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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-15-05 Minutes MINUTES OCOEE CITY COMMISSION SPECIAL SESSION September 15, 2005 at 7:00 P.M. SPECIAL SESSION – TENTATIVE BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING I.CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the Special Session to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers City Clerk Eikenberry of City Hall. called roll and determined a quorum was present. Roll Call: Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Anderson, Commissioner Howell, Commissioner Johnson, and Commissioner Parker. Also Present: City Manager Frank, City Attorney Rosenthal, and City Clerk Eikenberry. II. PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Vandergrift announced that this is a public hearing on the tentative budget and proposed millage rate for the City of Ocoee. Notice of this hearing was contained in the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes mailed by the Property Appraiser. The City Commission has previously set a proposed millage rate of 4.95 mills, which represents a 20.27% increase in millage over the rolled- back rate of 4.1158 mills. A. Briefing by Finance Director Horton on the percentage increase in millage over the rolled- back rate necessary to fund the budget and the specific purpose for which ad valorem tax revenues are being increased. Finance Director Horton advised the budget presented is balanced on a millage rate of 4.5789 mills, which represents an 11.25 increase in millage over the rolled-back rate of 4.1158. Ad valorem tax revenues are being increased to provide funding for operating expenses, personnel, capital improvement projects, and the purchase of equipment and vehicles. A list of general fund projects that are not included in the proposed budget was presented to the Commission during the budget workshops. These projects can be added, resulting in the millage being no greater than the 4.95 mills. City Attorney Rosenthal said, procedurally, the budget is based on the 4.5789 mills. If there are no amendments to the budget, it would be adjusted to what is advertised. If there are amendments to the tentative budget, then there would be a recalculation of the roll-back rate, being somewhere between the 4.1158 mills (roll-back rate) and 4.95 mills (advertised rate). If a tentative millage is approved for less than 4.95 mills, that would be the highest that you could adopt at the final budget hearing, but you could go lower. Mayor Vandergrift opened the Public Hearing Commissioner Howell arrived at 7:10 p.m. Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting September 15, 2005 1.Comments by Citizens. R.P Monacky , 1820 Prairie Lake Blvd., 1) asked about the change in positions in the City City Manager Frank Manager’s Office, particularly the Community Relations Division. said what he is proposing is to add an Assistant City Manager, and delete positions of Assistant to the City Manager, and Administrative Assistant, 2) asked about the new Administrative Assistant Community Development Director Wagner position in the Community Development, to which said the City is growing and we need to change a part-time position to full time to keep up with the demands, the cost is less than $16,000, 3) asked why another position is needed in the Police Commissioner Parker Department. said the number of officers in our Police force has not Commissioner grown since 1996, even though we have increased in population by one-third. HowellPolice Chief said we lose many officers because they are quitting for various reasons. Goclon said at this time we have 69 sworn officers, and are asking for an increase of six, one will be funded from an Aggressive Driving Officer Grant. Winter Park currently has over 90 officers, and Apopka has over 80. Officers are stretched so thin that it is difficult to maintain good service, Public Works Director Zaitooni 4) asked about new staff in Public Works. said he is requesting several new staff members. The Assistant Public Works Director is needed to fill the gap and do administrative work such as project preparation, scope of services, agenda items, and handling various programs. The Fleet Department will be getting a new mechanic and clerk in order to City Engineer Wheeler maintain all City vehicles, 5) asked about the CIP Project Manager. said the CIP Project Manager is to help manage all of the projects; we have a very aggressive capital improvements program, and we need someone to work with the Engineering Department in overseeing commercial or residential development projects, road projects, PUD projects, utility projects, stormwater projects, and parks and recreation projects, and 6) asked about the Assistant City Manager Frank Parks and Recreation Director position. said there are many new parks and facilities coming up in the future with the new Parks and Recreation Impact Fees, and we need someone to assist with assessment, property acquisition, and planning for new facilities, and to help in the day-to-day management of the department. Rosemary Wilsen , 1019 Shady Maple Circle, 1) does not believe an Assistant Parks and Recreation Director position is needed, and thinks they need more lower level positions, not City Manager Frank management. said he agrees we need to fill more maintenance worker positions, but at this time there is not sufficient managerial staff to establish the most efficient and effective management of that department, and 2) said she hopes we will bring back our own Sanitation Division. Martha Lopez-Anderson , 2438 Alclobe Circle, 1) said she is concerned we are sacrificing City Manager Frank Community Relations to get an Assistant City Manager. said the Assistant City Manager wouldbe handling that division and he does not feel that a City of our size warrants a Community Relations Department with three full-time positions, 2) she said we continue to train Police Officers, only to have them leave and go somewhere else, and wants to know what we are doing about that. She said safety is a major issue, and having under 10 officers on the road at a City Manager Frank time is not acceptable. said it is not uncommon for officers to leave small cities to go to larger organizations with more opportunity and specialized squads. The new Human Resources director is working diligently with the Police Chief to try to devise ways to recruit and keep more officers, and 3) said she is glad Public Works Director Zaitooni stayed with the City and hopes he will bring back an in-house sanitation division. Page 2 of 7 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting September 15, 2005 Mayor Vandergrift asked to see job descriptions for all new positions. Comments by Commissioners 2.. Commissioner Anderson asked the difference in the starting salaries for Police Officers Chief Goclon compared to other cities, and do we have any provisions for hiring new officers. said under our new City Manager, we are now able to bring in new hires at a rate above the Mayor Vandergrift lowest level. asked what we are doing about attracting new hires with some Human Resources Director Carnicella experience. said we are starting people above entry level, and we are currently having discussions in labor negotiations regarding those types of situations. Commissioner Anderson discussed concerns about the methodology used in conducting the Salary Survey, particularly the market study with other agencies. He also said as a Commission, they need to decide where they want the employees to fall, whether it is in the median 50 Human Resources Director Carnicella percentile, or higher or lower than that. said moving the percentile up over 50% would cause a tremendous increase in the budget. We can discuss doing that for the police, only as a budget impact issue, without discussing more details that would Commissioner Anderson interfere with discussions with the bargaining unit. said that, by voting in favor of the budget, we are agreeing with the entire salary survey, for a total of $247,000 set aside for its implementation. He felt that a workshop should be set up to discuss the salary survey. Police Department Commissioner Howell said that Police Officers are leaving for reasons other than just salary. One of the things we should look into is take-home cars for police officers. He thinks we would loose fewer officers if we considered this. Mayor Vandergrift said he cannot vote for six new officers when we are down twelve at this time. He would also like the City to look into RoboCops for traffic enforcement. We should look into things other than adding more personnel. Commissioner Anderson said he feels we can compete with Winter Park and other similar sized agencies. He thinks we should look into being part of the state retirement plan, which can go with an officer from job to job. Our current private plan may keep some officers from coming Human Resources Director Carnicella here. said may also want to look into changing our private plan to incorporate some of those features. Commissioner Parker said we need to figure out how to get more officers. We have nights when there are 2-6 officers covering 30 square miles and they don’t have time to do any pro- active work when they are just answering calls. Mayor Vandergrift said we do have mutual aide with other cities to cover calls when we are short. Commissioner Anderson asked what the cost would be to go from the 50 percentile to 60 Mayor Vandergrift percentile for the Police Department? asked Finance Director Horton if she can come up with the number of what percentage of the $ 247,000 in the contingency fund is allocated to the police department. Parks and Recreation Department Page 3 of 7 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting September 15, 2005 Commissioner Anderson asked if there was a copy of the job description for the Park Ranger. Mayor VandergriftCommissioner Parker He said he does not see the need for this position. , Commissioner Johnson and spoke in favor of the Park Ranger position. Commissioner Anderson said he is not in favor of the Parks and Recreation Operations Parks and Recreation Department Director Petrone Manager. said this position would be to oversee the day to day operations of the department and assist with the overall vision of where we want to be in the future. The Department Head would be allowed more time to work on new Commissioner Parker facilities and acquisitions as the population continues to grow. said this is not the correct place to spend time grilling staff, and asked the Commissioner to make a motion to take this position out of the budget, if that is what he wants, and the Commission can vote. Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Mayor Vandergrift moved to amend the tentative budget to remove the position of Parks and Recreation Operations Manager, and move the funding to the contingency budget. Motion failed 2-3 with Commissioner Howell, Commissioner Johnson, and Commissioner Parker opposed. Commissioner Johnson said the amount of work that goes into Founder’s Day and all the Parks and Recreation Programs, necessitates additional management staff. Our parks are not in good condition and we need to do more than just mow them. We need to trust the City Manager to make decisions that will take this department to a higher level of service. Mayor Vandergrift closed the Public Hearing. City Attorney Rosenthal reminded the Commission that if any amendments are to be made to the tentative budget, now is the time to do that. Public Works Director Zaitooni said he distributed a chart showing 3 levels of projects that will require an additional level of funding above the 4.5789 millage rate. Commissioner Johnson said he would be willing to approve the projects in Level 2. Mayor Vandergrift said that the Starke Lake project could be done in phases. Commissioner Parker suggested we go with Level 2, except to add the Traffic Calming project in and take money from the Starke Lake Project to cover it. 3.Motions by Commissioners for amendments to the proposed tentative budget . Commissioner Johnson, seconded by Commissioner Parker moved to amend the tentative budget of the City of Ocoee, distributed along with the budget message of the City Manager dated July 29, 2005, along with the changes resulting form the budget Workshops in the following manner: to include additional funding levels for completion of projects 1) Uniform Street Lighting ($175,000), 2) Downtown Parking ($98,000), 3) Starke Lake Shoreline ($100,000), and 4) Traffic Calming on Lady Avenue ($60,000). Vote was taken after the millage rate was recomputed. RECESS to recompute the proposed millage rate and rolled-back percentage increase. Page 4 of 7 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting September 15, 2005 B. Announcement by Finance Director of the recomputed proposed millage rate and the percent by which the recomputed proposed millage rate exceeds the rolled-back rate. This percentage is the proposed tentative percentage increase in property taxes. Finance Director Horton said the proposed budget, as amended would result in a millage rate of 4.85 mills and represent a 17.8386 percentage increase over the roll-back rate. Vote was then taken on previous motion. Motion carried 4-1, with Mayor Vandergrift opposed. Finance Director Horton said that the budget would have to have an additional $159,000 placed in contingency to keep the millage rate at 4.95 mills until the final budget hearing. City Attorney Rosenthal said that they started with a budget balanced at 4.5789 mills, and have added items into the budget which brought the millage up to the advertised rate of 4.95 mills. Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Parker moved to amend the tentative budget of the City of Ocoee, to add $159,000 to the contingency fund to raise the millage rate back to 4.95 mills. Motion carried 3-2, with Mayor Vandergrift and Commissioner Howell opposing. City Attorney Rosenthal said the tentative budget, as amended, would result in a millage rate of 4.95 mills and represents a 20.27 percentage increase over the roll-back rate of 4.1158. This increase is the proposed percentage increase in property taxes. 1. Read title to Ordinance regarding millage rate. City Attorney Rosenthal . read the title of the Ordinance ORDINANCE 2005-012 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA, ESTABLISHING A MILLAGE RATE FOR AD VALOREM TAXES FOR THE CITY OF OCOEE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2005, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2006, STATING THE PERCENTAGE, BY WHICH THE MILLAGE RATE EXCEEDS THE ROLLED-BACK RATE COMPUTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 200.065, FLORIDA STATUTES; PROVIDING FOR MILLAGE ADJUSTMENT; PROVIDING FOR COLLECTION OF TAXES; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 2. Motion to adopt the tentative millage rate. Mayor Vandergrift Mayor opened the public hearing. There being no one wishing to speak, Vandergrift closed the public hearing. Commissioner Johnson movedto adopt the tentative millage rate of 4.95 mills for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2005, and ending September 30,2006. Motion died for lack of second. Page 5 of 7 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting September 15, 2005 Commissioner Johnson, seconded by Commissioner Anderson made a moved the tentative millage rate of 4.95 mills for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2005, and ending September 30, 2006. Motion carried 3-2, with Mayor Vandergrift and Commissioner Howell opposed. 3. Read title to Ordinance regarding budget. City Attorney Rosenthal read the title of the Ordinance ORDINANCE 2005-13 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OCOEE, ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA, ADOPTING A FINAL BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2005, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2006; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 4. Motion to adopt the tentative budget. Commissioner Parker, seconded by Commissioner Johnson, moved to adopt the tentative budget of the City of Ocoee, distributed along with the budget message of the City Manager dated July 29, 2005, along with the changes resulting from the Budget Workshops, and along with amendments adopted at this meeting, such tentative budget being for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2005, and ending September 30, 2006. Motion failed 2-3, with Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Howell, and Commissioner Anderson opposed. City Attorney Rosenthal advised that they have adopted the tentative millage, and he recommends that they adopt, in some form, a budget that appropriates the funds generated by that millage. They can make amendments to move the funds around, or they can lower the funds, but that would require reconsidering the tentative budget and recalculating the tentative millage rate. Commissioner Anderson said he is not happy with the budget the way it is. He wants to see a different direction in the recreation department and police department. Mayor Vandergrift asked Commissioner Anderson to reconsider his last vote, which is in contrast with the millage rate that he voted in favor of, and then he will have two weeks to go over his issues before the final budget hearing. Page 6 of 7 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting September 15, 2005 Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Parker, moved to adopt the tentative budget of the City of Ocoee, distributed along with the budget message of the City Manager dated July 29, 2005, along with the changes resulting from the Budget Workshops, and along with amendments adopted at this meeting, such tentative budget being for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2005, and ending September 30, 2006. Motion carried 3-2, with Mayor Vandergrift, and Commissioner Howell opposed. C. Motion to schedule the public hearing on September 29, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers to adopt the final millage rate and budget. Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Parker made a motion that a public hearing to consider the final millage rate and final budget be scheduled for September 29, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. at a Special Meeting of the City of Ocoee City Commission to be held at the Ocoee City Hall Commission Chambers, that the hearing be advertised in accordance with the provisions of Section 200.065, Florida Statutes, and Section C-37 of Article VI of the Ocoee City Charter, that the appropriate Ordinances necessary to adopt the final millage rate and final budget be prepared by the City staff, and that all other action necessary to comply with the requirements of Section Florida Statutes, be undertaken. 200.065, D. Announcement by Mayor Vandergrift of end of hearing and date for final millage and final budget hearing. Mayor Vandergrift announced that the date of the final budget and final millage hearing would be held on September 29, 2005, at 7:00 p.m., at Ocoee City Hall. Consensus of the Commission was to hold a workshop with regard to the Salary Survey and Pay Plan, and have Executive Assistant Cowan coordinate a date and time City Attorney Rosenthal . will advise if the meeting should be a workshop or a special session. III. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:32 p.m. APPROVED: Attest: City of Ocoee ____________________________ _____________________________ Beth Eikenberry, City Clerk S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor Page 7 of 7