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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-0911 Special City Commission Meeting (2)SUMMARY MINUTES Special City Commission Meeting 1st Budget Hearing Fiscal Year 2014/2015 Thursday, September 11, 2014, 5:30 p.m. City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida ATTENTION ALL LOBBYISTS: CITY LAW REOUIRES YOUR REGISTRATION PRIOR TO ENGAGING IN LOBBYING ACTIVITIES BEFORE CITY STAFF, BOARDS, CON1N11TTEES OR THE CITY CO\iNISSION. PLEASE CONTACT THE CITY CLERK FOR FORMS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. AGENDA 1. CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS The meeting was called to order by Mayor Edelcup at 5:30 p.m., with the following officials present: Mayor Norman S. Edelcup City Manager Christopher J. Russo Vice Mayor Isaac Aelion City Attorney Hans Ottinot Commissioner Jeanette Gatto City Clerk Jane A. Hines, MMC Commissioner Jennifer Levin Deputy City Manager Stan Morris Commissioner George `Bud' Scholl Deputy City Attorney Fernando Amuchastegui 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Action: Former City Commissioner Gerry Goodman led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Mayor Edelcup gave opening remarks noting that tonight is our first budget hearing for Fiscal Year 2014/2015. We had a series of Workshops that took place this summer where we went over the detail of the individual items that make up our budget, and our second and final budget hearing will be held on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING ON THE PROPOSED MILLAGE RATE AND TENTATIVE BUDGET 3A. Nlillage Resolution (Public Hearing) A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Sunny Isles Beach of Miami -Dade. County, Florida, Adopting the City of Sunny Isles Beach Tentative Ad Valorem Tax Millage Levy Rate at 2.6000 Mills per One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) of Taxable Assessed Value Which is 9.77% More than the "Rolled Back' Rate of 2.3686 Mills. for Fiscal Year 2014/2015: Providing for an Effective Date. Action: City Clerk Hines read the title, and City Manager Russo reported. Public Speakers: None Vice Mayor Aelion moved and Commissioner Scholl seconded a motion to approve the resolution. Resolution No. 2014 -2279 was adopted by a voice vote of 5 -0 in favor. Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting September 11, 2014 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida First Budeet Hearing 3B. Budget Ordinance (Public Hearing) An Ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, Adopting an Operating and Capital Improvement Budget for the Fiscal Year Commencing October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015, Pursuant to Section 200.65. Florida Statutes; Authorizing Expenditures of Funds Established by the Budget; Authorizing Encumbrances; Authorizing Issuance of Checks; Providing for Grants and Gifts; Providing for Local and Federal Law Enforcement Trust Funds; Providing for Post Audit; Providing for Severability and Providing for an Effective Date. Action: City Clerk Hines read the title. and City Manager Russo presented a balanced Fiscal Year 2014/2015 Operating Budget and the five -year Capital Improvement Program. He said this is another successful budget, and this was the first year of doing it with our team in the Finance Department and they did a superb job. He went over the highlights of the changes and summary from last year to this year and where we are emphasizing certain things. First and foremost, as the Mayor said, we did our budget Workshops in July, and we actually had a philosophical discussion a couple of months before that which led to some of the same philosophies being pursued this year. First and foremost is for the third consecutive year, we reduced the millage rate from 2.7 to 2.6. The City experienced almost a 14% increase in our taxable value which was approximately $800 Million of increased value. The point to make on that is literally just about all of it except for a quarter of a million dollars, really insignificant when you look at the numbers, was all from increased property value and not new construction. That is a pretty incredible thing when you think about it because everybody looks at the buildings going up in the City, we have 15 projects right at this moment approved, being built in some stage of development. We increased our value by almost 14% on property value increases, and so the Property Appraiser said to him, look out for next year because next year some of the new construction will start to come on, and so we expect that trend to continue to rise. City Manager Russo said as far as our operating budget where we have emphasized some changes. All of it is in conformance with the philosophy that we set, the concept of world class services, and maintenance of our facilities. As we have been saying for the past two (2) years, this will become the total focus in the City where we still have major Capital Projects that are being built and are in progress but the emphasis is starting to shift to the maintenance and the quality of our services and programs. With regard to that, we are significantly increasing this year our facility operation workers in our Parks area. We expect to have by this Fiscal Year a full time staff from the minute our major Parks open to closing, that includes Heritage Park, Town Center Park, Pelican Community Park Center, and an emphasis on Senator Margolis Park and Samson Oceanfront Park when it gets redeveloped will be significantly increased on the full time staff there. Along with that is our Community Policing which will be increasing by two (2) this year and two (2) next year in that area for some of the same similar reasons. Both for safety in the City in general but also in regard to our Parks. and having a stronger presence there. To summarize, Heritage Park, Town Center Park, Gateway Park when it opens early into next year, and Pelican Community Park Center, we will have full time staff there, and during prime time have staffing at Samson and Margolis Parks, and we are ratcheting that up. We started last year with the budget for this year, we increased during this year, and we have got staffing proposed over Fiscal Year 2014/2015, and Summon, Minutes: Special Citv Commission Meeting September 11, 2014 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida First Budeet Hearin Fiscal Year 2015/2016 to fully staff the Parks he just described. We will also provide for a Parking Attendant at Pier Park seven (7) days a week as opposed to just holidays and weekends. We are expanding our After School Care Program, we are improving the operation and the over sights at our Skate Park. We have achieved, and this was also a major focus last year, he doesn't think we over emphasized it in this year's budget because we made substantial strides during this Fiscal Year, and that is our succession Planning by having a backup in each of our Departments in terms of leadership of each of our operating Departments. We now have written plans for seven (7) of the ten (10) Departments that we are looking for this, and that is a significant improvement over past years. City Manager Russo said in the area of Capital Projects, we are well on our way with the development of Gateway Park, and we expect that Park to be done by March 2015. We have the green light to start on the pedestrian overpass bridge that is going to create a safe access for all of those that live on the north side of Sunny Isles Boulevard in the North Bay Road, 172nd Street neighborhood primarily or anyone that wants to walk to the Park will have that overpass to get from the north side across the westbound lanes of 826 into the Park. We will be moving forward on that, that contract has been let and is ready to go. By the end of next week, we should be out to bid with the plans for the Emergency Pedestrian Bridge which has been a long time coming. That is the bridge that will allow many of our residents and children to more safely get north and south in this City by going over the canal between 172nd and 174'^ Street, that is approximately about a ten -year project in the making with all the requirements. City Manager Russo said the plans for the undergrounding on Collins Avenue are probably 75% to 80% complete at this point. We will be working out a number of issues with regard to easements and some other issues over the next few months. We believe that will probably have to be bid early into next year. With regard to the Building Department, we had ratcheted up staffing significantly last year, and we actually scaled back on the original plans by the Department to take a more conservative approach to see how that will go. We are continuing to do that this year where we need inspectors to fill in, we created a pool of money for part- time hourly as- needed intermittent inspectors to help fill in when we need it. With all the construction that is starting to file up with these projects starting. Instead of adding steady part time or additional full time, we have created a pool of funds for intermittent hourly employees which will keep cost down for the City. City Manager Russo said on a point that is not a significant dollar value but the principal involved and the future is probably more important is an item that he is going to mention. This has been a bit of a battle for probably the better part of the past ten (10) years and that is how the County handles the franchise we have through them for FPL for distribution of franchise fees. These numbers have been going down steadily for a number of years now, actually the Mayor pointed this out to him, and it is highlighted in our Budget, there is a chart on taxes generated vs. franchise fees. You would think that they would both be in sync, as the company does better we should get more. Without belaboring this, the new incorporations since 1991 are under the Count), franchise for all the unincorporated areas and that has led over the years to situations where as FPL develops more facilities, adds more value to the County's taxable value, those taxes offset our franchise fees. As they progress we regress in what we get from them, and so we have got about a 5200,000 cut. Also, we were notified of 3 Summary Minutes: special City Commission Meeting September 11, 2014 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida First Budget Hearing that after we set the millage rate, fortunately $200,000 is not enough to affect our ability to cover a loss of that amount but there are communities that are struggling, that is an issue especially to be notified of that after your taxable status date. And so, this is a long -term issue that we are working on in conjunction with our legal department. This is an item that is on our regular agenda but it is significant enough that he is going to mention it, it is a good thing that the City has a very good rainy day fund, the designated fund balance reserve for emergencies such as a hurricane. We recently had the collapse of significant portion of the south seawall behind the Intracoastal Park. We had emergency analysis of the entire seawall and we are making about a SI Million repair on that. Again, because of our financial condition and the $1 Million emergency repair, it is something that we can handle without any problem, that is being done right now. The only good part about that is that they are using the stagging area where the playground is going to go and so as they clean up that area they will excavate for the foundation for the new playground which will be good timing, and we will get the Park totally completed. City Manager Russo said he wanted to make one other statement about this proposed Fiscal Year 2014-2015 Budget, and he read a comment that he put in his Budget message. He noted the Budget is on -line in the City's website. "The staff is extremely grateful for the continued support of the City Commission. I would be remiss not to point out that this will be the last Budget approved by our Mayor, as he will retire in December due to term limits. There was a time many years ago when the City was fledgling and small, we did not have the sophisticated staff as we do now. ", and I might add the intelligence of the staff we have now. "Mayor Edelcup, before he was Mayor, was a guiding force in assisting me, and a limited staff with regard to financial decisions and budgeting, for that we will always be thankful." Commissioner Levin asked the City Manager to talk about the Evergreen Study since there are some increases in pay across the board. City Manager Russo said it is all budgeted. Every few years the City does a study to see that we stay competitive with our rates, scales, and ranges, and it is called a "Clarification Study ". Where we have some corrections, this was also discussed at the Workshops, and we make adjustments along those lines. There are throughout the Study, and it is public information, there are throughout the staffing some adjustments that were made. It all falls within an amount that we budget in our Human Resources budget and it covers raises or any adjustments of that sort. That amount as in previous years was still sufficient to cover the proposed changes from the Evergreen Study, and our potential raises for the coming year. Vice Mayor Aelion said he wanted to take this opportunity to thank staff for having presented to the Commission a very well thought out and well balanced budget, on the conservative side. We are the 7h lowest Millage Rate in the County, a very young City compared to the other 35 municipalities. It speaks volumes of the efficiency of the City has been run since its inception. Also to the efficiency of excellence from our City Manager who used to be with us once and came back. He has a very well thought -out process both financial and otherwise the performance for the good government of this City and so he wanted to thank him. With that said, the allocation of funds were also of thought to different departments and the Capital Funds, and the Improvement Programs, etc. also reflect the appropriate location for the upcoming Capital Improvement Projects, and everything is in line for us to continue to be on a E Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting September 11, 2014 Sunny Isles Beath, Florida First Budget Hearing very well thought out and above balance, performance and function of this City. Commissioner Gatto said she would also like to thank staff, City Manager Russo, Finance Director and her group for making this not only the least possible painful way of going through the process but really beautifully and professionally presented. She also noted regarding former Commissioner Goodman that for two (2) years behind the scenes she has been pestering Chris, Stan and Bill to get the improvements done on 174th Street, and she is pleased to announce that the puddle work should start next year as well as some other enhancements on 174th Street and so she is glad Commissioner Goodman is here tonight. Commissioner Scholl said what is interesting is that we have a page in our book, it is called a millage rate comparison which lines us up with all the other cities in the County and shows us how our millage compares to the other cities. As Vice Mayor Aelion pointed out we are the 7`h lowest, but what is really interesting is; and he is not picking on Golden Beach, but if you live one mile north of here you would pay 3% times the amount of property tax on the City portion than you would pay in Sunny Isles Beach. He thinks that is a testament to a great staff and the fact that, as it was pointed out, the City has been managed very prudently from the beginning and so hats off to everybody, and he thanked Finance Director Audra Curts- Whann. Mayor Edelcup asked City Manager Russo to elaborate a little bit about Gateway Park and Capital Improvements that you are going to be needing for the new Park, the equipment. City Manager Russo said he has a memo he wants to hand out to the Commission. This is equipment for several reasons that we omitted from the budget document that we caught at the last minute that we are going to need with the increase of Gateway Park coming on. It is one truck and some equipment for approximately $55,000. Between now and second reading he wants to incorporate in $55,000 for this equipment. Mayor Edelcup said one other interesting thing is the reason for our millage rate reduction has been the increase in value of the existing property and he went back to look and during the years 2008, 2009, and 2010 which were the recession years, we lost property value of One Billion Eight Hundred Million Dollars (S 1,800,000,000) in assessments that accumulated over those three (3) years. The next four (4) years, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 we have added 52.5 Million in existing property values so that at the end of this year, we have more than made up all the breakdowns that took place during the recession. The evaluations of property here in Sunny Isles Beach are at their highest values ever on existing properties. He said he thinks a lot of that, again, goes to the fact that we are a world class City, and people do want to live in Sunny Isles Beach. Our property values reflect that access demand over supply that has pushed our property values up to the point where we are again able to lower our millage rates. He believes this Commission has always had a philosophy of sharing the increase that we would see each year. Approximately a third of the increase has generally gone into Reserves, a part of it has gone to cover increased costs of operating the City, and the final third generally has resulted in a property millage rate reduction. He sincerely hopes in the future the next Commission and the people that will be deciding that will try to live by that same philosophy to be able to return money to our residents rather than leave it in government's hands because if it is left sometimes in government's hands too long people find reasons to spend money that otherwise would not be necessarily needed to be spent. That 5 Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting September 11, 2014 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida First Budget Hearing is his swan song for the last time on the budget hearings and he would hope that the future Commission adheres to a very similar policy as we have tried to do over the last three (3) to (4) four years. Public Speakers: Roslyn Brezin Mayor Edelcup opened the public hearing for general discussion. Former City Commissioner Roslyn Brezin asked what the additional funding for Gateway Park was for; and City Manager Russo said for the people who maintain our parks. Ms. Brezin asked if $55,000 was enough for equipment and the workers or will he be back to Commission? City Manager Russo said probably not until the following fiscal year. Mayor Edelcup closed the public hearing as there were no other speakers. Commissioner Levin thanked the staff for doing such a great job, and she feels very fortunate to live in a City that is one square mile in size that has a budget of $76 Million by which to operate. She thinks it is pretty amazing and we have a great City, and she likes all the events and everything that we have to offer here. She also has a couple of questions, in the letter that City Manager Russo wrote, you said that we have earmarked approximately S 100,000 for the FIU Internship Program. Can you please describe that program? City Manager Russo said that is actually formalizing something that has been here on a limited basis. As you know we have a very close relationship with Florida International University (FIU) for a number of years, off and on there have been some intems here. The only steady department he thinks that has happen here is the Legal Department but now we will have an intem for the City Manager's Office, Finance Department, Information Technology (IT), Police Department, and Cultural and Community Services through our partnership with them. Commissioner Levin said we have put aside $2 Million to upgrade Samson Oceanfront Park, isn't the developer contributing some of that? City Manager Russo said yes and you will see renderings tonight of everything before we go forward with it. Commissioner Levin asked in regard to Section 4 Encumbrances where it says they lapse at the end of September 2015, and they are re- appropriated for the following fiscal year. Can you please explain why it is done that way from an accounting perspective? Finance Director Audra Curts -Whann said the way it works is, and this year is critical because we are going to a new accounting system on top of everything else, at the end of each year we close the encumbrances or we carry them, one or the other occurs. On normal routine expenditures we would come back for a new authorization such as office supplies and normal expenditures. However, things that are projects during the year that started during the fiscal year and are continuing into the next year those are carried over and re- appropriated, and so there are two totally different types of encumbrances and that is what you will see us doing. We will come back to you typically in either October or November as soon as we finalize all of our closing balances and we will notify the Commission how much is being re- appropriated and that will be the first amendment that you will see to your published budget. Commissioner Levin said in reference to checks being issued, how are wire transfers handled, do you still need two signatories the same way you would a check if money was going to be wired rather than a check being written? Finance Director Audra Curts-Whann said yes, there Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting September 11, 2014 Sunny Isles Beach, Florida First Budeet Hearine are two approvers, they are within Finance. Commissioner Levin asked if the grants and gifts, and probably local and federal law enforcement trust funds, are these handled the way they are like not being shown in the budget because they are segregated funds, and they are earmarked for a specific purpose? Finance Director Audra Curts -Whann said usually funds are not required to be shown in a budget however the Police Chief obviously brings you all a Resolution showing how he intends to spend every dollar when he is getting ready to spend dollars. So you will always be made aware of how those are spent which are probably budgeted funds but the appropriations that are made from it are brought to the Commission for attention each time. Vice Mayor Aelion moved and Commissioner Scholl seconded a motion to approve the proposed ordinance on first reading. The motion was approved by a roll call vote of 5-0 in favor. Second reading, public hearing will be held on Tuesday, September 23, 2014, at 5:30 p.m. Vote: Commissioner Gatto ves Commissioner Levin ves Commissioner Scholl ves Vice Mayor Aelion yes Mayor Edelcup ves Mayor Edelcup noted that we begin the Special City Commission Meeting at 6:15 p.m. 4. ADJOURNMENT I,,' .Mayor Edelcup adjourned the meeting at 6:02 p.m. ,:Respectfully submitted by: , Jane A. Hines, MMC, City Clerk Approved by the City Commission on Oct. 16, 2014 'y tOf FIOQ � 01 SVN'NO TO: VIA: FROM: DATE: RE: City of Sunny Isles Beach 18070 Collins Avenue Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 33160 (305) 947 -0606 City Hall (305) 949 -3113 Fax MEMORANDUM The Honorable Mayor and City Commission Christopher J. Russo, City Manager Jane A. Hines, MMC, City Clerk 10/16/2014 Summary Minutes for the September 11, 2014 City Commission Meeting RECOMMENDATION: Attached for your consideration are the Summary Minutes for the September 11, 2014 Special City Commission Meeting - 1st Budget Hearing. REASONS: I�II_1