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 #3 Minutes
August 15, 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, John Crescimbeni, Matt Schellenberg, Robin Lumb, Clay Yarborough
Excused: Johnny
Gaffney, Reggie Brown
Also:
Council Members Doyle Carter (arr. 9:18)
Also: Kirk
Sherman, Kim Taylor – Council Auditor’s Office; Carol Owens – Legislative
Services Division; Peggy Sidman – Office of General Counsel; Jeff Clements –
Council Research Division; Ronnie Belton and Michele Barth – Mayor’s Office;
Glenn Hansen and Angela Moyer - Budget Office
Meeting Convened: 9:02 a.m.
Chairman Anderson convened
the meeting and reminded viewers of the budget web site on the City Council web
page which contains all of the budget handouts and other information. There is also a link to a suggestion page
through which citizens can make suggestions for improvements and savings, which
will be tabulated and referred to the appropriate departments.
Council Auditor Kirk Sherman
updated the committee on the status of the Special Council Contingency Fund,
which currently stands at negative $2.7 million.
References from this point refer to Budget Hearing #3
Handout – August 15, 2013
Tax Collector
Tax Collector Michael
Corrigan explained the service cuts that will have to be made to accomplish the
13.88% extraordinary lapse: close 3 branch offices, reduce staff by 20-25%, and
stop collecting City fees and charges (state mandated fees and charges will
continue to be collected). Mr. Corrigan
stated that his office runs on a very lean basis compared to tax collectors in
other counties, charging a service fee of 0.25% when other counties charge 2%.
Motion
(Yarborough): on p. 3, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #2 to reduce
service charge revenue by $341,554 and on p. 4 restore the extraordinary lapse
of $1,258,739 – approved unanimously.
Motion (Crescimbeni):
reduce the Tax Collector’s vehicle cap from 13 to 11 – unanimously approved.
Council Member Crescimbeni
requested the Tax Collector to keep the Finance Committee updated throughout
the year about the instructions he is receiving from the Budget Office about
preparations for next year’s budget.
Property Appraiser
Mr. Sherman noted that the
Property Appraiser’s budget must also be approved by the Florida Department of
Revenue, so reconciliation is needed between the City’s latest version and the
version approved by the DOR. Property
Appraiser Jim Overton said that he submits his budget to the DOR on June 1st. The version that DOR approved was not what
the administration submitted to City Council, it included the 13.88% cut. His
staff has looked at various savings possibilities by eliminating non-mandates
services, of which there are very few. The
office is not required to have a web site and could stop defending Value
Adjustment Board appeals, but both of those would be counterproductive options.
Mr. Sherman stated that Jacksonville runs a very lean operation, currently
ranking 41st in the state in average appraisal costs.
Motion (Yarborough):
on p. 7 restore the extraordinary lapse except for the OGC legal charges and
the ITD charges lines – approved
unanimously.
Mr. Overton said that he will
be giving some small pay increases to several employees because they are
experiencing high turnover in their appraisal staff. The private real estate market is heating up
and salaries are rising. He is re-establishing a small merit pool for raises.
Court Administration
Court Administrator Joe
Stelma stated that he has reached agreement with the Information Technologies
Division to assign an employee permanently to the courthouse to deal with needs
there. Bringing the Beach Boulevard
court functions to the main courthouse has caused a space crunch, with more
room needed for hearing foreclosure cases, traffic court and the potential for
many large tobacco liability cases.
There is a bill pending in City Council to provide the technology for 4
of the 8 shelled courtrooms on the 5th floor, although the other 4
are needed as well.
Motion
(Yarborough): on p. 18, add $311,500 to the Court Administration budget to
outfit 4 additional shelled courtrooms on the 5th floor of the
courthouse, plus $23,000 for maintenance, from the Special Council Contingency
fund – approved unanimously.
Motion: on
p. 25, approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1 and 2 – approved unanimously.
Motion: on
p. 28, table the Council Auditor’s recommendation re: reduction of courthouse
maintenance costs pending further discussion with Court Administration about
needs.
Teen Court
The Auditor’s Office notes
that the use of fund balance has been keeping the Teen Court afloat for several
years and the balance will not last through more than one additional year. Lawrence Hills, director of the Teen Court,
noted that staff has been cut drastically over the last several year even as
referrals to the court have increased 300%.
They are actively seeking grants to sustain the operation and will be
looking to the Jacksonville Journey for potential funding.
Recording Fees
Motion: on
p. 32, approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1 and 2 re: allocation of IT
maintenance costs and a requirement that all entities sign the Memorandum of
Understanding before funds can be utilized – unanimously approved.
Court Administrator Joe
Stelma noted that there has been a great improvement in relations between the
courts and the City regarding IT issues resulting from discussions in last
year’s budget hearings. The court
administration staff will meet with the Council Auditor’s staff to resolve the tabled
issue on courthouse maintenance costs.
Supervisor of Elections
Supervisor of Elections Jerry
Holland expressed surprise that his budget has been charged a $1.9 million principal
and interest charge from the Banking Fund for the borrowing for the propose
purchase of the Gateway Center elections operation center that was never
consummated. Mr. Holland asked for an allocation of $1.656 million to purchase
electronic poll books to provide real-time registration data for all polling
places which would improve fraud protection and increase voting efficiency at
polling places. Other surrounding
counties and the other large counties all use them. It would allow early voting on the Sunday
prior to election day because the registration data would be available
instantaneously. Will reduce pollworker
costs and somewhat increase data transmission costs.
Council Member Clark opposed
use of the Banking Fund for the purchase of items with a value of less than
$50,000 (the electronic poll books are $2,200 apiece); these should not be
considered a capital expense. Mr.
Holland stated that he will purchasing an entire electronic system with a value
of over $1 million with an expected lifespan of 16 years and needs to be considered as a whole, which is
certainly capital project-eligible. The
political parties are anxious to have this technology because it allows them
access to data in real time that currently takes a week or more to become
available.
Motion
(Yarborough): allocate $1.6 million of Banking Fund authorization for purchase
of electronic poll books and allocate the remaining $300,000 in debt service
payments to a non-departmental debt service line; the CAO and Supervisor of
Elections will arrange the details – approved
6-1 (Clark opposed).
Clerk of the Courts
Clerk of the Courts Ronnie
Fussell told the committee that the budget is up due to increasing filing
activity because of increasing economic activity. Building maintenance expenses are up due to
the location in the new courthouse. The
jury shuttle will be discontinued in early October.
Motion: on
pp. 16-17, approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1-5 – approved unanimously.
Alcohol Rehabilitation
Program
The Council Auditor is
concerned about the how the fine revenues are allocated pursuant to state law
and local ordinance. The effects of the Article 5 revisions to the court system
funding need to be considered. The
revenue stream is down over the past several years, which Mr. Fussell
attributes to reduced number of tickets being written.
Motion: on
p. 57, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation to study the allocation of
alcohol-related fines with the Clerk of the Courts office to ensure correct
distribution – approved unanimously.
Public Service Grants
Council Member Boyer reported
that at the last meeting of the Public Service Grant Council a PSG recipient
agency (Meals on Wheels) requested to change its allocation from one priority
category to another, but was advised by the Office of General Counsel that that
was not something that could be done by the PSG Council and would require City
Council approval. Several committee
members expressed reservations about allowing category changes because of the
effect it would have on how the PSG funds were prioritized among the categories
and the precedent it might set for future category change requests.
The committee was in recess from 11:56 to 1:04
Kirk Sherman reported that
the Special Council Contingency currently stands at negative $5.1 million
(equivalent of .12 mills)
Public Defender
Motion: on
p. 33, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation to add $128,237 in utilities
and building maintenance allocations erroneously budget to the State Attorney
instead of the Public Defender –approved
unanimously.
State Attorney
Cheryl Peek representing
State Attorney Angela Corey reported that a new state mandate requires complete
e-filing and the elimination of paper documents. The State Attorney’s Office requested funding
for the necessary technology but none was included in the budget. The City is required to provide this
technology at some point. Ms. Peek also
noted that she had just heard from the Public Works Department this morning
about a bid protest on the new State Attorney’s office building which will
likely delay this project even further.
Council Member Crescimbeni asked Ms. Peek to convey his displeasure to
Ms. Corey at seeing reports in the media of the State Attorney’s communications
officer offering “no comment” to media inquires.
Parks and Recreation
Department
Parks and Recreation Director
Kelly Boree stated that she achieved a 13.7% reduction for FY14 by cutting
staffing and closing 4 community centers and by reducing hours at swimming
pools, having only swim lessons at some pools and reduced free swim hours at
most pools. A decision was made to keep funding for park maintenance intact to
keep the parks in good shape for the public’s use. The department has a difficult time budgeting
for clean-up after events at the Jacksonville Landing. The City owns the land and maintains the
grounds. The Landing cannot provide a
list of events for the upcoming year, but the department is required to clean
up after whatever events they schedule.
Ms. Boree answered committee
member questions about pool and community center utilization and proposed
cuts. Council Member Boyer cautioned about
the negative impacts of closing the San Marco Library and Balis Community
Center. Substantial private dollars were
invested in that facility and it sends a very discouraging message about
public/private partnerships if the City subsequently closes a facility the
community helped to fund.
The committee tabled the
department’s general fund budget to the budget hearing of August 23rd
in order to give Ms. Boree an opportunity to meet with the Finance Committee
members and explore options for alternatives to the proposed cuts.
Huguenot Park
Ms. Boree stated that the
admission fee to the park was intended to pay for park improvements, not to
supplant operational funding, which has occurred in recent years as budgets
have gotten tighter.
Motion: on p. 42 approve Council Auditor’s recommendation to review
the Hueguenot Park entrance fee annually – approved
unanimously.
Hanna Park
Motion: on
p. 44 approve Council Auditor’s recommendations #1 an 2 to reduce camping
revenue and review the Hanna Park entrance fee annually – approved unanimously.
Metropolitan Park
Council Member Boyer briefly
describe the 2010 Metropolitan Park improvement project as it has been
described to the Ad Hoc Metropolitan Park Committee. Ms. Boree explained that the $125,000 capital
project shown on p. 46 is intended to begin the design process for the Metro
Park stage canopy, getting to the 30% stage so that the Procurement Division
can produce bid documents.
Cecil Commerce Center Park
Motion: on p. 50, approve
Council Auditor’s recommendation eliminating investment pool earnings of $6,910
– approved unanimously.
Special Services
Department
Special Services Department
Director Terrance Ashanti-Barker explained what the proposed budget cuts would
mean to the department. He described the City’s Sexual Assault Response Center
as the only county-funded sexual response center in the state. The fallback position if the center is closed
is to contract with Shands Medical Center to provide the exams. Dr. Ian Kakam
described how the program operates and expressed his preferences for where it
should be operated.
Motion: on
p. 55, approve restoration of $325,014 to the Sexual Assault Resource Center – approved unanimously.
Council Member Crescimbeni
requested the department to return with an expanded list of potential budget
cuts from which the Finance Committee will select its list of priorities for
reductions or restorations. Cindy
Funkhouser of the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless described how the
agency’s City funding has been reduced by 40% over the past 2 years.
Motion: on
p. 54, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #2 – approved unanimously.
Mr. Barker explained that the
Behavioral and Human Services Division is proposed to be moved out of leased
space on Art Museum Drive, but no new location has been identified. Two locations in City buildings are under
consideration – the Ed Ball Building and the Children’s Commission building on
A. Phillip Randolph Boulevard.
Motion: on
p. 54, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation #3 – approved unanimously.
The remainder of the
department’s budget was deferred until the budget hearing of August 22nd.
Chief Financial Officer Ronnie Belton told the committee that he understood the
committee’s questions about the department’s budget and that he and the Special
Services Department management would meet over the next week and thoroughly
prepare for the resumption of the budget discussion on the 22nd.
Planning and Development
Department
Planning and Development
Director Calvin Burney explained how several positions within his budget are
proposed to be shifted to different subfunds within the department’s budget.
Motion
(Yarborough): on p. 63 approve the department’s requested restoration priority
#9 to restore one City Planner II position – approved unanimously.
In response to a question
from Council Member Yarborough, Mr. Burney explained the department’s current
status regarding a restaurant operating illegally as a nightclub on Arlington
Expressway. After years of attempted
enforcement the City needs to either coordinate Zoning Inspection and Code
Enforcement inspections to catch the operator in the act of violations or to go
to court to get an order to shut down the operation. Mr. Burney also discussed a requested
$200,000 project for computer upgrades in conjunction with ITD. The project will appropriate Planning
Department funding to ITD to use to procure programmer services to make
upgrades to existing software for better efficiency and customer service.
Motion: on
p. 70, authorize the $200,000 computer upgrade project with ITD – approved unanimously.
References from this point refer to Budget Hearing #4
Handout – August 16, 2013
Finance Department
Motion: on
p. 4, reduce the Finance Department’s training expense by $23,000 and eliminate
1 position (to be determined) at a value of $65,000, for a total reduction of
$88,800.
Twane Duckworth discussed the
self-insurance programs and answered a question about a potential change in
state heart/hypertension claims regulations that were discussed in the last
legislative session.
He has spent his first year
on the job trying to understand the history of policies and procedures in Risk
Management and looking at opportunities for process improvements. He is working
with other Florida jurisdictions on a Tenant-User Liability Insurance Program
(TULIP) to look at how self-insurers cover large public events (concerts,
festivals).
Future meetings: Special
Services Department on August 22 and Parks and Recreation on August 23. The Chair is looking at the afternoon of
August 28th as a wrap-up meeting and inviting all council members to
attend and propose small amendments then rather than offering them on the
Council floor on the night of budget adoption.
Council Member Crescimbeni urged that someone inform the Medical
Examiner that she will be up first tomorrow since the Finance Department was
covered today.
Council Member Jones said
that he’s been watching the meetings on the internet and the video quality is
very poor.
Deputy CAO Cleveland Ferguson
reported on the protest of the State Attorney’s Office construction
contract. It’s not a bid issue, but an
allegation that the prime contractor has replaced some of the subcontractors
and JSEB participants from the firms listed in the original contract. Work on the building continues unabated.
Meeting Adjourned: 5:10 p.m.
Minutes: Jeff Clements, Council Research
8.15.13 Posted 6:00 p.m.
Tapes: Finance Budget Hearing #3– LSD
8.15.13
Materials: Auditor’s Budget
Hearing #3 handout
8.15.13