MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

May 19, 1997

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in special/workshop session on May 19, 1997, at 1:00 p.m., in the Florida Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Melbourne, Florida. Present were: Chairman Randy O?Brien, Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Nancy Higgs, Mark Cook, and Helen Voltz, County Manager Tom Jenkins, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

Chairman O?Brien advised the workshop meeting is to work with the Sheriff to accommodate his needs and if not able, to place his budget on the ballot as a referendum.

Sheriff Williams advised if the $4.6 million request forces a referendum, nobody will support it, and he does not have time to educate the public so they can make educated decisions; consequently, it is doomed to failure. He stated he looked at additional personnel and programs, road deputies, narcotic agents, differences between his budget and other Sheriffs? budgets, and can recommend a $1,752,179 reduction in his proposed budget, the majority of which will cut additional deputies at $1,068,614. He stated he will not be able to put additional deputies on the road or fund an agriculture marine deputy; and the other cuts are $395,000 from capital and $288,565 from operations, leaving the budget request at an increase of $2,829,636. He stated he will be able to do very little different next year than is being done this year; will not be able to address civil unrest, increase in homicides, or be pro-active; and will be doing business the same way as it has been done for 17 years in the County. Sheriff Williams advised he will add four agents to perform the work that is not being done now, such as 680 felonies that were not addressed last year.

Commissioner Cook stated most of the felonies were property crimes. Sheriff Williams stated they prioritize their crimes; if there are fingerprints, license plates, descriptions of suspects, and other solvability factors, those would be worked; and they have to write off other cases which makes the crime statistics look very bad. Commissioner Cook inquired if they are highly solvable crimes; and Sheriff Williams explained his process on felony investigations for the future. Sheriff Williams stated they are not getting less business; the jail population was 1,021 this weekend; and if they do not get the minimum security facility, the federal court will take action and sue individual Commissioners. He advised of a recent status conference on the jail; and stated he is willing to take chances that the former Sheriff would not, and reclassify felons and put them in minimum security to ease the jail population problem for a few years. He stated his priority is to leave six corrections officers in the budget to open four quadrants.

Chairman O?Brien inquired about pre-trial release; with Sheriff Williams responding it is done by the Public Safety Department, and Mr. Parker can handle it. Chairman O?Brien inquired if pre-trial release was handled by the Sheriff in the past and is now being handled by Public Safety, how much would it increase the Public Safety?s budget; with County Manager Tom Jenkins responding the whole program, which is called Court Alternatives, was moved to Public Safety, so the whole budget was brought over and expanded.

Commissioner Cook advised the Sheriff submitted another budget proposal reducing $1.7 million which will still require a tax increase; the citizens of this County have passed referendums at times; not every referendum is doomed to failure; and $2.829 million increase is a substantial amount of money, given what has already been built into the Sheriff?s budget for the step plan, etc.

Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Sheriff can give a break down of the $2.8 million; with Sheriff Williams responding he would defer to Mike Abels. He stated the $4.6 million were to fund his Department and bring it to 1.95 deputies per 1,000 population; due to the time constraints, a referendum is not a viable option; and Commissioner Cook at the last meeting said law enforcement is his top priority, and the reason for going to a referendum is because he was exceeding the cap, but he is not exceeding the cap. He stated the Board can decide to fund all, part, or none of his budget request; it has to set priorities and make adjustments in other areas; and he realizes it does not have the details from other constitutional officers or departments at this time; but he feels strongly that it is a status quo budget.

Commissioner Scarborough inquired where will the additional $2.8 million be spent; and is it in addition to the increase for the step plan, etc. Budget Director Kathy Wall advised the step plan is $807,000. Mike Abels, Director of Administrative Services for the Sheriff?s Department, advised the step plan was included as part of the base budget submitted to the Board. Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the $807,000 is included in the $2.8 million; with Ms. Wall responding she does not know what is in the $2.8 million, but the $807,000 was included in the $4.6 million. Commissioner Scarborough inquired what will the people get for the additional $2 million.

Discussion ensued on crime decrease, safer streets with nine additional deputies, zone overlaps, Merritt Island being understaffed, the COPS grant, SRO?s, unsolved homicides, additional agents, legislation requiring full-blown investigations for child abuse, clearance rates for homicides, travel expenses for homicide investigations, disbanding of the drug task force, creative funding, and hiring practices of the former Sheriff.

Commissioner Higgs advised her main priority is the road deputies; what the Sheriff is proposing is a reduction of road deputies; over the last three to four years, the Sheriff?s Budget increased about 5.7% each year; and the 11% increase should be looked at over multiple years and not do it all in one year. She stated it will be difficult to do this year and equally difficult to go with a referendum; but the Board has the safety of the streets as its priority, and needs to look at the request through a multi-year funding process to get to those numbers, particularly of road deputies.

Commissioner Cook stated he has a problem with 103 new vehicles because it is hard to imagine the fleet was left in such disrepair and so badly decimated. Sheriff Williams advised one way the Sheriff got the Board to fund the step plan was to gut half a million dollars from capital; he bought 22 Ford Crown Victorias for under $20,000 each and canceled 50 Chevy Lumina orders; and he took agents out of big cruisers and put them in Chevy Luminas for about $17,000 each. Commissioner Cook inquired if the Crown Victorias were the lowest priced full size cars; with Sheriff Williams responding they are the lowest priced and only full size car on the State bid. Commissioner Cook stated that is still $2,240,000 of the budget request.

Commissioner Cook advised the request for travel is $129,000 which is an 850% increase over last year which was $15,290. Sheriff Williams advised the Sheriff?s Department spent almost that much in travel last year; however, the Sheriff had flexibility of moving money in between columns to cover different things, which was done with travel and aviation. He stated the $129,000 is what it will cost to travel for investigations, seminars, following up on leads, etc.; and he is showing what it actually costs and not padding one area of his budget, and not keeping vacancies, which is how it was done in the past.

Discussion continued on the second dollar funding, seminars and training, 32 open positions, more road deputies, positions from Administration put on the road, and staggered hiring.

Sheriff Williams inquired how many people were taken from Administration; with Mr. Abels responding he does not have the exact dollar figure, but reductions were made in Finance, Operations, Human Resources operations, Capital, Records, and Civil.

Commissioner Higgs again suggested a multi-year plan to get to where the Sheriff thinks the Department should be; and stated the $2.8 million does not give the deputies on the road, so she is not sure that is where the Board needs to go. Sheriff Williams stated it gives four agents which is the best it can do as far as personnel; he could add a few deputies, but they would be walking without vehicles; he has to have vehicles; and if the former Sheriff did not cut half a million dollars out of that last year, he would not be asking for that much money this year.

Discussion proceeded on the condition of the Sheriff?s fleet, a multi-year plan, the $4.6 million being based on this year?s population and crime estimates, jail expansion, increased activities, uniform patrol division, the step plan to be more competitive, and the court system, homicide investigations, drug agents, the jail, Administration, Finance, etc., funded by the General Fund.

Sheriff Williams presented a document to the Commissioners on what he wants to phase in, what was cut, the total requested for new programs and deputies, and a time table for adding deputies. Commissioner Cook inquired if the 106 new vehicles can be phased in; with Mr. Abels responding of the vehicles they are replacing, none will have less than 95,000 miles; they have 449 total vehicles; and as the Department grows, the fleet will grow, and the cost will increase. He stated the Board can expect to pay $1.2 million for rotation of vehicles every year just to maintain the fleet at a safe level. Sheriff Williams advised of his changes to reduce mileage on vehicles by effective assignment of deputies; stated his car, since February, 1997, has 10,000 miles on it because he lives in Melbourne; and his County wide supervisor averages 200 miles a shift to cover the entire County once a night. Commissioner Cook stated last year 56 vehicles were replaced, and this year the Sheriff wants to replace 103 vehicles; with Sheriff Williams responding the cut by the former Sheriff was primarily from the vehicle budget. Mr. Abels stated the capital was reduced about 29% last year, and that is part of the problem they are having this year.

Commissioner Higgs inquired about projection of revenue increases; with Mr. Abels responding the Detention Center signed an Agreement with Social Security Administration to monitor prisoners on SSI to get a reimbursement on the savings it makes, charges for non-law enforcement services such as fingerprinting, marketing of farm produce, contracts with municipalities for 800 MHZ service, medical reimbursement, forensics, dispatch reimbursements, and contract with PrimeCo for use of tower. He stated PrimeCo will build a tower in Melbourne which the Sheriff can lease for $10,000 a year; and it will save approximately $300,000 in capital expenditures.

Chairman O?Brien inquired about the jail canteen funds; with a Sheriff?s representative responding it is called the Inmate Welfare Fund and has to be used for inmates. The representative stated they initiated a closed circuit television visitation which expanded visitation without corrections officers; they fund inmate educational programs and provide necessities for indigent prisoners, etc.; and they must be approved by the Inmate Welfare Committee. He noted with the revenue from the telephones provided to inmates they total a couple hundred thousand dollars a year.

Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the Sheriff can come back with a program approach to move toward the ideal over a period of time; with Sheriff Williams responding if they catch up on capital this year, it will be a constant next year; and if infrastructure and investigations are sound, they will concentrate on adding zone deputies through the MSTU, and plan it out in time. Commissioner Scarborough suggested the Sheriff come back to the Board with what it will get for $2 million this year beyond just the status quo, using a program approach. He stated if the Sheriff wants the full increase, it would require a referendum; and the Board would have to make a decision on the referendum by May 27, 1997.

The Board discussed the time line on a referendum, additional questions added to the ballot if the Sheriff?s Budget is put on the ballot, road deputies not funded by general revenue, separate questions on MSTU and General Fund for the referendum, goals to provide public safety for citizens and be the safest place in Florida, investigative edge, new revenue, percentage increase of approximately 3%, new growth money, reduction of solid waste fees to increase taxes for Sheriff?s budget at the same cost to the taxpayers, and revenue generating alternatives.

Chairman O?Brien advised the Board could ask the public if they want a County MSTU for investigators, agents, etc. at the 1998 General Election. He noted they passed the EELS and Beach and Riverfront Programs. Sheriff Williams advised he does not have the time to get the word out.

Sheriff Williams advised he will answer the Board?s questions on the out years; vehicles cost a lot this year; and every time he can use drug money to buy specialty vehicles he will. Chairman O?Brien stated the increase would be $2.7 million. Commissioner Cook stated any increase this year will be an increase next year. Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the Sheriff is going to argue it before the Cabinet this year; with Sheriff Williams responding not if the Board and he can work out a budget he can work with. Commissioner Scarborough stated if the Sheriff is not happy with his budget, then the Board needs to take it to a referendum. Commissioner Cook stated $2.8 million is at the cap. Commissioner Voltz stated 3% for this budget is not fair to everybody else.

Chairman O?Brien advised the Board will decide on May 27, 1997, if the Sheriff should have full funding or not, and whether or not the Board wants to continue the option for a referendum. He stated the intent of the Board is to try and work it out with the Sheriff.

Upon motion and vote, the workshop adjourned at 2:55 p.m.

ATTEST: _________________________________

RANDY O?BRIEN, CHAIRMAN

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

_________________________

SANDY CRAWFORD, CLERK