OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL CHERYL L BROWN 117 WEST DUVAL STREET, SUITE 425 4TH FLOOR, CITY HALL JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 32202 DIRECTOR OFFICE (904) 630-1452 FAX (904) 630-2906 E-MAIL: CLBROWN@coj.net Finance Committee Budget Hearings #3 & #4 Minutes August 14, 2014 9:00 a.m Location: City Council Chamber, 1st floor, City Hall – St James Building; 117 West Duval Street, Suite 425 In attendance: Council Members Richard Clark (Chair), Lori Boyer, Reginald Brown, Doyle Carter (arr 11:52), John Crescimbeni, Kimberly Daniels (arr 10:04), Bill Gulliford, Ray Holt and Matt Schellenberg Also: Council Members Jim Love, Robin Lumb (arr 2:40) and President Clay Yarborough (arr 3:09); Kirk Sherman, Kim Taylor, Brian Parks, Trista Straits, – Council Auditor’s Office; Paula Shoup – Legislative Services Division; Peggy Sidman – Office of General Counsel; Jeff Clements – Council Research Division; Teresa Eichner and Margo Klosterman – Mayor’s Office; Glenn Hansen and Angela Moyer - Budget Office Meeting Convened: 9:02 a.m Chairman Clark convened the meeting and asked committee members for any outstanding issues from the last meeting Council Member Crescimbeni asked for an update on his requests for information on Mayor’s travel expenses and food and beverages expenses for Military Affairs for quarterly base meetings Theresa Eichner will follow up with that data Council Member Boyer reported that she has met with representatives of the Intragovernmental Services Department and Fleet Management Division and learned that the department employee cap is down by 11 positions from the current year, although they are going to request restoration of of those slots Kirk Sherman reported that the Special Council Reserve account stands at $1,219,342 due to the considerable reductions made in the first two budget meetings The committee discussed how to deal with the Sheriff’s Office $7.5 million authorized savings retention and the fact that the Sheriff can spend those funds before the end of the fiscal year if he so desires, leaving no carry-over to feed into the FY14/15 budget If Council wants to ensure that those funds are available for carry-over, then legislation will need to be passed to capture it before it is spent Page references from this point refer to Council Auditor’s Meeting #3 Handout Tax Collector Motion: on p recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation to reduce computer system maintenance allocation by $53,000 – unanimously approved Tax Collector Michael Corrigan explained the pay increases for 150 employees being made for pay equity purposes pursuant to civil service requirements due to the hiring of a specially qualified bilingual employee at a rate above the minimum salary Property Appraiser Property Appraiser Jim Overton discussed the Property Appraiser’s budget for $75,000 for merit-based pay increases based on employee performance, with Council Member Crescimbeni pointing out that City employees took a 2% pay cut in 2010 and have had no raises since, unlike employees of some constitutional officers Motion: on p recommend approval of the Property Appraiser’s request for two betterments – addition of $15,176 for OGC legal expenses and addition of $22,832 for employee benefits associated with the merit pool increase – unanimously approved Clerk of the Courts Motion: on p recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 to decrease cost and fee revenue by $200,000 – unanimously approved Motion: on p recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #2 to review the office’s IT billing allocation and to reduce the Time & Attendance System allocation to the Clerk’s office by $15,610 – unanimously approved Clerk of the Courts Ronnie Fussell gave an update on the customer queuing system implementation, which should be operational by the end of the year, and the relocation of traffic court from the former location on Beach Boulevard to the new courthouse Court Administration Motion: on p 14 recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 to increase contractual services by $20,000 – unanimously approved Motion: on p 14 recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #2 to cease using “allyears” budgeting for the juvenile drug court sub-fund - unanimously approved Motion: on p 16 recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation to cease using “all-years” budgeting for the court innovations/judicial support sub-fund - unanimously approved Motion: on p 19 recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation to cease using “all-years” budgeting for the courthouse trust sub-fund - unanimously approved Motion: on p 23 recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 to shift funding for several expenditures from the General Fund to the Recording Fees Technology fund - unanimously approved Motion: on p 23 recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #2 to ensure that all three participants in the recording fee technology use sign the Memorandum of Understanding - unanimously approved State Attorney’s Office Since no representative of the State Attorney’s Office was present to discuss the budget request, the committee discussed what budgetary items could be withheld until the State Attorney appears before the committee Motion: on p 25 place the State Attorney’s Office internal service budget request and the SAO’s 15-U account allocation “below the line” until such time as a signed MOU for the recording fee technology fund is signed by the State Attorney – unanimously approved Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department Department Acting Director Daryl Joseph and Beth Meyer, Chief of the Disabled Services Division, answered questions from Council Member Crescimbeni about the location of the Sexual Assault Response Center, which is currently located in the Victim Services Center on 10 th Street but has been suggested for relocation to Baptist Hospital, with the rest of the Victim Services functions moving to the Social Service Division office on Art Museum Drive Mr Crescimbeni has heard that the City is negotiating with the Women’s Resource Center and may already have signed an agreement for that agency to relocate into the current Victim Services Center on 10 th Street Ms Meyer said that the relocation to that site would be temporary until the SARC program fully transitions to the Baptist Hospital campus downtown Ms Meyers explained that the growth in crime victim-serving agencies (Justice Coalition, Compassionate Parents, etc.) has reduced the use of the Victim Services Center and has led to the exploration of relocation out of that facility Council Member Brown questioned why the SARC contract was directed to the Women’s Center and Baptist Hospital rather than to UF Health Jacksonville Motion (Gulliford): recommend reduction of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department employee cap by employees – unanimously approved Motion (Crescimbeni): place the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department subfund 011 “below the line” until the Council Auditor and the department reach agreement on what positions are actually being eliminated – unanimously approved Council Member Boyer requested information about the remaining lease term of the Social Services Division office space on Art Museum Drive and asked the department to meet with the Council Auditor’s Office after the meeting to make a determination of whether the out-sourcing of the SARC program does or does not produce a cost savings She also requested clarification of the number of employee slots being reduced Council Member Gulliford questioned how contracts could be entered into by the administration that commit the City to future appropriations without any knowledge or approval by City Council He recommended that Council receive a list each year of all the contracts entered into via administrative processes without Council approval Council Member Boyer asked for a listing of all the grant match allocations that have been assigned to departmental budgets this year rather than budgeted centrally in a grant match account as was the prior practice Motion (Schellenberg): recommend elimination of the salary and benefits ($441,000) associated with the elimination of departmental positions Motion (Schellenberg): recommend elimination of a seventh employee cap position in the department – unanimously approved Huguenot Park Waterfront and Conservation Division Chief Tera Meeks answered questions about how the division estimated park attendance and admission revenue for the upcoming year given the implementation of a fee increase Motion: on p 32 recommend approval of the Council Auditor’s recommendation to reduce projected revenues – unanimously approved Parks, Recreation and Community Services Council Member Daniels asked the committee to return to a discussion of the elimination of employee cap positions and there appeared to be confusion over the number and which particular positions were going to be eliminated Motion (Crescimbeni): repeal all actions taken since the adoption of the motion to put Subfund 011 “below the line” that affect that subfund and take up the department’s budget at a future meeting when the administration and Council Auditor have reconciled the employee cap questions - unanimously approved Hanna Park Motion: on p 35, recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation to reduce revenue projections - unanimously approved Council Member Boyer asked for additional information on the division’s costs and how those affect the admission fee pursuant to the ordinance that requires the admission fees to cover 85% of operating costs Council Member Gulliford asked the Council Auditor for information on fee increases across all City functions Council Member Crescimbeni explained the history of the ordinance that requires the 85% coverage ratio of fees and the rationale behind making small annual changes rather than periodic large jumps He asked the Council Auditor to examine the Special Events Division budget to see if there is a corresponding decrease in their costs to match the increase in the costs to Hanna and Huguenot Parks to take over all processing of event permits for events in those parks, and asked the administration to justify the proposed large percentage fee increases when the fee ordinance was supposed to prevent that Metropolitan Park Motion: on pp 36-37, recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation to correct an accounting error by changing the sub-objects of several revenues and decreasing use of fund balance – approved unanimously In response to a question from Council Member Boyer for clarification of the $250,000 appropriation for capital projects and whether it reflected a portion of or an addition to the $11 million plan for Metropolitan Park improvements approved previously by the Council, Director Joseph stated that it is the first allocation within the $11 million toward design of replacement of the stage canopy Council Member Crescimbeni requested additional detail on Metro Park’s projected revenues Budget officer Angela Moyer explained that the Metro Park fund is an all-years fund that accumulates revenues until a project for its use is determined, at which point the funds are appropriated for that purpose The revenue does not show up in the annual budget until a use is proposed Kirk Sherman said that this example illustrates the problems inherent in all-year funds and said that he will meet with the Accounting and Budget Divisions to come up with a proposal for how better to deal with budgeting for such funds Council Member Boyer gave background information on the findings of the Metropolitan Park Special Committee with regard to Metro Park fees and charges Ms Boyer wants further information on how many all-years funds exist and how much they have accumulated Cecil Commerce Center Athletic Complex Motion: on p 42, recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation to increase the transfer from fund balance by an additional $75,000 – unanimously approved Council Member Carter explained the on-going process of the RFP process for a private company to maintain the athletic complex facilities now that SMG is no longer responsible for maintenance, which was part of the Equestrian Center operations contract Equestrian Center Motion: on p 43, recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation to establish an operating budget for the Equestrian Center utilizing operating revenues and a $287,000 subsidy from the Taye Brown Regional Trust Fund - unanimously approved The committee was in recess from 12:20 to 1:13 Planning and Development Department Department Director Calvin Burney answered questions from Council Member Gulliford about the department’s proposed fee increases and relative costs in adjoining counties Council Member Boyer asked questions about the department’s professional services line, including the annual manatee monitoring contract which was budgeted in the City’s non-departmental expenditures rather than the department’s budget and elimination of the Mayport CRA expense Mr Burney said that the professional services line includes the cost for an update of the mobility plan that is due in 2016 Mr Burney explained that the department has been told by bond counsel that the City cannot utilize the bond proceeds in the Northwest Economic Development Fund for administrative purposes so another source of funding needs to be found The department has proposed a new General Fund-funded position to handle administration of that fund, which was transferred to the Planning Department from the City’s housing division Motion (Schellenberg): recommend deletion of the proposed new position for the Northwest Economic Development Fund – approved unanimously Motion (Holt): recommend deletion of the $15,000 salary increase for the department director – approved unanimously Jody McDaniel of the Planning Department explained the difference between the manatee “plan” and manatee “protective actions” The City has negotiated with the state and agreed on a slate of actions the City will undertake to protect manatees, including boater education, law enforcement and other protective actions, to prevent state restrictions on waterfront development permitting $70,000 of the $90,000 appropriated last year has been expended on the City’s contract with Jacksonville University, and there may be an invoice remaining to be paid Mr Crescimbeni and Ms Boyer noted that Council just approved the manatee agreement with the state at its last meeting and committed to take the actions that this appropriation is intended to pay for Motion (Schellenberg): recommend deletion the $90,000 appropriation for manatee protective actions until such time as a firm dollar figure has been calculated for the protective actions to which the City has committed – approved 5-4 Council Member Brown advocated for restoring resources to administer the Northwest Economic Development Fund and suggested the possibility of contracting out the management function Motion (Schellenberg): recommend deleting funding in the amount $154,334 for the new transportation planning-related positions eliminated from the department’s employee cap earlier in the budget process – approved unanimously Mr Burney explained that the CPAC coordinator positions were being paid 50/50 by the General Fund and by grant funds when they were in the Neighborhoods Department but cannot now be grant funded following their transfer to the Planning Department because they are no longer working on CDBG projects The Council Auditor’s Office confirmed that those positions are completely City-funded in the proposed budget Community Development Division Motion: on p 53, recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation to reduce HUD grant revenue by $1,212 – approved unanimously Building Inspection Division Motion: on p 57, recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 to adjust supervision allocation distribution within the subfund – approved unanimously Motion: on p 57, recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #2 to increase supervision allocation by $67,482, distributed according to the distribution method approved in recommendation #1 – approved unanimously Motion: on p 57, recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #3 to transfer all residual cash carryover to pay down Banking Fund debt - approved unanimously In response to a question from Council Member Boyer, Budget Director Glenn Hansen confirmed that there was nothing in the covenants of the recent bond financings that would prevent the use of the funds for Banking Fund repayment Tom Goldsbury, Chief of Building Inspections, answered questions about the permitting system developed by the Information Technology Division Military Affairs and Veterans Services Department Director Admiral Guillory reported that 1,300 new sailors will arrive in Jacksonville this weekend with the arrival of several new ships at Naval Station Mayport He answered questions from Council Member Crescimbeni about the quarterly military base commanders meetings, explaining that the meetings are intended to be quarterly but may not happen every quarter, depending on the availability of the commanders and the timing of specific events that are of interest to the military Page references from this point refer to Council Auditor’s Meeting #4 Handout Office of General Counsel Council Member Gulliford expressed the Council’s appreciation for the work of legislative counsels Peggy Sidman and Paige Johnston Office of Ethics, Compliance and Oversight Council Member Crescimbeni said that he would likely be offering amendments to the pending ordinance to create an Inspector General’s Office (2014-519) to recognize potential contributions from the State Attorney’s Office to an Inspector General’s office, which may impact the amount of money being contemplated today for the office’s budget in the FY14/15 budget Council Member Lumb said that he may propose an amendment to provide funding for the Inspector General via a small percentage holdback on City contracts Motion: on p recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 to reduce employer contributions for pension and disability – approved unanimously Motion: on p recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #2 to reduce group hospitalization allocation, as amended to change the reduction from $5,000 to $3,000 - approved unanimously Medical Examiner’s Office Mr Sherman reported that Lafayette and Suwanee Counties no longer contract with the Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy services Motion: on p recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation to reduce professional services by $28,635 - approved unanimously Housing Finance Authority Ms Boyer asked for confirmation from the Council Auditor about whether the entire amount of grantfunded salary and benefits is being removed commensurate with position eliminations or whether some grant funds are being reallocated to other positions General Employees Pension Trust Motion: on p 13 recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation to remove 1,080 part-time hours that are not funded – approved unanimously In response to a question from Ms Boyer, City Treasurer Joey Greive reported that the increase in money manager fees is due to the growth in the assets being managed, not an increase in the compensation rate to any of the managers Mr Greive answered questions from Council Member Schellenberg about how the asset managers are chose and why none are local companies Mr Schellenberg expressed the belief that a better rate of return can be achieved on the invested assets Police and Fire Pension Fund administration Council Member Boyer asked for clarification from the General Counsel’s Office regarding whether or not the City Council can make changes in the PFPF’s administrative budget Mr Crescimbeni read from a legal opinion by former General Counsel Cindy Laquidara that said the City Council does have the ability to Motion: on p 20 recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #1 to reduce budgeted amounts for various internal service allocations by a net of $58,322 – approved unanimously Motion: on p 20 recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #2 to split estimated revenue and appropriations for the building and parking garage operations to separate schedules approved unanimously Motion: on p 20 recommend approval of Council Auditor’s recommendation #3 to remove the words “Exhibit A” from proposed schedules AB and AC and to make formatting changes – approved unanimously In response to a question from Council Member Crescimbeni about whether the PFPF administration met the $650,000 lapse imposed by the City Council last year, Fund Administrator John Keane indicated that, although the fiscal year is not yet complete, it does not appear that the fund will be able to meet any of that lapse because money management fees are increasing as the asset base increases, utilizing all available revenue Committee members discussed whether the committee should or should not attempt to remove funding for new positions, attempt to change allocations for money management fees, etc and what, if anything, can be done if the agency ignores Council’s directives Motion (Crescimbeni): put the PFPF administrative budget “below the line” to a future meeting – approved 6-3 Council President Yarborough asked for a response from the General Counsel’s Office about the status of the Senior Voluntary Retirement Plan and whether it is being funded in the proposed budget He said the General Counsel has opined that the plan is improper and unauthorized and questioned how it continues to operate given that ruling Committee members questioned what, if anything, the Council can to control the PFPF’s administrative expenditures Angela Moyer said that Council’s ultimate control over the PFPF’s administrative positions is that the City could refuse to enter a new position into the Oracle human resources system so that no position would exist and could not be paid Deputy General Counsel Derrel Chatmon reported that the Senior Voluntary Retirement Plan was part of the City’s negotiations with the Police and Fire Pension Fund over pension reform and that the proposal agreed upon was that the plan would be converted to a legal retirement mechanism for the current participants who would become eligible for membership in the General Employees Pension Plan Mr Gulliford characterized the ratification of the accrued benefits for the current plan participants as a bargaining chip in the on-going pension negotiations Chairman Clark reported that the committee has reduced another $834,000 in expenditures through today’s actions Meeting Adjourned: 3:46 p.m Minutes: Jeff Clements, Council Research Division 8.14.14 Posted 4:00 p.m Tapes: Finance Budget Hearings #3 and #4 – LSD 8.14.14 Materials: Auditor’s Budget Hearing #3 and #4 handouts 8.14.14 ... $ 8 34 ,000 in expenditures through today’s actions Meeting Adjourned: 3: 46 p.m Minutes: Jeff Clements, Council Research Division 8. 14. 14 Posted 4: 00 p.m Tapes: Finance Budget Hearings #3 and #4. .. Posted 4: 00 p.m Tapes: Finance Budget Hearings #3 and #4 – LSD 8. 14. 14 Materials: Auditor’s Budget Hearing #3 and #4 handouts 8. 14. 14 ... rather than budgeted centrally in a grant match account as was the prior practice Motion (Schellenberg): recommend elimination of the salary and benefits ( $44 1,000) associated with the elimination