond" and Mr. Mack said it was similar to the arrangement with the present in-house Attorney who was only available for part of the time. He said if a requirement existed for the Personnel Department to utilize the in-house Attorney outside of that timeframe, then it came from #309. He said this was for professionals outside legal counsel. C/M Schumann said #309 was strictly for legal services and Peter Mack said this was for labor issues. City Manager Kelly asked if Attorney Tucker was paid out of this account and Mr. Mack said, yes. City Manager Kelly said Attorney Tucker did not work for the City and Mayor Abramowitz said he was the Union Attorney and he asked if we paid him. City Manager Kelly said, no, and Mayor Abramowitz said if anything such as litigation was paid to Attorney Tucker, it would come out of #309 and Mr. Mack said, yes. Mr. Mack said specific legal advice from outside labor attorneys would also come from #309. C/M Schumann said #309 was not being used to pay any counsel who was adverse to the City's interest and Peter Mack said absolutely not unless there was an award. He said in the case of Attorney Tucker, who represented the Union, the award in this rase was paid out of #309. Mayor Abramowitz asked what happened if there was a big "award" and C/M Schumann said "award" was being used erroneously and the proper term should be "court costs" and "attorney's fees'". He said "award" was something different and the proper term was "judgement". City Manager Kelly said C/M Katz had asked how certain people impacted on the unions and City Manager Kelly said this was factored in on the decision -making process and he did not want to end up with this type of situation. C/M Katz said the time to do it was before and not afterwards. He said it was okay if the decision was to do it in-house because the person was doing the job well but to also check to see that Labor Relations did not run up bills. #220:PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS - V/M Bender asked if the part-time employee last year contributed to the Pension fund and Peter Mack said, no. V/M Bender said Pension contributions for Fiscal Year 1989/1990 were $7,258 and in Fiscal Year 1990/1991 they jumped to $7,357. He said for Fiscal Year 1991/991 they are $12,090. He asked why there was such a change when one person was reduced from the roster and Peter Mack said contributions to the City went up 1%. V/M Bender asked if this was the Actuary's figure and Mr. Mack said, yes. V/M Bender asked if anyone asked the Actuary why there was such an increase. Mr. Mack said the figure went from 7.7% to 8.7% and V/M Bender said it jumped more than 1%. C/M Schumann said the contributions jumped over $3,000 and Mary Blasi, said the figure represented 1% of the payroll. VIM Bender said he is Council's liaison to the Pension Board. Mayor Abramowitz said the Actuary worked for the Pension Board and V/M Bender said, yes. Mayor Abramowitz said V/M Bender was surprised to learn that there was a jump of 1% and asked if the Pension Board was aware of the increase. V/M Bender said he was not surprised but he was concerned that the figure was in excess of what the Actuary had indicated. V/M Bender said Mr. Mack dealt directly with the Actuary regarding information concerning the employees and V/M Bender did not. get the information until it was discussed at the Pension Board meeting. 11 City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 3 Mayor Abramowitz said the Actuary was hired by the Pension Board. He asked when a report came in, did it go to the Pension Board and V/M Bender said if a report came in to Mr. Mack regarding the budget, it did not go to the Pension Board. Mayor Abramowitz asked if any reports which dealt with changes went to the Pension Board and V/M Bender said, no. V/M Bender said as far as he was concerned, this was the first time he saw this figure. City Manager Kelly said one position that was not factored in previously came on board in November or December of last year. He said when this position was figured in based on salary, it brought the figure up to $12,090. V/M Bender said the $12,090 was based on an additional position together with the increase and Mr. Mack said, yes. C/W Glasser said even though the Personnel Department budgeted for six people in Fiscal Year 1989/1990, the Department did not have six people last year and Peter Mack said, yes. Mayor Abramowitz said he believed the Actuary indicated the increase pertained not just to the Personnel Department but to the whole City. C/M Schumann asked if the increase was based on the total payroll of the City and Mary Blasi said the total payroll went from 7.7% of salary of total compensation to 8.7%. She said it was not 1% of Pension that went up, but 1% of the total payroll went up for General Employees. She said the Fire employees Pension Fund did not increase but the General Employees did. C/M Katz said the Fire employees Fund did not increase because of their contributions from the State. Mary Blasi said the General Employees Pension contributions were increased because the investment results last year were less than what the Actuary had anticipated. C/M Katz asked why the Fire employees Pension Fund got better results than the General Employees and Mary Blasi said the Fire employees Fund was presently at 13%. C/M Schumann said 1% of total payroll increase amounted to approximately 25% per unit of Pension contributions from last year. He said last year Peter Mack paid $9 5574 and this year it was $12,090. EDITOR'S NOTE: C/M Schumann indicated Pension contributions of 74 and t e figure should ave been $7,357. C/M Schumann said if Council looked at last year's budget for their Department, it showed $3,528 and this year it is $4,456. He said this represented a 25% increase from the result of a 1% increase in total payroll contribution. Mary Blasi said Council also had to add 5% for a Cost of Living Adjustment and there were other factors also to be added in. C/M Schumann asked if the City was taking the 1% after it added on everything and City Manager Kelly said it had to be total salary. Mary Blasi said the way the Actuary determined the Pension was based on the total salary. She said if the employee received a 5% increase, than the Pension had to go up 5%. Mayor Abramowitz again asked if anyone had ever questioned the Actuary and V/M Bender said he had and several mistakes were found and the corrections were made. He said the City had to make sure because the Actuary was not infallible. V/M Bender said he refreshed Council's memory with regard to the problem with the Mayor and Council Pension. He said he spoke to the Actuary several times and each time there were mistakes. He said the Actuary had to be checked. ! r City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 4 Mayor Abramowitz said he was not happy with this statement and something had to be done. He asked who justified the numbers given by the Actuary. Peter Mack said sometimes the ndmbers changed because there were additional factors which were not taken into consideration initially and the factors changed and this is what happened this year. Mayor Abramowitz said no one was infallible and asked who checked the figures. He asked if the City was able to determine that the Actuary's figures were correct or did the City just accept her figures. Peter Mack said the Board received advice from the Fund's Custodian as well as from the Pension Attorney and the Board also checked things out. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the Board had checked the 1% increase. Mary Blasi said the main reason for the increase was that the Actuary and the Custodian actuarially assumed a certain percentage rate of return on investment for the year. She said if it fell below this percentage, they had to make up the difference the following year with contributions. Mayor Abramowitz said if the rate of return was below what the Actuary presumed it should be, the City had to make up the difference. Mary Blasi said the City had to make the determination of what the actuarial assumption should be. V/M Bender said the City was responsible for furnishing the proper information to the Actuary. He said the Actuary had made errors regarding the average ages of the employees in the City. He said if the average age of the employees changed, the Actuary had to be notified because it would affect the calculations. He said the City had to make sure when the Actuary had the proper information and statistics when she made her calculations because she might be using information which was two to three years old. Mary Blasi said information was given to the Actuary every year and V/M Bender asked if it varied from year-to-year and Mary Blasi said it did based on the number and ages of the employees. V/M Bender said this had to be verified to see if it coincided with what the City's estimates were. Mayor Abramowitz asked who gave the Actuary the information on how much the City should make on its investments and Mary Blasi said the City did. Mary Blasi asked if an actuarial assumption was done to determine what percentage the Board wanted the Actuary to assume they would make in investment earnings and Peter Mack said the Actuary received this information from the money manager. He said it. was an opinion based on actuarial assumptions that the Actuary received from the City, the State, the Pension Board's custodian and the money manager. He said the Actuary would then make an actuarial assumption based on these factors as far as investment income was concerned. Mayor Abramowitz asked who advised the Actuary as to what the City wanted to get back as a return on their investments and Peter Mack said the Actuary sent a report on the employees to the Finance Department every year for completion. Mayor Abramowitz said the increase was predicated on the fact that the actual return of the investments did not meet the projections and Peter Mack said this was correct. V/M Bender said the Pension Board was unhappy with the results of the interest the Pension Board received and they were presently re-evaluating the industry. He said a meeting was held because the Board wanted to know why Tamarac did not get better returns on their investments as compared to other municipalities. Peter Mack said the Pension Board was in the process of changing money managers and V/M Bender said a meeting would be held the following week to make the final decision of changing the money manager. He said the amount of money fluctuated and the Board wanted it to be more stable. 1 city Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 5 Mayor Abramowitz said hypothetically if a determination was made by the Actuary that the City -was to get a 7% or 8% return on its investments and the return was 5% because the projections were not met, the City would have to make up the difference. C/M Schumann asked if the Actuary had ever been advised that they had to get back a return on investments of a higher percentage and Mayor Abramowitz said the City did. C/M Schumann asked if the Actuary had been told they had to work with certain percentages based on government securities and the private market and V/M Bender said the Actuary could not work with percentages. Mayor Abramowitz asked if he was correct in that if the projected amount of return on investments was not made, the City had to put in the difference and Mary Blasi said if the Actuary believed the rate of return would be 7%, the City would be obligated to pay 7.7% of payroll. She said when the year was over, the City only received 5% and in order to fund the Pension Fund to make it actuarially sound, the Actuary had to increase the City's contribution because of the shortfall and Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed. Mayor Abramowitz said if the Actuary gave a very optimistic figure which it did not meet, the City was obligated to meet the difference and V/M Bender said that was correct. V/M Bender said the only thing the City could do legally was to advise the money managers what percentage of the money in stocks or bonds, etc., to invest in. He said the City would make the decision on the percentage and the rate of return would be determined as to what the City would receive. He said if bonds were not good and the City invested in them, the money managers would comply with the City's request and the return would be unfavorable. V/M Bender said the industry could not be told that the City wanted a certain percentage return on its investments. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the money managers were ever questioned as to where their percentages to make the Fund actuarially'sound came from and Mary Blasi said in order to keep it sound based upon what the City had to contribute, many factors such as investment returns, City and employee contributions had to be considered. V/M Bender said when Pension Attorney Sugarman came before the Council, he showed them an illustration of a pot. He said the State required the City to maintain a certain level of contributions in the pot and if more interest was made, less contributions had to be put in and if less interest was made, more contributions had to be put in. V/M Bender said more contributions were put in last year and less contributions were put in this year. He asked if anyone provided for the offset because the City did not want to keep filling the pot every year. Mary Blasi said contributions did not increase annually but they increased over a period of time. V/M Bender said the State would never indicate that there was too much money in the Fund but only when there was not enough. He said someone had to thoroughly look at the Fund to see how much the contributions were down or over because a dollar factor was included in the reserve to bring it continually to an unknown level. C/M Katz said on March 19 of this year, he gave information to Dina McDermott that the investors of his pension fund were instructed that they had to produce a certain percentage or they had to sell. He said Ms. McDermott spoke to the money managers and the money managers had to be told what the City expected from their money. He said if the money managers did not produce this percentage, they were in violation of their agreement and someone new should be brought in to listen to what the City wanted. Peter Mack said the Pension Board was doing this now. City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 6 C/M Katz said the Pension Board was not happy with the money managers who were to be awarded the contract and Dina McDermott said the City went out for bid and the Pension Board had an Ad Hoc Committee meeting. She said a short-list was prepared based on the City's Pension requirements and the short-list of five vendors was reviewed and will be reviewed again next week by the full Pension Board. Dina McDermott said the name of C/M Katz's money manager was not on the list because they did not put in a bid. He asked if his money manager was asked to bid and Ms. McDermott said letters of solicitation were sent out to every pension company and Peter Mack said the bid was advertised, bid packages were sent out and the Pension Board received over 30 responses. Mayor Abramowitz said when the Budget Workshops were finished, he wanted to schedule a Workshop to discuss the Pension. V/M gender said the Pension Board had been working on this for over a year because they were not happy with what the Fund was doing. Mayor Abramowitz said there were many inadequacies with the Pension Fund and he was aware that the State or the County or other regulatory agencies mandated and there was nothing the City could do. He said if a figure was given by someone and the figure was not met, the City was obligated and there was something very definitely wrong. Peter Mack said there was a State requirement and a City Ordinance which required the City to make sure the Pension plan was sound and Mayor Abramowitz said the City made mistakes in the past. #338:EMPLOYMENT AGENCY FEES - C/M Schumann asked what this repre- sentea and Peter Mac -a-a-17Fthe Personnel Department provided for a temporary employee if one was required in the event of an emergency. He said the Personnel Department absorbed this expense for the City. City Manager Kelly said the Personnel Department would provide a person if a deadline had to be met and there were people on vacation or out ill and no one was able to fill in. C/M Schumann said the Personnel Department would charge regardless of who used the service. #490:ADVERTISING - C/M Schumann asked if $13,000 covered all newspaper advertising and Peter Mack said it was primarily the news media and advertising was very expensive. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the City was mandated to advertise an open position and Peter Mack said, yes. He said if the City was not able to fill the position in-house than the City was required to post and advertise outside the City. City Manager Kelly said the Personnel Department initially requested $15,000. He said all the positions in the City were reviewed which might be vacated and would have to be filled and positions which would not have to be filled. He said most people would probably remain in their positions. He said after careful deliberation and trying to keep it below $15,000, his recommendation was for $13,000. #306 SPECIAL SUPPLIES - C/M Katz asked what the Special Supplies in the amount of T10,000 referred to and Peter Mack said this Account funded many activities such as the Job Hot Line, all of the longevity awards to the employees, the birthday luncheons for the various Councils, Committees and volunteers. He said it also funded the background checks for all job applicants and it was a "catch all" account. #31A MEDICAL EXPENSES - C/M Katz asked if this was above and beyond t e regular medical insurance and Peter Mack said was for pre -employment physicals for each job applicant. Mayor Abramowitz asked Susan Tillman if using Dr. Saladno for pre -employment physicals was worthwhile and Ms. Tillman said the City was not using his services for sometime but was using FirstMed and the Cleveland Clinic. Peter Mack said FirstMed was / City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 7 primarily used. Mayor Abramowitz asked if it was required and in the City's best interest to give pre -employment physicals and Ms. Till"inan said it was. C/M Katz said $1,300 was budgeted for Benefit Options and asked if the pre -employment physicals could be charged to Benefit Options for each individual. Peter Mack said no because this had nothing to do with the wellness of the present employees. City Manager Kelly said it was a way of finding out if job applicants tested positive for drugs. C/M Katz said there was no way of insuring this with a health insurance company and V/M Bender said this was an operational expense. He said if the City hired someone with a back problem and the City recorded this fact and the person later claimed he injured his back during his employ, the City would be protected. He said there were prior cases where someone was hired with a past history of a back injury before he'was hired by the City. C/M Katz asked if there was a better way of charging this expense by possibly charging it to the employee's health insurance. Mayor Abramowitz said many years ago it was widespread and there were people who collected Social Security, disability pensions and salaries at the same time before Ms. Tillman was hired. Ms. Tillman said these claims were still being negotiated because there were people on board in those situations and presently she was dealing with the State on a Workers' Compensation claim where the person was hired by the City with seven prior Workers' Compensation back injury claims. C/M Katz asked if this person's background had been checked and Ms. Tillman said the person was also handicapped. She said his background was checked out but he was hired regardless and Peter Mack said the person referred to was Harry Gordon. Peter Mack said before the present administration, cursory pre- employment physicals were done and many pre-existing conditions never surfaced but this has been corrected with the standards set for the new pre -employment physicals. #340 CONTRACT SERVICES - C/W Glasser asked about this Account and Peter Mack said this represented outside services, consultant services and fees for someone to be contracted to do a particular study on the Benefits program, certain I.R.S. requirements and on an Employee Assistance Program. C/W Glasser asked if $900 was enough and he said the original request was for $1,300 but Mr. Mack said he would go along with the $900. C/M Katz asked how many City employees there were and Peter Mack said there were approximately 265 employees. SOCIAL SERVICES BOARD: Page 77 Dina McDermott said Peter Mack was the Staff Liaison for handling this budget and Mayor Abramowitz said Helen Sobel, Social Services Director, was invited to attend. Mayor Abramowitz said he went to a meeting with Helen Sobel on the Area Agency on Aging and there were many elected officials in attendance. He said the meeting was split into five or six groups with a Facilitator and a Moderator. He said many questions, were asked regarding Social Services and when he was through several officials from other cities asked if they could come to Tamarac to see how our Social Services Department worked. He said it was Mrs. Sobel's doing but it made him very proud. #640 VEHICLES - C/M Katz asked if this could be taken from the "Vehicle" Mid. Mary Blasi said $100,000 would be left in "Fleet Maintenance" after this year's budget. Mayor Abramowitz said he thought the Fund name was "Vehicles" and Mary Blasi said it was called "Fleet Maintenance". She said "Fleet Maintenance" was the Internal Service Fund which was utilized this year because there were monies available to purchase vehicles. ,, City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 8 Mary Blasi said $165,000 was expended this year toward the purchase of vehicles and C/M Katz said the Council only approved the purchase of vehicles for the Building Department or for Public Services. Mayor Abramowitz said approval was given for next year. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the purchases were for last year and Mary Blasi said they were for the current year. C/M Katz said two vehicles were for the Code Inspectors and $18,000 came out for Public Works. Mary Blasi said out of the $100,000 budgeted in Revenues to reduce the amount of charge -back to the General and Utility Fund by $36,000, an amount of $64,000 would be left before the Fund would be depleted. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the Social Services van could come out of the "Vehicle" Fund and City Manager Kelly said legally it could. Mary Blasi said it was a good idea to keep a small amount of available funds beyond the budget in "Fleet Maintenance". Mary Blasi said this year there were repairs which were not budgeted and funds were low in the "Auto Repairs" fund to do this. C/W Glasser said many new vehicles would be purchased so there should not be many repairs and Mary Blasi said this would help. She said there were costly repairs for the Fire Department and three Utility vehicles had to be overhauled at a cost of $3,500 each. C/M Katz said two Fire vehicles were gone, the Department just got a new pumper and was expecting a new truck, five vehicles were purchased for the Building Department and Public Works got their vehicles. City Manager Kelly said he agreed with Mary Blasi that a small reserve should be maintained each year to cover the cost of repairs or replacements. C/W Glasser said if there was an emergency, the City would not necessarily have to go into that fund and Mary Blasi said the "General Fund Contingency" fund could be utilizied to transfer monies for this purpose. V/M Bender said the budget was just an estimate and it would not be perfect each time and if it was a legitimate requirement, the "General Fund" could be utilized as a supplement. He said he had a problem with building up contingency's in each area which over- flowed into the following year's budget and Mary Blasi said she agreed. He said if the monies were not in the "Contingency" fund, there would be enough in the "General Fund" to take care of the supplements and the Council should "guesstimate" and not "estimate". Mary Blasi said the fund was reduced this year and V/M Bender said it was way over to start with. She said vehicles were purchased from "Fleet Maintenance" and not charging the "General Fund". C/M Katz asked what the $36,000 represented and Mary Blasi said this amount was used to off -set the expenditures so she did not have to charge -back the General and Utility Funds. She said the charge -back for General and Utilities this year for "Fleet Maintenance" was $516,000 and, if $36,000 was not used, it would have been $552,000. C/M Katz said if $20,000 was deducted from "Fleet Maintenance" to purchase the Social Services van, it would leave a balance of $44,000. Mary Blasi said the budget would be increased by $20,000 for the van and the Fire truck and she would increase the amount used of that balance. C/M Katz asked if the $20,000 line item from the Social Services #640 Vehicles account was taken from the "Vehicle Contingency" Fund, it would leave a balance of $2.9,600 and Dina McDermott said this amount would be deducted from $64,000. V/M Bender asked what the balance was and C/M Katz said it was about $35,000 or $34,400 to be exact. City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 9 C/W Glasser asked if the cost of the van included the lift and Dina McDermott said it did not. C/W Glasser asked what the difference was and Dina McDermott said the cost for a handicapped lift was probably triple the cost of the van to about $60,000. She said she wrote a grant last year for $75,000 per vehicle to the Legislative Committee for State appropriations. She said Kings Point presently has a larger van and not a mini -van, with a lift and Mayor Abramowitz said this could not be used because the Social Services drivers would have a problem because of the size of the vehicle. C/W Glasser said the City did not need a larger vehicle and she saw mini -vans with a lift. Helen Sobel asked if it was possible to have a lift on the new van which would hold 14 people, including the driver. Dina McDermott said she would look into Tape 2 this. She said whenever a lift was added to a vehicle, regardless of size, the existing seating capacity would be decreased and V/M Bender said approximately four to six seats would be eliminated. Helen Sobel said the van had to hold a minimum of 13 people plus the driver. V/M Bender said if the minimum number was 14, than the van should be big enough to accommodate at least 16 to 18 people. Dina McDermott said the cost of the van should include air-conditioning. C/M Katz said there could be a problem with the drivers handling a larger vehicle and Mayor Abramowitz said if there was, Broward County could be contacted. Helen Sobel said Broward County was unreliable and C/W Glasser said she agreed. Mrs. Sobel said she tried using Broward County for three months and she did away with it. She said she did not think it was wise to pay taxes to Broward County and still have to use the City's vehicles. Helen Sobel said Broward County was late in picking up the patients and sometimes they even forgot to pick-up the patients from the doctor's offices where they had been taken earlier. She said some patients had to wait for over four hours to be picked up and then had to call a taxi for transportation because Broward County forgot. She said she recommended Broward County come to areas that the van could not handle. Helen Sobel said one driver suggested that a shelf around the top be installed in the new van when it was purchased so that grocery bags could be put there like luggage. City Manager Kelly asked if the people were strong enough to lift up the grocery bags to put them up there and Mrs. Sobel said the drivers always went out of their way to assist the passengers. Mayor Abramowitz said he would look into this. Helen Sobel said that before the van was purchased, the City should look into Hertz and Alamo and the other rental agencies who had used vans to sell. She said the City could possibly; purchase a van without too many defects. She said she wanted the drivers to speak with the Public Works people before the seating arrangements were finalized. She said the drivers knew what was more convenient for themselves and their passengers. Dina McDermott said she wanted direction from the Council that Social Services needed a 14 passenger van with a handicapped lift. She said the lift would probably eliminate five or six seats. She said the van would become a mini -bus to accommodate 18 people. She said if a bus or van was purchased, enough space had to be available for the lift and Mrs. Sobel said if this was not possible, 'she would understand. She said before any van was purchased, she would have one of the drivers speak to the Council because the driver would be very knowledgeable and they could guide the City with the purchase. Mayor Abramowitz asked if it was practical for the City to look into the purchase of a second-hand vehicle with a handicapped lift because this type of vehicle was probably less in demand and in City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP ' Page 10 less use than a regular van. C/M Katz said there was something called an "Anthony Lift" which was battery operated and similar to what was used on a=truck. He said when it was raised up, it became the back door and he thought the cost was under $5,009. He said if the van was approved and before it was purchased, he suggested the City look into the "Anthony Lift". He said the seating would not be diminished because the lift would be on the outside of the van. He said insurance on the vehicle could go up and Mayor Abramowitz said he would look into it. Dina McDermott said the vehicle would also have to be modified. Mrs. Sobel said it was a very good idea. Mayor Abramowitz asked if any Council member objected to the purchase of the van and there were no comments. He instructed Mrs. Sobel to come back to the Council if the van was more than $20,000 or if there were any changes. City Manager Kelly asked if the amount should be increased to $25,000 and C/M Katz said rather than deleting the fund, he would like to see $35,000 remain in the "Contingency" fund and if more money was needed, the number could be changed from $20,000 to $15,000. He said if it was possible, he would like to leave the $35,000 and if the City had to add to the cost of the van, he would reduce line #640 by what the City would save. Dina McDermott asked if this purchase would come out of "General Fund" and transfer it to "Fleet Services" which the Council had said earlier and Mayor Abramowitz said no. C/M Katz said "Fleet Services" would pay for it and she said the van would be purchased out of the Social Services budget and transferred to "Fleet Services". Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed and C/M Katz asked about the possible addition of the $5,000. City Manager Kelly said this would be discussed later. C/W Glasser said the City would look into the purchase of a used van from a vehicle rental agency. Dina McDermott said she had an appointment with the President of Alamo on another matter and she would speak with him on this matter as well. #825 EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT - C/M Schumann said $1,000 was a pathetic figure and Mayor ramowitz said he agreed. Mayor Abramowitz said this year there were many requests from many organizations for help and money. #810 AREA COUNCIL ON AGING - Mayor Abramowitz said City Manager Kelly Sad stated in a message that the contributions to the Area Council on Aging was more pathetic than any other Agency but the City did the best that it could. #825 EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT -- V/M Bender asked if this was a contrz. ution and Mayor Abramowitz said yes. City Manager Kelly said it was similar to the Area Council on Aging and it was the City's attempt towards their "fair share" for services rendered in excess of $1,000. He said in the case of the Area Council on Aging, the "fair share" was over $40,000. C/W Glasser asked what the area service was for Early Childhood Development. Mayor Abramowitz said he suggested the Area Council on Aging's contributions be increased to $20,000. C/M Schumann said there were many dollars to make up the total budget and increases in contributions for Early Childhood Development and Area Council on Aging would cause many problems. Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed. C/M Schumann said $1,000 was "not a small amount" and C/W Glasser said she agreed. City Manager Kelly asked if Council wanted to split the $20,000 from the General Fund budget and C/W Glasser said she would want to increase the contributions to Early Childhood Development to $5,000. Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed and added that the City was lacking in contributions for the Area Council on Aging. He! said City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 11 J , Tamarac's large population of older people had been neglected. He said he would be happy if Council increased Early Childhood Development contributions to $5,000 and he would support Council's recommendation or he would recommend increasing the contributions for the Area Council on Aging to $20,000. He said Area Council on Aging received $9 from the Federal government for every dollar the City contributed. C/M Schumann asked what direct benefits did the residents of Tamarac receive from Area Council on Aging and Mayor Abramowitz said Meals on Wheels came through this Agency. Dina McDermott said she had a list of all the benefits and Mayor Abramowitz said that is how the cost was figured. Dina McDermott said the last report from Meals on Wheels indicated 363 residents received hot meals. She said the list from Area Council on Aging indicated that they provided congregate meals, counselling, day care, health support, Meals on Wheels, housing improvements, information, legal assistance, nutrition education, recreation and referral and transportation. C/M Schumann said he wanted to see Area Council on Aging get an additional $10,000 and Early Childhood Development to get $10,000. Mayor Abramowitz said he had a book from Area Council on Aging which broke it down by City. He said the book indicated how much money was spent in the City of Tamarac and Helen Sobel said Tamarac was the lowest City in return for what they received. C/W Glasser said Home Bound was another Agency which also serviced Tamarac and she said she would also like this Agency to get funding and Helen Sobel said she believed they were under the umbrella of the Area Council on Aging. She said most programs were the offshoot of the Area Agency on Aging and she would make a call to Area Agency on Aging for services and she was sure they would recommend the Home Bound program. Mayor Abramowitz said Tamarac received more services from the Alzheimer's Foundation than any other City from State Road 84 to the County line. Helen Sobel said the services were for help and not monies and C/W Glasser said the City had to participate if they were getting the services. Mayor Abramowitz asked Dina McDermott to prepare information for Council on the services provided by the various organizations to the residents of Tamarac on. He said all he needed was for a Council member to make a Motion at the Council meeting to revisit this matter at any time. Mayor Abramowitz said he had a problem because he was on the Board of Directors for the Alzheimer's Foundation and they asked him on several occasions to get funding from the City. He said in past years, the different Councils became very disturbed because the City was asked for money from various agencies. Helen Sobel said all of the agencies did fantastic jobs and if anyone was familiar with the Alzheimer's Foundation, they knew the caregiver was the most burdened. She said the Alzheimer support group had many people on a waiting list because of lack of funding and Mayor Abramowitz said 19 people were dropped due to the State cutting $100,000 from the funds. Mayor Abramowitz asked what C/M Schumann wanted to do on the Area Council on Aging and C/M Schumann suggested the contributions be increased to $25,000. C/W Glasser said the contributions should be increased to $20,000 and $5,000 should be funded in another area. C/M Schumann asked C/W Glasser what amount should be contributed to Child Development and she said $5,000. C/M Schumann said $5,000 would be given to Early Child Development and $5,000 would be given to Area Council on Aging and the other $10,000 would be set aside for other agencies. Mayor Abramowitz said this was an excellent idea. C/W Glasser said when she ran for Office and went door-to-door, V City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 12 the doors were answered many times by someone in a white uniform who was caring for one and sometimes two individuals. C/M Schumann said he agreed with C/W Glasser and he believed no one should be denied because they might be or might not be a tax burden. C/W Glasser said she suggested the contributions to be given to the Area Council on Aging should be doubled from last year and they would be thrilled. C/M Schumann said the Area Council on Aging would be given $20,000 this year and Early Childhood Development would be given $5,000. He said $11,000 was left over and this would be disbursed from the list to be prepared by Dina McDermott. Mayor Abramowitz asked if this was agreeable to the Council and hearing no comments, proclaimed this matter closed. C/M Katz said Helen Sobel did better than any other agency in Tamarac and she said it was because it was the most needed. C/M Schumann asked what the Federal Government gave to the Early Child Development and if it was based on what the City gave and Mayor Abramowitz said, no. C/M Schumann asked if what the State gave was based on what the City gave and Mayor Abramowitz said, yes. He said the Early Child Development Program was State funded. Helen Sobel said whatever the City contributed would be doubled or tripled by the State. C/W Glasser said she did not believe it was on a dollar -for -dollar basis and Early Child Development had to plead their case before the State. Mayor Abramowitz said the Area Council on Aging was different and a formula had been set up by the Federal Government and with the increase from last year, the Agency would get $90,000 more. City Manager Kelly asked if the Council wanted to know what Area Council on Aging and Early Child Development asked for because they asked for less and Council recommended more and V/M Bender said Council would go with their recommendations. C/W Glasser said there were adults and children who needed help. Dina McDermott said the Area Council on Aging would receive $20,000 and Early Child Development would get $5,000. #504:INSURANCE SERVICES FUND -- Page 28R #361-000:INTEREST INCOME - Mary Blasi said Interest Income on the Fund Reserve anc Insurance Service Fees which were charged back to the General and Utility West Funds were the two components which comprised the revenues for the Insurance Fund. She said the total budget for this Account was $697,917 and Mayor Abramowitz asked if this was the City's contributions to the insurance plans on behalf of staff. Mary Blasi said, yes. Mayor Abramowitz said this year, for the first time, the City had a history when they went out to bid on the new contract and Susan Tillman said yes. He asked Ms. Tillman how the City was doing and she said Humana supplied renewal rates prior to the City going out for bid. She said the renewal rates were 15% higher than last year and she did not know what the other carriers would do. She said the bids were due September 9. C/M Schumann asked if the rates were regulated by the Insurance Commissioner and Susan Tillman said, yes. She said 15% was low for Humana and most other cities were quoted 20% and 25% and the loss history in the health department was very good. Mayor Abramowitz said he was covered under the Humana health plan and he was very upset with the insurance and it was a "horror story". He said it was possible the City would be covered next year under Humana and if he was not a City employee, he would have lodged a complaint with Mr. Gallagher's office and COBRA. C/M Schumann said Humana was in the news again and they were receiving a lot of bad press and they deserved everything they got. Mayor Abramowitz said he knew people who were very pleased with Humana. City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 13 #394-000:INSURANCE SERVICE FEES - C/M Katz said this Account indicated $5971856—and He asked if this is what the City paid to the Insurance Service Fees fund and C/M Schumann asked what this Account was comprised of. Mary Blasi said this represented the charge -back to each individual fund to fund the Insurance and this was already in the budget. C/M Katz said the Council had already reviewed these funds for each Department. Mary Blasi said it was in #90 Departmental for the General Fund. C/M Katz said he asked about the 15% when he looked at the Personnel budget and Mary Blasi said Health Insurance was not a part of this fund. She said Susan Tillman took care of the health insurance and it went out to bid but health insurance was charged by department, by individual, for the City's share of the cost. Mayor Abramowitz asked about the money in this account and Mary Blasi said this was the Self -Insurance Fund which was comprised of Workers' Compensation, General Liability and Property Insurance. C/M Schumann said these monies were in the account in lieu of insurance premiums and Mary Blasi said this was correct because the City was self -insured. Dina McDermott said Council would soon need to look at Page 180. She said that Page 28R indicated Revenues and the other Divisions had to be reviewed and they would show the expenditures. C/M Katz asked where the revenues came from and she said this was a Self - Insurance Fund. C/M Katz asked where the $597,850 came from and Mary Blasi said it was from the General Fund and from Utilities West. C/M Katz said there was a line -item in expenditures from the General Fund which indicated Insurance Service Fees. Mary Blasi said Insurance Service Fees was also in Utilities West and it was a combination of the two. C/M Katz asked if the $600,000 covered the liability for any exposure the City had and Susan Tillman said it was for the actual payment of claims because the City was self -insured and paid its own claims. C/M Katz asked what happened to the money if the City did not have that exposure during the year and C/M Schumann said the money stayed in the Fund and the Fund continued to grow. Susan Tillman said she agreed with C/M Schumann that the money stayed in the Fund in the event it would be needed with the goal that the City would not need any insurance whatsoever and that the City would be its own insurance company. Susan Tillman said the GASB #10 Rule mandated by the State and Federal Government would be implemented in 1992. She said this Rule would require that all self-insurance entities have the exact amount of monies in their loss fund which they actually had in reserves. She said the City would have to have the exact dollars allocated in the budget for every single claim which was presently open. C/M Katz said this meant the fund had to be 100% funded, regardless of whether or not the funds would be expended. She said if this was not adhered to, the City could not be self - insured. C/M Katz said if the City was sued for $10,000,000, the City had to have $10,000,000 in the reserve fund and Susan Tillman said the amount would be whatever the City felt the claim was worth and whatever the reserves were. Mary Blasi said she agreed with Susan Tillman. Susan Tillman said these reserves would have to be reviewed by the auditors and the third -party administrators. V/M Bender asked Susan Tillman what amount she believed would make the City fully self -insured and Susan Tillman said the City would need $5,000,000 in its present situation because there was no cap on attorney's fees. She said if the City had in-house counsel with a set salary and the fees would not impact on her budget, she would recommend $1,200,000. She said she had no control over the City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 14 attorney's fees and this is why she would recommend the $5,000,000 figure because the attorney's fees alone could deplete her entire budget. V/M Bender said if the City had an in-house attorney, the reserve fund could be reduced by $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 and Susan Tillman said, yes. He said there would be another saving by getting an in-house attorney and Susan Tillman said by an in-house attorney or by putting a cap on the amount which would be charged in attorney's fees towards the self --insurance fund. V/M Bender asked how could a cap be placed on a claim if it ran for five years. He said if the City had an in-house attorney on a full- time basis with a set salary, the City could control the reserve fund. Susan Tillman said the entire self-insurance fund could be entirely depleted in one to two months in attorney's fees alone if the City had one catastrophic loss. V/M Bender asked how the $100,000 maximum came about and Mayor Abramowitz said it represented Sovereign immunity. Susan Tillman said she agreed. V/M Bender asked if the person suing the City would have to ask permission from the State if they wanted to sue for more than the maximum and Susan Tillman said, yes. She said during that time, the City would have to continue paying the attorney to defend it. V/M Bender said if the City had an in- house attorney, the salary for the attorney would already be allocated in the budget. City Manager Kelly said other cities had full-time in-house attornies and C/M Schumann said this was correct but that they did not handle litigation cases because these were sent out to be handled. He said there was a difference between an in-house attorney and a litigator and Susan Tillman said for her purposes, she needed an attorney who handled interrogatories, depositions, and who could work a case all the way up to a trial. She said if it was necessary at that point, outside counsel could be hired just for the trial. She said most cases did not go that far after three years. V/M Bender said the City had an opportunity to reduce the cap from $5,000,000 to $1,000,000. Mayor Abramowitz asked if it made a difference because of the type of the present attorney the City had and Susan Tillman said, no. She said it was the way the attorney was employed and if a cap was placed on how much the attorney charged the City, she would recommend an approximate amount for the self-insurance fund. She said presently the in- house attorney charged for each service and she did not know how much he would charge because it could depend on the type of claim involved. She said if a claim involved many individuals and each individual sued, the attorney would work so hard that the fund would constantly be depleted, and nothing would be left after only a few months. Mayor Abramowitz asked who would take care of the rest of the City's legal business if an attorney was hired who worked for many hours on insurance -related cases. C/W Glasser said every attorney who litigated handled more than one case. Susan Tillman said she was basing her comments on past experiences and when she worked for the City of Hallandale, they had an in-- house attorney who handled her work in addition to his work. Mayor Abramowitz asked if this included litigation and she said that some litigation cases were "farmed out" where he felt he was not qualified. She said the County attorney in Indian River also handled her claims as well as his own daily work. She said that her work was not overwhelming but things had to be done to work it up to a trial. Mayor Abramowitz said Coral Springs spent $800,000 for in-house legal counsel. Susan Tillman said they received a set salary in addition to an hourly because they billed for services except for City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/41/PP Page 15 I> maintenance. Mayor Abramowitz said he lived in Tamarac with a full-time and a part-time attorney and in many instances, the in-house attorney hired a litigator. C/W Glasser said Tamarac presently has a part- time, in-house attorney and he has hired outside attorneys. Mayor Abramowitz asked if there was an attorney who could come in to do the insurance as well as the City's legal business and Susan Tillman said there were attorneys who could do this. V/M Bender said that Susan Tillman estimated $5,000,000 would be necessary to cap the reserve fund. He asked Susan Tillman what happened if the City had a full-time attorney and she said the cap could be $1,000,000. Mayor Abramowitz asked Susan Tillman if she would be comfortable with $1,000,000 in the reserve fund and she said she would because with Sovereign Immunity, it took three years to get more than $100,000. She said the individual had to go to the legislature for a claims bill and no money was paid out for three years but attorneys fees were continually being paid because the attorney charged by the hour. She said if the City's in-house attorney could put a cap on what he billed Risk Management, she would be comfortable in recommending $1,000,000 but she did not know what the charges could be if the City sustained a catastrophic loss. C/M Schumann said it would take about three years to get permission from the legislature to go above $100,000 and $1,500,000 could be put in the reserve fund. He said it would take a few years to go to trial and several more years to appeal the claim and millions could be put into the fund before an individual was able to collect any monies. V/M Bender said there was almost $600,000 in the fund and it would take only $400,000 more to cap it. Susan Tillman said there was also .interest on these funds and V/M Bender said in the future, the City would save money. Susan Tillman said the City went from $450,000 three years ago to $100,000 in premiums. Mayor Abramowitz said when the City went self -insured several years ago, it saved approximately $500,000 the first year. He said he remembered the City paid $358,000 in premiums for one policy and the loss history showed $15,000 in payments. He said in the past, the City almost went broke because of a claim. #504:INSURANCE SERVICES FUND - ADMINISTRATION - Page 180 Mayor Abramowitz said the number of employees remained the same. He asked Susan Tillman if her remuneration for her services was part of this budget and she said it was under #340 - OTHER CONTRACTUAL SERVICES. Mayor Abramowitz said two full-time employees were in this budget. Susan Tillman said they were the Safety Coordinator and the Insurance Coordinator and she wanted to recommend reducing line item #331 -INSURANCE OPERATIONS -Page 183 -and changing the position of Insurance Coordinator to Benefits Coordinator with a $5,000 increase in salary. Ms. Tillman said she wanted to alleviate the Third -Party Administrator because they were not doing their job. She said she wanted Kathy Calabria, Insurance Coordinator, to take over this responsibility and although Ms. Calabria was not doing this now, she was catching many migtakes the third -party administrator was making and she was capable of handling this function. Susan Tillman said she wanted to bring this function in-house instead of paying many dollars to a third - party administrator. #331: ADMINISTRATOR FEES - INSURANCE - Pa a 183 C/M Schumann asked who the Third -Party Administrator was and Susan Tillman said Gallagher Bassett. Susan Tillman said the recommendation was for $20,000 and she V City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 16 wanted to reduce this to $10,000. She said she wanted to take $5,000 and change the position of Insurance Coordinator to Benefits Coordinator. She said Ms. Calabria would handle all of the benefits and become the in-house third -party administrator. She said this position would also be partly funded from the Pension fund and Ms. Calabria would be required to do the pension and the Pension fund would be billed for half of her salary. Mayor Abramowitz asked if Gallagher Bassett was to be eliminated and Susan Tillman said, yes but another third -party administrator would be hired on a case -by -case basis. V/M Bender asked about the $10,000 which would be left in this account and Susan Tillman said $2,500 would be utilized for Kathy Calabria's salary and the Pension fund would be billed for the other $2,500. Mayor Abramowitz asked City Manager Kelly to check the change of position with the Union. City Manager Kelly said Kathy Calabria was a Confidential employee and not part of the Union. C/M Katz said the position of Insurance Coordinator would be eliminated and City Manager Kelly asked if the position was being expanded. Susan Tillman said the position would be changed to Benefits Coordinator and City Manager Kelly asked if Ms. Calabria would still be Insurance Coordinator and Susan Tillman said the position would then be Insurance/Benefits Coordinator. C/M Katz asked if Gallagher Bassett, the present third -party administrator, would be eliminated and Mayor Abramowitz said they would be. City Manager Kelly said the amount would be reduced from $20,000 to $10,000. Mayor Abramowitz said another third - party administrator would be brought in on a case -by -case basis, as needed and Susan Tillman said, yes. V/M Bender said $7,500 would be left in this account and Susan Tillman said, yes. She said the account was reduced from $20,000 to $10,000 and $2,500 of the $10,000 would go towards Kathy Calabria's salary and the other $7,500 would be allocated for another third -party administrator. She said the other $2,500 would be used to fund Kathy Calabria's salary and it would come from the Pension Fund for her pension services. Mary Blasi. said Kathy Calabria's $5,000 increase would be included in this budget but it would be offset by revenue from,the Pension fund. Mayor Abramowitz said the $5,000 was worth more than $5,000. C/M Katz asked if Kathy Calabria would receive an additional 5% on top of her $2,500 and C/M Schumann said the entire amount was $5,000 and not $2,500. Dina McDermott asked if Ms. Calabria would get a 5% increase or a 3% increase and Mary Blasi said it was 5%. City Manager Kelly said Kathy Calabria should get the $5,000 less the 5% and C/M Katz said he objected to paying the additional 5% because he was not comfortable with someone receiving a raise and then receiving an increase on top of that. City Manager Kelly said he wanted Susan Tillman and Mary Blasi to take this into consideration. C/M Schumann asked what would happen to the other $10,000 which was removed from this account and would it be eliminated from the budget and Mary Blasi said $10,000 would be reduced from the General Fund and Utilities West Fund contributions. C/M Katz asked Mary Blasi if she thought she would not have to go back to the Council or into the Contingency Fund to increase the $7,500.00 and Peter Mack said Mary Blasi had the ability to do this. C/M Katz said he wanted to ask his questions before the move and if this would be the case. C/W Glasser reiterated that Kathy Calabria would get a $5,000 increase with a change of duties and title. She said Ms. Calabria would not get the 5% increase and Peter Mack said, yes. J City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 17 Tape 3 Mary Blasi said the Calabria would receive $5,000. J1 C.O.L.A. cost amounted to $1,198 and Kathy an additional $3,800 instead of the actual Mayor Abramowitz asked what the Safety Coordinator did and if the City benefited from this person and Susan Tillman said the City's Self -Insurance program could not be run properly without the Safety Coordinator. She said for liability purposes, the City needed to have someone out in the field to do inspections and to make sure the employees did what they were supposed to do. She said the Safety Coordinator constantly went to the job sites. Mayor Abramowitz said he was satisfied with Susan Tillman's response and that the Program could not be done without him and V/M Bender said the Safety Coordinator protected the City's interest. #493:SAFETY EXPENSES/CHARGES - Pase 183 -- Mayor Abramowitz asked about , in t is Account an Susan Tillman said this was for bringing in training experts throughout the year and they had to be paid. She said incentives such as T-Shirts would be bought for the employees if they were doing things correctly. She said she wanted to hire an Ergonomics person to evaluate every persons job. She said this person would videotape every person at their job to see that they were doing their job properly. She said all of these things would keep the Workers' Compensation costs low. Susan Tillman said four years ago, the City paid approximately $200,000 in Workers' Compensation costs and presently these costs were almost down to an average of $40,000 to $60,000 per year. Susan Tillman said the City already saved almost $3,000,000 by getting rid of premiums over the last four years. #312:LEGAL SERVICES - Page 183 - C/M Katz asked about $25,000 in this Account and Susan Tillman said this year the City Attorney billed this Fund for various work done on her behalf. She said there was no Fund last year to pay him and a line item was set up for this budget year to accomplish this. C/M Katz said there was almost $600,000 in #394-000 (Insurance Service Fees) and he thought part of this was to pay legal fees. Mary Blasi said the line item used to pay legal fees this year came out of General Liability and Property Claims. She said the actual settlement of claims and attorney's fees were also paid out of this line item. She said this line item was not set up previously. She said she wanted to show how much of the budgeted amount went towards attorney's fees. C/M Katz asked if the $25,000 was relative to claims that the City had been paying or had to be paid and Susan Tillman said, yes. He said his question about the $600,000 was answered that Susan Tillman needed this amount because part was to pay for legal expenses. He asked why it was not paid from this Account and she said last year it was paid out of the Self -Insurance Fund but Mary Blasi wanted to show exactly how much was being spent for legal fees by implementing a separate line item. She said this year she would know the exact dollar amount. She said she believed the money still came from the Self -Insurance Fund and Mary Blasi said, yes. She said the last few years, the monies came from the line item where claims were paid and she established a separate line item, Legal Services, where all attorney's fees could be deducted. C/M Katz said he thought this line item should be $575,000 and Mary Blasi said Susan Tillman put in what she estimated the amount would be paid in claims next year. She said the Reserves would remain in case there was a catastrophic claim and Council would need to vote on taking money out of this account. She said it was just for the claims that Susan Tillman wanted to settle. V/M Bender asked Susan Tillman what type of services would be charged against Legal Services and she said the City Attorney's office presently reviowed all of her claims on a monthly basis. LX City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 18 He asked what was the purpose of reviewing her claims and C/M Schumann said this was "triple dipping". V/M Bender asked why it required another attorney to review the claims and she said she did not know the answer. He said he could not understand why two attorneys were required to review claims. City Manager Kelly said it was up to the Council to make this determination because Council had required the City Attorney and the City Manager sign off. Mayor Abramowitz said this was done the last time. City Manager Kelly said if Council did not want the City Attorney to sign off, this could be eliminated. C/M Katz asked why the City Attorney could not do the Risk Manage- ment work on the days he was at City Hall and V/M Bender said he did not know why the amount was $25,000. He said this had nothing to do with signing off and the City Attorney should not be paid special for the Risk Management work. He said $25,000 was over and above what the City paid him. Mayor Abramowitz said no one paid the City Attorney $25,000 because it was only a figure in the budget. He said possibly the City Attorney would use $9,000 or $60,000. V/M Bender said he did not care what the amount was and he wanted to know why the figure was in the budget in the first place. Mayor Abramowitz said if the time ever came when the City Attorney had to put in more time, he could then charge for extra hours and V/M Bender said that was why a special Legal Fund was established. C/M Katz said this was just another argument for retaining a full- time attorney so the City would not have to incur additional expenses. V/M Bender asked Susan Tillman who did her subrogations and she said she did it herself. He asked if anyone else had to review her subrogation documents and she said no one did and she was able to recoup money for the City. He said these monies helped to offset her salary because the City got back money no one was able to pick-up previously. Mayor Abramowitz asked Susan Tillman if there was a need for $25,000 and she said, no. She said she did not know the arrange- ment the City had with the City Attorney about the four hours a day he spent in City Hall. She said she did not know if this was included with his administrative duties and Mayor Abramowitz said the City Attorney had to do whatever City business he had to do during these hours. V/M Bender said another Fund was provided for this and C/W Glasser said this was part of City business. V/M Bender said a separate Legal account was set up for this and this was over and above that. Mayor Abramowitz said if the $25,000 was eliminated from the budget and Susan Tillman required the services of the Attorney, she should be able to tell him what was needed and he was to take care of it. He said if the Attorney was not able to take care of her work during the hours he was here, than he had to put in more hours. He said if the Attorney was able to take care of her work, he was being paid for that time, regardless of what he did. Susan Tillman said presently Attorney Ruf's partner, Christine Carsky, reviewed all of the Risk Management claims because the Attorney had a liability background and that is why the extra money was paid because this work was being done outside the City at another time. She said Attorney Ruf was in City Hall for City business and Risk Management work was being done by his partner, Christine Carsky. V/M Bender said this was just a function Attorney's Ruf and Carsky were doing but he did not know if it was needed because of' what Susan Tillman was doing. C/W Glasser said there was direction from the present or a previous Council that asked the City Attorney to review the liability files and Mayor Abramowitz, said 11 City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 19 this was mandated by Council that the City Attorney had to do this. City Manager Kelly said it was done by *Resolution. C/W Glasser said the second Attorney was probably not needed because Susan Tillman was an Attorney. *EDITOR'S NOTE: SHOULD BE "ORDINANCE" 0-90-10 V/M Bender said he agreed with C/W Glasser and said he would recommend that the $25,000 be removed from the budget. Mayor Abramowitz said he thought the Council mandate occurred very recently but C/M Schumann said he was on the Council for almost two years and he did not remember it happening. C/M Schumann said in Fiscal Year 1989/1990, there was a $544 expenditure and there was nothing in Fiscal Year 1990/1991. He said in Fiscal Year 1991/1992, it jumped to 125,000. Dina McDermott said the Council mandate occurred with n the year and Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed. Mayor Abramowitz said the City Attorney was hired on an hourly basis for a determined number of hours. He said during those hours, the City Attorney was to take care of anything that was City business, regardless of what department requested his services. He said Mary Blasi was trying to be "over -legitimate" to indicate exactly how much time the City Attorney took. Mayor Abramowitz said his suggestion was to remove this money from the Insurance budget and if the Council mandated that the City Attorney had to review every document, this is what he had to do. He said if the Council determined that the City Attorney did not have to review every document, it would be safe in Susan Tillman's hands. Mayor Abramowitz said if the City Attorney could not do the work in the allotted time, he would have to go to the Council and other arrangements would have to be made. C/W Glasser said her suggestion was that Susan Tillman could handle this on her own because she was a Bona Fide Attorney and had been involved with insurance matters for many years. She said another Attorney was not needed to look over Susan Tillman's shoulder. Mayor Abramowitz said the *Resolution would have to be changed. *EDITOR'S NOTE: SHOULD BE "ORDINANCE" City Manager Kelly said in answer to C/M Schumann's question, where there was zero in the budget, approximately $10,000 was paid from the other account. V/M Bender said there was a special account which took care of this expense if it was needed and this was a duplication. He said his suggestion was to remove it. Mayor Abramowitz said this Council passed a *Resolution and C/M Schumann asked to see it. Mayor Abramowitz said a suggestion was made to remove the $25,000 and it did not matter where it came from. *EDITOR'S NOTE: SHOULD BE "ORDINANCE" Mayor Abramowitz said if handle it without mandating the *Resolution would have Council members if they were they all said they agreed. Council felt that Susan Tillman could that it go to the other Attorney, than to be changed. He asked the other in favor of removing the $25,000 and *EDITOR'S NOTE: SHOULD BE "ORDINANCE" Susan Tillman said the *Resolution indicated it was a question of authority. She said when she worked a claim up to a certain point, it was submitted to the City Manager and the City Attorney for their approval or disapproval. Mayor Abramowitz said this was in the *Resolution and V/M Bender said this had nothing to do with it. City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 20 *EDITOR'S NOTE: SHOULD BE "ORDINANCE" V/M Bender said he had no qualms with this and when it came about and the City Attorney had to spend extra time on the claim, there was a special account he changed against. Mayor Abramowitz said again it was Mary Blasi's idea to implement a separate account. C/M Katz said he questioned this earlier because there were many accounts from which money was drawn. He said one account had $600,000 plus an additional $25,000 and Mary Blasi said the $600,000 was in there as a Reserve and it was not included in the budget. C/M Katz said he understood this but the answer he had received was that the $25,000 was part of that account or it should have been part of that account except that there would be a line item to show how much money was paid. Mayor Abramowitz said that the Council had agreed to remove this amount. Mayor Abramowitz asked if it was now mandatory for the City Attorney to review all the claims and C/M Schumann and V/M Bender said it was not. Susan Tillman said claims were reviewed only when she proposed a settlement under $10,000. She said at that time, the City Manager and the City Attorney reviewed it and not before that time. She said in the past, they had reviewed every- thing before that point and if the Council agreed to this, she would review it only when it was presented to them at the end. Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed and V/M Bender said he also agreed. #340:OTHER CONTRACTUAL SERVICES - City Manager Kelly this represented Susan TL man's salary. He said last year she was paid $40,000 or $40 per hour with 20 hours per week to a maximum of 50 weeks per year. He said Ms. Tillman did not receive any benefits and based on her performance, he requested her hourly rate be increased to $45 per hour or $45,000. He said he negotiated this with her and they both agreed that he would make a recommendation to the Council to revise her contract. He said his recommendation was to approve her contract to $45 per hour or $43,280 for 20 hours per week and a maximum of 48 weeks per year. He said there were no other benefits involved and it was a fair and reasonable contract. C/M Katz said based on the previous discussions, Susan Tillman's contract would still require that she still review all the legal documents up to a settlement of $10,000 and V/M Bender said the new contract would not change any of her work responsibilities. Mayor Abramowitz asked the other Council members if they agreed with this and they all said, yes. Mayor Abramowitz asked for a five minute break and the Workshop reconvened at 10:55 a.m. He said everyone who was in attendance before was in attendance now. #705-596:INSURANCE OPERATIONS - Pa a 183 #45K:POLICE AND FIRE ACCIDENT INSURANCE - C/M Katz asked about the $1,600 in this account and Susan Tillman said it was required by Statute. She said a $25,000 Accidental Death and Dismember- ment policy had to be purchased for each firefighter and a $50,000 policy for intentional also had to be purchased. C/M Katz asked why this was not covered under Self -Insurance and Susan Tillman said this represented the premium and the City did not self --insure for this. A- #45J:EXCESS LIABILITY INSURANCE - C/,M<Sc.,hu .'nn asked about the $30,000 in this account and Susan Tillman said this represented the Workers' Compensation premium. She said there was a $250,000 deductible on all Workers' Compensation claims so the City basically paid its own claims. She said the $30,000 was to C City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 21 purchase an Excess Policy for any amount over the $250*000. She said there was no limit. C/M Katz asked if there was an "umbrella" on Workers' Compensation and Susan Tillman said, yes. C/M Schumann said he was surprised to learn about the $250,000 deductible. He asked what kind of award was given if an employee was killed in the line of duty and Susan Tillman said that according to the July, 1991 change in the Workers' Compensation Law, a person who sustained a serious injury would only be entitled to five years lost wages to a maximum weekly amount of $344 times five years. C/M Katz said this was less than $100,000. Susan Tillman said if the City had paid $1 coverage, the City would have paid $573,440 per year instead of $30,000. C/M Katz asked if the City could purchase an umbrella policy without a cap and Susan Tillman said, yes. Dina McDermott asked Susan Tillman if the deductible was increased last year and Susan Tillman said, yes and Dina McDermott said the City saved money. Mayor Abramowitz asked if C/M Schumann thought the $250,000 deductible was very high and C/M Schumann said he wanted to see the policy. He said he wanted to see what the loss ratio in the past was and what it paid. Susan Tillman said she had the loss history from 1987 to the present date. She said for Fiscal Year 1987/1988, the net payments were $194,176; she said for Fiscal year 1988/1989, the net payments were $147,516; she said for Fiscal Year 1989/1990, the net payments were $16,571. She said this reduction could have been for many reasons. She said for Fiscal Year 1990/1991, the net payments were $30,127. She said Mary Blasi said this amount was higher but the actual figure from Gallagher Bassett was closer to $67,000 because there was a recent claim which cost the City a lot of money. She said the average was closer to $100,000 per year. Susan Tillman said at one time, the benefits were paid for 10 years and they were reduced to a maximum of five years. V/M Bender asked if the elected officials were covered under Workers' Compensation and Susan Tillman said they would be because they were considered employees of the City. She said volunteers were considered, subject to the Workers' Compensation laws. C/M Katz asked if a volunteer would be paid based on their salary structure for the past five years and.Susan Tillman said it would be determined by their salary and job and a survey would be done. She said their medical costs would also be included. C/M Katz asked how it pertained to elected officials. He asked if it was based on their earning capacity or actual salary because their actual salary was very little to qualify for five years. Susan Tillman said it was determined by what the elected official earned for the past 13 weeks. She said the main purpose of Workers' Compensation was to cover the medical costs and not loss of earnings. 145U:PROPERTY/LIABILITY INSURANCE - C/M Schumann asked about $100,660 in this account and Susan Tillman said this represented an Excess Policy. She said last year the deductible was $100,000 per claim and her recommendation to the Council this year would be for $250,000 per claim. She said with this Policy, the City could not pay over $250,000 or the Excess Policy would commence. C/M Schumann asked if this was in excess to the City's Self - Insurance and Susan Tillman said, yes. She said the City proposed a $250,000 deductible for Property and Liability claims. She said presently these claims were paid because they did not reach the deductible amount. C/M Schumann asked if the City still had the Sovereign immunity City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 22 policy for $100,000 and Susan Tillman said, yes. He asked why the City then needed the Excess Liability policy and Susan Tillman said it would be necessary if someone were to obtain a claims bill. City Manager Kelly asked where the $250,000 came from and Susan Tillman said her recommendation was to raise the deductible and she was presenting it to the Council. C/M Schumann said Florida had Sovereign Immunity and the City could not be penalized for more than $100,000 unless they get permission from the State. Susan Tillman said this excluded Federal and out-of-state claims. 'She said the Federal government could get any amount without a claims bill. V/M Bender said Susan Tillman's proposal of the $250,000 deductible would save the City about $67,000 on payments. He said if the City saved $67,000, this would raise the level of the deductible and Susan Tillman said, yes and the Loss Reserve Fund at a higher level in case monies had to be paid. C/M Kate said the City could possibly lose this money on one claim and Susan Tillman said it would probably take three years to do it. C/M Schumann said the City paid out $100,000 in premiums for an Excess Reinsurer to cover the City if and when it received a judgment in excess of $100,000 and this could be determined in a Federal Court. He asked under what grounds this took place and Susan Tillman said they could be under Title 7 - Civil Rights actions. She said the judgment determined by ttie Federal Court would have to be paid for immediately and this would not be subject to Sovereign Immunity and this is why Excess insurance was purchased. C/M Schumann said he did not understand why the City needed to have a Reinsurer to pay the City amounts in excess of $100,000 when it took so much time through the appellate and the permissive procedures for the plaintiff to claim more than the $100,000. He said it could take up to six years to accomplish this. Susan Tillman said if someone filed a Federal action against the City and a judgment was handed down within one or two years, the City would have to pay if the judgement was in excess of $100,000. She said if the City had insurance for it, the maximum the City would have to pay was $100,000 and the insurance company would pick up the balance. C/M Schumann said Susan Tillman was requesting this increase with the expectation of a possible Federal litigation and she said, yes. Mayor Abramowitz said the City needed some sort of protection and it was taking a gamble that it would not be needed. #45V:SELF-INSURANCE ASSESSMENT - C/M Schumann asked what this represente an3 Susan Tillman said this amount was billed by the Florida Department of Labor and Employment Security each year and this went into the "Second Injury Fund". She said if a person suffered the same injury twice, the "Second Injury Fund" would pay the claim instead of the City. She said each entity contributed an amount each year and V/M Bender said this was mandated by the State and Susan Tillman said, yes. #709:INSURANCE CLAIMS - Page 184 #488:PROPERTY/LIABILITY INSURANCE CLAIMS - Mayor Abramowitz asked what this represents an Susan Ti man said this was an estimated figure of what the City would spend next year on Property and Liability claims. She said the City spent $54,843 this year on claims from the Self -Insurance Fund. Mayor Abramowitz asked Susan Tillman if she recommended enough monies and she said she hoped so. #4P8:WORKERS' COMPENSATION INSURANCE CLAIMS - PaSe 184 - C/M 11 r City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 23 Schumann asked Susan Tillman what the $50,000 represented and she said it was for Workers' Compensation claims. He asked Susan Tillman if she was still using the Cleveland Clinic for Workers' Compensation injuries and she said they were were on=e case -by - case basis because they were very costly. She said the City was looking elsewhere. Mayor Abramowitz asked Susan Tillman if she needed a medical facility and she said, yes. She said people now were being sent to FirstMed in Tamarac with minor injuries and she was steering away from University Community Hospital because they would send people immediately to specialists. She said she had used Cleveland Clinic and tried to negotiate with them to set up a system. She said Cleveland Clinic would have the people take all kinds of tests and she did not feel this was necessary. C/M Katz asked how many employees the City had and he was told 260. He asked if the City, due to its size, should have do in- house infirmary. He said he did not believe it was cost effective to sent people outside for Xeatment and it would not cost as much to treat them in-house. VBender said he did not think this was true and Susan Tillman said when a position was funded with the accompanying benefits, salary and supplies and making sure the person was qualified to protect the City from liability by their acts, it was close to what the City presently paid for these outside services. Susan Tillman said the City did not pay many dollars for Workers' Compensation. She said rates for FirstMed Tamarac, on University Drive, were very reasonable and people were treated and went back to work within an hour. She said presently there was no problem with FirstMed but in the future if the City wanted to get involved with this, she did not believe the number of employees warranted it. C/M Katz said he did not know this either but he asked Susan Tillman to write down all the information and he said he would review it. Susan Tillman said she would. #983:INSURANCE LOSS RESERVE - C/M Katz asked what cost $250,000 and was being reserved and which was not put in other reserves. Mary Blasi said currently in the Self --Insurance Fund, the City had equity available or pooled cash of $1,000,000. She said as of September 30, 1990, the City had accrued General Liability and Workers' Compensation claims payable. She said the GASB #10 Law estimated what the claims payable would be in the future and the amount was approximately $500,000. Susan Tillman said she had not updated her figures since that time but she felt the figures would be lower than $500,000. She said the auditors came up with that number after reviewing the files. Mary Blasi said there would be a reserve of an additional $500,000 in excess of what claims were incurred but not reported or paid at the end of the year. She said the $250,000 represented the increase over the $500,000 to $750,000. V/M Bender asked Mary Blasi where was the $500,000 now and she said it was in the Insurance Services Fund and there were actual investments in that account of $1,000,000. C/M Katz said the City already had the $1,000,000 that they could cap at and Susan Tillman said $500,000 was earmarked specifically for certain claims and the City had to pretend it was not there in accordance with the new Gasby 10 Law. City Manager Kelly asked if the Insurance Advisory Board supported this and Susan Tillman said the Board believed the Fund should be continually built up. She said the Board wanted the City to be safe enough to cover its own losses and not to have to buy any insurance. C/M Katz said the Insurance Advisory Board wanted the City to G, " City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 24 cover its own losses. Peter Mack said before the Public Information Board's budget was discussed, he had some information he wanted to bring to the Council. Peter Mack said the senior staff had recently conducted Workshops regarding staffing procedures and the opportunity to more cost effectively utilize the present staff due to the present economy. He said he would come before the Council at a later time with the opportunity to move the present staff inter -departmentally and it would not have an effect on the General Fund budget. He said it could increase the salary line in a department but it would decrease it in another department. He said it would give an opportunity for various employees to be challenged to realize additional potential to the advantage of the City. C/M Katz asked if this had been reviewed with the Federation and Peter Mack said, yes. He said this was with the concurrence of the Union and definitely to the advantage of the City. He said the opportunities were cost-effective and benefited the employees. C/M Katz asked about the Merit Increases which were proposed and negotiated and Peter Mack said he was working on them. C/M Katz said he had spoken to Jim Budzinski, Assistant Fire Chief, about his contract, Merit Increases, and Educational. He asked Peter Mack what was proposed as Merit Increases for City employees and Peter Mack said what was proposed was not really a Merit Increase but a Bonus or Incentive Plan. He said presently there was no Incentive. Peter Mack said several years, the steps were removed from the Pay Plan and the employees felt they were in a vacuum because there was no opportunity for them to move from the minimum to a maximum salary except for Cost of Living Adjustment increases. He said there was no incentive. C/M Katz said he wanted to discuss evaluations rather than incentives. He said the Personnel Department periodically got evaluations and asked if the employee would be afforded an incentive or a Merit Increase. Peter Mack said he wanted to institute an opportunity to have a pay -for -performance, a Merit type of increase, based upon performance and upon very carefully thought out performance standards for each position in the City. He said he would have an opportunity to evaluate each employee on an annual or semi-annual basis and grant them a Meritorius Increase based upon performance. C/M Katz said it was a Merit Increase. Peter Mack said it was a "Pay -for -Performance" type of situation. He said the Union did not like to hear "Merit". C/M Katz said he was a staunch Union person. C/M Katz said the levels that people were hired at were done away with and Peter Mack said they were "steps". Peter Mack said the steps were a guaranteed increase which had nothing to do with performance. City Manager Kelly said if they passed probation, they moved to the next step. Peter Mack said "they" were very opposed to this. C/M Katz asked if the same thing should be reviewed which would be based on the report the department head gave on an evaluation and Peter Mack said, yes. C/M Katz said in order to reach the steps or levels, this was still subject to the evaluation by the department head. He said he did not understand the logic as to why it was stopped. Mayor Abramowitz said with regard to "steps", the employee did not have to perform. C/M Katz said his comments were based on the evaluations and Mayor Abramowitz said the steps were not based on performance. C/M Katz asked if the City would presently negotiate the steps based on evaluations and Peter Mack said presently the City was conducting an analysis and he will make some recommendations to the Union and the City regarding the opportunity to change the evaluation system and to evaluate the City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 25 employee's performance and reward them based upon their performance, above and beyond the call. C/M Katz asked when the City advertised for positions; were the positions advertised with a minimum and maximum. He said under the new procedure, would the new employees reach the maximum salary based on evaluations periodically and they would achieve their merit awards. He said the person should not get a merit increase based upon his attendance. Peter Mack said they would have the opportunity to reach their maximum because presently they do not have this opportunity. City Manager Kelly said presently the procedure was not in place and it would be reviewed before it went to the Council. He said in order to do anything, there had to be funding provided. C/M Katz said he just wanted to know what was happening in the City and this was the perfect opportunity to ask. City Manager Kelly said with regard to a bonus or a Merit Tape 4 Increase that a person could be locked into one position where they would do a great job one year and still get a Merit Increase which was not part of their salary. He said they would not always get a Merit Increase. He said these options would be discussed with the Council when they were finally formulated and the Union had an opportunity to give their input. C/M Katz said where he previously worked, the bonus situation was that every time someone applied for a patent for something they did, that person automatically got a bonus. He said he believed a one-time bonus was fine and he said he wanted to be apprised of what was happening and Peter Mack said he would do this. #170:PUBLIC INFORMATION BOARD - General Fund - Page 23 Dina McDermott said she worked with Lou Silverman, Chairman, on the budget. She said about three months ago, the City went out for bid for an annual contract for the printing of the Tam -A Gram. #470:PRINTING AND\BINDING - $10 500 #589:MISCELLANE US - Dina McDermott said the $10,600 included four 8-page issues of the Tam -A -Gram which were provided every quarter and also six 4 page issues. She said there would be 10 issues throughout the year because the Tam -A -Gram was not published in July and August. She said the price of the quantity was based on 17,000 copies printed during those months. She said the issues were also on recycled paper and she was able to obtain a contract on recycled paper this year. Mayor Abramowitz asked if there was a difference between 17,000 copies and 15,000 copies and Dina McDermott said the unit cost was the same. Mayor Abramowitz said there were always leftovers. Dina McDermott said the Public Information Board sometimes did not have the ability to deliver the Tam A -Gram in the areas of Sunflower and Heathgate and the quantities fluctuated every month. Mayor Abramowitz said the volunteers did an excellent job and they worked very hard. C/W Glasser asked who the present printer was and if he was in Tamarac. Dina McDermott said when the City went out to bid, there were over 30 vendors who submitted bids. She said the bid that was awarded went to the lowest bidder who was in Fort Lauderdale. C/M Katz asked if Larry Schneider was given the contract and Dina McDermott said last year he had it to print the six 4-page issues. C/M Katz said Dina McDermott had sent a memorandum to Council regarding Mickey Levine and the bid specs for the contract. Mayor i City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 26 Abramowitz asked who Mickey Levine was and C/M Katz said he was a printer. C/M Katz said there was a dispute as to who would get the bid award because Mr. Levine had said something different and there was a problem. Dina McDermott said she prepared the bid specs this year with the assistance of Bill Land, Purchasing Officer, and Lou Silverman. She said before the bids were advertised, they were reviewed by the Public Information Board. Dina McDermott said the bids specs indicated specific categories as to quantities from 5,000 to 10,000, printing on 4 pages, 6 pages, 8 pages, etc. She said the bids also requested the cost for the same categories to print on regular paper versus recycled paper. V/M Bender said he was involved with the project. He said when the Tam -A --Gram was previously printed, there were many people who were able to do the printing. He said now the Tam -A -Gram had one big "multi -fold" paper. He said that reduced the number of printers who had the equipment to do this. He said there were probably two or three printers who had the equipment to fold 4, 6, or 8 pages. He said he would stay with the 6 pages. He said there was one printer who could fold it and a machine would be needed to print it and fold it in one operation. Mayor Abramowitz asked if it would save money and V/M Bender said it would be a considerable savings. V/M Bender said the bid was going out again and Dina McDermott said it just went out for bid. C/W Glasser said she was felt the City should utilize the services of a printer and spend its monies within the City. V/M Bender said the printers in Tamarac did not have the equipment to do the job. V/M Bender said he wanted to save money in the City and City Manager Kelly said the local printers were very high and Dina McDermott said she agreed. C/M Katz said the item of contention was the fact it was arbitrary and he did not care,if Mr. Levine or someone else was awarded the contract. C/M Katz said he did not want anyone to file a lawsuit similar to what was done at the Courthouse. He said there was a lawsuit filed over a $9,000 dispute on $31,000,000 where the wording was challenged. Mayor Abramowitz asked what the allegation was and C/M Katz said Mr. Levine claimed that the bid specs were different than what the City had asked him to do. He said the bid specs did not require Mr. Levine to bid on bundles individually being tied up except Lou Silverman asked for this to be done and this was a requirement of the printer and it was ambiguous. Dina McDermott said the bid specs included either sectioning or bundling the papers. She said the specs also included the wording, "At the jurisdiction of the City" and the City reserved the right within the bid to indicate it wanted X number of papers in each pile. C/M Katz said no one could sue the City because this statement was included. #181:CONSUMER AFFAIRS BOARD_ -_Page 28 Mayor Abramowitz said the Board's budget was $125 and Dina McDermott said they were very conservative. Mayor Abramowitz said he received many commendation letters and recommendations that the Board did a fine job. #183:VETERAN'S COMMITTEE - Page 30 Mayor Abramowitz said this Committee was very fiscal -minded and G L, City Council Budget Workshop 8/16/91/PP Page 27 everything t:�pent was for picnics. He said the only money that was spent was f;,)r bringing the people here from the V.A. Hospital and bringing them for the picnics. City Manager Kelly said every bill they submitted was itemized. EDITOR'S NOTE: C/M HENRY SCHUMANN IS THE COUNCIL LIAISON FOR THIS COMMITTEE City Manager Kelly said everything that was to be addressed on Monday morning was addressed here today. He said the budgets on Police Services and the Charter Board will be addressed on Monday morning. He mentioned Tuesday afternoon ,and C/M Katz said he had to leave at 2:00 P.M. C/W Glasser said,City Manager Kelly had discussed the Budget Workshops for Monday and City Manager Kelly said all but two budgets had already been eliminated for Monday morning. He said the budget for Police Services and the Charter Board will be addressed on Monday morning. He said he wanted to address Street Lighting and Utilities on Monday morning which the was to be discussed on Tuesday afternoon. V/M Bender said the schedule for 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. could be eliminated on Tuesday. City Manager Kelly said it would be a tough day but it had to be done this way because the Council did not have any time. Mayor Abramowitz adjourned the Budget Workshop at 119.35 a.m. .ram _•��a..-• CAROL A. EVAN City Clerk "This public document was promulgated at a cost of $842.74 or $56.18 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". 7