HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-09-12 - City Commission Budget Workshop Meeting Minutes7525 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE 9 TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321-2401
TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900
September 11, 1989
NOTICE OF
CITY COUNCIL
BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETING
for FISCAL YEAR 1989/90
There will be a Budget Workshop Meeting of the City
Council held Tuesday, September 12, 1989 at 9:00 a.m. in the
City Council Conference Room, City Hall, 7525 N.W. 88th
Avenue, Tamarac, Florida.
The purpose of this meeting is to finalize the Fiscal
Year 1989/90 budget.
All meetings are open to the public.
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Carol A. Evans
City Clerk
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS
CITY OF TAMARAC.
CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETING
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1989
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting to Order on
Tuesday, September 12, 1989 at 9:00 A.M. in the City Council Conference
Room.
ir PRESENT:
Mayor Norman Abramowitz
Vice Mayor Dr. H. Larry Bender
Councilman Bruce Hoffman
Councilman Henry Rohr
Councilman Jack Stelzer
ALSO PRESENT:
John P. Kelly, City Manager
Ken Burroughs, Finance Director
Dina McDermott, Assistant to the
City Manager
Pauline Walaszek, Special Services
Secretary
The purpose of this meeting was to review the proposed Budget
for Fiscal Year 1989/90.
V/M Bender said he has been advised that the Rock Island
Road project would not be started until next year. He
said the proposed budget contained $440,000.00 for this
project and he recommended that the budget be reduced by
$200,000.00. He said there would be $240,000.00
allocated to the project in case it was started in the
near future.
C/M Hoffman asked if $200,000.00 would be transferred to
the General Fund budget and Ken Burroughs, Finance
Director, replied, yes, providing the tax rate was
reduced.
Mayor Abramowitz said $440,000.00 was indicated as an
expenditure in the Utilities Department Budget and Mr.
Burroughs agreed.
C/M Stelzer asked if the funds came from expenditures or
was transferred from one construction fund to another and
Mr. Burroughs said the funds were transferred from the
TUW Operating budget.
C/M Stelzer asked how the funds were placed in that
budget and City Manager Kelly said he and Bob Foy,
Director of Utilities/Engineering, recommended the
expenditure for the budget.
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council was trying not to
expend the funds and he asked what would be done with the
accounts.
Mr. Burroughs said the line items in the Utility Budget
would be reduced by a total of $200,000.00 and this money
would be used to reduce the tax rate by being transmitted
to the General Fund budget.
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C/M Stelzer said when these funds were previously
discussed, it was asked if the money could be taken from
the construction fund for the Public Works/Utilities
Administration Complex and used for the Rock Island Road
project. He said the City Council was informed that the
money could be transferred from one construction fund to
another. He asked if the money could be taken from the
construction fund and used for the operating expenses of
the City.
Mr. Burroughs said there was a Utilities construction
fund of approximately 1 million dollars from a previous
Bond Issue. He said if and when the Rock Island Road
project was started, the money could be used from that
fund. He said the TUW Operating Fund has approximately
$440,000.00 for the Rock Island Road project.
C/M Stelzer said the City Council had asked about
transferring money from the Bond Issue to a construction
fund to build an infrastructure and Mayor Abramowitz said
the City Council asked this question in case they wanted
this to occur.
C/M Stelzer said the City Council was informed that this
would be legal and Mayor Abramowitz agreed. C/M Stelzer
said the money should not be touched if the City Council
did not want to build an infrastructure.
Mayor Abramowitz said $440,000.00 was not being charged
against the Bond Issue and C/M Stelzer asked where
$440,000.00 came from.
Mr. Burroughs said the money was coming from the
operating revenues of the TUW budget.
C/M Stelzer asked if $440,000.00 originally came from the
Bond Indenture and Mr. Burroughs disagreed.
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council wondered if
$440,000.00 could come from the 1 million dollar Bond
Issue for the Rock Island Road project.
C/M Stelzer said the City Council received a legal ruling
that this could be done and Mayor Abramowitz agreed.
Mayor Abramowitz said the funds from the Bond Indenture
were not being used. He said the City Council was
informed that the Rock Island Road project would not be
started this year; therefore, $440,000.00 was being
reduced to $240,000.00.
C/M Stelzer asked if the City Council received legal
opinion regarding taking money from the Utility Budget
and putting it into the operating budget of the City.
Mayor Abramowitz said this matter was discussed last year
and C/M Stelzer said Ray Munitz was going to sue the City
because of this type of action; however, he asked Mr.
Munitz to withhold his suit unless the City did not repay
the money to the Utility budget. He said the City
Council never investigated this matter to see if it was
legal.
Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council was informed last
year that this was legal. He said the issue last year
was that TUE paid funds which were of benefit to
everybody and this was done several years prior to last
year.
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C/M Stelzer said he did not remember this ever occurring
in the past and Mayor Abramowitz said past documents
indicated that this had been done.
City Manager Kelly said approximately $350,000.00 was
transferred in this manner in the past.
C/M Stelzer said approximately $100,000.00 was allocated
in the past to cover the City expenses and the fund was
slowly increased to $350,000.00.
it
Mayor Abramowitz asked if the transfer was legal at
$350,000.00 but not at $500,000.00 and C/M Stelzer said
no one questioned the transfer at that time.
Mayor Abramowitz asked why the transfer was being
questioned now and C/M Stelzer said more than $350,000.00
was being transferred. Mayor Abramowitz asked who
limited the transfer to only $350,000.00 and C/M Stelzer
said the accounting procedures were not as thorough when
the transfer of $350,000.00 was done.
City Manager Kelly asked if the City Council agreed with
reducing the Rock Island project by $200,000.00, which
would be transferred to the operating budget. The City
Council agreed.
C/M Stelzer said when the shortfall in the budget became
known, Mayor Abramowitz stated that everyone would have
to bite the bullet. He said when the budget was
presented by the City Manager, he was pleased with it
because of how the Departments tightened their
expenditures. He said Mayor Abramowitz took over the
budget process and slapped the Department Heads on the
back stating they did a good job and then, cut their
budgets.
C/M Stelzer said the City Council undermined the feelings
of every Department Head, City Manager, Finance Director
and employee by taking away benefits and not providing
wage increases. He said the entire budget process was
political propaganda.
C/M Stelzer said he did not object to the City Council
reducing items in the Budget until the City Council
reviewed the Utilities Budget and treated the
Utilities/Engineering Director as if he were a criminal.
He said the Utilities/Engineering Director had more
knowledge than the City Council together; however, the
City Council undermined him. He said he would not be
surprised if the Utilities/Engineering Director
terminated his employment with the City next year.
C/M Stelzer said during the 17 years that he has been
involved with the City, he has never argued with the
Finance Director on projections of revenue; however, if
he felt the projections were too high, he would complain.
C/M Stelzer said the City Council suddenly became experts
and V/M Bender found $100,000.00 more in the franchise
fees. He said the budget process has become political by
using the ad valorem tax. He said there was no
legitimate purpose for taking money from the Police
Facility Account, applying it to the ad valorem tax for a
reduction of $.20 and then adding $.20 to the Debt
Service.
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C/M Stelzer said the residents were not aware of the
procedures of the Debt Service; therefore, they would not
question it. He said the residents were aware of the ad
valorem tax, which reflected a decrease of $.20.
C/M Stelzer said he was not in favor of this budget;
however, to prevent problems, he would be submitting a
request for a leave of absence to the City Council. He
said he would not be attending the Budget Public Hearings
and would not be returning until October 2, 1989. He
said he did not want to vote on this budget.
C/M Stelzer said he worked on the budget for 17 years and
everyone he worked for had the interest of the people at
heart. He said no one worked on the budget for political
reasons.
Mayor Abramowitz said he appreciated C/M Stelzer
attending every Budget Workshop meeting since he was not
feeling well. He said he would not comment on C/M
Stelzer's remarks; however, he felt that C/M Stelzer was
incorrect.
Mayor Abramowitz said he did not intend to abrogate his
responsibility as the Mayor. He said 50% of the
residents stated that the City Council has always
listening to staff and 50% stated that the City Council
was abrogating their responsibilities as Councilmembers
by not running the City.
Mayor Abramowitz said he respected C/M Stelzer for his
feelings and he thanked C/M Stelzer for his comments. He
said he was not the same person that reviewed the budget
last year because he has had the opportunity to learn
about the budget. He said he was very proud of the City
Council regarding their time and effort in reviewing this
budget. He said the City Council reviewed the entire
budget, not just the Utilities budget, line by line.
C/M Stelzer said the City Council cut the legs off every
Department and Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council did
what they had to do in the best interest of the City.
V/M Bender said he did not agree with C/M Stelzer's
comments and he could substantiate any recommendation
that he made regarding the budget. He said he worked on
the budget day and night; therefore, he took exception to
C/M Stelzer's comments.
C/M Hoffman said he disagreed with C/M Stelzer's comments
and he would not debate with C/M Stelzer because he felt
that C/M Stelzer has lost his ability to understand what
was occurring.
C/M Rohr said this year he really understood the budget
process and he did not feel that the residents would look
at the City Council's actions in a negative manner. He
said the City Council insisted on a lean budget;
therefore, they had to be sure that every dollar spent
was needed.
C/M Stelzer said he did not object to cutting expenses
because this was the City Council's responsibility;
however, he objected to the City Council second guessing
the income. He said last year when the proposed Utility
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Tax was denied, he recommended that 1 million dollars be
borrowed from the Utility Budget; however, the City
Council decided to use the Interim Fees.
C/M Stelzer said the City lost 1 million dollars of
income last year because the ad valorem tax was not
applied properly. He said if the projected revenues were
not factual, the City would have the same problem next
year.
Mayor Abramowitz asked C/M Stelzer to personally call the
City Councilmembers and apologize in 6 months, if in fact
he was incorrect and C/M Stelzer said if the budget
-revenue was correct, he would do this.
Mayor Abramowitz said C/M Stelzer was stating that the
City Council did not care about the employees or
Department Heads; however, his sleepless nights have been
because of the denial to the employees. He said at the
Budget Public Hearing he would be recommending that the
City Council receive a 90 day review of the budget
revenue and, if the funds were available, the matter
would be corrected.
City Manager Kelly said there were rental payments due to
the new owner of the Public Works property. He said
originally the City was billed at 11-1/2% interest plus
sales tax three weeks later than they should have been.
He said the August, 1989 and September, 1989, rental
payments were due; therefore, two accounts needed to be
created for the payments. He said the City would not be
charged sales tax and the City was challenging the
interest rates.
C/M Hoffman said the contract of the sale prohibited the
owner from using his bank's interest rates and City
Manager Kelly said this matter was being investigated;
however, the City Council needed to direct the Finance
Director to create two accounts and pay the rental fees
to the new owner of the Public Works property.
Mayor Abramowitz said the City received 1.9 million
dollars for the sale of that property and the interest
was to be used to offset the rental payments. He
recommended that the outstanding payments come from this
money.
Mr. Burroughs said $7,900.00 was due from the Fiscal Year
1988/89 budget and the budget for Fiscal Year 1989/90 had
to allocate $38,000.00 for the rental of the property.
C/M Hoffman asked when the City Council would meet
regarding vacating the Public Works property and Mayor
Abramowitz said next week he would be calling a meeting
so the City Council could make this determination. Mayor
Abramowitz said he would like to inform the new owner of
the City's intent to vacate.
C/M Stelzer asked the City Council to consider naming the
Multi -Purpose Complex the "Irving Vitrofsky Center".
Mayor Abramowitz said this matter was recommended to the
City Council several months ago and C/M Stelzer asked if
the City Council made this recommendation public.
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Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council felt that this
matter should be announced by the City Manager during the
ground breaking ceremony.
C/M Hoffman said he was going to recommend that the
gymnasium be named in memory of Irving Vitrofsky.
With no further business, Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED this
meeting at 9:50 A.M.
CAROL A. EVANS, CITY CLERK
"This public document was promulgated at a cost of $49.80 or $6.23 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."
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