HomeMy WebLinkAboutVII(F) Discussion/ Action Re: Legislative Consultant Fee Agenda 10-7-97
Item VII F
"CENTER OF GOOD LIVING-PRIDE OF WEST ORANGE" MAYOR•COMMISSIONER
S.SCOTT VANDERGRIFT
®� OCOee / COMMISSIONERS
CITY OF OCOEE DANNYHOWELL
._. �<1 � SCOTT ANDERSON
j � 150 N.LAKESHORE DRIVE
V OCOEE,FLORIDA 34761-2258 SCOTT A.GLASS
NANCY J.PARKER
�'trig. ?ta (407)656-2322
� �� CITY MANAGER
Op Gov ELLIS SHAPIRO
MEMORANDUM
TO: The Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners
FROM: Ellis Shapiro, City Manager
DATE: October 1,1997
RE: LEGISLATIVE CONSULTANT FEE
Attached is a letter from Jack Douglas, Assistant City Administrator of Apopka,
advising us that it is once again time to retain our legislative consultant for the
1998 legislative session. He has advised us that the fee for the City of Ocoee
would be $11,463 for this year. We currently have budgeted $15,000 for this.
purpose. The City of Apopka, as well as the City of Winter Garden has agreed
again to retain Mr. Juarez. We would respectfully request that positive
consideration be given to retain Mr. Juarez for this year.
I have discussed with Mr. Douglas and Mr. Holden the need for another joint
meeting of the three communities to discuss issues mutually important to us all
in the very near future to include the establishment of a legislative package that
we all can support. I will get back to you on possible dates as soon as possible
since it is our turn to host this meeting.
Respectfully Submitted,
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Attachment
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P.O.BOX 1229•APOPKA,FLORIDA 32704-1229
PHONE(407)889-1700
September 11, 1997 '
Mr. Ellis Shapiro
City Manager
City of Ocoee
150 N. Lakeshore Drive
Ocoee, FL 34761
Dear Ellis: , - .._ ,... , ; . . ..,:'i;.
To confirm our recent conversationvconcerning the.joint-legislative consultant for.the 199.8,,
legislative session;the breakout of the cost would be..as.follows:,Apopka:would pay.$11,406; .
Ocoee would pay$11,463; and Winter Garden would pay$7,131, for a total of$30,000:
It is proposed we use Oscar Juarez for an additional year and we would develop a legislative
agenda to go over with him. In the meantime, if the above is acceptable,please let me know as
soon as possible.
Additionally,please provide me with any items you wish to place on the legislative agenda. To
refresh your memory, a number of items placed on last year's agenda may need to be readdressed
this year:
1. A proposal from the City of Ocoee to do a joint funding effort between FDOT and /
the City to construct an interconnection of various major traffic arterials on and
around the Florida Turnpike, Expressway, and reliever for Highway 50.
•2. A continued effort to promote the final construction of Part A and.Part C of the
- - "'' - Western Beltway: Some progressin:fundin has;beenma de,in the last few years.
However,we recently learned the $80 million we had thought was allocated for
:,.. `''- Part C for the 1997 legislative session did not occur. Therefore, we would want to
make that a high priority for this coming year.
Mayor:JOHN H.LAND Commissioners: J.WILLIAM ARROWSMITH MARK R.HOLMES BILLIE L.DEAN
,
Letter to Mr. Shapiro
September 11, 1997
Page two
The proposed seven cents sales tax does provide $50 million for Part C; however,
this would not be sufficient to complete the right-of-way purchasing for that link
in the Western Beltway.
3. Under the proposed seven cents sales tax, if approved by the voters, would
provide for the final design and construction of the Apopka Bypass from the
Maitland Boulevard extension around 441 to approximately Clarcona Road. The
final segment from Clarcona Road to Plymouth would not be completed until
further financing is available. If the sales tax is not approved, we would need to
start over again.
4. The Apopka Economic Redevelopment Project-All of us are aware of the major
economic impacts of the muck farm buyout on the Lake Apopka rim including
Apopka, Ocoee and Winter Garden. It is still felt that a strong push should be
made to insure any lost economic value to our communities is offset by some plan
of revitalization and/or attracting businesses to the area to soak up the lost jobs.
5. IFAS Facility - Our local delegation was very successful in obtaining funding for
the final construction of the consolidated IFAS facility along the Lake Apopka
corridor between Ocoee and Apopka. There are still some additional funds that
need to be allocated to purchase land currently owned by the City of Apopka. It is
Apopka's plan to reinvest the proceeds from the sale of this land into the
economic improvement resulting from the Apopka muck farm buyout program.
6. Property Legal Description- State law requires an agency to describe a property
by metes and bounds when a more acceptable manner for describing a property is
based on sectional description as provided by the Property Appraiser's office. This
law should be changed to make both descriptions.acceptable.
7. Fire Pension Plan-If an agency provides a higher level of service, i. e. rating of 2
when the agency was previously a 6,the premium distribution could be lower for
the premium tax in connection with the funding of fire pension plans. The reason
for this is the premium tax is based on gross receipts. Insurance companies
generally give a substantial discount depending on what ISO rating has been
obtained. Therefore,the better the rating the lower the insurance premiums. The
law should be changed to provide some incentive to improve level of service
rather than the current disincentive. This is in reference to Florida Statute 185.08.
8. Mandated Impact on Trim Process -The trim process should not require an
agency to show an increased property tax when the mandate is caused by transfer
of cost from one agency to another, i.e., crossing guards transferred from Orange
County to the cities.
Letter to Mr. Shapiro
September 11, 1997
Page three
The above are only a selected portion of the legislative agenda that we had last year. If you have
any other ones, or if you would like to remove any of the items discussed above, please feel free
to let me know.
The following are some of the results of the last two year Legislative effort:
Gas Tax -Agreement to a new interlocal agreement will result in additional revenue for
FY 97-98.
Apopka $423,178
Ocoee $360,273
Winter Garden $140,106
Lake Apopka- Enterprise zone may be established by Orange County and Apopka.
Additional 25% of proceeds from sale of farm equipment will got to City of Apopka for
economic development with 60%to Orange County, and 15%to Lake County. (The
amount of distribution is unknown and may not amount to much.)
IFAS - State appropriated$6 million in 1997 to fund the construction. During 1996, the
State appropriated$5 million. Total construction cost is $11 million.
Western Beltway Part A-The State appropriated $45 million to purchase right of way.
I hope to have a preliminary agenda in concept for FY 97-97 as soon as possible. If you have
any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
ds
\ ear. " .
H. Douglas, Jr.
istant City Administrator
JHD/mrs
cc: Mayor Land