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 #5 MINUTES
August 24, 2018
9:00
a.m.
Location: City Council
Chamber, City Hall – St. James Building; 117 West Duval Street,
In attendance:
Council Members Greg Anderson, Joyce Morgan, Lori Boyer, Reggie Gaffney, Bill Gulliford,
Jim Love, Sam Newby
Excused:
Also: Council Members Danny Becton, Matt
Schellenberg, Terrance Freeman (arr. 9:17)
Peggy Sidman and Paige Johnston – Office of General Counsel; Kyle
Billy and Brian Parks - Council Auditor’s Office; Adri Maguire-Segui -
Legislative Services Division; Sam Mousa – Mayor’s Office; Mike Weinstein and
Angela Moyer – Finance and Administration Department
Meeting Convened:
9:05 a.m.
Chairman Anderson convened the meeting and the attendees introduced
themselves for the record.
Page references from this point refer to
Auditor’s Budget Hearing #5 handout.
Chairman Anderson asked the committee to begin thinking about a
process for prioritizing and considering the enhancement requests next week and
allocating the accumulated Special Council Contingency fund. He said that a
list of requested enhancements will be assembled and distributed to all council
members next week for consideration. In response to comments by Council Member
Gaffney about mowing and sidewalk maintenance, CAO Sam Mousa said that the
proposed budget contains a $450,000 increased from last year for enhanced
mowing and litter pickup activities. Chairman Anderson noted that the Special
Council Contingency is a one-time funding source and that Mr. Mousa has
cautioned the committee several times about undertaking enhancements that
entail ongoing expenses given the uncertainty about future revenues.
Mayor’s Office
In response to a question from Council Member Boyer, Mr. Mousa
confirmed that the City’s phone system is being changed out in phases building
by building, a process that has already begun. CFO Mike Weinstein said that all
numbers are being changed from 630- to 255- prefixes and for the time being all
calls to the old numbers will roll over to the new number. Council Member Boyer
urged the administration to consider changing the City Council numbers in
conjunction with the change in council membership that will take place next
July after the spring elections to save on the printing of new business cards
and stationery for the old council and then again for the new council taking
office July 1st.
Advisory Boards and Commissions
In response to a question from Council Member Morgan, Mr. Mousa
explained that this budget subfund supports the 3 boards that have full-time
staff and/or operating expenses. The vast majority of other boards and
commissions don’t have dedicated budgets but are supported through other
budgets. Council Member Boyer suggested changing the name of this budget
handout page to Regulatory Boards rather than advisory boards and commissions
since these have substantive power and are not just advisory.
Employee Services Department
Kyle Billy noted that a large allocation for computer costs associated
with the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is being budgeted, for
the time being, in this department rather than being spread out among all
departmental budgets based on the number of departmental employees. Eventually
when the ERP system is fully implemented the costs will be distributed among
the departments again.
Group Health
Council Member Becton explained the premium holidays taken in the
current year’s budget due to good claims performance and noted that once again
premiums will not be increasing for next year. In response to a question from
Council Member Boyer, Director of Employee Services Diane Moser described the
Go365 health and wellness initiative that is helping to incentivize employee
health and fitness and reduce health care claims. Ms. Boyer noted that Go365 is
partnering with the managers of the Timucuan Historical and Ecological Preserve
to encourage employees to hike in the preserve to accumulate points toward
prizes. In response to a question from Council Member Schellenberg, Ms. Moser
said that 390 City employees have signed up with UF Health to be their primary
health care provider at a reduced premium cost and with lower co-pays. Council
Member Gulliford urged that the independent authorities (JEA, JPA, etc.) be
strongly encouraged to join the City’s UF Health employee health care plan. Council
Member Gaffney suggested that the City give priority in its grant process to
non-profit agencies that offer their employees membership in the UF Health care
network.
Health Wellness Fund
No recommendations.
The committee was in recess from 10:02 to 10:13
a.m.
Kids Hope Alliance
Motion: on p. 13, approve
Council Auditor’s recommendation to attach a revised Schedule M to the Budget
Ordinance that includes the City match for grant funding and specifically names
the entities receiving funding from the programs not associated with a grant that
have not been competitively bid; also include the following provisions in the
Budget Ordinance:
a) Invoke the exemption of
Section 126.107(g) for those entities and program purposes specifically listed
on Schedule M and for any entities specifically listed in the award for a grant
shown on Schedule M;
b) For Special Needs Programs
in Full Service Schools, authorize the Mayor and corporation secretary to
execute amendments extending the existing contracts for three months through
September 30, 2019 and increasing the funding under such contracts by the
amounts shown in Schedule M;
c) For the entities
specifically listed on Schedule M (other than Full Service Schools providers),
authorize the Mayor and corporation secretary to execute six (6) month extensions
of existing contracts with an option to extend for additional six (6) months at
the discretion of the KHA Board with a corresponding increase in the maximum indebtedness;
d) For any entities
specifically listed in a grant award, authorize the Mayor and corporation
secretary to execute contracts in accordance with the grant program and terms;
e) For entities specifically
listed on Schedule M, waive the requirements of Section 77.111(a) which
requires the provider contracts to be competitively bid;
f) Enable Kids Hope Alliance
to accept grants for different amounts than those listed on Schedule M in a
manner that follows the same practice as to how the City can receive grants for
different amounts than those on Schedules B1-a (no match) and B1-b (with match);
g) Waive Section 77.113
regarding KHA budget transfer authority;
h) Any transfers from one
Essential Services Category to another Essential Services Category shall
require City Council approval; and
i) The KHA may transfer,
through a transfer directive, expenditures from service provider to service
provider within each Essential Services Category provided that the KHA does not
transfer appropriations greater than 10% of the individual Essential Services Category.
In response to a question from Council Member Boyer, Deputy General
Counsel Peggy Sidman explained the limitation on the budget transfer authority
referenced in recommendation (g) above.
The Council Auditor recommendations were approved unanimously.
Joe Peppers, CEO of the Kids Hope Alliance, thanked the City Council
and the participating service provider agencies for helping to effect the
transition from the Children’s Commission to the Kids Hope Alliance. KHA board
chair Kevin Gay thanked Mike Weinstein for his good work as interim CEO of the
KHA before the hiring of Mr. Peppers. Mr. Peppers said that RFPs for next
year’s service provision will be issued in early 2019 after the KHA completes
its strategic planning process. The proposed budget provides for the current
provider contracts to be extended for 6 months until that process is completed.
He said that the agency intends to utilize smaller provider agencies in the
future to help extend its reach throughout the community. Council Member
Gulliford expressed the feeling that the educational system has failed the
youth that aren’t interested in going on to higher education by not having
enough vocational career training, and he hoped the KHA could help to fill that
void. Mr. Peppers said that the KHA has submitted a $1.1 million grant
application to fund a YouthBuild vocational training program. In response to a
question from Council Member Gaffney, Mr. Peppers explained the mental health
services in schools that will be funded in the budget for 28 mental health professionals
in 28 full service schools.
In response to another question from Mr. Gaffney about providing grief
counseling services and burial expenses, Mr. Peppers said that the KHA does not
have any funding currently but believes that a trauma response team is needed
in Jacksonville to provide grief counseling and trauma-informed care for
families and young witnesses to crime. He said that $60,000 would provide a
start on creating such a program. Council Member Newby suggested the need for
more programming targeted at girls. Mr. Pepper said that funding has been
granted by the Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Trust Fund to enable the KHA to
make small grants to small service providers. He described how the KHA will
publicize the availability of grants to small agency providers next year. In
response to a question from Council Member Love, Mr. Peppers said that the KHA
will be coordinating with the Parks and Recreation Department and the Public
Library to discuss opportunities to share space and leverage the availability
of public facilities for programming. Council Member Boyer applauded the
increased emphasis on mental health programming, which is vitally important. Several
committee members praised the leadership and the work of the Kids Hope
Alliance. Mr. Mousa indicated the administration’s interested in promoting
expanded vocational training opportunities for youth.
Youth Travel Trust
Mr. Peppers said that no travel grants were made in the current year
while the KHA’s strategic planning process is underway but a new process will
be available next year. Budget Director Angela Moyer said that this is not an
all-years fund so the $40,794 would lapse at the end of the year if not used.
Brian Parks suggested that the funding be allowed to lapse into fund balance
and then reappropriated back to this fund if desired.
Motion (Boyer): allocate
the $40,794 from FY17-18 year-end fund balance to this line item in FY18-19 -
After further discussion, Ms. Boyer withdrew her motion.
Public Works Department
Public Works Director John Pappas described the increased funding for
an additional contract litter control crew and described the additional mowing
enabled by the increase in the current year budget. In response to a question
from Ms. Boyer, Mr. Pappas explained that the $450,000 additional funding is
intended to be split between litter pickup and mowing, which will require an
amendment to shift part of the funding from the Solid Waste Sanitation Division
where it is initially budgeted to the Mowing Division. Mr. Mousa said that
recent bids for mowing service have come in very favorably in recent weeks so
more mowing will be accomplished with the available funding. In response to a
question from Council Member Love, Mr. Pappas described the shift of 3 position
equivalents from being billed to the Stormwater Utility to being billed to the
Public Works Department General Fund budget. In response to a question from
Council Member Boyer about potential enhancements in the Public Works budget
that would be most helpful in addressing common complaints and service needs,
Mr. Mousa said that an additional VacCon truck would be the top priority for Public
Works enhancement.
Mr. Mousa reported that the City expects to save $600,000 in street
light electricity costs between 2017 and 2019 due to the conversion to LED
street lights. Council Members Gulliford and Boyer indicated interest in
sponsoring legislation to amend the Ordinance Code to end the exemption for
non-taxable organizations from paying the stormwater utility fee, which would
generate considerable additional revenue for stormwater services. Assistant
General Counsel Paige Johnston gave a brief overview of her research earlier in
the year regarding use of jail inmates as labor crews for litter control and
agreed to re-circulate the memo to the Finance Committee and the administration.
In response to a question from Council Member Becton about the Traffic
Engineering Division, Mr. Pappas said that the department is using more
contractual and consultant services rather than hiring additional employees.
The committee was in recess from 12:06 to 1:20
p.m.
Motion: on p.21, move
$200,000 from the Solid Waste Sanitation Division’s $450,000 identified for “second litter pickup crew” to
the Mowing and Landscape Division to fund additional mowing – approved unanimously.
Council Member Gulliford posed questions about trends in illegal
dumping and household hazardous waste and advocated for additional solid waste
and hazardous waste disposal sites distributed throughout the city.
Tree Protection Fund
Mr. Billy reported that the balance in fund 15F (Ordinance Code fund)
is $19 million, in 15N (Charter fund) is $4.1 million, and in the BJP fund is
$1.7 million.
Solid Waste Disposal
Mr. Billy noted that the solid waste user fee is insufficient to cover
the costs of operation and that a General Fund transfer via a loan is required
to make the fund whole. Mr. Mousa said that the transfer is in the form of a
loan because of the legal requirements of the City’s interlocal agreements with
the Beaches cities and Baldwin and the implications that has for the
applicability of the user fee. Mr. Mousa reported that one large factor in this
year’s budget is the reversal of revenues and expenses associated with the curbside
recycling program – the City used to be paid $2.5 million per year for the
materials it delivered to the single-stream recycling center, now with the
changes in the worldwide recycling market the City has to pay the recycling
contractor approximately the same amount to process the materials because the
market value for the end products has dried up. He also noted that the
specialized recycling side-loader trucks have caused unanticipated problems
because they can’t be used for picking up yard waste or bulk waste. In response
to a concern expressed by Council Member Morgan about the poor performance of
the franchise solid waste haulers, Mr. Mousa said that administration is
considering ideas for incentives (bonus payments for good performance) instead
of penalties for poor performance which doesn’t seem to be achieving the
desired results in some neighborhoods. Mr. Billy suggested that a calculation
be done to determine the value of the landfill capacity being saved by the
diversion of recyclable materials to obtain a full understanding of the costs
and benefits of recycling.
Contamination Assessment
No recommendations
Landfill Closure
No recommendations
Solid Waste Facilities Mitigation
No recommendations
Solid Waste Facilities Mitigation Class III
No recommendations
Solid Waste Mitigation Capital Projects
No recommendations
Stormwater Services
Mr. Billy noted that the budget ordinance contains a waiver to the
minimum annual appropriation to stormwater capital projects to allow allocation
of $6 million instead of the $10 million required. Mr. Mousa explained that
there are $25 million in projects currently on the books in various stages of
design and construction so an additional $4 million appropriation could not be
expended in the next year due to capacity limitations. Council Member Boyer
explained the allocation of the stormwater utility fee revenues among
stormwater operations, pay-as-you-go capital projects, drainage system
rehabilitation, and debt service on previously-issued bonds for drainage work.
Mr. Mousa noted that there is also funding for drainage work in the General
Fund’s CIP which doesn’t funnel through the Stormwater Utility. Council Member
Boyer indicated that there may be justification for an enhancement to add an
additional project engineer in the Public Works Department to help deal with
the backlog of drainage work on the books.
In response to a question from Council Member Becton about the failure
of the stormwater utility fee revenue to cover the full costs of drainage
services, Mr. Mousa said that the fee will be examined during the course of the
administration’s comprehensive fee study. The administration recognizes that
the fee is currently insufficient to meet the costs but the services are
absolutely needed and the fee must be supplemented by the General Fund to get
the work done. Mr. Mousa directed the Public Works Department to provide Mr.
Becton with a description of all of the functions performed by the Stormwater
Utility.
Public Building Allocations
Mr. Mousa discussed the addition of $3 million in funding next year
for new and expanded installation of security cameras in several departments
after a task force evaluates all the needs and prioritizes the order of
installations and chooses a standard hardware system. These cameras will be
monitored by the Sheriff’s new comprehensive crime data center.
Motion: on p. 44, approve
the Auditor’s recommendation to move the $3,000,000 in repairs and maintenance
in the Camera Maintenance/Upgrade/Replace activity to a contingency within the
same activity until the task force in charge of evaluating security camera
needs on a city-wide basis has been established and can bring forth its
recommendations – approved unanimously.
Motion: in the budget ordinance
in Sec. 11.9 regarding the transfer of $250,000 from fund balance to
re-establish the Public Buildings emergency fund, correct the fiscal year
reference to FY18-19 – approved
unanimously.
The committee was in recess from 2:55 to 3:07
p.m.
Neighborhoods Department
In response to a question from Council Member Morgan, Neighborhoods
Department Director Stephanie Burch discussed the use of part-time hours for
snipe sign enforcement. Ms. Morgan said she is being flooded with constituent
calls about insufficient code enforcement. Ms. Burch said that a team has been
formed to focus on systematic (rather than reactive) enforcement inspections
and invited council members to report areas that need to be targeted. In
response to a question from Council Member Becton, Ms. Burch explained the
replacement of the home-grown CARE complaint system and the 630-CITY phone
complaint system that will be implemented in conjunction with the introduction
of the ERP system. The systems should be much more user-friendly, will
translate multiple languages, and will have better capabilities. Mr. Becton
said one of the greatest frustrations among constituents is when a CARE ticket
is reported as closed when the issue still exists in the field. Council Member
Boyer echoed the concern that cases are closed in the CARE system when the
problem has not been resolved in the field. Ms. Boyer understood that Dr.
Georgette Dumont in the Public Administration Department at UNF had done a
study of the CARE system and said she would contact her to obtain the results
of that study.
Mosquito Control
In response to a question from Council Member Becton, Ms. Burch said
that the purchase of the new helicopter would not incur any new operational
costs. The division is building and installing the spraying equipment for the
helicopter in-house.
Air Pollution Tag Fee
No recommendations
Air Pollution EPA
In response to a question from Council Member Morgan, Ms. Burch
reported that the 2 positions being eliminated have been unfilled for several
years in anticipation of decreased federal funding for this function; this year
the positions are finally being eliminated.
Ambient Air Monitoring
No recommendations
Hazardous Waste Program
Motion: on p. 56, approve
Auditor’s recommendation that the Fleet Vehicle Replacement Allocation be
increased by $5,751 within the Hazardous Waste Program activity to include the
repayment for a vehicle purchased in FY 2015/16 that has not been fully repaid
to Fleet Management. This will be offset with an increase in the Transfer from
Fund Balance. Also, revenue needs to be increased by $5,751 within the
Vehicle Replacement subfund (S/F 512) to account for the additional
revenue, which will be offset by a decrease in Transfer From Retained Earnings –
approved unanimously.
Animal Care and Protective Services
No recommendations
Veterinary Services
No recommendations
Spay and Neuter Trust
No recommendations
Community Development Division
Motion: approve the
Auditor’s recommendation to increase the revenue line for the Independent
Living grant by $8,404, increase the Transfer to General Fund line by the same
amount, and allocate the General Fund transfer to Special Council Contingency –
approved unanimously
Grant Schedules B1-A, B1-B, B1-C
Council Member Boyer asked if any additional steps needed to be taken
to ensure that all of the funds shown on the grant schedules are appropriated
for expenditure without further Council action. She felt the schedules did not
contain all of the funding sources (grant and local match) usually shown on a
budget transfer document and was concerned that ultimate expenditure authority
might not be granted for all funding sources.
Motion: on p. 62, approve
the Auditor’s recommendation that the language in the bill concerning the B1-C
schedule be revised to strike “and authorizes” on page 15, line 16 – approved unanimously.
Motion: on p. 62, approve
the Auditor’s recommendation that a Revised Schedule B1-C be attached to the
Budget Ordinance to properly reflect the correct project list that was approved
by Council in Resolution 2018- 56-A. The change to the project list is to
remove Chowder Ted’s Restaurant and replace
that project with Reed Island Dock and Development. This change will
reduce the FIND Grant match by $224,000, from $1,960,000 to $1,736,000, which
will have a positive impact to Special Council Contingency – approved unanimously
Council Member Gulliford posed several questions about maximum amounts
and repayment conditions of housing downpayment assistance programs. He said
that a recent study of the Jacksonville housing market found that many
households spend over 40% of their annual household income on housing,
indicating a tremendous need for more affordable housing options.
Motion: on p. 62, revise
the language of the FIND grant on p. 15 of the budget ordinance to read that
“The Council hereby approves the list of FIND grants in Schedule B1-C and
approves the appropriation and authorizes of the grants received and
the contingency for local match upon receiving…” – approved unanimously.
Next meetings
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, August 28, 30 and 31.
Chairman Anderson urged the members to review the debt affordability
study in advance of next week to make that discussion go more easily. Peggy
Sidman requested that when the committee considers enhancements based on
contracting with outside agencies, the committee be very specific about terms
and deliverables so the contract can be appropriately drafted by the General
Counsel’s Office.
Outstanding items
·
Non-departmental expenditures - Constitutional gas tax to fiscal agent
·
Sheriff Williams – progress in hiring the 100
new officers, overall employment level, and the deployment of those new officers
·
Sheriff Williams – red light camera removal
·
Sheriff Williams – false alarm data since the
implementation of the new registration system
·
Clerk of the Courts – collection rate on the
$3 and $65 fees
Special Council Contingency
Brian Parks reported that the Special Council Contingency fund stands
at +$847,331
Enhancement requests
·
Additional funding for Public Service grants
·
Additional funding for Cultural Service grants
·
AGAPE $150,000 additional funding request
·
City Council Legislative Services – add an additional
Legislative Assistant position ($45,666 salary and benefits, unfunded) for
succession planning – no impact to Special Council Contingency
·
City Council - council member communications
allowance of $2,416 and $2,183 for City hall parking for new council members
for July 1 – September 30, 2019
·
Increased library hours
·
Tax Collector – 4 new entry level positions ($147,904
- salaries and benefits)
·
Chief Judge Mahon requested an ongoing enhancement
of $10,509 in Other Equipment Under $1,000 for purchase of replacement chairs
for the courthouse (can this be paid for out of the 1S1 fund?)
·
Parks, Recreation and Community Services – add
one unfunded position to potentially hire a current intern into a permanent
position
·
Kids Hope Alliance - $60,000 for grief
counseling and trauma-informed care for children affected by violent crime
·
Public Works Department – purchase additional
VacCon truck for $360,000
·
Public Works Department – add one additional engineer
position in the Engineering Division ($70,000 recurring)
·
WJCT mobile broadcasting/emergency response
First Alert radio network vehicle - $200,000
Meeting adjourned: 4:30
p.m.
Minutes: Jeff Clements, Council Research
8.24.18
Posted 5:30 p.m.
Tapes: Finance Budget Hearing #5
– LSD
8.24.18
Materials: Council Auditor’s Budget Meeting #5 handout - LSD
8.24.18