HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-06-19 - City Commission Public Hearing Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING MEETING
FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1992
Tape 1
CALL TO ORDER Mayor Bender called the City Council Public
Hearing meeting to order at 2:00 P.M. in Conference Room #1,
City Hall.
PRESENT
Mayor H. L. Bender
Vice Mayor Henry Schumann
Councilman Norman Abramowitz
Councilman Irving Katz
Councilman Joseph Schreiber
ALSO PRESENT :
John P. Kelly, City Manager
Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager
Mitchell S. Kraft, City Attorney
Michael R. Couzzo, Director of Public Services/
Assistant City Manager
Mary Blasi, Finance Director
Phyllis Polikoff, Secretary
1. PUBLIC HEARING - MOTION TO ADOPT Tem . Reso. #6314 revising
customer user charges and the rate structure or utility
customers east of State Road 7 (441) (Tamarac Utilities
East).
SYNOPSIS OF ACTION
DISCUSSED (See Page 10 for FINAL ACTION)
City Attorney Kraft read Temp. Reso. #6314 by Title.
City Manager Kelly said utility rates needed to be increased for
Tamarac Utilities East customers and today's Public Hearing
would give Council the specific details concerning the proposed
rate increase.
Mr. Kelly said there were approximately 1,000 Utilities East
customers who had not been given any increases for the past five
years. He said the Utilities East system had absorbed a 5%
increase each year from the City of Fort Lauderdale and the
increase had not been passed on to the customers.
Mary Blasi said Utilities East was not covered by a Bond
Covenant and they could stand on their own although a Bond was
issued for Utilities West.
Ms. Blasi reiterated that Utilities East had not received a rate
increase during the past five years but their expenses had
increased based on the City of Fort Lauderdale Large User
Agreement for water and wastewater. She reiterated that
although Utilities East absorbed the increases from the City of
Fort Lauderdale, these increases had not been passed down to the
customers.
Ms. Blasi said Hartman 6 Associates, Inc., was asked to do a
rate study and they determined that revenues had decreased
because of conservation efforts mandated by the South Florida
Water Management District (SFWMD).
Mr. Kelly said the Utility Funds were Enterprise Funds and were
supported by the rates they charged.
C/M Abramowitz said Utilities West had approximately 25,000
customers and Utilities East had approximately 1,000 customers.
City Council Public Hearing Meeting
6/19/92/PP
Page 2
Robert Ori, Manager of Rates and Finance from Hartman &
Associates, Inc., stated that Utilities East had not grown in
the past several years but operating expenses had increased over
12% and now they could no longer be absorbed.
Mr. Ori said over the past five years, the City of Fort
Lauderdale had increased rates almost 20% which represented
almost 56% of the total cost.
C/M Abramowitz reiterated Mr. Ori's comments and added that
C.I.A.C. funds were depleted. He said residents had to be made
aware of why utility rates had to be increased.
Mr. Kelly said he had already explained to many Utilities East
residents why there was a need for the increase. He said 5,300
gallons of water per month was the average consumed by Utilities
East customers. He said if the increase was approved, a
Utilities East customer would pay approximately $.04 more per
month.
C/M Abramowitz reiterated that C.I.A.C. funds were depleted but
the City had collected $1,243,200 in 1988 and $204,800 had been
collected in 1991. C/M Schreiber asked how much of these funds
went to Utilities East and Mr. Kelly said, zero funds. Ms.
Blasi agreed.
C/M Katz said there was a disparity between Utilities East rates
and Utilities west rates and he was concerned that Utilities
West customers would feel they were being discriminated against.
C/M Katz said a Bond repayment would be incorporated into the
Utilities West increase but this could not be done for Utilities
East because they did not have a Bond repayment. He said
Utility East's increase would be one-third and Utility West's
increase would be two-thirds.
Ms. Blasi said the rates were very close and Utilities West had
the Debt Service but Utilities East also had the Debt Service
through the City of Fort Lauderdale.
Mr. Ori said each system was different and Utility East's rates
were based on the cost to provide service to Utilities East and
Utilities West rates were based on those costs. He said funds
were transferred from Utilities East to the Utilities West
budget for shared expenses, i.e., meter reading and maintenance.
C/M Schreiber asked what the City of Fort Lauderdale charged for
services to Utilities East customers and Mr. Ori said, $.85 per
1,000 gallons of metered service for wastewater. He said ground
water was also metered and had to be paid for.
Mr. Ori said water charges were monthly service rates based on
the number of inter -connection points between Utility East's
system and the City of Fort Lauderdale's system. He said there
were three different sizes of meters and the usage charge was
$1.20 per 1,000 gallons. He said the City of Fort Lauderdale
advised that charges for water services would be increased
approximately 5% per year.
Mr. Ori said wastewater services would be increased
approximately 1% per year. He said the City of Fort Lauderdale
provided service to Utilities East through the 201 Facilities
Plan and Broward County provided service to Utilities West
services through their 201 facilities plan.
C/M Schreiber asked if the 5% increase would be sufficient over
the next several years and Mr. Ori said, yes. He said Temp.
Reso. #6314 also requested a second year increase.
C/M Abramowitz said consumption and income had dropped and he
suggested that utility rates should be increased but the Council
at that time did not wish to do so. He said the less water was
City Council Public Hearing Meeting
6/19/92/PP
Page 3
used, the more it cost.
C/M Katz suggested that the last sentence in Section I(i) -
Automatic Annual Rate Increase - should be amended to include,
"subject to approval of Council each year." He said the same
language should also be included at the end of the last sentence
of Section II(i) and in all other applicable Sections. Mr. Ori
agreed.
C/M Katz suggested that the same language should be included in
the Utilities West Resolution at the end of the first sentence
of Section I(i) and Section II(d) and in all other applicable
ections. Mayor Bender agreed.
Mr. Kelly said if the proposal was approved, it would mean that
Utilities East rates would be increased to $32.08 and Utilities
West rates would be increased to $33.33.
C/M Katz said Page 6, Section III(h) of the Resolution referred
to equipment and charges and he mentioned seeing some equipment
being used. He asked Mike Couzzo, Director of Public Services,
about the equipment and was advised that the City had to
investigate the sewer system to make sure it was adequate before
accepting responsibility from the developer. He said there was
no Section in the Resolution which addressed this and it should
be included. He said a developer should be charged for
equipment and services.
Mr. Kelly said some charges were already included in the permit
fees and he suggested that the permit fees should be reviewed
again.
C/M Katz said if a developer was already charged, he did not
have a problem, but it should be addressed in the Resolution if
the developer was not charged. C/M Abramowitz said the charges
in the Resolution and the permit fees should be the same and if
the Resolution indicated higher fees, the permit fees should be
adjusted.
v/M Schumann said the proposed increase was 8.5% for Utilities
East and Ms. Blasi agreed and indicated this was an additional
increase and the effective dates were for 1993 and 1994. Mr.
Ori said the average increase for the residents would be 7.8%.
Ms. Blasi said the charges for Utilities west would also become
effective on and after October 1, 1993.
Anthony Grimaldi, resident, expressed his concerns about the
rate increase and asked about the 5% annual increase from the
City of Fort Lauderdale. Mr. Ori responded that he spoke with
several individuals who reviewed Tamarac's rates and charges and
they also did a rate analysis. He said the City of Fort
Lauderdale indicated a 5% increase on water and 1% on sewer.
Mr. Grimaldi said in his opinion, less water would be used in
the future but it would cost more.
Mr. Kelly said water lines were older and had to be repaired or
replaced and if this was not done on a regular basis, costs
would escalate dramatically. He said the City always budgeted
monies for these repairs, etc., and reiterated the 20% increase
from the City of Fort Lauderdale over the past five years which
was not passed on to the residents. He said Bond ratings would
indicate the City was fiscally responsive to its residents.
Mr. Kelly said utility costs were supported by user rates not
from taxes and Mr. Grimaldi said when money was needed, it was
taken from the utilities and put into the General Fund.
C/V Katz reiterated has suggestion that the Agreement should be
subject to approval by Council who would determine if a rate
increase was necessary or unnecessary. Mayor Bender said
City Council Public Hearing Meeting
6/19/92/PP
Page 4
Council would review the contract every year.
Tape 2
C/M Abramowitz said with regard to water testing, the Federal
Government required three tests and now they required over 100
tests. He said it was odd that it cost more to use less water
and rationalized that it was because of the equipment and
availability of the water. He said originally the City had one
laboratory and now the City had two laboratories.
Herman Gross, resident, expressed his concerns about the rate
increase and said today's newspaper indicated a 13% increase
with an automatic 3% annual increase. He said Mr. Kelly
indicated revenues decreased 8% and expenses increased 12%.
Mr. Gross said the Annual Audits for Utilities East for
1989/1990 and 1990/1991 indicated a 1.9% decrease in revenues
and a 2.8% increase in operating expenses. He said the Annual
Audits for Utilities West for the same time periods indicated a
1.2% increase in revenues and a 6.7% increase in operating
expenses. He said he could not justify the 12% increase in
expenses. He said less water was used in 1991 due to water
conservation.
Mr. Gross said the 1992/1993 budget should be looked at very
thoroughly before any rates were increased.
Mr. Kelly said the 13% increase indicated in the newspaper
represented the five-year period from 1987 through the present
date. Mr. Gross said non -cash expenses indicated were $500,000
and was less than $1,000,000 and he believed the proposed rate
increase was double what was needed.
Mr. Ori agreed with Mr. Gross and said expenses were out -pacing
revenues and the original proposed increase was $1,500,000. He
said the City had to meet certain Utilities West Bond Covenants
and to do so, there was a minimum increase which had to be
imposed. He said the City was required to maintain a Debt
Service coverage based on rates and operating expenses and the
City would not meet the Bond Covenant this year if the .increase
was not imposed.
Mr. Gross requested seeing the preliminary budget because he did
not believe what the City requested was really needed. He said
certain Utility bonds were being considered for refinancing and
they would reduce the cost of interest.
Mr. Ori said the approved 1991/1992 budget was reviewed and he
projected 1992/1993 expenses but since that time, the
preliminary 1992/1993 budget was prepared. He said the City
reduced some figures to cut costs.
Mr. Ori said since 1987, rates had not increased but expenses
had increased. He said the City utilized its cash balances but
if revenues continued to decrease, the cash balances would not
be available because utilities were not growing. He said
C.I.A.C. charges indicated growth and the City collected over
$1,200,000 in 1988 and over $40,000 in 1992. He said the
$40,000 was being used to offset the Debt Service.
Mr. Ori said to -date, the City had not refinanced any Bonds
although the City's initial plan was to refinance Bonds to
reduce the debt service by approximately $60,000 per year in the
Utilities West budget. He said many capital improvements had to
be done and the savings from the debt service would go toward
those improvements and rates would not have to be increased as
much.
Mr. Gross reiterated that the budget should be looked at very
thoroughly before any decisions were made witn regard to
increasing the rates. C/M Schreiber agreed and added it was
1
1
City Council Public Hearing Meeting
6/19/92/PP
Page 5
also possible that an increase might not be necessary for
October 1.
C/M Schreiber said Utilities East maintained itself very well.
He said the matter of increasing utility rates evolved when the
City endeavored to refinance some Bonds and realized they had
not been able to meet the 120% Bond Covenant. He said this had
nothing to do with Utilities East because they did not have any
Bond issues.
C/M Schreiber reiterated the suggestion that an increase should
not be implemented for Utilities East until the budget was
completely reviewed. He said an increase could always be
implemented.
Mayor Bender said Bond refinancing had nothing to do with the
rate increases with regard to Utilities West. C/M Schreiber
disagreed.
Ms. Blasi said the City was not deficient this year with regard
to the Bond Covenant but would be next year.
C/M Abramowitz asked if the City would be in technical default
next year if they did not meet the Bond Covenant and the bonds
were not refinanced and Ms. Blasi said, yes.
C/M Abramowitz said a Utility Department could not wait until an
emergency to act.
Mr. Ori said Utilities East averaged approximately $70,000,
which was down from $104,089 in 1991 after expenses were paid
and the $70,000 was expected to decrease even further. He said
rates would fund cash contributions towards capital improvements
and not any old equipment. He said $103,000 would be needed in
1993 to fund capital improvements and reiterated that $70,000
was presently the average.
Mr. Ori said the water increase was 5% but it could be higher
because the City of Fort Lauderdale was also expecting a rate
increase. He said the need for the rate increase was due to
lack of growth in the Utilities East system and increased
expenses. He said the City was taking surplus funds and putting
them back into Utilities East and would do this for the next two
years. He said they should not continue doing this.
C/M Katz said the City should not have to operate in a deficit
situation. He said the proposed rate increase was for a single
year and reiterated that every year, Council should review every
proposed increase. He said a proposed increase should be for a
one-year period only.
Mr. Ori recommended that the increase should be for a minimum of
two -years. C/M Abramowitz suggested that Council should have
the opportunity to review proposed increases every year.
C/M Katz said if rates were not increased, the City would be in
a deficit situation.
Mr. Kelly said there was a tie-in between refinancing the Bonds
and the rate increase.
Arthur Ziev, Vice President of Public Finance of Raymond James &
Associates, Inc., said the proposed rate increase was indirectly
Lied into the Bond refinancing. He said the existing Bond
Covenant had to be met each year.
Mr. Ziev said net revenues plus C.I.A.C. impact funds and
minimum net revenues had to equal the 120% Debt Service. He
said over the past several years, C.I.A.C. impact funds went
from over $1,200,000 to $40,000 and the City had to meet the
Debt Service almost entirely from net revenues. He said it did
not matter if Bonds were refinanced or not and reiterated that
City Council Public Hearing Meeting
6/19/92/PP
Page 6
next year, the City would be in a deficit situation.
Mr. Ziev said the Bond Covenant stipulated that the City was
required to adjust the rates to meet the Debt Service. He
agreed that the City would be in technical default if the Bond
Covenant was not complied with and the Bond insurer had the
right to take the City to Court to enforce increased rates to
remain in compliance.
Mr. Ziev said the City could save almost $60,000 if the Bonds
were refinanced but this amount would be insufficient to off -set
the proposed rate increase.
Mr. Ori said what was happening in Utilities East was also
happening in Utilities West.
2. PUBLIC HEARING - MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Reso. #6313 revising
customer user charge and the rate structure or utility
customers west of State Road 7 (441) (Tamarac Utilities
West).
SYNOPSIS OF ACTION .
DISCUSSED (See Page 10 for FINAL ACTION)
City Attorney Kraft read Temp. Reso. #6313 by Title.
C/M Katz said with regard to Maps 2.1 and 2.2, the Service Areas
for Utilities West were not the same on the Water System Service
Area. Mr. Ori said this information came from maps he had
received and the information did not impact on the numbers. He
said the maps would be corrected and resubmitted to the City.
C/M Katz said the Map information would impact if the residents
were not indicated on the Service Area. Mr. Ori said he obtained
actual billing records for the total system.
Mr. Ori said Utility West's rates were governed by Broward
County's Wastewater charges which had increased over 30% during
the past five years. He said this increase was in excess of
over $2,000,000 per year with charges based on a combination of
Operation/Maintenance and Debt Service. He said the current Debt
Service was $900,000 and it would go over $1,200,000 by 1994.
Mr. Ori said the Debt Service was paid to Broward County for the
City's share in their wastewater system. He said there would be
a very slight increase in the Operation/Maintenance fees for 1993
but there would be a 10% increase for 1994.
Mr. Ori said Broward County's annual costs would go from
$2,200,000 in 1992 to approximately $2,800,000 in 1994.
C/M Katz asked about sludge being brought to a reclamation point
at the City of Coconut Creek and C/M Abramowitz said the
Environmental Protection Agency could not do anything for the
next three or four years.
Mr. Ori said the growth slowed in Utilities West although there
were approximately 25,000 customers and the City was approaching
build -out. He said growth was less than 1% annually while
expenses were increasing 3% to 4% for this same period.
Mr. Ori said in past years,
cash funds were used
to
meet the
deficit and the balances were
decreasing but also
the
interest
which would have been earned
was decreasing. He said
C.I.A.C.
funds were being used to pay
the Debt Service on
Series 1986
Bonds and over $400,000 was used
for 1991/1992.
He
said the
budget projection for 1992/1993
was over $438,000
and
this Fund
would end in 1994.
Mr. Ori said with regard to capital improvements that the
projects did not go away and they became more expensive to fix.
F,1
City Council Public Hearing Meeting
6/19/92/PP
Page 7
He said the City needed to start funding the Renewal/Replacement
program.
Mr. Ori said Hartman & Associates looked at the five-year Capital
Improvement Budget and determined that the rate increase this
year and next year would not entirely fund this Budget. He
reiterated that no rate increases had been imposed for the past
five years.
Mr. Ori said a 13% overall increase over five years equalled 2%
below the inflation mark and this was very good.
C/M Schreiber asked if the C.I.A.C. funds would increase if there
was an upsurge in the economy in the next several years. Mr. Ori
said they would not increase today but in the year the economy
rose this could happen.
C/M Schreiber reiterated the rate increase resulted from Bonds
considered for refinancing with a savings of approximately
$50,000 per year. He said Utility West customers would get a
rate increase and would have to pay an additional $1,343,280 for
fiscal year 1992/1993 and he did not agree with the proposed rate
increase.
C/M Schreiber said Section 7.18 of the Charter pertained to
commingling of funds and City Manager Kelly violated the Charter.
He said in his opinion, the City Manager transferred at least
$850,000 in excess funds from the Utilities West budget to the
General Fund Budget to make up a deficit. He said it was
improper to charge taxes to Utility West customers for a tax
exempt facility and the Utility West Fund was being reduced which
prevented operating revenues from meeting the 120% Debt Service
in the Bond Covenant.
C/M Schreiber asked about Utilities West figures on Page 73 of
the Annual Financial Report. He said Non -departmental,
Administration and Administrative Service charges totalled over
$1,700,000. He asked why the figure was so high when the adopted
budget was $350,000 but the year-end budget was over $767,000 and
asked if there was justification that the City actually provided
these services.
C/M Schreiber said according to the Auditor, 107% of Council's
budget was charged against Utilities West funds.
Tape 3
Mr. Kelly disagreed that the increase was the result of
considering Bonds for refinancing and Council authorized the
rate study to ascertain whether the Utility funds were self-
sufficient. He said it was the Investment Advisory Committee's
opinion that the time was right to refinance the Bonds.
Ms. Blasi said $767,274 referred to by C/M Schreiber represented
$350,000 in Administrative fees and approximately $350,000 for
payment in lieu of taxes from Utilities West to the General
Fund. She said other Non -departmental charges referred to
internal service charges for Fleet Maintenance and in her
opinion, the General Fund provided more than what was charged.
C/M Schreiber disagreed. She said for many years the City
inadequately charged Utilities West for services provided by the
General Fund.
C/M Schreiber reiterated his request for justification of
services provided and Ms. Blasi said, yes. Mayor Bender said
there were documents to support the City's position for the rate
increase.
C/M Abramowitz asked if there was a charge --back from Utilities
West to the General Fund. Mr. Kelly said $250,000 was charged
back in 1986 and at that time he requested justification and an
audit but Council denied his request. He said Council
City Council Public Hearing Meeting
6/19/92/PP
Page 8
recommended increasing the amount to $350,000 the following year
and Mr. Kelly requested justification and it was denied. He
said the charge -back was approved for $350,000 and it remained
at that figure until Council gave their approval and the audit
was completed and it was determined that the General Fund had
subsidized the Utilities West budget for several years.
C/M Schreiber said the $850,000 transfer did not explain that
$350,000 represented Administrative expenses. C/M Katz said he
believed there was back-up to support the transfer.
C/M Katz said there were inequities with the water and sewer
lines and too much was being put on single-family and multi-
family homes and not enough was being put on commercial
properties. He was advised that everyone who had a three-inch
water line should pay the same rate but Southern Bell was paying
one-third less than Woodmont and he asked why. Mr. Ori said
this was Southern Bell's existing rate.
C/M Katz said before the rates were increased, he wanted to make
sure that commercial users as well as single-family and multi-
family users were charged the same rate for water and sewer.
Mr. Ori said Council had requested that the rates should be
revised and recommended eliminating the charges for smaller or
larger size meters and to make everyone equal for all the meter
sizes. C/M Katz said Mr. Ori had indicated at a previous
meeting that everyone would be paying the exact same rate for
the three-inch meter and Mr. Ori agreed.
Mr. Ori said the source of availability cost for the commercial
user was shifted back to the original rate for almost all the
customers and commercial users would get a larger increase than
what was originally calculated. He said the single and multi-
family customers would get the savings for water and sewer.
C/M Katz asked if there was a substantial difference between the
proposed 13.9% and would anything be affected. Mr. Ori said,
no, and the 13.9% was a total system revenue number.
C/M Katz asked if additional revenues were collected from the
commercial users, could the single-family and multi -family rates
be reduced. Mr. Ori said, yes, and the facts were documented in
a letter.
Mr. Ori said the single-family rate would be reduced from $6.15
to $6.00 per 1,000 gallons and the multi -family rate would be
reduced from $4.95 to $4.35 per 1,000 gallons.
C/M Abramowitz asked how much was paid to the Cities of Fort
Lauderdale and Deerfield Beach over the past several years. Ms.
Blasi said the City signed a Lease Agreement for wastewater
treatment capacity and paid $25,000 per month until Broward
County's expansion project was completed and almost $65,000 was
saved when it came under their wastewater program.
C/M Abramowitz said the City should spend money before a
catastrophe happened. He said large sums of money were spent to
repair, maintain and improve the system.
C/M Abramowitz said rates should have been increased many years
ago but no one wanted to do this. He asked if 13.9% was the
absolute minimum and Mr. Ori said, yes.
C/M Schreiber disagreed and said single-family rates would be
increased almost 17% and almost 20.5% for multi -family. Mr. Ori
said 13.9% represented the system revenue required above the
existing revenue and also to avoid the City going into technical
default. He said different residential classes would receive
greater than a 13.9% increase and the rate would be 16.7% for
anything over the average of 5,300 gallons.
1
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City Council Public Hearing Meeting
6/19/92/PP
Page 9
Mr. Kelly said if a budget was prepared but needed projects were
deferred, the City would end up paying larger sums of money. He
said the typical solution was to defer spending for several
years and then sell the project as a Bond issue.
Mr. Kelly said if the City went into technical default, it would
be more difficult to sell another Bond.
Mayor Bender OPENED the Public Hearing portion of the Meeting.
Barry Eden, resident, expressed his concerns and said commercial
tenants were being discriminated against because they did not
have a cap on sewer usage. He said residential users did not
pay sewer charges if they used over 15,000 gallons.
Mr. Eden said the existing water rate was $1.04 per 1,000
gallons and the increase would be $1.57 or a 66% increase. Mr.
Ori disagreed and said commercial users would get an increasing
block rate.
Mr. Eden said sewer rates would be increased from $1.61 to $2.15
or 74%. He said charges to 26 of his tenants would be increased
from $1,000 per month to $1,700. Mr. Ori disagreed and said the
first 15,000 gallons was $1.12 and not $1.57.
Mr. Eden asked that consideration should be given to the
commercial users as was done to the residential users. Mr. Ori
said commercial users were primarily indoor -water users and if a
commercial user had a great deal of green space, an irrigation
meter was usually installed to avoid paying the sewer charges.
Mr. Eden said in his opinion, most commercial users would be
unable to pay the increase based on 100,000 gallons. Mr. Ori
responded that the first 15,000 gallons would be increased $.08.
He said the increase was 30% on the flow charge and a slight
increase on the service -availability charges.
Mr. Eden said his 26 tenants were serviced by two, two-inch
meters and 100,000 gallons was for both meters. Mr. Ori said
the first 60,000 gallons would be $1.12 and the remaining 40,000
gallons would be $1.57.
C/M Katz said there was a charge for each water hookup and the
developer and the City were setting a usage per meter charge and
in his opinion, the usage per meter should not be reduced.
C/M Katz said it was not possible to place a cap on commercial
users for sewer usage but a limit should be placed on the number
of users hooked up to a meter without any additional connection
charges or meters.
C/M Abramowitz said the South Florida Water Management District
wanted a tiered billing system in an attempt to conserve water.
He said many cities would soon be billed in this fashion.
C/M Abramowitz said Tamarac did not have a utility tax and there
was a difference in income. He said if a person did not
conserve water, they should pay for it.
Mayor Bender CLOSED the Public portion of the Meeting with no
further response.
I. PUBLIC HEARING - MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Reso. #6314 revising
customer user charges and the rate structure for utility
customers east of State Road 7 (441) Tamarac Utilities
East).
SYNOPSIS OF ACTION RESOLUTION NO. R-92-110-PASSED
(See Page 1 for Initial Discussion)
APPROVED with amended
language. Public Hearing
was held.
City Council Public Hearing Meeting
6/19/92/PP
Page 10
City Attorney Kraft read Tem Reso. #6314 by Title.
* C/M Abramowitz MOVED to ADOPT Temp. Reso. #6314 with additional
language, "subject to approval by Council each year" in Section I
(h and i) and Section II (h and i) and in all other applicable
Sections, SECONDED by C/M Katz.
VOTE C/M Abramowitz AYE
C/M Katz AYE
C/M Schreiber NAY
V/M Schumann AYE
Mayor Bender AYE
2. PUBLIC HEARING - MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Reso. #6313 revising
customer user charges and the rate structure for utility
customers west of State Road 7 (441) (Tamarac Utilities
West)
SYNOPSIS OF ACTION RESOLUTION NO. R-92-110-PASSED
(See Page 6 for Initial Action)
APPROVED with amended
language. Public Hearing
was held.
City Attorney Kraft read Temp. Reso. #6313 by Title.
Tape 4
* C/M Katz MOVED to ADOPT Temp. Reso. #6313 with amended language,
"subject to review by Council every year" in Section I(h and i)
and Section II(c and d) and in all other applicable Sections,
SECONDED by V/M Schumann.
C/M Abramowitz asked if there would be a problem with regard to
insurance ratings with the Bond refinancing and v/M Schumann
said not for next year.
Mr. Ziev said he spoke with several insurers and rating agencies
and in his opinion, the matter of a lowered Debt Service
coverage concerned them. He could not proceed with the Bond
refinancing until Council decided what action they would take.
He said once the insurers knew what the increase, if any, would
be, they would look more favorably at the City.
Mr. Ziev said in his opinion, the insurers would also look more
favorably at the City if Council approved a two-year agreement.
He said if Council only approved a one-year agreement, the Bond
Covenant would require that an increase would also be necessary
the following year. He said in his opinion, a two-year
agreement would benefit the City's ability to get lower
insurance or a higher rating on the Bonds.
C/M Abramowitz asked what the percent of increase would be the
second year if the City approved a one-year agreement and Mr.
Ziev said he did not know. V/M Schumann said if the economy
stayed status quo, the Bond Covenant would again have to be met
in 1993/1994.
V/M Schumann agreed with Mr. Ziev about a two-year agreement and
C/M Abramowitz agreed. C/M Katz said he was concerned about a
two-year agreement. Mr. Ziev said the insurers indicated 8.5%
would be needed next year to meet the Bond Covenant.
C/M Abramowitz said in his opinion, the City should agree to a
two-year agreement because the City would probably be assured of
a better rate and better insurance.
Ms. Blasi said the increase proposed for next year was based on
the Bond Covenants, total system rates, renewal and replacement
City Council Public Hearing Meeting
6/19/92/PP
Page 11
capital expenses and increases in the Debt Service coverage for
Broward County. She said rates for October 1, 1993 were a bit
higher than the minimum required to meet the Bond Covenant with
the possibility of an excess to fund some capital improvements.
C/M Katz said it would not be necessary for Council to review
the Ordinance in 1992/1993 but the Ordinance would be reviewed
in 1994.
* C/M Katz AMENDED his MOTION that it would only be necessary for
,Council to review the Ordinance with regard to Section I(h) and
Section II(c) in 1994, SECONDED by V/M Schumann.
VOTE C/M Schreiber NAY
V/M Schumann AYE
C/M Abramowitz AYE
C/M Katz AYE
Mayor Bender AYE
C/M Katz asked about rates and different sized meters and Mr.
Ori said rates were being adjusted and rates were increased by
meter size.
C/M Katz said he received a memorandum from Gordon Sparks,
Assistant City Engineer, with incorrect information regarding a
concession stand being constructed. Mike Couzzo, Assistant City
Manager, agreed and C/M Katz said he wanted back-up to clarify
the memorandum.
Mayor Bender ADJOURNED the PUBLIC HEARING at 4:20 P.M.
lH. BENDER
MAYOR
CAROL A. EVANS
CITY CLERK
CITY OF I'.A MARAC
APPROVED AT MEETING OF2-
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