OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CHERYL L. BROWN 117 WEST DUVAL STREET, SUITE
425
DIRECTOR 4TH FLOOR, CITY
HALL
OFFICE (904) 630-1452 JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 32202
FAX (904) 630-2906
E-MAIL: CLBROWN@coj.net
Finance Committee Budget Hearing #7 Minutes
August 28, 2013
9:00 a.m.
Location: City Council Chamber, 1st floor,
City Hall – St. James Building; 117 West Duval Street,
Suite 425
In attendance: Council Members Greg Anderson (Chair), Richard
Clark, Stephen Joost, Robin Lumb, Matt Schellenberg, Clay Yarborough
Excused: Johnny
Gaffney, Reggie Brown
Also:
Council Members Jim Love, Bill Gulliford
Also: Kirk
Sherman, Kim Taylor – Council Auditor’s Office; Carol Owens – Legislative
Services Division; Peggy Sidman – Office of General Counsel; Cheryl Brown,
Director/Council Secretary; Michele Barth – Mayor’s Office; Glenn Hansen and Angela
Moyer - Budget Office
Meeting Convened: 9:02 a.m.
Council Auditor Kirk Sherman
updated the committee on the status of the Special Council Contingency Fund,
which currently stands at negative $21.8 million (0.5 millage equivalent)
References from this point refer to Budget Hearing #7
Handout – August 28, 2013
Jacksonville Public
Library
Library board member Brenda
Simmons-Hutchinson explained the board’s rationale for presenting the budget it
has proposed, which calls for the closing of 6 of the least used branch libraries
and a reduction of hours at the remaining libraries to a maximum of 40 per
week. Closure would include removal of
all materials and furniture and completely shutting down the buildings.
Motion: on
p. 3, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation regarding travel expenses – approved unanimously
Motion
(Yarborough): on p. 5, restore the funding needed to keep open the Beaches,
University Park, San Marco and Willowbranch libraries
Amendment
(Joost): close the Willowbranch Library and restore the funding necessary to reinstate
Sunday hours at the branches that currently have Sunday hours – fails 3 -5 (Clark, Schellenberg and
Joost in favor)
Amendment
(Gulliford): appropriate funding to restore Sunday hours at the branches that
currently have Sunday hours
The Yarborough motion as
amended by the Gulliford amendment was approved
5-3 (Clark, Schellenberg and Yarborough opposed)
The committee discussed the
Ordinance Code Sec. 122.106 requirements for advertising the potential closure
of libraries and fire stations and what would constitute proper notice. Members
expressed reluctance to publish notice of the closing of branches until after
the full council votes on the budget, since the Finance Committee’
recommendation is not final until the full council acts. If notices aren’t published until after final
adoption of the budget then branches identified for closure could not be closed
on October 1st at the start of the fiscal year. Peggy Sidman will draft an amendment to the
budget ordinance to waive the closure notice provisions of Sec. 122.106.
Mayor’s Office
Motion: on
p. 11, remove $82,820 in projected revenue from private sources to fund the
position of Education Commissioner – approved
unanimously
Mayor’s Boards and
Commissions
Construction Trades
Qualifying Board
The committee discussed the
proposed elimination of the position of Executive Director of the Construction
Trades Qualifying Board. The Executive
Director, Richard Hickok, explained the board’s operations and fee structure. The committee tabled discussion of the
possible restoration of the position to a future meeting.
References from this point refer to Budget Hearing #5 Handout
– August 22, 2013
City Council
Motion: on
p. 34 approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1, 2, 3, 4 – approved unanimously
Motion: add
a provision carrying-over the $75,000 appropriates in FY13 to hire a
legislative counsel to FY14 – approved
Motion:
increase the Council Auditor’s salary account by $62,000 to provide funding for
salary increases - approved
Motion: increase
the Council budget by $2,400 to accommodate cellphone allowances for 2
additional council members – fails
Tourist Development
Council
Motion: on
p. 6, approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1 and 2 – approved unanimously
References from this point refer to Budget Hearing #8
Handout – August 28, 2013
Office of Economic
Development – SMG facilities
Bill McConnell, the new SMG
chief executive officer in Jacksonville, introduced himself to the committee.
Motion: on
p. 19, approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1, 2 and 3 – approved unanimously
Motion: on
p. 22, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 – approved unanimously
Motion: on
p. 25, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 – approved unanimously
Motion: on p.
27, approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1 and 2 – approved unanimously
Motion: on
p. 30, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 – approved unanimously
Motion: on
p. 32, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 – approved unanimously
Motion: on
p. 37, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 – approved unanimously
The committee discussed the
Equestrian Center and whether it was time for the City to end its subsidy and
either close the facility or turn it over to another private organization to
operate. Mr. McConnell stated that SMG
is running the facility for the time being, but the City has an RFP out seeking
another operator. Director of Public
Works Kelley Boree stated that there was one response to the RFP, which is
currently being evaluated. In response
to a question about whether SMG would reduce its management fee if the
Equestrian Center is removed from its portfolio of venues, Mr. McConnell stated
that SMG’s management fee is already very low for running 7 venues, and if the
City pulls the Equestrian Center from the contract then further negotiation
would need to take place about the appropriate management fee.
Motion: on
p. 48, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 – approved unanimously
Motion: on
p. 51, approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1 and 2 – approved unanimously
Jacksonville Journey
Motion: on
p. 53, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 – approved unanimously
The committee engaged in
considerable discussion about the purpose, funding, and measurable success of
the Jacksonville Journey’s various programs.
Council Member Lumb expressed the opinion that the Journey seems to be
becoming unfocused and ineffective.
Other members questioned why funding bound for other agencies (such as
the Children’s Commission) is first funneled through the Journey budget to no
seeming effect. Dave Roman of the Mayor’s Office answered questions about the
various programs and the accountability measures that are reviewed by the
Jacksonville Journey Oversight Committee.
Motion
(Lumb): on p. 54, allocate $1.6 million for the Early Literacy program, $2
million for the Team Up program, and $1 million for summer camps in the Journey
budget; put the total combined funding for ex-offender programs of $1.2 million
“below the line” for future consideration; and delete funding for the remainder
of the Journey programs
Amendment (Crescimbeni):
amend the Lumb motion to fund the 3 programs proposed by Council Member Lumb
($4.6 million), and put the remainder of the Journey’s proposed funding ($2.8
million) “below the line” for future consideration – approved 4-3
Jacksonville Children’s
Commission
Jon Heyman, the new Executive
Director of the Children’s Commission, introduced himself to the committee,
along with Cynthia Nixon, CFO of the commission. Mr. Heyman and Ms. Nixon answered numerous
questions from the committee about the JCC’s programs, funding sources, and
accountability measures.
Motion: on
p. 54, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 – approved unanimously
Motion
(Clark): on p. 54 under the Jacksonville Journey budget, move the Journey’s
$1.6 million in Early Literacy funding, $1 million for summer camps and $2
million for the Team Up program to the Children’s Commission budget – approved
Motion (Clark):
on p. 61, accept the Children’s Commission budget as presented with the $2.6
million extraordinary lapse remaining in place – dies for lack of a second
Motion
(Schellenberg): defer consideration of the Children’s Commission budget to a
future meeting – approved
The committee was in recess from 4:53 to 5:04 p.m.
Public Works Department
Motion: on
p. 66, approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1, 2 and 3 – approved unanimously
Public Works Director Jim
Robinson distributed and discussed a list of proposed service level and project
funding restorations. In response to a
question from Council Member Schellenberg, Mr. Robinson reported that the
public building inventory and evaluation process is well underway. The initial inventory should be completed by
August 30th.
Motion (Joost):
restore $1,907,051 in funding for the Public Works restoration priorities as
outlined in Mr. Robinson’s memo to the committee dated 8.26.13 – approved unanimously
Council Auditor Kirk Sherman
stated that his staff had reviewed the Jim Robinson memo and questioned the
calculation methodology that produced a figure of $1.9 million in restoration
requests. The Auditor’s Office believes
the value of the restorations listed is actually $848,553 when considering only
restorations in comparison to the Council-approved FY13 budget, not in
comparison to the Mayor’s tentative FY14 budget presented in early June.
Motion
(Joost): reconsider the previous motion – approved
Motion (Joost):
restore $848,553 to the Public Works Department for the requested restoration
list pursuant to the Council Auditor’s calculations.
Motion
(Clark): call the question – approved
The Joost motion was approved by a vote of 5-1
Council Member Lumb departed
the meeting at 6:30 p.m.
Streets and Highways
5-Year Road Program
Motion: on
p. 72, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 – approved unanimously
Solid Waste Disposal
Motion: on
p. 80, approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1 and 2 – approved unanimously
Grants
Motion: on
pp. 96, 99, 100 and 101, approve the Council Auditor’s recommendations – approved unanimously
Council Member Jones was
appointed by the Council President as a provisional Finance Committee member in
the event the committee needed an additional member to keep a quorum.
References from this point refer to Budget Hearing #5
Handout – August 22, 2013
Office of Economic
Development
In response to a question
from Council Member Schellenberg, OED Executive Director Ted Carter stated that
funding for the UNF Small Business Development Center is the OED’s #2 ranked
restoration request. Janice Donaldson,
director of the UNF SBDC, stated that City funding to the center generates a
4-to-1 return on investment.
Motion
(Schellenberg): restore $98,940 in funding to the OED budget for the UNF Small
Business Development Center contract – approved
In response to a question
from Council Member Crescimbeni about what functions/contracts/activities from
the FY13 budget were not included in the OED’s FY14 budget, Mr. Carter listed
the following: UNF Small Business Development Center, Bob Hayes track meet, DIA
executive director salary, DRI studies, downtown permitting by the Downtown
Design Review Board, Jacksonville Shipyards groundwater monitoring, Shipyards
repair work, and Fire Station #5 environmental monitoring.
Motion
(Crescimbeni): budget the OED at $3.3 million, plus the $98,940 just restored
for the UNF SBDC – approved
Public Parking
Motion: on
p. 16, approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1 and 2 – approved unanimously
The committee returned to a
discussion of the Office of Economic Development’s budget and position cap,
asking questions of the OED staff and the Council Auditor to determine how many
positions were authorized by the FY13 approved budget, how many positions exist
on the books currently, where those positions came from in mid-year and how
they are being funded, and what the employee cap proposal is for FY14. Council Member Crescimbeni asked OED
Executive Director Ted Carter to develop a set of OED goals for the coming year
prior to the FY14 budget being adopted.
Downtown Investment
Authority
Oliver Barakat, DIA board
member, and Aundra Wallace, new Executive Director of the DIA, introduced
themselves to the committee. The DIA’s
initial budget proposal is for $1.7 million and 5 employees. Council Member Clark expressed several concerns about the number
of positions for a start-up agency and about several of the items included or
not included in either the DIA’s or the OED’s budgets. He questioned the amount of funding for
marketing and promotion and questioned the need for an appropriation to a
sponsorship of NAIOP.
Motion
(Crescimbeni): appropriate a budget of $1.5 million and 4 positions for the DIA
– approved unanimously.
Meeting Adjourned: 8:34 p.m.
Minutes: Jeff Clements, Council Research
9.3.13 Posted 6:00 p.m.
Tapes: Finance Budget Hearing #7– LSD
8.28.13
Materials: Auditor’s Budget
Hearing #7 handouts
8.28.13