MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

April 26, 2007

 

 

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in special session on April 26, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. in the Government Center, Florida Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida.  Present were:  Chairperson Jackie Colon, Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Chuck Nelson, Mary Bolin, and Helen Voltz, Assistant County Manager Mel Scott, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

 

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the Board could return a week early in June; stated the Board’s calendar is full in July because of delayed items and budget workshops; and if the Board were to return a week early in June, it would give another week to have discussions. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the only days good for her in the last week of June would be Monday and Tuesday, as Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, of that week is a convention.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the Board would like to just look at possibly meeting on Monday or Tuesday of the last week in June; with Chairperson Colon responding absolutely; and she only has a problem with the end of that week.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated normally the whole month of June is free; he and County Manager Peggy Busacca looked at the schedule and in the last week of July is a zoning meeting, but that can be rearranged.   

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated Pat Northy, from Volusia County, has discussed with him a joint meeting between Brevard County and Volusia County; and the Board could ask Ms. Busacca and Volusia County’s Manager to look at possible dates in the Fall to have a joint meeting.  Chairperson Colon stated that would be a wonderful idea.

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated after the Board’s meeting on April 24, 2007, related to the Solid Waste issue, there were some questions that he has since had a chance to think about.  He stated one thought was the ability to split off the District 2, or Merritt Island, piece of contract and add it to the south and look at going to RFP for just District 1; and he would like to have that topic on the next Agenda for discussion. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board had that discussion on Tuesday.  Commissioner Nelson stated he was not ready to say yes at that point in time because it was an idea that had not been approached.  Chairperson Colon stated the Board is not supporting it, so it would not put it back  on  the  Agenda.   Commissioner Nelson stated he feels the issue was not fully discussed,

but if that is the rest of the Board’s choice, then that is fine; and he did not have the numbers at the previous meeting, but Solid Waste Director Euri Rodriguez has subsequently given him that information. 

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if each Commissioner could get that information; stated she is not supporting splitting the County; and the majority of the Board does not want to go in that direction.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he would like it on record that he would be in favor of splitting out Merritt Island, adding it to the south, and going with an RFP. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the previous evening’s meeting was productive with the Town of Malabar; all of the City Council members were present, as well as the City Administrator and the City Attorney; and unfortunately no one from the Sheriff’s Department was present.   She noted the Board and the Town Council could not discuss anything that could potentially be done; and she contacted Commander Drinkwater by phone and he gave some information, but it is not the same as them being present at the meeting.  She advised she will put together a meeting in her office with the Town of Malabar Manager, the Town Attorney, the Sheriff, and Commander Drinkwater.  She stated the Town of Malabar wants 24-hour a day deputies within the Town; the Sheriff is willing to provide two or three deputies in South Precinct, which would give them increased services; another option was for the Town of Malabar doing its own MSTU; and since they could not talk to the Sheriff, she does not know how that would have worked out.  She noted a meeting has been scheduled for May 16, 2007 in the Commission Chambers; the Town of Malabar would like for all of the Commissioners to be present at the meeting.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired what time the meeting is scheduled for on May 16, 2007; with Commissioner Voltz responding it is at 7:00 p.m.  Chairperson Colon stated the Board encourages Sheriff Parker to be present at that meeting to take part in the discussion.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Town of Malabar is willing to work with the Board of County Commissioners and she thought it was a very positive meeting. 

 

 

Douglas Sphar stated a while ago, MyRegion asked Central Florida citizens to vote their preference for four growth scenarios leading to the year 2050; all four scenarios started with a premise that Central Florida must accommodate an influx of millions of new residents; and the only issue to vote on was how to situate them within the region.  He stated missing was an option that would moderate the magnitude of the horde of newcomers; possibly the option is missing because the Comprehensive Planning in Florida is mandated to use population predictions by the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR); and unfortunately, BEBR’s projections are basically a mathematics exercise, where past trends

are extrapolated into the future.  He stated there is no accounting for any events or phenomena that would temper the outcome; for example, running out of water.  He stated BEBR does not account for Florida’s long standing, but flawed, economic model; the model depends on tracking new residents and then building things to serve their needs; and basically development is a defacto State industry with tourism acting as a hand maiden.  He stated for well over a century a succession of State governments have promulgated and reinforced the tourism development linkage.  He noted over the long term, this model could only be sustained in a universe of unlimited resources; Florida is finite; and before 2050, critical resources will become scarce and expensive, quality of life will decline and growth will grind to a halt; and the allure of Central Florida will be gone.  He stated for a sustainable future, Florida must wean itself away from the one big economic engine of development and evolve toward a diverse sweep of economic engines that stabilize population growth, but offer economic vitality while conserving resources and providing a high quality of life.  He advised Switzerland and Scandinavia have similar attributes while maintaining stable population.  He stated he would like MyRegion to start a dialogue on creative visioning leading to an alternative future; and a future that does not depend on expediential population growth.

 

Mary Hillberg stated visioning is good and everyone understands that visioning is looking at the future; good planning is always welcome, but good intentions may not be enough to offset the obvious potential consequences that this overall plan will have on Brevard County; and in addition to the necessary costs are the environmental impacts, the rapid drain of valuable resources and the safety issues as a result of over-populating the coastal county.  She stated Brevard County’s 72 miles of coast is the envy of the State, but there is also more responsibility to protect it; it is unlikely Brevard is able to absorb and manage surges of additional low and very low income populations from surrounding counties while at the same time facing an eminent acute reduction in revenues and services; and if the current economic predictions for the County are correct, there will be an increase of higher-end unemployment within the next 24 to 36 months.  She stated this has happened in the past and she knows everyone remembers; and it happening again will make it more difficult.  She stated it is her opinion that the best thing to do is to hold the course steady and evaluate economic employment reductions and economic policies and the critical legislative outcomes that everyone is waiting for.  She stated some time ago she looked at the MyRegion website and was searching for the origin of beginning of MyRegion; and the only thing she could find was a statement that said, “participating in the global economy.”  She stated last week she asked again how MyRegion started and she was told that the Orlando Chamber of Commerce wanted to get into the global economy, which is a good thing for them, but perhaps they can explain more about how that would happen were Brevard to heavily populate the coast and press itself financially.  She stated the marketing avenues that are used to demonstrate the citizens’ input are a chip game, an internet survey, and a Development Preference Map; the maps used in the chip game were inaccurate and they left out conservation areas, existing developments, and other things.  She noted the chip game was originally touted as looking at the voice of the people; now it is explained that it was an educational game and they were educating people on how bad it could get in Brevard County; and the internet survey contained serious flaws and it was also deemed to be useless in terms of recognizing what people would choose if they had the right choices.  She stated the preference maps  that  were given out to the people  were  flawed.  She noted the differences in maps to the Board.  She stated there is a flawed movement to load Brevard County with massive costs of redesign; nothing makes sense to her as to why it is all imperative; all of the Counties are trying to plan; and a regional perspective is a good idea, but to jump in with both feet at this particular time would be a very hard consequence for everyone.  She stated transportation funds are in the red; revenues are at risk; schools are floundering; and to plan to add high density into the mix of that to load services, and if everyone in Brevard wants a huge tax increase, that would be good, but that is not going to be the case.  She stated with high density comes more crime, more social pressures, which necessitate services as well, more pollution and sweeping increases in taxes to sustain and maintain the infrastructure; and perhaps most importantly there is catastrophic pressure on critical resources; water supplies are rapidly declining and there is no plan for that; and everyone needs to work on that.  She stated the overall assumptions about natural resources are flawed; and she read a comment from someone from MyRegion stating numerous assumptions were not considered by the model, including water availability, current zoning and future land use designations and individual parcel data; and the scale of the project is so large that taking these items into account would have been impractical.  She stated her opinion is that this is not the right thing for Brevard County. 

 

Bill Hillberg stated he is speaking to the Board on behalf of Maureen Rupe, who was unable to attend the meeting.  He read a letter into the record by Maureen Rupe; the letter stated she feels strongly about the plans that are being proposed for Brevard County from sources outside the County; the Partnership for a Sustainable Future Incorporated is concerned with How Shall We Grow? Plans; and people have a right to know the ramifications.  The letter further stated Ms. Rupe would like to have taxes, traffic, schools, and water implications calculated before local government agrees to a plan that could be detrimental to any or all of these high-priority issues; if land is zoned correctly, the property owner can do whatever is allowed within the zoning; and when density is increased within the centers, how does the land outside of the centers get zoning downgraded?  Ms. Rupe stated in her letter MyRegion cannot plan anything; their plan is very similar to Brevard County’s SEAS Ordinance and unless changes are mandatory it will fail; MyRegion is not asking how to grow, but where to grow; and The Partnership for a Sustainable Future Incorporated urges the Brevard County Commission to scrutinize every aspect of the land before making a commitment. 

 

Shelly Lauten, Director, MyRegion, stated one citizen was correct in that MyRegion started at the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce.  She stated MyRegion consists of citizens from all over the region and the question that brought MyRegion together was as the region moves into the 21^st century, how should everyone work together to be globally competitive and how could it do a better job of working together to maintain a high standard quality of life.  She noted the citizens who make up MyRegion consist of elected officials, business leaders, and civic organizations.  She noted growth was one of the issues identified in the beginning of MyRegion.  She stated the essence of MyRegion is how to bring resources together across seven counties and 86 cities to determine what everybody has in common and what brings everyone together to be worked on more effectively.  She advised growth is happening whether everyone agrees with the numbers or not; there are common themes of growth that bind everyone; and that was the emphasis of the How Shall We Grow? campaign. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated a question from the constituents has been what is being asked of the Board of County Commissioners today and how is it going to be utilized to go after funds from Tallahassee; and inquired what will happen with any vote that takes place today.

 

Ms. Lauten stated MyRegion is not a plan, it is a vision, and there is a big difference.  She noted what the Board is being asked for today is not funds, and not money, but its leadership and best thinking on how to take shared themes from various citizens and use it in a way that connects everyone more succinctly.  She stated Leadership groups have been meeting for the last 15 months to think about the issues of should there be shared consistent views on how to protect the environment.  She commented on three groups that have been meeting; the Regional Leadership Council, a Joint Policy Committee and the School Board Coalition.  She noted MyRegion is asking the Board of County Commissioners for input, feedback and leadership on its recommendations for policy decisions.

 

Chairperson Colon stated once there are seven counties approving a policy it is powerful and it can be negative or positive; and inquired what kind of dollars need to be looked at.  She stated Brevard County takes pride in its eco-tourism and it is praised for that from other communities; and Brevard County would be reluctant to have to look at another community that is more lenient with its Codes and Ordinances.  

 

Ms. Lauten stated the MyRegion process is bringing leaders together to make shared commitments; MyRegion has no authority as a group; the authority for making policy decisions lies at the County level and with the 86 cities within the region; and MyRegion is only the convener of the Board of County Commissioners.  She stated MyRegion has heard from citizens that the most important thing to pay attention to now is making sure there is green space left 50 years from now; and the Commissioner of Lake County volunteered to pull together his staff and the other counties to think about the region and how to create a green print that would think about what it is saving and what is most important to citizens around Central Florida.  She commented on weaving the assets of the different counties together and what is the best way to weave them together. 

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if there is a discussion in regards to grants that are being asked from the State based on the blessings from all of the communities; with Ms. Lauten responding not yet.  She stated the conversation at every policy meeting she has been to has been if there is a way for everyone to work together collectively to have more impact in Tallahassee; and until the regional vision is decided upon, it cannot go forward.  She noted the School Board Coalition has been meeting for two years and last year it went to Tallahassee to advocate for consistent funding and a funding pattern; and because they came together collectively, with nine counties, they had much more of an impact in Tallahassee than it did when trying to do it alone, and that is a model MyRegion can look at.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if there is any truth to some of the rumors of the development community being a key player in regards to the MyRegion process; stated her knowledge is that it is comprised   of  elected officials  and  planners,  and at some  of  the meetings  there  was  a  huge number of development communities present and it was scary to some of the people who witnessed that. 

 

Ms. Lauten stated one of the core values of the MyRegion process is inclusion, and anyone is welcome at the table, whether they are a developer, an elected official, an environmentalist, or anyone else in order to find common ground and common ways to look at the future.  She commented on an article from the Lake County section of the ORLANDO SENTINEL noting there were developers at MyRegion workshops posing as citizens; stated developers are citizens too and have grandchildren in the region also; and everyone has a stake in the future of Central Florida.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired who will be the final decision makers.  She stated Commissioner Voltz has no authority at MyRegion, but Mayor Crotty from Orlando has almost full authority because he sits as capacity of mayor.  Ms. Lauten stated he is the only one. Chairperson Colon stated that is why she would like to be specific about who will be the decision makers, once it is all said and done, of any policies that go straight to Tallahassee.  Ms. Lauten stated MyRegion is here today to review the joint policy frame work with the Board; and the Board and each of the cities in Brevard County are the people who need to make that decision.  She advised neither the Regional Planning Council nor MyRegion have any authority and is only bringing information of what has been recommended to date so that the Board of County Commissioners can make decisions about what works for Brevard County.  Chairperson Colon inquired if the Board of Directors of MyRegion are the ones who are going to be making decisions; with Ms. Lauten responding no.  She stated MyRegion has no authority and it only has the power of good ideas; and the Commissioners are the ones who are elected to make the tough decisions.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated several months ago she gave the Commissioners a copy of exactly the issues to be looked at; she asked the Commissioners to review it and get back to her; she has been appointed by the Board to MyRegion so she could bring ideas back to the Board; and she has not heard from any of the Commissioners on the subject.  She noted on May 18, 2007 she has to bring something to MyRegion that states what the Board wants to do; and she needs the Commissioners to let her know which part they do not support.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated there is a Sunshine Law and comments need to be put in the record and perhaps brought back through a Commission Agenda item so that each Commissioner has their own comments on the subject. 

 

County Attorney Scott Knox advised the Commissioners can give their comments on the issues to Commissioner Voltz in writing and she can bring those comments to a County Commission meeting if she wishes, as long as the Commissioners are not responding back to some of the comments.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he would feel more comfortable in telling the people that he has given his comments to Commissioner Voltz and then they can request the records if they need to.  Commissioner Voltz stated there are not too many meetings left before May 18, 2007.  Chairperson Colon stated the issue can be brought up under reports at any meeting or on an Agenda at a Regular meeting.   Commissioner  Scarborough  stated he  would like a copy of the Commissioners’ reports to Commissioner Voltz because the other thoughts could help him with his thoughts.

 

Phil Laurian stated MyRegion is not asking the Board to vote on anything but it is going to ask the Board to place bubbles on a map of how it envisions its unincorporated centers in the year 2050.  He noted the visioning process is not a plan; it does not trump the County’s local Comprehensive Plans at all; and it is an examination of where the region is headed if it continues as it is currently. He stated he agrees with almost all of the comments of the first speaker; the second two speakers reflect the misunderstanding of what the process is; and there is a misunderstanding with what MyRegion is saying and what people are hearing.  He noted the online voting was useful; 96 percent of the population said to not keep doing what it is doing, and that is the trend on a regional level.  He stated if Central Florida stays the course for 50 years, MyRegion can show what that will look like on a regional scale.  He commented on traffic, commuting time, air quality and the local economy and stated they are intended to be indicative of trends in the future. 

Ms. Lauten stated the goal is to create a vision of forward thinking; and it projects 50 years from now and the belief is that it will help MyRegion think through the tough issues that matter most to everyone in Central Florida.  She commented on the partners that make up MyRegion including the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida Department of Community Affairs, and all of the MPO’s in the region, and the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce which is made up of people from all seven counties.  She noted the State is looking at the process as a way to try to think about the future of Florida.  She advised MyRegion hopes to finish the visioning process by August, 2007; on August 10, 2007 there will be a community summit where the goal will be to review the vision and core themes that came out of the input; and over 10,000 citizens have been involved around the region and an additional 7,300 took an online survey.  She stated there were six principals of growth that resonated most with people including preserving green areas, providing access to education, health care and cultural alliances, providing transportation choices, encouraging economic development, fostering distinctive, attractive and safe places to live, and creating a range of obtainable housing; and those were the principals on which all of the policies and scenarios were based.  She stated the three themes that matter most to people are preserving green areas, creating town centers, and developing transit corridors.  She commented on other regional areas of Florida who agree with the same three key themes.

 

Phil Laurian, Executive Director, Central Regional Planning Council, commented on the four trends for the future including green areas, which emphasizes preserving the groundwater recharge areas, the strategic habitat for environmentally endangered species, migratory wildlife corridors, and recreation.  He stated the green print would be first and then population would be allocated around that.  He noted the Centers scenario was to promote new growth in specific centers; it had a balance of roads and rail that were speculative; and the Corridors scenario took similar centers, but also allocated population along corridors of transportation that would connect some of the centers.  He stated the unveiling of the various scenarios was done on television during  the week of January 22 – 26, 2007 with a partnership between WMFE-TV and WKMG-TV and highlighted the benefits and limitations of each choice and programs were also shown on local  government stations throughout the region.   He  noted the public was invited to

go to the internet during a six-week period and look at three different surveys.  He stated one was an indicator survey; over 7,300 people provided their survey preferences after 400 suspect votes were deleted; and the people surveyed wanted to see the percentage of developed land, the percentage of conserved land, air quality, water demand, transportation choices, commuting times and economic impact.  He stated people wanted the smallest amount of urban footprint and that happened to be in the corridor scenario; people wanted the most amount of green space in the green space scenario; and the lowest water demand in the corridors and the most transportation came from corridors.  He stated in ranking the four choices, the clear loser was The Trend scenario with 4 percent selecting it as first choice; The Trend scenario would make 58 percent of the region urban; about 18 percent would be conservation; and less than 20 percent would be undeveloped land.  He stated of the other three choices there were aspects that people liked, but there were also unforeseen consequences such as population spillovers when the models were run; and it is important to go back to the community and explain those.  He advised the Green Areas had the biggest conservation footprint with 46 percent of the region being green and that means it would be conserved either by easement or outright; they could be conservation easements on agricultural land or conservation easements for open space in the development land or wildlife sanctuaries that are already purchased.  He noted even though there is a larger conservation footprint, people are being made to live farther out and commute further.  He noted The Centers had the best air quality and the best commute time; it was a balance of 272 miles of passenger rail and it also had 370 miles of speculative expressways; and these are controversial, but they were allowed in the model because that particular model was just to see the effect on traffic, and it did not have a huge effect on traffic but it did have the shortest commute time.  He stated the expressways on the model went places people did not want them to go; and specifically, the conservation corridor was highly controversial.  He stated The Corridor scenario was most preferred in terms of four different indicators; it had the smallest environmental impact because it had the smallest urban footprint; the difference between the trend and corridors is that the trend would develop the most amount of land, 2,600 square miles of additional urban land in the next 45 years; and by comparison that doubles the 2,600 square miles of urban land that is currently in the region that has taken 445 years of urban development with the low density sprawl that will double in 45 years, with the trend.  He stated The Corridors would only use 660 square miles; and The Corridors has the smallest impact on the environment, the smallest urban footprint, the least amount of water demand because people are not watering one-third acre St. Augustine grass lawns, which is the typical suburban style now.  He stated by saving 2,000 square miles of urban development saves $100 billion worth of infrastructure cost to develop the acres; this particular scenario generated approximately $90 billion per-year more gross regional product than did the least effective scenario, which was The Trend.  He advised The Corridor scenario was the most robust economically; what is controversial in some communities is the idea if alternative transportation system is going to be built and paid for there have to be increased densities along the rail lines.  He commented on population projections by BEBR in the year 2050 in all of the trends; and noted that the BEBR projections can be wrong in some instances.

 

Mr. Laurian stated some people are offended by the term How Shall We Grow? because they think it is an imperative; some people think the term should be How Should We Grow?; into the equation  is  if there will be 4 million more people or is there an ecological tipping point  at which

point 4 million people cannot be sustained.  He commented on the 4 C’s of Conservation, Centers, Corridors and Countryside.  He commented on the City of Tavares and its visioning process; in 2003 Tavares contracted with University of Florida to do a Downtown Development Assessment to analyze existing conditions of downtown properties and future development potential and targeted Lake Region Packing Association property (LRPA); and residents stated redevelopment  of  the  LRPA  site was  key to  revitalizing downtown.  He advised an LRPA site

redevelopment will accomplish several goals such as redevelop a strategic piece of downtown that had been an industrial eyesore, encourage mixed uses, set the tone to kick-start more redevelopment in the CRA, and bring new excitement and investment to the CRA.  He stated the tradeoffs of an LRPA site redevelopment is higher densities and taller buildings; Tavares imposed no height limits; the City approved zoning without approval of a development plan; and a developer could submit a development plan that met code for Planned Development in the CRA; and Council approval is needed.   He commented on development of the Tavares Station, the Tavares yacht club; and noted the only building similar to the Tavares Station in Central Florida is the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel and Convention Center Complex in Orlando.   He stated Tavares realized it had planning and zoning and a CRA, but no vision for downtown redevelopment; the City of Tavares watched the film, “Save Our Lands, Save Our Town”; and talked about what folks liked and disliked about Tavares.  He commented on the City of Tavares and how it used visual preferences to define intensity in the different districts.  He stated the next steps for the City of Tavares are to establish visual preferences for all four “intensity” districts in CRA, amend comprehensive plan to reflect vision, and adopt form based codes that assure the “look” the City is looking for.  He stated he would like to ask the Board to place some bubbles on a map after the discussion today.  He advised the collective regional vision seems to be forming; it is to avoid the trend, establish the green print, promote more growth in centers, and connect some of the centers with a balanced transportation network.  He stated MyRegion needs to ask every Mayor and County Commissioner in the region to envision where it sees its urban centers in 50 years.  He advised each city will do its own map.  He noted the base map shows the existing major road networks, committed conservation, bodies of water, and approved Developments of Regional Impacts; on top of the base map is the green print that is suggested from the green area scenario; and it is based on science and also from the preferences of people who participated in the surveys.  He stated ultimately land use decisions come back to elected officials in the 93 jurisdictions; what has been noted by the people involved in the process is that if the area keeps developing and stay the course, a huge amount of land will be consumed at a huge cost; the economy is going to be strained; and it is not a dictatorial process and MyRegion has no power over the Board.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if Brevard County does Town Centers and people are compacted there to give greater green space, how does it affect property owners on the outskirts.  Mr. Laurian reported it does not affect them at all; the comment was also made that if there was a land use plan and zoning was in place, people are entitled to what they have already been planned and zoned for; if part of the land happens to be migratory wildlife corridors, or groundwater  recharge areas and are  deemed appropriate for conservation, somebody ought to acquire those development rights or easements, but that instrument is not yet fully understood; and there is a committee of County Commissioners who are working on that.  He stated the idea is to avoid the  trend  by  preserving  the most sensitive environmental lands and that, by necessity, means there have to be some areas of future growth that are more compact and there has to be a more balanced transportation system.  He stated he would like to have the bubble map back from the Commissioners by June 5, 2007. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated she has played the same game three times; there has been controversy in Brevard County because of the dots; it is great to hear what everyone else is doing, but the ultimate decision makers, in regards to policies, is the Board of County Commissioners; and it is not relinquishing any power or authority to anybody else.  She stated what she has heard from citizens is that they do not want Brevard to be Orlando or Orange County, Miami, or Tampa.  She commented on various small area plans being conducted in Brevard County.  She stated the Board has been diligent about looking at where the future growth is going to occur; the small area plans have been critical; the feedback is always the same in that citizens do not want height; and citizens prefer large lots and do not want to be on top of each other, and for developers to give diversity. 

 

Commissioner Nelson read into the record a letter from Chris and Kathy Scheetz stating their objection of how the non-governmental group mismanaged the project process during the civic input.  He stated he does not think it has been mismanaged, but the dot games tend to minimalize the difficulty of the issue; stated he did not play the dot game because he struggles with putting dots on another County; and there may not be any dots from District Two on the maps that have been given to the Board, because he believes it is more difficult than that.  He stated there is a concern among citizens about where this idea is coming from; and Ms. Lauten has told the Board the State is interested in what Brevard County is doing, but he has a number of questions he would like answers to. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she also has many questions and inquired if they should be addressed now, or if the Board should choose another time.  Chairperson Colon stated the Board can invite MyRegion to come back to the Board; the Board has already seen the presentation and the next point would be to answer questions in detail; and the Board can give MyRegion plenty of notice of when it can come back to the Board, but it has to be before May 18^th because that is when the Board is going to meet with MyRegion.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he also has questions; the Board has heard from the environmental community, but the developmental community also has concerns; and there are questions as to how to extrapolate from the current trend.  He stated the future trend is being made worse instead of better; where zoning is changing there is lower zoning; and it is increasing; there are a lot of people in the development community who do not understand where this train is headed either; and the question is how Brevard County is changing demographically.  He stated Brevard County will change tremendously with the layoffs at the Space Center; there are programs for the elderly and those are the programs the Legislature is going  to  ask  the  Board  to  close  down  most  rapidly;  the  Board will be pushed to reduce its millage, the School Board will raise its millage; and people will get their tax bill and realize services have been reduced. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated there are two regular Commission meetings in May; May 8, 2007 would be most reasonable; and the Board would love to have MyRegion back on the Agenda for further discussion.  She stated of the process, she enjoyed the community coming out and getting involved and realize it is a difficult task.  She stated she told citizens to not be scared of the process as it is just getting information.  She noted growth is very sensitive to the citizens of Brevard County; and managing growth has been the task everyone has been coping with.

 

Mr. Laurian stated the MPO is working on its 2030 Plan; it is based upon the trend, the current land use plans and what that will be; the MPO does not look forward to 2050; they will tell the Board people are in denial about roads; and everybody wants more roads and less congestion, but no one wants roads built near them.  He stated whatever the population is in 2050 is going to be more than it is today; when the roads fail and there is no ability to expand them there will have to be other transportation choices; and people in all seven counties said that. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the kind of planning MyRegion is talking about is not accurate; it is not accurate when people are being asked to place dots; one cannot put some of the dots in the water; the data is not accurate based on what she has seen; and she already has the picture and she does not need to go through a game to have the picture, as she knows what the Board is dealing with.  She stated what the Board is dealing with is not having money; she can assure the MPO has studies showing where roads are needed; and what the Board does not have is money, and that is what it comes down to.  She stated planning is something Brevard County has been doing and will continue to do; Brevard County holds summits in which infrastructure is discussed; and density is taboo to Brevard County.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated if the Board does not look at that, it is looking at expanding the future exactly as it is right now; whether the Board likes it or not, it is going to have to look at placing density where density belongs and leaving open space where it belongs; and the Board does not know where roads are going to be needed in the future. 

Commissioner Nelson stated he has been impressed with Mr. Laurian and Ms. Lauten in terms of their effort and he would not want to be in their shoes because every county is different; he is impressed the Board has been in a level of discussion about how it is planning that has gone well beyond what previous Commissions have been able to accomplish; if nothing else, it has driven the effort and he thinks there is a solution; the Board needs to share with the citizens what it believes the numbers mean; and that is why he has more questions he would like to have answers to. 

 

Ms. Lauten stated MyRegion would be happy to attend the May 8, 2007 meeting.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the Chair would like to give a time certain.  Chairperson Colon stated she would not like to give a time certain because if the meeting is running smoothly there might be a gap of an hour or two and she would rather not do that. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated Lobbyist John Thrasher is going to be contacting the Board at 1:30 p.m. to discuss if there is going to be a Brevard County; the question is if the County is going to be functioning; and a lot of programs are going to be reduced.  He stated roads require money; and there is engineering on roads right now that cannot be done because there is no money.

 

Ms. Lauten stated there are some State agencies looking at MyRegion, but the business community, the civic community, and elected officials are all struggling with what is happening in

Tallahassee right now; and everyone is questioning how to move forward as a State in a way that will get to a better future.  She stated she has respect for the Board for the position it is in; stated MyRegion is trying to educate everyone on the choices that are available and how everyone can work together; and MyRegion is collectively trying to get conversation started about what is valued and matters most and how to get there. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated Brevard County knows where it wants to go with its roads; if the rest of the region feels strongly they want a corridor in southern Brevard to go to the water, Brevard County does not have it in its scope or vision; and if the rest of the region unites, can it promote something like that and get state funding for that and override Brevard County’s intention.  Ms. Lauten stated it is not the intention of MyRegion, but anything can happen; it is about relationships and building trust amongst elected officials around the region; and in her estimation the great trust that has been established, she would be shocked if the six other counties would advocate something to Brevard County’s failure. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated Brevard County does a lot of planning and she knows the other counties do not have a task force like the one in Brevard County of all the major municipalities with managers and planners and School Board members and Council members; and they all meet once a month to discuss planning and talk about infrastructure.  She commented on the Brevard Crossings Mall and the concerns the Board had over it.  She advised she trusts the kind of planning that has been done with MPO and the Task Force, along with the corroboration with other municipalities. 

 

Ms. Lauten stated she would like the Board to give MyRegion feedback on what it collectively would like to agree on as elected officials.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he would like to invite Ms. Lauten to sit in on the telephone call with Mr. Thrasher.  He commented on the roads that are planned and funds not available to complete them.  He stated it is irrelevant where he puts a dot.  He noted Mims wanted to incorporate and the community decided to conduct a small area plan and at the end, citizens in Mims were complementing staff on what a wonderful job they did; the community and staff came together with correct thoughts; and with roads, if the Board does not have money, everything falls apart including cutting or reducing programs and laying off employees. 

 

Ms. Lauten stated she has another regional meeting she has to go to, but she will be happy to meet with the Board again on May 8, 2007. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated if the Board has questions, it may want to let Ms. Lauten know what they are ahead of time so she can be prepared on May 8, 2007.

 

Chairperson Colon stated she looks forward to seeing Ms. Lauten on May 8, 2007.

 

 

The Board recessed at 12:25 p.m. and reconvened at 1:20 p.m.

 

 

John Thrasher, Lobbyist, via telephone, stated the House and Senate have been meeting since Monday; the House plan was a two-part plan where it had a statutory rollback and then a constitutional swap for two and a-half cents of sales tax; the Senate plan did not have that and it basically dealt with the rollback; the House and Senate have conferenced at least three times; and last night, things did not go well between the House and Senate in terms of the concept and how to get to where the Senate believes it needs to get to and the House where it believes it needs to get to.  He stated the two predominate players at this point in the conference are Senator Haridopolos and Senator Webster on the Senate side and Representative Cannon primarily on the House side with Representative Atkinson helping him and being there with him.  He advised the Senate asked the House to forget about for the time being, the two and a half cent constitutional sales tax swap and concentrate just on the rollback issue and where it ought to be and how to get there; the House came back and increased its previous offer, in terms of dollars impact on Counties over a five-year period, that went basically from a $41 billion hit on Counties and municipalities statewide over five years to $47 billion because they threw in a renters provision; that caused the Senate to bow up; the Senate came back with a chart that outlined taxes since 1982 and also personal income growth of citizens; the chart showed the spike in revenue for local governments really started in the 2001/2002 timeframe, but really went up after 2003/2004 and to do anything less than a rollback that far would be draconian.  He stated the House is sticking to a principal that it says it wants to provide $1,200 of tax income relief to homeowners; $750 of relief to non-homesteaded property; and $3,300 relief to commercial property.  He stated those are statewide averages and some people, depending on the value of their house, would get more and some people would get less; and none of it would do anything to the inequities that the House believes exist with Save Our Homes and so while they have put aside the two and a half cent swap, they still believe in the principal of equity that would be created by getting rid of the entire homestead tax issue using the strategy that they have had.  He stated there have been conferences and he saw Senator Haridopolos this morning, and the House and the Senate have not yet met today; his guess is that based on the bust-up last night they may not meet the rest of the week; Senator Haridopolos is suggesting the Counties provide their delegations with the real numbers they believe would occur and the real cuts that would be incurred if the House plan were to be adopted; stated Senator Haridopolos thinks that would be the best way to get the House to understand that they are too draconian and too far removed from reality; it does not mean that Senator Haridopolos is suggesting the House be trashed, he is saying based on their plan, the press and the members of the  Delegation should  be told of the impact  that plan  would have.   He stated there are nine days left in the session, that is a long time, this is an issue that is in conference and it is not like the budget that has to be on the members’ desk next Tuesday in order to vote on it the following Friday; and this could go all the way through Friday of next week to midnight in the regular session.  He stated the other variable is the Governor who came out with some principals and raised some issues and stated he did not think the House tax swap was doable in the timeframe available;  the  Governor is  starting to  weigh in;  and  the bottom line  is to  tell the Board where

everything is today with any reality or any certainty as to what to look for in terms of how this will play out will be very difficult other than to say there will be a plan.  He advised he believes the plan will be done in the regular session; the House and the Senate realize to do it in a Special Session would be very difficult; to say what kind of cut at this point in time would be very difficult other than to tell the Board the Senate plan is approximately a $15 billion cut over five years; the House plan is a $47 billion cut; if the two come together, the number may be somewhere in the $30 billion range; and those are significant cuts.

 

Leigh Holt, Legislative Delegation Coordinator, stated County Manager Peggy Busacca, Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten and Budget Director Dennis Rogero have spent a lot of time on the issue and have been great at responding to the requests from Delegation members.  She stated Senator Haridopolos asked for numbers at noon yesterday; the numbers were back at 4:00 p.m.; and Brevard County was the first County to respond.  She stated the information on who would get $1,200 back is important; the FAC had a briefing at noon today; the FAC got the message from Senator Haridopolos that the press needs to be involved in the conversation; the House is not listening to lobbyists at this point; they are looking for sound bites; and that should be the way they are being answered, and tell them what the cuts would look like.

 

Mr. Thrasher stated some of the counties are starting to realize something is going to happen and they are asking Senator Haridopolos and Representative Cannon to give an opportunity to bust through any kind of rollback or cap that is put on the counties; in the Senate plan there is a two-year freeze on where to go to, whether it is 2004, 2005 or 2001; and everybody brought up the question of extraordinary circumstances that might occur or emergencies and that they be given a right to do that even if it is an extraordinary vote of two-thirds of the members of the Commission.  He noted people are starting to focus on that and there is not a lot of movement on that at this point in time, but more and more of the counties are starting to look at that as an escape for those kinds of potential emergencies that may arise. 

 

Chairperson Colon expressed appreciation to Mr. Thrasher for the job he is doing for the County.  

 

Mr. Thrasher stated by next week there may be a clearer picture than today; today the picture is influx and it is very fluid; there is a fairly significant disagreement in philosophy between the House and Senate; and that has to be resolved before the real numbers are dealt with.

 

Ms. Holt advised the focus right now is on what year the rollback will be and not if there is going to be a rollback.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Senate is looking for information from the Board to do sound bites against the House side, or is it looking for actual information that could help them help the Board deal with the budget cuts.  Mr. Thrasher advised the Senate is looking for actual information.  He stated in Jacksonville, the Mayor actually released a statement of what he believed would be the potential cuts that would have to be taken in the City of Jacksonville, to the press; and he was not taking a position on the House or Senate Bill, but just on what was known  today  given  the  range  of  cuts being  suggested.    He stated whether Brevard County wants to do something similar to that is up to the Board, but people probably need to be on notice that the plan being adopted will require some cuts.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if Mr. Thrasher is looking at actual programs and not just dollar amounts; with Mr. Thrasher responding affirmatively.

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca inquired if there has been any discussion on Charter Officers and how those should be handled; with Mr. Thrasher responding no; at this point in time, it has been a philosophical discussion between the magnitude of the House and where it wants to try to go and the Senate trying to be a little more responsible in its opinion; the Senate plan would be increased by the average income of citizens on an annual basis; and the Senate believes tying it to the income of citizens would be the way to go.  He stated how to determine what could be excluded is up for debate and discussion.

 

Chairperson Colon requested Ms. Busacca share the percentage of the Board’s budget that goes to the Constitutional Officers; and inquired why the Senate is not looking at that if it is a huge percentage of the Board’s budget.

 

Mr. Thrasher stated he does not know why it is not being looked at; Brevard County is a lot like a lot of other counties where a large portion of its budget goes to public safety and many counties have decreased other operational programs at the expense of those kind of services; and some people are suggesting some of the other programs would have to be shut down in order to continue public safety.  He stated no one is suggesting that any of those programs would not be affected.

 

Ms. Busacca stated the number Chairperson Colon is referring to with the Constitutional Officers is 43 percent.  She stated the 43 percent includes the Clerk to the Board, Clerk of Court, Property Appraiser, Supervisor of Elections, Tax Collector, Chief Judge, State Attorney, and the Sheriff’s Office. 

 

Mr. Thrasher stated Ms. Busacca makes a good point; he has not seen a lot of the local officers in Tallahassee who are worried about the proposals, but they ought to be there and talking about what is needed; it should not be just the Board who is the messenger at this point; and if some of the Constitutional Officers get engaged it might make a difference.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the average citizen has Save Our Homes; the millage increases are started with rollback; citizens have not been profoundly impacted even though revenues  have  increased;  citizens  are  essentially  finding minimal increases in the amount of

taxes they pay; and inquired what percentage of citizens are just paying taxes with Save Our Homes-protected properties.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated Ms. Busacca gave the Board that number before and it was approximately 70 percent.  Commissioner Scarborough stated that number sounds reasonable.

 

Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten stated he believes the number is at or below 50 percent.

 

Mr. Thrasher stated the House seems to be dealing with averages and it is not different from the insurance issue; everybody at the Special Session talked about the decreases that will arise from the legislation that was passed; and some people in the inland counties are finding out that

the increase is minimal.  He noted nothing in the Senate plan deals with the inequities that would still be there from Save Our Homes; and that is what the House is trying to focus on in the broader picture of the sales tax swap.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated if 70 percent has not found anything impacting them and all of a sudden there is a mass slash of services from the counties and cities, they are impacted by that; and inquired if there is potential for a huge outcry around the State about the action taken that they would consider going to reverse the action as rapidly as possible.   Mr. Thrasher stated it is possible; based on the cuts he is hearing some of the counties are going to have to take, people will start to be very concerned.  He stated some people are concerned about the raising of fees to cover the cuts; Jacksonville does not have a garbage tax and they are now talking about a garbage fee and talking about other kinds of services; and he is concerned the legislation being discussed would keep the County from doing some of those things in order to make up the differences.

 

Ms. Holt stated the House and Senate would limit counties’ fees to CPI; the fees and assessments could not be increased more than CPI in any given year; and the House and Senate want to make sure the County does not get money from somewhere else.  She stated based on the numbers Ms. Busacca, Mr. Rogero and Mr. Whitten sent to Tallahassee, the median homeowner would get $78.00 back in their tax bill but they would lose all the services they have; and it is not a very good swap with the sales tax.

 

Chairperson Colon stated it is not only Brevard County, as it is every municipality in Brevard County also.  Mr. Thrasher stated everyone is concerned and doing what they can to communicate that; and whether the Board has a press conference or whatever, people need to begin to understand that the County is headed into a very difficult process.  He stated there are politicians in Tallahassee who think they are playing to the taxpayers of the State of Florida; some taxpayers are going to get some of the benefit and some are not going to get very much of a benefit, but overall the cuts could be draconian; and the Board needs to communicate that as best it can.  He stated it is a process that changes by the hour; in fifteen minutes the Governor is having a press availability to talk about this and he may have some new ideas, so it could change before the afternoon is over; and the Board may need to schedule another call with him early next week to get an idea of where the issue is at that point.  He stated if things develop over the weekend he will be in touch with the Board.

 

Ms. Holt stated Tampa Bay did an editorial Board meeting with the County and the municipalities all together.

 

Chairperson Colon stated it is a moving target and one of the things mentioned was the Senate wants $15 billion and the House wants $47 billion and it looks like it will be somewhere in the middle of those two figures if they are considering compromise; and at that is where the Governor’s plan comes in at $33.5 billion, which looks like a compromise, but it is not a compromise to the Board.  She stated the Board has to take a look at the $33.5 billion.

 

Mr. Thrasher stated the House and Senate have not met since last night and nothing was agreed to and at this point everything is off the table until they reconsider where they want to try to get to.

 

Ms. Holt inquired of Mr. Thrasher if he agrees the best case scenario is $15 billion; with Mr. Thrasher responding that would be the best case scenario at this point.

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired if the House and Senate have looked at what the loss of a $30 billion business to the State of Florida would be; and stated in effect, people are being laid off, and contracts are going to be cancelled.  Mr. Thrasher stated there have been some elasticity studies done, but they are not playing to that audience; the House and Senate have gone around the State and heard from citizens’ groups and from people who are paying more than their fair share; the House and Senate believes if they cut taxes and provide the resources back to the citizens of the State of Florida, it is going to flow back into the economy; and that is what they are listening to at this point.  He stated those arguments have been made by everybody; and there is a large group of lobbyists in Tallahassee speaking from the same page and trying to give the House and Senate every argument possible about the concerns.  He stated the Board can get to some of the communities, cities and bond issues that would be based upon a flow of income from the tax sources available; and if those are cut back they will be in jeopardy.  He stated there are many complicated questions that have not been answered, but the bottom line is they can still get there if they try to simplify and not make it as draconian as they have talked about.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated Mr. Thrasher suggested the Board give the House and Senate information it has on what kind of budget cuts it would have to make; and inquired if it will really make a difference and who would the Board be better off talking to, the House, the Senate, or a mixture in between.  Mr. Thrasher stated the House members are the ones who need to hear where the Board is right now; they have been provided with the information that Ms. Busacca and Mr. Whitten have given, but Representative Altman, Representative Poppell and all of the House members have kind of adopted the House position and they are the ones who need to hear from the Board.  He stated Senator Haridopolos is taking what he believes is a more reasoned approach to the understanding of services that would be cut; and the House members are the ones who need to hear from the Board of County Commissioners.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired who will win the battle; stated the Senate said it is not going to approve the House and the House is not going to budge; and inquired how to get somewhere in between.   Mr. Thrasher  responded the  Governor will start to get both sides moving; somebody

will come up with a breakthrough idea that might get them moving off of where they are right now; and that is what the conferences are about.  He stated the blow-up last night may have been the best thing to happen so they can start talking among themselves so that they can get some ideas vetted out that people will think is reasonable; and the more the Governor weighs in, the more movement there will be because he is going to hold feet to the fire to get something done by the end of the session.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated there will be an internal collision; Brevard County has a CBO which is Community Based Organizations,  that  the Board gives money to; if the Board decides to give the CBO 50 percent less than it used to, they begin to have less and begin to fight each other; and agencies will be arguing that each is more valuable than another.  He noted one theory has been that whoever has gotten the most increases will be cut the most; there are arguments being floated on if different cuts should occur; by the end of the day everybody in Brevard County will hate everybody else in Brevard County; and the Commissioners will be the least liked of all.  He stated the Board cannot decide where to cut which group; and the Board has a public hearing process even in the normal year where people are allowed to come to the Board to argue their cases.

 

Mr. Thrasher stated it would be premature to do any of that right now until there is a clearer picture; he wants the Board to understand where everything stands as of today; and based on the numbers he has seen from Ms. Busacca it is not going to be good, but it may be better than that.  He advised those things do not need to be discussed until next week.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired how the Board can identify the cuts it wants to let the House members know it is going to have to make if it does not look at the cuts today; with Mr. Thrasher responding the Board has to use what is known today; that is all it can use; and from that people can interpret one way or another.

 

Ms. Holt stated the Board can look at the highest number, the $47 billion, which is approximately a 50 percent cut; the reality is that a 50 percent cut means cutting a whole department; and may make employees fearful.  She noted it is a difficult conversation. 

 

Mr. Thrasher stated when he saw Senator Haridopolos today he was outside the Senate Chamber basically holding a Press Availability, which means he was talking about where the Senate was, what needed to be done in terms of expressing the concerns of municipalities to their members in the House; and Senator Haridopolos was doing what he is suggesting that the Board of County Commissioners do.  He advised the Board needs to let the members of the House know that this is going to be a serious problem for the people of Brevard County if the position the House is in today would prevail. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated Mr. Thrasher has stated what needs to be done and it is now up to the Board to take action; the citizens want their property taxes cut, and the Board can tell them what will happen if that is the case; and at that point, decisions have to be made today and that discussion because it is moving quickly and the Board  cannot get caught off guard.  She noted the citizens would be upset with the Board if it did not give more details of exactly what kind of effect it would have on them.

 

Mr. Thrasher stated by Tuesday of next week there may be a clearer picture and the Board may want to talk to him again and he would be happy to do that.  He thanked the Board for the information that has been provided.

 

Chairperson Colon stated it has been suggested to the Board that it let the community know of the kind of impact that this will cause; and the ones who know the information inside and out are the budget department and all of the managers.  She stated it does not just involve the Board of County Commissioners;  she would  appreciate it if Ms. Busacca notifies all of the city managers

in Brevard County by the beginning of next week; and she cannot see anything else being more of a priority than the impact that is going to cost every single city in the County.  She suggested all of the city managers and the County’s managers have some kind of meeting and for each one to discuss what kind of impact there will be to each city; and that the information be readily available to the House members.  She stated she does not want any elected official or Delegation member to say they did not know the kind of impact that would be caused.  She stated the meeting does not have to be televised, but there needs to be a face to face meeting with the cities; and it will allow the press to be there and allow the kind of discussions of how it will affect everyone.  She advised as of right now the Senate wants $15 billion in cuts and the House wants $47 billion in cuts; an average of that is approximately $30 billion; and the Board needs to listen to staff of the potential of impacts to programs and departments that would be hit so that it can understand what the magnitude is.

 

Ms. Busacca provided the Board with information that was put together yesterday.

 

Chairperson Colon stated she would like to hear the public comments before the Board discusses the budget cuts.

 

 

 

Duana Lara stated she is speaking on behalf of Mr. Douglas Beam who addressed the Board on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 and addressed the issue of providing a full service court house in South Brevard County.  She stated there are three options for the Board to consider in resolving the issue of accessibility of a court house in South Brevard County.  She stated Options A and C were more feasible and could help alleviate the residents of South Brevard County in getting to the Courthouse already in Viera.  She stated the last time she addressed the Board, Commissioner Nelson made an interesting remark about Merritt Island wanting its own local courthouse; and although he was being facetious, his point was well made and well received.  She noted it is impossible to accommodate every municipality in Brevard County, let alone each and every citizen; the residents of South Brevard County are only asking for one courthouse to serve as a rather large area which includes parts of Melbourne, all of West Melbourne, Palm Bay, Indialantic, Melbourne Beach, Malabar and Grant.  She provided the Board with a map of Brevard County and stated there are three stars on the map depicting where the courthouses are currently located; and the most southern courthouse is the Melbourne Courthouse, which only has one County Court Judge at this time, and no Circuit Court Judges.  She stated the map makes clear that the long shape of Brevard County mandates a full  service courthouse in South

Brevard County, just like the residents of North Brevard County and Central Brevard County have access to their own full service Courthouse; one is in Titusville and the other in Viera; and the residents of South Brevard County are asking the Board to provide a full service Courthouse in South Brevard County.  She stated just as Commissioner Scarborough has stated, the growth of Brevard County is headed south; therefore, as stated in the letter from the Chamber of Commerce dated March 30, 2007, the benefits of a full service courthouse in South Brevard County will reduce trips on the north/south corridors which reduces the travel time for residents of the south end of the County, just as the residents of the north and central areas  benefit   from   having   their   own   full   service    courthouse.    She advised  the  residents are asking the Board to give them only what the residents of the northern and central areas of the County already have in a full service courthouse.

 

Joe Steckler stated he can see the County is going to be in the same position it was in in 1993 with the CBO funding.  He stated the CBO funding amount is one-tenth of one percent of the County’s total budget; and if the Board thinks it is going to make a great deal of impact on how the County pays for anything by reducing the CBO funds, it will make more of a mistake in hurting people.  He stated he and his wife are Eucharistic Ministers in the Catholic Church; last week, they took communion to a 92-year old lady; her nephew was a merchant marine seaman, and he had been bathing her and taking care of her personal needs; and it was embarrassing her.  He stated he talked to the woman, while his wife talked to the man; the woman wanted to die; he told her he could get her personal help and her eyes sparkled; and there is help available, but the woman died of a heart attack two days later.  He noted yesterday he had a call concerning an 84-year old woman who is afraid to spend her money for homecare because she thought she would not have enough money; and she did not know she was eligible for Medicaid.  He stated what the non-profit organizations do with the CBO funds is find ways to help people that would not normally find help; and he cannot see any advantage to be gained at any kind of budget cut to whack off a million dollars from about 20 organizations that help the Board do a job that Brevard County does not even pay for to provide those services, like other counties do in  Florida.  He stated every year organizations who use the CBO funding have wondered if they are going to have the money; and people do not realize the burden it places on people.  He stated he had a call yesterday from the Alzheimer’s Foundation and he was asked if he could help them figure out a way to get their raffle car into the Melbourne Art Festival this weekend; the Festival people would not let them place it there; and he called Dr. Shah, who bought the  1900 building from Harry and Linda Brandon and he asked Dr. Shah if the car could be parked in the driveway on his property and sell tickets on the car to raise money to help people in Brevard County, and Mr. Shah said yes, they could.  He noted three weeks ago, Cindy Flackmeyer, from the Community Services Council which has the Meals on Wheels Program, has watched her cost of food go up by 20 percent and at the same time the Federal Government cut her program by $100,000; Ms. Flackmeyer does not come to the Board; and she went out to find people to give her $1,000 or $2,000 to help pay for the meals for people who are shut-ins.  He stated Ms. Flackmeyer also needs to raise $100,000 to rebuild her kitchen that is falling apart; and inquired if those things are allowed to happen, what is the expense going to be to Brevard County to help pay for those things.  He stated older people provide the second-highest ratio of income in the State of Florida; when Tallahassee tells the County they need to cut, there is a problem, but somehow the County cannot do an injustice to people who cannot help themselves;  and asked the Board  to  think hard when it comes to a decision to cut. 

 

Mr. Steckler stated if a cut has to be made, the County needs to decide how much each department gets in the budget and reduce each department by that amount of money to make up what is going to be lost; and that way, the cuts are spread over everybody and it is fair that way.

 

Chairperson Colon stated Mr. Steckler has a good relationship with all of the different delegations; what the Board is hearing from him, it is about to hear from hundreds of people in the community; and he is just one of many.  She stated she shared with Mr. Steckler the magnitude of what is being discussed; she would appreciate it, with his rapport with the Delegation, if he would share with them what he shared with the Board; the Board has the same concerns that he stated; and it would truly be appreciated because the Delegation needs to hear it now, and not a week from now. She stated the Delegation needs to hear the kind of impact that will be had on the community because it is going to be much more than $2 million; and at that point the Board will be looking to do away with programs completely and it is not a position the Board wants to be in and right now, even with the Governor’s office, someone as respected in the community, such as Mr. Steckler, would lay the foundation to let him know of the impact, because he is in the trenches.

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board has been given numbers Statewide; it needs to find out exactly what numbers are being looked at for Brevard County specifically; there are two scenarios of $115 billion and the $47 billion; and inquired which number the Board would like to look at.

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired of a range that impacts Brevard County; with Chairperson Colon responding the range would be in the $30 millions. 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated as an estimate, the House Bill would be approximately 50 percent reduction, which is $115 million.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the budget would have to be reduced by $115 million; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively.  Ms. Busacca stated for the Senate it would be approximately a $38 million reduction.  Chairperson Colon inquired if that is for unincorporated Brevard County; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively. Chairperson Colon inquired of Ms. Busacca to repeat the number.  Ms. Busacca stated the numbers are rough numbers; the House is $115 million and the Senate is $38 million; and the 43 percent for Charter Offices includes the jail. 

 

Ms. Busacca stated yesterday staff was asked to put together what assumptions it would make in reducing the budget by 50 percent; and what the Board has in front of it is a rough draft.  She stated the Board will see below the gray line agencies that were considered static.  She stated Animal Services, Emergency Management, Fire Rescue, Mosquito Control and the Sheriff’s Office were looked at by staff as health and safety issues, and those would remain static; and those Offices would not get any increases, but that was the assumption.  She stated the next group that is highlighted yellow are things that include Charter Officers and then others including the EDC and MIRA; and those  are listed as static.  She noted above, in the first total, staff knew it had to come up with $115 million; and rather than look at services, which it could not do in two hours, it looked simply at the ad valorem and General Fund Revenue for those agencies and assumed the entire agency would go away.  She stated there are a couple of things the Board needs to take note of; Central Services includes State mandated services because the County has to continue to maintain the inventory; and that is State law.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if Ms. Busacca is saying all agencies in the first group are being looked at as being eliminated; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively, except Solid Waste which has a small General Fund transfer.  She stated the order of magnitude of a 50 percent cut,  if the  County assumes static for the  other ad  valorem agencies,  is these  agencies  would essentially be almost completely depleted; there are exceptions such as when staff lists Housing and Human Services, the State mandated programs would not be able to go away, so they would continue; with Information Technology, there would still be some way to fund that through some of the County’s Enterprise Funds.

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired how the County can do away with Human Resources; with Ms. Busacca responding the County cannot do away with Human Resources, but what staff would come up with is those agencies such as Budget, Purchasing and Human Resources would be absolute skeleton crew.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired how the County can do away with Facilities; with Ms. Busacca stating Facilities would be cut and there would be just bare bones and departments would pick up their own trash and take it outside.  Ms. Busacca stated the Law Library would be gone entirely; with Natural Resources there is a State funded program for underground storage tanks and that would remain because it is State funded; the Parks and Recreation listing is only a portion of its budget; and with Planning and Zoning there is an assumption that approximately 70 percent of the Department would be cut, but there would have to be at least one person who could do the rezoning.  She stated what the Board sees in front of them is more than the $115 million; staff only had two hours to put the list together, but it was provided as an order of magnitude to show the Board what 50 percent of the County’s budget looks like; and that is only if agencies such as Mosquito Control remains static. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if the identified amounts on the list is not the agencies’ entire budgets; with Ms. Busacca responding in some instances it is the entire budget.  Commissioner Voltz stated the County cannot do away with entire departments; with Ms. Busacca responding no, but what the Board sees is bringing the departments down to skeleton crews would get the Board down to $115 million in cuts.  She noted other agencies such as Solid Waste and Utilities are funded by non ad valorem fees, so those would not have to be impacted directly.  She advised there are additional costs when staff is laid off; and the County has to pay the unemployment, so the Board would have to lay more people off in order to pay the unemployment.  She stated the list gives the Board an order of magnitude; and if the Board would like to look at specific services staff has those also and the Board can look at the cost of each service.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired what is the average if the House wants Brevard County to do a cut of $115 million and the Senate wants $38 million, what would be the average, in the 30’s.  Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten stated the average would be $76.5 million. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated she needs to know today exactly how $115 million in cuts by the House and $38 million from the Senate would affect Brevard County; and right now the Board is looking at $76.5 million if both the House and Senate numbers are averaged, which is what the Governor has come up with, which would be $33.5 million.  She noted the impact on unincorporated Brevard County would be $76 million; and she wants a number she can grab onto based on the information given to the Board by Mr. Thrasher. 

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if the Board made adjustments to the agencies on the list that were  considered static,  would  some  of the other  departments be able to be kept at a working level; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively.  She advised counties have been criticized for saying  the first  thing they  would cut  would be Public Services;  staff said to not do that because that made the County look as if it were going for the thing that would attract the most attention; and staff instead said to presume the minimal public services would continue.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated staff is proposing cutting Library Services, and Park Services, and yet the Tax Collector is very popular.  Ms. Busacca stated the Tax Collector, by Statute, gets money.

 

County Attorney Scott Knox stated the Property Appraiser, Tax Collector and Sheriff all have appeal mechanisms that go to the Governor and the Cabinet and they make the final decision.

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board should go ahead and cut those offices and let them try to appeal it.  Commissioner Scarborough stated it is unfair that the County has its employees cleaning toilets and taking out trash, and the other officers are continuing business as usual; and it is beginning to seem silly.

 

Chairperson Colon stated if the Board has to look at those kinds of reductions, it needs to make sure the reductions are across the board to all the Constitutional Officers; therefore, it should be made clear today that the Board wants to start cutting with the Constitutional Officers because if they feel it needs to be appealed and that the Board is being unfair, she suggests they get on the phone and call the Delegation.  She inquired of the percentage in regards to the budget that would have to be cut; with Ms. Busacca responding it would be approximately 30 percent.  Chairperson Colon stated the 30 percent would be what the Tax Collector would have to cut, 30 percent the Supervisor of Elections would have to cut, 30 percent the Property Appraiser would have to cut, 30 percent the Clerk of Courts would have to cut, and the Clerk to the Board.  She noted the Chief Judge and the State Attorney and the EDC and MIRA should all be cut by 30 percent.  She stated the only thing she sees that was being considered is to rollback the local governments property tax base to 2003 levels but exclude from the rollback the taxes that pay for schools, water management districts, hospital district and children’s services; and other than that everything else is fair game.  She called for a motion for the Board to consider cutting the Charter Officer’s budgets by 30 percent.  She stated the Board can send a letter of notice that it is starting with the Charter Offices.

 

Attorney Knox stated he does not have any legal issue with what the Board is suggesting, except  when  it  comes  to  the  Property  Appraiser  and  the  Tax Collector it may have to be a different way of approaching it; and the Board may have to appeal their budgets to somebody else.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated a letter could go out to those offices explaining to be conservative; and this is what the Board would like to do in preparation to where it is with the budget. He stated the department directors could bring their employees together and tell them they are laid off and those who remain are going to have a miserable job; the Board can eliminate excess jobs and take pay cuts to make the budget balance a different way; and there are many kinds of conversations that can happen internally. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to grant permission to send a letter of notice to the Tax Collector, Supervisor of Elections, Property Appraiser, Clerk of Courts, Clerk to the Board, Chief Judge, State Attorney, Economic Development Commission (EDC), and Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency (MIRA), advising that the Board will be considering a 30 percent reduction analysis to be conservative in preparation for the County’s budget.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the animal shelters need to be discussed and inquired of the amount of money to run the facility.  Ms. Busacca stated staff has given the Board a listing of the services that Brevard County provides; the services have been broken down into some level; and inquired of which issue the Board would like to discuss.  She noted staff does not think debt services are going to be included; at this point, debt services looks like it is excluded; and the question is if the County is going to build something it cannot maintain. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated she would like to know from the Directors how much it would be to close down both animal shelters.  Ms. Busacca inquired if staff can make a list and get it back to the Board; and stated she expects the Directors to be able to tell the Board how much it costs to not run a department.  She noted in addition to Animal Services, she would like to know about safety and if there are animals that are stray and so forth.  Ms. Busacca inquired what would happen if Animal Services picks up a stray animal and has no shelters to take it to; with Chairperson Colon stated she is here to make the situation as real as possible and she would expect the cooperation from everybody in the room.  She stated the Board needs to have the discussion of what $76 million looks like. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated mosquitoes get to be a health issue, so he is not going across-the-board with cuts.  Chairperson Colon stated the agencies listed under Emergency Management cannot be cut; and those include Fire Rescue, Emergency Management, Mosquito Control, and the Sheriff’s Office. Commissioner Scarborough stated there are things in budget that do not have to be done this year.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if there are any parts of their budgets that are geared towards education; and stated maybe the County could scale back on that so that the essentials are kept alive and strong, but some of the other items could be reduced.

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board wants to hear from all of the departments of what each one could cut; and unless the community hears the kind of cutback it will not be a serious discussion. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated Mr. Steckler’s Alzheimer’s Day Care Centers allows spouses not to burn out and put that person in a nursing home; and when a person goes to a nursing home, the County picks up the State’s share for the nursing home cost.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if the numbers listed for Facilities include the extensions of the Courthouse; with Mr. Whitten responding those are in General Government and it is approximately $2 million.  Chairperson Colon inquired of the Criminal Justice Services and what it entails;  with  Ms. Busacca  responding  school  crossing  guards  are  not  mandated, pre-trial release is not mandated, and teen court, drug education fund, and drivers education fund are all not mandated.  Mr. Whitten stated the County pays through that Department the pre-disposition or the detaining of juveniles,   which is a mandated service that is $3 million.  Ms. Busacca stated the County has to have a Medical Examiner and there are several costs with that.  Commissioner Scarborough stated if people know there will not be crossing guards it is going to be a major argument and there will be a lot of parents at the Commission meeting.

 

Chairperson Colon stated people need to understand that the Board is going to have to cut $76 million, and it is not a comfortable discussion to have, but it needs to be done.  Commissioner Voltz stated Economic and Financial Planning is $162,000 and the County also has the EDC; inquired why there are both agencies; and stated the Board pays the EDC plenty of money without having both agencies.  Ms. Busacca stated the EDC is not a mandated program.  Commissioner Voltz stated the County should not have two economic planning offices. 

 

Commissioner Nelson noted the EDC and Economic and Financial Planning are not a duplication; what Greg Lugar does is a different process; it is a service, and it can be cut, but it is not a duplication.  Mr. Whitten stated the functions of Economic and Financial Planning are primarily MIRA, the Commerce Park, Bond Financing, and Commercial Paper Program.  Commissioner Nelson noted those are not economic development activity, those are an evaluation for Board review of economic decisions that are brought to the Board.  Commissioner Voltz inquired who else would handle the Commercial Paper; with Ms. Busacca responding Mr. Whitten can do that.  Commissioner Nelson noted the Board is talking about people who are currently doing the job at 100 percent will now have to do the job at 200 percent, and that is the reality. 

 

Chairperson Colon inquired about Criminal Justice Services and crossing guards.  Ms. Busacca stated staff’s thought was that at one time the schools were responsible for crossing guards because apparently the schools’ millages are not limited and there may be a potential for them to pick up that service, but it is not a mandated service from the County. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the Board has not addressed its own offices.

 

Ms. Busacca stated Fire Rescue staff has already identified $1 million in interest responder money  and the cities  have been  notified that is unlikely to continue; in addition to that, the Fire Assessment is not included within the ad valorem; and as much as the Board would like to eliminate the Fire Assessment, it might actually be the Board’s saving as being able to continue Fire Rescue because there is no impact to that assessment.  Commissioner Voltz stated if the Board reduces the MSTU’s but increases the Fire Assessment it may not be such a heavy impact on the average homeowner.  Ms. Busacca stated she does not know if there is time to advertise for an increase in the assessment, but the Board would know that the assessment is not going to be reduced; and she knows that is bad news, but it may be the option. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated at the next workshop she would like the departments on the list to come before the Board and let it know what kind of impact it is causing them by the reductions. Ms. Busacca inquired if the intent is that every department cut 30 percent or are some departments going to have to give more than others; with Commissioner Voltz responding she does not want to look at Public Safety.  Chairperson Colon inquired how much it costs to run both animal shelters; with Craig Engelson, Animal Services Director, responding the cost is $1,284,639 for both shelters.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired what will be done with the animals once they are picked up; with Mr. Engelson responding the animals would be on the streets.  Commissioner Scarborough stated there would be no reason to pick the animals up because there would be no place to take them; and Animal Services could be closed entirely. 

 

Chairperson Colon inquired of the $21 million for Library Services.  Library Director Cathy Schweinsberg stated $21 million is total budget.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if $21 million includes debt; with Ms. Schweinsberg responding it includes current debt.  Ms. Busacca stated the Board cannot cut all of that. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board could ask every department, except the emergency departments, to look at a cut of 30 percent and come back to the Board with the results; requested Ms. Busacca notify the people who will be affected by such cuts; and stated it is important the community is aware what a 30 percent cut to the libraries, Housing and Human Services, Natural Resources and the other departments will look like.  Ms. Busacca stated if the Board is not going to touch Animal Services, Mosquito Control, and Emergency Services, the Board cannot get 30 percent out of every department and still meet $76 million.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated the Board is going to have to look at the Health and Safety category in some way.  Ms. Busacca stated staff can bring the Board several million dollars worth of cuts that are painful but that can be done; First Responder does not impact Brevard County service levels; and everything that has been mentioned is going to be painful.  Chairperson Colon stated she wants a cut of 30 percent from every department; it is the responsibility of the departments to notify the programs and the citizens that will be affected by the cut; and the departments need to come to the next meeting and let the Board know exactly how it affects the quality of life to the community when those kinds of cuts are made. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board should have a special meeting next week and invite the community.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Legislature needs to hear from the public.  Chairperson Colon stated it is the responsibility of every director to make sure they notify the community as to how the cuts will affect them; if Housing and Human Services is cut by 30 percent, then that department needs to notify all of  the organizations that will be affected by the

cut; with Transit Services, the Board just approved new routes, and the department will need to let the Board know what it will mean if the routes are cut and who will be affected; and requested each department have all of the phone numbers and email addresses available to everyone on the Delegation to be able to give to the public so they can be contacted.  She stated the Board of County Commissioners is being told what to do; and every municipality in the community will have to make cuts.

 

Ms. Busacca clarified what is being discussed are ad valorem agencies; and stated the cuts do not affect Utilities, which is fee funded.  Chairperson Colon stated one of the departments affected is Agriculture and Extension Services and it would hurt 4-H and other youth programs; it would hurt Family and Consumer Science; it would hurt environmental horticulture; it will affect Animal Enforcement; and it will affect school crossing guards, teen court, drug education fund, and driver’s education.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired what kind of savings the cuts will have to the individual homeowner; with Commissioner Scarborough responding the Board has been told there will be a savings of $78 to every homeowner.  Mr. Whitten stated the $78 projection projects no increases in the school millages because staff is not able to project those; there is approximately half of the tax bill not being affected by the legislative proposals; the $78 is a guess because staff held their rates static; the State requires the School Board to go to a certain millage rate for funding; and at best it is a guess and there may be little or no savings because half of the tax bill is being unaffected by the legislation that is being proposed.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if homeowners want to get rid of $78 per year and lose all of the other services; and stated the Board needs to hear from the constituents.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the Board would like to have a meeting on Tuesday or Wednesday night; and stated he is scared if the Board meets in July it is too late.

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, to hold a meeting Tuesday, May 1, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. and that County Manager Peggy Busacca take out full-page ads in the Florida TODAY advising people of the potential cuts; and that if they have concerns about the actions they need to attend the meeting. 

 

Chairperson Colon requested Ms. Busacca ask the City Managers if they can also attend the meeting and ask each one of them to share with the Board what kind of impact it means to each municipality; requested Ms. Busacca send out an invitation to everyone from the Delegation to send a representative to the meeting; and stated the letter advising of the 30 percent cuts needs to be sent to the Charter Offices as soon as possible, excluding the Sheriff’s Office, Mosquito Control, Fire Rescue, Emergency Management, and possibly Animal Services. 

 

Ms. Busacca stated there are options in those Departments that can be reduced or eliminated; and there may be some kind of education process that can be done away with.  Commissioner Bolin stated those agencies need to be present at the meeting also.  Chairperson Colon requested Ms. Busacca extend an invitation to the meeting to the Congressional Officers.

 

Commissioner Nelson noted the Board may also want to invite the union people.  Commissioner Scarborough  stated as an option the  Board could  rollback  salaries  across  the Board; and he would like to make sure everyone is brought into the dialogue early enough. Chairperson Colon requested Ms. Busacca inform the City Managers the invitation is open to the Council members also. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the County has Interlocal Agreements for services and there may be some issues there.  He inquired if enough parks are closed, at what point does the Board trigger issues with concurrency; with Ms. Busacca responding she has mentioned that to one of the representatives and options are to reduce levels of service so that the Board does not run up against concurrency issues.  Commissioner Nelson stated the Board can impose a moratorium; the business community needs to understand that is a potential; and one of the options may be moratoriums based on the unavailability of facilities. 

 

Commissioner Voltz requested Ms. Busacca identify the Contracts the Board is in the middle of processing and is going to have to have the money or it will be sued.  Ms. Busacca stated staff will do its best with the information being requested by the Board.

 

Commissioner Scarborough requested staff prepare a personal letter from Chairperson Colon to each elected official; with Chairperson Colon responding affirmatively.  Commissioner Nelson stated it would also be worthwhile to have the advisory boards notified of the potential impacts. 

 

Upon motion and vote, the meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

 

 

 

ATTEST:                                                                     ___________________________________

                                                                                    JACKIE COLON, CHAIRPERSON

                                                                                    BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

                                                                                    BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

_____________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK

      

          (S E A L)