OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL

 

117 WEST DUVAL STREET, SUITE 425

4TH FLOOR, CITY HALL

. JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA  32202

 

 

Finance Committee Budget Hearing #1 Minutes - amended

August 13, 2015

9:00 a.m.

 

Location:  City Council Chamber, 1st floor, City Hall – St. James Building; 117 West Duval Street

 

In attendance:  Council Members Bill Gulliford (Chair), Anna Lopez-Brosche, Danny Becton, Aaron Bowman, Lori Boyer, John Crescimbeni, Reggie Gaffney

 

Also: Council Members Greg Anderson, Katrina Brown, Garrett Dennis, Tommy Hazouri, Joyce Morgan; Kirk Sherman, Kim Taylor, Philip Peterson – Council Auditor’s Office; Jessica Morales – Legislative Services Division; Peggy Sidman and Paige Johnston – Office of General Counsel; Jeff Clements – Council Research Division;  Sam Mousa – CAO; Mike Weinstein and Angela Moyer – Finance Department

 

Meeting Convened: 9:00 a.m.

 

Chairman Gulliford convened the meeting with a quorum present and the members announced themselves for the record. Council President Anderson thanked the committee for their service and wished them well in the important task ahead.

 

Mr. Gulliford asked the group to observe a moment of silence in solidarity with the young girl who suffered a horrific attack in Arlington yesterday.

 

The Chairman reviewed rules of protocol for the budget hearings, including the order of recognizing speakers (committee members first, then other council members), the ability of the Mayor’s administration to offer amendments for the committee’s consideration (to be moved by the Vice Chair), order of making amendments, the keeping of running lists of amendments and the balance of the Special Council Contingency Fund, and a public comment period at the end of meetings if time permits. He thanked the Council Auditor’s Office for their hard work and preparation for this process and their cooperation with the administration in preparing for the hearings.

 

Administration introduction

Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa gave introductory remarks about the administration’s availability throughout the budget hearing process to answer an questions the committee may have at any time and thanked the committee for its willingness to consider amendments the administration may propose as new information has come to light since the budget was prepared.

Mike Weinstein urged the committee to keep the “big picture” in mind and avoiding silo thinking about sources and uses of funds. The administration recognizes that the departments have many needs that should and will be addressed as the Curry administration moves past the primary task of budget preparation and adoption, including information technology needs that span all departments.

 

Page references from this point refer to Council Auditor’s Office budget handout #1, August 13, 2015

 

Council Auditor’s introduction

Council Auditor Kirk Sherman introduced his staff and gave an overview of the pending budget-related ordinances and the budget adoption timeline. Preliminary taxable property value increased from $49.9 billion in 2014 to $52.5 billion for 2015, a good increase but still far short of the $60 billion in taxable value the city experienced prior to the 2008 recession. The increased property values will generate an additional 5% in revenue or $27.5 million. The value of 1 mill will be approximately $48 million for the FY15-16 budget process. Mr. Sherman cautioned that the page explaining the tax calculation for and “average” home is somewhat misleading because every situation is different depending on many factors that vary from property owner to property owner.

 

In his overview of the budgets of the independent authorities, Mr. Sherman noted that the agreement between the City and the JEA for the utility’s annual contribution to the City will expire in September 2016 and a Council special committee has been meeting with JEA leadership to discuss contract renewal terms. Council Member Boyer asked the Auditor’s Office to research the JTA contribution and whether or not the City’s withholding of Art in Public Places contribution is reflected in that figure. Mr. Sherman gave an overview of the City’s fund structure – General Fund, special revenue funds, debt service funds, capital project funds, enterprise funds, internal service funds, and trust and agency funds. Council Member Hazouri asked for a detailed explanation at the appropriate time of the status of the half-cent sales tax that replaced tolls in the late 1980s and how the City and JTA share gas tax and sales tax revenues. The increase in total employee positions includes 6 positions added during the current fiscal year (4 in the Office of the Inspector General, 2 in Building Inspections). An additional 74 positions are proposed to be added in addition to those 6, predominantly in the Sheriff’s Office (65 of the 74 additional in the General Fund). In response to a question from Council Member Bowman, Mr. Sherman explained the calculation of the “lapse factor” that accounts for the fact that not all positions are filled every day throughout the fiscal year. Council Member Boyer asked for a table showing total salaries and benefits for Sheriff’s Office and Fire and Rescue Department employees separate from other General Fund employees at a future meeting.

 

Motion: on p. 18, approve Auditor’s recommendation #1 to reduce Communications Service Tax revenue by $546,818 – approved 6-1 (Crescimbeni no).

 

Motion: on p. 18, approve Auditor’s recommendation #2 to transfer $30,000 from Duval County Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Trust fund to General Fund/GSD – approved unanimously.

 

Motion: on p. 18, show the transfer of $980,000 from Subfund 322 to offset General Fund/GSD subsidy to the Municipal Stadium fund as a loan (see Auditor’s Concern #1) – approved unanimously.

 

The committee discussed the red light camera enforcement fund and posed questions to Sheriff Mike Williams and JSO budget officer Bill Clement who discussed the contract with Redflex, which expires in 2017. Sheriff Williams said that the JSO has no plans to expand beyond the 40 cameras now installed (the contract cap with Redflex is 50 cameras) and the revenue trend is downward.

 

Motion: on p. 18, reduce the red light camera expected revenue transfer to the General Fund from $400,000 to $150,000 – approved unanimously.

 

Motion: on p. 18, approve Auditor’s recommendation #4 to reduce Franchise Fee – Electric revenue by $700,000 – approved unanimously.

 

Motion: on p. 18, approve Auditor’s recommendation #5 to increase FPL’ s payment in lieu of taxes by $2,890 – approved unanimously.

 

Motion: on p. 18, approve Auditor’s recommendation #6 to increase budgeted revenue from homestead liens by $200,000 - approved unanimously.

 

Motion: on p. 18, approve Auditor’s recommendation #7 to reduce tuition reimbursement repayments from $98000 to $0 – approved unanimously

.

Motion: on p. 18, approve Auditor’s recommendation #8 to reduce alternative fuels tax revenue by $5000 to $0 – approved unanimously.

 

Motion: on p. 18, approve Auditor’s recommendation #9 to increase shared revenues – county sales by $127,154 – approved unanimously.

 

Deputy General Counsel Peggy Sidman reported that two ordinances will be filed to remove two budget items from the budget ordinance and act on them separately so as to allow several council members to declare conflicts of interest on those separated items and refrain from voting on them as the stand-alone bills while being allowed to vote on the remainder of the budget ordinance.

 

Motion: on p. 26, approve Auditor’s recommendation #1 to reduce the budgeted amount for Juvenile Justice detention center costs by $1,386,355 – approved unanimously

 

Motion: on p. 26, approve Auditor’s recommendation #6 to appropriate the $200,000 for the Chamber of Commerce to the Special Council Contingency fund for appropriation via a separate ordinance – approved 6-0-1 (Council Member Bowman abstained).

 

In response to a question from Council Member Gaffney about the cost of indigent care at UF Health Medical Center, Penny Thompson representing UF Health stated that the City has for years provided $26.2 million for indigent care purposes, but the hospital provides unreimbursed care of over $60 million. The Florida Legislature is looking for Jacksonville to increase its contribution in the face of the impending $400 million reduction in federal Medicaid funding for uncompensated hospital care statewide. Council Member Boyer suggested the possibility of creating a designated special council contingency fund for UF Health to hold funds that could be allocated to the hospital at some point during the fiscal year in the same way that a designated contingency fund has been proposed in the budget as a reserve for collective bargaining raises that may be negotiated during the fiscal year. Ms. Thompson noted that several efforts are currently underway in the community (by the Civic Council, Chamber of Commerce, and soon by Mayor Curry) to deal with indigent care funding for the future. She said that an increase of City contribution from $26.2 million to perhaps $30 million would be a show of good faith to the legislative leadership in Tallahassee that Jacksonville is serious about supporting its public indigent care hospital.

 

Sam Mousa said that Mayor Curry wants to convene a community-wide effort to discuss and resolve the community’s indigent care issue and does not support any additional financial allocation at this point. The mayor and his senior leadership team have a strategic planning meeting scheduled for the first week of September and indigent care is a top priority for that meeting. He said that the mayor is convinced that if the City can solve its pension funding woes once and for all, and he has a concept for how that might happen, then many other issues such as indigent care funding can be solved as well. Council Member Hazouri noted that Jacksonville is the only jurisdiction in the state prohibited from levying a hospital tax for indigent care purposes because of its consolidated status. Council Member Gulliford asked about how much is being collected from other counties for indigent care provide to their residents by UF Health. Ms. Thompson said that the hospital receives very little from the other counties for those services. In response to a question she explained UF Health’s efforts to attract a different paying patient mix through outpatient clinics and the construction of new on-site facilities in the future. She explained the historical context for how the hospital has arrived at the payer mix and patient profile it currently exhibits.

 

Motion: on p. 26, approve Auditor’s recommendation #2 to reduce the budgeted amount for independent audit expenditures by $7,000 – approved unanimously.

 

Regarding the lack of an appropriation for Neptune Beach landfill tipping fees at Trail Ridge, Mr. Weinstein said that the omission was intentional because efforts are or will shortly be underway to resolve the dispute with Neptune Beach. The committee will return to this item later in the process.

 

Regarding the Mayport Ferry, Council Member Crescimbeni said that a meeting between the City and JTA will take place in the next week that will resolve several funding and operational issues and this line item may change accordingly.

 

Motion: on p. 26, approve Auditor’s recommendation #4 to budget $200,000 from Special Council Contingency for the Beach Erosion subfund – approved unanimously.

 

Kirk Sherman noted that the Council had previously taken action to appeal the Property Appraiser’s budgeted pay increases (merit pay pool and market-based comparability increases) to the Florida Department of Revenue. Mr. Weinstein reported that the DOR has indicated its willingness to approve the Property Appraiser’s budget with the merit pay pool removed and to have the state pay 65% of the cost of the market study increases (equaling 50% of the combined proposed pay increase pools) with the City paying the other 35%.  Council Member Crescimbeni has received the several reports he requested from the administration on pay raises given to City employees in recent years but has not yet had time to study and analyze them, which he will do as quickly as possible.

 

Motion: on p. 26, approve Auditor’s recommendation #5 to replace the transfer of $1,930,831 from the General Fund to the Solid Waste CIP Fund with a loan of the same amount for the landfill expansion project – approved unanimously.

 

Capital projects not lapsed

Motion: on p. 28, approve Auditor’s recommendation #1 to eliminate the Professional Services line items for $19,393 and $21,250 – approved unanimously

 

Motion: on p. 28, approve Auditor’s recommendation #2 to reduce the Specialized Equipment – Banking Fund amount to $1,728,100 – approved unanimously

 

Motion: on p. 28, approve Auditor’s recommendation #3 to add a line item not exceed $100,000 for professional services – cemetery rehabilitation assessment – approved unanimously

 

Motion: on p. 28, approve Auditor’s recommendation #4 to add a line item of $8.4 million for landfill closure expenses - approved unanimously

 

Motion: on p. 28, approve Auditor’s recommendation #5 to reduce the repair and renovation account to $254,141- approved unanimously

 

Motion: on p. 28, approve Auditor’s recommendation #6 to reduce the mobile equipment account line to $977,095 - approved unanimously

 

The committee was in recess from 12:17 to 1:15 p.m.

 

Public Service Grants

Agencies made application for $3.78 million in public service grant funding; the budget includes $$2.015 million, the same amount as last year. Agencies made application for $3.064 million in cultural service grant funding; the budget includes $2.846 million, the same amount as last year. Council Member Hazouri, quoting Sec. 118.805(g) of the Ordinance Code, questioned whether public service grant recipients are eligible for other City funding sources. Assistant General Counsel Lawsikia Hodges issued an interpretation saying that agencies are eligible for multiple funding sources. Council Member Boyer clarified that the section quoted earlier applied to use of PSG funds to meet unique needs within the four priority populations and were not to duplicate existing programs. Roshanda Jackson, Chair of the PSG Council, clarified her remarks to Council Members Crescimbeni and Hazouri in recent meetings that need to be reinterpreted in light of Ms. Hodges opinion that was released very early this morning. Council Member Crescimbeni expressed his long-standing concerns with the how the grant application evaluation process has worked in recent years and his discomfort with the end results, suggesting that the Finance Committee might approve a total figure for PSGs and re-work the priority list. Chairman Gulliford appointed Vice Chair Brosche to lead a subcommittee of council member volunteers to reevaluate and re-score the applications. Ms. Jackson reported that the 13-member PSG Council is now down to 6 active members. Council members expressed grave reservations about the way this year’s applications were scored and ranked. Ali Korman Shelton of the Mayor’s Office reported that the administration is actively recruiting persons to fill the vacancies on the PSG Council and also noted that the former staff person supporting the PSG activity is no longer with the City and that Greg Pease, Chief of Procurement, is temporarily staffing the PSG process.

 

Motion (Crescimbeni): tentatively recommend that Public Service Grant funding be allocated in the aggregate amount of $2,015,501 with no specific agency allocations pending a revision of the scoring and ranking process and development of a revised agency allocation list by the Finance subcommittee chaired by Council Member Brosche; include an Ordinance Code waiver in the budget ordinance to allow deviation from the prescribed PSG allocation process – approved unanimously.

 

Chairman Gulliford announced that the final PSG allocations will be deferred to the end of the budget hearing process at a wrap-up meeting. Council Member Boyer suggested that a City grant writing expert review and score all of the grant applications to inform the Finance subcommittee’s work.

 

Council Member Crescimbeni suggested that the City is allocating insufficient funding for maintenance of the public’s art collection (Art in Public Places and otherwise) and questioned how City-owned art that was not acquired through the Art in Public Places program is inventoried and maintained. Tony Allegretti of the Cultural Council, which manages the Art in Public Places program, answered questions about the public art program. He explained the complications involved in using Better Jacksonville Plan bond proceeds for maintenance purposes, which has required bond counsel approval. Sara Chow, Finance Director of the Cultural Council, reported that there is little or no available funding in the public art account dedicated to maintenance.

 

Motion (Crescimbeni): allocate Special Council Contingency funding in the amount of $68,553.74 to the maintenance of public artworks – approved unanimously.

 

Motion: on p. 29, approve Auditor’s recommendation #1 to revise budget schedule A2 to include $98,359 for the Driver Education Safety Trust and $399,989 for the Alcohol Rehabilitation Program (non-departmental) – approved unanimously.

 

Food and beverage expenses

Motion: on p. 31, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation to revise Attachment A to reflect revised allocations – tabled pending production by the Auditor’s Office of a table showing the increases from FY15 to FY16.

 

Ordinance Code waivers

Motion: on p. 39, approve Council Auditor’s recommendation to eliminate the waiver of Sec. 106.111 (debt management parameters) from the budget ordinance – approved unanimously.

 

Returning to a request made earlier in the meeting, Council Member Boyer clarified that her request for information on police, fire and rescue, and all other General Fund employees should include columns within the JSO and JFRD listings to distinguish between employees covered by collective bargaining who are eligible for step raises and those who are not eligible for step increases. 

 

The committee posed questions to the Council Auditor and Angela Moyer of the Budget Office regarding where grant-funded employees are reported. Grant funded employees do not show up in the General Fund position listing. The committee requested a new chart be included in the budget ordinance showing the total employee cap for all departments and divisions, distinguishing grant-funded and other funded positions.

 

Sheriff’s Office

Heather Reber gave the Auditor’s Office overview of the JSO budget. In response to a question from Council Member Boyer, Sheriff Williams said that the department intends to fully fill all available positions and not intentionally hold positions vacant to meet the imposed lapse factor. Angela Moyer explained the reallocation of $1,477,326 of benefits administrative costs between the worker’s compensation and heart and hypertension funds to more accurately reflect true allocation of those costs. Sheriff Mike Williams and JSO budget officer Bill Clement answered questions about police officer vacancies, recruiting classes, overtime expenditures for large-scale missing child searches and community service officers. Sheriff Williams stated that the department’s goal for community service officers (CSOs) is for them to work no longer than 5 years as CSOs; the expectation is that they will use the City’s tuition reimbursement benefit to earn their college degree and attend the police academy and then become full sworn officers. Council Member Crescimbeni will try to access previous legal research he requested regarding the level of benefits that must be provided to CSOs. The committee questioned Sheriff Williams about how the CSOs will be used in relation to Florida Highway Patrol members in responding to accidents on state roads.

 

Motion: on p. 47, approve Auditor’s recommendation #1 to budget $36,420 for the FRS contribution for Sheriff Williams – approved unanimously.

 

Motion: on p. 47, approve Sheriff’s request #2 to reduce salary and benefits by $30099,035 to un-fund 2 chief positions and to eliminate 2 other positions – approved unanimously.

 

Motion: on p. 47, approve Auditor’s recommendation #3 to budget $114,267 from Special Council Contingency for employer contribution to FICA for community service officers who choose to participate in the defined contribution retirement plan and Social Security – approved unanimously.

 

Motion: approve the new attachment in the budget ordinance for the total employee cap, including the grant positions - approved unanimously.

 

911 Emergency User Fee

Motion: on p. 49, approve Auditor’s recommendation #1 to reduce the landline fee by $89,352 and increase the wireless fee by $350,000, applying the difference to call taker salaries – approved unanimously.

 

Motion: on p. 49, approve Auditor’s recommendation #2 to reduce hardware/software maintenance and licenses and apply difference to call taker salaries – approved unanimously.

 

Motion: on p. 49, approve Auditor’s recommendation #3 to increase Sheriff’s revenue by $429,711 and increase Fire Department revenue by $62,187 for call taker salary reimbursement – approved unanimously.

 

Sheriff’s trust funds

Council Member Crescimbeni suggested the need for the Sheriff to reprioritize use of the Special Law Enforcement Trust Fund to direct crime fighting equipment and programs and much less in the form of contributions to not-for-profit organizations for activities that, while probably worthwhile, do not rise to the same level of importance as other possible uses. He urged a more organized and concerted effort on the part of all City agencies (City Council, Children’s Commission, Jacksonville Journey, Sheriff’s Office, etc.) to prioritize use of limited funds to fight crime.

 

Motion: on p. 53, approve Auditor’s recommendation to make clean-up adjustments to the Inmate Welfare Trust Fund to reduce the authorized expenditures by $97,972 - approved unanimously.

 

Council Member Boyer asked Sheriff Williams if the JSO was still allocating Special Law Enforcement Trust funds to the purchase of security cameras for small businesses; he will research that issue. Council Member Crescimbeni praised the Sheriff for reducing the number of upper level administrators in the department. Council Member Boyer thanked the Sheriff for his very positive working relationship with Mayor Curry. Chairman Gulliford thanked the Sheriff for his emphasis on prevention and intervention in addition to the enforcement aspects.

 

Fire and Rescue Department

Motion: on p. 60, approve Auditor’s recommendation to increase fire inspection fee revenue by $168,984 – approved unanimously.

 

Council Member Boyer noted that the Council’s action during the last budget cycle to increase the budget for fire inspection revenues proved to be correct; the department achieved those increased revenue projections. In response to a question from Ms. Boyer, Acting Fire Chief Kurt Wilson discussed the delivery of the fire trucks and rescue units that were authorized in last year’s budget process, which are just beginning to arrive and be readied for service. April Mitchell, the JFRD’s finance officer, reported that the department does not anticipate generating additional operating revenue in FY16-17 to be able to fully fund the debt service on the vehicle acquisitions; the General Fund will be needed to subsidize that debt service cost.

 

Acting Chief Wilson discussed the funding of positions with SAFER grant funds and the restoration of 10 vacant positions that were eliminated last year so that the funding could be used to match the SAFER grant positions. Council Member Crescimbeni requested additional information from the Council Auditor on the amount of cost savings, if any, that were generated from the addition of new safety officers in mid-year of FY14-15 who were promoted to the Council as producing cost savings through reduced heart and hypertension claims. Chairman Gulliford placed that item on the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting. Council Member Gulliford asked about the status of the department’s chaplain position, having heard concerns from several rank-and-file employees about his demotion to a part-time position. Acting Chief Wilson explained that the incumbent was shifted from a 40 hour per week position running the chaplaincy program at the training academy to a 56 hour position assigned to an air truck. Mr. Gulliford felt that JFRD and the JSO should be on the same basis with regard to full-time chaplains; JSO has 3 full-timers, JFRD has 1 assigned as a working firefighter on a truck.  Council Member Carter discussed fire station location and their effect on property insurance rates due to ISO ratings and expressed his hope that funding can be found to expedite construction of new facilities on the Westside. He also discussed the employee retention problems at the fire dispatch center due to relatively low pay and the intensity of the job.

 

Motion: on p. 61, approve Auditor’s recommendation to increase fire plans review fee revenues by $2,552 and budget to clothing allowance – approved unanimously.

 

Council Member Boyer suggested the Chief Wilson provide the new council members with copies of the TriData plan showing needed fire station construction locations and relocations.

 

Public comment

Connie Benham expressed amazement at the growth in the Banking Fund over the last 5 years to an extremely high level of borrowing authorization. She urged the committee to make hard decisions and pay for vehicles and equipment purchase with cash rather than borrowing and suggested that when reserve funds reach their mandated levels, any additional available funding be allocated to pay-go purchases.

 

Special Council Contingency Fund status: $993,773 to the positive

 

Pending action items:

 

Meeting Adjourned: 4:37 p.m.

 

Minutes:  Jeff Clements, Council Research Division

               8.20.15   Posted 6:00 p.m.

Tapes:     Finance Committee Budget Hearing #1 – LSD

                8.13.15

Materials: Budget handouts

    8.13.15