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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-09-23 - City Commission Budget Workshop Meeting MinutesMAIL REPLY TO- P.O. BOX 25010 TAMARAC. FLORIDA 33320 5811 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321 TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900 September 20, 1985 NOTICE OF BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETING CITY COUNCIL TAMARACr FLORIDA iThere has been a City Council Workshop Meeting scheduled for Monday, September 23, 1985, at 1:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 5811 N.W. 88th Avenue, for continued review of Proposed Budgets for Fiscal Year 1985/86. to The public is invited to attend. Carol E. Barbuto Assistant City Clerk AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS CITY OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP September 23, 1985 Tape 1 CALL TO 0 DER: Mayor Kravitz called the meeting to order at 1:00 P.M. on Monday, September 23, 1985, in the Council Chambers of City Hall. Mayor Kravitz read the Notice of the Budget Workshop meeting which was called for continued review of Proposed Budgets for FY 85/86. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: _ Mayor Philip B. Kravitz Vice Mayor Helen Massaro Councilman Arthur H. Gottesman ABSENT_AND EXCUSED: Councilman Sydney M. Stein Councilman Raymond J. Munitz ALSO PRE ENT: Larry Perretti, Acting City Manager Patricia Marcurio, Secretary MEDITATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEQIANCE - Mayor Kravitz called for a Moment of Meditation and Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Kravitz announced that on Monday, September 30, 1985 at 6:00 P.M. there will be the final public hearing on the budget. He said he is hopeful the millage rate will be reduced before this budget is finalized without giving up any of the City's services such as police, fire and building services. Jack Stelzer, resident, had a list of budget considerations for Council and, because of the time limitations, Mayor Kravitz requested he give Council members a copy for their consideration. City Clerk Department - Acting City Manager Perretti referred to Pages 9, 10 and 11 of the Budget Report Sheets, noting the final amounts for the Current Year Budget as $325,925.00, the Proposed Budget is $344,155.00 and Recommended by the City Manager is $334,200.00. Mr. Perretti told Marilyn Bertholf, City Clerk, that this is the opportunity to address any items which were cut by the City Man- ager. Marilyn Bertholf, City Clerk, referred to Page 10, Office Equipment Repairs, Account #463, where she had requested $2,700.00 and the City Manager recommended $2,500.00. She requested it be brought back to $2,700.00 for maintenance contract of the sound equipment which totals $2,300.00 per year and overhaul of one typewriter costing $150.00. She said there is a small dictating machine in the repair shop which is a minimum cost of $18.00 and an electrical outlet was purchased for a series of equipment plug -- ins costing $12.50. She said using those figures, there would only be a balance of $20.00 for the balance of the year for any other repairs which would not come under a service agreement. Mayor Kravitz said the Estimated Actual Total for last year was $2,119.32 and he questioned why $2,500.00, which was the same amount budgeted last year, would not be enough. Mrs. Bertholf said the Sony equipment service agreement was $835.00, the Gestetner Printing Equipment was $425.00, typewriter maintenance agreement was $247.00, the sound equipment was over $600.00. She said this totalled $2,140.00. Mayor Kravitz said if there is a problem during the year it could be handled at that time and he suggested accepting the City Manager's recommendation of $2,500.00. 1 9/23/85 /pm �.� Mrs. Bertholf referred to Page 11, Office Equipment, Account #641, the City Manager recommended $1,000.00 and she requested $3,200.00 to cover the cost of two new transcribers. She said there are two in the office that are in need of replacement since the equipment is used approximately 30 hours per week each resulting in rapid wearing out of parts. She said these two particular units are no longer on the market and parts are no longer available; therefore, they do need to be replaced. Mayor Kravitz said the amount spent last year as of 8/31/85 was $900.33 and, if they assume that ratio, there will be approximate- ly $982.00. Mrs. Bertholf said the Office Equipment Account is for whatever equipment is approved for that particular year. She said this is for a new typewriter which cost $895.00. Mayor Kravitz asked if, for the purpose of trying to keep the budget down, there might not be certain equipment that is not necessary. Mrs. Bertholf said one year has nothing to do with what was expended during a previous year. Mr. Perretti said the proposed budget shows that the City Clerk requested $3,200.00 and Mrs. Bertholf said that was for Data Processing Equipment. Mrs. Bertholf said the last Account she is addressing is a new account #001-112-519-310 for Professional Services. She said the amount requested is $500.00 based on an estimate since Council's policy is to charge each account for whatever services the consulting professionals may use of that department. She said if the City Clerk's Department needs the services of the City Attorney, the department would be charged for those services; therefore, an account for this would be necessary. V/M Massaro said an account for professional services will be discussed further with the City Manager at a later time since she felt the City Manager should request the services of a pro- fessional and not any Department Head. V/M Massaro requested a further explanation on the salary portion of this department, Page 9. Mr. Perretti said the majority of the employees in this office are under the Federation of Public Employees Union which has the second year of the contract begin- ning 10/l/85. He said the second year of this contract provides for a spread of a 5% rather than a 4% between grade steps, which means on 10/1/85 there will be a 1% compound increase for these employees and then, on 4/l/86, there will be a 5% increase. He said Marilyn Bertholf and Carol Barbuto are covered under the Managerial Resolution which had a salary figure incorporated into the budget as well. He said that was budgeted at 5% for the entire year with 3% on 10/1/85 and on their anniversary date there would be another increase. Mrs. Bertholf said the line item titled "Other Salaries and Wages" was not requested by her and there is $1,000.00 budgeted for that. She said she did request Overtime and Mr. Etheredge said he would transfer that amount to Overtime. Building Department - Bob Jahn, Chief Building Official, refer- red to Pages 50, 51 and 52. Mr. Perretti said the Current Year Budget for Building/Community Development is $613,415.00, Proposed Budget $748,435.00 and Recommended by the City Manager is $683,665.00. Mr. Perretti urged Mr. Jahn to make Council aware of any disputes between his proposed figures and the City Manager's recommended figures. 2 9/23/85 /pm �,i Mr. Jahn said he sent a memo to Council dated 8/29/85 referring to this budget recommendation in which he noted his was a revenue department and, at the time the memo was written, they had already turned in $134,000.00 to the General Revenue Fund with another month to go. He said as of last Monday, they had already sur- passed the normal projected month's income. He said next year promises to be as great as this past year. He said he will do his utmost to live within the constraints of his budget. Mr. Perretti asked Mr. Jahn what his projection was for 1984/85 and Mr. Jahn said the revenue projection for 84/85 was $560,000.00 and the total actual brought in as of last month's report was $694,000.00. He said there would probably be about $250,000.00 put into the General Fund as profit. He said that includes monies not directly connected to the Building Department such as Code Enforcement and Planning and Community Development. He said if the City Planner remains as a Consultant, it will activate one set of circumstances; however, if a full time employee is hired as a City Planner, the salary figure will have to be adjusted. Mr. Jahn said on Page 50, Professional Services, he asked for more than the City Manager's figure of $50,000.00, which would cover part-time Inspectors. V/M Massaro requested the figure of what was actually spent last year on part-time Inspectors and Mr. Jahn said he would give her that figure later. Mayor Kravitz said concerning Data Processing, last year there was an estimate of $9,390.00 and this year the recommendation by the City Manager is for $16,720.00. He questioned why there was an increase of over $7,000,00 and Mr. Etheredge said each year the Data Processing Department keeps a record of how much each depart- ment uses of the computer time which is pro rated based on that arrountof time. He said that figure is the percentage he set based on the average of what Mr. Jahn's new system is going to take. Mr. Jahn said his department is not live with the computer yet since they are still programming. He said when the department goes live on the computer, they will print the building permits, inspection records, etc. (C/M Munitz entered the meeting at this point - 1:30 P.M. Mr. Jahn said the predominant part of the work of the two Code Enforcement Officers in his department is citing people for trash, weeds, etc. He said they then write a Citation and Notice of Violation, give one copy to Public Works and they then send out a Notice of Violation to the owner of that property. He said if they do not respond within 20 days, the Building Department can go cut those weeds, clear the lots, send a bill and, when the money is received, it belongs to the City. He said if the money is not received, a lien is placed on the property of the owner. He said during this past year and a half, the Public Works Department has not had enough manpower to accomplish this. He said as of approx- imately a month and a half ago, there were 55 violations issued with no solution. He said he has 2 men and vehicles issuing citations that nothing can be done about unless Public Works has more manpower and equipment to do this work or an independent contractor is used. Mr. Jahn said most of the phone complaints are second, third and fourth complaints about the same location. 3 / 9/23/85 1 /pm Mike Couzzo, Public Works Director, said last year was the first year the City was heavily involved in lot clearing and issuing the Citations in accordance with the Code. He said last year the department generated $28,000.00 in revenues for the City and the anticipated generation this year is between $28,000.00 and $30,000.00. He said that money is put into the General Fund to offset the cost of the City and not actually to offset the cost of manpower within the department, equipment or postage used in sending out the registered mail for the Citations. He said in the past few years there has been no personnel or equipment added to offset the lot clearing program. V/M Massaro said if there is $28,000.00 for a complete year's program, no one can be hired since there is no surplus. She said that amount does not include all the costs mentioned previously and she felt there was something wrong with that program. She said it might be less expensive to bid it out to someone with the City receiving a percentage for this. She asked if any of the 55 violations have had the lots cut and Mr. Couzzo said some have. She asked when they were last cut and Mr. Couzzo said as recently as last week there were some cut. Mr. Perretti said there is also a time limit involved and Mr. Couzzo said the time frame is not addressed in the Code but merely states that the Public Works Department will proceed with remedying the situation. V/M Massaro asked if it is stipulated in the Code that this must be handled in-house and Mr. Couzzo said no. V/M Massaro said the Acting City Manager should analyze this situation and determine whether or not it would be proper to have someone hired to do this. V/M Massaro asked if the Notices have been checked to determine that the City has the proper legal right to do this and Mr. Couzzo said the Citations are sent out registered mail. V/M Massaro said there is a possibility that 3 Code Enforcement Officers are too many. C/M Gottesman questioned what the amount of $28,000.00 represents and Mr. Couzzo said that is the amount billed and currently approximately $22,500.00 has been collected. Vickie Beech, resident, said she feels there is something wrong in this City concerning violations and problems not being solved. Bruce Hoffman, resident, said he felt the budget proposed was outrageous. Tape 2 Fire Departmgnt - Mr. Perretti referred to Page 46 and said at the last budget hearing there was some question pertaining to the request made for additional manpower. Fire Chief Bernie Simon said Ray Briant, Assistant Fire Chief, wrote this budget as it was presently. He said Hyman Fox, a resident of the City, sent a letter to the Mayor which stated that he was told there would be no additional manpower required. He said at the time this was stated was about 1983 and with that budget it was possible that additional manpower was needed. Chief Simon said presently they cannot use the people originally being used for mandated inspections required in this City. He said State Certification is needed and the City is in the process of having 4 people receive State Certification now. 4 9/23/85 /Pm Chief Simon said these people will be used as the second person on a ladder truck while they are doing the inspections with the obligation that they must respond to the station or the ladder truck when in operation. He said this would eliminate only one person on a ladder truck, which is a hazardous situation. Chief Simon said it is now required to have 12 persons to function with the ambulance; that is, 2 engines with 3 people on each, 2 rescue ambulances with 2 people and 2 on the aerial ladder. He said he has always contended that the ambulance service would be cost effective since there are dual positions. Mayor Kravitz asked if the City did not get the ambulance service there would be a difference in the manpower needed and Chief Simon said yes, the manpower would go down. Mayor Kravitz asked if this expense will be there starting 10/1/85 and Chief Simon said they asked that this be held until they receive the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity at which time they would then be added. He said any Overtime would be reflected in the fee that would be realized from this service. V/M Massaro said it is her understanding that the expense amount is offset within this budget by a similar revenue amount and Mr. Etheredge said these 8 new positions are not budgeted and the revenue is not there. V/M Massaro said they are not going to be budgeted until or unless the ambulances are being operated, in which case, the revenue would offset the cost. Mr. Etheredge said if all the costs are figured in for vehicle costs, etc., it would cost even more. C/M Gottesman said 3 years ago the Council was told this would be a big savings for the residents and last week they were told it would cost $110.00 to run and he suggested an outside service might be better. V/M Massaro said she is hoping that the ambu- lance service would be giving the residents service and saving lives. She said the City is not getting the response time now that could be realized with a City -owned ambulance service. She said this will be continued to be pursued. Mr. Perretti asked if Chief Simon had any comment on the new vehicle that has been requested for $134,000.00 and Chief Simon said that was part of the Five Year Plan and this is not needed this year. Jack Stelzer, resident, said the people were told there would be a tremendous saving of money by sending out a small vehicle rather than a large fire engine and he asked if this has been taken into consideration now since money is being saved using those ambu- lances as response units. Chief Simon said the savings is in the budget. pp,gsonnel and I su nc De artments - Mr. Perretti referred to Page 39 stating that the Current Year Budget was $137,925.00, the Proposed Budget $286,695.00 and Recommended by the City Manager was $326,590.00. He said the increase was because there was a transfer of the Insurance Department from the Finance Department into the Personnel Department with a line item amount of $145,000.00. He said the Regular Salaries reflects the addition of Sylvia Newman, who is taking care of the Insurance in Per- sonnel. 5 a 9/23/85 /Pm ,..1 Judy Deutsch, Acting Personnel Director, said she is resigned to the budget since there were no additional monies put into any of the accounts that would help absorb the cost of the insurance program, such as, Publications, Meetings and Seminars, and Pro- fessional. Organizations. She said if insurance could be bought, $145,000.00 will not cover the premium this year. She requested Council keep the amount of $145,000.00 open until they have better figures. Finance__Deprtment - Mr. Perretti referred to Pages 12 and 13. He said the Current Year Budget is $389,945.00, the Proposed Budget is $246,790.00 and Recommended by the City Manager is $330,690.00. Mayor Kravitz asked for the changes in this depart- ment without the insurance in this department. Mr. Etheredge said the personnel was the only thing in his department budgeted for insurance. Mayor Kravitz said nothing is estimated for the coming year for insurance because it is now in the Personnel Department; however, if $100,000.00 was budgeted, how was $128,814.00 reflected on the books? Mr. Etheredge said that is the total of the insurance policies that came in. Mr. Perretti questioned the Regular Salaries increased amount and Mr. Etheredge said his Proposed Budget was $155,300.00 and the City Manager's recommendation was for $242,000.00. He said that is because people were brought back into the Finance Department's budget since they should have been there before. He said that decreased the Utilities East and West budgets. C/M Munitz suggested a one month test period to get the percentage of the total expenses of the Utilities for the General Fund contributions and apply that percentage annualized on the total basis of the income, that would give a better view of the share of expenses coming from the General Fund. He said this would give some backup basis for the amount. He said the net effect is a decrease in Ad Valorem and an increase in the rates to both of the utilties because these are expenses of the utilties and they should carry their own expenses. Mr. Etheredge said on Page 177, Finance - Data Processing ser- vices, there has been some surplus built up in these funds from previous years and he used that money to try to lower and balance expenses for all of the other departments. Mayor Kravitz questioned what equipment is being proposed under Office Equipment, in the amount of $2,800.00. Mr. Etheredge said there is a communication device that must be used and is needed. C/M Gottesman questioned the figure of $134,000.00 for Office Equipment Repairs on Page 177 and Mr. Etheredge said that is maintenance agreements on all of the computer equipment. He said there are some things projected to be added such as a Printer for the City Clerk's office and the Utilities Department is expected to get more computer equipment. C/M Munitz asked if that amount should not be charged to the department using the equipment and Mr. Etheredge said it is. V/M Massaro questioned Professional Services on Page 177 in the amount of $14,000.00 and Mr. Etheredge said that is the amount of money budgeted every year for programs that the City may want to buy. Mayor Kravitz suggested this be discussed with the City Manager for a possible reduction of $10,000.00. V/M Massaro questioned why Computer Supplies has an Actual Expense of $7,379.73 with a recommended figure of $15,000.00. V/M Massaro said this should be reduced to $10,000.00. 1 6 9/23/85 /pm \ Mr. Etheredge said in the past the budget has been set by taking the total budget expenditures, divided by 12 and then transfer in the pro rated share from each department. He said this year he is going to only transfer what is actually spent in these funds. Legislative - Mr. Perretti referred to Page 2, Current Year Budget is $114,945.00, Proposed $121,295.00 and Recommended by the City Manager is $109,425.00. Melanie Reynolds, Charter Board Aide, said the amount designated for Travel -Other is $3,000.00 and she felt the Charter would have to be changed if this amount was designated. Mayor Kravitz said this only has to be allotted if that amount will be spent and V/M Massaro said that amount should be budgeted to comply with the Charter. She said the amount of Travel -Other should be changed from $3,000.00 to $11,000.00. City Attorney - Mr. Perretti referred to Page 3, Current Year Budget is $222,755.00, Proposed Budget is $198,845.00 and Re- commended by the City Manager is $165,430.00. Mayor Kravitz questioned the Regular Salaries line item amount, which was increased from last year's budget of $93,900.00 to $98,100.00. Mr. Perretti said it includes an increase for the secretaries, which was incorporated in the budget. He said they are Confidential employees but should have an increase as the union employees are scheduled to have to avoid their joining the union. Mr. Etheredge said the City Attorney received a raise in July and that would be included in this budget as well. V/M Massaro requested a break -down of this department. C/M Gottesman asked if this budget includes another increase for the City Attorney and Mr. Etheredge said yes. V/M Massaro said that will not happen. V/M Massaro asked where David Feldheim's salary comes from and Mr. Perretti said from Professional Services, along with Alan Ruf's services. V/M Massaro said she is recommending that Mr. Feldheim's services be terminated. Mayor Kravitz said there are questions concerning Accounts #120, Regular Salaries and #310, Professional Services. Mr. Perretti said a break -down will be given on both. V/M Massaro asked where there is provision for unexpected legal expenses such as ESM and Mr. Etheredge said ESM is budgeted to come from Revenue Sharing and they have given the City an estimate of $250,000.00 for next year. Tape 3 Mr. Etheredge said it is estimated for $250,000.00 for this year and for the next few years. Mr. Perretti said he originally allocated $100,000.00 and Mr. Henning said it would be $250,000.00. C/M Gottesman asked if the amount of $250,000.00 includes the pooling device that was approved to save money and Mr. Perretti said yes. V/M Massaro said Account #401, Meetings and Seminars, in the amount of $1,000.00, should be eliminated. Mayor Kravitz suggested that be questioned as well. V/M Massaro asked about Account #402, Travel -Other, and Mr. Perretti said he charges mileage since his Automobile Allowance has been taken away. V/M Massaro questioned Dues and Memberships, Account #542r and Mr. Etheredge said there are several organizations he belongs to. 7 f 9/23/85 /pm V/M Massaro suggested he reduce the amount of $1,000.00, along with Account #660, Books, Publications, Library in the amount of $2,000.00. She requested the Acting City Manager check into the books and publications for the library since there seems to be a surplus. She asked how many secretaries the City Attorney has and Mr. Perretti said there are two. She questioned why he needs two secretaries and Mr. Perretti said one secretary does the word processing. She suggested this be checked further by the Acting City Manager. City Manager - Mr. Perretti referred to Page 8, Current Year Budget is $155,825.00, Proposed is $170,129.00 and Recommended by the City Manager is $141,770.00. V/M Massaro questioned the amount of $1,000.00 for Dues and Member- ships and Mr. Perretti said that is for the ICMA, the International City Manager's Association for approximately $838.00. V/M Massaro asked for verification of that amount and a determination of what that covers. She questioned the amount of $15,000.00 for Professional Services and Mr. Perretti said last year the Efficiency Study and the Grants Planner were taken from this amount. Mr. Etheredge said he would verify this for V/M Massaro to determine who receives this $15,000.00. Charter Board - Melanie Reynolds said the Charter Board, if present, would question the $5,000.00 taken away from Professional Services. Mr. Perretti referred to Page 30, Current Year is $26,615.00, Proposed is $37,650.00 and Recommended by the City Manager is $31,650.00. Mrs. Reynolds questioned Account #310, the reduction from $15,000.00 requested to $10,000.00. She said the Charter Board is concerned this will not be a sufficient amount for an attorney. Mayor Kravitz suggested Mr. Perretti review this further and V/M Massaro said she is hopeful the Charter Board will hold with the amount of $10,000.00. ocial Services - Mr. Etheredge referred to Page 59. He said originally they requested $15,000.00 for the Area Council on Aging and this amount was in the budget. He said there were memos that they wanted the amount of $15,000.00 to be used for a new van, which he changed over and budgeted there. He said Social Services has now requested $5,000.00 for the City's contribution to the Area Council on Aging as well. V/M Massaro said no, that cannot be done. Mr. Etheredge said this might as well be carried out because two years from now it will mean putting $20,000.00 in there. V/M Massaro said that is what should happen with $5,000.00 being contributed to the Area Council on Aging. C/M Munitz suggested the Acting City Manager contact the Chairperson so that this can be discussed at their next meeting. Mr. Perretti referred to Page 65, which showed the Proposed and Recommended Contingency for the year, both amounts being $131,000.00. Mr. Perretti said this is a very low amount, just above 1%. V/M Massaro said she feels Tamarac has the lowest budge of any City in Broward County. She said Tamarac is the only City ti with a 10 million dollar budget when compared to other cities of comparable size. Mayor Kravitz noted that Tamarac is the only City in the area that picks up the garbage charges and this is only being charged at a rate of $2.50 per month. 8 9/23/85 /pm \J 11 Police - V/M Massaro questioned Account #260, Education, and Mr. Etheredge said that money comes from Parking Tickets. V/M Massaro asked if that affects the money the City gets from parking tickets and Mr. Etheredge said no, it is an additional $2.00 charge per ticket. V/M Massaro asked if the City is requir- ing the Police to withhold $4.00 from each violation to pay for crossing guards and Mr. Etheredge said the Resolution has to be prepared by the City Attorney's Department. V/M Massaro asked Mr. Perretti to check this further. Mr. Perretti referred to Page 44, Account #640, Vehicles, in the amount of $140,000.00. V/M Massaro asked Mr. Perretti to check to determine how many vehicles are actually needed and Mr. Etheredge said he was told there are 22 cars now and 8 have just been re- placed leaving 14 cars. He said this amount would replace about 11 cars. V/M Massaro said that should be cut in half or more. Mayor Kravitz adjourned the meeting at 3:05 P.M. 1 ASSISTANT CITY CLERK This public document was promulgated at a cost of $130.30 or $3.61 per copy, to inform the general public and public officers and employees about recent opinions and considerations by the City Council of the City of Tamarac. 9 9/23/85 /Pm v