MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

August 29, 2006

 

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida met in special session on August 29, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. in the Government Center Commission Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida.  Present were:  Chair Helen Voltz, Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Ron Pritchard, Susan Carlson, and Jackie Colon, County Manager Peggy Busacca, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

 

 

Chair Voltz advised Brevard County and the schools will be closed tomorrow; the County will get with the Charter Officers to find out if they are also going to be closed. 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca advised the Courts will not be operating, but she does not know about anyone else as they have not notified the County.  Chair Voltz requested staff find out that information before today’s meeting is over.  Chair Voltz advised there are no mandatory evacuations; there was a local state of emergency issued at 11:00 a.m.; Brevard County will have a number of shelters open just in case anybody feels uncomfortable and unsafe in their homes; and a determination will be made sometime tomorrow on whether or not the schools will be closed on Thursday.  She stated it looks like the County will have some winds up until about 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning; and it is not expecting any hurricane-forced winds, although there will be some gusts up to 64 m.p.h.

 

Chair Voltz called for the public hearing to adopt Resolution adopting schedule of rates, assessments, and charges for fire service operations, and Resolution ratifying, confirming, and certifying annual fire services non-ad valorem special assessment roll.

 

Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten provided a Power Point presentation to the Board concerning the proposal for financial relief for low income persons affected by the fire assessment.  He advised of the impact of the non-ad valorem assessment portion of the tax bill and the comparison of the proposed Fiscal Year 2006-2007 to Fiscal Year 2005-2006; the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) assessment was $57.63 in Fiscal Year 2005-2006; and the rate under the non-ad valorem assessment portion of the tax bill is zero for Fiscal Year 2006-2007.  He stated the solid waste collection rate is currently $142.65; it is reduced by approximately  $24.00 next  year  to  $117.81; the solid waste disposal rate remains the same at

 

$57.00 this year and is proposed at $57.00 next year; and the stormwater assessment is $10.80 this year and will be $10.80 next year.  He advised the other part of the flip is the fire assessment, which is not on the non-ad valorem portion of the tax  bill currently, but is proposed

for a house under 3,000 square feet next year at $212.00; the difference between the non-ad valorem portions of the tax bill from the current fiscal year to next fiscal year is approximately $129.53; and it is the net increase for someone who lives in a single-family residence that is under 3,000 square feet.

 

Mr. Whitten explained the assistance guidelines, including the assistance of $129.53; stated the household income is up to a maximum of $24,999; seniors who receive the additional seniors homestead exemption will automatically receive assistance; seniors already receiving the additional homestead exemption will receive a tax bill recognizing a credit of $129.53 against the fire assessment portion of their tax bill; and others who qualified for assistance will receive a tax bill or corrected tax bill recognizing a credit of $129.53 against the fire assessment portion of their tax bill.  He advised there are approximately 220,293 total households in Brevard County; income levels include 15,877 households or 7.2% making less than $10,000, 14,629 households or 6.6% making $10,000 to $14,999, and 27,815 households or 12.6% making $15,000 to $24,999.  He stated approximately 84,729 fire assessment notices were mailed out; there are approximately 6,100 parcels or 7.2% fit within the less than $10,000 category, approximately 5,592 parcels or 6.6% within the $10,000 to $14,999 category, and approximately 10,676 parcels or 12.6% within the $15,000 to $24,999 category.  He advised if the proposed credit of $129.53 is applied to the different income stratus, the total fiscal impact would affect 22,368 parcels or households, for a cost of $2.8 million; and it is a 100% fiscal impact.

 

Mr. Whitten advised if the Board approves the proposal, the outreach efforts include mailing out letters with applications to all residential property owners who received the original assessment letter, airing public service announcements on Space Coast Government Television, posting the application and related information on both the Brevard County and Fire Rescue websites, providing applications at various County sites, including fire stations, libraries, etc., and purchasing display advertising to notify the public of the application process.

 

Discussion ensued concerning the benefit for low income seniors, commercial applications, residential households, income model, senior homestead exemptions, social security income, relief for agricultural community, individuals meeting income requirements, budget adjustments, amendments to proposed operating budget, funded changes to current budget, full implementation of Cody Study and elimination of that for General Fund Agencies; eliminating all A & B travel, operating reserve that had been included in the budget, eliminating all computer replacement, debt service to replace Emergency Operations Center, reducing insurance reserves, and eliminating all vehicle replacement for General Fund Agencies.

 

Commissioner Pritchard stated the County is looking for $23 million; if it were to apply the entire $15.3 million toward that then that would leave about $8 million to go; the Board already spoke about how the $4 million hit would be one-time because it would work it out in the budget next year; and inquired why this cannot be worked out in the budget next year.

 

 

 

Chief William Farmer, stated as far as Fire Rescue, the listing the Board sees for the Fire Department is actual reductions of current service; if he is going to have to prioritize those, he is going  to  prioritize  them  in  the  sense of he will reduce and remove the programs and projects

that do not affect basic service; but eventually if he were to have to use that entire $4 million, the County would see basic services stop, such as shutting down five County lifeguard towers, stopping all volunteer fire department activities, reducing reserves down to roughly $200,000.

 

Commissioner Pritchard stated County staff finally looked into what can be cut from the budget; adjustments can be made with revenues as they come in; if it means tightening the belt for a year, he does not have a real problem with that because the County is playing a little too fast and lose with other people’s money; and it is talking about the exemption program for a certain segment of the population, but totally disregarding others whose fire assessment fee is going to go from $1,000 to several thousand dollars.  He noted what the County really needs to do is look within, what is it doing, why is it doing it, and how can it do it better for less money; and maybe the list of the amendments is finally the start. 

 

Robert Allen stated the County has to live within its budget; the citizens do not understand what is going on; if the County is going to do anything, it needs to deny the special assessment this year and fix it next year; it needs to get the County budget right; and if it cannot live within the budget then it is time for changes.

 

Robert Scorah stated he is present to protest the special assessment; it discriminates against widows, the elderly and disabled, and people living in smaller homes; and questioned the legality of the proposed assessment.  He noted if the County has wasted so much money and there is none to fund the fire department, then it needs to bite the bullet and go back to a volunteer fire service; there are people in Brevard County who have not been able to afford roof repairs or other needed repairs from the last hurricanes, but the County seems to always find a way to increase its taxes; and if people cannot pay, a tax certificate will be issued against their property. 

 

Commissioner Pritchard stated he does not support the methodology; it is grossly unfair that those who can least afford it are going to be paying more; it is just as unfair that the commercial properties, which includes rentals, are going to see increases of several thousand dollars; and the whole methodology is bad.

 

Chair Voltz stated she does not believe any of the Commissioners disagree with Commissioner Pritchard.

 

Mary Beason stated she would like to make sure that the County Manager is directed to make sure that the cities or towns that do not have city managers or town managers receive all the information; they  do  not  always  get  the  communication;  this  is  not  revenue  neutral  to  the

 

 

 

 

residents of the Town of Melbourne Village; and they are going to pay a minimum of 25% more.  She noted the Town of Melbourne Village does not agree with the Memorandum of Understanding or the Fire Agreement it was given one day before it was supposed to vote on it.

 

Mortimer Rothstein submitted information to the Board; stated according to the County, he lives in a condominium and is getting charged $124 more than the person living behind him; clarified that he lives in a mobile home unit and not a condominium; and he is asking for a fair share.  He stated he does not mind paying for a good thing; and it is not fair for him to pay more money than his neighborhood behind him who only lives 25 feet away.

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated the County can go through and code these mobile home condominiums as mobile homes and resolve that issue. 

 

Chair Voltz advised that the County has resolved Mr. Rothstein’s issue.

 

Merlin Tice, representing Nottingham Manor Condominium Association, stated the Association is opposed to the special assessment; the taxes are fair, equitable, and controlled; assessments are hard to control; and the County may want $23 million this year and next year it may want $40 million.  He inquired what is all the money being spent on; stated the people want to see where the fat is; and he is totally against the assessment.

 

Ricky Plummer, Fire Chief for City of Cocoa, stated he is not present to speak for or against the assessment as it does not necessarily affect him personally since he lives in the City; the City was able to get an assessment passed, which has helped it immensely; the County has a great fire department; and the City works very closely with the County.  He noted he noticed the budget reduction of $1 million in the First Responder Program; the City gets approximately $73,000 to $75,000 a year from the County’s budget for such Program; it funds most of the City’s consumable products, the Medical Director, and those things for the City’s First Responder EMS Program; and $75,000 is a huge issue for the City, will impact its budget greatly, and its budget is pretty much set.  He requested the Board not delete that this year and look at ways to fund it in the future; and stated the City would be happy to work with the County on it.

 

Art Floyd stated the County needs to define the problem; it has missed to find the problem; the problem it has defined is how to get more money out of the taxpayers; and that is not the problem.  He noted Commissioner Pritchard understands the problem; the problem is excessive spending, which leads to other problems, including excessive taxation; it also leads to excessive regulation; and the County Manager should look very carefully at cutting back these excessive regulations.  He stated the County should get out of the citizens’ homes and out of their business, which would save the people a lot of money; maybe the taxpayers should revolt against  Brevard  County; compared  to  other  counties, Brevard County’s tax rates are way too

 

 

 

 

high; and the County fire department let his home burn down about 15 years ago, and the County firefighters were laying in the front yard.  He noted the citizens are paying way too much for fire service; if the Board cannot figure how to straighten the County out then it should hire an industrial engineer to go through and see which jobs are required and what kind of return it is getting on its money; and Brevard County is grossly mismanaged.

 

Lou Fead stated the letter he was sent from the County stated, “. . . the amount necessary to recoup the expended funds from the wildfires and vacant land”; it is like an open wallet, his open wallet; and suggested that whoever sets a wild land fire or lets their vacant land have a fire and does not do something about it, pay the County for the privilege of letting the County’s fire department take care of it.  He noted the judges should have people reimburse the County for its expenses.

 

Karl Krupp stated the County should charge everyone a set rate instead of the homeowners with smaller homes paying more than homeowners with larger homes; he would like to know what the County’s budget was last year; any proposed tax or amendment after June 30^th should automatically be denied because there is not enough time to go back and redo an assessment; and requested the Board deny the special assessment due to lateness of the amendment being published to the public.

 

Lloyd Behrendt, representing Brevard Cultural Alliance (BCA), requested the Board retain the funding it allocated for the BCA this year; and stated historically, the arts have been under funded in Brevard County.

 

Linda Brandt, representing Brevard Cultural Alliance, stated the BCA realizes the Board has tremendous considerations as it works through the budget process; the BCA is an organization focused on solving problems in the near term, but also looking toward the future; it has many things to accomplish and has the plans and action items in place to do so; the BCA has returned to look at its Strategic Plan that was developed in the 2001 to 2003 timeframe; and it is returning to study that paid for document that was impacted by over 1,000 in Brevard County, many of them in the arts and cultural, and heritage groups that the BCA serves.  She noted the BCA would like to decrease the competition with arts groups that happens at an umbrella level, and return to some of the services it needs to provide that are more incubator service type things to emerging groups; and it is doing the work that it needs to do to build the relationships in the community and make the arts and cultural sector part of shared agendas that are so obvious, including the one of economic vitality.

 

Tom Schuller stated the taxpayers want a fiscally responsible budget; it is perceived that they are not getting that from the fire department; there are 187 firefighters per shift and there are three  shifts; and that is 561 employees with an $85 million budget.  He noted that is $232,000 a

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

day or $9,700 per hour; the Sheriff’s Office has 1,100 employees and a $90 million budget; there is a huge discrepancy there; and fighting wildfires is a task of the Division of Forestry.  He stated it is not a task of Brevard County; the agricultural community has urged the Legislative Delegation and will continue to urge such Delegation to fully fund the Department of Forestry so it can fight wildfires; last year, most of the wildfires were not on agricultural property; and such fires were on lands that were owned by the St. Johns River Water Management District, federal government, and the County.  He noted if more funds were released for the Natural Resources Management Department to manage the County-owned lands and everyone lobbied the State to have the District have a larger land management budget, these wildfires would not be a problem.

 

Doug Brothers, representing WLC Homeowners Association, stated when S.R. 520 was repaved, a turning lane was supposed to have been put in, but was not due to insufficient funds; the Association still does not have the turning lane; it is paying taxes for reclaimed water, but it does not have such water in his neighborhood; and there are not a lot of forest fires in his neighborhood. 

 

Theresa Robinson, representing WLC Homeowners, stated she paid off her home mortgage in 22 years instead of 30 years; if the taxes keep increasing she is going to have a monthly payment again; that is no incentive to pay for a house that is in a low income neighborhood; and the residents have to beg for services that other people receive on a regular basis.  She noted the fire hydrants have not been maintained in her area; earlier this year there were problems with the ditches; if the residents are going to pay taxes and they are going to be increased then the people should be privy to the same services as everyone else; and the residents are not asking for anything special.  She expressed appreciation to Commissioner Pritchard for his stand on the issue; and stated she hopes the people do not have to pay a whole lot more in taxes this year.

 

Clerk of Courts Scott Ellis stated with the humanitarian adjustment, the Clerk’s Office is not sure it is legal; it has seen Assistant County Attorney Morris Richardson’s briefing on it; it is one that his Office has not been able to find anywhere else in the State of Florida, so it cannot say it is illegal or legal; and his staff can find nowhere else where a fixed assessment has a partial forgiveness policy and it based on income.  He noted what the Board promises today it may not be able to deliver on next year; it should be very wary dealing with that issue; the County Manager’s list is a good attempt; and there was $40 million in new spending based on the increase in ad valorem and the flip on the two assessments.  He stated it might have made more sense to look at where the $40 million was going as to what is controllable and not controllable; after looking at the list of the new spending then the County should look at the old spending and see what it would cut; if it moves the fire rate back up into the millage it is going to leave  the  County  approximately  $10  million  extra  dollars over last year to put the $19 million

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

back in the fire millage; and the County currently has $20 million over rollback and $9 million new construction, which is $29 million.  Mr. Ellis advised the $19 million EMS includes approximately  $4  million  for bad debt; there is approximately $15 million to $17 million that is a

recurring expense in EMS; it might be a better start if the Board is going to look at cuts; and  decisions are going to have to be made or time will make the decision for the County.

 

Mark Ryan, representing City of Titusville, stated the City clearly has utilized the fire assessment as a funding source; increases in these fees have been based partly upon the first responder costs to municipalities; the City recognizes the first responder portion of the program is an important part of the overall fire system and EMS system; and the City substantially depends upon the first responder fee to provide a quality EMS service to the citizens.  He noted the City hopes that this Program is not reduced or modified as municipalities in Brevard County have utilized these fees over the years to help integrate and to standardize their response; reductions or modifications to the fees following the preparation of the budgets, any establishment of a tentative millage rate is a problem; the County is in a no-win situation and the City understands that; and the City is programmed in excessive of $180,000 in first responder fees for the next budget year.  He requested the Board take a good hard look at reduction in first responder fees; stated the County has a whole bunch of other proposals for budget cuts; he has been there before and understands what the Board is going through; and from the economic development hat, he knows that the Economic Development Commission (EDC) is a viable part of the community.

 

Roger Shealy stated he wants to briefly comment on the concept of the humanitarian aid; and inquired after the County forms a new Brevard County welfare department to review the thousands of applications that will come in as people are forced to bring all their tax records here to apply for this, is it going to hire a team of auditors to go out in the field and validate.  He requested the Board take the assessment back above the line and at least this year, to review it and bring it back next year; stated regarding the tax side and the issue concerning assessment versus taxes, ad valorem taxes are deductible and itemized, but assessments are not; so there is a distinction there that the citizens will lose benefit of $23 million of tax loss.

 

Lee Feldman, representing City of Palm Bay, stated concerning the Executive Session on this matter and the discussion of the revenue flip, it is his understanding that executive sessions, these shade meetings under 286, are limited to litigation discussions on litigation expenditures and settlement strategies; and urged the Board as it goes forward that executive sessions be limited to those matters which the County is entitled to discuss in private.

 

Commissioner Colon requested County Attorney Scott Knox address the concern over the discussion of flip during executive sessions.

 

County Attorney Scott Knox advised the City of Palm Bay sued the County and prevailed in Circuit Court on the issue of the EMS assessment, so that opened up the discussion about what

 

 

 

strategy the Board ought to employ, to either go forward or not go forward, with other elements of the suit; one of the discussions that came up was the issue of the flip; and even assuming that was part of the Executive Session, which he does not recall it being, it has been aired repeatedly since then; so any problem with that has been cured multiple times.  He stated that is part of the discussion of what to do about the lawsuit; and even if that is a problem, which he does not believe it is, the County has talked about it numerous times since then in public meeting; and that is all it really needs to do.

 

Crystal Wenkstern stated the County should be able to get some of its money back that it is paying to fight the wildfires from the State, federal government, or whoever owns the land; and commented about duplication of fire services and the Parks and Recreation Department having its own fire department.

 

Chief William Farmer advised that the Parks and Recreation Department does not have its own fire department; and there was a proposal for it to have a certain type of pickup truck that has a sled that can be moved in to do some minor water suppressions while it does prescribed burns.

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca advised it is a management tool for Environmentally Endangered Lands.  Chief Farmer stated it is one human being, one nozzle, and one piece of hose; and there is not much to it.

 

Chair Voltz advised the County landfill will be open one hour longer today, but will be closed tomorrow; there will be no garbage, recycling, or yard debris pickup tomorrow; Thursday will be a regular day; and advised of the available special needs shelters and the general shelters.  She stated the Charter Officers will be closing, including the Property Appraiser, Tax Collector, Supervisor of Elections, Court Administration, and Clerk of the Courts; the State Attorney and Public Defender have not made a decision yet; the Sheriff will be monitoring; and all non-essential employees do not need to report to work tomorrow.

 

 

The meeting recessed at 2:46 p.m. and reconvened at 3:04 p.m.

 

Commissioner Colon stated she would prefer knowing right up front if there is support for the assessment; if there is then the Board just needs to move forward; she is willing to cut if that is what the Board wants to do; and she does not support the assessment for this year.  She noted the Board needs to vote to see if there is support for the assessment to go through this year; and it is extremely painful what everyone has had to go through.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board could go through a bunch of cuts here, but this is not the budget hearing; on September 26, 2006 all the persons that would not be funded today would  cry  foul  because they have not been given the opportunity to discuss the budget; that is

 

 

 

 

 

 

one problem; and there has been discussion concerning redoing the TRIM notice.  He noted Ms. Busacca indicated even if the TRIM notice was sent back out again, the Board would still have an additional $10 million of cuts it would have to go to; he asked Ms. Busacca if there were other programs out there that would help the County qualify and understand those who are in need; and there was discussion about the senior homestead, persons on food stamps, SSI, free and reduced lunches at schools, people who qualify under the SHIP, HOME, for First Time Homebuyer Programs.  He advised there is a litany of pre-qualified persons out there that could assist the County greatly in putting together the matrix of those persons who are going to be adversely affected and would limit the discussion; if the County just went to the number of $25,000 in income, it needs to understand many of these programs look not just at the income, but the size of the family; the larger the family, the greater the income it is to qualify; and he does not know where it would go, but perhaps the County could implement some of these collateral programs in offering the assistance.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he is open for suggestions, but he is running out of ideas this afternoon.

 

Commissioner Pritchard stated the County needs to stop thinking it is all things to all people; everyone is in it together and needs to solve it together; it is not the fire department’s fault; and advised of options, including Option 1, reducing the Fire MSTU projects, which is $2,771,000, and Option 3, which is $3 million in General Fund operating reserves.  He noted if the Board takes all of the recommendations, in Option 1, the potential is $16,741,441 subtracted from the $22.8 million the County needs, which leaves $6,092,000; the County can increase ad valorem under the 10% by $5.6 million; and it leaves a shortfall of $472,080.  He stated Option 2 would be leave the MSTU for fire units and subtract or reduce the General Fund operating reserves by $3 million; it would leave the County with a shortfall of $243,080; that gives everybody a wash on the fire assessment fee; he believes that is a good way to go, but he is not going to say it is the best way to go; and that is his suggestion.

 

Commissioner Carlson inquired does Commissioner Pritchard support Option 1 or Option 2; with Commissioner Pritchard responding he would support either one.

 

Chair Voltz stated there are a lot of things here that the Board could potentially cut; this is not just about one person’s wishes and cuts; and she would like to go down the entire list.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated as a point of order, this is a budgetary decision for September 26, 2006; he will not be voting on any of these items on the list because he thinks it is illegal and improper; and he will be abstaining on all of the votes.

 

Chair Voltz stated she is not saying the Board needs to vote and cut today; and it needs to let the departments know ahead of time that these could potentially happen.

 

Commissioner Carlson stated the Board can go through and address every single one of these issues, and  maybe  there  should  be some additional accountability on the fire department; she

 

 

 

does not have any problems with that; the Board has gone through many meetings and many conversations; the best way to go about it is to go forward with what Commissioner Scarborough has suggested in terms of the $25,000 income versus assessment; and whichever way the Board goes, it is going to require it to put out either $2 million to $5 million, depending on where it is at, but she believes it is the lesser of the two.  She stated if the County can take the dollars from reserves, which is $1.7 million, which does deplete fire reserves, and then borrowing the remainder of some portion from the insurance reserves, basically making a loan from insurance reserves to pay it back; and making it a one-time thing so the County can figure out what exactly went wrong with this assessment process.  Commissioner Carlson stated where the County came into a problem is that the Board looked at it and passed it because it thought staff had the right idea about it; she does not believe it did appropriate modeling to see exactly how it was impacting all the different levels of individuals; it was the Board’s mistake and is its responsibility; and it is responsible for the situation it is currently in.  She noted instead of disrupting the whole process, the way to go is to look at the humanitarian process of giving those individuals aid that are truly in a hardship and making it so that it can be revenue neutral for them; and then figuring out next year exactly what the County can do to make the rate it is charging a more equitable rate across-the-board when it comes to the structure, the square footage, and everything else.  She stated she is on Commissioner Carlson’s side on this one; the County needs to look at it from a humanitarian perspective; that is really the arguments she heard over the last session and this session; and it needs to not disrupt it.  Commissioner Carlson noted if there are things that are being questioned out there in the community as far as fire and how the County is using those services, it needs to review them; it is going through efficiency studies in the different County Departments; and the Fire Department can certainly be on one of them.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board can look at sources of funds that are strictly County; if it has the votes to go the full 10%, it has not assigned those additional revenues to any particular project at this time; it is holistic process; and it can talk about additional revenues and cuts at one meeting where everybody is advised and a part of it on September 26, 2006.  He noted his contention is it will work, it can work, the dollars are there, the County does not have to sit around here and wring its hands and pretend the sky is falling; the sky is not falling; the money is there; and the Board is trying to do the right thing.  He suggested the Board proceed with the process; Ms. Busacca can come back to the Board with methodologies that are simple to identify with needs; the money will be there and it will work; and on September 26, 2006 he guarantees the Board will be happy.

 

Commissioner Pritchard stated the Board should not look to more fees; it seems to be its solution to everything; the taxpayer always ends of paying; and the County cannot tax its way to prosperity.

 

Commissioner Colon stated she is staying consistent in regard to the 10%; supporting the budget for that 10% has not changed; and she does not support the assessment for this year.

 

 

 

 

Chair Voltz stated everybody has to pay appropriate taxes; nobody likes taxes and everyone wishes the taxes were lower; she is not happy about any of this, including the cuts that have been presented here today; and she does not support $1.6 million from the Local Option Gas Tax back into the General Fund and cutting the Cody Study funding.  She noted the Board needs to look at a combination of cuts and what it can do to make sure that the assessment is equitable; some of these cuts are fine and she has no problem with some of them, which can be discussed when the Board does the final budget; she is not happy about having to support the fire assessment; and she does not believe the appropriate cuts have been addressed.

 

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to direct staff to put together a process and provide recommendations whereby those individuals with an income of $25,000 or less, and senior homestead exemption would be given relief, to include a revenue neutral scenario and funding through existing reserves.

 

 

Commissioner Scarborough amended the motion to include that the County Manager provide a report at the September 12, 2006 Budget Hearing on how various programs would accomplish the goals, including SHIP, HOME, first-time homebuyers, reduced school lunch, food stamps, and SSI, to give full knowledge of the fiscal impact; and Commissioner Carlson accepted the amendment to the motion.

 

 

Chair Voltz stated the assessment needs to be redone next year to make it more fair and equitable; the commercial people are paying way too much money; it is the Board’s responsibility to look at the list of cuts; however, there are things on the list that it should not be looking at cutting. 

 

Commissioner Pritchard stated it is a mistake to blame the Fire Department for this as it is not the Fire Department’s fault; it is not a matter of being more accountable and more responsible; it happened and the Board needs to address it; and regarding the hardship issue, the Board does not know if it is legal.

 

Chair Voltz requested the County Attorney get an expedited Attorney General’s Opinion regarding legality of the humanitarian exemption.

 

Commissioner Pritchard stated the County needs to focus on where the hardship is; he believes the hardship happens to be across the entire strata; the methodology the County has is flawed; and what it is looking for is a Band-aid approach.  He noted he disagrees with the entire process; for once the Board is finally looking within the budget; it can make some responsible adjustments; and it is the way the Board should go.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he agrees with Commissioner Pritchard that this is a Band-aid; but he has looked at every Band-aid in the cabinet and it is the only one he is finding.

 

 

 

 

Chair Voltz called for a vote on the motion.  Motion carried and ordered; Commissioners Pritchard and Colon voted nay.

 

 

County Attorney Scott Knox stated on the issue of the legality of the humanitarian exemption, the Attorney General is not going to solve that problem, but will give the County an answer that he believes is right; it may or may not be correct when getting down to brass tax; and one way the Board could handle this is to put the exemption in the resolution that will be certified to the Tax Collector and also put a savings provision in it saying that if it is determined to be illegal or invalid for any reason then the County would take the money from General Fund and reserves to pay the difference.

 

Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to adopt Resolution  adopting  a schedule of rates, assessments, and charges for fire service operations,

Haz-mat Special Operations Team, fire prevention and inspection fees, imposed against all improved real property within the Benefit Area of Brevard County, for the Fiscal Year beginning October 1, 2006; and adopt Resolution ratifying, confirming, and certifying the Annual Fire Services Non-ad Valorem Special Assessment Roll for the County Fiscal Year beginning October 1, 2006, as amended, to include a provision that if the exemption is determined illegal or invalid for any reason that the money be taken from General Fund and reserves to pay the difference.  Motion carried and ordered; Commissioners Pritchard and Colon voted nay.  (See pages                          for Resolutions Nos. 06-235 and 06-236.)

 

Commissioner Carlson inquired does the purchase of Kobelco Excavators for the Road and Bridge Department have a time constraint on it.

 

Road and Bridge Director Billy Osborne stated there is a time constraint; on September 9, 2006, the County has to be able to issue a purchase order to purchase the equipment; and time is running out rapidly.  He advised staff is asking the Board to waive the bid requirements and allow staff to go out to quote and pick the lowest bidder for the Kobelco equipment that the County is trying to replace; typically this would have been bought under the State Contract, but the pricing is not available for this equipment at this time; in the past there was one vendor that supplied this equipment; and now there are two vendors.  He stated staff is getting quotes from each vendor; it wants to take the lowest quote to purchase this equipment; it is being purchased out of funds that were approved by the Board on July 11, 2006 as part of a Change Order Request. 

 

Chair Voltz stated the County already has the money to do this.  Mr. Osborne noted that is correct.

 

 

 

 

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired why the urgency and what would happen if the County did not buy the equipment.  Mr. Osborne responded staff would continue to use the equipment it is using right now; it has Kobelco equipment in the north end and south end of the County, but they are continually being repaired; there is a lot of downtime for that equipment; so staff is wanting to replace the equipment and have something that will be more dependable. 

 

Commissioner Pritchard stated the Board is looking at potential cuts; and suggested the Board continue further with its budget discussions and staff can bring the proposed item back at another time that might be more palatable.

 

The Board reached consensus to direct staff to schedule an agenda item to waive bid requirements, authorize the Road and Bridge Department to obtain quotes from two Central Florida authorized Kobelco dealers, and authorize issuance of purchase order for low quote on two new Kobelco Excavators for the Road and Bridge Department, to a future Board meeting agenda.

 

 

 

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 3:45 p.m.

 

 

 

 

ATTEST:

                                                                              __________________________________

                                                                              HELEN VOLTZ, CHAIR

                                                                              BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

                                                                              BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

______________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK

 

 

 

                (S E A L)