04/26/2023 Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes April 26, 2023
City of Clearwater
Main Library- Council Chambers
100 N. Osceola Avenue
Clearwater, FL 33755
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Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
4:00 PM
Main Library - 2nd Floor Board Room
Charter Review Committee
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City of Clearwater
Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes April 26, 2023
Roll call
Present:10 -Gladys Andrews, Bill Jonson, Travis Norton, Nathan Hightower,
Mike Riordon, Karen Cunningham, Patricia Rodriguez, Cory Chase,
Ryan Cotton and Kathy Milam
Absent: 1 - Jonathan Wade
Also Present: — Rosemarie Call — City Clerk, and Nicole Sprague — Deputy City Clerk
1. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m.
2. Approval of Minutes
2.1 Approve the minutes of the April 12, 2023 Charter Review Committee meeting as
submitted in written summation by the City Clerk.
In response to a question, the City Clerk said the item with a motion to
postpone from the previous meeting will be placed on the agenda for the
May 10, 2023 meeting.
Committee Member Cotton moved to approve the minutes of the April
12, 2023 Charter Review Committee meeting as submitted in written
summation by the City Clerk. The motion was duly seconded and
carried unanimously.
3. New Business
3.1 City Reserve Balance Presentation - Jay Ravins, Finance Director
Finance Director Jay Ravins provided an overview of the city's reserve
balance and related policies.
In response to questions, Mr. Ravins said the general fund can borrow
cash from an enterprise fund if the funds are reimbursed with a fair rate of interest.
He said excess reserves have been built up intentionally and it helps subsidize the
self-insurance fund. The City is self-insured, including property and employee health
insurance, and has stop loss coverage when claims go above a certain threshold.
There are council mandated minimum required reserves. Some reserve funds have
restricted balances related to utility fund revenue bonds and other related bond
reserve requirements. He said the utility funds should be making a reasonable rate of
return. There is a separate fiduciary fund for pension money because it is not city
money, it belongs to the pension plan. Monies that are in enterprise funds are
conservatively invested, all cash is aggregated in one cash pool, is laddered out over
time and is invested over an average of three years. He said the amount of money
the City has set aside in reserve and enterprise funds is more than most other
municipalities would have. Mr. Ravins said it is good for enterprise funds to have a
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City of Clearwater
Charter Review Committee
Meeting Minutes April 26, 2023
ten-year plan in place to identify what capital improvements will be needed, such as
replacement of the docks at the Harbor Marina. He said the minimum reserve
requirements could be placed in the charter, but it would need to allow reserve funds
to go below their minimum. He said the best practice for general fund reserves is
16.67%, which is an easy target to reach, but it is not necessary due to the health of
city finances. He said the general fund reserve level was decent during the 2008
economic downturn, which allowed the City to pay off the roundabout and the library
bonds to eliminate some of the debt service that helped balance the budget. The
City's general government bond rating is AA+ with AAA being the ideal rating to have,
but Clearwater does not have the average income level demographics to support a
higher bond rating. The current return on the aggregate reserve fund is at 2%
because it is laddered for three years, there are investments in the portfolio from
when interest rates were at rock bottom.
3.2 Set agenda for next meeting.
The City Clerk said she provided council/commission salary comparisons from
Coral Springs, Lakeland, Miami Gardens, and Pompano Beach and the formula for
how each organization calculates increases. She provided the lowest paid salary
for Parks and Recreation, Solid Waste, and staff assistant entry level positions. In
response to a question, she said she is still waiting on information from Ft.
Lauderdale, Doral, Gainesville, and Miramar. The municipalities listed are
comparable to Clearwater's population and are Council/Manager form of
government. She provided the treasurer's reports for the last two rotations of
elections for mayor and councilmembers
Discussion ensued with consensus to keep the councilmember job as a part time
position and to discuss the salary starting point at the next meeting when
additional comparable information would be available. A comment was made that
the Committee is working its way through the list of desired topics to discuss.
4. Citizens to be heard regarding items not on the agenda: None.
5. Adiournment
Attest:
The meeting adjourned at 5:34 p.m.
rvLa 1 Q
City Clerk
City of Clearwater
Chair, Charter review Committee