MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

July 16, 2009

 

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in special session on July 16, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. in the Brevard County Government Center, Florida Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida.  Present were:  Chairman Chuck Nelson, Commissioners Robin Fisher, Trudie Infantini, Mary Bolin, and Andy Anderson, Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

 

 

Assistant County Manager Frank Abbate advised each Board member should have received a package from Colin Benzinger, including 12 applicants and background information for those applicants; his understanding is that County staff has arranged individual meetings with Mr. Benzinger and each Commissioner for July 20, 2009; tentatively Mr. Benzinger would be coming in to walk the Board through the process of short listing to five candidates; Mr. Benzinger sent out a proposed schedule that he had for July 30, 2009 to go through an interview process that he had suggested; and he wanted to confirm with the Board that it received that information and that is the process it will be moving forward with.

 

Chairman Nelson advised he does not hear any objections.

 

 

 

Commissioner Infantini requested Stockton Whitten address the incidents that took place at the North Area Animal Shelter yesterday.

 

Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten stated there was a volunteer who had control of a pit bull, who lost control over the pit bull; the pit bull attacked one of the County workers and a cat; he does not know how many vacancies there are, but they are in the selection process; so he is not sure that issue boils down to a lack of staff.  He noted he does not know the circumstances with regards to how well trained the volunteer was, how big the dog was, but it is a matter of somebody losing control of that animal.

 

Assistant County Manager Frank Abbate stated there were two fulltime positions in Animal Services related to the shelters that were filled this past Monday; last week, four additional positions were signed by the County Manager to be filled; they will be advertised this coming week; and they will be open for a one week advertising period and then they will be filled.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired were the fulltime positions filled with part-timers, so it was  not  like   hiring   on  two  new  fulltime   people.  Mr.   Abbate   stated   staff   advertised   two

 

REPORT, RE:  NORTH AREA ANIMAL SHELTER (CONTINUED)

 

fulltime positions; such positions were filled by people who were currently part-time; and those two part-time positions are two of the four that are being advertised this week.

 

Mr. Whitten stated the County is always chasing vacancies, not only in Animal Services, but elsewhere; he has taken a lot of criticism with regards to not filling positions; there is virtually someone who quits in such Department every week; and the County has moved part-timers to fulltime; and after the selection process, there may only be two to four vacancies there.  He noted all of that hinges on whether the County can keep those as a matter of budget discussions; it is making progress in that Department in terms of filling the positions; and the Sheriff’s Office is a big help with regards to bringing inmates in six days a week to clean the shelters.

 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated the Economic Development Council meeting last night was well attended and very informational.

 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated her Office has been working on the Local Preference; they have had two meetings of individuals from the Chambers of Commerce, private business, and associated industry type of people; it has been a very good discussion; they are almost to the point now where they are going to be able to put something together and have it for the Commissioners; and hopefully it will be finalized on July 28, 2009 and put into action.

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated there was an event last night at the Valiant Air Command; the Museum has come along; about one month ago, the Board approved utilization of some TDC monies for expansion; and it is a great facility.  He stated Commissioner Fisher did a great job; the City of Titusville is very proud of its accomplishments; and it was a nice event.

 

 

Ann Samuelson stated she is a small business owner and President of South Patrick Residents Association; the Association serves about 3,000 homes on the beachside north of Satellite Beach and south of Pineda Causeway; the community needs a financially strong local government that provides specific essential services; and it is the responsibility of citizens to bring the Board information from the communities it serves to help it make the best decisions possible to achieve those goals.  She noted economic conditions are absolutely dire in the trades and small business; the loss of jobs and loss of homes are growing; people are very angry the way some governments have handled their spending, leading  to  increases  in  millage  rates  and  fees  to  maintain vaguely defined services; the

 

Board has the opportunity to reevaluate just what services government should provide; and inquired what services and programs are considered essential to the vast majority of citizens.  She stated the answer excludes special interest groups who petition the County for funding that costs everyone, but benefits few; analyzing the County budget has similarities to analyzing a household budget where non-essentials and essentials can be identified; so too can those essential services that citizens rely upon their government to provide by taxpayer resources being identified; and non-essential services would also need to be documented and either drastically reduced or eliminated.  She noted across-the-board reductions for all departments, services, and programs make absolutely no sense to the public; the Board also has the opportunity to keep the tax or the millage rates at the same level as last year, even as assessed property values this year may in fact fall almost 20% in Brevard County; while the Board has the power to raise the millage or tax rates to extract the same amount of revenue from the people as in 2008, it must ask if that would be the right thing to do as incomes have fallen drastically, so drastically that small businesses and homeowners would not be able to pay the same taxes as they did last year; and it would be a much higher proportion of their expenses because incomes have in fact drastically fallen.  Ms. Samuelson stated no one said these decisions would be easy or painless, but the citizens the Board serves rely on it to make these difficult choices; and they are here to help the Board.

Judge Preston Silvernail stated they know how difficult these times are in terms of economics and know the difficulties with which the Board struggles with; they are appreciative of the jobs the Commissioners have before them; Judges are people who have to make hard decisions; and most of their stress comes from their big budget provider in Tallahassee.  He thanked the Board for the opportunity to come and serve the people of Brevard County this morning by telling them about their budget concerns.  He stated they have had the opportunity to discuss with staff and view the proposed budget; they fully understand that cuts are necessary and it is a difficult situation; they have been cut by the State; and there is one area they want to discuss with the Board in terms of the cuts that have been identified.  He noted they would like to trade out to some extent and on an even basis essentially one position, which is a high cost position, for two positions which are lower down on the totem pole in terms of compensation; and that is essentially the one position that was in Dependency Court for a Court Information Specialist; such Specialist is more essential to the core of the Judges’ mission and for their service to the public; and requested the Board consider that modification to the budget.

 

Chairman Nelson stated the State also causes the Board great stress.

 

Commissioner Bolin requested additional detail on the positions. 

 

Judge Silvernail stated the Dependency Court position is $64,000; the two Court Information Specialists positions total $80,000; and they are prepared to make that up in another area by perhaps cutting another one-half position.

 

 

FY 2009-2010 PROPOSED BUDGET PRESENTATION (CONTINUED)

 

The Board reached consensus to direct the County Manager to work with Judge Silvernail and Court Administrator Mark Van Bever to effect that change on an even basis.

 

Judge Silvernail stated as long as it is dollar for dollar; and he may throw in a few bucks personally if it comes to that.

Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten expressed appreciation to staff for their work throughout the Spring and assisting him in putting together the budget package; stated Brevard County has one of the most dedicated staff that anyone can find in local government; he appreciates the hard work they have put in; there have been some candid and tough conversations; and staff realizes where the County is and have all come to the plate, and are ready to play ball.  He explained the budget development calendar, including today’s workshop, July 23, 2009 budget workshop, July 28, 2009 tentative millage meeting, August 27, 2009 workshop, September 8, 2009 first budget hearing, September 17, 2009 workshop, and the September 22, 2009 final budget hearing.  He outlined the FY 2009-2010 Budget Summary; stated it again is a reduced budget; the County is currently at $1.184 billion; and the budget is being reduced to $1.084 billion, which represents in total approximately an 8.5% reduction.  He provided the Aggregate Millages, Aggregate Millage Rate, Taxable Value, Rollback Rate, and Adopted Rate; stated for the last couple of years the adopted rate has actually been far below the rollback rate; and last year the County was also under the rollback rate.  Mr. Whitten depicted the Aggregate Operating Tax Revenues for Fiscal Year 2004 to Fiscal Year 2010; for Fiscal Year 2010, the amount is $183,316,653; major revenues include the Aggregate Operating Millage Rates; and they are continuously decreasing.  He stated General Government Fiscal Year 2009-2010 Proposed are the revenues the County used to provide Countywide services; the General Countywide taxes are down 12%, which equates to approximately $17 million; the County is losing money on the half cent sales tax of $2.2 million; it is pretty stable on the franchise fees for FPL; and State shared the County is losing a little money. 

 

Mr. Whitten stated Communication Services Tax is down $1.1 million; interest earned for Fiscal Year 2009 is $1,500,000; the Fiscal Year 2010 amount is $810,000; and for General Government, it is a deficit of $21 million.  He advised Strategic Priorities include Economic Development, Infrastructure, Public Safety, and Social Services; Strategic Initiatives are Service Delivery, Fiscal Stewardship, Workforce Development, and Citizen Engagement; and staff has paid attention to those in trying to develop the budget proposal.  He stated Budget Development Parameters are the elimination of virtually all vacant positions to minimize layoffs; no COLA, merit or step plan increases, furloughs equivalent to 5% pay reduction, and equivalent of 13 non-paid days off for most Board of County Commission employees.  He noted further Budget Development Parameters include program expense reductions and cost shifts within health insurance and other benefit programs; employees, retirees, and dependents will absorb the cost shifts; elimination of employer paid Short Term Income Protection Plan (STIPP); and reconsideration of raising Court Facilities fee to assist the Board in meeting State Court System funding obligations, from $15.00 to $30.00, authorized by State Legislature for traffic infractions.  Mr. Whitten noted also included in the Budget Development  Parameters  are  revenue  anticipated from sale of the West Melbourne Health

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

and Rehabilitation Center included in the budget; a portion of Risk Catastrophic Reserves transferred to General Government Reserves; a portion of General Government Reserves utilized for operational expenses; and a portion of STIPP Reserves used for operational expenses. 

 

Human Resources Director Frank Abbate stated to not do the furloughs on the General Fund side of it would equate to an additional 40 full-time plus positions being laid off; so it is about $2.1 million, at an average salary, benefit level of $50,000.  He stated concerning the medical trend, where the County is today is approximately 10% to 10½%; staff just received the information from the Consultants last week based on the prior 12 months of what that trend would be; that is on about $36 million of medical claims under the County’s current plan, which is about $3.6 million; and the employer’s contribution, if the County had the 4½% increase, would have covered $2.2 million of that amount.  He noted employees and dependents through premiums would have had to make up that difference; things got substantially worse as the County moved along trying to balance the budget, so not only does the County not have the employer contribution budgeted, but there is a 6% decrease in the employer contribution rate, which equates to another $2.9 million; so the County would have to add the $2.9 million plus the $2.2 million of the employer contribution; and the County is short in terms of adequate or appropriate funding for the health plan $5.1 million.  He stated it is cost shifting and program reduction costs; the Employee Benefits Insurance Advisory Committee has been working through a Pharmacy RFP process; it has realized as part of that process a minimum of $1.1 million, with a potential of almost up to $1.8 million to $2 million of savings based on some design changes and shifting more to generic; and County staff is meeting with the Committee within the next two weeks to review that in detail and the other funding options in terms of what to do in terms of plan design for premium adjustments for dependents, retirees, etc. 

 

Mr. Abbate stated there were over 1,300 responses to the employee survey; it was very clear that between salary reduction and layoffs, employees, to a significant degree, were much more willing to look at furloughs or feel that would be a reasonable approach; they also evenly divided a Terms Group Health Insurance in terms of if one had to have cost shift, should it be between plan design or premium-type adjustments; and the County is taking all of those factors into consideration, and very closely looked at this as it tried to develop a balanced budget proposal and incorporated as much as it reasonably could in the budget package.

 

Mr. Whitten stated there are 199 positions that are proposed to be eliminated in the budget; 41 of those are full-time management/supervisory positions; 79 are full-time non-supervisory; and 78 are part-time positions.  He noted staff has provided the detail on that.

 

Mr. Abbate stated 34% of the full-time positions are supervisory or management positions; the total of that is approximately $2.4 million, not including benefits of health insurance-related savings; it is just on the salary side; and there are also additional full-time equivalent reductions.  He advised the information provided to the Board is a listing of those positions that are actually eliminated; the total of that, including benefits and health insurance related for the full-time positions, equals just shy of $10 million.

 

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

Mr. Whitten stated he is comfortable that County staff has not presented the Board with a proposal that balances on the backs of the worker bees; there is a significant percentage of positions that are considered management and supervisory; the funding of the First Responder Program is eliminated; and that is approximately $1.4 million.

 

Assistant County Manager Mel Scott stated there is a higher percentage of Road and Bridge MSTU revenues dedicated to ditch maintenance, resulting in reduced funding for maintenance and resurfacing.

 

Mr. Whitten stated other Program or Service Level Reductions Focus include the Library System operating hours being reduced by 20%; Community and Nature Centers operating hours reduced; funding to Community-Based and Not-for-Profit Organizations and Outside Agencies reduced; and funding for Capital Renewal and Replacement reduced.  He stated departmental travel budgets are reduced an additional 15% beyond original budget submissions.  He advised the Budget Summary includes the current FY 2008-2009 Budget at $1,184,904,373; proposed FY 2009-2010 Budget at $1,084,355,464; and a decrease of $100,548,909 or 8.49% decrease.  He stated the Aggregate Operating Tax Rate if 5.4752, which is 13.92% below the roll forward rate of 6.36. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated as far as library services, the County has not closed any of its libraries; and it has only reduced hours.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated at some point the Board is going to have to discuss contracting out and privatization of some services; it is going to have to be a real discussion because it is going to get worse two or three years down the road; he is not comfortable not being at a 10% level in County reserves; and the County needs to get creative.

 

Mr. Abbate stated it has not only been discussed, but Parks and Recreation staff and himself met with a particular outplacement company as they are looking for opportunities in Parks and Recreation moving forward; they happen to be currently doing that with temporary and seasonal employees; and County staff will be coming back to the Board with an RFP to explore exactly that kind of opportunity.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he is waiting for a response from the Animal Working Group on the Animal Shelters; he does not know that government can run animal services as efficiently as a private sector, along with some other areas; but the County has to start talking about these and stop waiting because once this budget process is over, it starts the next one immediately.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she is not looking towards raising the Court Facilities fee.  Commissioner Infantini stated she does not support increasing the fee either; the County is spending so much money to fund people to get out of jail free; it is costing the County millions of dollars; and instead it should place that money on the backs of the people that allegedly committed crimes, and use such money for outsourcing and having bail bondsmen do what they do best so that the County can get out of the business of helping people get out of jail free.  She noted if someone cannot afford to pay a bail bondsmen then perhaps they should spend a couple of nights in jail. 

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

Commissioner Anderson stated then there is the issue of jail overcrowding.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated deputies should have more latitude to issue citations rather than carting people to jail, such as for example if someone is caught for open container; it would reduce manpower needs of deputies; it would reduce jail overcrowding; and it would also get rid of the bail bondsman conflict the County seems to be having.  She noted it would further get rid of millions of dollars in PTR fees to help people get out faster; in looking at the list of everybody who is getting out of jail free, it is mostly DUI’s and silly offenses that they possibly did not need to be taken to Sharpes; and it is an unnecessary cost.

 

Chairman Nelson stated he would argue that the deputies do not arrest for silly offenses; some legislative body at some point created the law that made it silly; so one cannot blame the police officers; and they need to look at the laws that were created that caused that to happen.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she did not actually blame the police officers; and she was trying to untie their hands; she was not trying to tie them.

 

Chairman Nelson stated the difficulty that the Board is going to have is that this is pretty sterile in terms of a budget document; it really does not equate to what those impacts are; the County has to equate cause and effect; it is going to be completed, as there are voter-approved millages; and those are going to complicate the circumstances.  He stated the Board just received the budget; it is going to pour over it and give it a priority; and he does not know that there is much additional discussion, other than he would like to have Interim Fire Chief Dennis Neterer explain the First Responder Program.

 

Interim Fire Chief Dennis Neterer stated the First Responder Program began around mid to late 1990’s; the Program is designed to help other municipalities provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) services, paramedic level of service; annually, his Department polls the municipalities; and there is a formula for equating how much funding they should receive based on the number of ALS units and the number of calls they run.  He noted the projection for next year, if the County were to fund the Program, would be about $1.4 million; Brevard County Fire Rescue (BCFR) receives no First Responder money; and its ability for a paramedic engine is funded internally.  He stated if the County were to fund BCFR it would be about $820,000; and added to the $1.4 million, it is about $2.2 million.

 

Chairman Nelson stated there was some discussion last year with the Cities and Fire Chiefs; they understood that the other way of looking at that would be to take the existing amount of dollars and recalculating based on BCFR getting its fair share; they were receptive to that because they saw the entire Program away; and as it turns out, the County did not do that so the Cities received their full share again this year.  He noted that is the other option the County would have, which is to fund it at the level that it has been funded, and do a reallocation, which would reduce the Cities’ share, but it would also give BCFR a share; the issue is that if somebody lives in the unincorporated area, he or she is paying twice; the County pays in the unincorporated area to fund those third folks and the equipment; it also pays General Fund, which funds that; and to achieve fairness, they had that discussion last year.

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

Commissioner Anderson stated municipal residents pay their fair share in General Revenue; however, he is not so sure Police Departments should be entitled to First Responder fees; it does not seem logical to him; it is a health and safety issue; and that is what the County is here to do above everything else.  He noted if the County has to get that money to reallocate from somewhere else, he is comfortable with that; and it is not a non-essential service.  He advised the Sheriff, Fire, Courts, roads, and ditches are the priorities; and if staff has to go back and look at Parks, then it needs to do so to find the money.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated regarding the purchase of a second aerial apparatus for $668,000, the County will be getting a new aerial apparatus truck at Station 48; she is not sure where the second one would be going; and suggested the County defer the $668,000 to another year.

 

Mr. Whitten stated First Responder is General Fund; and the aerial apparatus truck is assessment and MSTU.  Chairman Nelson stated they are two different pots.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if the Citizens Budget Review Committee would be making a recommendation to the Board.

 

Mr. Whitten responded the Committee has discussed resolutions or recommendations, but he does not know if it has taken a formal vote on them.

 

Budget Director Tom Rosenberg stated at each of the last two meetings, there has been a list of about three or four proposals that the Committee has drawn up and voted on; he thought they were being passed on to the Board; he does not know what happens after it leaves the meetings; but there is a specific list of proposals.

 

Mr. Whitten stated staff will provide the proposals to the Board and ask the Committee what its plans are for coming back before the Board.

 

Commissioner Anderson inquired is there an opportunity to invite a spokesperson from the Committee to attend the next budget workshop.  Mr. Whitten stated staff will advise the Committee of the next scheduled budget workshop.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated yesterday at the Economic Development Commission (EDC) meeting the theme was competitive business environment; the whole meeting was about the competition and who the competition was; it is other communities who are wanting to attack the workforce and talent in Brevard County; and one of the things that makes Brevard County very unique and nice, and the reason people want to live and work here is the quality of life issues.  He noted he is concerned that some of these eliminations and cuts are going to affect the quality of life; he would like to see something on the impacts of service to the community; there are some basic services the County has to provide; but it is also big picture stuff and how to keep the quality of life in Brevard County.  He stated he hopes the Board would make sure all the fat is gone and it be willing to do what it has to do to provide good service and keep the quality of life in Brevard County.

 

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she disagrees that the County has to continually cut everybody off the payroll; she received the budget package at about 4:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon; she did as much research on it last night as she possibly could have; she did not have a chance to review all of the information that she would have liked to; and she would have liked to have had the budget package a week in advance, like the Board normally has with any agenda item.  She advised in the Environmentally Endangered Lands Department, out of 31 employees there is one Manager, who supervises four Managers, who supervises four Assistant Managers; and there is a little bit of fat there.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated the first budget workshop is to receive this package and hear the overview; that is when the Board takes the package and then zeroes down into it; she applauds Commissioner Infantini working through the evening to do it; but the Commissioners who have been through this before, the first time she had her first budget package she did the same thing and then realized it is an overview to get a feel for it; and then at the second budget workshop, which is July 23, 2009, is when the Commissioners come with their legal pads full of discussion items. 

 

Commissioner Fisher stated the individuals that prepared the budget package worked hard for the past two, three, or four months; a lot of work has gone into such package; it has taken hours and hours of manpower from staff, plus working on the weekends, to get the package to the Board yesterday at 4:00 p.m.; and he is appreciative of what County staff did.  He noted the Board has time to review and digest the budget information; the final budget hearing is September 22, 2009; so there is plenty of time to figure it out; and that is a lot of conversation between now and then.

 

Chairman Nelson stated organizationally, the County has gotten thinner and thinner; the discussion started today about dogs; honestly, he would like to see the Interim County Manager’s time spent on the budget and not on dogs in terms of priorities; and the Board has stressed the organization to the point where it needs to tell staff what is important.  He noted to him what is important is getting through the budget; the Animal Services issues will grind along as they have; that is not his priority at this point in time; but he wants to see it fixed.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she believes it is a priority because a County employee went to the hospital as a result of the dog incident; she does not want any County employee in harms way; and if the County is going to take on a responsibility, then it needs to protect its employees. 

 

Chairman Nelson stated he agrees 100%; there have been firefighters injured; and a lot of things have taken place in government on a daily basis.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated there are staffing issues in the Animal Services and Enforcement Department; no changes have happened in the staffing, except for at the Director level; the Shelter Managers, the staffing has not changed; and that is where the problem lies; and it is not with the Director.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

Commissioner Anderson stated his Office has received over 800 emails; he told his staff that they need to concentrate on some other issues, such as drainage; he has horrible issues at Deer Run; and the residents appreciate the County’s ability to get dangerous animals, but they do not want their houses flooded

 

Chairman Nelson stated the next budget workshop is scheduled for July 23, 2009.

 

Mr. Whitten advised the Sheriff and Economic Development Commission wants to make presentations; the Board requested staff to invite a Citizens Budget Review Committee representative; and in terms of the impact, the County Directors are the best people to tell the Board what is happening with regards to their budget reductions.

 

 

            Facilities Department

 

Facilities Director Steve Quickel stated the reduction his Department is looking at is approximately $1.2 million; that is across-the-board with some positions, overtime, some people have retired, some vacancies are being lost, and they are working on a termination; and that is about $600,000 of the $1.2 million.  He noted the Department is reducing energy consumption; its expectation is to save probably $75,000 in energy costs through conservation measures; and the lights are the most energy efficient.  He noted the Department is reducing its subcontracts for landscaping and janitorial services; it is looking at reducing the number of days for custodial staff and having them work in the daytime during business hours; staff does not believe it is going to be too disruptive; and the lights can be turned off earlier, which will be an energy cost savings.  He stated instead of having the grass cut every week, staff will try to select the periods in the year where the grass does not need to be cut quite as much; and they are looking at breaking up the contracts in smaller contracts, which would open it up to perhaps smaller vendors that could give the County better prices. 

 

Mr. Quickel stated the Department is further looking into reducing some of the courier service, either in number of days or in reducing trips to outlying areas; and it has eliminated some leased space it had and consolidated the Value Adjustment Board at the Viera facility instead of leasing a facility.  He noted overtime has not been eliminated totally because unfortunately things break; however, it is being cut back to the bare minimum.

 

Commissioner Anderson requested the Department produce a work order or report to the Board showing where the majority of tasks and requests are, especially the brush fire request, before the next budget workshop.  Mr. Quickel stated staff will provide some information together; his Department has a reporting system; and staff will get a report together for the Board that breaks it down in some categories.  He noted his Department has a very thorough preventative maintenance program on its major HVAC equipment systems; if they break, that is where the biggest impact is and the biggest expense to the County; so his Department does that diligently; and his Department prioritizes its work daily.  He stated staff is adequately handling the most critical areas now with preventative maintenance.

 

 

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

            Transit Services Department

 

Transit Services Director Jim Liesenfelt stated the reduction for Transit Services Department is somewhere around 22%; there would be a reduction of one bus driver; one Planner III position will retire in May 2009 and the position will be eliminated; and the other reduction is due to decreasing fuel costs compared to last year.  He noted the other portion of the reduction of the 22% is the State actually took away part of the County’s Commuter Systems Program that it pays for its marketing, website, etc.; it was reduced by $100,000; and the Department is able to reduce its $100,000 match.  He stated 5% furlough is easy for the office workers, but not the bus drivers; it would cut back the bus service; the run cuts would be reworked; and the employees instead of working at 100% would be working at 95%.  He noted furlough will save some money, but it also is a direct service cut. 

 

Mr. Whitten stated the 22% is the reduction in the General Fund transfer.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired could the Transit Services Department take a 5% pay cut across-the-board and that would equal the furlough issue.  Mr. Whitten responded the strategy for calling it a furlough as opposed to a pay reduction has a lot to do with retirement.

 

Mr. Abbate stated the employee preferences that were expressed, it is clear that furloughs were preferred than to salary reductions; when one has a furlough, it does not show for people who have credit issues; furloughs do cause a service reduction; it is also going to be an issue in certain operations which are very near critical in terms of the level of staffing they have to do furloughs; and 13 additional days for each of the employees will create rather significant customer service issues in those areas. 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated the 5% reduction would help the County avoid some of the service cuts; she would like to not see a cut in services, but at the same time, all of these individuals will be able to keep their jobs rather than taking the 13 days off; she realizes it would affect a little bit regarding credit standing; but if there was a 5% cut across-the-board, the County would not have the staffing issues that so many County Departments are going to go through; and there are certain areas the County would not want to cut 13 days out of the year, and for staffing issues, it would be easier logistically to cut 5% across-the-board.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired how many bus drivers are in the Transit Services Department; with Mr. Liesenfelt responding 100 bus drivers and there are 72 or 73 shifts.

 

Mr. Whitten stated the bottom line is the routes are cut or condensed; if they run from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., then they are going to run from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. or something.

 

Mr. Liesenfelt stated if there is a furlough, his Department has to cut the equivalent of 5% service hours off the road.

 

Commissioner Anderson requested Mr. Liesenfelt explain the bus fares.  Mr. Liesenfelt advised the fixed route fares are $1.25; the County offers half fares for seniors, disabled, students, and veterans; the door-to-door, paratransit  fares  are  double  that;  they  also  sell

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

monthly passes; the fare revenue last fiscal year covered 10.5% of the fixed route service; and the percentage for paratransit was much lower. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated last year there was some money that was added to the budget for Route 1; and inquired how is that going.  Mr. Liesenfelt advised it is going pretty good; the amount of service has been doubled; the ridership has not been cut in half; and there are more people riding it than there was before.  He stated Route 1 became the main spine in the system, the transfers between Melbourne and Viera, and Viera and Titusville; it has eased a bunch of transfers; connections can be made every hour going across the County; and it has helped tremendously.  He noted it has also helped Route 4 and Route 21 as well.

 

Commissioner Anderson requested information for the next budget workshop on how the County’s rider fares compare to similar Counties or similar size transit services.  Mr. Liesenfelt advised Volusia County is about $1.25; Lynx in Orlando is $2.00; and Brevard County is there or towards a little bit lower half of the end now.

 

 

            Natural Resources Management Office

Natural Resources Management Director Ernie Brown stated his Office tries to focus its reductions to hold harmless public safety and State, federal, and local mandated programs; staff has attempted to do that; it has resulted in the elimination of all non-mandated outreach programs in the Office; and streamlining down to the barebones, the environmental review services his Office is mandated to perform through County Codes.  He advised what it equates to as far as recurring numbers, is about a 28% reduction in General Fund for recurring dollars, a total General Fund reduction of about 47%; there are a lot of great programs that are not mandated; that is where County staff has to target their efforts; and some of those programs are the outreach programs, supporting the Girl Scouts and doing the Homeschooling Environmental Education Program.  He stated the Office has to drive its revenues and resources to meet mandated criteria; as a result of having to reduce non-mandatory programs, his Office is having to consolidate two of its sections; it will result in the loss of one long-term Manager in the County in excess of 18 years; and the employees is a very valued one.  He noted such Manager is heavily involved in the Outreach Program, and will be laid off as a result of that process; so the Environmental Review and Management and Planning, and Outreach Sections will be combined for Environmental Resources Management to focus on the mandated programs in-house.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated it sounds like everything Mr. Brown is doing right now is mandated; and inquired can the County untie his hands and reduce some of those mandates because so many of them are County.  She noted the Board is reviewing the Comprehensive Plan on Tuesday, so a lot of those things that have tied Mr. Brown’s hands for mandates, the Board could remove some of those mandated programs at Tuesday’s meeting and he would be able to do perhaps one of those Outreach Programs. 

 

Mr. Brown stated unfortunately the untying of those hands is probably about an 18-month process; the County is obligated under 9J-5, which is Department of Community Affairs, to meet certain criteria under the Comprehensive Plan; if the Board changes such Plan, it is a very  lengthy  process to amend it and revise it; and the County is obligated to fill those Code

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

and Comprehensive Plan criteria until such time as it has changed, for example, the Wetlands Code and Landscaping Code.  He noted his Office has reduced staff has low as it can, but still meet a minimum level of service to the constituency that it is obligated to serve there; that service is suffering; there is not sufficient staffing, because it is fee-based, to meet the expected turnaround times that developers are asking for; and he has no recourse.  He stated there used to be seven Permit Reviewers and now there are only three; so there is not the time and in fact there is less time available for them to provide the review services that are still expected out there.  Mr. Brown stated the Codes are mandated by the Comprehensive Plan; what they look like can be modified; and that is the key.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated certain decisions the Board makes today at least they can impact future budget years. 

 

Mr. Brown stated there are some interesting caveats that Counties experienced two years ago with some Legislative change for requirements in the Comprehensive Plan; municipalities did not have to do it; it was an option; the County had to change its operations to meet those Comprehensive Plan mandates; and it was the only preservation of working waterfronts that Cities did not have to do.

 

 

The meeting recessed at 10:55 a.m. and reconvened at 11:30 a.m.

 

 

            Emergency Management Office

Chairman Nelson commended the Emergency Management Office for the job it is doing on the hurricane season so far.

 

Emergency Management Director Bob Lay stated there is some reduction in the area of 211; it is a reduction of about $9,000; he is not sure the total impact it is going to have in 211 and the service they provide; but it is a 20% reduction.  He noted last year it was a 10% reduction; in terms of personnel assigned to Emergency Management, all of that basically has stayed the same; functions stayed the same; and the Office is starting to pick up a few more functions.  He stated thanks to the Fire Department, a couple of years ago his Office was able to take the training part of the Community Emergency Response Teams, and the Fire Department elected to take that on for the unincorporated areas; but his Office still provides some management support, both to the Cities and to the unincorporated part on the SERT Program; on the 800 megahertz, his Office was able to come up with the biggest reduction or return of General Funds back to the County of around $129,000; and that is on the non-800 Communications side.  He noted Contracts and service things on various towers and tower sites, his Office is going to continue doing all those things it is required to do by law, but it is going to only do them as necessary or as required; it is looking at the potential for some leases; the 800 megahertz radio system is a Countywide system; and merging with the County now is E-911 service, so it will also be part of Emergency Management.  He stated regarding elimination of the E-911 Coordinator position, the Emergency Management Office will start to assume some of those duties, he will assume some, the Wireless Coordinator  will  assume  some, and  other  folks  in  his  Office  will  pick  up  some of those

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

responsibilities also; they are still working some of those details out; they will have all of that accomplished by October 1, 2009; and they are working on how they are going to handle the financial aspect of it.

 

Mr. Lay stated for the most part, all of the services the Emergency Management Office is providing are going to continue to be provided; and he does not see that it has any shortfalls at this time.

 

 

            Agriculture and Extension Services Office

Agriculture and Extension Services Director James Fletcher stated based on what his Office submitted for budget reductions this year, it is looking at roughly a 10% budget reduction; this entails two positions and some operation cuts; the two positions include a 4-H Agent that is currently vacant, and an Office Assistant that is also located in the Palm Bay facility. 

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if the Board was able to increase Mr. Fletcher’s budget by $60,000, how much would it help in staffing; stated the Agriculture and Extension Services Office is probably about as small and lean as could be; and she is not looking to make any cuts personally in such Office.  She inquired would $60,000 help the Office; with Mr. Fletcher responding it would help tremendously.  Mr. Fletcher stated his Office is a partnership with the University of Florida; most of the money is related to a salary base, so when the County is asked to do reductions, there is not much operations that can really be cut; over the past three years his Office has basically taken a 30% reduction in staff; and it has not been able to deliver the kinds of programs that it was delivering three years ago.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated it is her understanding there are certain areas that the University of Florida will help Brevard County or work with it free of charge, things the County may currently be paying for services elsewhere; and requested Mr. Fletcher provide her Office or all the Commissioners with a listing.  She noted the Board could take those items out of others’ operating budgets and it could be financed or funneled through Mr. Fletcher’s Office by the County’s partnership with the University of Florida.  Mr. Fletcher stated he can provide a generic list of services; and the benefit of having the partnership that is created is having the resources to tap into any program that is at the University of Florida.

 

 

            Fire Rescue Department

Interim Chief Dennis Neterer, Fire Rescue, stated overall the Fire Rescue Department’s budget last year was $77 million; this year it is about $70 million; the reduction comes in two areas, principally, in looking at operating costs or expenses, it is from $65 million to about $61 million; the fire assessment was designed with a 15% reduction for this year; and it was also designed for the Department to spend down the reserves it had accumulated in the last three or four budget cycles.  He noted in terms of General Fund transfer, which principally the larger share goes to EMS, the Board approved the Department’s request to increase its billing rates and allow those uncollectible accounts to go to collections, so that also helped defray; at this current time, the Department has been able to maintain its current level of service; the  men  and  women that provide emergency services in the field are doing it every

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

day; and the County is supporting them.  He stated in terms of reductions of staff personnel, one senior staff position has been eliminated; it was an Assistant Chief of Logistics, who recently retired; the Department also eliminated a Construction Coordinator position, a Training Officer, and fire station staffing; and all total, these reductions equated to about $360,000.  He stated next year going into the Department’s budget, it probably has about $3 million or $3.5 million balanced forward, non-reoccurring money that it will be spending next year to support its operation; it reduced its CIP; and looked at comparing operating actuals to what the Department is budgeting and closing that gap there as well.  He noted the overall Department budget has a reduction of about 6%; in terms of furloughs, the lion’s share of the Department’s workforce is IAFF and it operates at minimum staffing; so of the about 550 or so people the Department has, 460 of them could not be furloughed because the Department has to operate with them every day; and the remainder of staff, the Department would have to look at on a program-by-program basis.  He stated the Department could probably do some furlough opportunities in the clerical and administrative staff, but he would have to take a look on a case-by-case basis.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired when Mr. Neterer says the furloughs will be a problem, is he then stating that he would prefer to do a 5% decrease in salaries; with Mr. Neterer responding when he looks at what the Department’s work capacity is, what it has, and what its demands are, probably a 5% reduction would be more feasible in order for the Department to maintain its operations in those areas.

 

 

            Library Services Department

Library Services Director Cathy Schweinsberg stated over the past two years, the Library Services Department has accomplished about a $4 million reduction, so this year it knew when it was going into the process that it would mean the elimination of positions; it was all the Department has left; and the result of that is the 203 1/2 –hour reduction to hours open to the public.  She stated the media budget was reduced this year by 43%; and it will impact the public greatly.

 

Interim County Manager Stockton Whitten advised that every Library is reducing their hours. 

 

Ms. Schweinsberg advised the library daytime hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; those libraries open in the evenings, the hours will be 12 noon to 8:00 p.m.; that is an eight-hour shift that is staffed; some of the libraries will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday; and Sundays will always be 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired is Ms. Schweinsberg seeing an increase in usage of the libraries because of people being unemployed; with Ms. Schweinsberg responding absolutely.  Ms. Schweinsberg stated at the same time the Library Services Department is drastically reducing, it is seeing huge impacts in its business level.

 

Commissioner Bolin commended the Department for not having to close 100% any of the Libraries; this is a good common sense approach; and people are just going to adjust.

 

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

Chairman Nelson inquired has Ms. Schweinsberg programmed in the concept of furloughs with the reduction in hours.  Ms. Schweinsberg responded it is going to impact her Department; it is so thinly staffed now; and her staff would rather have a furlough day than a reduction in salary.

 

Mr. Whitten advised Ms. Schweinsberg’s budget is balanced without furloughs; so furloughs with regards to Ms. Schweinsberg’s operations is an equity issue.  He stated the Board tasked her with going back and looking at if she did the furloughs, could she keep more staff or keep more hours; her budget is a natural reduction because she is probably 99% funded from the Special District taxes; and she is simply balanced to what she lost in terms of tax revenues.

 

 

            Criminal Justice Services Department

Criminal Justice Services Director Shaunna Heffernan stated the Criminal Justice Services Department is basically broken into three various types of services into two programs; there is Criminal Justice, which is the diversionary-type programs, including Probation, Pretrial Release, Community Supervision, and School Crossing Guards; and the second program is the Medical Examiner’s Office.  She noted in total, the Department is losing six positions in the budget process; and those include two Program Managers, a Medical Examiner Secretary, a Criminal Justice Secretary, a Community Supervision Officer, and a Clerical Office Assistant position.  She noted other than increasing workloads of others, basically the Department is not experiencing any big deficits at this point; and the reductions equal approximately 8.15%.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired what does the State Attorney’s Office do in respect to people that come before the Judge; stated Pre-Trial Release does an enormous amount of work to prepare the Judge; and inquired what is the State Attorney’s objective in all of this in preparing whether or not the person should be out on bond or do they just try to prosecute everybody who comes in.  Ms. Heffernan responded the State Attorney’s Office is there to either object or not object to someone’s bond amount being set; that is the reason they are there at first appearance; they are also there to help the judge determine whether there is probable cause in a case to hold a defendant there; and if the judge finds there is no probable cause then the judge can release them.  Commissioner Infantini inquired is the Criminal Justice Services Department properly staffed for probation officers; stated Brevard County is having higher incidence of crime and therefore more people are being released on probation or community service; and inquired are the probation officers having an increased workload.  Ms. Heffernan responded to do the job that they are doing now at this level they are comfortable.

 

 

            Law Library

 

A representative from the Law Library advised staff reduced its expenditures last fiscal year about $63,000; this year it is reducing again about $24,000, which is a 20% reduction in media resources; the Law Library is down to canceling basic legal resources that the Courts and public use; but they understand these are trying times to everyone.

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she has had the opportunity to use the services provided by the Law Library when she was auditing, and looked up some case law; and the Law Library staff was wonderful helping her locate case law to research something; and she can attest to the great service they provide.

 

 

            Mosquito Control Department

 

Mosquito Control Director Craig Simmons stated the Department has made cuts; when staff says they can make it, they are down to survival; they are not here saying this is a good thing; and they are doing it because at this point in time everyone needs to stand together as a County in unity and find ways to make things happen the best way they can.  He noted all the County Departments have pretty much looked at processes, procedures, and people that they can try to keep, and things that they can cut to try to find savings to keep the County going until the revenue issue comes to a decrease; the Mosquito Control Department is taking a 23.44% decrease to the Special Taxing District millage; and it is approximately $1.6 million.  He stated the Department can do it; it is not something staff would present normally; it will maintain current service levels; and how the Department did the budget this year was based upon the industry budget review ideas.  He noted they wanted staff to use historical expenses as the base line and then set up a contingency reserve account for any type of abnormal issues, specifically increased mosquito activity or virus activity; so within the budget, staff is basically taking the $1.6 million cut; it is establishing a contingency reserve of about $800,000; and the budget is based upon a normal season. 

 

Mr. Simmons stated if the County has significant virus activity or virus activity, staff has the ability to address it up to the $800,000 level; the big issue with Mosquito Control Department, unlike other departments, is it is reactionary; it is reactionary specific to what mother nature throws at them; and if there is major virus activity and trends are different, obviously the Department will have to do changes within its budget and try to find ways to address it.  He noted the majority of the cut comes from reallocation of the way the Department does processes and positions; there are six positions being eliminated; through those reductions, the Department has reallocated processes and what people are doing; and through those reductions, the Department actually added 10,000 work hours back to the field.  He stated he recommends cutting those positions at this point in time; the Department can do them based upon the changes it has made in-house; since it is budgeting less revenue, the Department is going to have less balance forward; it has had anywhere between $800,000 to $2.5 million in balance forward; and the Department needs approximately $800,000 to $1.4 million to make it through the first quarter of the fiscal year.  Mr. Simmons noted there potentially might be an issue there, but he believes the Department has it covered next year; the Department is not asking for any capital; staff believes, based upon some of the capital replacement plans they have in place and some of the long-term projects they have just completed, they are able to skip a year and not really mess up any of those issues; there are four impoundment legal issues that equate to about 150 acres; and at some point in time the County might have to address those; and there is not a whole lot of flexibility in the budget to do that.

 

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

Commissioner Anderson stated recently the Board approved the sale of Mosquito Control’s fixed-wing aircraft; and inquired are those revenues reflected in this budget.  Mr. Simmons responded that is not included in this budget at this point in time; that is why staff is comfortable with this budget as it is presented because those revenues would go into the reserves; and the County will receive anywhere between $400,000 and $600,000 from that; so the reserve amount would be from $800,000 up to $1.2 million or $1.4 million.

 

Mr. Simmons stated the things the Department is looking at in the future are the County’s cost versus contracting out to the private sector; at this point in time the County is cheaper than the private sector; Brevard County has the largest no-spray list of anyone in the State of Florida; and it tries to be as customer-reactive as it can.  He noted there are certain people who are chemically-sensitive; there are certain areas in the County that basically have certain type of agricultural certifications that are natural and they do not want Mosquito Control there; it loses that ability when it starts carpet-bombing with high speed aircraft; and it loses the ability to strategically place the chemical better.  He stated in a virus situation, Mosquito Control would probably end up pulling in a contractor who would use those because it would carpet-bomb at that point in time.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated the Mosquito Control Department does good work as his Office calls the Department once a day.  Commissioner Anderson inquired how are Mosquito Control employees distributed between the north and south facilities; and stated he is under the impression that the south staffing may be a little bit short compared to the north.  Mr. Simmons responded one has to look at the zones because even though there might be fewer people in the South County location; Valkaria area is a subsection; their coverage zone is smaller; and the north area people actually are covering central and south a little bit as well.  He stated they cover past Melbourne from the north, so it is not the same north and south scenario that most people are used to; ideally for Mosquito Control, it would eliminate two facilities and have one centralized facility; he can assure that the workload is equally distributed; and staff is constantly changing the size of the zones so that the inspectors can address those.  He stated anything that can save money and is a good idea the Mosquito Control staff is going to look at.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired what is the revenue coming in and the expenses going out, and what is that difference.  Mr. Whitten responded it is $6 million for General Government; and the example would be dipping into savings for ongoing expenses in the amount of $6 million.  Commissioner Fisher inquired was the revenue from the year before less than staff anticipated; with Mr. Whitten responding the County is doing okay and the major revenue sources are doing okay.  Mr. Whitten stated the property tax collections are where staff thinks they should be; the County made reductions mid-year to budgeted projects for a couple of the major revenue sources; it has adjusted down on the Planning and Development, which was the old Permitting; obviously, the County is not getting as much in the way of development revenues; and staff has made those expenditure adjustments.

 

Chairman Nelson noted the $6 million does not include cash forward that the County may be allocating for use.  Mr. Whitten stated staff has already taken in consideration the cash forward reductions.  Commissioner Fisher inquired does that mean more than $6 million; with

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

Mr. Whitten responding that means $6 million.  Chairman Nelson stated the combination of cash forward and reserves equals $6 million; and inquired next year when staff prepares the budget, how deep is the hole to start with because the County has used those one-time sources.  Mr. Whitten responded the County is $6 million off; staff has made the proposed adjustments to address the decrease in the fund balances; it got to zero and the $6 million is the negative number; and matching reoccurring expenditures against one-time revenue is $6 million.

 

 

            Public Works Department

Public Works Director John Denninghoff stated the philosophy for the Public Works Department and its proposed reductions for the upcoming budget year has been focusing on trying to maintain its drainage capabilities and maintain its ability to respond to emergencies, such as hurricanes; it is coming at the expense of reduced resurfacing and repair-type projects, such as drainage pipes, sidewalk repair, and resurfacing for road repaving; this year for the Department, it has eliminated five positions, three of which were management and supervisory, two have been non-management and supervisory; and through all of that, the Department has eliminated a little over $2 million worth of expenses overall.  He noted the Department is currently 15 full-time equivalent employees less than it was in 2004; with the cuts that are currently proposed, the Department will go to 19 less than it was at that time; the reductions in the General Fund area have been in excess of 23% from the current year going into the proposed year; and that is on top of the about 10% to 12% that the Department has experienced the prior two years.  He stated in preparation for cuts and reductions, the Department has designed things like landscape improvements that have dramatically lower maintenance costs associated with them; however, for those areas that were installed previously and perhaps have a little bit higher maintenance cost associated with them, changing that is actually about as expensive as the maintenance cost is; so for at least one year there is not a savings there.  Mr. Denninghoff stated staff has been doing that actively with that change in approach for all new landscape projects and that includes ones that were already under way, such as the Pineda Causeway and on Courtenay Parkway; the Department will be reducing resurfacing down to 20% of what it would normally expect to have; 80% of the roads that need to be resurfaced on an annual basis are not going to be resurfaced; in recent years, the County has enjoyed an artificially inflated amount of resurfacing that was taking place because it had supplemented the regular resurfacing with the bond proceeds from the Local Option Gas Tax Bond issue; and those funds have been expended or virtually all expended as far as the resurfacing is concerned, so the County will be back down to the normal amount of resurfacing in the coming years.

 

Mr. Denninghoff stated one of the main things the Department is going to see a reduction in is the material inventory for traffic signs, signals, and materials; it is reducing the amount that it keeps on hand; the place where that becomes a problem is if Brevard County has a hurricane; and those materials are very difficult to procure, if not impossible.  He noted another item the Department is reducing that will be noticeable to the public will be re-timings in the current proposed budget; the Department has eliminated re-timings for traffic signals; for the signals that have been recently re-timed, that will be a couple of years before it becomes  a  real  painful  experience; and  for those signals that have not been re-timed for a

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

few years, the Commissioners and his Department will be getting phone calls.  He stated regarding rehabilitations for traffic signals, the industry recommends those be done once every ten years or 10% per year; the County will be decreasing a fraction of that; instead of 25 traffic signals a year, it is going to be down to four to five traffic signals a year; and it can expect unplanned for and unprepared for failures on traffic signals.  He noted when the 2004 hurricanes came through a lot of those traffic signals were reconstructed and so they are going to hold up pretty well, but in the long term that is a preventative maintenance item, which will come back to haunt the County in the future; staff has attempted to maintain its preventative maintenance programs, particularly with respect to traffic signals and signs because it actually saves lives and money; and it has managed to maintain a majority of those programs, with the exception of rehabilitations.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated roads are a basic service Brevard County has to provide; Minton Road is close to base failure; it is probably one of the most heavily traveled roads in the County; the Board is obligated to look at other areas and get some money transferred to the Public Works Department to put into Contingency; and he is not saying do Minton Road, but if there is a road similar to that, whether it is Minton Road or Courtenay Parkway or another road fails, it is very expensive.  He noted the Department needs more money in Contingency; and he does not know where to take from to give.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated there are five positions vacant in the Traffic Engineering Department; and inquired is there a way to possibly keep one of those positions because Palm Bay Road lights need realigned; and noted she hopes it gets done before it is cut out of the budget, and hopes it is in the 2008-2009 budget.  Mr. Denninghoff stated there are a lot of vacancies right now; there is money in the budget currently, but there is the freeze in anticipation of cuts; program changes result in layoffs; and basically 10% of the Public Works Department is vacant today.  He noted probably about five of those have been recently approved to be filled for Traffic Signal Technicians; staff is working towards that at various stages; one person begins on Monday; there are 15 positions still vacant and will remain vacant for the foreseeable future; and three of those vacancies have been eliminated, or are already eliminated, or are proposed to be eliminated.  He stated vacancies are a big problem for the Department; but specifically to the Traffic Engineering Department, most of those are field personnel and not the ones that would be doing the re-timings; the level of service for the Traffic Signal Technicians is suffering dramatically; and there is a longer period of time associated with responding to those calls for service.  He noted ordinarily there was a one-hour response time to be out on site; reiterated right now it is suffering; if someone is out on a call, there is only one other person to call; and they may live on the opposite end of the County.  Mr. Denninghoff stated the County tried to contract out that service in the past; but the private sector does not do that job and is not good at it.  He noted they cost more money; their level of service is worse; and the public safety is jeopardized as a result of it.  He stated the County employees are far more dedicated; they get the job done; and he is very proud of them.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated the Public Works Department is a world of life and safety one equal to the Fire Department; people’s lives depend on what they do; it cannot be minimized; and it is very important that staff look at a way to make sure the Board is not under-funding this critical service.  He noted Brevard County’s roads need to be safe; and so are the drainage issues.

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

Chairman Nelson stated all the Districts have different constituent needs as they go through this budget process.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated the County is talking about road problems that it is worried about for next year; the problem is that Mr. Denninghoff’s Department is backed up already; it does not have enough money for the current road problems; at some point in time the County is going to have to realize it is going to have to fund services; and that is the bottom line.

 

 

            Utility Services Department

Utility Services Director Richard Martens stated the economy does affect the Utility Services Department; its customer base has remained the same; its service fee revenues are on projection; and people are paying their water and sewer bills.  He noted the Department has watched its vacancies very carefully all year, knowing this was going to be a tight year because of what is happening on the land development side; it has targeted its reductions to specific vacancies and those things relating to the development community; there are a few layoffs that are workload related; his perception is that the Department does not have as yet a direct impact on the citizens because it has targeted those staff reductions at support and engineering positions; and the impact will be on the Department staff.  He stated one piece of good news is that the Department’s debt is going to be retired in five years; at that time its revenue to expenditure relationship is going to improve drastically; the problem and the downside is the impact on that is going to be on its Capital Program between now and then; and the Department has some reserves; and in its Capital Replacement Program, the Department has reduced that to spend down those reserves to a minimum level over the next four years.  Mr. Martens stated if that plan holds, the Department will make some improvements and do some things, but certainly not everything it has identified; if it goes back to an industry standard on when it should be replacing pump stations and doing things, it is falling way short; but it is a plan to get through the five years.

 

 

            Central Services Office

Central Services Director Steve Stultz stated the predominate reduction in the proposed budget for Central Services Office is taking into consideration the projected fuel costs for the next fiscal year; fuel prices have decreased dramatically over the last year; he looks monthly at the Department of Energy’s fuel projections, costs, etc.; and staff is projecting for next fiscal year an average fuel price of about $2.45.  He noted the Office’s reduction is predominately in the fleet services area; the Office recently went through another internal audit; it came through with what he would consider an A++ audit; and it was predominately to changes made from a previous audit that was conducted in 2003.  He stated the Office has outsourced some of its surplus sales services; it tries to maximize the returns on those sales; the Asset Program pretty much pays for itself in returns off of those sales; and it is projected that for every $1.00 of the Program costs, that the sale proceeds return back about almost $2.00.  He noted regarding Fleet Services, in prior years it has reduced its number of mechanic positions by two; it has six mechanic positions presently; he has been tracking the daily work orders open versus daily work orders completed for several years; and it falls back

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

onto the vehicle age as the County is increasing its vehicle age and equipment age.  He noted the trend and the concern there is being able to maintain the required repairs and maintenance on the equipment on a daily basis and keeping up with the number of work orders.  He stated regarding the Purchasing Department, the demand for services is increasing; the economy and the market status has increased the competitiveness for contracting with the County; as a result, it takes a lot more preparation time prior to the advertisement of bids and Requests for Proposals; it is affecting the actual opening to award timeframes on that; and Purchasing staff and other departmental staff that are involved in that process have more on their plate to do.  Mr. Stultz stated the Clerk to the Special Magistrate’s workload has increased; when the position was originally created and approved by the Board, the Special Magistrate heard Code Enforcement and Contractor Licensing cases; the Code Enforcement cases have dramatically increased; and the Special Magistrate now also hears vested rights cases. 

 

Chairman Nelson stated Mr. Stultz’s area is one of those that points out the problem the County has with its billion dollar budget because he buys fuel, it is built into his budget, he sells it to a department where it is built into their budget, and so that number gets counted twice; that is how the County gets to a billion dollars; it frustrates him that there is not some kind of system that can more accurately approximate the actual revenue expense of government because it does not have a billion dollars in cash; and it just moves dollars around on a routine basis.

 

Chairman Nelson advised his preference is for staff to continue to look at the Group Health Insurance issue and to see some combination, whether it gets down to fewer furlough days, but the County has passed it across a larger group, which means the Constitutional Offices also have to participate to a greater extent.

 

Human Resources Director Frank Abbate stated staff is meeting with the Employee Benefits Insurance Advisory Committee within the next two weeks; and he does not know if that is a consensus of the Board in terms of how staff should move forward.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated it is a very good idea; and if the County can distribute it that way, she was encouraging that all along.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she would like to go the insurance route versus furloughs.  Commissioner Anderson noted or a combination, whatever is easiest.

 

Chairman Nelson stated if the County can get away from furlough entirely that gets away from the issue about the equity, and who works and who does not.  Mr. Abbate stated staff will move forward and do the best it can; and report back to the Board.

 

Mr. Whitten inquired is the County talking about cost shifts to the users or premium shifts.  Commissioner Anderson responded if there is a choice between premiums and deductibles, etc., the people using that should pay more than the people that are not, he would assume.  Mr. Abbate stated it would be a combination of both, based on prior dialogue, as well as the employee survey input; stated it was split pretty evenly when the survey was done; and staff will report back to the Board.

 

 

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION (CONTINUED)

 

Chairman Nelson stated right now the employees are staring at an increase for insurance to begin with, plus almost three weeks of lost pay; so by dividing it through a greater group, there may be some softening of that to County employees.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he would like to see some idea of forecasting a little bit in making these decisions and what it could mean in year two or year three; it might make him change his mind on what he wants to do; and it is hard for him to just look at one year.

 

Chairman Nelson stated Brevard County does a significant amount of contracting already; it would be helpful if the Departments could prepare a list of those Contracts the County has; and requested staff provide said list to the Board, including where it contracts, a brief description, and the dollar value.  He stated he was looking at his taxable value on the Property Appraiser’s report; his market value decreased again this year on his house; his assessed value stayed the same; and if the Board approved this budget today, it would cut all his services and he would not save a dime.  He noted that is what the County is looking at doing; it is going to be an interesting discussion to have with neighbors; and the County is going to be reducing hours and reducing services, but did not save money.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated the School Board has increased taxes; some municipalities will see a roll forward; and inquired does Brevard County want to add to the pain.

 

Chairman Nelson stated the County is not going to give tax relief to people who have been protected by Save Our Homes, but they are going to lose services; so it did not give them any money back, but it also reduced their services; and it is going to be an interesting discussion as the County goes through this.

 

 

 

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m.

 

 

 

ATTEST:

                                                                    __________________________________

                                                                    CHUCK NELSON, CHAIRMAN

                                                                    BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

                                                                    BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

_____________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK

 

 

 

              (S E A L)