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CCMtg07-30-09WSMinLONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, ]Florida WORK SESSION MINUTES July 30, 2009 8:00 A.M. Present: Mayor H.G. "Butch" Bundy Deputy Mayor John C. Maingot Commissioner Joe Durso Commissioner Mike Holt (left the meeting at 12:33 p.m.) Commissioner Brian D. Sackett: Katrina Powell, City Administrator Sarah M. Mirus, City Clerk Jon. Williams, Director of Financial Services John Peters, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Fran Meli, Recreation Programs Manager Commander Russ Cohen, Interim Director of Community Services Jaime Shearer, Temporary Assistant to the City Administrator Tom. Jackson, Police Chief Lieutenant Phyllis Williams, Training Officer, Fire Department Laurie Mooney, Fire Chief 1. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Bundy called the meeting to order at 8:03 a.m. 2. DISCUSS THE PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009/2010. Ms. Powell thanked the Finance Director for all of the hard work he has put into this Budget. She said he has been able to come in and work on someone else's format as well as someone else's numbers and accounting practices. She stated the Commission should have copies of all of the worksheets presented by the various departments. She stressed this was a Work Session and not a Budget Hearing. She affirmed it was atough Budget, but overall it was a good Budget. She said they were trying to maintain the service delivery we currently have in the City. She stated there were no added personnel to the Budget and they were freezing the raises, longevity, and service bonuses at this year's rate. They will see throughout the Budget various cuts that have been made. She advised the City has no debt. Mr. Williams thanked the Department Dn:ectors and Managers for their hard work and effort in assisting him in compiling these numbers. He said they spent the last thirty (30) days trying to familiarize themselves with the trends and activities of the City, meeting with the Department Directors, asking questions, and trying to CC 07=30-09/407 get up to speed in order to put forth this document. He reviewed the process used for the development of the Budget. He advised they were able to put forth a Budget at a millage rate of 4.99 and stated this does have some impact, as the tax base has dropped. He affirmed the Proposed Budget is balanced with the use of Reserves. He confirmed this has historically been the common practice. He advised it was his and the City Administrator's goal to put forth a Budget that balanced on the revenues minus the expenditures, but this was not something they were able to do at first cut. He welcomed the City Commission's feedback and direction they would like to take in terms of balancing in terms of revenues and expenditures. Mr. Williams reviewed pages 1-6 of the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2010 and said they were projecting revenues of a little over $26.3 million. Of this, the General Fund makes up 68.2%, Public Utilities lb%o, Public Facilities and Improvement 9.7%, and Stormwater Management Fund at 5.9%. He advised this number was 10.5% lower than the Fiscal Year 2009 Adopted Budget. He continued to review the Proposed Budget and said the City has had 160 employees and currently they have 154 employees. The statistical data is from the 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). He reiterated the Budget is balanced using a millage rate -of 4.99 and it is projected at dipping into the Reserves. He stated at the end of Fiscal Year 2008, the City roughly had a percentage balance of 43.14% with respect to Reserves. The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recommends that you stay within a range of about 15% to 20%. He advised that when they came forward with the Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2009, they projected this would decrease to about 29.6%. He said his estimates, based upon the current Revenues and.Expenditures; they will be at approximately 24.5%. He stated if everything comes forward the way they plan for Fiscal Year 2010, it will drop to approximately 16.3%. He said this was obviously a trend they would not like to see continue, but recognizing the current state of the economy and not imposing a proposed increase in the millage rate due to the impact it will have on the residents, they believe the best approach is to dip into Reserves for this Fiscal Year. He affirmed that most of the Reserves are set up for the event of a natural disaster. He reviewed the Projected Revenues on pages 11 and 12 of the Proposed Budget and stated the Revenue for the General Fund was down 9.8% from Fiscal Year 2009. He stated some of the revenues from non -ad valorem taxes, franchise fees, and electric *fees will be decreasing. Deputy Mayor Maingot inquired as to how the electric franchise revenues could be going down when the rates are increasing. Mr. Williams said increases in charges from an electric company do not always dictate you are going to see an increase in your franchise fees. He stated he has not had the opportunity to look at the 2008 dollar amount. Mayor Bundy said you also have to take into consideration that the major jump from Progress Energy this year was not in their rate structure, but in the surcharge for fuel, which is not subject to franchise fees or taxes. CC 07-30-09/408 Mr. Williams said the license and permit category was projected to decrease approximately $74,500 from 2009 to 2010. He stated the Intergovernmental Revenues, which would include grants, State revenue sharing half -cent sales tax, motor fuel rebate taxes and various items of that nature, is projected to be at a $279,000 decrease from the prior year. He reviewed the charges for services. He said one significant decrease in revenue sources was the Police and Fire cost recovery, with this changing from the last Legislative Session prohibiting cities to continue to participate in the cost recovery fees. He continued to review the service fees. They anticipate a fairly nice revenue source from the red light cameras. He stated the next major category is Miscellaneous Revenues and it is projected to be down $693,000 from the previous year. He said one major variance is in the sale of surplus vehicles. With this Proposed Budget, there are not any provisions for the purchase of new vehicles. Discussion was held regarding interest earnings. Mr. Williams said the last major revenue category within the General Fund is the Transfers from the Public Utilities Fund. He pointed out they have included a transfer from the Stormwater Management Fund which had not historically been done. He stated part of the reasoning for bringing this forward is that the City has hired a Public Works Director/City Engvieer and a portion of his salary is from this fund, as well as some other position ;salaries were partially taken from this fund. Commissioner Sackett said the Stormwater Fund was scheduled to sunset and now they were using it for salaries. Ms. Powell said that typically in most municipalities if you have dedicated stormwater employees, a portion of their salaries come from that fund. Commissioner Sackett said this was not the way it was established and there should be more research into this matter. Mr. Williams said if everything comes forward the way they have projected, they expect the City reserves will be at 16.3%, slightly above the minimum recommendation. He stated they recommend moving forward with adopting the Proposed Budget at a 4.99 millage rate, no reduction in staff, freezing all salary costs at the Fiscal Year 2009 levels, and not projecting any increase in longevity or service bonuses. Mr. Williams reviewed the expenditures of the Proposed Fiscal Year 2010 Budget. He advised the expenditures are down $17 million from the Fiscal Year 2009 Proposed Budget. They have met with each Department and have asked them to cut their requests to 1'0% to 14% below the Fiscal Year 2008 levels. He said emphasis was placed on not reducing the current level of services being provided. He advised the healthcare costs were increased by 17% from 2009 to 2010. He stated the Work Comp rates have dropped drastically. CC 07-30-09/409 Commissioner Durso inquired if the healthcare costs increased because the City increased benefits, or because of the overall costs of services. Mr. Williams said he understands the City recently changed providers. Ms. Powell said they have not increased the benefits, but the cost had increased to provide benefits. Commissioner Durso left the meeting at 8:41 a.m. and returned. at 8:42 a.m. Chief Jackson explained the change in ,benefits said it was more favorable. Mr. Williams advised that 66% of the Operating Budget for the General Fund was made up of personnel costs. They have placed an emphasis on combining Departments and trying to place personnel with programs that are better representative of what was being -done. Commissioner Sackett inquired if Leisure Services was being reconfigured with Property Maintenance, adding no new staff,:and,Ms. Meli would be coordinating it. Ms. Powell responded in the affirmative. Discussion was held regarding Reiter Park. Mayor Bundy suggested they start reviewing the Proposed Budget by Department and refer to the worksheets as questions arise. Ms. Powell began the review by Department. She said the City Clerk's Department has a decrease of $3,922. She stated most of the Departments have a decrease. However, there are a few with an increase. The City Administrator's Budget has a decrease of $49,253'. She reported the prior City Administrator was now collecting_ unemployment. Mayor Bundy said it was his understanding that Mr. Ryan Spinella was also drawing unemployment. Ms. Powell responded in the affirmative. Commissioner Sackett said Other Contractual Services disappeared in 2009 and it is now $14,500. Ms. Powell said previously costs for the City Administrator were out of other Departments, and these are now reflected clearly out of Administration. Also, website maintenance is there, as well as training for employees that have never had diversity or sexual harassment training. CC 07-30-09/410 Ms. Powell reviewed the City Attorney'" Proposed Budget and said the increase was based on litigation. Discussion was held regarding various requests going to the City Attorney from several Departments and additional billable charges in addition to the retainer. Ms. Powell advised General Services was down $6,533. She reported the Buyer of Purchasing was moved from Finance t:o the position of Recreation Program/ Community Building Coordinator. The Community Building will now fall under Leisure Services. Also, the Facilities. Construction and Maintenance Specialist were included in General Services. She reiterated there have been no new personnel. She advised they were moving toward centralizing purchasing and the Purchasing Manager would be conducting an inventory. Discussion was held regarding reducing the various fees such as cleaning and supplies at the Community Building. Commissioner Durso left the meeting at 9:30 a.m. and returned at 9:32, a.m. The Proposed Budget for Human Resources was reviewed. Ms. Powell reported the liability insurance had decreased 32% this year. Mr. Williams reviewed the Purchasing Proposed Budget. He said the Purchasing Manager would be soliciting bids for various supplies and contracts. . Mayor Bundy said a lot of the savings generated with the Purchasing :Policy changes will be reflected in other Departments. Mr. Williams reviewed the Proposed Budgets for Finance, Utility Billing, and Computer Services. Discussion was held regarding the Annual Audit. Mr. Williams said they were carrying forward the implementation of web check, which is the ability for customers to log online and make their utility payments. The Commission recessed at 9:55 a.m. and reconvened at 10:08 a.m. Ms. Powell reviewed the Police Department and said that the Police Chief cut his Budget by $729,571. She stated a lot of this was the capital for vehicles. .. Chief Jackson said the initial impact was not as significant as the long term if they wish to go back to the vehicle surplus program. The resale of the cars will have a reduction with additional mileage on the vehicles. He stated the repairs will probably increase. Discussion was held regarding repair and maintenance to the building. CC 07-30-09/411 Chief Jackson said some of the items that were cut from this Budget would be purchased by funds from grants or drug money. Deputy Mayor Maingot inquired about Codes Enforcement Officers. Chief Jackson explained that in November 2008, the prior City Administrator changed the status of the Codes Secretary to a Codes Officer. He said that his Administrative Secretary absorbed some of the functions of the Codes Secretary. Ms. Powell reviewed the Fire and Rescue Proposed Budget and said it was reduced by $222,563. Deputy Mayor Maingot suggested looking into other vendors for service of the trucks. Ms. Powell advised that Battalion Chief Michael Hockenberry has reached out to a gentleman that is certified to work on our trucks and they were looking into this matter. Chief Mooney said maintenance has been an ongoing issue forever. Initially, the only place was with the County and no one was satisfied with the service. The next vendor was Ten-8 and it was a monopoly. She said this ,gentleman was reaching out to the municipalities and trying to start his own business. Commissioner Sackett inquired if the City. Administrator had met with the County to go over First Response. Ms. Powell responded in the affirmative. She advised that the Fire Station was still on and was in the County's Budget. Discussion was held regarding the Fire Department's overtime. Chief Mooney discussed the importance of firefighters going to paramedic school. She said when they are going to school or doing their clinical time, there is a minimal staffing requirement and in order to accomplish this, it has caused an increase in the overtime. Deputy Mayor Maingot inquired about the equipment to be repaired or replaced. Chief Mooney said they cannot wait to replace critical equipment that is necessary to perform their duties and job functions. Commissioner Durso left the meeting at 10:45 a.m. and returned at 10:46 a.m. Discussion was held regarding the response by rescue vehicles and staffing of the vehicles. CC 07-30-09/412 Discussion was held regarding overtime comparisons between the Police Department and the Fire Department. Commissioner Durso said the Financial Services Department has done a wonderful job looking at trying to find tl'le inefficiencies, the waste, and trying to eliminate it. Ms. Powell reviewed the Proposed Budget for Community Development and said they had a decrease of $46,220. Deputy Mayor Maingot inquired about the Community Services Director position and if it had been advertised. Ms. Powell responded in the affirmative. Mayor Bundy inquired why a City the size of Longwood with not much development occurring had three Planners. He said he does not see the amount of work in the foreseeable future. He inquired if there was a possibility of eliminating one of the three positions. Commissioner Holt left the meeting at 11:06 a.m. and returned at 11:07 a.m. Ms. Powell said she came from a City of' 90,000 residents and they only had one Planner. She stated this would be at the pleasure of the Commission. It was the consensus of the Commission to eliminate the position of a Planner. Ms. Powell reviewed the Proposed Budget for the Building Division. She advised the Building Official position will no longer be a contracted position and will be brought in-house. Therefore, they will see a tremendous decrease in the contractual services. Ms. Powell reviewed a new Department called Leisure Services. They have taken Property Maintenance out of Public Works and brought them over as Park Services Specialists. She stated Leisure Services will be broken down into three areas: Parks, Recreation, and the Community Building. She said Ms. Fran Meli will be the Director and she will not be receiving an increase in her pay. Commissioner Durso emphasized this increase did not include any new personnel. It is the current personnel the City has being shifted from one area to this area. Commissioner Sackett said it was a management restructuring and it was a sensible one. Ms. Meli reviewed the use of Lyman High School facilities. She advised we were going to handle more of the maintenance of the fields. CC 07-30-09/413 Discussion was held regarding National Night Out. It was suggested that they possibly charge for the food to help cover some of the costs. Ms. Powell pointed out that they reduced and cut a lot from the Leisure Services Budget. Ms. Meli advised they would be using flex time versus paying overtime for the five major events. Ms. Meli reviewed various programs and events. She said some of the events are sponsored. She stated they took out $15,000 for Longwood Families in Need. She said the employees may come up with a way to raise money to continue a program like this, but it would be done outside the City. Commissioner Durso left the meeting at 11:40 a.m. and returned at 11:43 a.m. Discussion was held regarding Arbor Park. Ms. Powell said they would not be able to put in everything that was in the Master Plan for Reiter Park based on the Geo Technical Report. She stated that Mr. Peters was going to come up with two to four plans for Reiter Park to make it more of a passive park. Mr. Peters said most of the property had a landfill underneath it. Underneath the landfill area, in certain areas, there is muck. He stated he first became concerned when he went to look at the pond area and the odor that was present. He went back and read the Geo Technical Report. They are in the process of having a water sample tested. He said that due to the fact this is over landfill, there will be movement over time and pavement will crack. Discussion was held regarding the ground borings that were done in Reiter Park. Ms. Meli said it was decided to do Phases in the Park and they knew once the stormwater Phase was done they would have abetter idea of whether they could de -muck or not. Ms. Powell said they were given the go ahead to move forward with those plans. She stated that when they met with the contractor, he stated that finally someone was recognizing there is a problem there. Discussion was held regarding the stormwater drainage system and the water table. Ms. Powell reviewed the Proposed Budget for Streets/Fleet and advised it was decreased by $118,391. Commissioner Sackett left the meeting at 11:59 a.m. and returned at 12:00 p.m. CC 07-30-09/414 Ms. Powell reiterated that Properly Maintenance was moved under Leisure Services and Ms. Debbie Renfro will be moving under Streets/Fleets. Mr. Williams said the next portion of the; Proposed Budget related to the Public Utilities Fund, Water and Sewer Operation. He reviewed the revenues and projected expenses. Commissioner Holt left the meeting at 12:04 p.m. and returned at 12:05 p.m. Mr. Peters discussed the consumptive use and the City's consumptive use permit. He said the Seminole County system was going to need to be upgraded. Commissioner Durso left the meeting at 12:08 p.m. and returned at 12:10 p.m. Mayor Bundy said we had discussed talking with Winter Springs, but he did not know if the City had come to an agreement with them. Deputy Mayor Maingot said we were going to expedite discussions with Winter Springs in regards to the reclaimed water due to it being a shorter distance. Ms. Powell continued to review the revenue and expenditures for the Cemetery Fund, Historic District Fund, Police Education Fund, Special Law Enforcement Trust Fund, and the Special Assessment Fund. Mayor Bundy inquired if there was anything they could do to have the Tax Collector to submit a breakdown of who paid the Assessments. Mr. Williams said he would contact the Tax Collector regarding this matter. He stated he would be looking into this area and would bring back some recommendations for the City Commission to consider. Mr. Williams reviewed the Stormwater Management Fund and said.they were projecting a slight increase in the fund balance of approximately $41,000. He said some of the capital projects proposed for this Fiscal Year have been deferred. He advised they would be doing a new Stormwater Master Plan. Mr. Peters said the last Stormwater Master Plan was done in 1979. He stated a key component was the mapping and modeling. Ms. Powell reviewed the Public Facilities Improvement Fund and said they were moving forward with the capital outlay. Commissioner Sackett inquired about sidewalks and said some of the subdivisions were twenty five (25) years old. Ms. Powell said this was under the Streets Department under Repair and Maintenance. CC 07-30-09/415 Commissioner Holt left the meeting at 12:33 p.m. Ms. Powell said all of the Capital Improvement Projects were in the back of the Proposed Budget Book. Ms. Powell said this Work Session was the first review of the Proposed Budget and inquired if the Commission desired to meet individually or collectively to go over any issues they may have. The first Budget Hearing will be on September 3rd and the second Hearing will be on September 10'. She stated that Mr. Williams had mentioned there was a capital program they were considering and this is gas recapture for cars that are take home cars for the employees. This would base the recapture on the specific dollar amount the City pays for fuel, to cover the cost for back and forth to work in City owned vehicles. She said they will need to research this matter further. She advised if moving forward with the 4.99 millage rate and what was presented to the Commission today, with the gas recapture program, it would be approximately $1.6 million into the reserves. Mayor Bundy said this has been one of the most open presentations they have had. He stated Mr. Williams and Ms. Powell have done a great job with the limited amount of time they have had to put this together. Ms. Powell reported that no one had seen this Proposed Budget and it was not discussed with anyone prior to this morning. Chief Jackson said, as a Department Head, he appreciated the opportunity to come before the Commission and discuss the Budget and their needs. He stated they are faced with the challenge of providing all of the same level of service with fewer resources. He said their number of calls for service has nearly doubled, yet they have had no increase in Police support for this. He applied for eight officers by a grant, but did not receive the grant funds. He reiterated that he appreciates the support received from administrative staff. Mr. Williams said based upon the recommendations here they will put forth on the August 3rd Meeting Agenda a millage rate of 4.99 and this information has to be turned over to the Seminole County Property Appraiser by Tuesday morning. 3. ADJOURN. Mayor Bundy adjourned the meeting at 12:46 p.m. e='b . *0&4 J�1' *aood G. Bundy, Jr., M44 ATTEST: r Sarah M. Mirus, MMC, MBA City Clerk CC 07-30-09/416