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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Special Meeting_09/11/2007MINUTES VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA SPECIAL VILLAGE COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2007 Call to Order and Roll Call The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jim Humpage at 6:03 p.m. A roll call was taken by Village Clerk Lori McWilliams. Present were: Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice Mayor Pat Watkins, Council Member Tom Paterno, Council Member Amero and Council Member Calvin Turnquest. Also in attendance were: Manager Michael R. Couzzo, Jr., Village Clerk Lori McWilliams, and Department Heads. Approval of the Agenda MOTION: Council Member Turnquest moved approval of the agenda as submitted; Vice-Mayor Watkins seconded the motion which carried by unanimous 5-0 vote. 1. Ordinance 617-06/07 -Second Reading, An Ordinance of the Village Council of the Village of Tequesta, Palm Beach County, Florida, providing for levying a millage rate of 5.7671 per $1,000.00 of taxable valuation, 9% less than the rolled-back millage rate of 6.3375% per $1,000.00 of taxable valuation for the fiscal year 2007/2008, and providing an effective date. Mayor Humpage read Ordinance 617-06/07 into the record. Mayor Humpage announced the Public Hearing was open. (Council Comments) -None (Public Comments) -None Mayor Humpage closed the Public Hearing and asked for a motion. MOTION: Vice-Mayor Watkins moved to approve Ordinance 617-06/07 levying a millage rate of 5.7671 per $1,000.00 of taxable valuation, 9% less than the rolled-back millage rate of 6.3375% per $1,000 for the 2007/2008 FY; seconded by Council Member Amero; motion carried unanimously 5-0. Minutes -Village Council Special Meeting 9/11/07 Page 2 2. Ordinance 618-06/07 -Second Reading, An Ordinance of the Village Council of the Village of Tequesta, Palm Beach County, Florida, providing for the adoption of the budgets for the 2007/2008 Fiscal Year commencing October 1, 2007 Mayor Humpage read Ordinance 618-06/07 into the record. (Council Comments) Council Member Paterno stated it was a great thing to have a 9% roll back in the revenue and believed it was a move in the right direction. He stated the residents and tax payers he had spoken to still needed a major tax relief and noted the word "need" was important due to the high costs of taxes and insurance. He suggested Council would have to cut expenditures in the future in order to provide further tax relief and Council would have to come to grips with this and further reduce expenditures. As an example, he described when he began there were 76 employees and now there were 90 employees covered by insurance and with the pension and health insurance and different costs it was climbing faster than CPI. He noticed that Council sets the budget and hoped the Manager would stay within that framework; however there were occasions where departments would go over by large percentages. He stated going forward he expected the Manager to stay within the budget as set by Council. He said Council sets priorities and allocates a certain amount of funds for certain areas and transfers from other places should not be made in his opinion. Council Member Amero mentioned the goal was not to just save money but to produce a better product. He suggested rewarding departments for reducing expenses and not rewarding them if they reduce services that were currently being provided at a high level. He believed there needed to be incentives for department heads and never believed in zero based budgeting. He questioned what incentive was for the department head to save money -they spend to their budget. However, if an incentive was given instead of zeroing it out at the end of the year and allowing the department to keep some of the funds, it would be nice to roll some of this into the budget the following year. He asked the Manager to create an incentive program this year. He would like to thank departments that did not spend their full budgets, especially when services have not been cut, and allow them to use it next year if they need it. He would like to work with the department heads and Finance to continue to provide the high level of service while continuing to save money. He stated that was giving taxpayers value for their money. Mr. Couzzo agreed to put together a couple of different proposals. Vice-Mayor Watkins agreed with Mr. Amero and felt the budget was outstanding especially in the current financial times. She stated in her opinion this did not happen in spite of the Manager and staff but because of them in conjunction with this Council. She wanted to keep an open mind to the fact that the budget was a working document - 2 Minutes -Village Council Special Meeting 9/11/07 Page 3 a best estimate -going forward of what would be needed for the upcoming year. She said she did not want to see Council micromanage the budget and limit staff's creativity by taking incentives away. She used the example of the Chief who saw the opportunity to purchase an item at a lower price this year than next year - he should be rewarded for this rather than told not you should not have done it that way. The department heads and Manager were good at their jobs and need to be trusted. She reminded Council the residents have told us through the survey what they like about the Village and the services they like and she believed Council needed to take hold of this and make this part of Council's goals. She again complimented and thanked staff and the Manager. Council Member Turnquest agreed with his fellow Council Members and felt the department heads and Manager have managed the Village's finances to the best of their abilities. We have rolled back our rates which meant less revenues coming in, however services should not decrease. He commented that the Village had the luxury of being in a great financial position as compared to other Palm Beach County municipalities - we have our own police and fire departments where others do not and felt Council was using taxpayer's money responsibly. He said the services in the Village were topnotch and the best employees were hired all while remaining within the budget. He mentioned there might be times when the budget might not be as projected and a department goes over what was budgeted, such as attorney fees; however did not believe this would happen every year. He noted Council needed to be mindful that they were spending taxpayer's money. He commended the department heads for maintaining their budgets while keeping the services at one of the highest levels in Palm Beach County. He felt the residents needed to know how difficult it was and how much the department heads and Manager put into as far as work hours; this was not a 9-5 job and they were here long hours into the evening and early hours in the morning. He again commended the Village Manager and department heads for the great job they do. Mayor Humpage commended everyone for the hard work. He stated he was comfortable with the budget this year and was happy to have had good dialog between Council which proved to be helpful and appreciated staffs assistance. He felt Council might have lost track of the survey results. He mentioned he called as many residents as possible who requested a phone call and they spoke well of the Village. He suggested revisiting the survey possibly for the bridge. He reiterated that he liked the dialog with Council and comments from the citizens. He asked that the newspapers be told that the Mayor was thankful for the citizen's support and would continue to work hard for the quality of life they expect. (Public Comments) -None The Mayor closed the Public Hearing. MOTION: Vice-Mayor Watkins moved to approve Ordinance 618-06/07 approving the 2007/2008 Budget; seconded by Council Member Paterno; motion carried 5-0. 3 Minutes -Village Council Special Meeting 9/11/07 Page 4 Adjournment: Upon motion by Council Member Amero; seconded by Vice-Mayor Watkins, the meeting was adjourned at 6:19 p. m. Respectfully submitted, c~o~mew~.u Lori McWilliams, CMC Village Clerk 4