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CC08-05-2019Min_WSLONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, Florida WORK SESSION MINUTES AUGUST 5, 2019 4:00 P.M. Present: Mayor Matt Morgan Deputy Mayor Brian D. Sackett Commissioner Abby Shoemaker Commissioner Richard Drummond Commissioner Ben Paris J. D. Cox, City Manager Michelle Longo, City Clerk David P. Dowda, Police Chief Mike Peters, Fire Chief Chris Kintner, Community Development Director Chris Capizzi, Leisure Services Director Lee Ricci, Human Resources Director Lisa Snead, Financial Services Director Craig Dunn, Information Technology Director Shad Smith, Public Works Director Magdala Ridore, Human Resources Generalist 1. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Morgan called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m. 2. REVIEW AND DISCUSS PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019-2020. Deputy Mayor Sackett moved to suspend the rules and carried by a unanimous voice vote. Mr. Cox started the meeting and said he would provide comments and follow-ups from the first Work Session, the Tabs, what has changed and been updated, then conclude with remarks. He said we are pleased with our Reserve Level. We are keeping that at 17% projected for this coming year. He thanked all the Department Directors for all their hard work. He said staff was asked to move up the distribution of the budget for next year. We were asked questions regarding our staffing, including what vacancies we might have. He listed the current vacancies as of today which include: one Community Development Building Inspector, one part-time Code Enforcement Officer which we plan to delete following a CC 08-05-2019/1 recent Commission action to be reactive rather than proactive, one Police Officer position, one Firefighter position, and one part-time Park Service Specialist I. Mr. Cox went over historical staffing levels and stability in staffing. Overall, the total number of employees has grown only about seven positions in thirteen years. As we researched, like the corporate world, functions were sometimes removed from different departments depending on the needs at that time might have been. The number of Public Works employees has declined over several years, and so have the functions as the City has transitioned some of those roles to Leisure Services, so we see the number of Leisure Services growing substantially. He said we are still working on the final number of full time equivalence. The way that has been calculated over the years has changed, so we want to make sure that is correct for our final budget document. He addressed turnovers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national turnover average in 2018 at 20% and in the period from October 1, 2017 through July, 2018, our turnover rate was 13.3%, still a little high, but I think you were aware of a lot of that turnover. The good news is from October 1, 2018 to today, our rate is at 6%, and some of that is part-time changeover. He thinks if the trend holds, we are seeing an increase in stability in staffing. He noted, we are enhancing position control through Human Resources and bringing all of that under them. Mr. Cox said we were asked about year over year expenses, along with a request from Commissioner Shoemaker for a detailed backup of those estimated expenditures. Those have been provided. We were asked to replace the item on the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that had City Hall Relocation with Fire Station 15. That has been completed. Mr. Cox said we were asked if the Stormwater Fund was supposed to sunset. In our research, when the stormwater rates were re -adopted in 2014, language was included that states "shall not have a sunset termination date." He said we were also asked if the stormwater fund could go toward salaries. Out of caution, we reached out to our City Attorney and he provided an opinion that if employees are supporting stormwater management functions, then this is a permissible expenditure of the stormwater management utility fee consistent with our city code. Mr. Cox said Commissioner Drummond asked us to do a Pay Plan Study and this will take longer than our upcoming meetings, but we will be doing that this year and taking a look at the higher paid salaries. HR is going to be doing an in-depth study where they contact other cities and various agencies, ones that are comparable to us. CC 08-05-2019/2 Mayor Morgan asked if they could add to this study the percentage points and where do they go. His concern is regarding City Hall employees, not the Police Department, Firefighters or Public Works. He said some employees, like Department Heads will have increase quicker and it may not necessarily be based on their performance for going above and beyond. He asked if instead of getting zero, someone could get 1%, 2%, 3% and not the full 4% within the steps. Mr. Cox said his concern with doing that is we do not have a pay plan for however many we have in there right now. Everybody becomes their own personal pay plan, so it defeats the purpose of having a pay plan where we can budget and count on the dollars we expect that might be incurred by future increases. He said, by having the pay plan we can also help the City not wait for multiple years for there not to be a pay increase, and then we are all of a sudden having to do a huge one. You want to meet the cost of living, but also, we want to stay comparable and keep up with other cities. Deputy Mayor Sackett said being a teacher in this County and State, we have what is called a value added. He said this can create a morale problem, where he gets a high score on proficiency and therefore gets a nice bonus, and others only get a small amount. You have to be fair to everyone. Mr. Cox said giving increases to one department and not to others, can really create morale issues through the whole organization. Commissioner Shoemaker said there have been times where non -union employees were given a flat three percent, while union contracts were not ratified. There were times when no one got raises because of the economy. The set percentage has been throughout our history a standard, so this is good that we are getting back to that for all, and the four percent, I'm pretty sure we are fair with that. Ms. Ricci will do her due diligence. Department heads make recommendations, and Mr. Cox will interfere if he feels there is a reason not to go to zero. Mr. Cox said if you look at the job description and someone does the basic standards of their job and they are getting a good performance review from their Department director, and if there is a problem, they will write it into the performance review, and will have corrective action listed. Commissioner Drummond said he is looking forward to seeing the comparison with other cities, and working in the private sector, I can guarantee you in five years I am not going to be making twenty percent CC 08-05-2019/3 more than I am making now. That is a pretty aggressive step plan and I do not want to see how the City will be able to afford it. Mr. Cox said we were asked about filing an Appropriations Bill with the Legislature. Commissioner Paris offered, and we look forward to doing so with him. Mr. Cox said regarding the Citizens on Patrol (COPS), Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, we received some feedback on those organizations. I would like there to be a good donation mechanism, and we would also like for the monies to be overseen by staff. We have a system that is set up to do that. He said we have created Funds 131, 132, and 133 for each one of those organizations. The City will oversee and approve the purchases. The groups will be able to do fundraising for multi -year projects, and show a fund balance carried over from year to year. Additionally, we will oversee the donation of monies via checks and cash. There will be receipts, we will keep track of it, verify it, and provide all groups with a monthly report. They will be able to see what has been received, spent, and if there are any discrepancies, we can resolve it now versus down the road. He said Deputy Mayor Sackett suggested that the groups could get together and coordinate fundraising so we do not have three different groups going to the same locations to ask for money. Mr. Cox said regarding FEMA reimbursement, we were asked to provide a cross-reference of state numbers and project numbers. We did that and it was sent out. We do not have an update for the state FEMA Project Numbers at this time. We have received a check for $17,000 from FEMA, and we received a notice that the big chunk of the money, $600,000 has been obligated, which means it is coming. He thanked Mayor Morgan for referring them to a FEMA consultant. Mr. Cox said Tab 2 is the calendar. August 1st is the Charter deadline date for the initial submission of the budget, which we completed on the first Work Session on June 20tn Mr. Cox said Tab 3 is Trends. The financial projections have been updated based on the numbers and revenues and expenses that have been completed since the first Work Session. The reserves are stable, but capital is still unfunded at this point. We are going to recommend we wait until after the fiscal year 2019 audit is completed to see how we are doing to come back to the funding of those things. We do not want to throw too much General Fund debt into the mix at this point, and we are just being cautious about that. CC 08-05-2019/4 Mr. Cox said Tab 4 is the Truth in Millage Summary Report. This is published in the newspaper, and breaks up revenues and expenditures by various types. These numbers have been updated as well, based upon revenues and expenditure projections. For every $1.00 we spend in General Fund, $.53 goes to Public Safety. The total overall for fiscal year 2019/2020 is $45,438,685 total budget across all funds. Deputy Mayor Sackett asked if that $.53 is consistent with Lake Mary and Casselberry. Mr. Cox responded he thinks it is relatively common to have a high percentage spent on Public Safety. Mr. Cox said Tab 5 is the Overall Summary for all Funds. First is the General Fund. Our new projections for total revenues have decreased by half a million dollars from $22 to $21.5 million. This is our most current, up-to-date information. These changes can be seen in Tab 6 in detail. The good news is expenditures have also decreased by the sum of $300,000 from $18.8 to $18.5 million, and Tab 8 is where those details are reflected. Obtaining and retaining a reserve level of 17% in the General Fund has been our top goal, and it has not been an easy goal to obtain. Contingency Reserves are reserves in case something happens but we are not necessarily expecting to spend them. He said those have been booked as Reserves, not expenses. Also, in our insurance losses, we have changed the amount set aside, in case we have an accident so we can have our insurance rates brought down. We have moved those monies and set them aside as reserves. The funding of the grant matching funds for Leisure Services have been relocated to the Capital Projects Fund. They probably will require funding upfront if we are doing a project until reimbursement of the grant is received. Funding of due debt service related to Capital purchases has not been included yet, and will be looked at when the fiscal year 2019 audit is completed. Mr. Cox said we did include the Audio/Visual equipment for the City Commission Chambers, as well as the monies for the technology infrastructure necessary to protect our City from cyber security threats. He noted Mr. Dunn emailed a cyber security presentation to the Commission. Also, we have set aside additional funds for a Federal Single Audit, which is probably going to be required due to the dollar threshold anticipated with Federal Grants. Inter -Fund Transfers that come out of General Fund have been updated to include the three new funds for CERT, COPS and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board organizations. Mr. Cox said Fund 402 is the Building Fund. Overall, this fund remains healthy because we have great construction growth in our community. CC 08-05-2019/5 The cost of staff for Code Enforcement is funded through Community Development Department, and the General Fund. Inter -Fund Transfers are made from the Building Fund to the General Fund to cover the cost of overhead support provided to the Building Department. Mr. Cox said Fund 116 and 117 are small trust funds and he has no comments. Mr. Cox said Fund 130 is Assessments. The top and bottom line are both negative and have been negative for years. The good news is that negative number is decreasing. A couple of the neighborhoods had projects that have kept that number from decreasing even more. Two neighborhoods will be raising the proposed assessment rates to offset the costs of improvements. Although the fund is not yet in black, it is headed in the right direction and should be generating enough revenue within a few years to move back to black. We are also recommending a separate Work Shop. We have meetings coming up regarding setting of the assessments, and Ms. Snead and I will have a separate Work Shop with the neighborhoods to talk about the assessments, how it has been successful, what the challenges are, and how we best move that program forward. Deputy Mayor Sackett asked about Longwood Groves. It went up substantially from $7,000 to $18,000, and Markham Hills from $9,000 to $12,000. He asked if those are the only ones that changed and what it is for. Ms. Snead said there have been some hard structure maintenance things like lights were fixed and things were done that had not been done for years. In both neighborhoods they petitioned and got signatures from at least 60% of their residents. The petition said this will create a future increase in their rate, and she noted they have gotten those acknowledgements from everybody. Mr. Cox said Fund 131 is the Parks and Events Fund. This does not currently have a fund balance, however, it will after the end of this next year. This shows their revenues and expenditures, and there is a breakdown of what Parks and Events are currently doing. The City is contributing to the fund, and they can also obtain donations. They are anticipating $3,500 through donations. Commissioner Shoemaker asked about Santa visits Longwood. She did not see it noted and also asked that candy be included. Mr. Cox confirmed he would have this added. CC 08-05-2019/6 Discussion ensued regarding storage for CERTS, COPS, Babe Ruth and sharing the shed at Candyland Park. Mr. Cox said Fund 310 is Public Facilities Improvements. This is penny infrastructures sales tax and the gas tax. A list of these projects shows what impact it has had for the community of Longwood. Also, research for an eligible Fire Station relocation could come under this. Mr. Cox said Fund 320 is Capital Projects. He noted this is unfunded. We would like to complete the fiscal year audit for 2019 first and then go back and look for the financing for projects. Mr. Cox said Funds 401, 402, and 403 are all Utilities Funds. Fund 401 is our Public Utilities Fund, the main one. Our primary source of revenue is water and sewer. We are investing in infrastructure which supports these systems and are able to maintain several large grants and state revolving loan programs with very low interest rates. The updated revenue and expenditure projections have been incorporated, and they reduced the fund balance from negative 1.6 to negative 633. Ms. Snead commented on the reduced fund balance. She said this has to do with the way we booked this fixed asset in the Enterprise Fund. It works differently than any other fund. It reflects the cash position. Since we will be getting grant revenue, they are called SRF loans, but they actually work like grants in that you have to spend the money before you get the money back, so that is what the negative cash position is a result of. Mr. Cox said our auditor told us that these things should be balancing out on their own, plus we are watching the fund. That negative 1.6 from last year came as a surprise. Mr. Cox said Fund 402 is the Renewal Replacement Fund. This fund was set up a few years ago and remains healthy. Its projected ending balance is $1.6 million positive. We are projecting to utilize some of those funds for projects that are needed for this coming year. Mr. Cox said Fund 403 is the Impact Fee Fund. The beginning balance on October 15t we are projecting to be $1 million, and by the end of the year, it should be $2.6 million. Mr. Cox said Fund 406 is the Stormwater Management Fund. The main change in this fund was the reduction in Capital expenditures for the CC 08-05-2019/7 Rock Lake Outfall Project. The fund balance is projected to end at about $100,000. Mr. Cox said Tab 6 is the Detailed Revenue Report. In the updated version provided there were two columns highlighted in blue. This provides a revision from the 2019 to where we are in 2020. A column was added to show changes since the first Work Session. Mr. Cox said Tab 7 is CIP. This is an updated planning document for Capital Planning. We were requested at the last meeting to insert the Fire Station in place of the City Hall Line Item. We can reprioritize at a later time based on the desires of the Commission. Commissioner Shoemaker said she spoke with Mr. Cox today about this, and told him we should have a discussion as to where our priorities lie with the CIP and possibly move some things around to work the Fire Station in. Mayor Morgan asked for a consensus to make the Fire Station a number one priority. Discussion ensued on the Fire Station. Mr. Cox said we can move the Fire Station under fiscal year 2019/2020 and have it listed as a project but unfunded while we figure out funding sources. Mr. Cox said in Tab 8 is department details with columns highlighted in blue showing changes from 2019 to 2020. Mr. Cox said Tab 9 had no updates but the document will be getting updated with monies received from FEMA. It also shows the debt structure and is a good reference. Mr. Cox said Tab 10 had no comments or update. Mr. Cox said Tab 11 is Authorized Strength. We are still recommending the same positions we were at the first Work Session. The School Resource Officer (SRO) is fully funded with wages and benefits. The Meter Reader costs will be offset by the Meter Reading Contract the provider is cancelling. The Streets Maintenance Worker and Project Manager are very much needed in Public Works, as well as two part-time positions a Park Service Specialist in Leisure Services, and Field Service Specialist in Utility Billing. CC 08-05-2019/8 Mr. Cox said Tab 12 is the Classification and Step Plan. There were three positions that were updated on this version, including Meter Reader, Utilities Project Manager, and Customer Field Service Representative. Mr. Cox said Tab 13 is Inter -fund Transfers. You can track and see where funds are going. Mr. Cox said Tab 14 is Summary of Contingency Reserves. The update on this one was the Police Reserve Contingency which was omitted in the first version. It is important to keep these as Reserves and to require City Manager approval to release any funds. Mr. Cox said Tabs 15, 16, and 17 have no update or comments. Mr. Cox said Tab 18 is Economic Development. These numbers continue to be somewhat fluid. The total is not large enough to make a substantial budget impact, but we will have an update for the final version. Mr. Cox said Tabs 19, 20, and 21 have no update. Mr. Cox discussed Fire Station 15. He said we were asked about potential relocations for the Fire Station should that event occur. We reviewed the property that the City owns at State Road 434 and Powell Street. We reviewed the site, confirmed initial planning work that did demonstrate a project could fit there. Chief Peters has looked at it, and the location will not create a negative change affecting our service. Regarding the whole Fire Station 15 as a project, the City made some drainage modifications pursuant to the last flooding event. Since then, we learned some of the modifications were not sufficient to solve all the flooding issues. We have added an additional pump to help move stormwater away, and this has added a level of protection, but is not a permanent solution. All the flooding and water damage to the Fire Station were fixed and corrected, so it is not an unhealthy situation. We do daily storm drain cleaning for debris removal and we have engaged Pegasus Engineering to conduct a drainage evaluation to better determine the stormwater factors involved. That process is under way now. He said long term, we may need to do some drainage modifications, and next is the replacement facility and relocation. A vendor has created some drawings for a new facility that would work on the site we already own. We have created a working group from our various departments to work on this project, and we have had a number of meetings, have more scheduled to review design and scope to include an Emergency Operations Center, and possible public meeting rooms. For funding options, Chief Peters has been very thorough. There is a grant called AFG which provides opportunities to fund new programs, training, and to upgrade outdated equipment. The CC 08-05-2019/9 current program excludes building construction. There is also Hazard Mitigation Grant Program which has two funding opportunities. First, there is a grant for new construction upgrades, and the other is to harden, elevate and construct upgraded drainage to an existing structure. These require a contribution match as well. This would have to be approved and added to the list by our Seminole County Local Mitigation Strategy Group, and that has already been done. We are now awaiting state or federal funding to be able to do that list. Mr. Cox said the next funding opportunity could be a simplified fire assessment. This would not only provide the funding for the construction of a new station, but it could also provide operational funding for the Fire Department as well. This could decrease budgetary impact on our General Fund. A similar mechanism is used by Seminole County when cities have turned their services over to the County. Staff has continued to explore grant funding opportunities and has enlisted a professional grant writer to help alert us when they hear of something. Mr. Cox said we do have our challenges. There are uncontrollable variables such as health care costs and unfunded state and federal legislation and court rulings can affect us. We are dealing right now with a ruling from an ADA lawsuit, and that has affected our ability to provide online documents and information we have done for years. However, this has curtailed that and has required us to remove items. We have to be in compliance with the law or otherwise, we are open for lawsuits. We need to continue to address our infrastructure. It is aging, but we are doing so. We are finding that right balance between investing in infrastructure and opening projects, and needs for streets and facilities. Regarding the General Fund, it has experienced over the years decreasing reserves, but this trend has stopped now, and we would like to eventually return to 20%. Going from 16% to 17% is a good step this year. We will be monitoring our funds closely over the course of the next year to try to see if we can make it even higher. We have great opportunities too. First, is making our change in Public Works by adding our Public Works Director, and bringing a Project Planner on board will help as well. The recent growth in development in Longwood is unparalleled in the city's history. Mr. Kintner and his staff have done a great job in helping to facilitate that moving along. Residential projects currently underway total $138 million in value, and that will generate about $800,000 in ad valorem revenues. Commercial investments in Longwood are also on a very strong uptick with a total of $43 million of projects underway that will generate another estimated $241,000 in property taxes. Regarding Reiter Park, it is now open and fully operational and is a great place for people to go and relax. CC 08-05-2019/10 Commissioner Shoemaker questioned outside services and what we are paying them. She asked to look at challenging our own staff, to reward them with knowledge, and overtime which equates to benefitting their retirement in the long run. If they could do the job for less, I think we should bring more in house if possible. 3. ADJOURN. Mayor Morgan adjourned the meeting at 5:38 p.m. ATTEST: i e n M City Clerk CC 08-05-2019/11 d This Page Left Blank Intentionally. F �I CC 08-05-2019/12