HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-09-26 - City Commission Special Meeting MinutesRECORD OF COUNCIL ACTIONS/DISCUSSIONS
SPECIAL MEETING
CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA
There will be a
Special Meeting of the
City Council on
Tuesday, September
26, 1989, at 7:00 P.M.,
in the Council
Chambers of City Hall,
7525 NW 88th Avenue,
Tamarac, to hold
public hearings on
the final millage and
final budget for
Fiscal Year 1989/90.
1. ANNOUNCEMENT of percentage increase of 23.51% in
proposed millage rate over the rolled -back rate
necessary to fund the Budget for Fiscal Year 1989/90.
FINAL ACTION:
Announcement was made.
2. PUBLIC HEARING on the final millage rate for Fiscal
Year 1989/90.
FINAL ACTION:
4.7898 includes the
Debt Service Operations budget. The
public hearing was held.
3. PUBLIC HEARING
1989/90.
on the final Budget for Fiscal Year
FINAL ACTION:
The final budget for
FY 89/90 is $35,939,740.00. Public
hearing was held.
4. MOTION TO ADOPT
Temp. Reso. #5554 adopting a final
millage rate for
Fiscal Year 1989/90.
FINAL ACTION:
RESOLUTION NO. R-89-237 PASSED,
APPROVED.
5. MOTION TO ADOPT
Temp. Reso. #5555 adopting a final
Budget for Fiscal Year 1989/90.
FINAL ACTION:
RESOLUTION NO. R-89-238 PASSED.
APPROVED.
All meetings are open to the public.
Carol A. Evans
City Clerk
Pursuant to Section 286.0105, Florida Statutes
It a person decides to appeal arty deckbn muds by ft 4ft
Cound with reaped to any matter considerod at Such madit or
hearing, he will need a record of the proceedings and for such
ptirpose, he may need to ensure that a verbatim record includes
t:+e testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based
CITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL BUDGET MEETING
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1989
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting to Order on
Tuesday, September 26, 1989 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers.
MEDITATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Abramowitz called for the
P1e ge of Agra ce-followed by a Moment of Silent Meditation.
VPRgRNT
ABSENT AND EXCUSED:
ALSO PRESENT:
Mayor Norman Abramowitz
Vice Mayor Dr. H. Larry Bender
Councilman Bruce Hoffman
Councilman Henry Rohr
Councilman Jack Stelzer
John P. Kelly, City Manager
Richard Doody, City Attorney
Ken Burroughs, Finance Director
Carol A. Evans, City Clerk
Pauline Walaszek, Special Services
Secretary
1. ANNOUNCEMENT of percentage increase of 23.51% in
proposed millage rate over the rolled -back rate necessary
to fund the Budget for Fiscal Year 1989/90.
SYNOPSIS OF ACTION:
ANNOUNCEMENT was made.
City Manager Kelly announced that this was the second and
final hearing on the proposed Budget for Fiscal Year
1989/90. He said the percentage increase over the rolled
back rate was 23.51%. He said this would be an increase
of 14.7% over last year's tax rate.
2. PUBLIC HEARING on the final millage rate for Fiscal
Year 1989 90.
SYNOPSIS OF ACTION:
Public Hea nir g was held.
The final millage rate was announced to be
4.7898, which included the Debt Service
Operations Budget.
City Manager Kelly announced that the final millage rate
for Fiscal Year 1989/90 was 4.7898, which included the
Debt Service Operations Budget.
Mayor Abramowitz Opened and Closed the Public Hearing
with no response.
3. PUBLIC HEARING on final Budget for Fiscal Year
1989 90.
SYNOPSIS OF ACTION:
Pudic Hea nri g was held.
The final Budget was announced to be
$35,939,740.00 for Fiscal Year 1989/90.
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City Manager Kelly said this was the second and final
Public Hearing for the Budget for Fiscal Year 1989/90 and
he announced the Budget to be $35,939,740.00.
Mayor Abramowitz asked that the speakers not be
repetitive and limit themselves to 3 minutes for
speaking.
Mayor Abramowitz Opened the Public Hearing.
Vickie Beech, Resident, asked what was budgeted for the
Grantsman/Lobbyist and Mayor Abramowitz said the previous
salary for the Grantsman was not included it the Budget
because Dina McDermott, Assistant to the City Manager,
would be lobbying in --house. He said Mrs. McDermott has
been doing a great job for the City.
Mrs. Beech said Senator Weinstein took credit for the
Grant received for the Multi -Purpose Complex; however,
Mayor Abramowitz also took credit for this Grant as well
as Mitch Ceasar, City Grantsman. She asked who she could
thank for this Grant.
Mayor Abramowitz said Mrs. Beech could thank him. He
said there were three Legislators to thank because there
was $500,000.00 received in Grants. He said the
Legislators had to work in Tallahassee for the City. He
said there were several people involved in the Grants for
the Multi -Purpose Complex. He said Senator Weinstein,
Representatives Deutsch and Graber and Mitch Ceasar
assisted the City in obtaining these grants.
Mrs. Beech said since government has become a
bureaucratic situation throughout the Nation, it affected
the residents' taxes. She said the City should not spend
extra funds for a lobbyist when there were people seeking
the residents support and could provide the services.
She said the government should learn to live within its
budget.
Melanie Reynolds, Resident, said the City Council was
going to adopt the budget by Resolution again. She said
when City Manager Kelly was hired in July, 1986, the
first budget handled by him was adopted by Ordinance and
written by the previous City Attorney, Bryant Applegate.
She said when Mr. Applegate resigned, Richard Rednor,
from Ruf and Carsky, acted on the City's behalf and the
budget was adopted by Resolution.
Mrs. Reynolds said this was a violation of the Charter
and City Attorney Doody followed Richard Rednor's
footsteps by allowing the budget to be adopted by
Resolution. She said by adopting the budget by
Resolution, the City was being placed in jeopardy because
it was a violation of Section 7.05 of the City Charter,
Section 166.241(3) of the State Statute, Section 9,
Article 7, of the State Constitution and Section 9(7)
Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution. She said if the City
Council continued placing the City in jeopardy, she would
have to inform the Auditor General again of this matter
in order to protect her City.
Samuel Nadan, Resident, asked if consideration was taken
regarding the City borrowing $500,000.00 from the
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utilities Budget last year, which should be repaid. He
asked if the loan from the Interim Impact Fees were
repaid.
Mayor Abramowitz said according to the Bond Indenture
when all the criteria was met and everything was paid,
any monies remaining could be used for any lawful and
legal purpose.
Mr. Nadan said this was a legal interpretation and Mayor
Abramowitz was not licensed to practice law.
City Attorney Doody said when the City Council made the
decision to use the funds last year, he investigated the
matter and found that the transfer was consistent with
the City Charter.
Mr. Nadan asked if this was true and City Attorney Doody
said in his opinion this was true. Mr. Nadan said this
was the City Attorney's opinion.
City Attorney Doody said Mrs. Reynolds stated an
impressive list of provisions in the Statutes and
constitutional provisions regarding the adoption of the
budget. He said he discussed this matter several times
with Mrs. Reynolds and the issue was not very complex.
He said the State Statute made it very clear and he read
the following into the record:
"The governing body of the taxing authority shall
amend
the adopted tentative budget as
it sees fit and adopt the
final budget by a Resolution or
ordinance stating
the
millage rate to be levied."
City Attorney Doody said the other
provisions stated
by
Mrs. Reynolds did not apply to this
matter. He said
the
language in the State Statutes was
very clear.
Oscar Brawer, Resident, said his concern did not pertain
to the budget and Mayor Abramowitz asked Mr. Brawer to
bring his concerns to the City Council meeting which
would be held tomorrow night (September 27, 1989) at 7:00
P.M. He said the discussions held tonight should pertain
to the Budget.
John Fletcher, employee of the Utilities Department, said
he was here to speak on behalf of his family and
dependents. He requested that the City Council and
Administration consider their position on not granting
the employees a wage increase. He said it was important
to remind the residents and the City Council of the
sacrifices the employees made in the past in an effort to
bail out poor administrative decisions which affected the
financial standing of the City.
Mr. Fletcher said during the long and difficult
negotiations of 1987, the Federation of Public Employees
bit the bullet and allowed a drastic change at the demand
of the City. He said the wage plan which was in
existence from the beginning was changed. He said the
previous step plan provided for a minimum and maximum
wage for each position and provided a means for each
employee to ultimately reach the top of his
classification. He said the City stated at the time that
instead automatic progression, the wage increases would
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be open for negotiations; however, now, the City stated
that there is no money for increases and no recourse for
the faithful and loyal employee nor his family to whom he
is ultimately responsible for.
Mr. Fletcher said it appeared to him and his co-workers
that the City was asking them to either stagnate in the
City or seek employment elsewhere. He said he did not
understand why the City of Tamarac could be an island
onto itself in the midst of other Municipalities who were
providing regular cost of living increases as well as
merit increases to their loyal employees. He said the
Cities of Sunrise, Margate, Coconut Creek and North
Lauderdale increased the wages of their employees. He
asked why these Cities were not screaming poverty and how
they were paying their bills while providing for their
employees at the same time.
Mayor Abramowitz said he was looking around the Chambers
and he saw many valued, loyal and great employees of the
City. He said he would like to answer Mr. Fletcher by
answering to all of the employees.
Mayor Abramowitz said there was a good reason why the
surrounding Cities were able to provide for the employees
and pay their bills. He said the Cities tax base was
almost double compared to Tamarac's; however, this matter
did not pertain to the employees' problems.
Mayor Abramowitz said the employees' problem was bringing
food to their families and the City Council understood
this. He said he has been involved in many Union
negotiations and the City was now in active negotiations
with the Federation of Public Employees. He said the
City Council or administration could not comment, speak
or address this matter.
Mayor Abramowitz said at the last Budget Public Hearing
he stated that the City Council was extremely aware of
the situation and they would try their best to address
the situation. He said because of the existing
negotiations process, he could not inform the employees
of what he would like to do.
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council was very conscious
of the employees' concerns. He said when the budget
process began, the City was in worse shape and the City
Council and staff worked like a dog to cut the Budget and
tax rate down. He said was aware that a pat on the back
did not put food on the table. He said the City Council
was aware of this matter and was doing everything they
can to correct the situation.
John Rab1, Senior Video Technician, Utilities and On -Site
Representative of the Federation of Public Employees,
said it was essential that all employees be hard workers
and educated in all aspects of their job responsibilities
in order to retain the professionalism needed in a
municipality. He said the only way this could be
obtained was with payroll incentive in order to avoid
situations that could prove costly to all and benefit
none.
Mr. Rabl said a reasonable increase must be obtained to
maintain and improve the level of professionalism that
the City must have to operate at maximum efficiency and
minimal risk. He said the average employee in the
Utilities Department has been with the City for
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approximately 5 years and are paid less than most
municipalities in the area. He said at this rate, the
City could not maintain the quality of service that the
citizens expected and deserved.
Mr. Rabl said the increases should be given annually to
show employees that their continued service was
appreciated by the City. He said the employees should be
given an education incentive to reward the employees who
want to increase their knowledge in order to provide
better service to the City and citizens. He said a merit
step should be given to the employees to reward them for
improving in their job performance and he recommended
that the City Council consider these things before
allocating all of the funds to non -essential projects for
next year.
Ruth Russo, employee and resident, said she has been
employed with the City for 10-1/2 years and she
negotiated contracts for the employees for 9 years. She
said this was the first time the employees have ever
appeared before the City Council during a Budget Hearing.
She said this turn out was caused by a statement during
the third negotiation by the City's team.
Mrs. Russo said it was stated during the negotiations by
the City's team, "There would be no wage increases this
year for employees either in or out of the Union." She
said the City was trying to take away some of the
employees' benefits. She said the employees would not
take this because they were never in this type of
position before. She said the City Council can inform
the employees that they would review the matter in 90
days; however, it would not assist the employees now.
Mrs. Russo asked if the City Council wanted the employees
in attendance to stand up and Mayor Abramowitz replied,
no, he was aware of who the employees were. Mrs. Russo
said this was a very serious matter and the employees
attended to inform the City Council that they cannot
function this way.
City Manager Kelly suggested that the City Council allow
the employees to stand so that the residents were aware
of who the employees were.
At this time, the employees stood and Mrs. Russo said the
employees wanted the City Council to know that this
matter was very serious and something had to be done for
the employees.
Philip Kravitz, former Mayor of the City of Tamarac, said
he had the privilege of serving on the Council for two
terms. He said in each of those years, he was liaison to
the Budget and Finance because he was a Certified Public
Account; therefore, he was aware of what was occurring in
the City.
Mr. Kravitz said for the last two years of his terms, he
served as the Mayor and he observed the Budget very
carefully. He said he believed that the proposed Budget
was not good for the City of Tamarac.
Mr. Kravitz said it was thought that this Budget would
provide a surplus and monies for recreation. He said he
did not oppose recreation and he was the first Parks
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Commissioner of the City. He said it was wrong for not
providing increases to the employees for two years
because the employees deserved the increases.
Mr. Kravitz said he believed the Mayor and City Council
were trying to do the best they could; however, he did
not believe they had the experience or knew how to
prepare a Budget and he asked the City Council to
reconsider giving the employees the increases they
deserved. He said this could be done as well as reducing
the tax.
Mayor Abramowitz said this was a great political speech
and Mayor Abramowitz said he was holding in his hand part
of the reason why the City was in its financial bind. He
said as an accountant and financial genius, in 1981, Mr.
Kravitz served on the City Council that gave permission
to take the Comark money and put up $1,770,000.00 and
forget all about it, which opened up the ESM matter. He
said if this was Mr. Kravitz's expertise, he wanted to
serve with people that were not experts.
Mr. Kravitz said this matter was never brought before the
City Council on which served and Mayor Abramowitz said
there were documents indicating that Mr. Kravitz voted
for the matter.
Rex Van Mehren, Representative of the Tamarac
Firefighters, said as of yesterday morning, a new
milestone was reached in labor relations. He said for
the first time ever, the Firefighters and the City were
at impasse with their negotiations. He said the
Firefighters have experienced good and bad times with the
City; however, they never came to a point where they felt
that there were no negotiations occurring and had to
declare impasse.
Mr. Van Mehren said his Union was more than willing to
work with the City this year in holding the line in pay
raises; however, the issue which was at impasse was the
following Fiscal Year of 1990/91. He said he did not
know what the City Council's intention was for this year
and he knew it was too early to discuss this; however,
the Firefighters were in the middle of a multi -year
contract and they were unable to receive consideration
for this. He said his membership had no other recourse
than to believe that the answer to Fiscal Year 1990/91
would be the same as Fiscal Year 1989/90.
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council wanted to do
something for the employees. He said he would not
discuss anything with the employees while negotiations
were occurring. He said the City Council and
administration were aware of the matter and things were
occurring as of now. He said the City Council would not
make statements with which they could not follow through;
however, they were trying to correct this matter.
Mr. Van Mehren said with all due respect, the employees
of the City were with the City longer than the
Councilmembers. He said it was not fair for the City
Council to inform the employees that their costs of
living increases hinged on the City's finances. He said
this was like a lottery and Mayor Abramowitz said he
understood this.
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TAPE 2
Mr. Van Mehren said the State law provided two methods
for breaking the deadlock of an impasse in negotiations,
one being a special session of the City Council and the
other being to place the case before a Special Master to
render a decision. He said the Union would be willing to
spare the City Council the special session if the City
Council agreed that the City and Local agree in writing
to be bound by the decision of the Special Master.
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council could not make a
decision on this matter at this time. He said the City
Council would listen to the experts and decision would be
made then.
Anthony Grimaldi, Resident, said a Utility Representative
spoke and Mayor Abramowitz informed him that the City was
in the process of negotiations. He asked if there was
anything in the contract to reopen negotiations
concerning wages.
Mayor Abramowitz replied, yes. He said the City was in
the process of what occurred with every Union throughout
the Country.
Peter Prior, Lieutenant of the Tamarac Fire Department,
said due to the lack of negotiations and the legislative
body tying the administrator's hands in negotiations, the
Fire Department lost another Firefighters to a district
in the south due to higher wages, benefits and better
working conditions.
Mr. Prior said several years ago, the Tamarac Fire
Department had a Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief and
three Fire Captains; however, the Fire Department now had
a Fire Chief only. He said there were two Firefighters
on disability who were not being replaced. He said the
Department was down by approximately 7 people since 1984.
He said the Firefighters were having to take up this
slack and they were being asked to bite the bullet again.
Mr. Prior said the City Council made a demand that Medics
Ambulance take a 7% increase when they originally wanted
a 10% increase. He said due to the City Council's
knowledge of negotiations, the Firefighters were used as
a leverage to gain this decrease in percentage. He said
the Firefighters were now at impasse asking the City
Council to make the same commitment to them in 1990/91,
which was giving a 7% increase across the Board.
City Manager Kelly said the ambulance contract provided
for a 5% reduction this year and next year, the ambulance
service could only receive an increase of 7% if this was
what the County agreed to give them. He said he did not
think that the Fire Department would want the same type
of contract as the ambulance service.
Mr. Prior said it was the intent of what the City Council
did during the negotiations with the ambulance service.
He said the Firefighters had a three year contract and
had to beg to get a wage increase in a three year
contract. He said the Firefighters were willing to bite
the bullet this year; however, they would like the City
to make the 5 Firefighters who bit the bullet last year
whole this year. He said there were 26 employees willing
to bite the bullet for Fiscal Year 1989/90; however, they
wanted a commitment from the City to provide increases
for Fiscal Year 1990/91.
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Mayor Abramowitz Closed the Public Hearing with no
further response.
4. MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Reso. #5554 adopting a final
mrllage rate or Fiscal Year 1989/90.
SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: RESOLUTION NO. R--89-237 - PASSED
APPROVED.
City Attorney Doody read Temp. Reso. #5554 in its entirety.
* C/M Hoffman MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Reso. #5554, SECONDED by
* C/M Rohr.
VOTE:
ALL VOTED AYE
5. MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Reso. #5555 adopting a final
Budget Tor scat Year 1989/90.
SYNOPSIS OF ACTION:
APPROVED.
RESOLUTION NO. R-89-238 - PASSED
City Attorney Doody .read Temp. Reso. #5555 by title.
* C/M Rohr MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Reso. #5555, SECONDED by
* C/M Hoffman.
VOTE:
ALL VOTED AYE
With no further business, Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED this
meeting at 7:55 P.M.
INMAN ABRAMOWITZ, MAYOR
CAROL A. EVANS, CITY CLERK ".
"This public document was promulgated at a cost of $81.40 or $10.18 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."
CITY OF TAMARAC
APPROVED AT MEETING OF 10
City Clerk
1
D',
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