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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-08-04 Special meeting tentative millage rate Minutes MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING TENTATIVE MILLAGE RATE DANIA BEACH CITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2005 - 12:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order Mayor Castro called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m. and asked for a moment of silence to reflect and pray for Commissioner Anton's mother-in-law and Commissioner McElyea's great- granddaughter. 2. Roll Call Present: Mayor: Anne Castro Vice-Mayor: Patricia Flury Commissioners: Bob Anton John Bertino C.K. McElyea City Attorney: Tom Ansbro City Manager: Ivan Pato City Clerk: Louise Stilson 3. Motion to establish certification of the following "not to exceed" rate to Broward County Property Appraiser's Office for Fiscal Year 05/06 a. Millage Rate—Motion to confirm operating rate Commissioner Bertino wanted to set the record straight about false information in the community. He indicated e-mail is being circulated that says he and Commissioner Flury promised to increase the number of deputies during the annexation and recent election. He wanted to set the record straight because when people start these rumors it leads into something larger and before you know it, the whole process is clouded with nonsense and nothing gets done correctly. Commissioner Bertino motioned to set the Operating Millage Rate at 6.39. Commissioner Bertino conceded that a $200,000 contingency is exceedingly small, and he worries about raising taxes because we have a large amount of people at poverty level. He identified sources of revenue, such as: I.T. Parker $9,000; Judgments and Fines $40,000; Code Violations $50,000; Phone System $56,000 can be put off for one year; and Fire Reserve Fund of $156,000. He indicated this would bring the contingency fund to $597,000. The motion died for lack of a second. Vice-Mayor Flury commented she would not vote for a tax increase and there are a lot of opportunities to trim this budget. She does not think this is a great budget; the biggest problem in this budget and over the past three years is the issue of staffing. There are some positions that are supposed to be transfers (Compliance Inspector and Engineer), she noted these positions have never been filled since they were approved by the Commission. The Engineer was approved last year for the purpose of managing Capital Improvement Projects. However, we have $225,000 in the budget for Project Management; she remarked this is called being taken to the cleaners. She commented the Plumbing Inspector, Building Inspector and other positions have been vacant for two years. She recognizes we need additional BSO Officers, even though the data tells you that the western area is not the area with the biggest crime. She encouraged the Commission to consider staggering the positions because the Chief will fill the positions over a period of several months. If we do not stagger them, we will not take advantage of the BSO vacancy rate of $250,000 which will go to unrestricted reserves at the end of the year. She suggested cutting legal fees; miscellaneous expenses; Professional Services; and using part of the settlement we received from Waste Management. She is concerned about the revenues in the budget and indicated the non ad-valorem revenues were too conservative. She stated she is not micro- managing, but believes revenues could be increased. She thinks we are getting greedy and the fat needs to come out of this budget. She remarked she is not convinced we will need a CRA Director in six months and proposed pushing it back to six months. Her last comment was on a letter the City Manager wrote that states we should not have a politically soothing budget; she ® believes we can do all the things we need to do and keep it at the tax rate we currently have. She commented we are one of the highest taxing cities in the county. She stated she would be much happier where she was a week ago than she is sitting here; this is not her dream or her life. She is offended with the innuendo that she is looking for a politically, convenient thing because she does not care about politics. She will not vote for a tax increase because she does not believe we need it. City Manager Pato clarified the remark he made was that it would have been easier for him to bring a budget that made it politically easy to support, but felt obligated to bring a budget he thought was necessary. He remarked nobody assumed you would support a tax increase. You asked for a budget that we would be comfortable with and that made sense. If you do not agree with it, suggest the corrections that you feel are necessary and he will be happy to work with you. His comments were not directed at her or anyone else; if she disagrees with the budget he looks forward to working with her and the rest of the Commission. We worked hard to bring what we thought was the best budget and one the Commission could work with us on. Vice-Mayor Flury remarked her issue is staffing. City Manager Pato clarified the positions that are open are because we were unable to fill them because the salaries were not competitive and the Commission directed us, two years ago, not to offer anyone benefits because we were in a transition mode. We wanted to address the high cost of pension, health care, and other issues, which we are doing. We have not been able to move forward because of the Labor Unions. He stated the Commission knows there are hard choices that we need to make. Minutes of Special Meeting 2 Dania Beach City Commission Thursday, August 4,2005— 12:00 p.m. Commissioner Anton commented he agrees that he does not want to see taxes increase; however, he is not ready to put us in a position to cut items without reviewing them more thoroughly. The 6.69 rate is a cap; it is not what the tax rate will be, it could be anything below that amount, but can never go above it. To automatically set a tax cap at 6.39 is irresponsible and foolish. We will have the opportunity to cut it back and take appropriate action during the public hearings. He addressed the BSO issue; it is a promise that was made years ago during the annexation. The positions were to be filled last July but there were budget constraints. He commented it will not take months to hire the five BSO deputies and he will support this. He indicated there are problem areas in the City, such as Community Development; he personally thinks they are doing a good job, but they need additional help. He thinks the millage will probably end up at 6.39, but he does not want to be painted into a corner right now. He commented a contingency fund is an important aspect because we do not know what the future will bring; the Commission constantly requests additional expenditures and to have a $200,000 contingency is ridiculous. He would support 6.59 or 6.69 because it will not end up that high. Commissioner Anton motioned to set the Operating Millage Rate at 6.69; Mayor Castro passed the gavel and seconded the motion. Mayor Castro mentioned this is supposed to be a technicality vote, but we have perfected it to some form of art. We seem to be having our Budget Workshop during this technical vote. She supports the 6.69 because it is the budget as it was submitted. We learned that we have included everything in the Budget; some Commissioners were adding things to the Budget before we began cutting the Budget. She commented it is not just for the five Commissioners to be talking; it is for the public to come and set the priorities so we know where we should be cutting and what we should be adding. She has no idea what the final millage rate will be but she will propose a millage rate that supports the priorities that the citizens bring to the workshop and that the Commission and staff set forth. She commented it will not hurt us to vote on 6.69 today; it would give us a reference point, nothing more. Commissioner Bertino commented the 6.39 gives us a budget that has everything we need, with only a $200,000 contingency, but he believes he and Commissioner Flury made suggestions to raise that amount. The motion was defeated on the following 2-3 Roll Call vote: Commissioner Anton Yes Vice-Mayor Flury No Commissioner Bertino No Mayor Castro Yes Commissioner McElyea No Commissioner Bertino motioned to set the Operating Millage Rate at 6.39; seconded by Commission McElyea. Vice-Mayor Flury remarked she is going to support this and she is not the least bit concerned. She stated we will receive a good chunk of money and she has gone through this budget at great Minutes of Special Meeting 3 Dania Beach City Commission Thursday, August 4,2005 — 12:00 p.m. length and has no doubt that we can trim this budget up and maintain a good contingency. She is adamantly opposed to taking all of the money out of contingency; she does not think we need to. But once again, as the Mayor has indicated repeatedly, this is not a workshop and we can argue over these things at a later date. She will support the 6.39 because she is not in the least bit concerned about being able to live within that range. The motion carried on the following 3-2 Roll Call vote: Commissioner Anton No Vice-Mayor Flury Yes Commissioner Bertino Yes Mayor Castro No Commissioner 1VMcFlyea Yes 4. Adjournment Mayor Castro adjourned the meeting at 12:44 p.m. CITY OF DANIA BEACH L, a'_�C' ANNE CASTRO MAYOR-COMMISSIONER ATTEST: LOUISE STILSON CITY CLERK Approved: August 23, 2005 Minutes of Special Meeting 4 Dania Beach City Commission Thursday, August 4,2005— 12:00 p.m.