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 #2 MINUTES
August 17, 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, Council President Aaron Bowman (temporary appointment as a voting
member)
Excused: Council Member Sam
Newby
Also: Council Members Al Ferraro, Danny Becton,
John Crescimbeni, Ju’Coby Pittman (arr. 9:25), Matt Schellenberg (arr. 10:35); Peggy
Sidman – 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:
9:00 a.m.
Chairman Anderson convened the meeting and the attendees introduced
themselves for the record. President Bowman will be acting as a voting member
of the committee today in place of the excused Council Member Newby. Brian
Parks reviewed the remaining pending items from the end of yesterday’s meeting.
Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa said that he would send the
administration’s septic tank prioritization methodology (discussed at the last
meeting) to all council members. Deputy General Counsel Peggy Sidman said that
the Council President will file the legislation discussed yesterday to separate
out the Public Service Grant appropriation from the budget ordinance and
process it as a stand-alone bill so that a council member conflict of interest
can be avoided.
Page references from this point refer to
Auditor’s Budget Hearing #2 handout.
Public Library
Kyle Billy reviewed the library’s budget, which includes funding for
13 new positions to extend library hours by 8 hours per week at 9 branches (72
additional hours per week). Ronnie King, Chair of the Library Boar and Library
Director Tim Rogers thanked the committee for last year’s extra infusion of
funding for collections acquisitions and for their support of the 72 additional
hours of service in this year’s budget. Council Member Becton requested
additional evening hours one night a week for the Southeast Library in his
district because of the need for use of its community rooms for meeting
purposes, since his district does not have a community center to fill that need.
Director Rogers said the system doesn’t want to have individual libraries
deviating from the standard system-wide schedule, but hoped that additional
hours could be added in future budgets that would serve this need. Several
committee members thanked the administration for the additional funding for the
extended hours. Council Member Ferraro thanked the Mayor’s Office for starting
the process of siting and constructing a library in Oceanway, which has been
sorely needed for years.
Council Member Crescimbeni asked the members and attendees to vote
early and often in the JetBlue Airlines online contest to win a $25,000 prize
for the Jacksonville Public Library. Council Member Gulliford asked that
consideration be given in future years to extending hours at the Beaches
Library to include Sunday afternoon. Council Member Boyer also advocated for
more evening hours so that the San Marco library community room can be open for
use. She said that the predominance of hours during the working day prevents
many people from being able to access the libraries in the evenings and on
weekends, and that the community would be even more supportive if they had more
access hours. Sam Mousa reported that the administration has identified several
potential locations for an Oceanway library but has not had success in getting
the owners to consider selling the land. Council Member Ferraro is talking to
the owners of several potential sites about a purchase price.
Motion: on p. 7, approve the
Council Auditor’s recommendation that security guards be increased by $24,000
and contractual services by $8,285 in the Library Conference Facilities Trust to
address the issues noted above, offset by a decrease in dues, subscriptions,
and memberships of $3,450 which is double budgeted, and an increase to rental
of facilities in the amount of $28,835 which represents revenue previously
collected. This will have no impact to Special Council Contingency – approved unanimously.
Council Member Boyer asked about any plans for use of the vacant space
off the front lobby of the Main Library and suggested that it might make a good
site for a proposed relocated downtown visitor information center. Mr. Rogers
said that the both the Main Library and several branch libraries are seeing
increasing use of the facilities by homeless persons and consideration is being
given to how the library might serve some of the needs of these persons (not
social service needs, but perhaps educational needs). The library is working
with the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department on potential
service provision ideas. In response to a question from Council Member Pittman
about whether the Main Library works with non-profits to use the conference
center as a site for fundraising activities, Board Chair King said that the
library has adopted a discounted rental fee for that space on weeknights
(Monday-Thursday) for non-profits.
Health Department
Erin Hess, Acting Administrator of the Duval County Health Department,
reported that a “rightsizing” process is underway at the department to try and
improve efficiency and operations. The department’s state and federal funding
is down about 10% ($4 million) in the upcoming fiscal year. Her goal is that
the reduction will not affect any direct service provision to citizens and will
all be in the administrative operation. Position reductions will be done
largely through attrition and retirements. Council Member Crescimbeni asked the
Health Department for additional information about a change in the state
definition of “food” for the purpose of restaurants defining their percentage
of food vs. alcoholic beverage sales, which may impact City zoning considerations
for restaurant locations.
Jacksonville Housing Finance Authority
Motion: on p. 10, approve
Council Auditor’s recommendation that Schedule N be revised to decrease the FY
2018/19 proposed amount for indirect costs by $4,973 to correct the budgeted
amount. Salaries should be increased by $2,486 and group hospitalization should
be increased by $2,487 to offset this issue. Include a revised Schedule N to
reflect the change – approved
unanimously.
Finance and Administration Department
Fleet Management
Council Member Gulliford suggested that heavy equipment be leased
rather than purchased so that maintenance would be the responsibility of the
leasing company. Angela Moyer reported that some years ago the City did a very
detailed examination of its equipment fleet and sold off many units that
weren’t needed often and got the fleet down to a good level. Specialized
equipment is leased or rented as needed. Council Member Love recommended
increased use of electric vehicles as the wave of the future. Council Member
Boyer said that she has heard from a constitutent that only one of the City’s
VacCon sewer maintenance trucks is currently in service and asked Mr. Mousa to
investigate how many the City has and how many are in operation currently.
Council Member Gulliford asked the administration to investigate contracting
with a company to perform storm drain vacuuming service. Mr. Mousa reported
that the City has a fleet of 5 VacCon trucks, of which 4 are in operation and 1
is awaiting repair. In response to a question from Council Member Pittman,
Fleet Manager Chris Tongol reported that surplus vehicles are sold via
electronic auction on a web site as they become available. In response to a
question from Council Member Crescimbeni about how autobody repairs are done,
Erik Preacher of the division said that the City contracts out all but very
minor body work to one of several auto dealerships and smaller independent body
shops. In response to a question from Chairman Anderson, Mr. Tongol reported
that parts management was outsourced several years ago and all parts are sold
to the City at cost, with a markup for the contractor’s administrative cost.
Council Member Gulliford asked for details about the City’s lease
agreement for 91 covert vehicles for the Sheriff’s Office. Chief Financial Officer
Mike Weinstein said that the administration is in negotiations with the leasing
company to end the lease agreement and purchase the vehicles instead.
The committee was in recess from 10:36 to 10:46
a.m.
Information Technology
In response to a question from Council Member Schellenberg, IT Chief
Ken Lathrop said that the IT Division has been working with the University of
North Florida to recruit interns and entry level employees and the partnership
has been successful. CFO Mike Weinstein said that the IT Division has asked the
Mayor’s Budget Review Committee for pay scale adjustments to keep pay levels
competitive with the private sector job market. The same is done for Fleet
Management. He also noted that the Curry administration when it first came into
office made a very considerable effort to whittle down and prioritize the IT
Division’s project list and to bill for development projects on a logical,
time-specific basis. Council Member Morgan asked about the division’s minority
recruitment efforts. In response to a question from Council Member Love about
computer security issues, particularly the threat of ransomware, Mr. Lathrop
described the division’s robust security measures and their attempts to secure
the email system.
In response to a question from Council Member Becton about whether the
email system can be adjusted to allow correspondence from known safe sources
through the quarantine system more quickly, Mr. Lathrop said that as of October
2018 the City will migrate off of the Microsoft Outlook system to an Office 365
email system that will allow instantaneous access to all received emails,
including those in the quarantine folder.
Motion: on p. 25, approve
Auditor’s recommendation to replace Schedule B4a of the Budget Ordinance to (1)
correct the beginning project budget amounts for two projects (CAD – 911 Call
System Replacement and Enterprise Document Management Solution) and (2) correct
a project number (Enterprise Financial /Resource Management Solution). This has
no effect on the projects and also has no impact to Special Council Contingency
– approved unanimously.
5-Year Information Technology Plan
Motion: on p. 28, approve
Auditor’s recommendation that Capital Outlay of $1,492,690 in Computer
Equipment and Software be moved to Software, Computer Items Under $1,000 in
Other Operating Expenses since the computers to be purchased with these funds
cost less than $1,000. This will have no impact on Special Council Contingency –
approved unanimously.
In response to a question from Council Member Becton, Mr. Lathrop
explained the division’s hardware refresh prioritization, which is based on
replacing the oldest equipment first over a 3-4 year cycle. In response to a
question from Chairman Anderson, Mr. Lathrop described the fire department
radios being purchased and said that they have a minimum 10 year expected
lifespan. The total radio refresh project will cost $18.5 million over the next
8 years for 4,683 radios.
Motion: on p. 31, approve
Auditor’s recommendation for an all-years budget adjustment to move $90,000 in
professional services to a capitalized professional services line for the
Enterprise Document Management Solution project. This will have no impact on
the project or on Special Council Contingency – approved unanimously.
Mr. Mousa described the Curry administration’s termination of the
previous contract for the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. A new RFP
was drafted and new proposals were received. A joint venture of Oracle (software)
and AST Corporation (implementation) was selected and training of users has
begun. Council Member Boyer lauded the progress being made on the conversion
but noted that there will be substantial conversion costs from the old systems
to the new ERP, which will need to be budgeted over the next several years. The
budget for the project has grown substantially since the first iteration of the
ERP was discussed several years ago.
In response to a question from Council Member Boyer about the why
certain projects were proposed to be removed from the IT project schedule, Budget
Officer Angela Moyer said that projects were either completed, are still in
process but have sufficient funding, or are no longer needed because they will
be incorporated into other projects. In response to a question from Council
Member Becton about the software cost of the ERP versus the project
implementation /management cost, Ms. Moyer and Mr. Lathrop said the software
cost is slightly less than $3 million and the remaining $28 million is for
personnel and management costs. The Oracle ERP system is cloud-based and does
not permit customization by the end user. City processes will need to be
changed to match the functionality of the ERP, not the other way around.
In response to a question from Council Member Morgan about the CARE
complaint system replacement, Mr. Lathrop said that the City is replacing the
custom-built application with an off-the-shelf product with greater
capabilities and efficiencies. Mr. Mousa said it’s possible the new system
might require fewer operators in the call center if the input via computer and
smartphone is easier for citizens to do directly, but that remains to be
determined. Council Member Schellenberg asked if CARE issues could be
automatically referred to City Council members so that he can keep abreast of
the issues arising in his district and the progress being made toward their
resolution.
The committee was in recess from 12:00 to 1:03
p.m.
Human Rights Commission
Motion: on p. 37, approve
the Auditor’s recommendation that $90,000 in Computer System Maintenance and
Security allocation be removed from the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission
budget and reallocated. This will have no impact on Special Council Contingency
– approved unanimously
In response to a question from Council Member Morgan, Charlene
Taylor-Hill, Executive Director of the Human Rights Commission, explained the
backlog of filings and investigations that has accumulated and the need for the
contract employee to help work through that backlog. In response to a question
from Council Member Boyer, Ms. Hill said that the JHRC is reimbursed for cases
it processes on behalf of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Office of Ethics, Compliance and Oversight
Carla Miller, Director of the Ethics Office, thanked the City Council
for its consistent support of the ECO office and reported that all state
requirements are being met. She noted that City employees/officers are becoming
much more proactive, seeking advice before taking action rather than after a
problem has occurred.
Office of Inspector General
No recommendations.
Medical Examiner
Mr. Mousa reported that the administration has acquired temporary body
storage space and a modular office during the current fiscal year to address
the overcrowding issue, and all of the Medical Examiner’s requests in the
current budget have been approved. The budget includes $500,000 to begin the
planning for construction of a new ME facility (location, size, functions). Council
Member Gulliford thanked Dr. Valerie Rao, the District Medical Examiner, for
her years of service and advocacy for the needs for the needs of the office as
she approaches retirement. Dr. Rao said that her office processed 614 drug
death cases last year and the numbers appear like they might be slightly lower
this year, although they receive overdose cases every day. She said that the
office’s accreditation was downgraded from full to provisional status when the
space issues became severe, but was restored when the new temporary facilities
were acquired. The accreditation will again be reduced to provisional status when
Dr. Rao retires at the end of this month until a new fully certified medical
examiner is appointed by the Medical Examiner Selection Committee and approved
by the Governor. Dr. Rao thanked the City Council for their support of the
office’s needs.
Military Affairs and Veterans
No recommendations.
Emergency Contingency
No recommendations were made. In response to a question from Council
Member Boyer, Mr. Weinstein reported that the fund is at 5.1% of the General
Fund, within the target range of 5-7%.
Emergency Incidents
Motion: on p. 46, approve
the Auditor’s recommendation that the FY
2018/19 amount for the proposed transfer from the General Fund - GSD be
increased by $1,800,000, to $8,000,000, to ensure that the City provides enough
funding to cover its portion of the total costs (12.5%). This will also
increase the FY 2018/19 proposed contingency of $6,200,000 by $1,800,000. This
will be offset by an increase in the transfer from fund balance within the
General Fund – GSD. This will have no impact to Special Council
Contingency – approved
unanimously.
In response to a question from Council Member Boyer, Mr. Mousa said
the City had received slightly less than $28 million of the $43.5 million
reimbursable expenses attributable to Hurricane Matthew from FEMA and the State
of Florida, with $15.8 million in reimbursements still pending. Hurricane Irma
costs were $70.2 million of which $52.65 million is reimbursable. The City has
submitted 8 reimbursement requests to date but has not received any reimbursements.
$10 million of the Hurricane Matthew reimbursement will be for the
reconstruction of the Jacksonville Beach Pier, design for which will begin after
a decision is made about how high above the water line to rebuild the pier.
Next meetings
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, August 22-24.
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
Special Council Contingency
Brian Parks reported that the Special Council Contingency fund stands
at +$501,841
Enhancement requests
·
AGAPE additional funding request
·
Additional funding for Public Service and
Cultural Service grants
·
City Council Legislative Services – additional
Legislative Assistant position ($45,666)
·
City Council - council member communications
allowance of $2,416 and $2,183 for City hall parking for new council members
·
City Council/Legislative Services Division –
additional Legislative Assistant position earmarked for succession planning
·
Increased library hours
Council Member Boyer said she understands that the additional City
Council position only requires a position authorization, not additional
funding. The committee discussed Council Member Becton’s desire for evening
hours at the Southeast Branch Library expressed earlier in the meeting and
decided to include a general enhancement item on the list for additional
library hours.
Meeting adjourned:
2:01 p.m.
Minutes: Jeff Clements, Council Research
8.17.18
Posted 4:00 p.m.
Tapes: Finance Budget Hearing #2
– LSD
8.17.18
Materials: Council Auditor’s Budget Meeting #1 handout - LSD
8.17.18