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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 07-16-2010 CITIZENS’ BUDGET COMMITTEE Meeting Date: July 16, 2010 Conference Room 3 Meeting convened at 7:32 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Carl Hensley, Chair Craig Mundt Edith Hepburn Randy Ezell (8:03) Dan Kurek Edward Lounds Ryan Strickland Patricia “Pat” Ferrick Bill Hammer Jay L. McBee (7:44) John Culverhouse (7:38) Patti Tobin MEMBERS ABSENT: Ron Knaggs Dana McSweeney Richard Pancoast OTHERS PRESENT: Lee Ann Lowery Jennifer Hill Marie Gouin Robert O’Sullivan Debbie Brisson Mark Satterlee Fritz Georges Mike Monahan Jack Southard Toby Long Mark Godwin Lisa Savage Bill Hoeffner Jim David John Ferrick Sophia Holt Beth Ryder Frannie Hutchinson Audrey Jackson Karen Smith Kathryn Hensley Derrick Dukes Roger Shinn Johnny Ortiz CALL TO ORDER Mr. Hensley called the meeting to order at 7:32 a.m. st APPROVAL OF MINUTES – May 21 MEETING Citizens’ Budget Committee July 16, 2010 Page 2 Mr. Mundt made a motion to accept the minutes. The motion was seconded by Ms. Ferrick and unanimously approved. UPDATE ON REALIGNMENT – Lee Ann Lowery Ms. Lowery reported that the Board approved consolidating 18 departments to nine in phases. The plan was to make changes in April, July and October. It has been a challenge because of Strategic Planning and Budget Reviews. Some of the decisions in those meetings have changed the reorganization that was planned. Three departments are finalized. They are Environmental Resources (consolidating Environmental Resources and Cooperative Extension), Mosquito Control and Coastal Management (consolidating Mosquito Control, Erosion District and passive beach parks) and Public Safety and Communications (consolidating Public Safety and Information Technology). Two departments are almost final. Housing and Community Services (consolidating Community Services, Veterans and Library) is nearly complete. Pay grades in the Library are also being investigated. Planning and Development (combining Growth Management, Airport, Building and Code Compliance, Economic Development and Tourism) is almost done. There have been reclassifications done in all these departments. There are two in process. It was announced this week that Central Services will be combined with Parks and Recreation. Rather than a Parks Department and a Recreation Department, the programs will be consolidated and divided by location, basically north and south of Okeechobee Road. Consolidation of OMB and Grants is scheduled for October or later. This has been a difficult time. She praised the employees’ attitudes and actions. She has not received any complaints regarding any employee being rude or slowing down. She normally has to tell employees to stop trying to do it all. Ms. Ferrick does not think the consolidation of Parks and Recreation and Central Services is a good idea. Ms. Lowery said the details have not been worked out. UPDATE ON BOCC BUDGET REVIEWS – Marie Gouin Ms. Gouin said that one of the handouts, FY 2010/11 General Fund/Fine & Forfeiture Fund Budget Reduction Summary, (see attached) was the presentation Ms. Outlaw gave at the end of the Budget Reviews. The Board is still working on their decision of what to do with the General Fund and Fine and Forfeiture Fund millage. The next workshop is scheduled for Monday at 10:00 a.m. Rollback was discussed at the last BOCC Budget Review. The Commissioners are split. It is planned to adopt the millage for the Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices at the next Board meeting on Tuesday. The Board would have two and one-half months to decide. They could go lower before the Public Hearings scheduled for thrd September 9 and 23 but not higher. Mr. Hensley asked if the $19 million on slide three would cover the $8 million on slide 2. Ms. Gouin answered that it would. Citizens’ Budget Committee July 16, 2010 Page 3 Ms. Gouin said that Ms. Outlaw explained in Strategic Planning that one-time money is decreasing. We need to have sustainable revenue. Ms. Ferrick remembered that in a 2009 workshop Commissioner Coward suggested funding the School Resource Officers (SROs) for two years. She asked if that would be honored. Ms. Lowery said that in the Board’s discussion they unanimously decided to fund only their part and expect other groups to step up. Ms. Ferrick said during the same time- frame Judi Miller made a presentation to the Board and requested the County look into forming a Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) with the two cities so this would not have to be debated every year. She asked if staff had looked into that. Ms. Gouin answered that the Chairman of the Board was going to meet with the Cities to discuss the possibility of doing an MSTU to include the Law Enforcement MSTU and SROs. It is too late now for this year. Ms. Ferrick expressed her frustration that it was not done two years ago. She has more names on the petition concerning SROs, and she believes that shows the public is in favor of the program. Ms. Lowery believes there were discussions with the Cities last year about the MSTU. Because of the economic situation, they did not feel it was a good time to move forward. Now they are talking about expanding the existing MSTU to include road patrol and SROs. Ms. Ferrick said the problem is that it would be only the unincorporated area. Ms. Gouin explained that they are looking into making the MSTU countywide. To do that, the Cities would have to adopt an ordinance. Ms. Ferrick expressed her disappointment in waiting. Ms. Lowery said the negotiations will continue. The Chairman and the Sheriff will do a joint letter to the Cities and the School Board. They are looking at the new approach to the existing MSTU. She explained that in the discussion of rollback, the Board members that were in favor intended not to restore services, but to bank the money for two years because in 2013 we would hit the wall again. Ms. Gouin added that she agreed because Ms. Outlaw cannot continue to put the organization through the same process. The one- time dollars are shrinking. Ms. Ferrick said employees would rather have furloughs than pay cuts. Ms. Lowery said one of her roles was taking employees’ suggestions. It was pretty unanimous that employees preferred furlough days over pay cuts for a number of reasons. That was presented to the Board. She believes the Board was supportive. She hopes that we can hold off on that. Mr. Hammer said it would be helpful in talking to the public if we understood how the School District and Law Enforcement coordinate on discipline in the school. Ms. Gouin continued on slide seven. She also read the one-page handout regarding millage. Mr. Lounds asked about the Torrey Pines obligation. Ms. Gouin explained it was the County’s share of promises made to bring them to this County. It is for eight years. Mr. Lounds asked if there were other offers. He asked about that money being spread to local Citizens’ Budget Committee July 16, 2010 Page 4 small businesses to enhance or increase their business. Ms. Gouin said there is a Job Growth Investment Grant (JGIG). Next year the projection is about $600,000. There is also a tax incentive plan where they do not pay taxes. Ms. Tobin added they have to increase the number they employ. Mr. Lounds asked if the high school SROs would have to cover the duties of junior high schools. Mr. Monahan answered it would be them or road patrol. Mr. Lounds asked if the need had decreased in the junior high schools. Ms. Ferrick said the kids in lower grades will tell the officers what is going on in their neighborhood. She thinks the Committee needs to reinforce their recommendation from the last meeting. Mr. Lounds said if you took the funding for Image of Christ, Special Olympics and non-profits it would pay for the SRO program. Ms. Tobin believes the Commissioners stuck with the amount because they think everybody should pay their fair share. Mr. Lounds said no one would step up as long as the County keeps paying. That is the point. Ms. Ferrick said that a representative of the School Board told her there is no funding. Ms. Lowery answered that no one questions the value of the program. The County is discussing laying off employees, closing libraries and the history center, and cutting hours at the Oxbow. In light of those cuts, the Board felt the other members of the long-standing partnership should step up. Ms. Gouin reported that the Board tasked staff to see how other counties funded their SRO program. Of 67 counties, only two counties fully fund their program, Collier and St. Lucie. It should be a partnership. Mr. Kurek mentioned a newspaper article. The reality is if you go to rollback rate, a large portion of the people’s tax bills will go down. You are assuming the value will stay the same and that is not true. Chances are the value will go down. Port St. Lucie is trying real hard to be sure people understand the rollback rate. Previously, the rollback would reduce the tax rate. Now it doesn’t. In many cases, it will reduce their taxes. He thinks if the County does go to the rollback rate, they need to bank the money. He is sure the City of Port St. Lucie will not fund SROs. They are cutting 40+ positions from their police department. They are not going to have any community service programs. Mr. Lounds asked who picks up the slack. He was told the Sheriff’s Department. Mr. Lounds asked how the Sheriff could respond to Port St. Lucie issues and the junior high schools. The response time will suffer. Mr. Lounds asked if they care. Mr. Kurek said they care and we care but they are doing the same thing as here and it is tough. Ms. Ferrick said if things had been done differently years back, we would not be in the position we are now. Mr. Lounds said issues are ignored, hoping they will go away. Mr. Mundt said that there is no doubt that the Commissioners realize the value of the SROs. They want to support it. He watched Strategic Planning. He was impressed with the depth of knowledge and experience of staff. He wanted to thank Ms. Outlaw, Ms. Lowery, Ms. Gouin and Ms. Hill for their parts in preparing the budget and information in these trying times. Citizens’ Budget Committee July 16, 2010 Page 5 Mr. Mundt put the amounts of the budget in perspective. Of the $141,000,000, $41,000,000 represents wages. $100,000,000 is operations. If you removed every staff person from the budget, the income barely covers operations. That is the gap that has to be made up. Mr. Strickland left the meeting. Mr. Hammer echoed Mr. Mundt’s comments. The work done and depth of knowledge was outstanding. He thinks sooner rather than later should be the theme. He thinks the Committee should be looking at return on investments and declining demand for personnel that needs service. An example was Criminal Justice with the Jail population down. He thinks they should try to get things on track with recommendations from the Committee. Ms. Ferrick thinks the Committee should look at the Lawnwood Hospital charges for prisoners. She gave examples of costs for procedures. She reported some information from a presentation made by Mark Godwin. Mr. Hammer added that it is well out of line with what Martin and Indian River Counties pay for medical services for their prisoners. Ms. Lowery said it is a statewide issue. Negotiations are continuing. Ms. Gouin reported that our Risk Manager and Prison Health Services (PHS) have been trying to get an agreement with Lawnwood. Going to the Medicaid rate was recommended. Ms. Ferrick thinks the judges should release prisoners with huge medical costs. Mr. Godwin reported that Lisa Savage has been working with the County Jail on a critical inmate review every week. The Jail has been very cooperative. He has been trying to get a cost schedule from the hospital. The judges are in tune with the programs. Some individuals are turning themselves in to get medical services. People are working and trying to lower the medical costs. Mr. Lounds asked about the employee health clinic. Ms. Lowery said they are wrapping up the renovation in the old Chamber of Commerce building that was traded with the City of Fort Pierce. She hopes it will be open by fall, no later than the first of the year. Mr. Lounds asked if the physicians and nurses would be hired. She said it is a contracted service. Mr. Kurek said the City of Port St. Lucie is hiring a consultant to review the assets of their program. They have benefits with the program and they think they have savings but they are not sure because their health insurance has increased. Ms. Lowery said the County is not planning to reduce costs but decrease future growth. Mr. Lounds asked about the costs. Ms. Gouin said they would bring information to the Committee. Ms. Tobin said Port St. Lucie is looking to change the prescription part of their program. Mr. Lounds asked about using other clinics. Ms. Lowery said part of the delay was the Board looked at that option. Mr. McBee left the meeting. Ms. Ferrick reported the rent for the clinic in the Logistics Center will be $1/year and the Citizens’ Budget Committee July 16, 2010 Page 6 utilities will be paid by the County for five years. She asked if the amount of the utilities was known. Ms. Ryder said it would not be an appreciable increase because we are already paying the utilities for the building. They anticipate there will be savings for the County’s Medicaid hospital billings because this community has very little indigent health care. By giving primary care, they hope to keep people out of the hospitals. The County pays a percentage of the Medicaid billings to the State of Florida when a Medicaid eligible person goes into the hospital. Ms. Ferrick said the $1/year rent did not set well with a lot of people. She wished the paper would have revealed the savings to the County. Ms. Ryder said that when the clinic opens, this information will be reinforced to the public. Mr. Lounds asked about the reports members received from the BOCC Budget Reviews. Ms. Lowery explained the Basis of Programs forms. Mr. Lounds asked if the County was through dismantling environmental services. Ms. Lowery answered they were in terms of Cooperative Extension, but one item that was cut was to be picked up by Oxbow staff. The Board has recommended that Oxbow be further cut. That will impact the environmental education programs that go out to schools. Mr. Hensley asked if the Board had considered the other recommendations made at the last meeting. Ms. Gouin said they were discussed by the Board. Staff is working on them. Ms. Lowery said that part of the issue with this County’s port is that only 20 acres is owned by the County unlike Cape Canaveral Port where it is all owned by the Port Authority. The Harbour Pointe property is all the County owns. That makes it more complex. Ms. Lowery said boat ramp fees have been considered almost every year. They are extremely controversial and the net revenue, fees paid minus what it costs to collect, account, audit and deposit, would be minimal. When you are looking at a $56,000,000 gap, the collection costs for entrance fees to the beaches and boat ramp fees discourage implementation. Ms. Gouin added that some of the boat ramps were funded by grants. Mr. Lounds said people had asked. Ms. Lowery gave more details that were studied. Ms. Gouin informed the group that the Board agreed to increase a couple millage rates during the workshops. One is for transit because the grant funding was lost. The transit schedule was changed to save money. The Law Enforcement MSTU millage was also raised. It funds 27% of the road patrol. The incorporated area pays for that. The Chairman and the Sheriff are working on the issue, and the millage rate can be reduced if solutions are found. Mr. Mundt informed the group that one Commissioner brought up tonnage during the Budget Reviews. He said it was an awe moment for the group, like why had they not thought of it before. He spoke with them after and they suggested the group send a representative to make a presentation at a Board meeting. Ms. Lowery suggested a memo to the Board when her other advisory committees made recommendations. Mr. Hensley said he expects the County Administrator to carry the message to the Board. Ms. Lowery said she did. Ms. Gouin added that the recommendations were added to the Strategic Planning book. Citizens’ Budget Committee July 16, 2010 Page 7 Ms. Ferrick said the Committee has a lot of expertise, and they all have things they are interested in. She thinks the members should prepare a list of what items they would like to discuss and give to the Chairman or staff. Mr. Kurek agreed with Ms. Ferrick and told his experience with Port St. Lucie. Mr. Kurek asked if someone goes after an intoxicated driver that destroys stop signs or telephone poles for reimbursement. He was told they do. st Ms. Lowery advised the members that September 1 at 1:30 p.m., there will be a discussion between the Board and the Sheriff, looking at Jail cost, considering privatization. Ms. Ferrick said they would want to have information on liability. Some of the laws may have changed, but that was the reason it was not approved before. Ms. Lowery said that Mark Godwin is making the bulk of the presentation. OTHER ISSUES Mr. Mundt reported the budget is still not completed. The millage rate is not set. The next meeting is scheduled for the following Monday at 10:00 a.m. Mr. Lounds clarified the County is looking at hitting the wall again in 2013. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Hensley reminded the members of the Chili Cook-off the next day, thanked the members and adjourned the meeting at 8:53 a.m. Respectfully submitted by: Brenda Marlin The next CBC regular meeting will be held on Friday, August 20, 2010, at 7:30 a.m., in Conference Room #3, at the St. Lucie County Roger Poitras Administration Annex.