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 #1 MINUTES
August 10, 2017
9:00
a.m.
Location: City Council
Chamber, City Hall – St. James Building; 117 West Duval Street,
In attendance:
Council Members Garrett
Dennis (Chair), Danny Becton, Lori Boyer, Katrina Brown, Reggie Brown, Reggie
Gaffney, Matt Schellenberg
Excused:
Also: Council Members Greg Anderson, John
Crescimbeni, Tommy Hazouri, Joyce Morgan and Aaron Bowman; Peggy Sidman and
Paige Johnston – Office of General Counsel; Kyle Billy, Brian Parks, Heather
Reber, Trista Carraher, Elena Korsakova - Council
Auditor’s Office; Crystal Shemwell and 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:
9:02 a.m.
Chairman Dennis convened the meeting and the attendees introduced
themselves for the record. Mr. Dennis thanked the administration, the Council
Auditor’s Office and Office of General Counsel for all the work that has gone
into the proposed budget thus far to prepare it for the Finance Committee’s
consideration. He announced that the usual council meeting rules regarding time
limits on first and second speaking opportunities will apply and that visiting
council members will have their opportunity to speak after all committee
members have spoken. As the Chair he will offer motions on behalf of visiting
council members for the committee’s consideration. Mr. Dennis said that he
would not entertain any motions to allocate enhancement funding from the
Council Contingency Fund until the full budget review has been completed. The
Council Auditor and Finance Department may recommend changes to underlying
assumptions, estimated revenues, etc. as new information comes to light during
the process.
Introduction by Administration
Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa introduced the Mayor’s proposed
budget and said that for the most part the administration agrees with the
recommendations to be made by the Council Auditor’s Office, but would like
dialogue on several issues. He noted that the pension reform plan passed this
year has allowed for long-overdue enhancements, improvements, and capital
projects. Without pension reform, all new revenues this year would have gone to
pension contributions. The budget notably increases all of the City’s reserve
funds and makes large strides toward replacing vehicles (mostly with cash,
except for the most expensive vehicles). The budget substantially increases
funding for capital projects, which are being more rigorously managed and
completed. Mr. Mousa noted that the City’s latest bond borrowing received a
very positive reception by the rating agencies. He stated that the
administration has taken Chairman Dennis’ recent memo regarding equal
opportunity employment to heart and a full report on the administration’s
actions will be given by the Employee Services Department and Human Rights
Commission during their budget presentations.
Regarding the Better Jacksonville Plan, Mr. Mousa reported that the
sales tax has begun to produce revenue in excess of debt service needs so
“pay-as-you-go” expenditures will begin on projects. Legislation will be filed
to reimburse the Tree Mitigation Trust Fund for funds borrowed for the Better Jax Plan. He explained that the merger/reformulation of the
Jacksonville Journey and Jacksonville Children’s Commission into the Kids Hope
Alliance will cause some funding to be requested for appropriation now (for
existing contracts and committed uses) and the remainder will be placed “below
the line” for future appropriation early in the next calendar year.
Council Auditor’s Introduction
Council Auditor Kyle Billy gave the broad overview of the proposed
budget, beginning with the budget legislation (12 bills this year) and
timeline. Preliminary taxable value of previously taxed property in the county
increased by $2.6 billion and new construction adds $$935 million in new value
producing $37.85 million in new revenue at the same millage rate. He noted that
the School Board and St. Johns River Water Management District both lowered
their millage rates slightly for the new year. The
total independent agencies budgets (JEA, JTA, etc.) are $2.7 billion, the
City’s general budget is $$2.45 billion, and the total consolidated government
budget totals $5,156,806,085. Council Member Boyer asked Mr. Billy to point out
to the committee any items that will only be seen in today’s overview. The
City’s employee cap is expanding by 175 positions for the new fiscal year (net
of 179 additions and 4 position eliminations). Council Member Reggie Brown
asked for information on position vacancies and length of vacancies by department
to compare to proposed additions. A total of 66 positions are being proposed to
be “redlined” (to be eliminated when the position becomes vacant).
In response to a question from Council Member Crescimbeni, Bill
Clement, Budget Officer for the Sheriff’s Office, explained why the JSO is
contracting out the department’s jail health care services after bringing that
function in-house several years ago, in part on the expectation of cost savings
to be achieved. The savings have not proved to be sustainable over the long
term as originally expected. Sixty-six positions in the JSO budget will be
redlined and eliminated when the function is contracted out in November.
Page references from this point refer to Auditor’s
Budget Hearing #1 handout.
Motion: adopt the
Auditor’s recommendation on p. 13 to revise the Position Redlines schedule to
remove the JSO Manager 0 Health Service Administrator and replace it with
Mental Health Services Manager – JSO – approved.
Mr. Billy pointed out that the pension contributions in FY17-18 will
be based on the actuarial calculation exclusively; in previous years there was
an option to use either the actuarial calculation or a percentage of payroll as the basis for the contribution. Council Member
Crescimbeni requested information on the difference between the two calculation
amounts. With regard to health self-insurance reserves, he noted that the City
will be taking five payment holidays during the year to use excess accumulated
reserves in place of employer and employee contributions to make the
contributions. In response to a question, Budget Director Angela Moyer
explained the quarterly review of actual salary and benefit lapses compared to
the budgeted lapse amounts. Council Member Boyer asked for clarification of the
interface between unfunded positions and vacant funded positions.
Motion: on p. 18, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #1 to increase Communication Services Tax by
$2,793,767, to be partially offset by an increase of $501,895 in
non-departmental expenditure transfer to JPA – approved.
Motion: on p. 18, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #2 to decrease Court Fines – Traffic by $64,177 – approved.
Motion: on p. 18, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #3 to reduce Payment in Lieu of Taxes – FPL by $30,615
– approved.
Motion: on p. 19, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #4 to decrease Unclaimed Tax Deed Sale revenue by
$50,000 to $0 – approved.
Motion: on p. 19, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #5 to decrease Telephone/Laundry/Concession
Commissions by $155,321 – approved.
Motion: on p. 19, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #6 to increase the 8th Cent Gasoline Tax
revenue by $351,691 – approved.
Motion: on p. 19, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #7 to decrease County Sales Tax revenue by $1,880,940
– approved.
Motion: on p. 19, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #8 to increase the Municipal Sales Tax revenue by
$1,817,517 – approved.
Motion: on p. 19, approve Auditor’s
recommendation #9 to increase the Surplus Gasoline Tax revenue by $325,546 – approved.
Motion: on p. 19, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #10 to eliminate the transfer of $948,000 from General
Capital Projects (Subfund 322) to offset a GF/GSD subsidy
to the fund that makes loan repayments to Subfund 322
and place the funds in a cash carryover account within Subfund
322 – approved.
In response to a question about the reserve for collective bargaining
reopeners, Finance Director Mike Weinstein explained the several items
discussed in the course of the pension reform negotiations with the unions that
may be further negotiated and need funding, particularly issues with the
correctional officers. Mr. Billy explained the $7 million reserve for the City’s
share of Hurricane Matthew damages.
Schedule of Non-Departmental Expenditures
Motion: on p. 27, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to increase funding for 415 Limit Pension Cost by
$13,023 – approved.
Loans to Enterprise Funds
Mr. Billy gave an overview of the several enterprise funds that do not
generate sufficient revenue to be self-funding (Solid Waste, Stormwater Services,
Motor Vehicle Inspection) and noted that the Code
requirement for annual review of fees is being waived in the budget ordinance. Council
Member Boyer pointed out that the Ordinance Code requires fees to generate 85%
of the cost of the function; Mr. Billy is proposing that the fees cover 100%,
which would require a waiver of the Code’s 85% requirement. CAO Sam Mousa
explained the reasons for the funding shortfalls. The City’s contract for
recycling which expires September 30th of this year pays the City
$43 per ton for all recyclables delivered; any future contract will require the
City to pay rather than be paid for recycling tonnage, so the administration
does not want to change the solid waste fee yet until the effect of that
contract change becomes clear. Mr. Mousa also noted that a change has been made
in construction and demolition debris hauling by implementing a franchise fee,
the effect of which has yet to be determined. He advocated for giving the solid
waste utility a year or two to settle out before determining what sort of fee
is needed. With regard to the stormwater utility, a double-counting has been
discovered in the calculation of payment for credits to the utility on behalf
of low-income property owners which requires a financial reconciliation in the
form of a one-time loan for FY17-18. The accumulated amount of the incorrect
calculation from past years will be proposed for a pay-off over 6-10 years.
Mr. Mousa explained that the new recycling contract going into effect
on October 1st was bid on the basis of lowest operational cost, with
the sales of any recycled materials creating a percentage offset to the City to
reduce that operational cost. The returns to the City will not be as lucrative
as the current contract.
The committee took no action on the Council Auditor’s recommendation
on p. 28 to increase Solid Waste and Stormwater Utility fees.
Capital Outlay Projects Not Lapsed
Motion: on p. 30, approve
Council Auditor’s recommendation #2 to reduce the On Street Parking Subfund 012 carryover to $147,008 – approved.
Motion: on p. 30, approve
Council Auditor’s recommendation #3 to increase the Fleet Management Mobile
Equipment index code AFFM512 carryover to 106,871- approved.
Motion: on p. 30, approve
Council Auditor’s recommendation #4 to reduce the Mobile Equipment Subfund 513 carryover to $2,043,188 – approved.
Public Service Grant Funds
Council Member Crescimbeni stated that he had just received financial
information yesterday that raises questions in his mind about certain expenses
of the Cultural Council being charged to the City’s contract and asked for the
opportunity to return to this appropriation at a future meeting after he has
had time to do further research.
Food and Beverage Expenditures
Motion: on p. 32, approve
Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 to reflect $6,650 for the Florida/ Georgia
game (corrects a typographical error) – approved.
Motion: on p. 32, approve
Council Auditor’s recommendation #2 to correct the explanation of the Office of
General Counsel’s explanation for food expenditure for mediations – approved.
Ordinance Code Waivers in Budget Ordinance
In response to a question from Council Member Schellenberg, Deputy
General Counsel Peggy Sidman explained the history of the waiver to allow
payment of a different salary than that provided by Code.
Motion (Schellenberg):
remove any Ordinance Code waiver language regarding City Council Member
salaries – approved.
The Council Auditor’s recommendation on p. 37 to approve a Revised
Attachment B if information from the state is available before budget ordinance
passage was deemed to have been approved in the previous motion.
Motion (Boyer): on p. 40,
amend the budget ordinance to include the same language as last year regarding
City Council postage – approved.
Motion: on p. 41, approve
the Council Auditor’s recommendation to pursue elimination or reduction in
borrowing for vehicles –
Mr. Weinstein expressed the administration’s agreement with the intent
of the motion. Council Member Boyer asked for clarification that the waiver is
up to $9,710,000 million for FY17-18. Ms. Sidman said that any other change in
the amount borrowed for vehicles would require a change in a budget schedule
that would require Council action. In response to a question from Chairman
Dennis, Mr. Weinstein said that the administration hopes to be at 100% pay-go
for vehicle replacements within 3-5 years (3 years is the goal).
The motion was approved.
Motion: on p. 47, approve
Council Auditor’s recommendation to change the waiver language to be consistent
with the language in the Ordinance Code -
Council Member Boyer advocated for doing the required fee review every
year and then waiving the revisions of fees, if that is Council’s desire. She
questioned whether the waiver of the study applies to a fiscal year or a
calendar year and when the next fee study would be due. Mr. Billy noted that
the Ordinance Code does not specify when the results of the fee study are due
each year; Council may wish to consider establishing a fixed date for the
report. Council Member Crescimbeni noted that fee reviews can produce fee
reductions as well as fee increases. Mr. Weinstein reported that the
administration has been taking a broad look at all City fees, which are more
numerous than those listed in the annual fee review requirement. The language
of the Ordinance Code is worded in such a way as to effectively prevent the
stated goal of 85% cost recovery from being achieved, since fees are only
allowed to be increased by a maximum percentage which does not
Motion (Boyer): modify
Waiver 10.11 to provide that the FY16-17 delivery of the fee study is deferred
until no later than December 15, 2017, and that fees shall be maintained at the
FY16-17 rates until that report is received -
Mr. Weinstein suggested a 2-step process. First the administration
will complete its broad fee structure study and present it to the Finance
Committee. Then the Council can determine what the fee structure will be and
what percentage of costs should be recovered, after which the administration
will complete calculations based on the chosen percentage and Council can adopt
revised fee schedules. Mr. Mousa said that the December 15th date
for proposal of all new fees is unworkable given the size and complexity of the
task and requested additional time to complete the task.
Ms. Boyer amended her motion
to make the waiver effective until January 9, 2018, with the fees on the
required review list being reviewed by that date -
Motion (Schellenberg):
require the administration to make a fee report on those fees on the required
report list by January and reporting on the full overview of all fees by the
end of the first quarter of calendar year 2018 –
Mr. Mousa said that the administration is preparing to introduce an
ordinance taking fees out of the Ordinance Code and providing that all fees will
be listed on the City’s web site in their current, up-to-date amounts. Ms. Moyer said that because of pension reform
and the reduced employer pension contribution that resulted,
the cost of fees may be reduced in the future from where they would otherwise
have been without the reform. Council Member Crescimbeni and Mr. Billy
questioned the earlier characterization by Mr. Weinstein that the wording of
the Code effectively prevents fee changes from ever actually reaching the 85%
cost recovery mandate; they believe the full cost recovery can be achieved.
Restated motion
(Boyer): waive the 2017 fee review and
maintain the fees at the FY2016-17 rates; the administration will bring to the
Finance Committee by January 31, 2018 proposed legislation for fee policy
changes and a review of the fees required to have been reviewed in 2017 – approved.
Ordinance Code Amendments
Motion: on p. 50, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to change City Accountant to City Comptroller in
Ordinance Code Sec. 25.106– approved.
Motion: on p. 52, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to change the contribution amount to $33,276,606 to
correct a typographical error – approved.
Motion: on p. 53, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to remove the last sentence of budget ordinance Sec. 11.2 regarding
a mid-year budget report requirement – approved.
Motion: on p. 54, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to correct the bill referenced in the title of the
budget ordinance regarding self-insurance – approved.
The committee was in recess from 12:09 p.m. to
1:16 p.m.
Sheriff’s Office
Mr. Billy discussed the increases and decreases in revenue, as well as
expenditures from additional salaries/training/equipment/benefits for 80 new police
officers (20 are not funded) and changes as a result of the 2017 pension
reform. Sheriff Williams requested that the funding on p. 59 under Banking Fund
-Specialized Equipment for 5 replacement bicycles ($10,000) and replacement
X-ray machines at Police Memorial Building entrance ($80,000) be removed from
that list, which the committee approved.
Motion: on p.60, approved
the Auditor’s recommendation to reduce the amount for Florida Retirement System
pension contribution by $4,990 – approved
Council Member Schellenberg asked about how many officers are in DROP and how those positions will be filled in
addition to the 80 new hires. There are approximately 40 cadets in training
year round (10% don’t complete academy training). Discussion ensued about
officers’ health and the toll the nature of work takes on blood pressure,
stress, divorce rate, etc. Council Member Gaffney asked questions about outsourcing
health services which apparently increased costs. Sheriff Williams said that
this is driven by operational need; the in-house health services never fully
developed (shortage of nurses and doctors).
At the request of Council Member Gaffney, Sheriff Williams discussed
his office’s affirmative action hiring efforts and explained the processes
involved in investigating police-involved shootings. In the latter case, the
JSO is the investigatory body collecting physical evidence, witness statements,
etc. to be turned over to the State Attorney’s Office for a determination of
whether the shooting was justified and whether to press charges. An officer is
briefly removed from street duty immediately after the incident, but returns to
service until such time as the State Attorney’s Office renders its decision
about whether to file charges or not.
Council Member Boyer posed several questions to the Sheriff about
staffing levels, vacancy reduction in various functions (patrol, detectives,
specialized units), and the total amount of funding needed throughout the year
for salaries as classes enter and graduate from the police academy. Ms. Boyer
asked the Sheriff about his philosophy for using the Law Enforcement Trust
Fund; his priorities are engaging young people in positive activities as a
crime prevention measure and addressing ex-offender re-entry needs. The Sheriff
indicated his willingness to use his discretionary funding to assist with the
City’s other crime prevention efforts.
Sheriff Williams answered questions from Council Member Katrina Brown
about in-service training and about ways that the JSO can develop better
relationships with citizens. He stated that the department would love to be
more proactive in meeting and talking with citizens and business people on an
informal basis to build good community relations, but the volume of calls is so
great that officers spend their full shifts going from service call to service
call and don’t really have time for anything else. In response to a question
about the department’s disciplinary policies and procedures, the Sheriff said
that more often than not, they find that violations and misconduct are not due
to lack of training but rather to willful disobedience of policies and training
by officers, for a variety of reasons. In response to a question about why the
JSO does not utilize the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate
police-involved misconduct like other counties do, Sheriff Williams said that
he believes that control of investigations, when and how information is
released to the public, etc. should be controlled locally, not from
Tallahassee.
The Sheriff answered questions about the roll-out of the ShotSpotter
system and said that they have a target of September 1st for
activation of a rapid response team that will be responding to reported
gunshots. A task force of JSO, the State Attorney’s Office and the state
Division of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is being formed to coordinate
response to and investigation of shooting incidents.
Council Member Reggie Brown asked questions about how many officers are
assigned vehicles and how many are not. The Sheriff explained that a decision
was made last year to staff special events (football games, concerts, etc.)
with off-duty officers paid by event promoters so that on-duty officers are not
pulled from around the city to work those events. This year is the first time
the budget reflects this new billing system. Council Member Reggie Brown asked
the department to provide information on how many grants the JSO has written
and had funded during the fiscal year.
In response to a question from Council Member Boyer, the Sheriff
recounted the history of the provision of health care in the jail (from
contracted out to a private provider, to contracted out to a joint effort by
the Health Department and UF Health Medical Center, to provided in-house
currently, to contracted out to a private provider next year). Council Member
Reggie Brown asked for further discussion of this proposed contract and
consideration of other possible providers.
The red light camera program will sunset at the end of this year and
the budget reflects the reduction of both costs and revenues from that program.
The Sheriff said that data shows that red light cameras do not reduce accidents
and advanced accident avoidance technology (calculating vehicle speeds and
holding lights red to prevent accidents from red light-running) is not yet
advanced enough to deploy. Council Member Boyer asked for 6 years of historical
data on the number of officers assigned per zone and how many of those officers
were assigned to positions that allowed for proactive community policing by
zone. In response to another question from Council Member Boyer, the Sheriff
indicated that the department no longer has an officer assigned full-time to
park policing. Council Member Karina Brown asked the Sheriff about his strategy
to rid the community of internet cafes. The Sheriff said that the cafes operate
under the state’s sweepstakes law and are legal unless they stray into
gambling, which is extremely difficult to prove. He noted that the JSO has
never been the primary enforcement agency for those establishments – the City
used to have an enforcement officer. The JSO vice squad investigates the
internet cafes on a complaint basis to see if they are truly operating as a
sweepstakes game. Usually the complaints are not about gambling but about other
types of illegal activity taking place at the business. Council Member Reggie
Brown suggested consulting the Planning Department about the possibility of
using changes in the zoning ordinance to control the explosion of internet
cafes.
Motion: approve the
Sheriff’s Office budget with the exception of the employee cap expansion and
funding for addition of 100 new officers, the out-sourcing of the jails health
care function, and the Personnel and Professional Standards budget line item,
which will be placed below the line, with the JSO budget being taken up either
on August 25th at the wrap-up meeting or at an earlier meeting if
the Sheriff provides the requested information – approved.
Emergency 911 User Fee
Motion: on p. 62, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #1 to reduce JSO Salaries and Benefits by $93,111, of
which $75,688 will be allocated to JSO General Fund/GSD and the remainder
allocated to the Sheriff’s Trust Fund for separate allocation – approved.
Motion: on p. 62, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #2 to reduce revenue from wireless and prepaid fee by
$316,270 – approved.
Fire and Rescue Department
Motion: on p. 69, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #1 to decrease FRS pension contribution by $22,743 to
correct a calculation error – approved.
Motion: on p. 69, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #2 to increase contra-revenue account for fire
inspection fee revenues by $276,461 – approved.
In response to a question from Council Member Schellenberg, Fire Chief
Kurt Wilson said that there are funds in the budget to purchase new bunker gear
for all firefighters. There is also funding in the CIP for the addition of
diesel exhaust systems that will convey truck exhaust out of fire stations.
Both of these purchases will aid in cancer prevention, reducing or eliminating
known cancer hazards from smoke in bunker gear and diesel exhaust. Chief Wilson
explained his plans for phasing in new hires throughout the fiscal year and
said that the Fire Explorer program and Jax
Journey-funded firefighter apprenticeship program have been very successful in
recruiting for the department. He answered questions about the impact of the
proposed 42 new hires on the department’s overtime budget. Council Member Boyer
asked the chief to be mindful in future selection of vehicles of the impact of
larger and larger fire trucks and rescue units on the size of roads needed to
accommodate those vehicles. Recent rezonings have
sought to use smaller-than-standard private roads to promote low traffic speeds
and close-knit neighborhoods, but they are limited by road width needed to
accommodate JFRD’s vehicle size.
Council Member Becton advocated for construction of a new fire station
in the Sweetwater/Hampton Park area to provide increased service and reduced
insurance costs to property owners via a reduced ISO rating due to the
proximity of a fire station. The budget includes funding to locate a temporary
station site in the area until a permanent fire station can be constructed. In
response to a question from Council Member Reggie Brown, Chief Wilson explained
that the state does not regulate the number and location of fire stations or the
staffing on vehicles; fire station standards are set by the ISO for insurance
rating purposes and vehicle staffing is recommended by the National Fire
Protection Association. Chief Wilson reported that the department received
grants in the current year for exercise equipment for fire stations and annual
physical checkups for all firefighters, as well as equipment purchase and
building improvement grants (11 funded grants this year).
Motion (Boyer): on p. 69, modify
Schedule B4-c as requested by the department regarding use of old tanker trucks
as foam tankers – approved.
Chief Wilson reported that JFRD is the largest city in the country to
have Advanced Life Support equipment installed on all of its apparatus and
equipment. He discussed a number of stations on a list to be replaced, either
rebuilt at the same site or moved to another site. In response to a question
from Council Member Reggie Brown, Chief Wilson said that the department has
been unsuccessful to date in developing a relationship with Duval County
Schools around the JFRD apprenticeship program, though not for lack of trying.
Sam Mousa informed the committee that if the Kids Hope Alliance is approved as
proposed, its programs are limited to youth under the age of 18, so could not
be used as a funding source for the apprenticeship program that serves persons
age 18 and over. Some other funding source will need to be identified. Chief
Wilson reported that the budget has 18,000 part-time hours to provide
additional beach lifeguards before Memorial Day and after Labor Day to meet swimmer
protection needs.
Fire and Rescue Building Inspections
Motion: on p. 71, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to increase fire plans review and re-inspection fees
revenue and cash carry-over by $42,505 – approved.
Chief Wilson requested to increase the employee cap in Subfund 159 from 6 to 7 to transfer an inspector position
from the JFRD General Fund to the Building Inspection fund.
Motion (Boyer): increase
the employee cap in Subfund 159 from 6 to 7 to
transfer an inspector position from the JFRD General Fund to the Building
Inspection fund – approved.
Property Appraiser’s Office
Motion: on p. 74, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #1 increasing the FRS contribution by $4,653 – approved.
Motion: on p. 74, approve
Auditor’s recommendation #2 to decrease Group Hospitalization by $199,906 – approved.
City Council
Motion: on p. 77, approve
departmental request to add one Research Assistant position and funding of
$54,111 – approved.
Motion: on p. 77, approve
the Auditor’s recommendation #1 to remove and replace Budget Ordinance
Attachment B – chart of council members’ salaries being waived – approved.
Motion: on p. 78, approve
the Auditor’s recommendation #2 to reduce the FRS contribution by $21,609 – approved.
Office of General Counsel
Motion: on p. 85, approve
the Auditor’s recommendation to increase Salaries and Benefits by $48,442,
offset by increased revenue from independent agencies for attorney services – approved.
Outstanding items
In response to a question from Council Member Reggie Brown, Mike
Weinstein committed the administration to review the ability to reinstitute a
tuition reimbursement plan for City employees. Mr. Billy reported that the City
budgeted $450,000 for tuition reimbursement in FY2011-12 and none thereafter
because of budget difficulties. Chairman Dennis requested information on how
much of that appropriation was used when it was available. Council Member
Reggie Brown asked for further information on funding for City Council staff
training, memberships in the leagues of cities and counties, and providing some
means for citizens to view City Council and committee meetings without the need
to pay for subscriptions to cable television or internet service. Council
Member Katrina Brown asked for information on how the Children’s Commission and
Jacksonville Journey programs are proposed to be treated under the new Kids
Hope Alliance – what programs are funded in the current budget by the Journey
and Children’s Commission and, for comparison purpose, what happens to those
expenditures under the Kids Hope Alliance? The Budget Office will provide that
information via e-mail this evening.
Special Council Contingency
Brian Parks reported that the Special Council Contingency fund stands
at $1,064,966.
Meeting adjourned: 5:09
p.m.
Minutes: Jeff Clements, Council Research
8.10.17
Posted 5:30 p.m.
Tapes: Finance Budget Hearing #1
– LSD
8.10.17
Materials: Council Auditor’s Budget Meeting #1 handout - LSD
8.10.17