MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

June 26, 2007

 

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in special session on June 26, 2007 at 9:01 a.m. in the Government Center Florida Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida.  Present were: Chairperson Jackie Colon, Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Chuck Nelson, Helen Voltz, and Mary Bolin, County Manager Peggy Busacca, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

 

 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated several months ago the Board directed that the Historic Commission take over Records Management; the cost of that is about $300,000 because of the additional renovations that would be required and the additional space that would be required to move the current records out of the library; and that is not included on the list of reductions because it is not really a reduction, as it would be a cost savings in the event the Board chose not to move forward with that.  She stated she would like some direction as to whether the Board would like to continue Records Management as it currently stands, or would it like to move it to the Historical Commission for that additional sum.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired what Ms. Busacca’s recommendation is; and stated the Board has to maintain the records it has; with Ms. Busacca responding Records Management would stay where it is; most of the records are currently in the library; and the reason they were going to be moved was because the Board was going to allow the Library Foundation to renovate the third floor and do the expansion.  She noted the $300,000 would allow the expansion for the Foundation to go forward.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Board has the money set aside; with Ms. Busacca responding no, it does not, and it would have been new money to the budget.

 

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to keep Records Management at the Central Library and not make a transfer to the Historical Commission.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he thought one of the problems was the structural integrity of the library and the capacity to hold the records.  Ms. Busacca stated there is an issue about that; what has happened is some people have had to rent space because there is no additional space available; it is a long term problem; and she does not believe that this year will find a crisis.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he thought there was also an issue with the structure of the building to hold the weight.  He stated he is in favor of the motion but he would like a report brought back to the Board on that issue. 

 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated at yesterday’s Budget Workshop she misspoke about the IAFF Supervisory Contract; the contract was included in the contracts staff was going to open up due to financial crisis; and so the letter was written yesterday to all three of the County Unions, the LIU, IAFF Rank and File, and the IAFF Supervisory, to let them know the Board would not be considering pay raises this year. 

 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated she would like to reiterate the fact that what is in front of the Board is the list of service of reductions; they are not recommended, as they are just proposed; and if the Board would like to go through the list and talk about why anything is on that list, staff is available. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated yesterday’s meeting went well considering the pressure the Board is under and considering the future of 400 employees who are potentially losing their jobs with the County; one of the issues discussed was that those things will probably happen immediately; and those are the decisions that are extremely hard.  She read a scripture from the Bible.

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board is going to be discussing the future of Brevard County and the hundreds of lives that are going to be affected by the decisions that are going to be made.  She advised it is not only Brevard County facing budget cuts, as it is every county and city throughout the State of Florida; the decisions the Board has to make are not decisions it wants to make, but that have been asked to be done; the choice has been made for the Board by the State; and that is what the Board has to follow, whether it likes it or not.  She stated the numbers being looked at yesterday were between $17 million and $31 million; and after new numbers came in last night the Board has bigger problems to worry about because of how the numbers are being calculated toward Brevard County.  She stated there are communities starting to go at each others throats because whatever the County does affects the municipalities; and urged everyone to remain civil and be respectful of one another and to realize that no one wants to be in the position they are in. 

 

 

 

Mayor Carol McCormick, Town of Palm Shores, stated she is in support of Sheriff Parker and the dedicated Law Enforcement Officers of Brevard County.  She stated Sheriff Parker’s Department is already stretched thin; noted Sheriff Parker took the unprecedented step of adding deputies to I-95 in an effort to reduce the carnage on the highways; as of Saturday, Brevard County has lost 51 lives already; and that is 51 too many.  She stated most officers coming on duty already have four or five calls stacked up waiting for them because the department is stretched so thin; and no one in the room wants to be number five on the list of calls.  She stated she has heard that some of the Commissioners have already made up their minds on how the budget cuts are going to go and she is deeply disappointed in that; she is asking   the   Board   to  reconsider  and  look  in  other   areas   to   make   cuts;  and the Board cannot cut Public Safety and the deputies that are protecting the safety and well-being of the citizens of Brevard County.   Mayor McCormick stated the Board must find a way to protect Home Rule and not the dictatorship that everyone is going through right now because of the Florida Legislature; and she hopes the legislators all remember that elections are coming.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if Mayor McCormick watched the video of yesterday’s meeting; stated Mayor McCormick is saying the Board is cutting deputies; and at no time did the Board of County Commissioners say it was going to be cutting deputies. 

 

Mayor McCormick stated she did not see the video of yesterday’s meeting because she was in meetings all day.  Chairperson Colon stated the information Mayor McCormick has been given is obviously wrong.  Mayor McCormick inquired if the Board is not cutting the Sheriff’s budget; with Chairperson Colon responding there is the Sheriff’s budget as a whole, and then there are the Deputies; and the Board is not considering cutting deputies. 

 

Mayor McCormick stated the general feeling in the public is that the County is going to lose deputies, and that services provided by the Sheriff’s Department will be cut; and there are a lot of misconceptions going on in the public.  She stated she attended the May 1, 2007 Budget meeting and she was one of the first speakers; there is a lot of confusion in the municipalities as to if the Sheriff’s Office loses budgetary processes, what type of services will it be able to continue to give the municipalities even though they pay through an MSTU; and it is the perception that the Board is taking away Public Safety that the municipalities are concerned about.   She stated she is not privy to the Board’s total budget; she would be happy to look at it as she may be able to find some numbers for the Board; but she can assure the Board the Sheriff’s Department is one area she totally supports, and most of the municipalities feel the same way.

 

Robert Gamin, President of Fraternal Order of Police, stated the budget cuts have been frustrating for them; and they were told Public Safety would not be cut.   He stated he is speaking on behalf of the Brevard County law enforcement community who are members of his lodge.  He advised Public Safety is the single most important function a government provides to its citizens; Police and Fire Services make up the majority of any government’s budgets; and stated those facts also make the same budgets easy targets.  He stated it is easy for anyone to say that the Sheriff’s Department or Fire Department has a $100 million budget and if a few million dollars are cut, it is not going to be missed; the Board knows that is not good leadership and it is not the way to do good business; approximately one year ago the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners accepted the results of the Cody and Associates Pay Study for all Brevard County employees; and it demonstrated that over time, cost of living increases and growth have not kept pace with salaries of Brevard County’s Public Safety employees and many other employees throughout County government.  He stated the Cody and Associates Pay Study was not a haphazard giveaway, but it was a methodical study of the issue; the reality of the Cody Pay Study and the promises kept by the Commission led to the starting pay of a Deputy Sheriff rising from $29,000 to $35,000 a year; and the revolving door of deputies that left for better wages and benefits was significantly reduced at the Sheriff’s Office.  He stated the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office changed from an agency where Police Officers started, to an agency where they now stay; and a wage freeze at a time when all estimates show the average cost of living index in the State of Florida has increased in the last year by three percent only puts County employees, including Public Safety employees, in the same sinking boat the Cody rescued them from.   He  noted the Sheriff has demonstrated that he is a fiscal conservative and

operates the agency in the same manner; the Sheriff has invested in his employees; he has invested the money that he has received from the Board in salaries and not programs that one could ask what it is being done for; and every program the Sheriff has implemented has been examined and serves a great need.  Mr. Gamin stated the jail expansion has significantly reduced costs; what was going to be a $40 million project was cut one-third; administrative positions have been cut; and there are more deputies on the streets.  He stated the national average of staffing levels is two and a half Law Enforcement Officers per 1,000 citizens; that ratio is in the Comprehensive Plan; and since he has been with the Sheriff’s Office it has hovered around 1.5 to 1.6 Deputies per 1,000 citizens.  He stated the bottom line is that is significantly below where the ratio should be; and with Sheriff Parker that number is approaching 1.8 per 1,000 citizens.  He advised it is hard to retain people in the Law Enforcement profession; they have to be paid good wages and benefits and that also includes the Firefighters; the solution is not penalizing the Sheriff for increased costs in his budget that are out of his control; and if it costs more to feed inmates, that is something the Sheriff cannot control.  He stated he would like to ask the Board to wait for the real numbers before it makes any permanent and hard decisions; the Fraternal Order of Police supports the Sheriff’s budget as proposed and cannot support wage freezes when the cost of living on the Space Coast continues to rise; and freezing wages is not the solution for the Public Safety employees or any of the County’s employees, as it is a temporary solution to a permanent problem.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated if Sheriff Parker wanted to take some procedures on his own to deal with, such as cost reduction, then it is certainly in his power to do that, likewise with any Department.  He stated the Commission, under law, cannot make a final budget until September 18, 2007; any action taken before that would be contrary to Florida Law and could be reversed because the Board has to hear from the people on September 18, 2007; and he knows there are a lot of conversations going on and the conversations are beginning today.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he will probably ask this question to anyone who addresses the Board; the Board is going to be hearing a lot of people saying they cannot possibly suffer through the cuts and costs have gone up; and that is true but the choice the Board is faced with is that to give raises to deputies means that libraries close.  He inquired if Mr. Gamin has looked at the Board’s budget, and where would he make those cuts. 

 

Mr. Gamin stated this situation is unprecedented and it is a pickle for everybody.  He advised if he had to choose between an increase in staffing and patrol deputies, and a crime rate that is low, he would say to the Board that difficult choices have to be made.  He stated he has a child who is seven and his daughter is four, and they use the Brevard County Library System and it improves their quality of life; but in times like this if he has to choose between a fire truck to put out a fire at his house, or a patrol deputy in his neighborhood, he would say to the Board that those things come to the top for him.  He stated everyone wants their taxes cut, but they do not want any services reduced; and his answer to Commissioner Nelson would be maybe the Board can come up with something else for the libraries where the days of operation are rotated.  He stated if the Board wholeheartedly picks apart the Sheriff’s budget, it will see it is getting a bang for a buck that it has never had before, and the Department is doing more with less now.  He stated closing a library hurts him and hurts his family, but if he had a choice, he would go with safety first.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated Sheriff Parker has done a great job, and that is not the question; everyone is in the position of having to deal with less revenue; and giving raises while laying people off is tough because the flip side is the Board is going to hear from the people who come forward asking the Board to please save their jobs. 

 

Mr. Gamin stated the Board is faced with difficult decisions.  He stated yesterday Chairperson Colon offered 25 percent of her salary for the cause; that is a wonderful thing but it is a temporary solution to a problem that is going to exist for forever; and he thinks every County employee deserves a cost of living increase or a merit increase.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she thinks it is unfair to ask people where they would make cuts because then there will be Departments wanting to cut other Departments; and she thinks it is an unfair thing to do to anybody who comes before the Board. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated this is exactly what she spoke of at the beginning of the meeting; the Board of County Commissioners never said it was going to do away with deputies; what the Board talked about yesterday was immediate cuts, which means people are going to be fired immediately; and those are the things the Board is looking at.  She stated the Board is not just talking about libraries; people are going to hear all the cuts from Transportation to Animal Services; and there is not a group that the Board loves and respects more than the Sheriff’s Department.  She stated the Board is being asked to do someone else’s dirty job; and it is unfair because the Board did not ask to have to cut employees.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he thinks his question was a fair question because he believes these are people who live in the community, and Mr. Gamin did a good job in answering the question.   He inquired how the Board can form a public opinion about where it goes and how can it get the sense of the community if it does not ask questions; and stated he admits it is an uncomfortable question, but it is not unfair to find out what the community thinks.  Commissioner Voltz stated it depends on who is being asked the question; if the question is asked to the general public, those are the people who need to decide; the employees are very sensitive to other employees’ positions; and if the Board starts asking one Department which Department it would cut, she thinks it puts the employees in an uncomfortable position to say they think Planning and Zoning needs to be cut.  She stated the Board needs to hear from the citizens as they are the ones looking at the services the Board is potentially going to cut; and she does not think there will be one citizen asking the Board to cut the Sheriff’s Department or the Fire Department. 

 

Richard LeAndro stated he is going to give the Board an example of waste, fraud, and abuse.  He advised there was a Committee; the Bond Referendum asked for $850,000 to work on the pier pavilion; he did not vote for it because he knew what was going to happen, and it was meant to build a big restaurant at a Veteran’s Memorial fishing pier that the citizens did not want.  He stated a Citizens Committee was formed, appointed by North Brevard Parks and Recreation, and approved by the County Commission.  He noted the citizens’ plan would have  cost $450,000; to date, the County has spent $1,004,257, the building still is not open, and it has hardware that is already rusting on the doors; that is why people are upset about what is going on; and maybe the Legislature is hitting the right track.  He stated the people voted democratically by a seven-to-two vote to limit the size of the new building at the fishing pier to 1,000 square feet; the old building was 656 square feet; but the North Brevard Parks and Recreation Chairman, appointed  by the City  and the Commissioner, stated a seven-to-two vote is not a good consensus and he would not accept it.  Mr. Leandro stated the cost has escalated, and the Commissioner  is  going  to  say  the  County  has  an  Agreement  with the City and it has equal representation.  He advised the City appointed five people; and one of them was an Assistant City Manager who did not even know where the pier was located and another was a Council Member who is an attorney.  He stated the City and the County knew the pier was bad; the City had inspections done that showed it was bad; and now someone is requesting money fraudulently from FEMA to cover the cost of the new pier.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated there is a North Brevard Parks and Recreation Board consisting of County and City appointees; the reason for that is because Ad Valorem tax is collected both within the City and within the County; and that Board appointed a sub-committee.  He advised the sub-committee is called the Pier Committee; the Pier Committee has decided it would be imprudent to proceed with just a repair, which the 2000 Park Referendum shows, and recommends proceeding with an entire rebuilding of the pier; and there appears to be an ability to retain FEMA money to make that possible within budget.  He stated anyone who has any questions is invited to call his office.

 

Scott Pikus stated he is the Vice President of the East Coast Florida Police Benevolent Association (PBA) and Public Employees Association (PEA); his groups represent the sworn and civilian personnel of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office; and the PBA represents approximately 1,000 Law Enforcement Officers in Brevard County, 200 Civilian Officers, 3,000 on the East Coast of Florida, and 30,000 Statewide.  He asked the men and women in law enforcement in the audience to stand; and stated they are all here to support Sheriff Jack Parker.  He stated a proposal of a flat budget will put the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office that Sheriff Parker has worked hard to build up in a downward spin.   He noted currently there is a City in Brevard County that has not provided its Law Enforcement Officers with a wage increase or a competitive package in over three years; the City has the worst file on crime in the County; and employees are leaving to go to other agencies, which provide wages and benefits that are competitive in the market and compensate them for the dangerous job they do.  He stated the agency most sought out is the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office; but leaving the Sheriff’s Department flat, or even with a reduction, would stop it from being an agency that qualified, experienced personnel seek out.  He noted freezing wages and benefits does not translate into freezing crime in Brevard County; with less personnel working for less, the Sheriff’s Office will lose the crime war that many men and women in the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office fight every day.  He stated he has been with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office for 25 years, and that is over half of his life he has dedicated to the Sheriff’s Office; for the County to turn its back on him and his coworkers leaves him wondering why they all do what they do; but they do it because they are dedicated professionals who are here to make a difference in the community and are there for the citizens.

 

Chairperson Colon stated her husband and the father of her children is a very proud Law Enforcement Officer; he works for the State; and she is very proud of Law Enforcement. 

 

Susan Canada stated she understands the Board needs to make cuts, but it had stated that Public Safety is not going to have its fees cut; if the Board closes the North Area Animal Shelter, it is a safety feature; and there is already enough trouble within the North Area with strays running  in and out of traffic.   She  advised one  day  she was witness to a dog running out onto Hopkins Avenue; it took her almost two hours to catch the dog, as Animal Services was busy then;  but before it  caused another accident she got the dog; and it helped that she could take it to a shelter in Titusville.  Ms. Canada stated if she had to drive the dog all the way to Eau Gallie, not only would she not have the time, but gas would be expensive also.  She stated at the South Shelter the stray runs are divided in half already; there are little guillotine doors that go between the inside and outside; and as it is they are completely full and above capacity.  She stated half of the time the larger dogs have to lie in their own waste because there is not room for the dogs to move around in the stray kennels; they are divided in half because they are overcrowded; and if the strays from the north end have to go to the South Shelter, it is a safety feature for the employees going into the shelter and also for the animals being overcrowded.  She stated there will be more gas cost and time for the Officers to go from the north end of the County to the south end of the County; and people are not going to drive strays or owner turn-ins all the way to the South Shelter.  She stated a lot of seniors may be able to take a SCAT bus to the South Shelter, but their pets are not allowed on the bus and they have no way to reclaim their animals and get them home.  She inquired how citizens will see any of the animals in order to adopt them; and if instead, the Board can raise the impact fee to cover the cost of the Shelter, raise the cost of tags, and look at some of the Administrative Fees that Animal Services is being paid now.  She noted there are other ways to cut back in Animal Services than closing a shelter where it is pretty much a draw between keeping the shelter opened and gas money for the employees to drive back and forth from the South Shelter.  She stated the euthanasia rate at the South Shelter will also increase because of the overcrowding.  She stated she found a lot of waste within Animal Services, and she would be happy to speak to the Board about that. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated she has made a recommendation to privatize the South Area Shelter.  Ms. Canada stated if the Board wants to privatize both shelters she does not care as long as they are both left open, but there needs to be one at both ends of the County.  Chairperson Colon stated as Ms. Canada may have heard yesterday, every single department is going to be cut, including Animal Services.  Ms. Canada stated she understands that, but she has found several ways for the Board to save over $100,000 by cutting Animal Services’ budget.  Chairperson Colon stated Ms. Canada can put her thoughts in letters to the Commission. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated Ms. Canada’s point also is that the Board needs to do a cost-analysis; and it would be good if staff reported back to the Board with the capacity of the South Shelter, whether or not the South Shelter would need to be expanded, how many animals are in the North Shelter, how many officers are at the North Shelter, and how much time would be consumed in driving back and forth.  He inquired if the Board has a requirement under the law regarding animals with rabies, dog bites, et cetera.  County Attorney Scott Knox stated he is not sure of that answer; and he does not know of any particular laws, but he will check into it and report back to the Board.

 

Bea Polk stated she does not want to see the North Animal Shelter close.  She inquired how many times citizens have tried to get the Board to cut back in the past; stated there can only be so many taxes because there are other people trying to live; the State has overbid its budgets and now the public is demanding that something be done; and it is time that everybody cuts back.  She stated she does not want to see anybody laid off, but if some of the top people would take some cuts, then maybe the County could keep some of the little ones, as there is where the work is done; and there are more leaders than workers.  Ms. Polk stated privatizing does not always work; more money ends up being spent; and that is not always a solution. 

John Pine read an excerpt of an email from Craig Engelson to a private citizen in Titusville that stated, “With regard to the North Animal Care Center, using the North Animal Care and Adoption Center as a holding facility or even closing it altogether is not a new idea.  It has been discussed on numerous occasions.  We have chosen not to do this for several reasons including over burdening South Animal Care and Adoption Facility which is busting at the seams with their animal population.  Having no County facility available in the North Area for strays, lost, or abandoned, or adoptable animals would basically guarantee 100 percent euthanasia rate for North Animal Care Center.  It would also increase the euthanasia rate for the South Animal Care Center because citizens are less likely to travel from the north end to claim their animals.  This would also decrease our services to the citizens due to the travel time required for Officers to transport animals from the North Area to the South Area.  These are just a few of the reasons, but by no means should be construed as a justification for the current adoption or euthanasia rates at the North Animal Care Center.  This is something we are committed to changing for the better.  I know on the surface using the North Animal Care Center as a holding facility seems simple and would solve several problems, but I believe statistics would show that in the long run it would not increase our adoptions or decrease overall euthanasia rates.  I think we have just got to become more creative at the North Animal Care Center and find ways to ensure that adoptions go up and euthanasia goes down.”  He stated that was just an excerpt of a letter that was sent from Mr. Engelson to a private citizen; and noted Mr. Engelson even has concerns about closing North Animal Care Center.  He stated he has spoken to Commissioner Scarborough before; there are still dog packs running loose in north end of the County; as a Public Safety thing, that is not good; and if the Center is closed at the north end of the County, that is going to get even higher and there will be increased dog bites.  He advised people do not bring the dogs to the North Area Care Center now, and they will not drive to the South Shelter.  He stated there was an incident in Titusville when Animal Control was called by a Police Officer and it took over two hours to respond because they were busy. 

 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated some of the discussions yesterday were in regards to the proposed budget cuts that have been given to the Board; and what was given to the Board equals $22 million because of the percentage the Board was looking at putting Brevard County at seven percent.  County Manager Peggy Busacca stated when staff did the calculations it was approximately $17 million, but staff gave the Board $22 million because it had been asked to give more than just the amount that was necessary, so there were options.  She stated as was discussed yesterday, $31 million is what the Legislature told staff; and Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten is working on trying to sort out what staff thinks the information it was provided last night means. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated it is unbelievable what is being asked of the Board.  She stated for those who missed the meeting yesterday, the Board of County Commissioners has been asked to make some serious cuts, and the cuts that it is looking at right now include reducing Transportation reserves for Traffic Operations for a cut of $218,000, reducing the traffic signals, reducing the road user programs, consideration of street lights, Assistant Surveyor positions, and  channel  markers;  and  just from  Transportation  alone,  that is half a million dollars.  She stated there is also the consideration of probably even looking at the LOGT debt service for road improvement bonds, which would be $2.5 million in regards to the debt.  Chairperson Colon stated she is curious   to   know   what   would  happen  to  that  Department; and inquired if it would be sub-contracted out.   Ms. Busacca responded yes, that would not be done in-house; there would be some staff that would be Project Managers to oversee the road construction crews and if the Board chose not to move forward with those previously approved construction, then staff would reexamine the need for some of those Project Managers.  Chairperson Colon stated Transit Service is proposed to be reduced by 10 percent which is almost $200,000; and there is talk of having to eliminate four full-time Vehicle Operator positions, five part-time Vehicle Operator positions, and three quarter-time Dispatchers. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she was hoping the Board could go through each department individually.  Chairperson Colon stated she is just reiterating what was discussed at yesterday’s meeting. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated with Space Coast Government Television there is a proposed cut of reducing one or two positions at a cost of $115,000, and also reducing capital expenditure.  She advised for Road and Bridge there is a proposed $1.2 million cut, which will be reducing the operations for most of the districts which will be the paving of roads and drainage pipes; the Road and Bridge Department will be vacating five positions, including one full-time position and one part-time position, and will eliminate overtime; and it will reduce the Countywide speed humps.  She noted for Planning and Zoning, the Board will be considering eliminating a Special Projects Coordinator, a Special Projects Coordinator II, and an Executive Secretary; and those proposed cuts equal $200,000.  She stated Permitting and Enforcement is considering the consolidation of the Code Enforcement Licensing Regulation Enforcement Program.  She advised the proposal for Parks and Recreation is cutting $4,800,000; eliminating positions at the Palm Bay Aquatic Park, Rodes Park, Wickham Park, McCarthy Park, Lee Smith Park and the Cultural Grants Program, Art in Public Places, Historical Preservation Programs, and EEL Center Programs; reducing Administration Support; and eliminating Pre-school Programs, dog parks, the summer usage of school programs at the Aquatic Center, Satellite, Rockledge, Merritt Island, Titusville, Jackson and Madison Middle Schools, and Special Event Programs.  She advised the field maintenance lighting and community service hours will be reduced to Monday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and there will be elimination of 25 staff members, which equals $861,000.  She advised Natural Resources is proposing to eliminate the critical habitat list management position, and two biologists. She advised of further reductions to the Stormwater Utility Department and Mosquito Control.  She noted the Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency is proposing to eliminate positions of almost half a million dollars.  She advised Library Services is considering reducing library hours by 29 percent and eliminating positions throughout the County; and that will equal almost $5 million in cuts.  She advised Information Technology is proposing to eliminate eight positions and the Department would be facing a cut of half a million dollars; Human Resources is proposing cuts of $100,000; Housing and Human Services is proposing $756,000 in cuts including the Juvenile Assessment Center, Emergency Assistance, CBO, and Builders Care.   She advised the Historical Commission is proposing cuts equal to $62,000; Fire Rescue is proposing the elimination of construction of certain stations and replacement of engines that need to be replaced equaling $3.6 million; Facilities is proposing cuts of $2 million, reducing overtime, positions, and capital improvements that were needed by the County; and Emergency Management is also proposing to eliminate replacement of vehicles and the 211 service, equaling $230,000.  She advised of proposed cuts to Central Services, Animal Services, Budget Office, and Economic and Financial Programs. 

 

Chairperson Colon advised 400 jobs total are being considered to be  cut;  the  proposed cuts are not  something the Directors  feel the County can do without; the Board does not want to give anyone the impression that the Directors feel the County can do without these services; and the cuts are starting at 10 percent. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board looked at two scenarios yesterday; one was that 71 percent of Brevard County’s population are protected by Homestead Exemption; and 29 percent of the population is not protected by Homestead Exemption.  She stated her family is part of the 71 percent as they have been in their home since 1989; her taxes are $1,200 because of the protection of Homestead Exemption; and her parents moved into their home in the last three years and are paying $7,400 in taxes.  She stated it is not right for that kind of tax burden to be on the community; the 29 percent of the population wanted relief; and that did not happen so the Board asked for the numbers yesterday based on the reductions that were asked of the Board.  She noted in November her parents’ property taxes will be increased by $120.00, which is mind boggling to her because she thought the idea of these meetings was to reduce taxes; and her taxes will increase by $20.00.  She noted the quality of life of the community is going to be affected tremendously.  She stated when the Board looked at the numbers, the School Board millage is going up.  She stated the Board is expecting new numbers from the Department of Revenue to let it know what exactly is the bracket that Brevard County is in.

 

Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten stated last night staff received numbers from the Department of Revenue, and those numbers are the numbers the State is using prior to any challenge from the County to determine what reduction bracket the County is in.  He noted if the Board uses the State’s numbers and the numbers are unchallenged, then Brevard County actually moves up to the nine percent reduction bracket.  He stated there  are a number of issues in regards to the numbers the State is using; he has been working with Mr. Knox and they will continue to discuss his position in regards to the flaw in the State’s methodology, but the State produced the numbers and the numbers state that Brevard County actually is in the nine percent reduction bracket, which is a difference of $5 million for the County.  He stated in the absence of the State accepting the County’s argument, it excluded some numbers that should have been included and in simple mathematical calculations, it looks like on top of whatever the number was going to be, the County will need to throw an additional $5 million on top of that. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the numbers the Board was given yesterday were in the ballpark of a $17 million cut; and inquired if the Board will have to go above that number and possibly consider an additional $5 million. 

 

Mr. Whitten stated the $17 million is a combination of the revenue loss and whatever the Board is going to lose in terms of revenues for the built-in increases; the bottom line is he is treating that as a total need for next fiscal year because on the seven percent reduction it equates to a $5 million loss to the current revenues; and that is far less than $17 million, but in terms of developing next fiscal year’s budget, the Board has built-ins, FRS, requests of departments, mandates, and new positions for the jail that the Board needs to address.  He stated it is going to be a combination of how much revenue the Board has lost and the dollar amount of the built-ins that is going to be the total need in terms of additional revenues, i.e. through the override or reductions that need to be made elsewhere so that those dollars can be reallocated to address the built-ins for next fiscal year.  

Chairperson Colon inquired with the number of $22 million is there any way of knowing what will happen  in January,  with the  referendum,  of approximately  how much more Brevard County would be hit for next year.  Mr. Whitten responded the letter that came from the Senate President and the Speaker of the House had an attachment that referenced the reductions for next fiscal year as $31 million; for the 2008/2009 Fiscal Year, which would be the implementation of whatever is voted upon in January 2008, there is an additional $40 million; the State was projecting that next year’s reductions would be an even greater amount than whatever this year’s reduction is going to be; and the 2008/2009 reductions are going to be even greater than the reductions the County is going to have for 2007/2008.  He stated those are the State numbers; if the argument is followed with regards to the County reducing $5 million and then it has to fund the increases, he believes Brevard County’s numbers are going to be between $17 million and $22 million; and if that is extended to FY 2008/2009, then the numbers are perhaps another $22 million or greater for 2008/2009. 

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if Mr. Whitten is stating there will be a $22 million permanent cut; and then next year another $22 million cut on top of that; with Mr. Whitten responding he is guessing at those numbers, but that is exactly what he is saying.  Mr. Whitten stated there is some number for FY 2007/2008, which he will guess at $22 million because of the built-ins; then for FY 2008/2009 there are additional cuts that would occur if the Constitutional Amendments pass and he will predict that it will be another $22 million; and those are accumulative.  He stated there is one figure for 2007/2008, and then there will be another figure or effect of whatever happens in January 2008 for 2008/2009.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if it is accumulative; and stated if it is $22 million this year, and $22 million next year, that is $44 million.  Mr. Whitten advised it is over the course of the two fiscal years.  Commissioner Voltz stated it is $22 million over the next two years.  Mr. Whitten stated he would count that as $44 million over the next two years.  Commissioner Voltz stated Mr. Whiten mentioned the $40 million in 2009. Mr. Whitten stated in 2009/2010, if the Board will recall from yesterday’s presentation, it is allowed to grow at a Florida Personal Per Capita Income Increase plus the new construction revenues; but he does not think anyone can predict what that means to Brevard County at this particular point in time.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if Mr. Whitten knows what the 2008/2009 is going to be; stated earlier he mentioned reducing $40 million in 2009; and she does not know if that is the $20 million from this year and the $20 million from next year.  Mr. Whitten stated staff is preparing the 2007/2008, which he is guessing is $22 million; there are Constitutional Amendments that will be voted upon in January 2008 for the 2008/2009 Fiscal Year, which he is again guessing will be another $22 million for a total of $44 million over the next two fiscal years; and he cannot guess what the figure is going to be for 2009/2010. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the discussion yesterday was to really look at what was being proposed very seriously.  She stated she would like for the folks at home to be able to see the figures; the folks at home are thinking it is a billion dollar budget and therefore seven percent does not seem like that much; but the Board is really not looking at that because property taxes to Brevard County are $231 million.  Mr. Whitten stated $231.7 million is for property taxes for operating. 

 

Budget Director Dennis Rogero presented a PowerPoint presentation to the Board showing the breakdown of the adopted budget for the current fiscal year.  He stated the presentation is designed to  differentiate  between  the reduction to the total $1 billion budget and a reduction to the relatively small component that the Board is compelled to reduce under the Legislation.  Mr. Rogero stated  the  total  adopted  budget  is  $1.16 billion; of that,  nearly $260 million is funding carried over from the last fiscal year for any number of capital projects spanning many of the Board’s agencies.  He noted for business-type operations such as Solid Waste and Water Resources, the funding is a little under $210 million; the Insurance Utilities funding and additional funding associated with those functions carried over from the prior fiscal year is $170 million; and the County has an extensive Insurance Reserve because it is self-insured, and that shows up as part of the $1 billion budget.  He stated Interest, Impact Fees, and other fees are $101 million; and Grants and other governmental funding are just under $92 million.  He noted the Board can see the total budget gradually decreasing to a point of $330 million as it accounts for the fundings.  He noted Interdepartmental Transfers are $61 million; and that is simply an accounting mechanism when the County takes in a dollar and transfers a dollar to the Sheriff’s Office; that dollar is counted twice for budgetary purposes; and it is not additional money, as it is coming in and being sent on.  He stated other taxes account for $43.5 million, and he will not go into too much detail on that except to say that it is not property tax.  He advised as part of the budgeting function, staff takes five percent off of all Operating Revenues when it allocates it; any Operating Revenue the Board anticipates to collect, staff can only decide to spend 95 percent of it, so he is throwing that back in; the Board can see the total budget is now $249 million; and that is one of the magic numbers, because that number is the property tax.  Mr. Rogero stated staff will further reduce the budget by one more time for the Voted Debt Service Millages of just over $17 million; and this is where staff arrives at the true magic number of $231.7 million, which is the Operating Property Taxes. 

 

Chairperson Colon requested Mr. Rogero repeat the debt and give examples of what it is.  Mr. Rogero stated the $17.3 million in Voted Debt are the debt millages associated with the successful Referendums with Parks and Recreation including Environmentally Endangered Lands, varying Parks and Recreation Debt Service Districts in South Brevard, and North Brevard, et cetera.   He stated these millages, because the County has obligated the funding associated with them to debt service, are excluded from any options the Board has to reduce unless the Board wants to eliminate the debt altogether, which has logistical and cost complications.  He noted the $231.7 million is the anticipated budgeted revenue for the Board’s Operating Millages this year; and it is the funding the Board must reduce under the legislation.   He stated he will break down the magic number further so the Board can see the varying millages and tax levies that the Board has under this magic number.  He advised the Voted Operating is a little under $30 million and it includes the Fire MSTU; and the remaining Voted Millages, other than the Fire MSTU, are a result of the successful Parks and Recreation Referendums.  He stated the Libraries are just under $22 million; Law Enforcement MSTU is just over $14 million; and the Board can see the Operating Property Tax total figure begin to dwindle as its components are accounted for.  Mr. Rogero noted Mosquito Control is just over $7 million; various Road and Bridge MSTU’s are at almost $5.5 million; the Parks and Recreation Non-Voted Levies are just over $4.5 million; and the Board can see the Operating Property Taxes total is now $151 million, and that is the General Countywide Tax Revenue.  He stated staff combines it with other General Fund Revenues to fund County services area-wide, from one end of the County to the other.  

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if Mr. Rogero has broken it down further; with Mr. Rogero responding he has not broken it down any further than that.  Chairperson Colon stated 43 percent  of  the  $151  million  goes to the  Constitutional Officers.  Mr. Rogero stated when staff adds the other General Fund Revenues, for instance, State shared revenue of local half-cent revenue   communication   services   tax   revenue,  staff  arrives  at a figure of a little over $200 million, $151 million of which is property taxes from the general Countywide millage.  Mr. Rogero stated of that over $200 million, that is the 43 percent that is distributed to the various Charter Officers.

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired what is the number; with Mr. Rogero responding he does not have that number off the top of his head, but he can get it quickly.  Chairperson Colon inquired if the total budget will go lower than $151 million, because Mr. Rogero said he added another $50 million from wherever the other numbers were coming in, which will put it at $200 million.  Mr. Rogero stated his office can calculate it.  Chairperson Colon stated she wants to know what number the Board is looking at to operate the County.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if Mr. Rogero is looking at the $151 million plus the other taxes and of that total figure, 43 percent is going to the Charter Officers; with Mr. Rogero responding affirmatively.  Mr. Rogero stated from a Board reduction standpoint what the Board is being compelled to reduce, however, is the $231.7 million; and the overwhelming majority of it is Countywide, but it spans nearly 20 levies.  Ms. Busacca inquired if Mr. Rogero has the mandates broken down; with Mr. Rogero responding he has the mandates broken down if the Board would like to hear it; with Ms. Busacca responding Commissioner Voltz had asked about that. 

 

Mr. Rogero stated moving on to the mandates, the Board can see they total just under $16 million; and Medicaid is just under $4.5 million.  Chairperson Colon inquired if Mr. Rogero could explain what the mandates are and who they are from.  Mr. Rogero advised the mandates are services the Board either provides or is compelled to fund because of State law or State direction.  He noted the Pre-trial Detention of Juveniles is at $3 million; Courts are just under $3 million; a portion of the Comprehensive Plan is at $1.9 million; Baker Act funding is at $1.7 million; the Medical Examiner is at $1.6 million; the Healthcare Act is $200,000; the Hospitalization Arrestees is $25,000; Child Protection Team is $86,000; and Indigent Burials is at $80,000.  He stated those are the adopted amounts for the current fiscal year and inevitably the funding for the mandates increases every single year.  Chairperson Colon inquired if those are the latest mandates; with Mr. Rogero responding it is up to date as far as he knows.  Ms. Busacca advised that is for the current fiscal year and not projected.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired with the mandates, who determines what the increase percentage would be for the projected new budget; with Mr. Rogero responding the State does that.  Ms. Busacca stated one mandate that is not on the list is the County’s membership in the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, as in the amount of money the Board spends; and she does not have the amount of money in front of her. Chairperson Colon stated it is over $100,000 for the Board to be part of a group; and inquired if the Board can consider that again.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board’s representatives could move to have the amount reduced and have them reduce their staff accordingly.  He stated he draws upon County staff more than he draws upon staff from the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council.  Chairperson Colon inquired if the mandate is by the State; with Commissioner Scarborough responding the amount is voted on by the Board; how large a Planning Council is, to some extent, is determined by the members’ votes; and he does not think the State dictates what the budget is for the Planning Council, and as members of the Planning Council, the Board decides.  He stated when the Board first became involved in MyRegion it voted money to go to it to fund its functions.  Commissioner Voltz stated when she was on the City Council in Palm Bay, the Council voted to do away with MyRegion and gave the group no money.  Ms. Busacca stated the cities are not mandated, but the counties are mandated.  Chairperson Colon stated the money is spent in meeting with the Planning Council on a regional basis.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he would prefer to have a planner on staff than send money to the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council.  Chairperson Colon inquired which Commissioners are currently on the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council; with Commissioner Bolin responding herself and Commissioner Nelson.  Commissioner Bolin noted a statement was made in a recent Planning Council meeting that it would have to see what the budgetary issues turn out to be. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, for Chairperson Colon to send a letter to the Chairmen of the seven Counties in the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council stating Brevard County Board of County Commissioners recommends such Counties take action and instruct its members to consider reductions within the Council to be passed on to the Counties.

 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the Board needs to tell the Planning Council that it wants to reduce the membership fee as well; the Board can tell the Council to look at its staff and see how much it wants to reduce it; and maybe it should be reduced to $50,000 from $200,000.  She stated she would make that a motion. Commissioner Scarborough seconded the motion by Commissioner Voltz.

 

Motion by Commissioner Voltz, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to request the East Central Florida Planning Council reduce its membership fee.

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the Board has no idea what that means other than that is how much it is willing to pay, but he thinks the Board still needs to know what it will get for the service.  Chairperson Colon stated the Board does not get anything; every DRI the Board evaluates is Orlando’s; and the Board is there reviewing all of Orlando’s growth and saying yes or no.  She stated Commissioner Scarborough brought up concerns at a recent meeting as to what the Board was getting for its dollar, and it was not respect.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he has sat on the Planning Council and has been involved in issues that not even remotely dealt with Brevard County; and yet within the County there is difficulty getting a good discussion which clearly affects people in the County with its Interlocal Agreements.  Commissioner Nelson stated of the issues that have come up recently, there is the Viera DRI that is before the Planning Council; there is also the issue of the Palm Bay annexations; and the Council just sent a letter reporting the County’s position.

 

Chairperson Colon called for a vote on the motion. 

 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he has found when the Board has had DRI’s that go to the Planning Council, it is the Board’s staff which is the primary source of information that is used for the analysis, and the jurisdiction always reverts back to the local government of that particular  County  Commission;  and stated if he had a choice of having an extra planner on the Planning Council or have an extra planner in Brevard County, he would rather have someone on his staff looking at Viera and other places. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated with the Palm Bay annexations, the staff at the City of Palm Bay did the analysis; and he has not seen the Board’s staff’s analysis.  He stated he will not support the  motion  because  he  does  not know  what $50,000  gets the Board; and it may be zero, but he would like to know what the Board would get if all of the Counties did the same thing, and it may not be worth having at all. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated there is representation in Brevard County besides herself and Commissioner Nelson; there is a City representative, and more than one Governor appointee.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the Counties are paying the lion’s share; and maybe the Board should not put a dollar amount there but he agrees that it will be justified the best it can.  Commissioner Voltz stated if the Board does it, then the other Counties will take a look at it and the Planning Council will need to reduce whatever services it has because it is mandated by the State and the State is allowing all of this to happen. Commissioner Scarborough stated there was a point in time when the Board was at odds with the Planning Council and the Board was refusing to pay; and the Board should just direct Chairperson Colon to write the letter and say that under current budget restraints, the Board sees a need to keep its own Planning Department fully staffed.  Commissioner Voltz stated she disagrees; and the Board needs to specify a dollar amount to the Planning Council.  Chairperson Colon stated she agrees the Board should specify a dollar amount.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he does not know what that means. Chairperson Colon stated the Board is not doing it just because it feels like it; when the Board is being asked to possibly let go of 400 employees, it needs to get its priorities straight; and if the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council does not have its priorities straight, then there is something wrong.  She stated out of seven years as a County Commissioner and going to those meetings, the only time she saw a Brevard County issue was Brevard Crossing or now the Viera DRI’s; and she agrees with giving them the number of $50,000.   Commissioner Bolin stated the County is mandated to fund them but no specific amount was given.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he believes going to the other Counties is wiser than going to the Planning Council.  Commissioner Voltz stated in Chairperson Colon’s letter it can be added that the Board is considering cutting its amount from $200,000 to $50,000.

 

County Attorney Scott Knox stated the Board can do that as a protest move, but the Planning Council may come back and say it has the right to set fees for membership and the Board is a member, so by law it will have to pay the fee.  Commissioner Nelson stated the Planning Council is going to be aware that all of the Counties and Cities are going through this circumstance; so it is not that it is not aware of the circumstance, but it is wrong to create a number when the Board does not know what it means.

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board can compromise and send a letter out letting the Chairs know the Board is looking at reducing the membership fee and see what discussion Commissioners Nelson and Bolin report back to the Board; and at that point the Board will know if it needs to set a dollar amount.  Commissioner Nelson stated the next meeting with the Planning Council is July 18, 2007.  Mr. Knox stated the Board may be able to get the Planning Council to change its fee structure to reduce it to $50,000. 

 

Commissioner Voltz withdrew her motion. Commissioner Scarborough withdrew his motion. 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he is not opposed to the $50,000, but he wants to know what the Board is getting for what it sends the Planning Council. Commissioner Nelson inquired if any of the mandates are that if the Board wants a service, it has   to   pay  a  certain  amount;  and inquired  about the Juvenile Assessment Center; with Ms. Busacca responding that is different than pre-detention and it is not considered a mandate, but the Board funds it.

 

Chairperson Colon stated now that the Board knows what the dollars are that it was referring to yesterday, she is willing to make the cuts immediately; and the Board does not have to wait until the budget is approved before it makes cuts.  She stated approving the budget is one thing and taking care of the cuts right away is another; employees have said to her that waiting for the shoe to drop is not the way they want to live; and the Board needs to let the employees know if this is what is being forced upon it so they can make some professional decisions.  She stated it is not a decision she wants to make but it is one that has to happen.  She stated the Board sent letters to the Charter Officers two months ago explaining the State is considering for the County to have the cuts and requesting the Charter Officers to give feedback; and the Board has invited the Charter Officers to speak today to let the Board know the impact that these kinds of cuts are going to cause them.  She stated yesterday the Supervisor of Elections stated the budget he gave the Board was for a non-election year, and the budget he is giving the Board now is for an election year; and that is the kind of dialogue the Board needs so that it can see what the needs are on all sides.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated Mr. Whitten does not like the nine percent; and inquired if he thinks that was erroneous and inappropriate.  Mr. Whitten stated he thinks the County is at nine percent because the State has taken out the 2002 and 2007 fiscal years.  Commissioner Scarborough stated time is of the essence; he does not know if there are certain groups that are setting themselves to champion the analysis of this, but for $5 million it would be well worth it.  He stated he would suggest Mr. Whitten speak on the phone to Lobbyist John Thrasher and see if he has some suggestions as to who could assist the Board.  He stated he sees things that do not make sense; and it is not responsible for the Board to be laying people off and hurting programs when it is not even within the conscious of the community of what is being requested today. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he is concerned the State can undo what the voters did; he does not know where the State’s authority comes from to say that the County’s voters, who followed State law, approved the millages just described, and yet now the State cannot let the County do that; and he would like some idea of where the State’s authority is to override a local election.

 

Chairperson Colon stated as of yesterday the Board was looking at being in the seven percent bracket; now 24 hours later the County is in the nine percent bracket according to the Department of Revenue, which means now it has to go further and look at $5 million more in cuts; and yesterday the Board thought it belonged in the five percent bracket and was hoping the $17 million was too harsh. 

 

Ms. Busacca stated it is her understanding the County is being penalized for two things; one is the Referendums that  were passed that taxes were not levied for in 2002, but were in 2007; the other is the fact that the Board did the revenue flip because the revenue flip took money and put it below where it did not count; and the County is now being penalized for that. 

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if the Board has enough information and documentation that it can protest the nine percent; with Mr. Whitten responding that is the process; there is another County that has a Fire Control MSTU; and he will call that County and get its take on its numbers. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Board does not have a Special Act that caps the County at the ten percent above rollback rate; and inquired if a Special Act supersedes State law.  Mr. Knox stated a Special Act generally is an exemption from the State law unless the State law somehow supersedes the Special Act; the question is if the ten percent overrides the stuff that the Legislature has done; and that is something he will have to look at.  Commissioner Voltz stated if the new legislation does not specifically identify the fact that the Board has a Special Act, then the legislation overrides the Special Act, then the Board should assume maybe it does not override the Special Act.  Mr. Knox stated unless the Special Act has been expressly repealed, or impliedly repealed, it is still a good law; and the question is if it is one of those two. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated on top of all of this she and some other Commissioners stated Ms. Busacca needs to have some kind of direction and numbers to work with that the Board wanted to stay within the three percent and not go higher than the three percent cap; and she wants to make sure she is clear in regards to that because there is a budget that has to be put together in certain numbers, which means at that point there will need to be more cuts. 

 

The Board recessed at 10:40 a.m. and reconvened at 10:56 a.m.

 

Chairperson Colon stated she would like to make sure that folks have a pretty good understanding of what has been given to the Board; to reiterate, the State is asking for $10 million; and on the other side is what the Board is calling built-ins.  Mr. Rogero advised they are also referred to as choices and trade-offs.   Chairperson Colon noted today is the first day the Board was able to get a more concrete number; it was a moving target and it was extremely uncomfortable; and the numbers given to the Board of the possible reductions went from $17 million to $22 million.  She stated the cuts include everything from the renourishment to the roads, including the St. Johns Heritage Parkway; she wants everyone to understand the Board is talking about $10 million; but to run a County there are going to be other dollars that are being called built-ins or trade-offs.  Mr. Rogero stated examples of built-ins include increases in health insurance, any increase the Board is considering giving other agencies such as the Charter Officers, increasing Mosquito Control, and others; and those are the sort of choices or trade-offs that will need to be made after staff accounts for the reduction in revenue, whether it is the $5 million staff thinks it is going to be or the $10 million based on the latest information from the Department of Revenue.  He noted that is why the more direction and more choices that are made sooner will help staff get the Board a more accurate tentative budget next month.  He stated for example, the Sheriff’s Office has $5 million or so of unfunded requests; if the Board decides to fund those, it is going to impact how staff is going to prepare a budget for the Board; and that is going to be one of the trade-offs.  He stated whether to hold harmless employees in terms of what they pay for health insurance is going to be another trade-off; and that is what is included in the categories that staff does not know yet.

 

Chairperson Colon stated she wants everyone to understand what happens with the built-ins; the bracket went from $5 million to $10 million; staff has told the Board that all along; and the income coming into Brevard County this year and the following year is going down.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired where the $10 million figure is coming from; with Mr. Whitten responding when talking about the reductions yesterday, it was a seven percent bracket, which is $16.2  million;  but when doing the  math, it seems to be nine percent.   He advised statutorily the State is telling the Board it has, for 2007/2008, operating property tax revenues of $215 million; and that is a decrease of $5.3 million.  Mr. Whitten noted that is the statutory reduction between next year and this year; the County collects $231 million this year and because of all the changes with regards to legislation yesterday, it was $5 million less.  He noted next year will begin at a deficit of $10 million and there will be built-in increases; then there are other increases such as FP&L; and those off-set the deficit.  He advised when the Board develops the budget it is going to have a total deficit or need for additional revenues; and if the Board is not going to come up with additional revenues, it is going to have to make cuts in other places to fund the built-ins.  He advised the statutory reductions are $10 million, but in terms of need, the Board will need more than that; and that is why the guess is $17 million to $22 million.

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to authorize the Chairperson to send a letter to the Legislative Delegation expressing the Board’s concerns with percentage rates for budget reduction.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Commissioner Nelson noted he would like to see the built-ins considered the same way the Board is considering the budget cuts because it may want to rethink those as opposed to having them as given.  Chairperson Colon stated benefits are involved; and that was the kind of thing the Board was trying to avoid. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated earlier, Mr. Whitten showed a PowerPoint slide that showed $257 million carried over last year for capital projects; and inquired of the $257 million, what are the projects that the Board absolutely has to do; and could it come up with money out of the $257 million to address some of the issues the Board is looking at.  She noted if the Board can identify 10 percent in capital projects that it does not need to go forward with, maybe it can avoid some issues it is dealing with right now.  Ms. Busacca advised it is probably going to include Parks and Recreation, the money for the Referendum projects, and road projects such as the Pineda Causeway.

 

 

 

Sheriff Jack Parker stated he believes the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office has been a good partner with the Board.  He noted on becoming Sheriff, there were a lot of issues to deal with; and that is really why he ran for Sheriff.  He noted there were a lot of deficiencies and neglect and things that needed to be handled, but he knew he could not come to the Board repeatedly month after month asking for fixes to solutions.   He stated the Sheriff’s Office wants to be the best partner to the Board of County Commissioners that it can be, take its existing budget, and try its best to do everything it possibly can to not bring it to the Board for approval, even if it is justified; and he is proud of that.  He stated the first thing his office did before there was any State or local initiative to reduce administrative expenses was reduce the management team by

approximately 40 percent; his office also eliminated 20 managerial and administrative positions; and that was a savings of approximately $1 million.  He stated another problem his office had was that in the Board’s Comprehensive Plan it is required that the County provide two deputies per 1,000 residential population; his office was under that at approximately 1.5 deputies per 1,000 residential population; and he did not want to come to the Board and say he was under and needed 60 or 70 deputies.  He stated his office took a portion of the $1 million and hired 15 new road deputy positions and put them on the streets; he went through the entire agency and looked for deputies that may have become plain clothes administrative personnel and put them back on the streets, getting another 15 Deputies out there; and he was able to cut in half the need for the Deputy Sheriffs and he did that from within without coming to the Board.  Sheriff Parker stated the Sheriff’s Department also had major dispatching problems; there were less dispatchers than when he left dispatch a decade ago and there was twice the call load; and as a result, they were failing.  He noted they were not failing individually; individually they were excelling and doing the best they possibly could; but they were failing as an overall entity because they could not possibly answer all the phone calls coming in with the staff that was there; so he took what was remaining of the $1 million, funded eight new dispatcher positions, and brought them up from where they were answering 911 calls within ten seconds 60 percent of the time, to where they are answering over 90 percent of the time, which is a mark of excellence in the profession.  He stated with that situation he thinks he could have come to the Board, asked for eight dispatchers, and showed the failing rates; people were calling 911 and hanging up because they thought they had a bad connection; and that is what was happening prior to 2005. 

 

Sheriff Parker stated there has been a lot of discussion about the lower cost jail expansion; his office is running three of the four tents and it has saved a lot of money; the consultant study was $43 million for 500 beds; his office created a plan which was about $20 million for 700 beds; and he believes that is about a $30 million savings.  He stated had he not done that and just went with the consultant plan, the Board would have been in a position to try to fund it; so that is real capital money the Board did not have to fund.  He stated correctional officers stepped up and said they could manage inmates in tents; they have been doing that; and he is very proud of them.  He noted something else his office did that did not get a lot of commentary was that it needed to open up Tents Two and Three; the Board had funded ten correctional officers to open Tent One, but he needed to open up Tents Two and Three; the tents were finished, they were turnkey, and the population was busting at the seams; so rather than coming to the Board midyear, or even during the budget cycle for this year, he decided to take positions from within and convert them to correctional officers.  He stated he looked for another 20 administrative-type positions and converted them into 16 correctional officer positions, putting them to work in Tents Two and Three.  He stated these are things that do not typically happen in Sheriffs’ Offices. He stated his office has done other things as well such as the Women’s Jail, which was part of the renovation project; the women are still to some extent in the main jail right along with male inmates in different cell blocks; and it is very difficult to manage a jail like that.  He stated one of the concepts in the expansion plans was to take the minimum security facility, upgrade it in security, and make it a female incarceration facility so that they had their own facility and were separated.  He stated the problem was there was a cost to that; when the County cost it out, it was about $3 million and the County was well on its way to try to do that; his office jumped in and said to let it take over the construction project and use inmates; he did that and the project is going to come in at less than $1 million; and he used the budgetary savings that rolled over from last year to actually fund that expansion.  He noted that is another situation where some people would have told the Board it had to build the facility; but his office embraced the responsibility that they are all in it together; and he will do everything he possibly can to save money.  He stated he knows his office has said it does not want the Legislative initiatives from the State to impact Public Safety; and he appreciates and applauds each Commissioner because they have said that all the way through the process.  He stated he also would like to make it understood that the cuts have already greatly impacted Public Safety; there were well over 100 requests for things that were needed for the Sheriff’s Office that the Board never saw; and he is still 40 deputies behind where he  should  be according to the Comprehensive Plan.  He  stated  there  are still deputies with four and five calls stacked up; he still does not have enough correctional officers with the amount of overtime they need; his office is doing four hospital duties a day as an average where it was doing one; and his office needs additional people that the Board does not see in the budget proposal.  Sheriff Parker stated the reason the Board does not see those is he knew the situation the Board was in; and all of those things, between he and Mr. Jenkins, were cut out of the budget.  He stated the new pod is unfunded because it is a new program and could not be funded; but at $5.1 million the jail staff spent two to three weeks trying to figure out the staffing of the facility and came up with $8.5 million and 150 positions.  He stated he had a two-day workshop with staff to figure out where it could cut every single possible position and came up with the 86 personnel to open the pod; it sounds like a lot but it is about 60 percent of what they really thought they needed to do the job well; and his office will still do the best job it can with whatever it gets; but he wanted the Board do know it is making every possible effort to keep things as low as possible.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if he is referring to the Mental Health Pod; with Sheriff Parker responding he is referring to the Female Pod.  He stated when a minimum security facility is run it is a very low staffing level; when that facility is changed to a female incarceration facility with all different security levels, there are different changes of classifications; as a result more staff is needed for that female facility; and noted the Board does not see that before it either.  He stated what it means is the jail staff will go from two in the control room back to one in the control room, which is very difficult to do when there are that many inmates; and that is a real hit the Sheriff’s Office is taking in not asking the Board to fund an additional 15 to 18 people for the Women’s Jail. 

 

Sheriff Parker stated he would like to make it clear that the Sheriff’s Department has two distinct budgets; and there are the Jail Budget and the Law Enforcement Budget.  He noted the Law Enforcement Budget makes up about two-thirds of the entire Sheriff’s Office Budget; that budget is up less than a fifth of a percent; and that includes the employee wages that are tucked in there, as well for the COLA and the STEP.  He noted the Law Enforcement Budget also includes the four deputies that were added because of the Malabar situation; so it is a relatively small increase.  He stated the overall budget is skewed by the Correctional Budget, which is 5.2 percent; there was a lot of focus on salaries and salary increases; the reality of it is that one-third is dedicated to salary increases; but two-thirds is dedicated to inmate food and inmate medical expenses; and those two contracts are based on the number of inmates in the jail.  He stated the inmate population has been rising; the medical and food contracts are $1.5 million more than they were expected to be this year; and those are things that are very difficult to control.  He stated overall, putting a budget in for the jail with everything that he has experienced at five percent is fairly remarkable; and the operating budgets in both accounts are down and capital is down.  He stated the budgets that were put in include $1 million of health insurance and retirement premiums set by the State; and health insurance is set by negotiations from the County because the Sheriff’s Department is part of the County’s insurance.  He stated that is not under his control; it is a $1 million expense to the Sheriff’s Office budget; and that is included in the budgets he has represented as well.  He noted although it looks like it is going up in certain areas, his office has had to cut many different things out of the pie to make it actually be a reasonable budget.  He stated out of the many mandated programs, his office put in three that it thought were worthy of the Board’s consideration at this very difficult time; the number one priority is the jail mental health medical cell block; there has not been a lot of discussion on the lawsuit because there has been a lot of good faith shown; but tents have been built, the  pod has been  built, and his understanding is the Judge overseeing the case and some people involved on the other side are not happy at all about the opening of the new pod being pushed back to March 16, 2008.   Sheriff Parker stated he is concerned about getting the pod open for the safety of the jail, the personnel, and the inmates, but mainly for the safety of the community; the reality is an overcrowded jail only gets so overcrowded; and right now there are 600 to 700 people in the community committing burglaries of homes, assaults, and doing things that they should be in jail for.  He noted there is incredible pressure from the criminal justice system to release people early because the County has always had a jail much too small for its population; the Sheriff’s Office is finally starting to make some headway to catch up with what is needed; and the new pod will give an additional 300 beds and will make 1,700 beds total.  He advised that is still far under the 2,500 beds that are needed immediately, but much better than the 1,000 the County had just short of a year ago.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the Board gets daily updates on the percentage over capacity the jail is; it has basically gone from 31 percent over capacity to 38 percent over capacity; and that number will continue to grow with the mental health pod.  She inquired what will happen to the 38 percent when those people are moved out of the jail and into the pod.  Sheriff Parker stated he would guess it will decline.  He noted there are certain things that are making that number high; there is a huge mental health pod that is not operational, and that is 300 beds that are not being used.  He stated there is a fourth tent of 100 beds that is not operational, and that is 100 beds not being used.  He noted there is half of a female incarceration facility that is being renovated which consists of another 170 or 180 beds which are already in the cap but are not being used; and that equates to kind of a peak.  He stated in addition to that there have been even more aggressive law enforcement and changes in State law, which are adding to the jail population; citizens have told him if more jails are built, then the judges will just fill them; and his answer to that is hooray.  He stated Brevard County is behind where it should be; Polk County is the sister county when it comes to population; Polk County has a jail of 2,500; and that is really where Brevard County should be.  He noted for every 1,000 residents, there are 3.5 people in jail; this is about one whole number under the average; Orange County puts in almost five as an example; and what that generally means is that in Brevard County fewer people are being locked up and inmates are being released because there is no room.   He advised finishing the pod and tent and staffing them will bring the jail to 1,700 beds; today, there is a population of 1,800; and so the jail will still be overcrowded when the pod and fourth tent are open.  He noted there are other initiatives; the new Anti-Murder Act is expected to impact Brevard County by as many as 200 inmates by the end of the calendar year; these are violent offenders who have violated probation; and many times the inmates have been released back to the streets because there is just no room.  He  noted the violent offenders were not going to prison; now there is a special process they have to go through; and most likely they will go back to prison.  He noted in the long term it is definitely going to reduce crime and protect victims from being re-victimized, but it is going to have an expense to it.

 

Sheriff Parker stated when he became Sheriff there were 26,000 unserved warrants, which is a little on the high side for the size of Brevard County; the previous Sheriff had tried to get that number down; it is a difficult thing to do; the number of unserved warrants went from 18,000 a decade ago to 26,000 when he became Sheriff; and his office has been working hard to reduce that number.  He stated the way to reduce that number is to arrest people and put them in jail.  He noted the Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit, Warrants Unit, and the Deputy Sheriff’s have all been working hard at finding those people; and as a result his office is down to about 18,000 unserved warrants.  He  noted  the  Sheriff’s  Office gets about 20,000 new warrants every year; his office has actually arrested 6,000 to 7,000 more than it normally would have arrested without that push; and that has an effect on the jail population as well.  Sheriff Parker advised all of the Police Chief’s and the Sheriff’s Office meet monthly to work together on jurisdictional operations; the bad guys have really gotten very good at moving around; and it is not uncommon to find people from Melbourne or Cocoa in Mims, and vice versa.  He stated it is very important for the law enforcement community to work together; as a result there has been a pretty high degree of success; almost 90 people were arrested on a joint operation in the City of Melbourne; the Sheriff’s Office helped out with those arrests; and those arrests will have an impact on the jail population.  He stated the jail population impacts are good; the problem is that they are expensive; there is a long way to go to get the kind of jail beds needed to ensure the safety of the community; and the mental health pod, medical pod, and the fourth tent are definitely a step in the right direction.  

 

Sheriff Parker stated the last unfunded item he has is the fourth jail tent, and opening that tent will bring the jail to 1,700 inmate beds.  He stated he knows there has been a lot of discussion and a lot of references to the Sheriff’s Office budget through this budget process; and he believes the Board of County Commissioners has been an excellent partner with him since he has been Sheriff.  He noted other than recently, because of the budget issues, he has not been told “no” by the Board; his office has also been careful about bringing only what it absolutely had to, to the Board; and it has been a wonderful relationship and he hopes it continues.  He stated when it comes to funding Sheriff’s Offices, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and jail are funded on the low side when it come to how counties fund the law enforcement budget.  He advised the Sheriff’s Office is funded $189 per capita in Brevard County, which is less than every other county surrounding, and even less than its sister county, Polk County.  He stated Polk County gets 15 cents for every dollar of tax for its Sheriff’s Office and jail operations; Volusia County gets 16 cents of every dollar taxed for its Sheriff’s Office and jail operations; and Brevard County gets about 8.5 cents of every dollar taxed.  He stated he believes the Sheriff’s Office is doing a pretty good job of trying to keep the cost to the community low.   He stated he funded very conservative increases for his deputies, correctional officers, dispatchers, and Sheriff’s employees; he tried to cut his budget as much as he could to absorb much of the cost and pass on to the Board as little increase as possible; and he did that for several reasons.  He stated one, he truly believes that if anybody looked at what these people do for a living, it would be very difficult to see that they do not get some kind of cost of living increase because of what they do; they expose themselves to contagious diseases and put themselves in harms way; they go into the jail and work 12 hours a day; and they face danger in the road.  He noted he is not just talking about his sworn staff; he is talking about the civilian staff and the crime scene techs; the stuff they do is really off the charts; and they do not get paid nearly what they deserve.  He stated it is now going to be compounded with the fact that all of them are facing incredible home insurance expenses; and they are having a tough time living and working in Brevard County on the salaries they are getting.  He stated his employees are getting hit with $2,000 and $3,000 home insurance increases; the Board is talking about health insurance increases; and the reality of it is it is going to be very difficult for them to make ends meet.  He stated everyone  is saying  they do not want to affect the men and women in uniform; but to lock down his staff’s salaries in a wage freeze is affecting them in a negative way; it is better than being laid off, but it is still a tremendous negative effect; it will have a negative effect on the community because other jurisdictions are not enforcing a wage freeze; and he will lose employees to other jurisdictions.  He noted police officers in Titusville, Melbourne, Palm Bay, and Orange County are getting increases;  those  are  the  agencies  he  competes  with;   he  is concerned that for every position that leaves, he will spend an average of two and two and a half times that annual salary recruiting, training and getting another person in position; and it will be expensive to the citizens in the long run, as it will decline service.  Sheriff Parker stated he would like to see all County staff that remains after this process be treated with that same level, make sure those employees are treated appropriately, and give them the cost of living increases and merit increases.  He stated if there is a one-time reduction in the revenue due to a crisis such as a hurricane or terrorist act, that is a prudent alternative; but when the Board knows this is as good as it is ever going to get, the first thing it has to start talking about is wage freezes while it plans the next budget.  He stated he does not think the County can afford to do a wage freeze this year and then do it again next year.   He stated he would like more discussion and knowledge of the other three quarters of a billion dollars; the citizens see it as a billion dollar budget; and on the homepage of the County office it is a billion dollar budget.  He noted for all intents and purposes it is a billion dollar budget; and he realizes the Statute and the new law are requiring the County to make cuts.  He stated he knows a huge chunk is going to Parks and Recreation; a huge chunk is going to the Pineda Extension; and inquired about all the other chunks.  He inquired if there is any discretionary funding that can be used to offset some of the losses the County is going to engage in, and if there has to be $170 million for self-insurance.    He inquired how much of the $800 million is untouchable, how much is truly discretionary, and what can the County do to break free some of it so it can maintain excellent service for the citizens of Brevard County.

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board truly appreciates Sheriff Parker and all the men and women in uniform; and she is glad he mentioned the County staff.  She stated as a former County employee, Sheriff Parker knows it is really hard work to do what the Board is about to go through; and the numbers given to the Board in the last 24 hours are not any better to look at.  She noted the State is definitely looking at Brevard County cutting $10 million; and with the built-ins, the Board is looking at cutting $17 million.  She stated the Board is asking staff to look at everything, including benefits and salaries; and the Board is trying to avoid that as much as possible.  She stated really hard decisions have to be made; and the Board is asking everyone to share with it how the cuts are going to be impacting everybody.  She advised $10 million is just the start; after that, there are going to be millions and millions more that have to be looked at; and she wants to make sure the Board is careful and looks at everything possible that it can look at.  She stated the problem is that it is not a one-time hit; property values are going down and the income to Brevard County is not going to get any better; so because the income to Brevard County is not going to get any better, some really hard decisions have to made this year; and the more the Board prolongs it, it is just prolonging the inevitable.  She stated 71 percent of Brevard County’s population is protected by homestead exemption, and 29 percent is not protected by homestead exemption.  She stated the Colon family is in the 71 percent; the Brown family, being her parents who bought a home in the last three or four years, has taxes that are unbelievable; and her parents’ taxes increased to $7,400 instead of them looking at a decrease.  She noted it looks like there is going to be an increase in taxes based on the School Board millage going up; and the kind of services that are going to be cut are unbelievable.  She stated the partnership the Board has had with the Sheriff will continue, and it is something that is positive for the community.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the County had a wage freeze several years ago; the Clerk of Courts elected not to follow it; and it really did not bode well with the rest of the people.  He stated if law enforcement was singled out, the numbers would ripple.  He  noted  it is going to  be  hard for him to have a facility that the Sheriff could open and serve the community better with and not open it; and he knows that is a big number for the Commission to throw on the other numbers.  Sheriff Parker inquired if Commissioner Scarborough was referring to the mental health pod; with Commissioner Scarborough responding yes; and it is a struggle when other programs are going to be further impacted.  Commissioner Scarborough stated as to the wage issue, of all the issues, it becomes the hardest because if it happens in one group, then why not another group, until there are wage increases across the board.   He noted an economist at the Florida Association of Counties took all the numbers in gross for the entire State for what the Counties had filed; the economist stated there is 16 percent that is called quality of life; and his theory was that 16 percent could not bear the cost alone, and it would have to move into the so-called “essential services.”  He stated if what is called the “essential services” are not maintaining at least the status quo but are increasing, it does not work.  He stated in regards to the $1 billion budget, the problem is that the Board has a fund account and it is very hard to people to understand; the Board has inter-fund transfers that carry forward from year to year; there are the reserves for insurance; and it was not used but it has to be there in case of a hurricane, so it is counted as new money.  He noted it is not new money, and therefore one gets to what the new money is and what the Board can touch, and it gets to be very painful.  He stated Sheriff Parker has been a team player; the Board appreciates all that he has accomplished; and it wants to try to make everything work that can work.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated when she asked about the capital dollars, that was just the start of what all the other carry-forward dollars are and how the Board could potentially look at touching them as a one-time thing; and that gives the Board one year to work out all the details as to what it should do as far as who is laid off and how the Board is supposed to cut.   She stated there are $22 million worth of cuts; and looking at some of the dollars in the insurance funds may give the Board a chance to buy some time to look at some way to more effectively deal with some of the things it is dealing with.  She stated right now it seems like a rush; and there is very little time to be looking at any of the stuff it is looking at. 

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated months ago staff asked the Board if it wanted to move forward the referendum projects; that decision has not been made, so staff has continued; but those are the kind of decisions that would be helpful; and staff would have brought those to the Board had the Board said it wanted to reconsider the projects.  She stated that policy has been laid out before, but it was difficult for the Board to go there because they are referendums and no one knew how significant the reductions would be.  She advised staff can bring all of that back to the Board and ask what it would like to do.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the people voted on a referendum; and inquired if Ms. Busacca is suggesting the Board go back to referendum to ask the people to reverse themselves.  Ms. Busacca responded she is suggesting that, if some of the capital is sitting waiting to complete referendum projects and the Board would like to reconsider the timing and stretch them out as opposed to competing them in a timely manner as the voters were told in November, the Board could take some of those capital dollars and allow them to be utilized for other operations.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board cannot use dedicated referendum monies for another project.  Ms. Busacca stated no, but there is not that kind of money in the capital funds.  She stated the Commission is asking staff to review the capital and see if it can be used in another way; it cannot be used in Parks and Recreation another way;  but it is that  kind  of discussion that  staff is going  to  have;  and the maintenance requirements can be reduced by not completing referendum projects. Commissioner Scarborough  stated  he  had  told  the people in North Brevard that he does not plan to proceed with things that will increase operating costs; but that does not allow him to take that referendum money and supplement the operating Parks and Recreation Board. 

 

Ms. Busacca stated Sheriff Parker has included in his budget calculation funding for a full year for all of the new officers for the jail, and he told the Board the jail would be open in March 2008; and inquired if Sheriff Parker could explain to the Board why he would anticipate it being a full year, even though the jail will not open until March 2008.  Sheriff Parker stated it is not really funding for every position that is represented; and there are some positions that start in January 2008, and some that start in April 2008.  He noted of those positions, the majority are absolutely full-year funding because they are the correctional front line positions such as the correctional officers and correctional technicians; and the issue is that his office has to have a massive recruiting drive.  He advised his office probably needs 500 to 600 good applicants to apply for a position that will become, if this is approved, open on October 1, 2007; and it is a very difficult application process, as it is very difficult to find the applicants that have the certification.  He stated his office has to pick the very best people it can and hire them as what is called the Correctional Officer Trainee on October 1, 2007, or soon thereafter; and there need to be four academy classes ready to go in the first week of October to send them to a correctional academy as a Correctional Officer Trainee.  He noted the trainees will pass their academy course after 14 weeks, then they come to the Sheriff’s Office and are put through a Field Training Officer Program; and it would not be until March 2008 that those personnel would be ready to assume responsibility for the jail.  He advised the new personnel will not rush into the new pod; there will be a mixture because a lot of senior and experienced correctional officers will be needed in a new housing unit; and the new personnel will backfill the positions that go into the new facility.  He stated to get the facility open as soon as it is done, which is what he recommends, that is how it has to be done, and it is a huge challenge to get it done. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated yesterday the Board said $17 million needed to be cut; those are the kind of numbers it is looking at, along with laying off 400 County employees; and that is just the beginning of what the State is asking of the County.  She noted these are not one-time hits; it is money that is permanent and will not come back; and what the Board is looking at that will be coming in the future is even worse.  She stated if the Board looks at how much it has given to the Sheriff’s Office, it shows a true partnership; and the Board never hesitated because of the fact that the Sheriff showed that he was fiscally responsible.  She noted she was willing to make a motion to make the cut immediately; but the Board is trying to avoid the inevitable and it is going to get worse from here on.  She stated there are going to be folks coming before the Board; there are programs that are going to be cut that affect the youth, seniors, and other organizations; and the Board wants to continue looking at all of the outside-the-box thinking.  She stated for the Board to claim it has all the answers, or that it knows it all, is incorrect.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if the company that holds the Medical Services Contract has already told the Sheriff it is going to be charging his office 20 percent more.  Chief Financial Officer Tom Jenkins stated the charges are based on the number of inmates; the Sheriff’s Office initially negotiated the contract based on the numbers that were projected by Stephen Carter, of Carter Goble;  right now  there are  probably 200 inmates above what Mr. Carter projected there

 

would be; so the Sheriff’s Office is paying an extra charge because it is above the original cap; and as the jail population continues to increase next year as it did this year, those charges are going to go up.  Mr. Jenkins advised it is not just a flat percentage, as it is a charge cost by the number of inmates the jail actually has; and the jail has significantly more inmates than anybody anticipated it would have.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if that is also true for food service; with Mr. Jenkins responding affirmatively. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated one of the plans for the community was the crime lab building; Sheriff Parker said he had been able to identify over $200,000 of return dollars; and inquired if that has been considered in regards to the raises that the deputies can possibly have, or is the amount of the pay increase to the deputies way above that.  Sheriff Parker stated when the building did not go through on the acquisition day, his office basically took the $250,000 and put it in the budget to offset so he did not bring the Board a bigger budget increase; and that $250,000 is in the budget offsetting capital expenses right now.  He stated the Board can take the final number and earmark it for deputy raises if it wants to do something like that; but right now, it is just part of the budget revenue.  Chairperson Colon inquired what is the amount; with Mr. Jenkins responding it is $250,000.

 

Sheriff Parker stated the deputies, correctional officers, and dispatchers all have a STEP pay plan; as they graduate from one step on their anniversary date, there is a certain dollar figure associated with that; in addition, the Cody and Associates Study recommended that as a minimum each year, the Sheriff’s Office add the cost of living for the preceding 12 months to the beginning STEP of each classification; and that is where the Board sees the three percent.  He noted that is not three percent COLA across-the-board to every person in a green uniform; in other words, the starting salary of a Deputy Sheriff would go from $35,500 to $36,600; and then that $1,100 would be transferred throughout the whole STEP plan.  He stated on a new deputy that would mean three percent; on a topped-out deputy, it would be closer to two percent; and then they would get their actual STEP.  He noted on the civilian side of the house there was a three percent cost of living and a one percent merit; and that combined is $2.4 million.  Mr. Jenkins advised that also includes any additional increases because of those salary increases on health insurance and retirement as well; so it is not just salaries, as it is the benefit costs as well.  Ms. Busacca stated the information staff gave the Sheriff’s Office yesterday did break out the difference between the salaries and benefits; and staff was trying to show the Sheriff that some of that is built-in costs that are not related to salary increases.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated on one of his trips to Tallahassee, one of Brevard County’s Legislators advised the County could fix its problem and the County’s budget can be balanced by reducing its Comprehensive Plan.  He noted Brevard County houses State prisoners or prisoners who have been found guilty who are going to go into the State system for some period of time; and inquired if there is any way of recapturing that money from the State.  Sheriff Parker stated the Brevard County Jail is one of the most efficient jails in the State; but 20 years ago DOC was having overcrowding problems and was reluctant to accept anyone who was sentenced; and the inmates would languish in County jail for two and three months .  He stated as a result, Tom Jenkins and State Attorney Norm Wolfinger created on Oversight Committee; and the Committee started pecking apart all of the little things that were causing problems to jail overcrowding that the Sheriff’s Office could do something about.  He stated the Committee basically knocked out that issue and set up all types of little safeguards to where if someone is sentenced to a prison, is the paperwork is there, and the Clerks and Courts have done their jobs, then that person was able to get to prison often within the next week; that is the goal of the Sheriff’s Office; and as soon as a person is sentenced to prison, he wants them there.  Sheriff Parker  stated  his  office  has  asked  the  State  if  it  can  be  reimbursed  for  the  seven, eight, or nine days they have been in the County jail until they get to the State; and the State’s opinion is, “You know what?  We’ll take them as fast as you get them to us with all the appropriate paperwork, but that’s really your problem.”  He noted that is worth digging into a little bit because the inmates are technically State inmates at that time.  He stated another great question coming from that question is the Anti-murder Act; those are people that are on State probation and parole, who are coming in and are State inmates; they are being violated on a State condition; they are in the Brevard County jail being paid for by the citizens; and the State is not taking any responsibility in paying for that.  He stated the Sheriff’s Office has always had a problem with State VOP’s; and it is made worse now with the Anti-murder Act because those people are going to be in jail for not 30 to 45 days, but more like 45 to 90 days before they go to prison.  He noted the good part is they are going to go to prison in most cases versus being returned to the community where they are going to violate again in two months and be back on the County’s doles; and he thinks the State should pay for inmates who are on State sanctions in County jails. 

 

Mr. Jenkins stated that is true particularly in view of the fact that the County is now paying for juveniles in the pre-trial detention; the State was kind enough to pass that $3 million cost onto the County; and perhaps the Board could look into that.  Sheriff Parker stated that was particularly annoying to him.  He noted the State runs the Juvenile Justice System; and for the State to simply point at the County and say, “You’re going to run this $3 million operation; you’re not going to manage it, you’re not going to run it personally, you’re just going to pay the bill we tell you to pay,”  he did not like it.  He stated he thought that would be a huge news item because it is $3 million; when the State gives the County $50,000 there are three or four consecutive news articles; and now when the County gets hit with $3 million from the State of Florida for local taxpayers to pick up, it is hard to find out about it. 

 

Ms. Busacca inquired what is the cost of keeping an inmate in jail for a day; with Sheriff Parker responding it is about $55.00.  Sheriff Parker noted what is done is the jail budget is divided by the average daily population and it is relatively inexpensive; Brevard County still runs a very inexpensive jail as compared to other jails; Orange County is about $90.00 a day; and other jails average $70.00 or $80.00 a day.  Ms. Busacca stated if Sheriff Parker thinks the jail population is going up 200 people for a year at $55.00 a day, that is over $4 million for that mandate alone; that is part of the increases that staff is talking about when it refers to built-ins, but it is an increased State mandate.  Chairperson Colon stated that is on top of everything.  Sheriff Parker stated the reason the cost per day is in the low $50’s is because it is overcrowded; overcrowded jails are inexpensive jails; the more overcrowded they are on the surface, the less expensive they are; but the reality of it is the citizens pay for that in many other ways, such as crime in the community, et cetera; and as the Sheriff’s Office starts to build out and meet the needs of the community, that figure will rise.  He noted the mental health pod is a great example; as the pod is staffed the figure will probably go to $63.00 a day; when the fourth tent is staffed, the figure could go to $64.00 a day; but $70.00 to $80.00 a day is pretty average. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated according to the numbers, there are $16 million of unfunded mandates by the State to the County.  She inquired if the State were to just take all that back and pay their portion of it, would Brevard County be okay. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he thinks it is ironic that the Board is looking at its employees, including the Sheriff’s employees, losing some of their benefits or their health insurance to pay for prisoners.  He stated it is a tough sell to walk through neighborhood and say the County has to reduce its employees’ benefits so it can pay for more prisoners.

 

 

 

Clerk of Courts Scott Ellis, stated his office ran numbers last week and came up with the same numbers as Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten.  He noted what the County had at the seven percent level was a $5 million reduction in revenue; at nine percent, which came out today or last night, it is a hard $10 million reduction in revenue; and that revenue is out of the approximately $300 million or so which is property tax, sales tax, franchise fee, and communication tax.   He stated he agrees with Commissioner Colon that what the Board is doing today is the beginning exercise because home values will continue to fall and they will fall dramatically in Brevard County alone.  He stated had the Legislature done nothing, the County would still be in a roll forward situation due to declining taxable value; and he believes the Board will see that as the number goes up hyperbolically, it will begin to decline quite dramatically as the Property Appraiser catches up with the falling values.  He stated the State’s baseline is higher than what the County’s baseline would have been this year.  He stated in other counties the Property Appraiser is still moving forward and they are in a rollback situation; Brevard County is in a roll forward situation; and the County would be taking part of the cut anyway, just based on falling values. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired of the numbers that were given to the Board, how much is from the State and how much of it is roll forward; with Mr. Whitten responding he can look into that quickly.  Mr. Ellis stated he believes with roll forward it is between two and three percent; and the net for the Property Appraiser was a slight plus once new construction was put back in.  Budget Director Dennis Rogero advised the County’s taxable value roll forward is about three percent; and Countywide, it is just under three and a half percent.

 

Mr. Ellis stated the County has already begun to slide; and his belief is it will slide even more dramatically over the next few years; and with that decline in taxable value it would be a decline in revenue.  He advised the Clerks budget is up two percent; as the Board is aware, the Clerk has become a minor part of County funding under Article VI; the two percent included the pay raises, insurance increases, and FRS; and if the County does not want to give pay raises, the Clerks Office would drop slightly negative on that.   He noted he submitted his numbers a month ago when the Board wanted 30 percent; stated his caution then, as now, gets back to identifying core functions of government and what functions of County government must be done versus what the Board would like to do; and that is a critical factor in how the Board makes its cuts.  He stated he had a discussion earlier with Commissioner Colon, Mr. Whitten, and Mr. Rogero concerning the built-in increases, which he understands are health and FRS; however, he had asked that be presented more as a ledger; and inquired if he has $12 million to $20 million of built-in increase, can he have that delineated so he can see what $12 million to $20 million he is making as a cut, so he may not necessarily want to pick from that side over there.   He stated it is not quite clear in the agenda package what the Board has with the $22 million; and what the Board has are certain things that it is on the hook for, such as health insurance, FRS, and sometimes Workman’s Comp.

 

Chairperson Colon stated one of the things she has been saying is the realization that the Board knows what it is looking at when all is said and done is about $15 million; the State is asking for $10 million; those are the numbers and cuts she referred to earlier in regards to the cuts that would have to be made from all of the departments; and folks need to realize that things are not going to get any better, but will get worse.  Mr. Ellis stated had the Legislature done nothing, this year would be much easier but next year would be just as hard, if not harder.  He stated in regards to the taxable values in Brevard County, when the County goes from roughly $21 million to $37 billion in a period of five years, that is an impossible number; and the real estate market is coming back to earth, so there is a dramatic decline in prices, which eventually will be reflected on taxable value.  

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the other thing is the County showed $10-plus million in new construction; it is not going to be that next year; and it is going to be way down.  Mr. Ellis stated Commissioner Voltz is correct because those are homes that were actually completed a year ago, and a CO was issued; they are just now coming onto the tax roll; and building permits for this year are dramatically lower than permits for last year.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired what Mr. Ellis observed, based on the numbers, in regards to the Sheriff’s Department; stated the Board is trying to look at every department; and every single agency is unique.  Mr. Ellis responded the Board really needs to break out approximately the $300 million and see where it goes; and that is $250 million in property taxes and $50 million, which is franchise fees, communication tax and sales tax because that is the Board’s to spend as it chooses.  He stated he knows there has been discussion on the billion dollar budget; Commissioner Scarborough was correct that the Board cannot spend an interfund transfer; the Board cannot take money that is set aside for Solid Waste Utilities for Operations; the Board cannot take a gas tax for operations; and it cannot use the bonded revenue for the parks for operations.  He stated that is the Board’s $300 million that is has to work with; he has had discussions with the Board in the past about getting away from what has been budgeted in the past, what has been spent, and revenue and expenditure versus budget; and when the Board does the carry forward, it really skews the budget.  He advised if the Board has an $80 million bond issue and does not spend $60 million of it because it does not have the right-of-way yet, it really does not have a $60 million revenue the following year; that is why the County budget is skewed and that is why he thinks there is a little misunderstanding in Legislature on the cuts in that if the Board cuts $6 million in property taxes, it is not really a six percent cut on the budget, but is six percent out of that $300 million; and that is where the true money is that the Board can get.  He stated the Board can look through capital projects, but he does not think it will find a whole lot; the Board has one option that has been discussed; and if it does not issue the last gas tax bond, that will enable the Board to use a couple of million dollars out of its LOGT for Operations.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board already voted on that.  Chairperson Colon advised it is not too late, and she has looked into that.  Mr. Ellis stated he and the Board sign a lot of things, but he does not know if the money has been drawn.  Chairperson Colon stated the Board could give it back, but there would be penalties in regards to paying the attorneys.  Mr. Ellis advised the Board could refund the bonds.  Chairperson Colon stated she is willing to consider that; there  are some really  hard  decisions  that  are going  to have to be made; and some decisions that are going to affect how the future of Brevard County is going to look.

 

Mr. Ellis advised it is critical to understand what has gone up over the last few years to get a better feel of what the cuts would be because he thinks it makes the Board and him look unprepared if it makes a cut this year and closes something that was opened in 2004 when the County has much less money.  He noted even this reduction leaves the Board with far more money than it had just a couple years ago. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he was concerned at just looking at the raw numbers for each operation because he was beginning to pick up that a lot of it was salaries; he looked at the Constitutional Officers and the Clerk’s increase and took the median; the mean in 2002 was $12.4 million; and the County Commissioners was $14.6 million, but neither was at the top.   He stated he then looked at the number of additional employees; and Mr. Ellis did not have any more employees.  He stated the Clerk of Courts is not really where he wants to look because there are the same number of employees; under the percentage increases, Mr. Ellis is substantially under some of the others; he needed to understand the dynamics because programs are not the cost; and the reason is primarily wages.  He stated there are ongoing questions; and the more questions he asks, it adds another level of questions that come forward.  He stated Mr. Ellis is right; the Board did operate; and some of the costs exceeded any rational explanation looking at inflationary costs and others.  Mr. Ellis stated some costs have been driven by the property values going through the roof, such as redevelopment agencies; noted a tremendous amount of money now flows through redevelopment agencies because property values went through the roof; and the Board has to make a decision to either fund redevelopment agencies or fund other parts of County Government.   He stated Commissioner Nelson is correct; he knows it is tough when someone gets put on the spot; but those are decisions that have to be made.  He stated he knows he got a little irate with the 30 percent and he apologizes for that; but across-the-board is not necessarily what the Board wants to do; and it really has to take a look at wholesale expenditures and program expenditures.  

 

Commissioner Nelson stated one thing that has occurred to him is that when the Board looks at rolling back to a certain period of time, there have been increases; but it is rolling back the revenue and not rolling back the expenditure parts, whether it is salaries, gas, or fuel; and all those things that caused it to go up are also across-the-board.   He stated the County gets to the point in time where all of its operations have gone up, at least to some percentage, by those things; but the Board is rolling back to a kind of historic number without the ability to deal with the fact that those things still cost that; and that is what has put the Board into the all-or-nothing kind of scenario.  Mr. Ellis stated the analysis needed is who has gone up what part of the percentage to try and find out where most of the money has gone.  He noted the budgets for redevelopment agencies are dramatically more than they were five years ago.  Commissioner Nelson stated he agrees with Mr. Ellis; and the other difficult thing is that every county is unique.  He stated for instance, Brevard County has the park referendums which have driven costs up in terms of operating; but now they are not being protected in terms of the operating piece; and it is part of that big total the Board has to deal with.  Mr. Ellis advised the Clerk’s Offices’ feeling on the second referendum and the second bond issue was that it was designed as a self-contained referendum to carry debt service and operating service; his concern with a second bond referendum and increased debt service against that millage as property values fell dramatically,  was that  the  County may reach the point  that the millage will not cover operating and debt; and  in some  cases  it may  not  even  cover debt  because  that  second bond issue came out up against a real estate market that was at its peak in late 2005/2006.  Mr. Ellis stated as property values fall, his concern is it reaches a point that it drops so much that the Board has to pull from  the  rest of the General Fund to operate the parks  project, which would have been operated from the referendum millage.  He stated he knows North County is different because it has a separate millage; and that is why his office had some concerns on the second referendum, because the first referendum was done on debt service based on what could be carried based on the 2001 property values and it was done again based on 2005/2006  property  values.  He advised as it declines, that millage  will bring  in much less money; and that was just the parks side.  He noted what the Legislature has done has put the Board on a harder road faster, but he does not think the next few years will be a whole lot better as values fall.

 

Chairperson Colon stated the communities are under the impression that the huge referendum reform is going to be saving them taxes; they are really excited because wonderful things were done in Tallahassee; and they are expecting to see a reduction in their taxes.  She stated yesterday she asked Budget Director Dennis Rogero to put in two scenarios, one scenario was the taxes of her family and one was the taxes of her parents.  She noted 71 percent of Brevard County’s population is protected by homestead exemption; and the 29 percent of folks that bought a home in the last three to four years and small businesses are the ones getting hit really hard and cannot make ends meet.  She stated in Palm Bay there can be two separate homes, one is protected and one is not; that is $1,200 in taxes for one family, and $7,400 for another family; and that kind of impact to a household is huge.  She noted the Board talked about the School Board and that is where another percentage came up.  Mr. Ellis advised there are also the Water Management District and some others.  

 

Mr. Ellis stated the Property Appraiser’s final tax roll will come out July 1, 2007; and the Board will see that some property values are going to decline more than others.  He stated he likes to use his mom’s house in Satellite Beach as an example because she has been there for 26 years; she is set somewhere way back in value; and she can go up and down like a yo-yo, but her taxes will just increase three percent a year.  He stated people who bought in the last three or four years will start to see a little bit of a drop in their taxes; and for people who are long time homesteaded, they are probably going to get that three percent a year for a long time.  Chairperson Colon inquired if that would happen until January; with Mr. Ellis responding his office has yet to decipher what January will mean.  He stated if people are allowed to vote and pick which exemption is the greatest, it does not necessarily stop the County, School Board, and Cities from going up to the full 10 mills under the Constitutional cap and laying those taxes against whoever is not covered by the referendum.  He stated his fear is if the January referendum passes, there is going to be a big tax shift from homesteaded to non-homesteaded property, and businesses will be driven out of the State of Florida because by Constitution, the Board, School Board, and Cities can go up 10 mills; and all of a sudden the County will be looking at 21 or 22 mills, and then it may go to 34 or 35 mills.  He stated those with Super Homestead will not care; and those who do not have it are going to be suddenly clobbered.  He advised that needs a full analysis before the vote because he has real concerns over what the Legislature has done.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated something else he is concerned with is that Florida has been a State of second homes; historically, people do not want to leave their home in Ohio, but they like to have a second home in Florida; and inquired if Mr. Ellis sees any relief for those people in what is occurring.  Mr. Ellis inquired relief from what; with Commissioner Scarborough responding some people  come down, go to the churches, and are neighbors.  Mr. Ellis advised they are retired and do not use a lot of services.  Mr. Ellis noted from what he understands of the January referendum, one will be able to pick which homestead he or she wants to choose; and a snowbird has no homestead exemption.  He stated the caps are not based on individual home value or individual home taxes; it is an aggregate; and so the aggregate tax revenue is capped, which means if the aggregate tax revenue says one is allowed to go up six percent for inflation and population growth, it does not mean six percent falls on everybody.  He stated it could mean that zero falls on one group of people, and the others bear the brunt of the entire six percent because the caps that were done are done aggregate revenue and not on individual taxes.   He stated the future is far more unpredictable based on the two formulas that are used.  He noted his advice to his mom is to keep her Save Our Homes no matter what, because she knows what her bill is.  He stated the other formula may be a good deal at first and then head south, and he has a real concern about it; there cannot be something that is better for everybody; it just does not work that way because each entity is allowed to go up to 10 mills; and that is 30 mills right off the top.  He stated if one lives in the City of Melbourne, like he does, then he or she can tack on the St. Johns River Water Management District assessment; and he does not know if there is even a limit to what that can go to.  Commissioner Voltz advised she thinks they were all capped at three percent.  Mr. Ellis stated the Board has to look at it that it is aggregate revenue and not millage; and theoretically, it can take the millage higher, just like when the County is in roll forward.  He noted had the Legislature done nothing when the County was in roll forward, the Board could have raised the millage three percent to just reach rollback; and under the old state, it could have gone up 13 or 14 percent this year and met State law.  He advised the ten percent is aggregate revenue, but roll forward had to get back to break even; and Brevard County will probably be in roll forward for the next few years.  Commissioner Voltz noted that will hurt the County down the road.  Mr. Ellis stated the market will not turn around; a lot of people had high hopes for tax reform, but he does not think they are going to see it; and the referendum in January 2008 is so off the wall, he does not know that it will pass.  He stated he prefers the old Senate version, which at least took the Board back to a base year and it knew what it was; but this is very unusual and he sees it more as a giant tax shift; and his fear is that all of a sudden businesses will be wiped out and start to leave the State. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he refers to that at the “trust me” because the State is asking everyone to trust it; it is going to cut education on one side but it is going to replace that with some other source, which is yet unidentified; and in the end the Board of County Commissioners get blamed for the tax bill.   Mr. Ellis stated he looks at both sides because the Legislators do not understand how local government works and the options available to the Board; the Legislators do not know the millage can be raised to the full 10 mills; therefore, what it thinks is a big tax cut becomes a smaller tax cut; and 50 percent of the cut is still a cut, but the other 50 percent is now a shift and someone else is paying that.  He added in the end, what the Legislation has done is create some extreme pain for some people to the point that they may leave the area and the State.  Commissioner Nelson stated he agrees. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board is making a real mistake by not thinking snowbirds are important to the economy.  He noted his church has at least 50 percent more people attending in the winter months than in the summer months; and these people are living in homes that they own, have owned for years, and they just move back and forth.  He advised the snowbirds  could opt  to say  they  are no longer a resident of Ohio  but are a resident of Florida because they spend so much time here.  Mr. Ellis stated the big buzz in Tennessee  for  the  last  few  years  is  that  everybody  from  Florida  is  moving to Tennessee.  He noted he does not think anyone will see all the boomers coming to Florida, as that has pretty much been evaporated by the housing and insurance prices. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board is looking at the bigger picture and not just 2007/2008; and that is why it would behoove the Board to take those things very seriously that have to be done now.  Mr. Ellis stated yes, it would be good to plan; and it does not mean the Board necessarily has to implement, but it should plan for what it may have to implement.  He stated he had a long debate with the School Board; when the School Board did its billion dollars in capital improvements for free it said, “We  can do a billion dollars in capital improvements and there is no tax increase”; and that was based on five years of taxable value going up ten percent a year, every year.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if Mr. Ellis said one billion; with Mr. Ellis responding affirmatively.  He stated his point was if the School Board is right, the median home will hit $350,000 and no one will be here with children; and if it is wrong, it is broke.  He advised the student population is beginning to level and it is going to begin to drop.  Commissioner Scarborough advised he attended the Astronaut High School Graduation; this year, the attendance at that school dropped; and what is scary is that if the County gets back into Apollo mode, it may actually lose schools.  He stated a lot of capital improvement is being put into schools and it may be that more needs to be spent on Alzheimer’s centers as the County moves to an elderly population.  Mr. Ellis stated Commissioner Scarborough is right; if the County loses the Shuttle, it will lose thousands of jobs, be it through attrition or layoff; and the difference will be if it is through attrition the 60-year old engineer will retire, and the 30-year old engineer with three children will not come to replace him.   He stated no matter what happens, the North County will see a major gain.  He noted South County is seeing a push from South Florida as families are being driven out of South Florida; and at some point Brevard will drive them out as well, and they will end up in Georgia and South Carolina. 

 

Mr. Ellis stated right now, between taxes and insurance, people who bought in the last three or four years are in trouble; and the people who are not homesteaded are in trouble.  He advised before anybody votes in January, he or she needs to know what the real numbers are, not just money for government, but exactly what it is going to do with a tax shift because it does not do any good if 90 percent of the residents get a break and ten percent of businesses are driven out of the State; and it is a very dangerous thing until that is understood.  Chairperson Colon thanked Mr. Ellis.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she appreciates the information coming from Mr. Ellis; she knows he has always been one against taxes, but to hear his perspective on what is going on was very enlightening; and she appreciates it. 

 

Mr. Ellis stated it is very important that the Board plans for the future; his belief is the future will be falling values; but he thinks the Board needs to have a plan if it has declining revenues.  He advised a problem this year is that there have been a number of years in a row with double digit increases; everybody has gotten used to it; and all of a sudden it has been pulled away rapidly and it seems everything has crashed, when really, it is a small decline based on what the increase was just last year; but now the ship has to be turned around to a different way of thinking.

 

Chairperson Colon stated the Board is looking at cuts; there was a time when folks were accusing the Board of scare tactics when it informed the community of the possibilities; and right now  they  are  not  possibilities.   She  stated  she  was  able  to  share  with the community this morning where the hits are going to happen; the cuts have to happen in order to comply with what is being asked of the Board; they are not easy decisions to make; and that is the part that is difficult for people to realize.   Mr. Ellis stated the problem is that the original meetings began with unrealistic cuts; the numbers started off at $75 million or $80 million; it is easier to focus when starting with a more realistic number; and it is very hard to focus on $80 million.  He noted had the Board started with $30 million or $20 million, it would have gotten to where it is today probably a month or two ago.  Chairperson Colon stated both she and Mr. Ellis know that it is a moving target; yesterday, the Board thought it was going to be hit with $5 million; and today it is being hit with $10 million.  She noted finally, today is the day the Board actually knows what it is going to be hit with; it is not that moving target that has been happening for months; and this is the reality the Board is dealing with.

 

Mr. Ellis stated he has always treated employees in the Clerk’s Office as regular County employees; his office follows the same raise the Board does every single year; the thought that needs to carry forward is that all employees are County employees; he hates to see the Board pitting one group against another in terms of who is getting raises; and that includes all of the Charter Officers.  He stated if the Board is going to do a reduction, everyone should take a reduction; if overall, the Board is not giving raises, then nobody should get raises; otherwise, groups of County employees will be against each other.  He commented if the Board can only do a one percent raise, it can hand that one percent to the departments and let them hand it out as they see fit, to whoever deserves the raises; but the Board today is already pitting A against B, and B against C; and it is decisions the Board has to make at the highest level.  He stated ultimately, as County Commissioners, the Board controls the expenditures of the Charter Officers; and he had that discussion before as a County Commissioner.  He noted just as the Board can increase the budgets on the Charter Officers, it can decrease the budgets on the Charter Officers; that is a decision the Board has to make; and he thinks it is unrealistic if the Board chooses to cut everybody out except the Charter Officers. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired about the issuing of the LOGT bond tomorrow.  Commissioner Voltz stated Transportation Engineering Director John Denninghoff needs to explain.  Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten advised the documents have been signed.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if there are additional charges to diffuse a bond; with Mr. Whitten responding he will distribute an email to the Board from Finance Director Steve Burdett, who has done an analysis.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if it behooves the Board, cost-wise, to take action today; with Mr. Ellis responding he does not know; and he cannot tell the Board in terms of the bond cost what it would forgo by basically backing out earlier versus later.  Mr. Whitten stated he does not know if there are any additional costs because the County is going to have to pay them because it sold the bonds; and there may be an additional cost to the fees.  Mr. Ellis inquired if the penalties are embedded in there; with Mr. Whitten responding he does not know.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if it is possible to issue a portion based on the highest priority projects; with Mr. Whitten responding he thinks there are still fees on certain portions of the bonds. 

 

Transportation Engineering Director John Denninghoff stated there are a couple of things that are important to realize.  He advised based on Board direction, staff has already moved forward with several of the projects that were on the list; and specifically, the Micco Road project is under construction right now.  He stated based on that, that is a little less than $3.5 million coming from those bond proceeds; in addition to that, there are negotiations going on for the acquisition  for  the  St. Johns Heritage Parkway.  Mr. Denninghoff stated in addition to that, some of the maintenance projects that were on the list are already completed; materials have been ordered for other projects; and in some cases pipe is being delivered at this moment.  He noted if the Board stopped the Micco Road project, the County would pay severe penalties.

 

Mr. Ellis stated the Board’s best bet would be to spend what it is going to spend and refund the rest.  Commissioner Scarborough stated it is still an expensive proposition.  Mr. Ellis advised from what the letter says, the consequences are much worse to bail out.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he believes the Board needs to go ahead and proceed. 

 

Chairperson Colon thanked Mr. Denninghoff and Mr. Ellis.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she put together some information last night; she took all the information given to the Board on every department as far as what the total increase is over five years; and what she gets is the 2002 amount and the 2006/2007 amount.  She advised she saw what the increase was, what the salary and benefit part of it was, and what the operations, capital, and reserves were; and she thought putting all of it together would be beneficial for everyone to look at.

 

 

 

 

Supervisor of Elections Fred Galey stated he will not repeat what has already been said by others; and his office is looking forward to its budget.  He noted the Special Election that has been discussed will bring out an additional 55,000 to 60,000 in non-partisan voters; with the tax issue election there will be an additional 10,000 to 12,000; and that is a total of 55,000 to 80,000 additional voters that will be out.  He noted Brevard County has developed a good reputation for running good solid elections; the election costs run anywhere from $2.00 to $2.25 per voter; and some of the sister counties are $3.50 to $5.00 per voter when they have some of their elections.  He stated he thinks he has always been a good partner with the Board; his office does not do anything extravagant, but it has continued to grow; there are now 309,000 registered voters, with an increase expected with construction and baby boomers; and the precincts have grown from 140 to 225.  He noted the 2006 General Election was a little over $600,000; $400,000 of that was the cost of poll workers; other things such as the rental of trucks and telephones add up to the rest of the $600,000; and that also includes overtime for employees and temporary employees.  He stated he has the smallest staff of all the Charter Officers; he has 29 employees, counting himself; but on Election Day, he brings on 1,600 other employees.  He advised early voting has increased the cost of elections; provisional ballots are going to increase the cost of elections; and cost will also increase if the polling hours are extended.  He stated the rules have changed again; whereas before, people could vote normally, now anything that is done on an extension has to be done as a provisional ballot; that means they all go in a separate envelope and have to be counted later; and the reason for that is if the Judge overturns the election, the election does not have to be done over, and the votes can be backed out that were provisional ballots.   He stated if the Board provides him with a number, he will see what he can do with it; he has one position that he has not filled because he figured it would be eliminated anyway; and that is why he has not filled it.  He stated with the temporary employees and the poll workers, his budget is pretty cut and dry because he has to provide that service to the people; and where one lives determines where he or she is eligible to vote. 

 

Chairperson Colon commented on the Special Election in January 2008 and the demands and growth of the community.

 

Mr. Galey stated with the Special Election, he has to make sure the polling places are available; he is worried about the poll workers and vacation time; and it will be difficult to train the workers in January after Christmas and New Year, but he thinks they will all show up.  He stated Brevard County is very fortunate with its poll workers; there is a waiting list to be a poll worker; and some other counties are not so fortunate. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated the budget Mr. Galey submits to the Board always goes along with whatever that election was; if it is an off-year election, then that is what he is requesting; and he has always requested what is needed of him.  Mr. Galey stated sometimes his budget is up 12 percent and the next year it is down.  He stated in looking at the seniority of his employees he has three that are in DROP, one is retiring at the end of the month with 29 years, and his Principal Deputy has 30 years; he has five locations with five managers; and he has had to keep his I.S. staff competitive because he lost one once and he will never lose one again because they are key to the operation.  He stated he has always said he likes to run his office in such a way that if he does not show up, the office will still run.

 

Chairperson Colon stated that is remarkable and it says a lot about Mr. Galey.  She stated Mr. Galey was the first one to say he will do whatever the Board asks of him, but he also knows the restraints.   Mr. Galey stated as the County continues to grow, voting places are harder to get; he has increased bills for the clean-up fees; that has been kept low in relationship to a lot of counties; and he may have to catch up one of these days.  He noted he had to increase the polling place rental fees to comply with ADA; all of the polling places are ADA compliant; and there are a lot of mandates he has to comply with that make it very tough.  He stated he is concerned with the touch screens his office had to get; they can be used for the Presidential, Preference and Primary Elections, but in 2012 they will all disappear; and he will not be able to use them anymore.  He noted when that happens, he will have to look into machines which work just like the touch screens, but the paper ballot has to be put in; then the voter will touch the screen and the machine will mark that paper ballot; and the paper ballot will have to be taken out and put in the optical scanner.   He stated he always said that voting absentee and voting optical scan met all the requirements; but there are some other methods that have been forced upon his office that are driving up the cost of the election.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired where Mr. Galey’s five offices are in Brevard County; with Mr. Galey responding Titusville is his main office because that is the County Seat; one office is in Viera, where the tabulation is done, because that is where the computer base is; the other offices are in Merritt Island, Melbourne, and Palm Bay; and there is a sixth location off of S.R. 520, which is his storage facility that he shares with Parks and Recreation.  He noted Parks and Recreation is moving out; one of the unfunded requirements he will have is the $4.5 to $5 million building; and the longer it is delayed, the more it is going to cost; but that is to provide the vault, security, and storage, and try to consolidate the operation a little bit to protect the voting equipment. He noted the tabulators themselves are kept in Building C of the Government Center in Viera.  He advised next year, he expects Brevard County to have 40,000 residents voting  absentee  because  of  long lines and travel; it is easy to request an absentee ballot; and his office mails them to people.  He noted the sample ballots will continue to be mailed out; they have been very popular because  when voters come in they can bring their sample ballots; it has been studied and marketed; and it cuts down the time, but it costs a lot of money to do that.  Mr. Galey noted the postage cost to mail sample ballots is $60,000 to $90,000. 

 

Chairperson Colon thanked Mr. Galey; stated there are no further questions; and the Board just wanted to make sure it was on the record.  Mr. Galey stated he would like to invite the Board to visit any of his locations including his warehouse.

 

County Manager Peggy Busacca stated the Board received a letter from Property Appraiser Jim Ford; she does not believe Mr. Ford has a representative present today; and the letter was written on Friday in regard to a request about reducing his budget further.  She advised the Board also has a letter from the Tax Collector; the letter was written yesterday in response to his request to attend the workshop today; and Mr. Ford and Mr. Northcutt do not have representatives present, but they did send letters.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated in the letter from the Property Appraiser, he stated that he “recognizes that severe cuts could lead to a reduction in quality”; and inquired what cut Mr. Ford was trying to get to and inquired what the reference is in the letter.  Ms. Busacca stated she was telling Mr. Ford she thought it was possible the Board would say that the Charter Officers should make the same cuts as the State was requiring; and Mr. Ford is referring to a reduction of seven percent.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if Mr. Ford’s point of reference is that seven percent is a severe cut; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively.  Commissioner Nelson stated the Property Appraiser charges Special Districts and MSTU’s for collection of the data, or creation of the data; and inquired if that is considered General Fund Transfer or an off-set.  Budget Director Dennis Rogero stated that is a nice segway to a clarification he wanted to give and he will answer that question as part of it.   He stated Mr. Ford charges a pro-ration from each levy throughout the County; in Mr. Ford’s memorandum he identifies a budget reduction of approximately four percent; Mr. Ford’s General Fund Transfer is anticipated to increase about four percent because with the revenue flip, the Fire Control MSTU will be giving Mr. Ford a lot less money, but the General Fund will be giving him a lot more money; and that is identified in the anticipated pro-rations for next year.  He noted Commissioner Nelson is correct that Mr. Ford’s other revenues that he receives from those levies do off-set his General Fund.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if Mr. Ford had no cuts; with Mr. Rogero responding there is an overall reduction of four percent in Mr. Ford’s budget.  He stated Mr. Ford’s overall four percent reduction includes an increase in his General Fund Transfer of four percent and the others have gone down, especially Fire; and Fire actually has gone down in terms of Fire Control MSTU they anticipate giving the Property Appraiser next year.  He advised overall, Mr. Ford is reducing, but he is increasing the General Fund.  Commissioner Voltz stated Mr. Ford is requesting four percent more from the General Fund.  Ms. Busacca stated no, he is requesting four percent more from his total budget, but he plans to spend four percent less, total.  Mr. Rogero stated the reason staff has provided the General Fund figure to the Board is because historically that is all the information that staff provides to both the Board and the citizens in the budget book. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated Mr. Ford’s budget is truly 9.4 percent, which includes those revenue sources from cities, County, and everybody that has to pay him.  Mr. Rogero noted Mr. Ford’s total budget is approximately $12 million, of which the 9.4 percent is anticipated to be his General Fund component.  Mr. Rogero stated he apologizes for the confusion, but he wanted to give the Board the information that is historically referenced in the budget book.

 

Ms. Busacca stated one more point of confusion about the Property Appraiser is that he states in his cover letter that he either will be providing the increases that the State provides in salary increases, or that the County provides.  She noted as the Board is aware, the State provided $1,000 per person as a bonus; the County has said it will be doing the status quo as it stands right now; and what Mr. Ford can do is go forward and amend his budget to increase that for the $1,000, because that is what the State decided, and then he would send that to the Department of Revenue. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired if Mr. Ford would be alone in giving increases to employees.  Ms. Busacca inquired if the Supervisor of Elections included salary increases.  Mr. Rogero responded no, the budget the Board has does not include any salary increases; he has, however, shared with staff that he anticipates providing some sort of pay increase component, whether it mirrors the State or the Board.  Ms. Busacca stated that is the Property Appraiser; and inquired what about the Supervisor of Elections. 

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if Ms. Busacca is saying that the Property Appraiser can go to the State and get a raise for his employees by its approval.  Ms. Busacca responded yes, and she can read to the Board exactly what Mr. Ford’s letter says.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if Mr. Ford is making the assumption that the State will approve a pay raise for his employees, or is it a guarantee.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he thinks the Department of Revenue has always granted what Mr. Ford wanted, but the Board has never appealed. 

 

Ms. Busacca stated Mr. Ford’s letter says, “pay raises for the Property Appraiser’s deputies have not been included in this budget.  It is generally the intention of the Property Appraiser to follow the guidelines established for the employees of the Board of County Commissioners or the guidelines of the State if no guidelines are established by the Board.  When these guidelines are formally established by the Board, the Property Appraiser will amend his budget accordingly.”

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if the Property Appraiser’s office is self-insured or if it is under the insurance of the County; with Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten responding under the County.  Chairperson Colon inquired if that is the case for the Clerk of Courts and the Sheriff’s Department also; with Ms. Busacca responding yes, all the Board agencies.  Ms. Busacca stated Mr. Rogero has the information from the Supervisor of Elections; and inquired if his budget included increases.  Mr. Rogero responded the Supervisor of Elections’ compensation and benefits increase is over $300,000; and staff will look into it a little more closely, but the best guess is that is compensation, benefit increase, and pay raises.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if that is what the Supervisor of Elections is requesting; with Mr. Rogero responding affirmatively.  Chairperson Colon stated that did not come up when speaking to Mr. Galey.  Ms. Busacca stated the Supervisor of Elections and the Clerk of Courts mentioned that they had included that within their budgets as well.  

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the letter from Mr. Ford says, “follow the guidelines established for employees of the Board of County Commissioners”; perhaps the Board needs to set forth guidelines; and if the Board holds everything constant and sets guidelines, the Property Appraiser will use them.  Commissioner Bolin stated that gives the Board a basis to do the appeal.

 

Chairperson Colon stated what the Board heard time and time again this morning is to make sure all County employees are treated equally; and the Board cannot pick and choose.  She stated the employees are under the County’s benefits and employees cannot be a County employee only when it is convenient; and the Board does not need to be pitting one group of employees against the other.

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to establish guidelines for no pay increases for County employees.

 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she is not sure the Board decided that it was not going to give anybody any raises.  Commissioner Bolin stated the Board can have a discussion right now.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board has not looked through all the cuts yet; but it knows that it is going to be about $10 million; and she does not know if the Board wants to say at this point that it not giving anybody any raises.  Chairperson Colon stated yes, the Board is very clear.  Commissioner Voltz stated she is not sure she wants to do that.  Commissioner Scarborough stated his dilemma is that if the Board has no guidelines, Mr. Ford has said he will use the State’s guidelines; and he would hate to be without guidelines and have Mr. Ford say he told the Board.  Commissioner Voltz inquired how the Board deals with that; and what if the Board sets guidelines, then decides it has enough money and can give a one percent raise.  Ms. Busacca responded Mr. Ford could then go back and amend his request to the Department of Revenue to increase it to show pay raises; and that is what he advised in his letter.  She advised Mr. Ford has stated when the guidelines are formally established by the Board, the Property Appraiser will amend his budget accordingly.  Commissioner Voltz stated she knows the Board has talked about pay raises; and she does not know if she is at a point where she wants to say nobody is getting a pay raise.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he finds it really difficult to give raises.  Chairperson Colon stated it is difficult when the Board is about to fire employees.  Commissioner Voltz stated she understands it is difficult, but the Board does not have the final numbers yet; the Board is going to have to make plenty of cuts; but she is not ready at this point to say nobody is getting a pay raise.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he lived through one of these things with Mr. Jenkins; and freezing positions and freezing salaries was nothing as horrific as what the Board is going through now.  He stated the Board is going to have a problem if it starts the pay raise discussion because as soon as it is started a lot of people are going to be asking why some got raises and some did not.

 

Chairperson Colon called for a vote on the motion.  Motion carried and ordered; Commissioner Voltz and Commissioner Nelson voted nay.

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he agrees with Commissioner Voltz; and he is not sure at this point in time where the Board is.  Chairperson Colon stated she would like to know what that means; inquired what it means that the Board does not have the numbers; and stated the Board has  the  numbers as  far as  the  cut.   She  inquired if  Commissioner  Voltz and Commissioner Nelson do not know what the State is asking of the Board as far as how much is requested.  Commissioner Voltz stated the State is asking for $10 million; there is no doubt the Board has to make some cuts; and she would like to go over every single one of them today.  She stated the Board does not need to demoralize its employees any further than it already has.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the Board is talking about restructuring of County Government; the County hit some bumps in the highway; there was a downtrend in the economy; and so for a period of time the Board believed the income was going to go back up and then it would be able to catch up.  He stated he does not know the impacts; he would feel more comfortable to have the opportunity to at least talk about things before the Board sets a guideline; and he is not sure what the urgency is to set the guideline today.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he wanted to send clear messages to some of the entities that are a little bit independent of the Board;  he  was unaware that Mr. Galey  and Mr. Ford are  requesting  pay  increases; and if the Board sends the message out, it can reverse the guidelines.  He advised the Board should not be ambiguous with the issues; it is a dangerous issue; and if one person is allowed to give pay increases, then everyone will want one.  Commissioner Nelson stated he does not disagree with that; and whatever the Board does has to be with all entities. 

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired how the Board can make the statement that it is going to give pay increases and then fire other employees.  Commissioner Voltz stated she does not expect anybody to get an increase at this point.  Commissioner Bolin stated by doing this now, the Board is sending the message that it can give pay increases when it cannot; once the Board goes line-by-line, it can look at it again and readdress it; but at this point she does not see that the Board can do that.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated Commissioner Nelson is correct; the Board is looking at a restructuring of government; the employees who are left after the layoffs are the ones the Board needs to make sure it keeps, because they are going to be very valuable to the Board; and who knows if down the road those employees are going to need to be cut. She advised no one knows what County Government will look like in five years.

 

Commissioner Scarborough noted he lived through a wage freeze; and nobody died, nobody committed suicide, and nothing bad really happened.  He stated the Board is talking about cutting employees to the point that the Board is going to have people begging to close a function because it cannot be done well.  He stated one of the interesting things about the Constitutional Offices is that when this is prepared, Mr. Galey’s budget increased the most, by 30 percent; and that compares with things with the Sheriff’s Office at 20 percent and with the County Commission’s 14 percent.  He stated when looking at the top dollar amount with the mean and the median, Mr. Galey’s is the mean; currently for Mr. Galey’s office it is $49 million; he is way up there and asking for an increase; and he has already gotten the biggest increase over a period of time.  He stated he is not happy with some of the numbers he has gotten from Mr. Galey; and he was kind to Mr. Galey because he did not know he was asking for an increase.  He noted Roger Shealy inquired why the North Animal Shelter would have to close after having been there for half a century; stated the Animal Shelter is not the problem; and it is because some of the other stuff is getting out of hand. 

 

The Board recessed from 1:17 p.m. to 2:33 p.m.

 

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated during the break he had a chance to ask some questions of staff and look over some information it had on the last issue the Board voted on, which was the pay increase question; he would like to readdress that because his position is that now that he has that information he feels more comfortable with the position the Board originally took; and he would like to go on record as being on the same side as the Board, that it is not going to be able to give raises.  He inquired of the County Attorney how that issue would come back up now.  County Attorney Scott Knox advised one of the Commissioners who was in the majority could move to reconsider.

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Bolin, to reconsider earlier motion to set guideline of no pay increases.

 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he had a chance to look at the information and the magnitude of the numbers and it is clear to him that raises are not going to be a possibility or probability this year; it would be consistent with what the Board did yesterday, which was to begin the process to make sure it was understood by the Unions as well; and he can support the motion.  Commissioner Voltz inquired what kind of information Commissioner Nelson came up with. Commissioner Nelson stated the cost of the increases are $10 million-plus Countywide; it was a Union Contract basis, and three percent for non-union, which is what the other Contracts are calling for.

 

Human Resources Director Frank Abbate stated his office summarized the information; and it is incomplete because he did not have the information from a couple of the Charter Offices.  He noted for example, the LIU Agreement had a three percent COLA and one percent Merit; that was $1.2 million total, of which $720,000 would be General Fund;  and the IAFF Rank and File for the STEP increase in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement would be approximately $503,000, of which approximately $176,000 would be General Fund Ad Valorem dollars.  He stated if the Board tried to give consistent increases across-the-board, the type of number that was in for the IAFF Rank and File that was a tentative agreement that never came to the Board, but it would have been provided in COLA for October; and if it was there, it would be $1.4 million and the General Fund portion approximately $495,000.  He advised for the Supervisory Unit, which has 17 members, the COLA and STEP increase, which is in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, will be approximately $88,000 and the General Fund impact would be about $42,000.  He stated for non-union employees the number that was there yesterday was $5 million total and $2.7 million would be General Fund; for the Sheriff’s Office, the number the Sheriff provided was $1.67 million for the uniformed officers and $642,000 for the civilians; the Clerk of Courts has $70,000; and his understanding is there is approximately $300,000 in the Supervisor  of  Election’s budget.  He noted he does not have any information from the Property Appraiser or the Tax Collector; and the total would be somewhere in the area of $10.8 to $10.9 million, of which the General Fund impact would be about $6.8 to $6.9 million.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated based on that, it is clear to him that as much as he hates being in this position, the Board is not going to be able to get there; and since he had the chance to get that question answered, he supports Commissioner Scarborough’s original motion to set a guideline that there be no increases this year.

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if it is assuming the Board gives the three or four percent raise; with Mr. Abbate responding it is assuming a three percent and a one percent; for the Rank and File, the $503,000 was only the STEP increase that is in the existing Collective Bargaining Agreement; and the other number he gave the Board was the number that if the Board agreed to the tentative agreement that staff had done in February and approved, it would have been the $1.4 million.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Board could potentially give less; with Mr. Abbate responding the Board could do whatever it wanted.

 

Chairperson Colon called for a vote on the motion.  Motion carried and ordered; Commissioner Voltz voted nay. 

 

 

Chairperson Colon stated she sees the $20.2 million in reductions on the PowerPoint presentation, but she thought the number was $10.2 million

 

Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten stated the $10.2 million is at the bottom.  Commissioner Voltz noted new construction was added.  Mr. Whitten stated the reduction occurs after the new construction revenue; when doing the math, the current revenues of nine percent reduction, the math works out to the $20 million; then the $10.6 is added back in from new construction; and that gives the $21.45 million, and if that is subtracted from the $231.7 million, then it equals the $10.25 million.  Chairperson Colon inquired if it was new construction dollars that the Board already has, or is it a projection; with Mr. Whitten responding that is a projection at the reduced millage rates. Chairperson Colon inquired if new construction does not do well, then is that number not good; with Mr. Whitten responding that is based on the values he has already gotten from the Property Appraiser.  He stated next year, the Board will be starting off in a deficit of $10.25 million and then there is what he is calling built-ins and add-ons; and whatever that figure is going to be, that is a figure staff will continue to work on.  He stated the increases in other revenues such as State share, FP&L, Communication Services, and tax will offset some of those decreases, but not to the tune of tens of millions of dollars; and the netting of that is what the Board will need.  He noted the new revenues are the deficit the Board will be at in terms of next year’s budget. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired what the built-ins and add-ons entail; with Mr. Whitten responding retirement rate increases, health insurance, electrical, cost of gas, and other types of insurances.  Ms. Busacca stated it would also include any increases from the State and mandates.  Mr. Whitten responded yes; it would be any State mandates, traditional built-ins, and then whatever the Board chooses to add on in terms of positions for the Mental Health Medical Pod and positions for the tents; and any of those sort of program changes are being called added-on increases. 

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if staff will have those numbers over the weekend; with Mr. Whitten responding affirmatively.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board collects fees; he thinks it is prudent for the Board to go back and review all fees for services provided; and the Board could also touch base with other counties to see if they are coming up with any new methodologies.  He noted there is nothing wrong with charging a fee for someone using a library meeting room; and the Board provides a lot of things for a lot of people, but every time it is being used, it is being subsidized by the other people who are not using it.  Ms. Busacca stated she has seen other communities that have put into place some fees that Brevard County is not currently utilizing; and staff can bring some of those numbers to the Board. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated one of the things Commissioner Nelson hit on, which she believes is the way the Board needs to be speaking, is the fact that Brevard County is really restructuring the way it is being run.  She stated there was a level of service that was being delivered to the County and now the Board is talking about cutting programs; one thing that is clear today is the value of homes will be decreasing; and the Board is going to have to do the same thing next year. She stated it is more than $10 million, and either the Board is going to do it now, or it is going to do what other communities are doing, which is digging into their reserves and trying to avoid the inevitable. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated over the last six or nine months, Finance Director Steve Burdett has brought up the fact that the Board has been increasing the amount of its reserves; there was time when the Clerk of Courts said the Board did not have enough reserves and it could put its capacity to have good capable bond issues in question; and then the Clerk of Courts recently said the Board is increasing the reserves more than it needs to and it can reduce the amount being set aside.  He stated reserves are monies that are not committed to anything; it is things being carried forward that are uncommitted through cash reserves; the Board had staff look to see if the Board was using the same numbers; but that issue will come up through the dialogue; and inquired if the Board is capable of reducing the amount it set aside for reserves.  He noted a few years ago the Board was saying it needed to set aside more for reserves; that was up there with needing more money to build roads; and now the Board has gone to the other side and needs to build its reserves back up.  He stated maybe Mr. Whitten would like to put a memo together; and reserves is an issue the Board needs to talk about.

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the Board talked about insurance reserves last year and whether or not the Board should do nine percent or seven percent; and she thinks that is another issue.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he is talking about totally uncommitted monies, not insurance, but that could be another thing the Board looks at.  He stated he would not want to remove money from reserves, but if reserves are at a level that is adequate, and the Board does not need to continue the current level of setting money aside for reserves annually, there is a certain amount of savings.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if Mr. Burdett gave Commissioner Scarborough a number; with Commissioner Scarborough responding he does not have a number, but he has it at his office; and the Board can ask Mr. Burdett to send the memo again. 

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired who is the recommending body for reserves; with Mr. Whitten responding there is no recommending body; but there are guidelines and standards from different bodies.  Mr. Whitten stated some are three to six months of operating expenditures or revenues;  but  he  does  not think there  is an  industry  standard,  and he has seen ranges.  He stated staff talks from a budget perspective, so when the Board says reserves, he is thinking of a reserve that occurs at the end of the year and he is not thinking fund balance; and that is where part of the disconnect has been over the years in regards to the issue of reserves.  He noted in some instances, Mr. Burdett is talking about fund balance and staff is talking about reserves; and he would need to see his latest bit of information.  Commissioner Nelson stated he tends to speak in the same terms that Mr. Whitten does, which is a budgeted line item amount called the reserve; and that is as opposed to an accumulation of fund balance, which Mr. Burdett calls reserves. 

 

Ms. Busacca advised there is a Board policy that states it would have a ten percent reserve, which it does not currently meet.  Commissioner Voltz inquired ten percent of what; with Mr. Rogero responding General Operating Revenues.  Ms. Busacca stated the Board is close to six or seven percent, so it currently does not meet the Board policy; and that is a strike against the Board every time its credit rating is looked at.   Commissioner Scarborough stated Mr. Burdett believes the Board is exceeding what the bond agencies want and that additional reserves are not assisting it. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated Tax Collector Rod Northcutt is reducing his budget by $2 million; and inquired if that was a capital project; with Ms. Busacca responding yes, and the capital project is complete.  Commissioner Nelson noted it was not a recurring source; it was just being carried forward as a capital project; and so that is not $2 million of revenue the Board can look at.  Mr. Whitten stated Mr. Northcutt is saying that because he has completed the capital project, that is $2 million more that he will be able to return year after year.  Mr. Rogero stated the memo from Mr. Northcutt also states he anticipates returning $3.5 million at the end of this year for next year, and the $2 million is included.  Ms. Busacca stated Mr. Northcutt gets a percentage of what he collects; next year he will collect less, so he will get less, and he may not have the $2 million to return to the County; what he is saying is he is expected to spend $2 million less next year than he spent this year, but he is also expecting to collect less; and the County may be getting less back from him than it has in the past.  Chairperson Colon inquired if those are some of the dollars that are thrown in mid-year; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively. 

 

Ms. Busacca advised all of the Department Directors are sitting across the hall if the Commissioners would like to speak to them.  Commissioner Voltz stated she would like to go through information the Board has from staff; there is $22 million to look at; some of the issues are health and safety issues; and the Board needs to look at identifying those things that do not need to be cut if they do not have to be.  She noted she would like to go through the list one department at a time; and she does not see anything she would like to cut.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he has meetings scheduled with Directors and can ask less comfortable questions in that type of environment concerning where he needs to go with some of the cuts; but he would be glad to ask the Directors during the meeting if the Board wants to do that; and each Director is going to have his or her own discussion.  Commissioner Voltz stated she does not want to bring in the Directors and ask them questions; and the Board needs to look at all of the things that are on the list to see if there is anything within each proposed cut that is health and safety, and Public Safety, and if the Board should keep those things if money is available. 

 

Commissioner Voltz noted under Agriculture and Extension Services there are four positions; and those are what really cost the Board money.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he has not had the opportunity  to meet  sufficiently with the Directors privately; the Board can bring them in now; but he does not know if he should get into the more detailed questions he has or defer that until after he meets with them in his office.  He noted he is not to a point of being prepared to have his private conversations and be fully briefed so he can get into the public discussion today.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board may be better off to hear what the rest of the Board has to say about each item on the list.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he does not know until he has a deeper discussion with all of the Directors; he would like to pursue his conversations; and he reserves his right to vote to meet his constituents’ needs.  He stated he is ill-prepared to get into detailed discussion.  Chairperson Colon stated what Commissioner Voltz is saying is if there is something on the list that a Commissioner feels should not be touched, it can be discussed; but the Board is not going to be taking any votes or making decisions; and it is just having a dialogue based on what has been given to it as proposals. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he agrees with Commissioner Scarborough; the Board just received this information on Friday; there are some questions he would like to ask; but he does not see that the Board can get through it today; and inquired how many days the Board is going to take to go through it.  He stated he would like to sit down with each Director and go over the cuts, and not do it on a position-by-position basis.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board can meet with every Department Director and they will defend every single one of the projects.  Commissioner Nelson stated the Directors should be advocates with what they do; but it is ultimately  up to  the  Board to  decide; and he is just looking for information about what they do and how it compares to other responsibilities.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he will use the Law Library as an example; the question is if there needs to be a Law Library; and he has no ability to understand the dynamics of the budget with the information he has been given until he sees it within the context of everything it is supposed to accomplish, its total budget, and what is being cut.  He stated the way to get money to the projects that are liked is to see if everything that could be cut has been cut as well.  Commissioner Voltz stated she is not looking for any favored projects whatsoever.  She stated she believes it is the Board’s responsibility to go through everything on the list.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he agrees the Board needs to go through the list; but to go through it, he needs more information than he has right now.  Commissioner Voltz stated staff needs to know what is going on.  Commissioner Nelson stated his concern is the unknown; and he would prefer to talk about the add-ons because the add-ons are going to determine what the target is.  Chairperson Colon stated the Board has to cut $10.2 million, and that is not up for discussion.  Commissioner Nelson stated the $10.2 million is the only number the Board knows; but if the Board decides not to do the beach renourishment, that is $3 million; and he does not think the Board has enough information right now to go through the process.  Chairperson Colon stated the Board does have enough information; Commissioner Nelson and Commissioner Scarborough do not have to be part of the conversation; and she understands they have more questions, as this information was just given to the Board on Friday.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board may find that a particular Department chooses the most popular program to cut knowing they can fill the room with the most agitated group of people on September 18, 2007; there are other, more benign projects that can be cut easier and bring better results; and he has had that happen once before as Commissioner and does not plan to have that happen again.  He stated he has been given partial information about partial projects; and the Board can assume the projects were cut that would impact the public the very least, but he doubts it.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board is not going to base its decisions on how many people are in the audience; and she does not care how much they scream, because the Board  cannot do it.  Commissioner  Scarborough stated in a particular Department there may be items that can be easily cut; and inquired how the Board finds out what those projects are.  Commissioner Voltz stated, for example, with Agriculture and Extension Services there are four positions that are being proposed to be cut; but the Director may say he really does not want to cut the 4H Marketing Agent; and that forces the Director to go back and reevaluate what it is he wants to cut.  She stated she has confidence that the Directors did the right thing; and she does not want the Directors to be insulted by the discussions that are taking place right now.  She noted cuts are going to happen, but the cuts on the list may not necessarily be the cuts the Board makes. 

 

Ms. Busacca stated she would like to explain to the Board how the information on the proposed cuts was created.  She advised she asked the Directors to provide to her 30 percent cuts several months ago; and the Directors did that.  She noted the Directors had about two weeks or less to do that; and she then asked the Directors what their lists would be at 10 percent and 20 percent.  She stated some of the Directors came back and advised they rethought some of the numbers, which is why the 30 percent list may look like a different number for the same program, because the Directors had a little more time to massage the numbers.   She  advised  she  put together a  list that she provided  to the Board as options; and she does not want to say that the list is the Directors’ list because the cuts on the list went through her hands last.  She stated most of the Directors stated they wanted to look at their core mission and do the core mission well; some Directors have more administrative support than others; in the past, Human Resources and other Central Service agencies, were hit harder than other agencies; and if the Board looks at the list there have been uneven cuts over the last several years in different agencies.  She noted in some agencies it would only take a little nick before bone is hit; and with others it will take a bigger nick to hit bone.  She stated she does not want the Board to think the list of cuts is evenly applied; it is not 10 percent in each case; it is not a recommendation; and it is one, two, or five or six people who sat down and talked about this perspective.  She stated staff is very anxious to hear the Board’s perspective as to the cuts. She noted there are some things staff has identified that can be done internally; she is comfortable doing that because there is no direct immediate service impact to the public, but there is a direct immediate impact to somebody; and in some cases it is the Board of County Commissioners because it will ask for information and staff will not be able to provide that information in a timely manner.  She stated the other series of reductions are what the Board will feel directly impacts the citizens; those reductions will be the Board’s to do; but there is nothing on the list that is not going to cause heartbreak to someone; and she asked the Board to not think the cuts are the recommendations of the Directors, as it is their best shot at prioritizing when they were told to cut 10 percent, 20 percent, or 30 percent.  Commissioner Voltz stated obviously the Directors prioritized; with Ms. Busacca responding yes, they did; then she went through and stated she needed to give the Board more options for cuts; and otherwise the Board would not know what it would and would not want.  She advised the final product is hers, and not staffs.  Commissioner Voltz stated every proposed cut on the list has an impact to somebody somewhere; the Board has a list that was put together, whether by Ms. Busacca or the Directors, and whatever is on the list is a target.  Ms. Busacca stated there may be better targets but that is the Board’s decision; with Commissioner Voltz responding she does not know if there are better targets; once the Board goes through the list, it needs to hear from the department Directors to discuss other ways to address the issue; and that is what the Board has to have an open discussion about.  Ms. Busacca stated she believes Animal Services and Mosquito Control are part of Public Safety; stated rabies, and encephalitis are very real Public Safety issues; there are a lot of people who are involved with Public Safety; when shelters are opened librarians come to work them; and that is where staff cannot help the Board in its definition of Public Safety. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated as far as she is concerned everything on the list is a target, and the Board needs to look at everything on the list. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he likes to refer to the cuts as targets.  He noted there are things on the list such as turning off 50 percent of street lights; and inquired if that means the lights are being turned off every other night.  He noted he would like to find out what some of the cuts actually mean. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated one of the things she and her staff did was go through the 30 percent and compare it to what she calls the seven percent.  She stated they looked at the 30 percent to see what was not brought forward and to see if it was important enough to consider, and then to see if anything needed to be switched out; and in some cases there were quite a few she felt needed to be switched out.  She stated she feels strongly about the crossing guards; it was not brought forward, but it was in the 30 percent option; and she would like to bring forward some of the thoughts that she had of what she would like to bring forward again. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated she is ready to make a decision now, but the Board is saying to wait; and that is good because it is a balance.  She stated she is eager to hear from Commissioner Voltz and Commissioner Bolin; and she knows the citizens are going to line up no matter what the Board does.  Commissioner Scarborough stated each department director is trying to outrun another department director; and they do that by choosing the most popular program to cut to pack the room and put pressure on the Board.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board should not make a decision based on how many people are in the audience with their hands out.   Commissioner Scarborough stated he would like to have the entire budget when he looks at the cuts; he would like to see how the cuts fit into the entire budget; and he would like Mr. Whitten to prepare the information putting this in the perspective of each department’s entire budget so the Board can see the whole picture.  Ms. Busacca advised the next budget workshop is scheduled for July 25, 2007; the Board has a workshop currently undesignated on July 19, 2007; and that would give the Board an opportunity to see a proposed budget, which will be provided to the Board on July 16, 2007.  She stated she knows that is not very much time, but the Board will be able to see it in context because it will see a budget for each department.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the Board can get it independently of a meeting; with Ms. Busacca responding the Board can get what was proposed but it has not been through any process yet.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he would like to get that.  Commissioner Voltz noted those two dates in July do not give the Board much time; and Commissioner Scarborough stated staff can give the Board a proposed budget this week so the Board can start examining it.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired why there is a huge gap between now and when the Board meets next; with Ms. Busacca responding staff tried to set up budget workshops to try to get schedules; and she does not know how soon next week the Board would want to meet.  Chairperson Colon stated there is so much information that the more the Board meets the better, versus trying to put it all in one meeting.  Ms. Busacca inquired if the Board would like to direct staff to schedule as many budget workshops as it can; and then the Board can cancel them if it needs to.  Commissioner Scarborough stated that is a good idea.  Commissioner Nelson stated there is a joint meeting scheduled with TICO; and while it is important, he does not know that it rises to the same level of importance as what the Board is working on now.  Ms. Busacca stated that meeting can be canceled and moved to another day.  Ms. Busacca advised the tentative millage is scheduled for July 24, 2007; and staff will schedule as many workshops as possible  between  now and July 24, 2007.   Ms. Busacca  stated  for the last  two days every director has been sitting nearby; inquired if staff could come up with some kind of tentative schedule for the Directors so they know what day they are on deck; and that way every director is not sitting and waiting everyday.  Commissioner Voltz stated some departments are large and take a lot of time and some are very small and take very little time.  Chairperson Colon stated it would behoove the Commissioners to meet with the Directors beforehand. 

 

Chairperson Colon stated she would like to go through the list and hear thoughts from Commissioner  Voltz and  Commissioner  Bolin.  Commissioner  Voltz inquired if there were any issues with Agriculture and Extension Services; with Commissioner Bolin and Chairperson Colon responding no.  Commissioner Scarborough advised it is a complex entity because it is operated by the County and the University of Florida; and it is a budget that has multiple roles with different fundings. He noted for example, with the crossing guards, they could be paid for by the School Board; and if the School Board’s millage is being increased maybe the Board needs to go to the League of Cities, say crossing guards are needed, and ask if they can take on the burden since it is going to have the money.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if there are not meetings coming up for this purpose; with Chairperson Colon responding she is willing to stay and listen.  Commissioner Nelson stated himself and Commissioner Scarborough are not going to participate because they do not have the information.  Commissioner Voltz noted she has as much information as Commissioner Nelson does.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board needs to see the full budget and how the different parts play upon one another.  Commissioner Voltz stated it does not matter because the Board still has to cut a lot of money; with Commissioner Scarborough responding he would like to cut it as wisely as possible.  Chairperson Colon advised the Board is not taking any votes today as it is just taking discussion. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated with Animal Services the Board needs to reconsider closing the North Area Animal Care Center, should it have the money.  Commissioner Bolin stated she was looking at $183,000 to keep the North Area Animal Care Center open; she and her staff went back through the 30 percent and saw that at one time there was a suggestion that they combine the telecommunication dispatch services and that would save $91,000; further down the list there was a line item eliminating of two cruelty investigators that was $96,000; and she added those two together and that gave her the money to keep the shelter open.  Ms. Busacca stated her understanding about cruelty investigations is that if the Sheriff is called, Animal Services would respond anyway, even without the investigators. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he feels the Board is wasting everybody’s time; with Chairperson Colon responding she does not feel that way at all.  Commissioner Nelson stated a good question was asked by Commissioner Bolin, and she could not get an answer because the Board would not let Mr. Engelson sit down and explain; and that does not make sense to him.  Chairperson Colon stated the Board is going to meet with Mr. Engelson independently.  Commissioner Scarborough stated when he meets with Mr. Engelson he is going to ask how he can get a group to operate the North Area Animal Care Center and privatize it. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated with the Budget Office she has a question on the FEMA Coordinator; with Ms. Busacca advising there is no space for a FEMA Coordinator in the Budget Office.  Commissioner Voltz stated with the budget printing the Board gets books often; and she does not have a problem with any of the cuts in the Budget Office.  Commissioner Bolin stated she also does not have a problem with the Budget Office.

 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated with Central Services there is a line item that says alternatively eliminate purchasing agent position; inquired if it means to reduce the purchasing agent to part time or eliminate; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board does not know by the list what totals are only half; with Ms. Busacca responding where there is something being reduced the total should be less than 100 percent and where something is eliminated the total should be 100 percent.  She noted in this case it would be a 50 percent reduction and/or total elimination for an additional $23,500.  Commissioner Voltz noted she does not see a problem with anything listed under Central Services. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the cuts from the County Attorney’s Office have already been done; and the County Manager’s Office is easy to understand.  She inquired if the Pre-Trial Release Program has nothing to do with juveniles; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively.  Commissioner Voltz stated while saving $569,412, it does not tell the Board what the potential increase would be in costs.  Commissioner Scarborough stated that is important because the jail is overcrowded, and the Pre-Trial Release Program is one he wants to inquire about.

 

Chairperson Colon stated Commissioner Bolin is asking the Board where else it can cut in order to keep a program.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board needs to look at going back to the School Board and asking it to pick up the cost of Crossing Guards. 

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Voltz, to authorize the Chairperson to send a letter to the Legislative Delegation expressing the Board’s concerns with percentage rates for budget reduction.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Economic and Financial Program Director is proposing to eliminate MIRA or reduce MIRA; with Ms. Busacca responding the MIRA Director is working part time, but it is only 25 percent; and that would be transferred to 50 percent of his time dedicated to MIRA.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if MIRA is paying for it; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively. Commissioner Voltz stated the Board is actually paying for it because it is giving MIRA extra tax dollars; and inquired if at one time that was contracted out; with Ms. Busacca responding one time the Board hired Doug Robertson and he retired; and then Mr. Lugar picked up that as part of his duties. Commissioner Voltz inquired if Mr. Lugar is working 50 percent or 25 percent; and inquired how the Boar determines that.  Ms. Busacca responded she cannot answer that question.  Commissioner Voltz stated that is something the Board needs to find out. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the only item she is looking at with Emergency Management is the 211 service.  She noted the community has gotten used to the 211 service; it is vitally important during hurricane season; and that is something the Board may want to look at.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if that is also funded somewhere else; with Ms. Busacca responding there are two types, and the other is funded through Housing and Human Services.  Commissioner Bolin stated the total reduction in Emergency Management is more than nine percent or 10 percent.  Chairperson Colon stated it is one of the Departments that is going above what is being requested.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if Ms. Busacca can find out how the 211 service gets $52,000 from Emergency Management and $50,000 from Housing and Human Services. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated Facilities has been very important to her because the County has not taken care of its facilities;  and if anyone  has driven by Wickham Road and the Road Bridge facility, it looks like the place should be condemned.  She stated there is an item under Facilities stating to reduce landscaping of public facilities by 50 percent; and inquired if the Board has Contracts with many of those people, or if the County does it; with Mr. Whitten responding he believes that is through Contract and that may be lawn service included also.  Mr. Whitten stated the County does not have people on staff who are dedicated to maintaining landscaping of County facilities.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if there is an actual Contract form or if it is month-to-month; with Mr. Whitten responding it is an annual Contract but he is sure there is an opt-out clause.   Commissioner Bolin stated the narration on the old budget for that was to reduce landscaping  services  by  50  percent,  service  once  monthly  October  through  March,   and twice monthly April through September; and noted that was the previous definition.  Commissioner Voltz stated she does not think the Board should look at closing County offices one day a week. Commissioner Nelson stated he has a question about overtime for facilities; and inquired if employees can get their work done in regular hours.  Chairperson Colon stated in regards to the Space Coast Government channel the Board needs to consider whether it just wants the Board’s meetings to be televised; and inquired if all meetings have to be televised or just the County Commission meeting; with Mr. Whitten responding that is the Board’s decision.  Mr. Whitten stated in response to Commissioner Nelson’s question, Facilities will just do projects during normal business hours instead of on the weekends so as to not interrupt a meeting such as this one. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated with Fire Rescue one of the proposed cuts says to discontinue annual addition of Rescue Unit and reduce replacement program by two rescues, and additional fiscal impact of $1,585,385 will reduce user fees; and inquired by how much would it reduce user fees; with Ms. Busacca responding she will find out.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the Board is not going to hear from the municipalities on First Responder; with Ms. Busacca responding yes, the Board is; and she has received several letters, which she has forwarded to the Board that she received this morning.  Commissioner Bolin stated she found $500,000 because the figure was incorrect; stated it is not $1.866 million, it should be $1.301 million; and inquired if that counts; with Chairperson Colon responding absolutely.  Commissioner Voltz stated with First Responder, the cities never got any money; it only started when she was on the Commission the last time; there were some issues brought up by the cities that said they felt like since they did respond the County should give them money; and the Board did give them money, which was a free gift at the time, and it is still a gift.  Ms. Busacca stated the City of Palm Bay has suggested it would appreciate if the First Responder Program gets cut, that the County send a bill in the City’s name, so that if someone pays the bill, then the City would collect something; and Chief Farmer has been checking his vendor who sends out the bills to see if it is possible to send an additional bill.  She advised the letter the Board will be getting from the City of Melbourne says if the Board cuts First Responder, please consider the billing option.  Chairperson Colon inquired if it is really First Responder or are the cities using those dollars to help them with education and training; stated those dollars are being used, just not for what is sounds like; and those dollars are taken and put into a different budget.  Commissioner Nelson stated it is his understanding the cities do not have to respond; it is the County’s responsibility; and it has taken it over with the Countywide system.  Commissioner Voltz noted the County transports and if there is an issue within a city, it is its responsibility to respond.  Commissioner Nelson noted there are areas in Commissioner Voltz’s District and his District where the cities respond outside the city limits in some cases because they are closer and the response times are faster.  Chairperson Colon inquired if the Board’s concerns of the First Responder Program is part of Public Safety; and inquired geographically and by law if there is an issue with  a particular city,  does that city have  to respond; with County Attorney Scott Knox responding he does not know the answer to those questions.  Chairperson Colon stated if part of the dollars are to go to the cities for their training, it is not First Responder; it is helping to fund something the cities do not want to take away or fund themselves, because they are used to that; and $1 million divided among all of the cities is not a lot of money.  Commissioner Nelson stated it is proportionate to the size of the city.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if some of the money goes to replenishing some of the medical supplies; with Ms. Busacca responding yes, that is how some cities use it. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated with the Historical Commission the Board approved a position last year and  at  this  point  it probably  needs to renege on  that position; and she does not have any problem with that proposed cut.  Commissioner Voltz noted with Housing and Human Services the 211 funding needs to be looked at because it is double funded.  Ms. Busacca stated Budget Director Dennis Rogero has that answer.  Mr. Rogero stated there is $50,000 of funding for the 211 system in Housing and Human Services; following the 2004 hurricanes the Board allocated an additional $50,000 in Emergency Management for the 211 system in order to supplement Emergency Management support during emergencies; and it is an additional level of service and not a redundant  fund.   Commissioner Voltz  inquired  if  Housing and Human Services  is funding the $50,000 and if there is a hurricane, can the Board look at the support it gets in paying for it; and if it is a three day event, then the Board can look at funding for them to come in during that time.  Commissioner Bolin inquired how Housing and Human Services can prepare a budget not knowing it is going to get extra money unless there is a hurricane. Commissioner Voltz stated it would be an emergency; and Ms. Busacca has the ability to get funding. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she does not have a problem with any of the proposed cuts in Human Resources.  She noted eight eliminated positions in IT is a lot; and inquired how many positions IT has total; with Ms. Busacca responding thirty-something, but there has been some identification that there are a couple of programs or services that could be done a little differently and there would be some change. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Board is required by law to provide a Law Library; with Mr. Knox responding it is not.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he has always had a problem with the Law Library when it was moved out of the various locations; there has been a great use of the Law Library by people who are not attorneys; and he would have preferred to see the Law Library merge into the regular public libraries.  He stated people can go to the public library and do financial and genealogical research; and inquired why shouldn’t legal research be an integral part of the public library, so there is not a separate facility to maintain, which is not open at convenient times to a vast majority of people.  Commissioner Bolin stated she also investigated that question, as far as moving it from its current location; Ms. Busacca gave her an estimate to move that was in the $400,000 range; and she was just talking about taking it to Cocoa.  Commissioner Scarborough he is not talking about taking the Law Library anywhere, but just allowing a certain level of legal books to be available in each public library.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if Commissioner Scarborough was talking about dispensing what is in the Law Library to the other libraries; with Commissioner Scarborough responding yes; there is only a certain level that the lay person wants to research; they are not filing an appellate brief; and there are certain things that could be available in other libraries.  He stated there are certain areas of the law that the public use more than others; and that is just his view on it.  Chairperson Colon stated the public library system is facing potential cuts of $4 million.  Commissioner Scarborough stated his point is having  something in Viera is more  expensive than having a few books in multiple libraries.  Commissioner Bolin stated out of the General Fund, the Law Library was at an expense of $177,000; and if the Board took the materials out of that location and put it in libraries such as Melbourne that is open in the evening, then the public could get to it more easily.  Commissioner Voltz stated with the Internet there is so much information available; and she does not know how many people would travel to Viera to research something.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he still likes the idea of people being able to access the law independently of having to buy the law; and the law should be the public’s to access free of charge.  Chairperson Colon stated if it is not something that is mandated then it falls the same as the other categories. 

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if there are any comments from the Board on Libraries.  Commissioner Voltz stated one proposed cut says to reduce the Automatically Yours Reserve Program; and inquired if the Board should just eliminate it.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if people really want a book, then why do they not pay for it. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she would like to investigate something from the 30 percent list; and that was to reduce fees paid to the Property Appraiser and Tax Collector.  Ms. Busacca advised that is an automatic reduction that will occur when  they collect less fees; and that is why it is not on the list in front of the Board.  Ms. Busacca advised the County pays the Property Appraiser and the Tax Collector a certain amount of money for collecting fees for Special Districts, such as the Library District; and it is an automatic reduction based on how much money is taken out of the budgets. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired what is the sunset date for the MIRA; with Ms. Busacca responding approximately five years.  Mr. Knox noted it is six or seven years.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired if the County would get $2 million more dollars in General Revenue.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if there is any way to speed it up; with Commissioner Voltz responding the Board could pay off the bonds that MIRA has.  Mr. Knox advised he does not think MIRA has any bonds.  Ms. Busacca stated the Board would have to take care of whatever the outstanding capital or debt there is; for instance, it may have started a sewer project and it would have to pay that contract. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated one proposed reduction in Mosquito Control was to eliminate funding for impoundment purchases, and purchases will be accomplished utilizing other funds, such as EELs monies.  She noted she does not have a problem with that.  Commissioner Scarborough stated if the Board begins to have EELs do something that is not an EELs project there is a whole new political dynamic rising.  Commissioner Nelson stated the Board cannot make it an automatic, and that is the issue. Commissioner Nelson stated the problem is the Selection and Management Committees do the projects, and do the scientific basis; and in some cases they have actually recommended the acquisition of those impoundments, but he does not want people to think that is going to become a part of County policy.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board definitely has to address mosquitoes as it is a Public Safety and health issue.  Chairperson Colon requested clarification on eliminating funding for impound purchases. Ms. Busacca stated for many years the County has had gentlemen’s agreements among property owners and Mosquito Control to utilize their lands for Mosquito Control purposes; recently those lands have become more desirable to developers and the owners have said they want to develop the land, which now impacts the County’s ability to do Mosquito Control on them; and there was a court case in which the County needed to purchase that property.  She noted  the  County set  aside $500,000 a year  to include  because staff  saw that it would be an issue in the future as more of the substandard lands become developable.  Mr. Knox stated a year or two years ago the Board changed the policy on the use of mosquito impoundments; to the extent there are any uplands, the Board gave the property owners the right to use those uplands for any purposes they can; there was a conflict between the Mosquito Control District policy and the Board policy; and in the future it should not be as problematic as it has been in the past to defend those lawsuits because the County has now given the property owners the opportunity to use the uplands as long as they do not infringe upon the impoundments.  He noted that will make a big difference in any lawsuits coming down the road.  Commissioner Nelson stated what is has created are land use questions in areas the Board never imagined could be developed; Ullumay is a classic example; it has become a huge issue on Merritt Island about the potential to develop those kinds of areas; and while the Board has solved one problem, it may have created a second one. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the merger with Stormwater Utility under Natural Resources Management needs to move forward.  Ms. Busacca advised that has been accomplished but it counts as a reduction of their current budget, so it is a savings.  Commissioner Voltz inquired why is it on the list if it has already been done; with Ms. Busacca responding because it is a reduction; and it is $87,000 the Board does not have to find next year.  Commissioner Bolin stated in talking with the Director, they are only looking at reducing one biologist position.  Ms. Busacca stated this is the option where the Board can either eliminate or reduce the program; if the Board eliminates the program, both biologists would go; and if the Board reduces the program only one biologist would go.  Commissioner Bolin stated she also had a discussion with Mr. Brown about artesian wells; and inquired if the Board should bring that forward as a reduction.  Ms. Busacca stated the funding comes from the St. Johns River Water Management District and the County matches it; and advised it saves millions of gallons of water a year, and it is a fairly valuable resource.  Commissioner Voltz stated in regards to the derelict vessels, there are many out there in the river.  Commissioner Scarborough noted the Board approved that yesterday; with Ms. Busacca responding it is on the list for next year. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated Parks and Recreation Department is probably the most difficult. Commissioner Scarborough advised the Board to go item by item because he has some questions.  He stated the Board talked yesterday about charging for night time utilization; and people could be charged the cost of having a field open at night. He stated in using a facility on the weekend at $30.00 an hour; he does not know if $30.00 covers the cost; and he would hate to have a facility that is not available if someone wants to walk in and rent it or turn lights on.  He noted the Board needs to look at fees for all Parks and Recreation purposes to make sure they are fair and equitable.  Commissioner Nelson stated libraries used their number of part time positions and Parks and Recreation is using part time equivalent; and the Board would be amazed at the number of part time positions that is when compared to full-time equivalents.  Ms. Busacca noted that comparison is because the Directors gave her different information.  Commissioner Nelson stated that is significant; the 25 FTE’s for  communities is probably three times that amount; and the Board is talking about 200 or more part-time employees.   Commissioner Nelson stated the other thing not shown is the loss of revenues if the Board took that action.  Commissioner Voltz stated with the Aquatic Centers, the Board is not going to close the Palm Bay Aquatic Center because it is not the County’s to close.  Commissioner Nelson stated the County operates it as its expense.  Chairperson Colon stated the Board can look at the hours of service and exactly how many people it takes to operate it; and the Board needs to look at when it is utilized the most.  Ms. Busacca advised the proposed reduction to the pool is to  only  open it for four months.   Commissioner  Scarborough  inquired  how  much  the County would have to charge to make the pool self-paying; and stated he hates to close a resource when there are people who would be willing to pay.  Commissioner Nelson stated the second issue with some of the pools is that they are on school property; the County has a relationship with the school system; and the schools use the pools a third of the year, the County uses them a third of the year and the cost of the last third of the year is split.  Ms. Busacca noted there are Interlocal Agreements that the County would have to renegotiate.  Commissioner Scarborough stated another proposed cut is to eliminate the Historical Preservation Program, and eliminate the historic preservation of the Pritchard House, Harry T. Moore homesite and the Chain of Lakes historical houses; for the Pritchard House there was a State Grant of $350,000; for the Harry T.  Moore homesite, the  Legislature  just appropriated another $100,000; and the Board is not able to take State specific grants and move the funds into General Revenue.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he does not know if the $523,000 was in addition to those grants, but those grants are not the Board’s money; and inquired if Commissioner Bolin knows the answer.  Commissioner Bolin stated that was a typo on the list, and it should say reduce and not eliminate.  Commissioner Scarborough stated those monies were specifically earmarked coming from the State, one coming from the Historic Grant Group and the other from the Legislature.  He stated the Harry T. Moore site is almost complete and the State gave $100,000 for a replica of the house in particular; it is not the Board’s money, so it is not able to back out the State’s money and move it to General Revenue.  Chairperson Colon stated the questions are legitimate concerns but she would like to remind the Board the more it touches the list, the more it has to figure out who will get the cut of $2 million; and the Board will have to come up with it somewhere else. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated the Cultural Alliance was completely eliminated versus having some reduction done to it; she did the research and if the Board did just as it did with the other agencies at 10 percent, then that would be a cut of $220,000 versus $528,000; and she would have to find another $300,000. 

 

Commissioner Voltz noted just because the Board has identified a few things does not mean it is going to continue funding them; and if there is money, then these are the things the Board wants to look at.  Chairperson Colon stated the Board has a right to vent because it has worked hard to give the citizens a certain level of service. 

 

Commissioner Voltz inquired where in the list of proposed cuts is the Building Department; with Ms. Busacca responding it is Permitting and Enforcement; and as the Board knows, it is fee supported.  She noted the Permitting and Enforcement Department has already eliminated eight positions; and there is a potential that there will be additional layoffs as necessary to continue to balance that budget.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if Commissioner Bolin has identified anything else with Parks and Recreation; with Commissioner Bolin responding she had a notation that the historical preservation was not eliminated, but just reduced as far as funding.  Ms. Busacca stated the numbers in front of the Board are brand new; the original numbers from Parks and Recreation were very rough; and the numbers have been reevaluated.  She stated the list was given to her as the elimination of the programs so the Board would know what the program is in total; the Board will see that many of the numbers in Parks and Recreation changed; and she wants the Board to know the numbers had to be looked at again.

 

Commissioner Voltz noted Permitting and Enforcement will be reduced because the permits are down.  Ms. Busacca stated what staff is suggesting is to cut Code Enforcement and Licensing Regulation Enforcement; Licensing Regulation Enforcement are fees; and Code Enforcement is General Fund.  Commissioner Voltz stated she knows for the longest time the Board has had a hard time getting planners; and she does not see any planners being cut.  Ms. Busacca stated there is actually a vacancy for a planner and staff has had a hard time getting that vacancy filled; staff looked at what programs it thought the Board wanted to focus on; and staff felt the Board probably wanted to fill that Planning position.  She advised there may be other planners in the State of Florida who may get laid off; so staff would have an opportunity to pick a planner up and finish out some of the small area plans that the Board has been focused on lately; and it is awkward to have this discussion when there are people in those positions.  Chairperson Colon stated  these  are the kinds of things the Board will have to think about; it will not have the staff; and it does not want to burn out its employees.  Chairperson Colon noted when a Department is going from 10 employees down to five employees, she does not expect the same level of service being given back to the Board; and it is not something that is realistic.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board also needs to think about if it can hold up someone’s zoning based on how long it might take to get a study done; and if it is going to take two years, she does not know.  Commissioner Nelson stated that is why the Board should look carefully; he is opposed to wholesale cutting in this Department because small area studies are critical; the County is developed to the point where those are the mechanisms the Board is using to make those kinds of decisions; and he thinks the citizens want that.  He stated he will have some concerns if the cuts are going to impact those kinds of things.  Ms. Busacca stated staff does not expect these cuts will impact the small area plans.  Commissioner Nelson stated planning is going to go on; and it is one of the services that is critical.  Commissioner Voltz stated she would like to find out from Mr. Knox what the Board can do if the process in Planning and Zoning does take a longer time.  Mr. Knox stated the general answer is six months is safe; it depends on the resources; and if the planners are not there, the argument can be made that the study cannot be done.  Commissioner Nelson stated that is the dilemma; the Board needs to think carefully about this area because it has the potential for litigation because those folks all have attorneys; and it is in the communities’ best interest to keep it moving.  Chairperson Colon stated based on the number of staff, the Board is going to have to figure out the deadlines it has that it gives the community; she does not know if three months is a realistic date now; and if there is not the manpower to review the plans, those are the kinds of things the Board has to look at now. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated on the proposed cuts to the Road and Bridge Department it states to reduce operations/administration positions, one full-time position and one part-time position, and a Secretary position will be eliminated upon retirement in 2008; and inquired if that is a third position; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively.  She stated there are three positions that have been identified as people planning to retire. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she has some items to bring forward for discussion under Road and Bridge; and eliminating services in landscape operations is $555,000.  Ms. Busacca noted under the current list of reduction it mentions eliminating two landscape maintenance workers.  Commissioner Bolin stated if the Board went to full landscaping operations elimination it is $555,999; and the Board would have to decide what the expense would be if it wanted to privatize it.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the County landscaped Fay Boulevard and ran into one group after another; there will be more people going out there at high levels claiming the  job  is not  being  done;  and then  the  Contract will have to be terminated.  He stated some things can be done very well by contracting out; but for some reason the maintenance and landscaping issues take a tremendous amount of staff effort to make sure it is done.  He stated he would prefer to break down landscaping by Districts; each District has its own MSTU; and he has a large landscape area to keep up in his District.  He stated if Commissioner Bolin would like to contract out in District Four that is fine, but he would like to keep District One intact and work within the MSTU budget.  He stated he has one position that landscaping paid from MSTU and the remainder are Countywide; he does not have any problem handling that; District One is different from District Four; and Commissioner Nelson has a lot of County roads but most of them are paved.  He noted each Commissioner has different operations.  Commissioner Bolin stating doing some contracts in-house may not give the Board any savings.  Commissioner Voltz stated her husband worked for the City of Melbourne for eight years; the City of Melbourne did some projects privately; those projects were being picked up again because they were doing a lousy job half the time, and the lawnmowers were broke; and even with her Homeowners Association, it has been through three companies because they did not perform well.  Ms. Busacca inquired if the Board still wants to know the cost of privatized landscaping; with Commissioner Bolin responding no.  Commissioner Bolin stated she is curious about the item to eliminate funding to the City of Palm Bay for mowing services provided for Palm Bay Road and Minton Road for $31,000; and the mowing will be provided by Road and Bridge, which will decrease from four to six times annually to two to three times annually.  Commissioner Voltz advised it is Minton Road and it is a County road but Palm Bay takes care of it. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated the Board just put money into Transit Services, and she does not want to see that cut if at all possible.  Chairperson Colon inquired if the rest of the Board feels it is something that should be considered.

 

Chairperson Colon stated in regards to SCGTV, now that she knows meetings do not have to be televised, the employees do not have to be there to air them; and the only thing that would be needed is to continue to have the transcript.  Ms. Busacca inquired if Chairperson Colon was referring to the Planning and Zoning meetings and other meetings; with Chairperson Colon responding affirmatively; it costs the Board money when SCGTV is here and has to set up; and just the County Commission meetings would be televised.  Ms. Busacca inquired if the Board wants to know the cost savings on that, and it may be overtime; with Commissioner Voltz responding affirmatively.  Chairperson Colon stated it is more that overtime because there is preparation time as well; the employees are multi-tasking and it is asking a lot of them; and some meetings go late and then the employees are expected to be at a County Commission meeting.  Commissioner Nelson stated there is a new Governor who believes in transparency in government and the Board is going in the opposite direction.  Chairperson Colon stated she is referring to the advisory boards.  Commissioner Nelson stated LPA and Planning and Zoning are two of the highest profile boards; with Chairperson Colon responded there is also the Board of Adjustment; and inquired which ones Commissioner Nelson would prefer not to be televised.  Commissioner Nelson stated if the Board starts reducing, the citizens are going to be interested in what the Board is doing; and he does not think the Board should be reducing its visibility at that time as opposed to making sure citizens know what it is up to.  Chairperson Colon inquired at what point are the citizens not going to see what the Board is doing; with Commissioner Nelson responding the Board appoints people to the Planning and Zoning Board, the LPA, and the Board of Adjustment; those are land use issues for the most part, and it is his opinion those are critical issues.  Commissioner Voltz stated the Board can find out how much of a savings it would be.

 

Commissioner Voltz noted she is concerned about 50 percent of street lights; and she does not know if that will work.  Commissioner Bolin stated she spoke to John Denninghoff about that; and in such big areas where there are a lot of lights, only every other one would be on, such as going over bridges.  Commissioner Voltz stated people walk over the Melbourne Causeway all the time.  Ms. Busacca stated each of the County’s street lights has a separate bill from FPL that has to be generated and paid; and there are full-time people who do nothing but pay FPL bills.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he does not know if turning off 50 percent of the street lights would make the savings worthwhile.  Commissioner Nelson stated the first time there is a break-in where a light was turned out the Board will be the culprit.  Commissioner Bolin stated on the 30 percent reduction list it was noted the street light program Ad Valorem impact for the total program was $320,000.  Ms. Busacca stated some areas would have more street lights on than others. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the channel markers are private aids, they are approved by the Coast Guard; and he does not know how half of them could be taken out.  Ms. Busacca advised half of them would not be taken out; and half of them would be replaced that used to be replaced.  Commissioner Nelson stated as long as there is a permit for them, they have to be replaced; it would be like not replacing stop signs if they are run over; and the point is they are there for safety purposes. 

 

Ms. Busacca stated staff has been busy contacting the Commission offices and it has been scheduled  for  the  Board to spend  most of  July together;  staff has received information about how to review the taxes levied that Mr. Whitten was referring to this morning; and that information just arrived from the State last night. She stated the rule says the Chair or designee must report to the Department whether the information is correct on or before July 2, 2007; staff would like to know if it is okay with the Board that the County Manager or designee be considered the Chairperson’s designee so the Chairperson does not have to sign the letter in the event it comes late in the afternoon on Friday; and inquired if Chairperson Colon wants to sign the letter, or if she would like to delegate that.  Chairperson Colon stated she will delegate it.  Commissioner Scarborough stated Chairperson Colon can reserve that right until it is needed, as she can delegate it at any time.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired if the Board could review its schedule; with Commissioner Bolin responding she has a conflict on July 3, 2007; and unfortunately her office said yes, when they did not consult her.  Ms. Busacca stated the Commissioners could get back to her and it can be coordinated tomorrow.  Commissioner Scarborough stated if the Board can resolve everything on July 11, 2007, it would not necessarily have to come back the next day.  Commissioner Voltz inquired if the Board wants to cancel the meeting with TICO; with Commissioner Scarborough responding it is wise because that way the date would be available for the Board.  Chairperson Colon advised the Board will meet on July 11, 2007 at 1:00 p.m.; July 12, 2007 at 1:00 p.m.; July 16, 2007 at 9:00 a.m.; July 17, 2007 at 9:00 a.m.; and July 19, 2007 at 9:00 a.m.  Ms. Busacca advised that means from 9:00 a.m. to noon.  Commissioner Bolin stated on July 18, 2007 the entire Commission is going to the East Central Florida Regional Council meeting.  Chairperson Colon inquired if Ms. Busacca can get the Board a schedule of the folks it will be meeting with; with Ms. Busacca responding Leigh Holt is working on that now. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he has questions on the last page of the list; and inquired if the $3 million is recurring dollars or capital dollars that have been set aside.  Ms. Busacca inquired if Commissioner  Nelson  is   referring   to   the  sand;   with   Commissioner   Nelson   responding affirmatively.  Ms. Busacca stated it was six years for Commercial Paper, so the dollars are recurring.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if the money has been borrowed; with Ms. Busacca responding no, it has been set aside; it was part of the designated money that was part of the 10 percent last year; and after the six years the money goes to pay for the LOGT.  Commissioner Nelson stated it is committed, but it has not been borrowed; with Ms. Busacca responding that is correct because the project could not be started until after the turtle season.  Commissioner Nelson noted it is not going to start any sooner than 2009.  Ms. Busacca advised that is because staff thinks that is the earliest that the federal funds would be available; and as the Board knows, it has been a long time coming.  Chairperson Colon stated it is only good for six years; and by the seventh year the Board will not have the $3 million.  Ms. Busacca stated by the seventh year the Board has to find $3 million to pay its bonds; and it is programmed as part of the  LOGT.   Commissioner  Scarborough  stated with the  Courts  there is $1.2 million for a bonding issue.  Ms. Busacca stated that is correct and the Board has not given staff any clear direction on that except to continue forward.  She stated she spoke to the Chief Judge last week; and this is still their highest priority.  Commissioner Scarborough inquired what type of options the Board would have without proceeding; with Ms. Busacca responding some of the options that have been discussed have been going back and putting some courthouse space into the Melbourne Courthouse, sharing additional space, and night court; and it would be using whatever existing facilities there are.  Commissioner Scarborough noted the Board can talk further about the Beach Renourishment; it has decided to stick with the bond for LOGT; and it would be good for the Board to invite the Chief Judge to join it to talk about the courthouse. 

 

Chairperson Colon noted the Board also has to stay on top of the Kennedy Space Center issue; and there has been discussion of actually having a lobbyist that would just focus on making sure that no one drops the ball.  Commissioner Scarborough stated there is a workshop scheduled for KSC and the EDC; he supports the EDC, but he believes the Board needs to know more; and in preparation he would like to get a full breakdown of the budget and what they spent their money on.  He stated if the Board gets a supplemental lobbyist, it is to the Board’s advantage to have one entity working all the issues, rather than the Board having it out independently. 

 

Commissioner Voltz stated she knows Lobbyist John Thrasher is in Tallahassee for the Board; noted Leigh Holt does a great job; and she is not sure the Board needs to have Mr. Thrasher.  Commissioner Nelson stated he disagrees because this is the most critical time the Board has had the need for that position; and Ms. Holt does a great job, but it does not hurt to have the Speaker of the House guide someone around to talk to the Legislators; and Mr. Thrasher helped him get into doors that he otherwise would not have gotten into.  Commissioner Voltz stated that is true; but she found when she was in Tallahassee Mr. Thrasher was in the room as she was conversing with the Legislators and it did not seem like they had the respect for Mr. Thrasher that she thought they would have. 

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if the Board is obligated to the Medical School.  Ms. Busacca advised the Board said it would try to pay $50,000 over three years in a row; this is the first year; and there is nothing in writing as it was a gentleman’s agreement.  Commissioner Bolin inquired if that is the same situation with Myregion; with Ms. Busacca responding affirmatively.  Commissioner Scarborough noted Myregion is connected to the Orlando Chamber of Commerce, which is well funded; and it is not going to dry up.

 

Chairperson Colon inquired what projects the Board has at the federal level; with Ms. Busacca responding in her experience the Federal Lobbyist does a good job in shepherding through the allocation requests, such as beaches, and when the County gets dollars for roads.  Commissioner Voltz inquired when is the contract up with the Federal Lobbyist; with Ms. Busacca responding there is approximately nine months; and there may be an out clause on the contract. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she would also like to look at Lead Brevard.  Commissioner Voltz stated in the past the Board gave Lead Brevard $50,000, so she does not have problem doing that.

 

Commissioner Scarborough stated he would like to discuss the cost of insurance and the methodoligies of having the co-pay; and the Board can discuss it at the next meeting.

 

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 5:07 p.m.

 

 

 

                                                                        ____________________________

                                                                        JACKIE COLON, CHAIRPERSON

                                                                        BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

ATTEST:                                                         BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

 

__________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK 

        (S E A L)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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