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04/21/1989 BUDGET WORK SESSION April 21, 1989 The City Commission of the City of Clearwater met at the Main Library with the following members present: Rita Garvey Mayor/Commissioner Don Winner Vice-Mayor/Commissioner Lee Regulski Commissioner Richard Fitzgerald Commissioner William Nunamaker Commissioner (Arrived 9:28 a.m.) Also present were: Ron H. Rabun City Manager Elizabeth Deptula Administrative Services Director Cynthia E. Goudeau City Clerk The Mayor called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. and the following was discussed: The City Manager reported this is a workshop to provide for Commission input on the 89/90 budget. He stated he has proposed a balanced budget which assumes a 4 percent growth rate in the tax roll. He stated there are cuts being proposed which will not materially affect service levels. He stated it is a conservative budget with no increases proposed. Michael Wright, Assistant City Manager for Community Services, reviewed the reorganization plan for the Planning and Development Department. He stated there is an effort being made to combine inspections so there is not a duplication of effort. In response to a question, he indicated it was yet to be determined how the inspectors will be distributed but he stated they may sector the City and rotate the inspectors. Paula Harvey, Acting Planning and Development Director, reviewed the reasoning behind combining the inspectors and stated there needed to be cross training so that one individual can go to a property and cite all violations present. Discussion ensued regarding weekend code enforcement and Mr. Wright indicated that on the weekends it would be primarily citation of sign code violations. Discussion ensued regarding the level of effort in code enforcement and it was stated that the consolidation of efforts should increase efficiency. It was emphasized coordination between the Action Center receiving complaints and the inspectors being on the road is needed. In response to a question, it was indicated cellular phones requested are being eliminated and radios will be used instead. Paula Harvey, Acting Planning and Development Director, indicated the draft for the Comprehensive Plan has been completed and the plan will need to be adopted this year. This will require updates to the land development code to be adopted by June 1, 1990. She stated plans are ongoing for a centralized counter for permitting and she will be working on a procedures manual with the Public Information Officer. It was pointed out that the proposal to delete the Assistant Building Official, one Code Enforcement position and one Staff Assistant position was an effort to show how cuts can be done without effecting existing people. In response to a question, it was indicated there were no enhancements being proposed at this time. Library Michael Wright, Assistant City Manager, stated the proposal is to maintain the current level of service while at the same time eliminating one position and adding $80,000.00 for books. Discussion ensued regarding increased hours and it was indicated this is not being proposed. Discussion ensued regarding the use of volunteers in order to enhance the level of service of the libraries. A suggestion was made that the availability of books could be increased by limiting the number of days for which a book could be checked out. It was indicated the $80,000.00 for books is for the Countryside branch as it has not had a book budget since it has opened. Concern was expressed regarding the City of Clearwater's decision not to join the County wide library cooperative. It was stated the return to Clearwater was not equitable to the expenditures we have made in order to build up our library system. Discussion ensued regarding the need to increase the book inventory. It was stated if savings could be found in operations, it could be used for more books. Discussion ensued regarding the reference service at the library. A question was raised regarding central services charges and it was indicated this is being reviewed. The meeting recessed from 10:50 a.m. to 11:05 a.m. Parks and Recreation Mike Wright, Assistant City Manager, indicated twenty percent of the work performed by the Parks and Recreation Department is outside normal parks and recreation functions and that the Parks and Recreation Department has given all they can give. Concern was expressed regarding apparent savings being generated by delaying the payback period for a loan for the Philadelphia Phillies improvements. Concern was expressed that we were balancing the budget by playing games with numbers. It was requested this be looked at. A question was raised regarding the ten percent cut in supply codes and it was indicated this will result in fewer supplies on the shelves. A question was raised regarding how to fund a new Phillies request and it was indicated this could come from the special economic development funds not Parks and Recreation. A question was raised regarding the increase of recreation supervisors and it was indicated this was due to a reclassification, in title only, of several positions. Discussion ensued regarding special facilities and programs with it being indicated it is expected the Center Foundation pool will be available next summer. Concerns were expressed regarding eliminating the use of the Ross Norton Park pool and it was indicated this was not contemplated. It was indicated the Norton pool is the only heated pool at this time. When the Center Foundation opens, it will be an indoor pool and it will take some of the pressure off of the Ross Norton pool. The proposal to reduce the number of counselors for various day camps was discussed. Concern was expressed that if these were cut, it would be counter productive to the effort to help children and keep them off the streets. Consensus of the Commission was to leave this in. Commissioner Nunamaker left the meeting at 11:50 a.m. It was stated one of the reductions proposed in the social and cultural aspects was to eliminate a part time position and to replace it with a contract employee. Discussion ensued regarding the proposal to eliminate the after school program at the Oak Grove Middle School. In response to a question, it was indicated this provides various athletic activities for children after school hours. Concerns were expressed if this were eliminated, it would again not be conducive to helping children and keeping them off the streets. In response to a question, Ream Wilson, Parks and Recreation Director, indicated there are 35 to 40 children at this program a day. The Commission was split as to whether or not to keep this program. Discussion ensued regarding a proposal to eliminate seasonal laborers and reduce the maintenance at athletic fields. Concerns were expressed this may be a false economy. Consensus of the Commission was to approve this reduction. They also approved reductions by eliminating one parks worker, by reducing the operating budget by eliminating contractual services and dump fees and by reducing the amount of water used for irrigation by thirty percent. Further discussion ensued regarding other ways to conserve water and it was indicated staff is investigating the use of retention ponds for irrigation. A question was raised regarding why we could not eliminate maintenance of the Chamber grounds and it was indicated the Chamber leases the ground from the City. It was requested the City move away from high maintenance shrubbery. A proposal to eliminate an equipment operator in the tree maintenance section of the Parks division was okayed. Discussion ensued regarding the recommendation to reduce the cemetery crew with concerns being expressed that we would not be able to serve the public. Consensus was to try this reduction. Discussion ensued regarding enhancements for the Center Foundation and it was indicated some positions will be transferred from existing facilities such as Woodgate Recreation Center. It was stated the City would be responsible for rental fees only if there is a shortfall. It was requested that we not provide things that we shouldn't and we not enter into any "good guy" deals. In response to a question, it was indicated there is still a need for a pool in east Clearwater and the Center Foundation fulfills a need for a pool in central Clearwater. A question was raised regarding who built the Bobby Walker pool and it was indicated the school system had done so. The meeting recessed from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. Public Information Office Mike Wright, Assistant City Manager, indicated the Public Information Program has just started and a high priority is to develop the Action Center into a central complaint center. Economic Development Mike Wright, Assistant City Manager, indicated he felt we were close to hiring the Economic Development Director. It was emphasized this is a CRA budgeted position. It was indicated there is $120,000.00 fully reimbursable from CRA funds. Mr. Wright indicated a decision will need to be made regarding whether or not to sunset the Downtown Development Board in June. Administrative Services Kathy Rice, Assistant City Manager, indicated substantial cuts were being made in this department with the elimination of a full time accounting position and one payroll clerk. The payroll clerk was transferred to another area. Ms. Rice also reported that in house maintenance for data processing equipment will be cheaper in the long run than maintenance contracts however there will be an initial cost. Discussion ensued regarding the computer program and it was indicated staff is reviewing the entire system and will be back with a long range plan. Discussion ensued regarding the last purchase of a unisys mainframe and it was indicated this is being looked into. In response to a question regarding running out of space on the computer system, it was indicated there is no more memory capacity. Legal Department Discussion ensued regarding whether or not the legal department needed a fax machine and it was indicated there was one in the building and that is enough for City Hall. Al Galbraith, City Attorney, indicated his budget has leveled off and while he hopes he will not need the $250,000.00 placed in the budget for outside attorneys, he felt it needed to be there in case it is needed. He stated the antiquated word processing equipment in the legal department is now gone and some of the attorneys are wanting terminals. He stated an optical scanner is needed that could read uneven spacing. It was suggested an attempt be made to find money to obtain the scanner. Affirmative Action It was indicated the City now has four unions, two for the police department, one for the firefighters and one for the remaining workers under CWA. In response to a question, E. J. Robinson, Affirmative Action Officer, indicated we have six or seven cases pending which is about average. In response to questions regarding legal expenses, it was indicated these are paid by the legal department. Internal Audit Margie Hanson indicated this is a small department and 91 percent of the budget is personnel services. It was indicated the internal auditors are used to identify improvements needed to the system. In response to a question regarding a 24 percent increase in central services charges, it was indicated that was a miscalculation and should only be 4 percent. Ms. Hanson indicated areas being looked at by internal audit include utility accounts, payroll, purchasing, data processing, the central counter, petty cash and inventories. Personnel It was indicated there have been cuts in the advertising budget by limiting most ads to local newspapers. The training budget has been cut from $10,000.00 to $5,000.00. A concern was expressed regarding limiting interns. Mike Laursen, Personnel Director, indicated most interns have primarily worked on test development. This past year, the performance based merit system was developed. It was stated one of the emphasizes is to transfer those positions that had been targeted for deletion. In response to a question, Mr. Laursen indicated the 1988 turn over rate was 8.9 percent or 140 people. A question was raised regarding how effective the employee assistance referral program had been and Mr. Laursen indicated it was difficult to measure its effectiveness as this is a confidential system. General Services Discussion ensued regarding the proposal to delete home auditing and it was indicated Florida Power has an on going program for this. A suggestion was made that the annex building be eliminated in order to reduce utility costs. A concern was expressed regarding decreasing the workers at the garage increasing down time of vehicles. It was indicated the major portion of the reduction in the garage is the way in which the calculation of life expectancy of the vehicles is done. In response to a question, it was indicated we still have a contract with a parts store and most of the time a phone call will result in the part being delivered. Occasionally there are trips needed in order to pick up the parts. A question was raised regarding the elimination of a cabinet maker and a tradesworker and it was indicated we would still have a cabinet maker and that tradesworkers can do alot of what cabinet makers do. City Clerk It was indicated most of the duties of the City Clerk are required by law. It was also indicated we are looking at cemetery costs. The meeting adjourned at 3:29 p.m.