The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in special session on July 27, 1995, at 9:00 a.m. in the Government Center Multipurpose Room, Building C, 2725 St. Johns Street, Melbourne, Florida. Present were: Chairman Nancy Higgs, Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Randy O'Brien, Mark Cook, and Scott Ellis, County Manager Tom Jenkins, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

BUDGET PRESENTATIONS

Budget Director Kathy Wall stated each Commissioner has been provided with a copy of the Agenda as well as the Agenda Report and the Agenda for August 2, 1995 tentative millage setting meeting.

Sheriff

Sheriff C. W. "Jake" Miller advised his General Fund budget is status quo; it represents approximately a 1% increase; there are no new people in such budget; and he is still prepared to tighten his belt and get more out of his people if that is possible. He stated the MSTU budget is different; he needs to take the responsibility for making the request to increase the MSTU and telling the people of Brevard County that it is his request; it is desperately needed to increase the number of deputy sheriffs which would be approximately 25; it is a modest increase; but he is fully prepared to take that responsibility. He noted he has talked to a lot of homeowners associations; they have told him they will support this increase; and this increase is for the unincorporated area of the County only.

Chairman Higgs inquired what measurable outcome will there be one year from now if the request is approved; with Director of Research and Planning Jeff Duffey responding there would be an improved response time and the people would see greater patrol activity. Commander Ron Clark stated historical data shows since the Sheriff's Department has been in the proactive mode it has increased its arrests and, to some degree, reduced crime in selected areas.

Commissioner Cook stated the 26% increase is a big jump in one year on the MSTU budget; he is concerned about approving it all in one year; and he needs to gather additional information. Commissioner O'Brien stated if the County is going to promote tourism then it needs to look at increasing the number of deputies so they are safe. Commissioner Cook noted this is a big hit all at once; the Board needs to respond to the Sheriff's request; and he is trying to figure out how it is best to do that. Commissioner Ellis stated the Board can add to the Sheriff's MSTU and deduct some of the other millages if that is where its priorities are going to be.

Chairman Higgs inquired what has the Sheriff planned in terms of pay increases for the current MSTU deputies. Sheriff Miller responded this year his request is that the Board give the deputies the same increase it gives to County employees, which he has done year after year. He noted his Office did another market survey; it is very quickly falling behind the market place; it is not even competitive in Brevard County; and between now and next budget year, he will come to the Board with some type of pay plan or step plan to bring the deputies more in line with the cities and counties within Central Florida. He stated his Office cannot become another training ground which it was at one time with other counties.

Commissioner Ellis noted he concurs with Sheriff Miller that a step plan needs to be in place. Sheriff Miller advised he will work with County staff and keep the Board apprised on what is going on; and his Office is prepared to commit any and all monies it has toward a reasonable pay plan for its employees.

Commissioner Cook requested the dollar amount for the Sheriff's requested increase per average home and the number of sworn officers for 1,000 people, including the cities; and stated he wants an overall picture of what the law enforcement is in the County. Commissioner Scarborough requested County comparisons also.

Commissioner Ellis stated he is not opposed to setting up a step plan this year. Commissioner Cook responded he would like it thought out and see the accountability in the end; and that is an important thing. Chairman Higgs stated she agrees and wants to see it planned; and she would be ready to look at it and try to fund it before next year. Commissioner Scarborough stated the Sheriff needs to know if he should provide additional information to the Board prior to the meeting on August 2, 1995 to set the tentative millage or whether he is going to have an additional month to justify his request; and once the Board sets the millage it is not compelled to stay at such millage as it can decrease it.

Chairman Higgs stated she is comfortable going into the Wednesday meeting and setting the millage at the roll back rate, not the proposed 6% rate; and she believes the savings that have been generated in the budget discussion could be used for the jail, law enforcement issues, and other things. She noted she may be willing to set the tentative millage on Wednesday at the request made by the Sheriff; she is not willing in the final end to fund those deputies until she sees the performance figures; she is not ready to throw money and say it is solving and doing something when there is no measurement criteria; she has to have that; and she cannot throw money at something that she does not know is going to produce any result. Commissioner Cook expressed concern about funding the request all at once; stated he is not prepared to decide that today; and perhaps the County could look at a multi-year plan. Commissioner Ellis stated he is willing to go one-tenth of a mill if the Board cuts one-tenth of a mill on some of the other millages; and it needs to look at the priorities.

Vice Mayor Mary Beeson, Town of Melbourne Village, stated the Town has a Contract with the Sheriff's Department for dispatch services; the Town has no problem paying the backbone which is in the Contract; but the Department sent a bill to the Town for $11,199.96; that is 12 1/2% of its ad valorem taxes to pay for something the Town already pays $20,000 for which is the 800 Megahertz; and the Department never charged the Town in 1992 through 1994 for even the backbone. She stated this came out of nowhere; Melbourne Village is very upset with being charged a fee like this; for a very small Town it uses the system only .97%; it is a tremendous amount of money; the Town pays approximately 22% in ad valorem taxes; and this appears to be double taxation.

Sheriff Miller stated his Department carried the Town as long as it possibly could and was glad to do it; but it has come down to the dollars and cents that say it can no longer afford to give away free dispatching to the cities; the Town is not the only one; there are major cities wanting the Department to take over dispatch or provide free service; and it simply cannot do it.

Chairman Higgs stated she is at a real disadvantage not having read the Contract and only looking at the letter; and she needs to have an opportunity to understand the issues.

Sheriff Miller suggested the County Attorney and County Manager examine the issue and provide a recommendation to the Board. Chairman Higgs stated the Board will have the County Attorney review this and give it some advice.

Commission

Commissioner Scarborough requested the Commission budget be broken down.

The meeting recessed at 10:05 a.m. to convene the Capital Improvements Program Workshop.

The meeting reconvened at 11:55 a.m.

Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency Kurt Easton, Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency Director, introduced Rich Amari, Vice Chairman of MIRA, Sandra Goforth and Stan Allan, members of MIRA, and Lynn Boshart, Administrative Assistant. He presented a brief summary to the Board of the overall program objectives; stated with any program or organization, you want to increase revenues and decrease operating expenses as much as possible; the Agency's objectives are to facilitate private sector development opportunities to increase the tax base; and that is the main focus of the program this year. He noted MIRA's capital improvements over the last few years have now been completed; its budget is not capable of undertaking additional capital improvements at this time; it is concentrating on private sector efforts; and MIRA believes it has the opportunity to seek private sector contributions and use those private sector contributions to leverage funding to obtain grant sources. Mr. Easton advised the Agency may be able to do that with the Highway Beautification Grant Program in February, 1996; it has received more than $60,000 in direct contributions on the beautification effort on S.R. 520; and if it can continue to pursue that, it may be able to free up funding for additional beautification improvements. He stated in terms of revenues, it is important programmatically to consider special assessments and/or low interest State loans; and working with the private sector, the Agency can leverage their money to obtain additional funding to undertake capital improvements to facilitate development of their projects.

Commissioner Cook inquired how would special assessments work. Mr. Easton responded an MSBU is one way of looking at it; another way is establishment of a business improvement district in the Merritt Landing area; it basically enables the people within that area to establish a district and actually tax themselves for improvements they desire in that area; and the Agency will be going through a planning effort that defines what projects may occur in that area.

Mr. Easton stated on the marina project, if the Agency were to establish an assessment for the infrastructure improvements related to that project, it could use that revenue stream to obtain low interest loans from the State to do infrastructure improvements that might be related to the marina and/or to sanitary sewer, and also to seek grants, basically using the private sector money and not the Agency's resources. He noted as far as the operating efficiency and reducing of expenses, one of the main problems the Agency has related to its budget is the maintenance of Waterway Park; rather than burden the County's General Fund, the Agency is pursuing an agreement with a private developer on the marina project to take over the cost to maintain such Park; the Agency intends to have an agreement to that effect prior to the beginning of the fiscal year; and there would be a savings between $45,000 and $60,000. Mr. Easton advised one of the issues the Agency has to address is its ability to pay off its existing line of credit and handle the principle and interest payments; this year is the first year of making those payments; it has accounted for it in its budget, but at the last MIRA board meeting, such board directed him to try and renegotiate with the bank to make sure it has room to breathe; the bank indicated it would be willing to consider any terms that might be negotiated; and one of the things it mentioned is extending the interest only payment period for however long is necessary.

Commissioner Cook inquired what is the status on the office space for MIRA. Mr. Easton responded the MIRA board authorized Mr. Amari and Commissioner O'Brien to meet with the management at the mall to see if that can occur. Mr. Easton stated the Agency's objective is to increase the tax base; that increases its revenues and enables it to pursue buying that down; and that is where its focus is with the program right now. He highlighted 10 projects that currently are under some phase of the development process, and gave the status of each project, what the tax base impact is going to be, what it translates to in terms of revenues, and in what year the Agency can expect that to impact its budget. Mr. Easton advised the total estimated tax value increase when these projects are completed is $67,250,000 on the low end and it could be up to $79.9 million; the main project in terms of significance is the marina project; and that is the primary focus this year. He stated the impact on the Agency's revenues is in the range of $383,505 to $455,430 annually; if the Agency gets these projects on the ground, its revenue situation is dramatically enhanced, giving it the capability of buying down that line of credit in a much quicker fashion; that is where the Agency's primary objectives are this year; and it is in a planning and design mode and a private sector project facilitated mode. Commissioner Ellis inquired when does all this end.

Rich Amari stated when looking at the goals and objectives of the Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency as they have been set, clearly they have not been met; the purpose of any redevelopment agency is to eliminate slum and blight; the Agency has done a good job on reducing slum and blight, but it certainly has not eliminated it; and in order to obtain the objectives of the goals that have been set forth for MIRA, it may take at least another five years. Mr. Amari stated the Agency's direction is going to be finding ways to increase revenue, decrease expenses, produce additional income to reduce the debt, and provide additional sources of capital expenditures.

County Attorney

Commissioner Cook inquired what are the amounts for travel; with County Attorney Scott Knox responding it consists of several things, such as required seminars every year; some cases may take them to Tampa; and such amounts have been lowered from last year.

Commissioner O'Brien inquired with the new Justice Center being built, would there be any implication to the County Attorney's Office as to computers or reprogramming. Attorney Knox responded his Office has attempted to talk to the Law Library to see if it can coordinate with them on a computer arrangement; but so far it has not had any luck with that. Chairman Higgs stated perhaps the County Manager can ask the Law Library to cooperate.

Commissioner O'Brien inquired about the costs for legal work of outside attorneys versus in-house attorneys. Attorney Knox responded he prepared an analysis for the Board; it is getting approximately $73 per hour in costs for attorneys; and outside attorneys' fees are more. Commissioner Cook stated he would like an overall picture of what the County pays on outside attorneys' fees. Attorney Knox stated there are certain things his Office has to use outside attorneys for which are beyond its expertise; and they are not experts in bond work or taxes.

Attorney Knox stated his Office charges $50 an hour to departments which receive grant funding from outside sources and federal government; it seems ridiculous to be charging $50 an hour for legal services, but then they have to pay $150 an hour if they had to go outside the County Attorney's Office; if the County is going to charge at all, it should charge a realistic rate; his Office came up with a rate of $125 an hour; and it needs guidance from the Board. He stated his Office is also charging $50 an hour to enterprise funds such as Utilities Department; it can have a retainer arrangement which is done in private practice; a fixed amount can be set and his Office does the work for that amount over the course of the year; and the budget shows a flat fee. Attorney Knox stated his Office is trying to set up a program for legal study internship with local colleges, including University of Central Florida; the University has expressed an interest in doing that; so the County can get some volunteer legal assistance; it has had a couple of good interns who have done well; and he is interesting in pursuing this.

Commissioner Cook stated going from $50 an hour to $125 an hour is a big increase; and he does not know how much of an impact there would be on certain programs. Chairman Higgs noted perhaps the County could charge $75 an hour. She inquired what does the Board want to do about the retainer; with Commissioner Cook responding he wants to look at how that is going to be structured.

Management Services Department

Management Services Director Mike Managan stated on an overall basis, Page G-2 shows 190 positions; with some of the changes staff is currently implementing in Central Fleet, that number will decrease to 181 positions; so there will be a total reduction of nine positions. He noted the bottom line balanced number of $22.8 million will be $250,000 to $500,000 less than that when the changes are complete; the significant change in the revenue side was from $2.7 million cash forward and operating to $1.6 million; and transfer of the General Fund from $9.8 to $10.4 represents the new method of capturing the cash forward in the General Fund. He noted there is a substantial decrease in the Budget Office of almost 9%; Facilities Construction is a flat budget; no program changes are funded in this budget; Facilities Management has two primary program changes; and it is approximately $557,000 which represents an increase of one air conditioning mechanic and increased utilities for the new courthouse. Mr. Managan advised there is $50,000 that has been funded for an American Disabilities Act which is a continuation in what the County had in this year's budget.

Commissioner O'Brien stated he personally would like to see security boosted at the Government Center; with County Manager Tom Jenkins responding the issue will be coming up on the agenda.

Commissioner Ellis stated employees in the Budget Office are swamped at budget time trying to get the Constitutional Officers' budgets in the County's form that is supposed to be submitted that way already. Mr. Jenkins stated he wrote the Constitutional Officers a letter requesting they do it this year; however, no one did it.

Motion by Commissioner Ellis, seconded by Commissioner Cook, to direct that for next year's budget, the Constitutional Officers present their budgets in the Board's format. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

Commissioner Scarborough stated he would like to see an overall report of the cost for moving various offices to the Judicial Center; and the Board needs a big picture rather than piecemeal. Commissioner Cook concurred with Commissioner Scarborough's comments. Mr. Jenkins advised staff is going to prepare a schedule on what it believes it is going to cost for such move.

Commissioners Higgs, Cook and Ellis commented about seeing numerous County vehicles traveling on Brevard County's roads and some employees possibly using the vehicles for lunch purposes; and requested Mr. Jenkins review the situation. Commissioner Ellis stated he would like to set a goal to start reducing the number of cars; and it would be the decision of the County Manager who gets the cars.

Office of Human Resources

Human Resources Director Frank Abbate stated the major change in the Office of Human Resources budget is a substantial reduction in the revenues generated from $41 million to $35 million; that reduction of approximately $5 million is a result of some changes in workman's compensation and group health insurance program; and regarding the budget on the personnel side of Human Resources, the General Fund allocation is going to be $753,000. He noted that is a slight increase of approximately 1.25% or $8,000 more than last year; however, if you take into account the one program change which is $12,000 that was added for random drug testing on a Countywide basis, the personnel side of Human Resources would have a net reduction of about $4,000.

Mr. Abbate stated in terms of the remaining funds which a majority of the monies come from, they are attributable to the workers compensation, auto liability, and group health insurance funds; expenditures are expected to decrease from $22 million which was this year's budget to $18 million for the coming year; and that is a result of reduction in premiums the County will be charged through the current health insurance programs. He advised those are the major changes in the budget in Human Resources; and the staffing allocation is staying the same as it would have been this current year.

Commissioner Scarborough stated he is interested in whether the County is getting classifications where it has unusually large turnovers; and if there are certain key people it is losing, the Board needs to know. Discussion ensued on the County's merit system. Commissioner Cook noted the Board needs to take another look at it.

Chairman Higgs stated she would like to see a set of various scenarios prepared that gives her an idea if the Board funds the Sheriff, different ways of looking at the overall millage. She advised the tentative millage meeting will be held at 2:00 p.m. on August 2, 1995.

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m.

ATTEST:

SANDY CRAWFORD, CLERK

(S E A L)

NANCY N. HIGGS, CHAIRMAN

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA