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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget Minutes 12-12-2008BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA BUDGET WORKSHOP Date: December 12, 2008 Convened: 2:00 p.m. Adjourned: 4:00 p.m. Commissioners Present: Chairman, Paula A. Lewis, Charles Grande, Doug Coward, Chris Craft, Chris Dzadovsky Others Present: Doug Anderson, County Administrator, Faye Outlaw, Asst. County Administrator, Lee Ann Lowery, Asst. County Administrator, Dan McIntyre, County Attorney, Vince Rahal, Property Appraiser's Office, Millie Delgado-Feliciano, Deputy Clerk Opening remarks were made by the County Administrator. The County Administrator commented on the fact the economy seems to be in the direction of getting worse before it gets better. He addressed property values and stated they figured a 13% decrease in property value and was notified by the Property Appraiser the values seemed to have dropped in the azea of 20%. Mr. Vince Rahal from the Property Appraiser's office addressed the Boazd for the Property Appraiser and stated at this time are looking into the future and what may happen. However, they will have another 6 months of figures (sales) in order to obtain a more accurate figure. Once they receive this sales tape which is a document they must send to the state, they will inform us of what is actually happening with the declining values. He stated they aze looking at the commercial properties for numbers, so far it looks like there will be a drop in the cap rate of 1 %. Mr. Rahal stated he believes the rate range will drop between 15%-20%, however he still has two months of data to review. The County Administrator presented a power point and reviewed the assumptions made. There are no salary increases in the 2010/2011 budget. He advised the Board of the following: Emergency Reserves: $17,691,624 Contingency 1,000,000 Vehicle Replacement 310,000 Future Staff Needs 500,000 Total $ 19,502,104 There are key positions retiring and to fill these positions they would need to draw from the $500,000. He advised the Boazd there would be a county match of $2,426,160 for Tropical Storm Fay will need to come out of reserves. It looks like they may be successful in being reimbursed from the other storms Francis and Jean at 2.1 million, if this is so, they would only be short $300,000. Com. Coward commented on the fact the County Administrator would be retiring and the Asst. County Administrator would be filling his position leaving another position vacant. He asked if the Board was inclined to fill this position. Com. Lewis stated she had planned to speak to the Asst. County Administrator before making a decision. Com. Craft stated he would like to speak with the Asst. County Administrator also before making a decision. The County Administrator stated the position had been budgeted. The Human Resources Director addressed the Board regarding the salaries of those who retired and stated they did not budget the retiree salaries. The only positions left in the budget were the Asst. County Administrator and the emergency operations position. The County Administrator addressed Major Revenues. He stated this would not have a major affect on our budget. It came in lower than our projection. State Revenue Sharing- this number remains unchanged according to the state. Half Cent Sales Tax -they have lowered the projection on this issue, however they are on target if they need to do so they can. Tourist Development Tax- He feels we are pretty much on target even though the state has lowered this figure. Franchise Fees -Stated recommended a budget and we are pretty close. Local Option Gas Tax- He believes we are okay with the figures. Construction Gas tax- He believes we are also okay with these figures. The County Gas Tax -Also okay. The County Administrator continued to review the power point and commented on the 24 month budget prepared and stated he would have a 32% decrease in values over the next two years. He addressed the projections made previously and the carry forward estimated. In calculating all the numbers they balanced the 2009/2010 budget and now have $5,613,702 to apply towards balancing the 2010/2011 budget and this is with a 20% decrease in property values. The County Administrator recommended putting on hold the jail medical wing which is $3 million dollars and it is in the budget. Also the department of Community Services was to be moved to the Logistic Center at a cost of $900,000 and he recommended they stay where they are for the moment with minor renovations being done. However they will be moved eventually. Com. Lewis stated she would like to see a budget for Community Services. Com. Coward requested a breakdown of what comprises the $3.2 million for the medical wing. The County Administrator stated he would provide the breakdown. The County Administrator addressed the Building Code Fund. He stated they have lost 34 positions in this department and are close to a skeleton crew. This is an enterprise funded department. They have a reserve however if this economy continues this reserve will be depleted in 2019. They will continue to monitor this area. Mosquito Control- $811,751 was cut in Fy 09 by freezing positions, fostering early retirement, changing chemicals, and eliminating all capital purchases and improvements, but not eliminating programs. These cuts brought full time staffing below that which existed in the 1980's. 2 The estimated budget shortfall for FY 10 is $863,865. This is equivalent to 41.63% of the Districts current operating budget. Cutting the entire shortfall from the FY 10 budget would require elimination of some control and public access/outreach programs, including ground larviciding, resistance management chemical rotation FCT educational outreach, and public pazk access/exotic control. Any reduction in control programs will increase human risk to West Nile Virus and St. Louis Encephalitis. Replacing the estimated FY 10 budget shortfall with a portion of the District's reserves could continue to fund these programs in the short term. The reserves aze $2,362,411 and staff reports that $100,000 can be cut from operations leaving approximately $763,865 to be applied from reserves. An alternative would be to replace the $763,865 with a 0.045 millage rate increase, leaving the millage rate below the FY 20001evels and below the rollback rate. The Mosquito Control Director stated there was a danger in dropping below $1.6 million in their reserves should a storm hit and they would not be able to recover operations. Solid Waste- the St. Lucie County Bailing & Recycling Facility produces approximately 38,000 gallons of leachate per day. The cost of disposal for this leachate to Ft. Pierce Utilities Authority has been approximately $175,000 per year. Changes in the characteristics of the leachate and the EPA requirements on FPUA for discharge effluent require the installation of a leachate pretreatment system at the Landfill. The pretreatment of the lechate will cost approximately $1.5 million per yeaz. This cost will mean suspension of escrowing $1 million per year into the Future Landfill Expansion account, currently $6.2 million, until further notice. The cost savings from the elimination of the 6 positions and the holiday closings in conjunction with the 10/1/09 Board approved tipping fee increase will cover the additional expense for leachate disposal. Economic Development Council- Funding Request- The Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County is requesting an increase in the Fy 2008-2009 funding from the $150,000 level approved by the Boazd of County Commissioners to a new level of $250,000 based upon the increasing need to expand their efforts in recruiting companies to the county caused by the economic downturn and the resulting rise in unemployment within our county. The EDC has retained McNicholas and Associates as outside public relations and marketing consultant to assist in editorial coverage in trade publications in an effort to promote the primary sites in the County, including the Research and Education Park and the Airport West Commerce Park. They are requesting an additional $25,000 for this effort plus an additional $25,000 to be applied towazd a staff position (to be matched by EDC) dedicated to business recruitment. This $50,000 request, along with the previously reduced $50,000 from last year's $200,000 funding level is their request for an additional $100,000 of county funding. If granted the EDC's additional $100,000 funding request would come out of $147,500 that has been set aside for economic development. Com. Cowazd stated he felt there was a need to fund this agency in order to capitalize the investment made. Com. Grande stated he concurred with Com. Cowazd's comments. There is a need to bring jobs into the county for those who no longer work for the county. It is more of an investment than an expense. Com. Dzadovsky concurred with the comments made and felt it was important to the people of this county. He stated we could no longer depend on retirees and roof tops to support this county. ~ `~ .~~ Com. Craft stated they needed to coordinate with the state. There needs to be a better coordinated effort for these major roads. Mr. Pelton, Economic Development addressed the Boazd and stated there is a prohibition to use federal funds for economic development. Com. Grande stated if we can get the federal government to send money to the local level then we will be better off. Com. Lewis stated she still finds herself in the minority position on this issue. She believes economic development should not be totally taken away as a county function. She believes they should maintain one position to have county involvement to keep track. Com. Coward asked if the $47,000 balance would cover a position for 6 months. The Asst. County Administrator stated she believed they could accomplish both goals. It was intended for grants to pick up the growth development position. They presently have 2 grant resource people who would pick up the work load and this may overload them or maybe a third grants resource person could be hired. She would like to bring back a plan for the position. She believes the economic development council works at a much broader level than the county would. The Asst. County Administrator asked the Board to consider holding the $47,000 so that it can be brought back to use for a county position at a starting salary of $50,000 entry level. Com. Dzadovsky stated they should consider expanding the grants department. They have achieved $37 million with two people adding other personnel would benefit the county. It was the consensus of the Board to bring forward the allocation to the new level of $250,000 at an upcoming Boazd meeting. The County Administrator stated in summary, the County is projecting a surplus at the end of FY 10 based on the revenue reductions that we aze aware of at this time. These projections include a 20% reduction in property values, employee reductions, freeze on capital projects except those already funded, no salary increases, and reduction in hours for some of the county facilities, consolidation of County departments, and no increase in expenses. However, given the current economy and the needs of our community, we expect that we will still be faced with additional reductions in revenue and additional expenses that need to be funded including inflationary impacts. These events could deplete our projected surplus and put us back into a deficit situation. As these events occur, we will continue to explore cost cutting measures and/or revenue generating opportunities. Utilities RevenuesBudget- Com. Dzavosky requested the term "surplus" not be utilized. It may give the public the wrong impression. Com. Grande thanked the County Administrator and staff for thinking beyond this year and putting together a 24 month budget. The County Administrator addressed the Utilities budget. Due to the cut back in consumption both by the consumer and by the request of the Water Management District the revenues have been reduced significantly. He believes raising the rates is not the answer. There is a problem and there will be a workshop scheduled to go over the situation and come back to the Boazd. Com. Grande concurs with Com. Craft's previous recommendation to consider regionalization for utilities. He believes they need to work with the municipalities. 4 Com. Coward stated in order for this to work they need to eliminate the forced annexation issue. He also commented on taking additional steps to market the airport commerce park and the research park. Also recycling other materials at the landfill. Com. Coward also commented on the Avenue D corridor and questioned if there were steps they could take with the city of Ft. Pierce. He stated they also need an action plan for minority businesses on Avenue D. Com. Dzadovsky commented on providing some incentive such as deferring city taxes if they were willing to annex. He believes you need to provide a resident with a benefit first. The County Attorney stated he needed to speak with the city regarding deferring taxes and see what position they would take. He has not been able to discuss this with them as yet. The city may have different powers. The county does have the ability to defer taxes for businesses; however the city may take a different position on their taxes. Com. Dzadovsky stated he did speak with the City Manager and he was receptive to the regionalization issue. Com. Coward stated he would like to find out what tools are available to help existing area businesses. Com. Grande commented on the fact that neighboring counties are attempting to recruit business from another county. He believes they need to do all possible to keep the businesses in the county. Com. Lewis stated they needed to look short term in order to get people back to work. She believes this is what it will take to get the economy moving again. Com. Craft stated they need to coordinate with the state TPO a little better to get things moving. There being no further issues to be discussed, the meeting was adjourned.