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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Workshop_09/08/2006MINUTES VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA VILLAGE COUNCIL WORKSHOP FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2006 I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Village Council of the Village of Tequesta held a Council Workshop Meeting at the Emergency Operations Center, 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Friday, September 8, 2006. Mayor Humpage called the meeting to order at 9:15 p.m. A roll call was taken by Village Clerk Gwen Carlisle. Council Members present were: Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice Mayor Tom Paterno, Council Member Geraldine A. Genco, and Council Member Pat Watkins. Also in attendance were: Village Manager Michael R. Couzzo, Jr., and Village Clerk Gwen Carlisle and Department Heads. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Council Member Watkins moved to approve the agenda, as submitted; seconded by Council Member Genco; motion passed 4-0. 1) Discussion and Review of the Proposed Budget 2006/2007 Village Manager Couzzo explained there were some changes as a result of what was discussed in the August 31, 2006 Budget Workshop and those changes were reflected in the budget as it related to Public Works. He explained he would give Council a break • down of those changes for their review. He mentioned some funds were transferred from Parks and Recreation to Public Works because they would be utilized more. He mentioned the blue truck would be transferred from the Pazks and Recreation Department to Public Works, and the purchase of the truck to use for the maintenance crew for Public Works had been removed from the budget, which resulted in savings of $29,000. He pointed out the General Maintenance Item had been reduced by $15,000 so there were approximately $44,000 in savings in addition to what Council discussed. Village Manager Couzzo specified it was for the General Maintenance for the Pazks, which included all-miscellaneous contractors, subcontractors, materials, and Home Depot Supplies; with the biggest item being the Sports Turf One. Parks and Recreation Supervisor Greg Corbitt explained the General Maintenance was for maintenance and there were no full time or part time personnel included. Village Manager Couzzo stated General Maintenance was just for operating costs although there were subcontractors. He explained there were no full time or Part time Village Personnel. Mr. Corbitt mentioned the only subcontractor was Sports Turf One. Village Manager Couzzo stated if the Village needed an electrician, they would call one in as a subcontractor. Vice Mayor Paterno asked about the man who lived at the Park. Village Manager Couzzo stated the Village did not pay him. Vice Mayor Paterno stated he understood the Village pays his electricity bill and other bills as well. Village Manager Couzzo stated he had to do research about that. He stated when he got the information he would inform Council. • Minutes -Village Council Workshop • September 8, 2006 -Page 2 Vice Mayor Paterno asked if it was not in the budget, where did the bills get paid. Mr. Corbitt stated there was a separate meter for the mobile home. He explained the Village paid for the Utilities but not for the Insurance. Mayor Humpage referred to Item 4 and asked Village Manager Couzzo to explain it to him. Village Manager Couzzo explained after $101,692 was reduced by $15,000 it became $86,000. Vice Mayor Paterno mentioned several months ago they had discussed what the Village was going to do with the park before any money was spent on the park. Village Manager Couzzo explained it was not capital, it was for general day to day maintenance. Vice Mayor Paterno verified it was not for anything like trees. Village Manager Couzzo stated there was $100,000 budgeted for shade trees at Tequesta Park, which from his understanding, Council wanted to do. He mentioned even though it was budgeted it did not have to be spent. Mayor Humpage mentioned the Village might receive new trees from Jupiter Hills and some trees from the golf course to put into the Park. Vice Mayor Paterno commented they should discuss what the Village wanted to do with the Park on the whole before they started to throw money into it and that applied to the $100,000. Mayor Humpage explained the Village had $100,000 in the capital but there would still be a discussion on how to spend the money. Mayor Humpage mentioned they might not even spend all the $100,000 depending on what Council decided. Mayor Humpage questioned the $300,000 they pulled from Community Development. Council Member Genco summarized Council increased their reserves and there was also • another $250,000 in the capital Improvement fund. Finance Director JoAnn Forsythe referred Council to where they decreased the General Fund budget. She explained at the same time they were decreasing the Capital Improvement Fund by the same amount because the money was not needed. Council Member Genco pointed out the expenditures on Tequesta Drive was in the Contingency Account and asked what the Contingency Account was. Village Manager Couzzo explained there were two Contingency Accounts: one had $101,000 and the other had $167,000. He explained they were not tied to anything. Council Member Genco asked if it could be tied to the Capital Improvement Project. Village Manager Couzzo stated the accounts were really Council's discretionary accounts. Village Manager Couzzo pointed out the $268,000 was not committed to anything. He summarized there was $50,000 for the raikoad, $50,000 for the EMS response in an impending hurricane, and $50,000 for the 50~' anniversary. Council Member Watkins suggested some from the contingency account go for the Bridge Fund. Village Manager Couzzo stated that could be done. Vice Mayor Paterno asked about the $50,000 under the "549-900" account. Mayor Humpage stated it was for hurricanes. Vice Mayor Paterno referred to the "664.600" account and pointed out it was for $53,000. Ms. Michelle Gload stated it was for the wireless network. Vice Mayor Paterno asked about the $400,000 under "Capital Improvements." Ms. Gload, Senior Accounting Technician, explained the $400,000 was reduced to $167,000 because of the building permits. Vice Mayor Paterno asked where the $300,000 was. Village Manager Couzzo stated it was taken out, so therefore, it was • reduced to $167,000. Council Member Watkins stated the $300,000 was backed out of Community Development revenues for the Building Permits. Minutes -Village Council Workshop • September 8, 2006 -Page 3 Village Manager Couzzo stated the $300,000 was conservative and commented it would not be a big impact. He stated his projection was the Building Permits would come in at $200,000. Council Member Genco stated if the Village had the money, they would want to allocate it somewhere and commented they were certain they would have the money. She stated the Village was still adopting a $384,000 budget for the department. Village Manager Couzzo specified $200,000 on Building Permits. He stated he would get Council the most recent budget to them. Council Member Genco asked Finance Director Forsythe to explain to them by this the category under Summary Notice called "Transportation." Ms. Forsythe stated Transportation was Public Works. Vice Mayor Paterno pointed out the revenue from tax had gone up 18% but the contingency from what was left over was decreasing, which may be an indication the Village was spending more. Village Manager Couzzo explained the actual differential between this year and last year in the property tax was $900,000, so therefore if Vice Mayor Paterno wanted the Contigency to increase by 18% that would be $180,000, but the contingency was close to $300,000. Vice Mayor Paterno asked what the General Fund Contingency was last year. Village Manager thought the contingency was $70,000 last year. Ms. Forsythe explained there was a Contingency Account, which was an expense account where money was put that was not allocated anywhere. She stated there was an excess of revenues over expenditures that would be moved forward to increase fund balance. Vice Mayor Paterno stated he wanted to know a combination of • both. Council Member Genco stated it was the 10-year projection. She referred to the graph where it stated "Projected Cash" and "Invest Fund Balance." She explained the Village had all of their money that was not allocated moved there. She felt Vice Mayor Paterno was asking if the revenues grew by 18% why didn't the Contingency Fund. Village Manager Couzzo commented it probably did. Council Member Genco stated she tried to use a blended rate. She stated the Village made 60%-70% of its revenue from taxes. Village Manager stated it was 64%. Council Member Genco stated even though the Village got 18% on one, a blended rate has to be done. She stated a blended rate specified the figure would be closer to 15% increase that the Village's revenue grew. Council Member Genco summarized last year the Village had more Capital Projects, and there were a lot of budget appropriations because the budgets for individual Departments were exceeded. She stated the larger of the two were the Capital Projects, but the two factors were the reason the Contingency Fund balance did not grow by a lot. Vice Mayor Paterno stated if the Village did not do many Capital Improvements this year, the fund balance should have grown. Council Member Genco commented Vice Mayor Paterno would not see it this year but he would have the opportunity to see it next year. Village Manager Couzzo suggested a fund balance projection. Ms. Forsythe stated when looking at a cost analysis there were variable expenses, overhead expenses, and capital, which were one- time expenses. She explained if there were variable expenses related to Operations which would increase; and the Village wanted to ensure it was not increasing more than the • Village's revenues, it would be lopsided at some point. Minutes -Village Council Workshop • September 8, 2006 -Page 4 Vice Mayor Paterno commented the Village would not want it to increase with revenue because the Village would not want revenue spent on all Operations costs. Ms. Forsythe explained they took variable expenses, which were the Village's operational expenses and found out what the excess would be over a period of time. She explained once Council knew what the proposed excess amount was over the period of time; they could consider what it should be spent on. Vice Mayor Paterno commented they needed to learn from history by reviewing what the Village did in the past 3 years. Ms. Forsythe stated Council should let her know what they needed and she would do what ever it took to get information to them. Vice Mayor Paterno commented according to the figures he reviewed, Operations was growing faster than the other side. Ms. Forsythe stated the final budget expenditures by function and Department were the percentage by yeaz. She stated the total increase was 6%, which included all Administration, and Public Works increased by 4.86%. She explained it showed the dollaz amount and the percent. Vice Mayor Paterno stated last year it was $10,225,000 and increased by 9%. He asked if that included the Village Hall. Ms. Forsythe stated yes, if Vice Mayor Paterno was looking at the total amount. She referred to total "General Government" and stated it included all the departments, and he could look to see what the total "General Government" costs increased by. She specified those were the department costs. She explained that would show the change in the function and it would also change as one looked across by department. Council Member Genco stated Public Safety went up 4.86% and the General Expenditures went down 35%. Ms. Forsythe stated that was where the transfers would be • seen, and commented it was also misleading. She explained it looked as if "Total other financing sources and uses" decreased by 73%, but that was because they did not do interfund transfers. She explained by detailing at that level, they could get rid of it. She explained they were not going to look at the total; they would look at the functions by departments. Council Member Genco asked if the projection would include new employee raises and incentives. Ms. Gload stated employees were at 7.4% except CWA, which was at 9%. Council Member Genco stated they were looking at the General Fund and stated Mr. Couzzo thought it was a good idea to do an allocation for redundant reoccurring maintenance and make a 20 year schedule on a replacement value so that every year they could see how much to spend on maintenance. Village Manager Couzzo stated he would do it on 25 years and it would probably take him two months to do because it would be fairly extensive. He specified he would do it on the General Fund, the Water Fund, and the Storm Water Fund. Fire Chief James Weinand referred to the Classification and Compensation Study. He explained they were looking at the Fire Department and they were proposing a career matrix. 1-Ie commented the hazdest part was coming up with a philosophy of placing them. He stated the Career Matrix would be based on longevity and education. Mayor Humpage asked Chief Weinand if he already had a criteria which stated Fire Fighters 1, 2, 3 be required to have certain skills or accomplish certain skills to move to the next • level, no matter the longevity. Minutes -Village Council Workshop • September 8, 2006 -Page 5 Chief Weinand explained the Fire Department did not have a longevity plan or a matrix, so therefore, if they got a merit they would move to the next level. He stated the proposal would entail the Firefighter develop the educational aspects along with longevity. Village Manager Couzzo stated this was an entirely different matrix with an entirely different adjustment in there. Vice Mayor Paterno pointed out if there was a Union, there were other employees and a criteria for Fire Fighters, there would be 5 different plans. Village Manager Couzzo stated yes if Council decided on the matrix concept. Chief Weinand commented Council did not have to choose the matrix concept. Mayor Humpage commented he liked how the Fire Department had their system set up where there were requirements to move forward. Village Manager Couzzo asked if Mayor Humpage meant a promotional move. Mayor Humpage explained if Fire Fighter 1 makes $10,000 and Fire Fighter 2 makes $16,000, Fire Fighter 1 can't move to Fire Fighter 2 unless he completes the educational requirements whether he has been with the Village 1 yeaz or 5 years. Village Manager Couzzo explained the matrix was a little different. He used the Lieutenant for an example and stated the rank was simply that rank. He explained in step 1 of the matrix, the Fire fighter would have to have certain competences and that would be a pay rate. He explained step 2 would have another pay rate and there would be 12 steps across, which would be the life cycle of that range. The beginning of the range is step 1 and the end of the range would be step 12 over a period of 12 years. Council Member Genco stated the fire fighter would go through the 12 steps provided they meet the educational experience. She asked if the constraints would have to do with the • education and the merit to the individual. Village Manager Couzzo explained the difference between the steps would be a certain percentage. He stated to get the individual into the ranges would require a monetary adjustment, somewhere in the area of the merit and another $55,000. Council Member Genco asked if the $55,000 was for education. Chief Weinand stated the system was built based on the PEPIE study. Council Member Genco stated she understood every time the Fire Department would have a crew on duty, there would be people from different categories all the time and if those people did not have the certification, it became a problem where overtime was concerned. Vice Mayor Paterno commented the goal would be to have everyone become a paramedic so there was no differential. Council Member Genco felt that was a good goal. Chief Weinand stated it was discussed and the Fire Department was going to do an employment contract which would require within 3 years of being employed a firefighter had to become a paramedic. Council Member Genco commented it made them more efficient on their shift. Vice Mayor Paterno stated it would cut down on some over-time issues. Mayor Humpage asked if the matrix would be based on an evaluation. Council Member Genco explained Chief Weinand wanted to put newly hired fire fighters on a training track and that would be based on a 12-year grid. Vice Mayor Paterno mentioned each step would be the merit. Chief Weinand stated they would have to pass their fulfillments for the yeaz in addition to the educational aspect. Village Manager Couzzo stated the • matrix was easier because of the start up cost. Vice Mayor Paterno asked what the percentage was between each step. Minutes -Village Council Workshop • September 8, 2006 -Page 6 Council Member Genco asked Chief Weinand if a percentage of staff was not certified. Chief Weinand stated some of them would not go to the ranges that were set, but the worst case scenario would be based on longevity. He stated some of them did not have the education to be placed on the matrix. The initial placement would be a difficult one. Vice Mayor Paterno stated they could not advance if they did not get certified. Council Member Genco commented it would benefit the Village in the long run. Vice Mayor Paterno stated Chief Weinand's plan was 12 years and asked about the 15-year matrix. Chief Weinand stated he looked at the 15-yeaz matrix and it made the spread of a merit of less than 2%. He felt it stretched it out too far compazed to the standazds. He stated Palm Beach County had 8-yeaz steps and Martin County was 12 yeazs and Tequesta matched a merit of 3% steps and if Council wanted to cut the cost down to 50% he suggested, it be implemented in April or January to bring down the initial impact. Council Member Watkins stated it would be an adjustment to Fire but this system would work in the matrix. She stated Council would give Chief Weinand a fund to work with that under system, rather than work within the same system implemented for other employees. Village Manager Couzzo commented once the matrix was started it was easy. He stated the initial jumpstart would be cost. Mayor Humpage asked what the initial cost was. Village Manager Couzzo stated 7.4% roughly at $54,000 across the boazd but not everyone would get that. Council Member Genco asked if the $54,000 was based on the accreditation. Chief Weinand stated the $54,000 that he put on the budget sheet was worst case if everyone met the merits. Council Member Genco asked how long it would • take to get the certifications. Chief Weinand stated it would depend. Vice Mayor Paterno stated this program Chief Weinand was proposing was 12.8% cost the 1~` yeaz. Village Manager Couzzo agreed that was what it would cost. Vice Mayor Paterno commented there would be all these groups of Village employees getting different percentages and he thought the idea was to have everyone closer to one system. Council Member Genco commented there were different job responsibilities and all of them could not be placed within the same system. Council Member Genco asked when the system was adopted, how would the new hires be evaluated. She asked if the Fire Department would hire them at the training level or at the Paramedic level. Chief Weinand stated it would depend on the cerkification. He explained if they were Fire Fighter EMTs they would be step 1 and if they were hired as a Paramedic, they would still be step 1 but with a 12% incentive. Chief Weinand stated currently they have the Paramedic pay at a flat dollaz rate depending on the years of service of $55,000 -$ 65,000 and he is recommending Council change it to a percentage. He explained that way the percentage would be lower for the new paramedics but higher for the Senior Pazamedics. Vice Mayor Paterno asked if the Chief was saying going forward after this year they would be going under 3% merit and the cost of everyone of them was potentially going to take less than the non-union people. Chief Weinand stated the matrix system had not been reviewed by the entire department, but had been seen by the leaders in the Department and they support the concept. Vice Mayor Paterno commented they would get less in the future. He asked if it could be adjusted again. Vice Mayor Paterno stressed • as long as everyone understood they may get less. Minutes -Village Council Workshop • September 8, 2006 -Page 7 Chief Weinand stated they may get moved up based on the PEPIE Study. Village Manager Couzzo felt the PEPIE Study should be reviewed every 2 to 3 years. Ms. Merlene Ried, Human Resources Manager recommended they review the PEPIE Study annually. Vice Mayor Paterno stated he was against any and all adjustments after the budget was completed. He expressed the Village would have to live with their decisions. Village Manager Couzzo noted the Police Union may change the year to Police Benevolent Association, and that may take place October 1, 2006. He mentioned the salary adjustments would take place under a contract signed. He suggested backing those salaries out and putting in contingency until that happens. Mayor Humpage stated it could be left in budget and after contract the monies could be backed out. Consensus of Council Agreed to leave the money where it is currently in the Budget Vice Mayor Paterno stated he would like to see the numbers in total and expressed he was a bit concerned about it. Village Manager Couzzo stated he needed the salary adjustments for everyone. Ms. Gload stated she could do that. Ms. Forsythe stated there would be no changes to the budget. Village Manager Couzzo stated the overall budget would not change but where the numbers were would change. Council member Genco stated she had people who were in C WA at 9% and other people who are exempt because of their positions in the same department and they would be getting 7.4%. Mayor • Humpage stated it was done. Ms. Gload stated if she was going to adjust the other figures and she could pull it out the Police also. Village Manager Couzzo asked Council if there was a consensus on it. Mayor Humpage commented what was the problem with leaving it as is. Council Member Genco felt they should do what ever it took to ensure the right amount is in the budget. Ms. Forsythe explained how the Finance Department does it. She stated Ms. Gload had a spreadsheet of each individual and whether it was 7% or 9% she drops it in. Village Manager Couzzo pointed out the Police Department would have a 0 number until the contract was negotiated and that could be a month or two. Vice Mayor Paterno commented the Village lost $300,000 in Community Development and now the Village would also lose $100,000 here. Village Manager Couzzo stated they did not lose the money. Council Member Genco stated it was based on the projection. Vice Mayor Paterno commented they had a certain amount in the Contingency Fund and just in that meeting alone it had been reduced to half. Village Manager stated it went from $300,000 to $200,000. Vice Mayor Paterno felt it would get to the point where the Village would start crossing financially and by the time they were finished there would be none left. Council Member Genco commented the next 3 years would be critical and they would have to pay attention to the budget. She stated until the Village gets the relief from the revenue. Mayor Humpage pointed out the Village could get assistance from the new properties coming online also. Council Member Genco commented it would be a very tight budget. Mayor Humpage felt the Village accomplished the goal this year by updating the employee salaries and that was tremendous. Minutes -Village Council Workshop September 8, 2006 -Page 8 III. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Council Member Genco moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Council Member Watkins; motion passed 4-0. Therefore the meeting was adjourned at 10:55 a.m. ,~ ~ ~ .. f l wen Carlisle Village Clerk •