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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-31-08 Workshop CITY COMMISSION WORSHOP RE: LOBBYIST-LEGISLATIVE ISSUES FOR 2008 Ocoee Commission Chambers 150 North Lakeshore Drive Ocoee, Florida January 31, 2008 I CALL TO ORDER MINUTES 6:00 p.m. Mayor Vandergrift called the work session to order at 6:01 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of City Hall. Present: Commissioner Hood, Commissioner Anderson, Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Keller, and Commissioner Johnson. Also Present: City Attorney Rosenthal, City Manager Frank, and City Clerk Eikenberry. Guests: Fred Leonhardt and Robert Stewart with Gray Robinson, State Representative Bryan Nelson, and Scott Dudley with the Florida League of Cities. Mayor Vandergrift introduced Fred Leonhardt from Gray Robinson and turned the meeting over to him. I DISCUSSION RE: LEGISLATIVE MATTERS FOR 2008 Fred Leonhardt started out by saying that Gray Robinson was honored to work with the City and to represent them legislatively. He said they will work with the City to answer any questions they have and encouraged them to visit Tallahassee sometime during the Legislative Session because "presence is power". He introduced another member of their lobby team, Robert Stewart, to Commission and reported that he was not an attorney. Commissioner Hood left the meeting at 6:04 p.m. Scott Dudley, Florida League of Cities (LaC), thanked the City for their service and was proud they were all involved with each other. He also encouraged the City Commission to get fully engaged with the LaC and to attend meetings as they can. He discussed their priorities this year as follows: . Figuring out what will happen on the Property Tax Reform, and the implementation of Amendment #1. Transportation Issues dealing with funding and planning, and growth management. Affordable Housing such as mobile home parks. Pension Issues. Local Municipal Tax Issues. . . . . City Commission Workshop Re: Lobbyist January 31,2008 Amendment #1 Mr. Dudley was concerned about the impact of Amendment #1 and thought it was poorly drafted; he felt that Legislature will struggle to implement the bill and to make some portions work correctly. He said that after the May meeting, they will put some issues on the November ballot regarding local government revenue caps because they are concerned they will have to make up differences in user fees, impact fees, or other service-type fees. Working water-fronts are a strong issue around the state, whereas they are trying to protect these areas and assess them for the highest and best use. The Tax Budget Reform Commission has many ideas they are looking into, such as table issues, taxpayer bill of rights issues, local government caps, class size amendment, and many other issues that Commission should be aware of. Transportation Issues Mr. Dudley spoke of Transportation issues and the lack of funding. He said the F.D.O.T. estimates a $2.4 billion deficit to maintain the current level of transportation, not including any improvements. A big problem is that cities have no way to raise revenues for transportation purposes; most revenues come from State or Federal matching. Through the County-Local Option Fuel Taxes, the county gets to control the funding for transportation and the League of Cities would like to change that. He explained that F.D.O.T. is cutting projects from their 5 year work plan that they had committed to build, which may cause issues for the local municipalities who are depending on those projects being funded. Commissioner Anderson asked if we do our portion of Highway 50 and the county finishes it in the next ten years, will we get reimbursed and would the LaC assist them in that. Mr. Dudley said they assist with those types of efforts for cities in general, but your lobbyist would work with your city directly. He advised the F.D.O.T. moved from allocating 60% of their funding to 75% to Strategic Intermodal System (SIS) roads such as 1-4, which is taking money from the Urban Arterial Program. He explained that, because of the recent budget cuts, it will tough to get funding from F.D.O.T. However, in regards to economic stimulus, road building is the best because for every dollar spent, you get $6 worth of stimulus. Mr. Dudley added that LOC is trying to get F.D.O.T. to accept city input on what will be cut, so they would have to notify them when there is a change in capacity or would impact growth management. Concurrency driven growth management laws are cumbersome and do not deter urban sprawl; he said they need to encourage urban infill and some exemptions from the growth management laws. He feels it is necessary to change laws that allow urban sprawl because we are never going to build our way out of the current situation without changing the way we are doing things. He thought it was necessary to ensure municipal representation and regional planning issues ensuring that cities maintain control over their own Land Use Plan. Affordable Housing Mr. Dudley explained that the Sadowski Trust Fund has about $800+ million committed to affordable housing for the cities and counties; however, the Legislature has only appropriated about $250 million last year. He reported that they had gone into the fund and raided some of the money to balance the budget. He clarified that Sadowski Trust Fund came from Documentary Stamp Tax dollars as a commitment to fund affordable housing in the state, but that commitment has not been kept on a regular basis. 2 City Commission Workshop Re: Lobbyist January 31,2008 Mr. Dudley discussed the efforts to require local governments to pay for mobile home relocation parts for rezoning; however, they have limited authority to deny rezoning request when they are inconsistent with the local comp plan. LaC thinks there should be shared responsibility between the developer, State, and City, whereas all parties can come together to rezone mobile home parks. Water Quality and Quantity Mr. Dudley said these are huge issues with respect to the water quality. He reported that last year the Government had cut about $25 million from the Water Sustainability Trust Fund, which is used to help local governments build waste water treatment facilities and storm water facilities. This year's Governor has proposed fully funding the Water Sustainability Trust Fund and they wonder where that money would come from. He explained Water Quantity issues, whereas they have to figure out ways to allocate the limited resource they have in respect to water. When it comes to Water Quality issues, local governments are facing TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) issues, essentially pollutant limitations imposed by the State and Federal Government. Local municipalities have to be able to maintain and protect water quality. Tax Increment Financing Mr. Dudley said there was a Supreme Court issue (Strand vs. Escambia County) that ruled that bonds financed by Tax Increment Financing/CRA's require approval by referendum. That rule negated thirty years of law which permitted redevelopment bonding without referendum. LaC is asking the Legislature to address that issue and clarify the law so they know for sure which bond issues need to go for referendum and which do not. Pension Issues Mr. Dudley said there will be a big look by the House and Senator at local government pension plans; there may be an effort to impose more requirements and unfunded mandates on those issues. LaC thinks they have done a good job in local government to invest properly and have dealt well with their pension plans. He stated they are addressing that anything subject to union negotiations are not addressed by the Florida Legislature because Police and Fire personnel have historically taken their issues to the state legislature when they can't get what they want at the local level. Mr. Dudley closed by emphasizing the importance of City Commission staying fully engaged in the Legislative Session and announced a meeting on March 26, 2008, in Tallahassee. He stated that in politics it is all about building relationships and they need to build one with their Legislators and make contacts locally and in Tallahassee. Mayor Vandergrift commented on global warming and told a story of finding an airplane that had been 250 feet under ice for 50 years. He said that SJWMD proposed draining lakes and rivers before draining under ground and thought that was a bad idea. Mr. Dudley thought our government is trying to focus the discussion on energy independence and efficiency to conserve our resources, although global warming is one of the key initiatives. One of LaC's priorities is to allow a municipal representative on the government board for SJWMD so they are involved with the decisions. Commissioner Keller spoke about his effort to change the constitution and make City School Districts. He said they were talking in Tallahassee about it with Sen. Gates and Rep. Flores. He 3 City Commission Workshop Re: Lobbyist January 31, 2008 said that Sen. Gates asked him to come back with his local Legislature putting the bill in and they would then talk about it. He said they were looking at putting that into the four or five largest school districts; however, he thought that was a mistake and they need to get a constitutional amendment to allow the city school districts to be the smallest school district size. Commissioner Keller said that OCPS has a $4.3 billion budget and that is too large for them to keep up with. He stated that each School Board member had 31 schools in their district; therefore, they cannot keep up with the other 186 schools within the school district. He believed that putting it back at a city level charter school, running under the school board, would be better because the parents would be closer to the schools. Mayor Vandergrift said the State passed a law so that certain school districts could be exempt from municipalities being able to go to a different authority for Charter Schools and Orange County received that exemption. Fred Leonhardt introduced Senator Bryan Nelson and his wife. Senator Bryan Nelson said that Fred was the best lobbyist in Florida, and Scott from LaC is a great champion for the cities. He stated the Governor's budget takes a lot of trust monies out, even though the Constitution says you can only raid 3% of trust funds and his budget is higher than that. He said that Mr. Dudley could get more cities to champion the idea of smaller schools districts and they need political allies to fight the game. He thought the city school district is a long shot, but he would champion the issue either way they decide to go. Senator Nelson spoke about the Red Light Camera Bill and said that Apopka is one of the few cities with the cameras. He said they began giving out 200 tickets in the first month! He said within the last month, they were down to only 40 tickets; therefore, it seems to be working. His point was to make sure cities do not put that as budget line item because it is not much revenue. He stated that Senator Baker would be putting something on the table to make it easier for cities to put these red light cameras out. Mayor Vandergrift stated he was pushing toward using the money from those tickets toward putting cameras into neighborhoods for safety reasons. Senator Nelson discussed a new bill regarding the Property Appraiser, whereas physical appraisals may be replaced with Google Earth. That would save about $50 million of tax payer money. Also, the Bill will attempt to prevent homestead exemption fraud. He further mentioned a Sexual Predator Bill they are working on to require the landlords of sexual predators to be held more accountable. He explained a Ready to Work Bill, whereas high school kids who don't go to college can go into technical training programs to gain some job skills to put them right into the work force to make a good living. Senator Nelson said he was working with LOC on a PURE (Protect the Urban and Residential Environment) Water Bill. They would have a model ordinance for fertilizers, residential yards, application rates, and education components of the issue, aimed at reducing nutrient runoff from urban landscapes and to cut down on phosphorous. Another bill he discussed was an Insurance Bill that suggested that everyone invest 10% of their IRA funds into the CAP fund. Mayor Vandergrift said he received an email from James McAdams from Florida Dept. of Revenue regarding the TRIM process. Mr. Dudley said that is an issue from LaC to try to make the TRIM process easier, but they may have to hold off until next year due to prioritizing the bills. Mayor Vandergrift inquired about T.V. rates and it seems like the State has given everything to the cable companies now. He explained that they moved Ocoee TV to channel 200 and you have to have digital cable to watch it, but you have to pay more to have digital cable and that is absurd. Senator Nelson said they did pass a bill to allow more competition with both phone and 4 City Commission Workshop Re: Lobbyist January 31, 2008 cable companies. He said he is working with the next district over on transportation infrastructure and the Highway 50 interchange. He said it may take 3-4 years to complete, but they will get it done. Commissioner Anderson asked about the Home Rule and said they could not do their millage unless they did 100% to get the same millage as last time. He said if they are mandating these things that they should pony up. They should say the City is losing money on millage, and they are going to give funding to bridge the gap. Senator Nelson replied that no money was coming out of Tallahassee that has not been spoken for. Senator Nelson announced a Big Water Day at Lake Apopka on March 29, 2008, and that he would appreciate any participation they could bring to that event. Mayor Vandergrift read a newspaper article about voter pile up complaints and suggested making elections a mandatory course in school. Fred Leonhardt went over a few issues going on in Florida Government. He gave a PowerPoint presentation and briefly touched on the following topics: . Budget Shortfall: Governor released his $74 million budget and he went over those recommendations, which need to go through the approval process. . Amendment #1: Save Our Home benefit, portability, tangible personal property exemption, 10% assessment cap for non-homesteads, etc. He said the results of that vote in Ocoee just missed the 60% requirement. . Red Light Cameras: Big issue last session and did well in the House, not so well in the Senate. Probably will pass. Now would be a good time for Ocoee to adopt an ordinance regarding the Red Light Cameras. . Tax and Budget Reform Commission: Formed every 20 years and they can put things directly onto the ballot this fall. They also have the authority to recommend to Legislature, which only has to pass by majority. It will be interesting to see them get 2/3 vote. . Strategies for Success: Presence is Power. Being in Tallahassee and letting the House and Senate hear from you is always more welcomed than hearing from a lobbyist. Stay involved. QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION Commissioner Johnson said they used to spend a lot of time in Tallahassee and the Florida League of Cities would really put on the pressure; it seems like that is not the case anymore. Mr. Dudley said, since term limits have taken affect, lobbying has changed in general and members are not looking at long term anymore. He strongly encouraged Commission to build relationships with Tallahassee and he would help them along the way. He also thought the regional league may reimburse some of those travel costs. Commissioner Johnson agreed that they needed to get back into taking trips to Tallahassee and get their faces seen. Fred Leonhardt said that getting groups to go would be very impactful. 5 City Commission Workshop Re: Lobbyist January 31, 2008 Mayor Vandergrift said there seems to be a fever to get Amendment # 1 passed. Mr. Dudley said that fever has no end and there is still a sense that local government is spending crazy money. Nobody knows how much of the spending is mandated by the State and County. Commissioner Anderson asked what other things cities are doing, as far as fees, other than fire service fees. He asked if there was a list that existed to provide that information. Mr. Dudley said there were 412 municipalities in the State; they could give a snapshot, but it is not a comprehensive list because it is a constantly moving target. Mayor Vandergrift commented on how fiscally conservative he was and said that the larger the government entity, the larger the percentage of their annual budget is wasted or misappropriated. He said he cannot believe the State is trying to make the Cities appear to be fiscally irresponsible. Commissioner Johnson said he sat on one of the boards for the State Committee regarding the Sadowski Fund, which was supposed to help low income housing and it does not. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:37 p.m. :5' Sv~ L' \:A ._" S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor 6