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

 

SPECIAL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

ON RESOLUTION 2013-371 AND ITD BUDGET TRANSFER REQUEST

 

June 24, 2012

4:00 p.m.

 

City Council Chamber

1st floor, City Hall

117 West Duval Street

 

Attendance:  Council Members John Crescimbeni (Chair), Greg Anderson, Bill Gulliford, Richard Clark (temporary appointment) and Warren Jones (temporary appointment)

Excused: Council Members Clay Yarborough, Lori Boyer, Johnny Gaffney and Stephen Joost

 

Also: Kirk Sherman and Heather Reber - Council Auditor’s Office; Carol Owens – Legislative Services Division; Paige Johnston, Peggy Sidman and Juliana Rowland – General Counsel’s Office; Jeff Clements – Council Research Division; Ted Carter and Paul Crawford – Office of Economic Development; Cleveland Ferguson – Mayor’s Office; Usha Mohan – Information Technologies Division; Angela Moyer – Finance Department; Ron Littlepage – Florida Times-Union; Steve Patterson – Florida Times-Union; David Chapman – Financial News and Daily Record; Randy Wyse – International Association of Firefighters; Chris Quinn – Chamber of Commerce; Greg Smith – Bank of America

 

Meeting convened: 4:10 p.m.

 

2013-371

Ted Carter of the Office of Economic Development stated that his staff has been working for the past week with JAXUSA Partnership, Bank of America and the Council Auditor’s Office to address the concerns raised by the committee at its last meeting, and has largely reached consensus on an amended proposal.  The OED will be looking at several police issues that have come to light from this proposal with regard to the nature of jobs and hiring in the modern economy and how the City’s Public Investment Policy may need to be revised to reflect new realities in the corporate workplace.

 

Council Auditor Kirk Sherman reviewed his department’s handout that showed how the proposal from last week has been modified to the version presented for consideration today.  Two issues remain for the committee’s consideration.  First, a definition should be agreed upon for what constitutes a “full-time job”, which may also be the subject of a future Public Investment Policy amendment as Mr. Cater indicated.  Second, the state requires corporate records relating to QTI incentives to be kept by the recipient corporation for 4 years after the last incentive payment is made.  The Council Auditor’s office would prefer that the records be kept for 6 years; Bank of America agrees to 5 years as a compromise.

 

The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of 2013-371 with the amendments listed on the Council Auditor’s handout document.

 

Council Member Gulliford stated that it may be time for the City Council to take another look at the City’s economic development incentive policies and determine what, if any, changes need to be made.

 

ITD budget transfer request

Usha Mohan, Chief of the Information Technologies Division, requested committee approval of a transfer of funding previously appropriated for the start of the process to replace the FAMIS accounting and financial management system to two other more immediate projects – replacement of the main data storage server (SAN disk) and purchase of a citywide document imaging and management system.  The City appropriated $2 million in Banking Fund borrowing in FY10-11 to begin the process of hiring a consultant to develop the specifications for procuring a new, integrated financial management software package, and approximately $250,000 has been spent to date on analyzing needs and developing specifications.  ITD has subsequently determined that the SAN disk replacement ($444,072) and document imaging/management system ($898,628) are more immediate needs to ensure the satisfactory operation of the City’s data network (SAN disk) and to produce cost savings and better productivity by phasing out paper documents (document imaging system). After transfers for those two projects the remaining funds would be left in the FAMIS replacement project account.

 

The committee discussed the relative merits of the three projects, the impending budget prospects for FY13-14 and the process by which these matters are considered by the Finance Committee.  Council Member Anderson offered an amendment to approve on the SAN disk replacement project.  After some research of the Ordinance Code by Kirk Sherman and Paige Johnston, the committee was informed that the Finance Committee’s two options are to approve or reject the proposed transfer – amendment is not an option.  Council Member Jones made a motion to approve the two transfers, which died for lack of a second. Angela Moyer stated that the administration will now attempt to place the two projects in the FY13-14 budget proposal.

 

There being no further business, the agenda meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

 

 

Jeff Clements, Council Research Division (904) 630-1404

 

Posted 6.25.13   12:00 p.m.