OFFICE OF
THE CITY COUNCIL
117 WEST DUVAL STREET, SUITE 425
4TH FLOOR, CITY HALL
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 32202
904-630-1377
FINANCE
COMMITTEE BUDGET HEARING #6 MINUTES - amended
August 25, 2016
9:00
a.m.
Location: City Council
Chamber, City Hall – St. James Building; 117 West Duval Street,
In attendance:
Council Members Anna Lopez Brosche (Chair), Aaron Bowman, Katrina
Brown (arr. 9:08), Bill Gulliford, Sam Newby, Matt Schellenberg
Excused: Greg Anderson
Also: Council Members Lori Boyer, Al Ferraro (dep.
11:09 ), Joyce Morgan (arr. 9:06), Scott Wilson (arr. 9:57, dep. 12:11), Tommy
Hazouri (arr. 10:41, dep. 11:32); Paige Johnston – Office of General Counsel; Kirk
Sherman, Kyle Billy, Kim Taylor, Brian Parks - Council Auditor’s Office; Katrin
MacDonald – Legislative Services Division; Sam Mousa and Ali Korman Shelton –
Mayor’s Office; Mike Weinstein and Angela Moyer – Finance and Administration Department
Meeting Convened:
9:00 a.m.
Chairwoman Brosche convened the meeting and the attendees introduced
themselves for the record.
Open items
·
Tax increment districts
·
Property Appraiser’s software
·
Courts’ use of $450,00 carry-over
·
$550,000 Southside tax increment district
project
·
Riverplace Boulevard CIP project
·
Fair share appropriations
·
Jax-Baldwin Trail Segment 3
·
Project scopes for CIP amendments made yesterday
(senior centers)
·
DIA CIP projects
·
JSO firing range lead removal project -
$153,000 to Special Council Contingency
·
CIP project scope change
Enhancement requests
·
City Council salaries
·
Additional library hours
·
Additional library materials
·
Vehicle pay-go purchase
·
Courts’ use of $65 fee revenue
·
Additional ADA projects
Page references from this point refer to
Council Auditor’s Meeting #6 Handout
Mayor’s Office
In response to a question from Council Member Newby, CAO Sam Mousa
said that the reduction of 2 positions represented Mayor’s Aide positions that
were not needed.
Employee Services Department
Council Member Gulliford congratulated Kelli O’Leary, Director of
Employee Services, on the success of the first year of the employee health
self-insurance program and said that the department has approached the
independent authorities about the potential for joining the City’s program. Ms.
O’Leary said that the Employee Health Committee discussed that topic yesterday
and believes there is interest. In response to a question from Council Member
Katrina Brown, Ms. O’Leary said that the City is expecting a proposal during
September from UF Health for an employee health network that would incentivize
employees to utilize UF Health facilities. In response to another question from
Councilwoman Brown about employees performing duties outside of their job
description and how that impacts on their ability to apply for other jobs
requiring those duties, Ms. O’Leary briefly discussed the process for setting
and adjusting job descriptions. Councilwoman Brown asked Mr. Mousa about the
status of creating an African-American Advisory Board in the Office of the
Mayor. Mr. Mousa committed to bringing that issue to the Mayor’s attention.
In response to a question from
Council Member Bowman, Ms. O’Leary explained that the cost of employee drug
testing has increased because the current 5-year contract is expiring in 2017
and the RFP produced 2 responses and the selected company negotiated a 12% rate
increase (down from the 19% originally proposed). In response to a question
from Council Member Schellenberg, Ms. O’Leary said that the plan for an
employee wellness promotion program is coming together and a provider has been
chosen and is developing a detailed proposal. The intention is to help promote
good employee health and thereby reduce health insurance claims. Mr.
Schellenberg reiterated the congratulations to the Employee Services Department
for the success of the self-insurance program. Ms. O’Leary said that future big
issues in health insurance include the mandates of the Affordable Care Act, the
reimbursement rates to participating physicians, and the decline in the number
of persons choosing to enter the medical profession, reducing the number of
available doctors. Mr. Mousa said that a committee composed of administrative
staff, a council member and the Council Auditor have met to discuss potential
uses of the surplus funds being generated by the self-insurance savings.
Council Member Gulliford said that the City needs to seriously deal with the
future of UF Health Jacksonville to ensure that the city doesn’t lose its top level
trauma center. Indigent care is a huge issue and a key factor in the future
viability of UF Health. Council Member Schellenberg urged consideration of less
costly alternatives for providing health care to jail inmates.
Downtown Vision Inc.
Motion: on p. 9, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to replace Schedules AD and AE with revised schedules
to address: a) reduction of City contribution to DVI by $132,688 to $311,660;
b) reduction of Assessed Properties revenue to $726,686; and c) adjust the DVI
Operating Expenses to $764,570 – approved
unanimously.
Jacksonville Journey
Debbie Verges, Jacksonville Journey administrator, said that a plan is
being developed to give more opportunities to small non-profit and faith-based
organizations to be able to access Journey funding, which has been difficult
for those organizations in comparison with the larger, better funded service
providers. She described the measurement and payment for service provision and
the Journey’s ability to track progress of clients who take part in the
programs. Council Member Gulliford expressed dismay that the Jax Journey board
chairman had identified failures in contracted service provision at several
sites that had not been identified by the evaluation staff. Ms. Verges said
that next year’s contract will contain enhanced provisions requiring strict
adherence to the program design and financial penalties for failure to comply
with the contract. Council Member Brown urged the staff to broadly publicize
the upcoming grant opportunities and the eligibility requirements as early as
possible so that all potentially interested agencies can begin making
preparations to apply for the available funds.
Council President Boyer advocated for the execution of an interagency
agreement between the Journey and the Jacksonville Children’s Commission that
spells out in great detail the expectations that go along with the Journey
allocation to summer camps contracted through the Children’s Commission. Ms.
Verges said that an agreement will be in place before the RFP for summer camps
is published. Ms. Verges described the programs targeted at ex-offender
re-entry and explained changes in the system. In response to a question from
Council Member Wilson, Ms. Verges said that the Journey’s data analysis company
will analyze crime statistics on an annual basis and the board will shift its
limited resources to match the trends in crime locations. Mr. Wilson said that
the proximity of some low-income, high-crime areas to wealthier, safer areas
skews the data and prevents some very needy areas from qualifying for Journey
funding because the data is analyzed on a zip code basis, which he believes is
too large an area. Ms. Verges said that if the Council feels that zip code
analysis is not addressing problems sufficiently, the Journey board would be
open to considering alternatives. Council Member Gulliford suggested that
pre-crime factors should be taken into account, not just crime data. If you can
address the precursors of crime then perhaps the crime itself can be prevented.
Council Member Newby said that the Journey board has wrestled with the
prioritization process and has done the best job it can do to have the most
impact with very limited funding. In response to a question from Council Member
Brown, Ms. Verges said that an agency providing employment services gets credit
for success if it places a client in a job for 2 weeks (10 working days). Ms.
Brown suggested the creation of a funding pool to address small pockets of need
in zip codes not receiving general Journey funding.
W.C. Genty, Chairman of the Jacksonville Journey Oversight Committee,
explained how the Journey collects, analyzes and makes decisions based on hard
data. He said that all programs are now paid on a performance basis, which is a
new way of doing business for some provider agencies that are used to being
paid based on inputs, not outputs and success measures.
Motion: on p. 13, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #1 to reduce permanent and probationary salaries by
$4,913 and reduce the General Fund transfer by the same amount – approved unanimously.
Motion: on p. 13, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #2 to revise Schedule AG to: a) correct the amount for
the Jacksonville Re-Entry Center to $707,133; b) rename the program description
for additional program funding to Designated Contingency – Programs to be
Determined; c) eliminate the column for Journey Committee Changes; d) change
the name of the Revised Budget column to Revised FY16 Budget; and e) remove the
prior year funding details – approved
unanimously.
Ms. Verges asked that the $4,913 from the salary reduction in
Auditor’s recommendation #1 be reallocated to the LEAP program for supplies.
That request will be taken up as an enhancement request at tomorrow’s wrap-up
meeting.
Ms. Verges made a request to shift $100,000 from ex-offender
employment to teen programming because of greater needs in the teen programming
area and an excess in
Motion: reduce the Journey
ex-offender employment program budget by $100,000 and increase the teen
programming budget by the same amount – approved
unanimously.
Motion: provide additional
specificity in the juvenile justice programming area as follows: a) evening
reporting center - $143,242; b) Juvenile Drug Court - $124,000; c) Turning
Point – Rethinking Violence - $31,000; d) After Care - $41,174; e) expungement
- $5,000; f) Shot Spotter pilot program (contribution to larger budget) -
$150,000 -
Motion (Gulliford): place
the $150,000 requested for Shot Spotter into Special Council Contingency –
Sam Mousa said that the Sheriff’s Department has been working with the
administration and some district council members about developing a Shot
Spotter pilot program in a 5 square mile area. The Chair placed the Shot
Spotter allocation on the wrap-up agenda for Friday’s meeting.
In response to a question from Councilwoman Brown, Ms. Verges
explained the criminal record expungement process, which pursuant to a new
state law will now make it mandatory rather than voluntary for offenders to
attend the class before their release, and reported that Florida Coastal School
of Law and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid are partnering with the State Attorney’s
Office on a program to promote this program and assist young offenders in
navigating the system.
The Jax Journey request for specific program allocations as amended by
the Gulliford amendment on Shot Spotter was approved unanimously.
Jacksonville Children’s Commission
Jon Heymann, Executive Director of the Children’s Commission explained
the Commission’s four departmental requests.
Motion (Schellenberg): on
p. 16, approve JCC’s request #1 to revise Schedule M to increase the Healthy
Families grant budget by $9,000 to $69,000 – approved unanimously.
Motion (Schellenberg): on
p. 16, approve JCC’s request #2 to revise Schedule M to increase the Healthy
Families grant by $69,000 to $684,300 – approved
unanimously.
Motion (Schellenberg): on
p. 16, approve JCC’s request #3 to move $20,000 of funding from contractual
services to the Mentoring Program Award to pay for externally-provided
background checks - approved unanimously.
Motion
(Schellenberg): on the JCC separate
handout, approve request #4 to revise Schedule M by changing the position
allocated to Department of Health and Human Services (SAMHSA Expansion Grant)
from 0.5 FTE to 1.0 FTE - approved
unanimously.
Public Works Department
In response to a question from Chairwoman Brosche about the increased
line item for barricade rental, Public Works Director John Pappas explained
that this year’s budget splits the rental charges 50/50 between the General
Fund budget and the Stormwater Utility budget to align with actual usage.
Motion: on p. 26, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to decrease the State Shared Revenues and Grants, Aids
and Contributions by $2,729,315 to be in agreement with the Interlocal
Agreement between the City and JTA – approved
unanimously.
Council Member Hazouri asked for further information on the two Tree
Protection Trust Funds and why the Ordinance Code fund and the Charter fund
can’t be combined into one fund. Paige Johnston will provide background
information to Mr. Hazouri. Sam Mousa explained that payments into the two
funds depend on the species and size of the trees being removed and the
remediation required by the two authorizing acts. Ms. Brosche said that the
Trust Funds will be the subject of an upcoming Finance Special Committee
meeting. Mr. Mousa said that Greenscape of Jacksonville is in the process of
developing a plan for use of the trust funds and suggested that they be invited
to be present at the Special Committee meeting.
In response to a question from Council Member Schellenberg, Will
Williams, Chief of the Solid Waste Division, said that the recycling processor
is still selling the recyclables it collects despite the market for the
materials being depressed. Mr. Mousa explained that the City has agreed to a
reduction in the per ton payment it receives from the processor (currently $40
per ton) to $37 per ton to compensate the processor for removing contaminants
from the recycling stream and paying a tipping fee for that material at the
landfill. There was an ambiguity in certain terms in the contract that opened
the door to a negotiation between the City and the recycling company without
needing Council approval of an amended contract. Republic Services has already informed the
City that it cannot renew the current contract when it expires in September
2017 with the $40 per ton payment to the City in place. In response to a
question Mr. Pappas reported that the City has spent approximately $18 million
on Trail Ridge Landfill cell number 2 and has another $10 million to go $16
million to allocate for the remainder of the project. Clean material will
start being placed in the new cell in September as the base to protect the
liner.
Council President Boyer asked several questions about the City’s
commitments and expenditures for the ash site settlement and why more progress
is not being made to move the remediation to completion. Mr. Mousa said that he
has become personally involved in making sure that these projects are being
pursued and is meeting with staff on a regular basis to monitor progress. He
told Ms. Boyer that additional staff is not needed to handle the ash site
project; most of the work is being done by consultants with oversight by City
forces. The administration realizes that this is a priority and effort and
attention will increase.
Council Member Brown expressed disappointment with the Public Works
Department closing out CARE system tickets when the problems being reported are
not actually resolved. That causes citizen frustration and delays the ultimate
resolution when citizens call to complain that the problem is not solved while
the CARE system shows the case was closed by the department. Mr. Pappas said he would look into the
department’s response to ensure that tickets are not being closed out before
the problem is really solved.
Stormwater Services
Motion: on p. 42, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to reduce GEPP normal pension contribution and GEPP
UAAL contributions by a total of $52,684 to recognize that a grant will pay
that portion of the cost and increase transfer out to Stormwater Services –
Capital Projects by the same amount – approved
unanimously.
President Boyer asked the committee to consider taking up the
stormwater fee exemptions for non-profit organizations and low-income property
owners as a topic for discussion at a future Finance Special Committee meeting.
In response to a question from Council Member Schellenberg, C.J. Thompson,
Chief of Fleet Management, said that although funds were allocated in the
current fiscal year to purchase new machinery and vehicles, only 83% have been
delivered to date so costs are still being incurred for repairs to the old
machinery for a time until they are replaced. He explained the long delivery
time for some types of machinery. Ms. Boyer asked that the committee discuss Public
Works equipment needs at tomorrow’s wrap-up session to ensure that the
department has carefully evaluated its needs and that needed replacement
equipment is being purchased on a timely basis. Mr. Mousa said that some
progress is being made in replacing old equipment and more will be done as
revenues improve. Council Member Gulliford recommended that the City lease
major pieces of equipment on long-term leases with the dealer providing
maintenance, with a fixed purchase price for the equipment at the end of the
lease term.
In response to a question from Council Member Schellenberg, Mr. Pappas
said that the Public Buildings Division has evaluated the roofs of all City
buildings but has not evaluated the total condition of all buildings. The
department continually evaluates the use and need for City-owned buildings for
potential re-use or sale. Mr. Mousa informed the committee that the
administration has entered into an agreement with CBRE, a real estate
management company, and the State of Florida’s Division of General Services to
help evaluate and market unused City buildings to potential users.
The committee was in recess from 12:11 p.m. to
1:15 p.m.
Sheriff’s Office – Shot Spotter
Council Member Gulliford reported that during the lunch break he had
spoken with a police lieutenant in Oakland, California about that city’s use of
the Shot Spotter technology and was told that the technology is effective in
that city and has helped reduce the number of homicides, but the success of
using the system depends on having sufficient staffing to respond immediately to
reported gunshots. Undersheriff Pat Ivey emphasized that the staffing aspect is
crucial; if there is no immediate police response to the site of the gunshot,
then the system really doesn’t provide much value. The Undersheriff said that
the technology has improved considerably in recent years in distinguishing
gunshots from other similar noises and the JSO is interested in testing system
if resources can be found. A sergeant and 6-officer squad devoted entirely to
Shot Spotter response could cover a 5 square mile area. Mr. Mousa said that the
preliminary estimate for equipment installation for the 5 square mile test site
would be approximately $300,000 for equipment and $125,000 for installation (which
can be capitalized) and that the on-going license fee would be approximately $325,000
per year. He hoped that the initial installation could be done with a
combination of the $150,000 suggested for allocation from the Jacksonville
Journey and contributions of Autumn Bond district bond funds from several
council members whose districts would be in the pilot project area. Shot
Spotter equipment would also be a CDBG-eligible expense. In response to a
question from Council Member Bowman, Undersheriff Ivey agreed that a 20%
reporting rate to the police of gunshots fired is probably a relatively
accurate figure.
Neighborhoods Department
Mr. Sherman reviewed the budgets of the various divisions of the
department.
Motion: on p. 59, approve
Auditor’s recommendation that $5,748 be removed from fleet vehicle replacement
allocation in the Hazardous Waste Program to correct an erroneous entry – approved unanimously.
Motion: on p. 60, approve
Auditor’s recommendation that no fees for Animal Care and Protective Services
classes be deposited into the ACPS Trust fund, eliminating the remaining $600
in class fee revenues and reduce travel expenses by $600 – approved unanimously.
Motion: on p. 64, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to eliminate the transfer from the Adult Arcades
Subfund of $331,218 to the General Fund-GSD which will have an equivalent
negative impact on the Special Council Contingency fund – approved unanimously.
Bill Clement, Budget Officer for the Sheriff’s Office, discussed the
JSO’s policy regarding enforcement of the adult internet arcade ordinance and
said that the department’s level of enforcement is insufficient to justify the
allocation of licensing revenue to this activity.
Melissa Long, Chief of the Environmental Quality Division, requested a
budget amendment to move $79,469 in the department’s budget from Contingency
(9910) to salaries and benefits ($53,394.60) and specialized equipment purchase
($26,074.44) to increase the base salary of the Environmental Engineering
Manager position to attract better candidates.
Motion: approve the
departmental request to move $79,469 from the Contingency 9910 account to
salaries, benefits and specialized equipment line items - approved unanimously.
In response to a question from Council Member Gulliford, Jim Crosby,
Interim Chief of Animal Care and Protective Services, reported that the license
fee for dogs and cats is $20 per year, collected either at the ACPS, at the Tax
Collector’s offices or at a veterinarian’s office (with a $2 administrative fee
added). Mr. Gulliford requested information on when that fee was last changed
and the department’s recommendation for possible fee increases. The division
plans to contact veterinarians with offices in other counties not far from the
Jacksonville city limits about their willingness to issue Jacksonville animal
licenses.
Council Member Brown asked Mr. Mousa how the City might tackle the
problem of persistent code enforcement violations and the number and length of
extensions being granted by a special magistrate. She is particularly concerned
that owners of cited properties are erecting fences to hide their violations
rather than cleaning up the property. Mr. Mousa asked Councilwoman Brown for
the addresses of several examples that the City could visit to see the problem.
He also said that the administration will investigate a possible warrant
program that would give the City inspectors access to private property to
investigate nuisance complaints.
Council Member Schellenberg posed several questions to Mr. Crosby
about dangerous dog registrations and feral cat removal efforts in Mandarin.
State and Federal Grant Program
Motion: on p. 67, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to add the Justice Assistance Grant to the B1-A
schedule in the amount of $419,845 and include 3 FTE positions and 5,200
part-time hours – approved unanimously.
Motion: on p. 67, approve the
Auditor’s recommendation to remove the Ryan White grant of $5.5 million from
Schedule B1-A due to conflict interest by a council member and appropriate the
grant via separate legislation - approved
unanimously.
Motion: on p. 67, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to remove the Shelter Retrofit Grant of $185,000 from
Schedule B1-A since it is not a state or federal grant and appropriate via
separate legislation - approved
unanimously.
Motion: on p. 68, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to reduce the State Aid to Libraries grant on Schedule
B1-A by $1,024,351 to correct the grant amount - approved unanimously.
Motion: on p. 68, approve
Auditor’s recommendation on Schedule B1-A to clarify the description of the
COPS Matching Grant to include a statement that this helps to offset the City’s
cost of 15 officers - approved
unanimously.
Motion: on p. 68, approve
Auditor’s recommendation on Schedule B1-A to remove Beach Renourishment – State
Contribution of $871,000 since this represents a reimbursement, not a grant;
appropriate the reimbursement via separate legislation when received - approved unanimously.
Motion: on p. 68, approve
Auditor’s recommendation on Schedule B1-A to change the project description for
the NPDES/MS4 Permit Grant from the Regulatory Compliance to the Neighborhoods
Department - approved unanimously.
Motion: on p. 68, approve
Auditor’s recommendation on Schedule B1-B to correctly identify the two FIND
grants as $924,199 to Half Moon Island Park and Boat Ramp Phase 2A and $80,360
to Exchange Club Island Pavilions - approved
unanimously.
Motion: on p. 68, approve
Auditor’s recommendation on Schedule B1-B to move four FIND grants to Schedule
B1-C since separate legislation will be
needed to appropriate part of the matching funds not included in the FY16-17
budget; this will reduce the reserve amount on Schedule B1-B by the partial
match amount of $735,014 and increase the reserve amount on Schedule B1-C by
the same amount - approved unanimously.
Motion: on p. 68, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to include the COPS Hiring Grant on Schedule B1-B
since it is a continuation grant requiring a City match, and include the match
funding of $507,312 - approved
unanimously.
President Boyer posed questions about the nature of several JAG
grant-funded positions that perform grant-writing services for ex-offenders and
anti-crime programs that are similar to what the Jacksonville Journey provides,
but are not supervised under the Journey umbrella. Ms. Boyer suggested further
investigation of ways to coordinate this grant-funded activity with the
Journey’s programming.
Downtown Investment Authority
Motion: on p. 79, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #1 to removed parking citation dismissal fee revenues
of $7,863 from the Public Parking Subfund 412 and move it to Handicap Parking
Fines 1H8 – approved unanimously.
Motion: on p. 79, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #2 to reduce the utilities allocation for Public
Parking by $282,668 and increase cash carry-over by a like amount due to an
error in the allocation formula; also reduce the Public Buildings Division
electricity budget by $282,668 and decrease the interfund billing revenue line
item - approved unanimously.
In response to a question from Council Member Schellenberg, Mr.
Sherman said that the City subsidizes the 3 privately managed downtown parking
garages by about $4 million this year. The Auditor’s Office will provide data
on the individual subsidies for the 3 garages.
In response to a question from Council Member Schellenberg, DIA
Executive Director Aundra Wallace said the DIA is not interested in operating
Hemming Park and defers to the Parks, Recreation and Community Services
Department to run the City’s parks.
In response to a question from Council President Boyer, Bob Carle, Public
Parking Officer, said that the $275,000 allocation in the budget is for the
replacement of parking garage entry gates because the manufacturer of the
current equipment has gone out of business and the equipment is no longer
supported. He also reported that last year’s problems with the electronic,
card-reader parking meters have been largely overcome with new replacement
batteries. The division is still in the trial phase and has not made a final
decision on whether to purchase more of the electronic meters. Aundra Wallace
said that the figure budgeted for a parking study will produce a new evaluation
of downtown’s parking needs and how parking can be used as part of the business
attraction effort in downtown. Parking is still one of the top negative factors
preventing the successful recruitment of businesses to downtown.
Motion (Schellenberg): on
p. 81, approve Auditor’s recommendation #1 to reduce Miscellaneous Revenue and
forgivable loans in the Downtown Economic Development Fund 75B by $114,750 to
match uses to available revenue - approved
unanimously.
Motion (Schellenberg): on
p. 81, approve Auditor’s recommendation #2 to remove the proposed $250,000
transfer in from the Southside Tax Increment District to avoid placing tax
increment funds in this fund and reduce forgivable loans by the same amount - approved unanimously.
Motion Schellenberg): on p.
81, approve Auditor’s recommendation #3 to move the remaining expenditure
capacity in Fund 75B to a contingency account until more specific details are
provided on how the funds will be used, including funds for forgivable loans,
the $1,200,000 for payments to fiscal
agents and $100,000 for capital outlay -
Motion (Gulliford):
substitute the previous motion to approve Auditor’s recommendations #1 and 2
but not #3 on p. 81 –
Motion (Boyer): amend the
Gulliford substitute to also provide that the budget ordinance shall include
language requiring that all expenditure requests by the DIA shall be made to
the City’s Chief Administrative Officer, accompanied by a signed board
resolution and all necessary documentation –
The Gulliford motion, as amended by the Boyer amendment, was approved 4-1 (Schellenberg opposed).
Tax increment districts
Motion: approve the FY17
revised budget for the Downtown East TID (SF 181) as recommended by the DIA
board, with a total expenditure budget of $6,318,275 – approved unanimously.
Motion: approve the FY17
revised budget for the Southside TID (SF 182) as recommended by the DIA board,
with a total expenditure budget of $3,605,722 – approved unanimously.
Motion: approve the FY17
revised budget for the North West TID (SF 183) as recommended by the DIA board,
with a total expenditure budget of $4,752,708 - approved unanimously.
Motion: approve the FY17
revised budget for the JIA CRA (SF 185) with a total expenditure budget of
$9,102,456 – approved unanimously.
Motion: approve the FY17
revised budget for the King/Soutel CRA (SF 186) with a total expenditure budget
of $518,041 - approved unanimously.
Motion: approve the FY17
revised budget for the JIA CRA (SF 187) with a total expenditure budget of
$343,527 - approved unanimously.
Mr. Sherman distributed and discussed a sheet entitled Net Impact to
Proposed FY2016-17 General Fund GSD Budget showing a negative impact of
$4,237,808 to the General Fund/GSD from the elimination of the budget’s
proposed transfer of fund balances from the North West, Downtown East and South
Side Tax Increment Districts to the General Fund. CFO Mike Weinstein said that
the City was recently successful in obtaining a federal grant to pay
firefighter salaries and just completed a bond debt refinancing that together
would produce between $2 million and $3 million that could be used to offset
this negative impact.
Council Member Gulliford lamented the lack of transformative projects
in downtown Jacksonville compared to what’s happening in other cities, the
proliferation of buildings that have been vacant for a decade or more and the
lack of downtown residents. Aundra Wallace said that transformative projects
are extremely expensive, especially in a downtown that has many historic
buildings as Jacksonville’s that are even more expensive to renovate than to
build new buildings, so the DIA is going to concentrate on “hitting singles and
doubles” with the limited resources it has at its disposal to try to build
momentum toward eventual “home run” projects. Development of a more substantial
residential base is vital to making downtown attractive and viable again.
Council Member Bowman suggested consideration of merging the Northbank and
Southbank CRAs into one entity to address downtown redevelopment holistically.
President Boyer noted that the new Broadstone Apartments development under
construction on the Southbank adjacent to the School Board building did not
request any City financial assistance. If that project is successful in
achieving high occupancy at market rates without City assistance, that is a
good sign to the marketplace that downtown is finally a viable project
location.
Motion (Boyer): approve
the DIA’s request to remove the following projects from the CIP listing: 1)
Liberty Street Road Diet; 2) Monroe Street 2-way; 3) Pearl Street 2-way; 4)
Wayfinding signage; 5) Hogan and Julia Streets 2-way; 6) Hogan Street Plaza – approved unanimously.
In response to a question from Council Member Schellenberg about the
downtown plans of the independent authorities, Mr. Wallace said that the DIA
has no real control over whether the JEA chooses to leave its current building
for a new headquarters or the JTA pursues construction of a new headquarters
and intermodal transportation center in LaVilla. If the JTA does fully commit
to the new transit center, then he would recommend making it the centerpiece of
a true transit-oriented development (TOD).
Hold-over items
Motion: on the August 24th
Meeting #5 Handout on p.2, approve Auditor’s suggestion #5to remove the
Southside Parking project in the amount of $550,000 from the budget – approved unanimously.
Motion: on the August 24th
Meeting #5 Handout on p.3, approve Auditor’s recommendation #6 to amend the
budget to remove the Riverplace Boulevard Improvements project in the amount of
$233,824 – approved unanimously.
Pending items
·
Jax Journey Shot Spotter $150,000 allocation
Meeting adjourned: 3:55 p.m.
Minutes: Jeff Clements, Council Research
8.29.16
Posted 5:30 p.m.
Tapes: Finance Budget Hearing #6
– LSD
8.25.16
Materials: Council Auditor’s Budget Meeting #6 handout - LSD
8.25.16