Call to Order

 

 

Attendee Name	Title	Status	Arrived
Robin Fisher	Vice Chairman/ Commissioner District 1	Present
Chuck Nelson	Commissioner District 2	Present
Trudie Infantini	Commissioner District 3	Present
Mary Bolin	Chairman / Commissioner District 4	Present
Andy Anderson	Commissioner District 5	Present

 

REPORT, RE:  TAX AMNESTY PROGRAM

 

Howard Tipton, County Manager, stated he has one report item that came to his attention this morning; it involves House Bill 5801 that passed this session; and he needs some Board direction.  He stated House Bill 5801 creates a Tax Amnesty Program, which relates to the Tourist Tax; the Amnesty Program is the chance for taxpayers to pay overdue taxes, without penalties, with reduced interest charges, and with avoiding criminal prosecution for failing to timely pay; it allows any local government that imposes a self administered Local Option Tourist Development Tax to participate; stated if local governments choose to participate it must notify the Department of Revenue by June 1, 2010; the amnesty period is for a period of three months beginning July 1, 2010 and going through September 2010; and the Tax Collector who collects the Tourist Tax in Brevard County is inquiring if Brevard County is interested in participating in the Amnesty Program.  He stated the goal of the Amnesty Program is to try to collect the back-taxes that are owed, to get people current, and it could result in additional revenues; and he has no estimates of what those revenues could be.

 

Chairman Bolin inquired if Mr. Tipton would like the Board to have a vote to participate in the Amnesty Program or not.  Mr. Tipton responded yes.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the taxpayers are supposed to be paying, but they are not, he does not have a problem with the Amnesty Program, to help taxpayers become current; it is giving an incentive to do so; and he will move the item.  He inquired if it is the Tax Collector who will move forward with the Amnesty Program.  Mr. Tipton responded it is the Department of Revenue who will be notified; and it will be the Tax Collector who moves it.

 

The Board approved Brevard County’s participation in House Bill 5801 creating the Tax Amnesty Program.

 

MOVER:             Chuck Nelson, Commissioner District 2

SECONDER:     Andy Anderson, Commissioner District 5

AYES:                 Fisher, Nelson, Infantini, Bolin, Anderson

.

 

 

REPORT, RE:  ADDITIONAL BUDGET WORKSHOP DATE

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he has a request that came out the E-Town meeting the other day; he has received several requests by some citizens, for the Board to consider a workshop be held in the evening, during the budget cycle when resuming in July.  He inquired if it is something the Board would like to consider.

 

Chairman Bolin inquired if this request is above and beyond the E-town meetings.

 

Howard Tipton, County Manager, stated there have been several requests from citizens who have a difficult time attending meetings during the day; and inquired if the Board would consider a night meeting.

 

Chairman Bolin stated she is not sure how the E-Town meetings are going to work; and inquired if it will be an opportunity to have people physically be present, or does it consist of strictly typing emails.  Mr. Tipton responded there will be an audience present, but the format was originally designed for emails; and Florida TODAY is providing the facilitation and he is guessing it will all fold together in discussion.

 

Chairman Bolin inquired if that is sufficient for Commissioner Fisher’s request.  Commissioner Fisher responded it does not have all five Commissioners present; he thinks there are some people who want to get down to the heart of the budget discussion.  Chairman Bolin inquired if the individuals would like for all five Commissioners to be present.  Commissioner Fisher responded when a typical budget meeting is held at 9:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m. all Commissioners are present; the request is to have it be held in the evening like Planning and Zoning, so more citizens can come to the meeting.

 

Mr. Tipton advised the September public meetings are held in the evening; but it is not the budget development.  Commissioner Fisher stated in September the budget has already been adopted.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he held a budget Town Hall meeting jointly with a School Board Member; it was advertised, as mush as it could be; and the turnout was terrible.  He stated he encourages everybody to have their own individual meetings; and inquired if everyone is doing so.  Commissioner Fisher responded he has a group that gets together, but he is not going out in the community.

 

Chairman Bolin inquired how many of the budget workshops are left.  Mr. Tipton responded prior to the budget submittal there is one workshop scheduled on July 8th, July 15th is reserved as a Board meeting date, and July 22nd is a 9:00 a.m. workshop; and any of those dates could be evening times.    

 

Chairman Bolin inquired if July 8 can be moved to an evening meeting.  Mr. Tipton stated there is a Transportation Planning Operations (TPO) meeting in the morning, a workshop at 1:00 p.m., and then an E-Town Hall meeting at night, so that date will not work.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if it can be done during the E-Town Hall meeting; and if anybody wants to attend it he or she can.  She stated she is also holding an evening meeting just like Commissioner Anderson did, to discuss the budget, and it is closer for the community; and she should be the representing official to come forward and bring their ideas to the table.

 

Commissioner Anderson inquired if the exact logistics and formats of the E-Town Hall meeting on July 8th are known yet.  Mr. Tipton responded not entirely.  Commissioner Anderson inquired if live audience participation could be implemented into it.  Mr. Tipton responded absolutely.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he thinks it is going to be absolutely confusing.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he was thinking about that too.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated there is July 15th that can be switched to the evening; and inquired when the budget will actually be received.  Mr. Tipton responded hopefully before July 15th; stated it would be great to present it on July 8th, but he is not sure if it is possible; and there was a request to have a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) workshop on July 15th, in the afternoon, and then have the budget workshop in the evening.  Commissioner Nelson stated he thinks the idea would be after the budget has been presented, because it may answer some questions, but before the millage is set, and use that opportunity to be able to make adjustments; and having it sometime between those two dates would make the most sense to him, so people can actually have the chance to look at the budget.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired when will the millage be set.  Commissioner Nelson responded July 27th.  Commissioner Fisher stated the evening workshop will need to be either July 15th or July 22nd.

 

Chairman Bolin inquired if July 15th will work for every one.  Commissioner Nelson responded if the budget is being presented on July 15th, it will need to be after that.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated Mr. Tipton thought he could have it by July 8th; she does not want to get it the night before July 15th, because it is really hard to review that big budget all night and be prepared the next day; and there has to be some general ideas as to where the $37 million will be cut from, with many departments already being figured out at this point in time.

 

Chairman Bolin inquired if July 22nd is a good date to hold the evening workshop.  Commissioner Nelson inquired when it will start.  Chairman Bolin responded no earlier than 5:30 p.m., because people are getting off of work.  Commissioner Fisher advised 6:00 p.m.

 

The Board approved a workshop for 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 22, 2010, for additional budget discussion.

 

MOVER:             Robin Fisher, Vice Chairman/ Commissioner District 1

SECONDER:     Andy Anderson, Commissioner District 5

AYES:                 Fisher, Nelson, Infantini, Bolin, Anderson

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STAFF/CONSULTANT PRESENTAION

 

Howard Tipton, County Manager, stated today is the fourth budget workshop held and today's strategic focus areas are public safety, covering Fire Rescue, Criminal Justice, and Emergency Management; and he will go through similar points of information and discuss areas of interest when going through the budget development process, as done in the previous workshops held.

 

Alphonso Jefferson, Budget Director, stated he will take the Board over a quick budget overview, so that everyone will be on the same page, as he helps communicate to the public the budget of Brevard County.  He stated the charts being shown now have previously been seen at previous workshops and public engagement meetings; the purpose of the charts are to show the differences in Brevard County; the recurring revenue is $580 million; and the non-recurring revenue is $512 million; part of the recurring $580 million represents $217 million of general revenue activities, with part of the $363 million being the restricted type of funds from the non-recurring revenues for utilities, Solid Waste, and Grants.  He stated public safety represents about $203 million of the budget; 50 percent of that $203 million is directly related to the Sheriff's Office consisting of about $105 million, which includes the General Fund and the Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU) portion; the Court Services standpoint is about $7.5 million, which includes the Public Defender, State Attorney, and Court Administration support areas associated with Court Operations; Fire Rescue represents about 38 percent, which is about $76 million; Criminal Justice is about $9 million, which is about four percent of the pie; and Emergency Management is representing about four percent of the pie as well; and those groups represent the Public Safety portion of how the budget's broken down.  He stated the sources of the Public Safety funds come from 50 percent of the General Fund, with Fire Rescue MSTU being five percent; Law Enforcement MSTU being $13.8 million; Grants are one percent, Charges for Services Assessments Fines and Fees are $24 million, and Balance Forward and Transfers are 15 percent.  He introduced Dr. Herb Marlow and Larry Arrington, Marlowe and Associates.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if the $203 million in public safety are part of the general revenues $217 million.  Mr. Jefferson responded a portion of it is.  Commissioner Fisher inquired after getting through the public safety portion of the budget, does it mean there is $14 million left.  Mr. Jefferson responded a large portion of public safety is part of that $217 million; and it will be discusses later today.

 

Mr. Tipton noted when talking about the Sheriff's MSTU being seen on peoples tax bill, it pays for all of the Sheriff's operation and there is a large General Fund transfer that takes place; and it covers other duties the Sheriff has to cover, including Court Deputies, Jail Operations, and Fire Rescue.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if the $13 million of the Law Enforcement MSTU funds the Deputies on the road in the unincorporated areas; and if other departments that are incorporated have their own departments that would make transfers to the Sheriff's Office separately.  Stockton Whitten, Assistant County Manager, responded when looking at the pie chart there is a $82 million transfer to the Sheriff's Office, for the Countywide Law Enforcement function of the Jail, Detention Center, and Court Services; stated there is also, $13 million for road patrol in the unincorporated as a Countywide Law Enforcement function.  Commissioner Infantini advised she just wanted to know to make sure she understood what parts she does not want to take out of.

 

Dr. Herb Marlow stated the three areas that will be discussed today are Fire Rescue, Criminal Justice, and Emergency Management, which are funded through the Board; the idea matrix has been seen before; and it will show the Board the categorized ideas.

 

Mr. Jefferson stated Fire Rescue's budget is $76 million, with a 15 percent breakdown being associated from the General Fund, Fire MSTU are about 13 percent, Grants are about $614,000, Charges for Services are about 16 percent of the $76 million, Assessments are about $20 million, which is 27 percent, and Balance Forward and Transfers are about $21 million; and this is the Fire Rescue funding source, to assist with getting the services for Brevard County done.

 

Dr. Marlow inquired if there is anything that needs to be clarified on the pie chart for anyone.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if any of the $21 million is restricted of the Balance Forward.  Mr. Jefferson responded a portion of it is; and he can provide a breakdown.  Commissioner Fisher stated the breakdown can be sent to him at a later time.

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired if it is just the Fire Rescue side.  Mr. Jefferson responded yes. Commissioner Nelson stated if a person is living in the city he or she are not paying unless the city has opted to have the service provided by the County.

 

Mr. Tipton stated he will give the Board some background for Fire Rescue; he thinks a lot of Fire Rescue around the State of Florida really kind of developed into professional departments in the 1980's; a real move to unify the department across the State was seen; in 1984 a unified Fire Rescue Agency was created in Brevard County; in 1988 the voters approved a referendum, or a Municipal Servicing Taxing Unit (MSTU), to fund Advanced Life Support on fire engine's serving the unincorporated areas, purchased engine apparatus, and constructed renovated fire stations; the wildfires of 1998 really put a test to all fire equipment and personnel across Brevard County; in 1999 there was an establishment of a uniformed Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Countywide; in 2004 the hurricanes gave everybody a big test; in 2006 an EMS assessment was replaced with General Fund support and the MSTU was reduced, by an Fire Assessment being added; and in 2008 the Ocean Rescue Program was expanded to include five year-round towers and seasonal programs were expanded from 13 towers to 21 towers.  He stated there were 34,000 Fire Rescue first responder emergency calls, with 60,000 ambulance or rescue responses, 41,000 transports, 3,400 life safety inspections, and 417 ocean rescues between 2005 and 2009; and in 2009 he noted there were no deaths related to drowning in the supervised areas.  He stated Brevard County is very fortunate to have a large volunteer group who were the recipients of almost 35,000 hours, which is the equivalence of 16.68 full-time employees.

 

Mr. Whitten stated the challenges for Fire Rescue are the emergency vehicles, which is provided through the vehicles and it will continue to be a revenue issue as the revenue streams decrease; fire training and access to fire apparatus, maintaining and upkeep of the facilities are very important due to being a coastal County; and the long-term revenue outlook for Fire Assessments.  He stated in 2009 there was a Fire Rescue workshop; it was based on a certain expenditure pattern and an increased cost associated with the services provided; it would exhaust those built up reserves from the Fire Assessment, by 2012 or 2013; and the Fire Assessment rates will have to be addressed in 2011 or 2012.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated the next slide is showing some ideas for the Programs that are in Fire Rescue.

 

Mr. Tipton stated the First Responder funding has been something that has came before the Board several different times in relation to funding levels; and he anticipates it to be part of the discussion this year.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated it is staffs intention to move forward unless there is further discussion needed.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired how much is being spent a year with the Ocean Rescue Program.  Mr. Whitten responded it is close to $1 million.

 

Commissioner Anderson mentioned he does question if lifeguards are needed all year round, because he does not see the need to provide safety in 30-degree weather.

 

Mr. Tipton stated a balance of reduction is being looked at for the provided coverage.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated he will proceed on to the next slide.

 

Mr. Tipton stated Mr. Whitten mentioned the re-evaluation of the Fire Assessment Fees coming due at some point; and a consolidated dispatch system would make some sense for countywide services.

 

Chairman Bolin inquired if any discussions are taking place combining Fire Departments with municipalities.  Mr. Tipton responded not with departments; it has been discussing how to jointly staff stations and purchase equipment; but not the actually consolidation of a department.

 

Mr. Arrington stated there will be one more workshop held in July; at that workshop staff will discuss governance issues and the consolidation of departments would fall under that category; productivity and economic development issues, which is really an opportunity to put hands around some of the long-term initiatives that might help the County; and most of them will not pay any dividends until going through this budget cycle, which is why the priority is balancing this budget.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated as a caution in Ocean Rescue, it has the chance to explore cost sharing with municipalities; some municipalities already do so; and he will tell the Board that the coastal cities in some cases wish they did not have to do that, because visitors are being seen from Orlando, Melbourne, and Palm Bay, crossing the river to use their facilities, but are having to share the burden.  He stated he does not mind having the discussion, but he would like for everyone to keep in mind the impacts are actually coming throughout the County; and some of those cities are telling everyone to keep their citizens home, because they are already paying through their own city funding sources and the General Fund.  He stated Palm Bay, Rockledge, Cocoa, and all of the other cities; and up in Titusville, individuals get to go to Playalinda where the County is not paying for it at all.

 

Mr. Arrington stated one of the initiatives to be examined is the fair funding initiative and what it tries to capture is all of the questions and issues that relate to funding relationships and the acuity initiatives of them.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated the presentation will move on to Criminal Justice.

 

Mr. Jefferson stated there is a pie chart showing Criminal Justice has about $9 million in funding; about $5.9 million of the funding coming from General Fund, which is about 65 percent of the total allocation; $2.2 million comes from charges for services, which is about 24 percent; assessments with fines and fees is about five percent; and a balance forward of about $509,000.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if payment for pre-detention of juveniles comes out of Criminal Justice.  Mr. Whitten responded he thinks it may be included in the funding that comes out of Criminal Justice.  Commissioner Fisher stated one time he remembers Sheriff Parker looking into taking over Juvenile Detention, or the Board thought he could; and he was trying to figure the cost saving to the County.  He inquired if the State had said no to it.  Mr. Tipton responded it was a letter from Sheriff Parker, who indicated he could provide detention services at the juvenile facility at a lower cost then the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) is currently providing; the DJJ has indicated a willingness to allow counties to provide that service, however, the counties, including Brevard County, will not see a reduction in the fees currently paid to the DJJ for two-years; and then the program will be reassessed and payments may go down at that time.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if there is a guaranteed contract.  Mr. Tipton stated it seems it is kind of a build-in-model and are not willing to play with it; the County is going to likely propose to the Board a kind of legislative strategy to address this, because it is a savings of $600,000, which is serious money; and it is great synergy of the co-location of those facilities, but it appears it will have to be done legislatively.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated Mr. Tipton will provide some background information about Criminal Justice.

 

Mr. Tipton stated in 1986 Court Support Services were established by the Board of County Commissioners; in 1989 Court Alternative Division was established under Court Support Services; in 1996 it became a County department and established Drug Court through the Edward Byrne Grant; in 1998 Criminal Justice merged under the Public Safety department and established the Drug Testing Laboratory through the Edward Byrne Grant; in 2004 the Public Safety department was dissolved and Criminal Justice Services became a County department once again with Pre-Trial services, School Crossing Guards, and the Medical Examiner's Office, which is funded by the County; and in 2005 it acquired the fiscal oversight of some fee based programs, including Teen Court, a Drug Trust Fund, and Drivers' Education Fund.  He stated 3,624 individuals were released via the Pre-Trial Release Program, which is an evaluation of somebody who has been arrested, he or she may be released into the community, and asked to report back to court on their own recognizance; he stated the Pre-Trial Release Program is part of the population control within the jail system, to make sure public safety is not endangered, but at the same time making sure the beds are reserved for the most serious criminals; and the savings are estimated at over $5 million, because of the release program that takes place.  He stated community service hours are provided through participants from various programs totaling 117,000 hours, which is equivalent to $1.3 million; there are volunteer hours of 7,845 hours, which is almost four FTE's; there have been over 12,000 drug tests administered; and 645 autopsies have been performed thought the Medical Examiner's Office.  He stated the next graphic shows where some of the workload has been in the past five years; when looking at the probation number the in the court system it has gone down; and Pre-Trial releases have increased from 2005 to 2009, which is a good thing for the jail population.

 

Mr. Whitten stated there are two mandates within the Criminal Justice Services department, which are the Medical Examiner's function and the $2.7 million payment for the Pre-Trial detention of juveniles.  He stated the challenges are to meet the current level of service expectations for Criminal Justice Services; there is a Request for Proposals (RFP) on the street for the privatization of the Pre-Trial Diversion Program and the Misdemeanor Probation Services Program, with those responses due back to the committee on June 8; and he is anticipating to review them during the month of June and come to the Board in July with the recommendations from the committee.  He stated the increase of staffing levels for school crossing guards is due to the reduction of school bus routes, with more students walking, and there will need to be more access points for school crossing guards; and the rezoning of schools will also have a staffing effect on crossing guards.  Chairman Bolin inquired if crossing guards are a service the County provides, because it is not mandated; and inquired if there are any cost-sharings with the school system.  Mr. Whitten responded there are no cost-sharings with the school system with crossing guards.  He stated he thinks some of the cities contribute, for an example the City of Rockledge contributes, and actually has funded, some of its own school crossing guards.  Chairman Bolin stated the City of Satellite Beach has its own funding.  Commissioner Anderson mentioned the City of Palm Bay also has its own funding for school crossing guards.  Mr. Whitten stated there are some partnerships, but its funded through the Board, with no match or partnerships in terms of funding with the School Board.  Chairman Bolin inquired if the past year was reduced in summer school.  Mr. Whitten responded he does not recall the number of crossing guards; there may have been a slight number shift, but no substantial changes to the number of Crossing Guards.  Commissioner Fisher inquired what the numbers are.  Mr. Whitten responded $700,000; and it is done year-round, but where the service dictates is needed by schools.  He stated there will be a continuance of evaluations through the RFP process and he will bringing it back to the Board sometime in July; stated there may be some lag-time, because the committee was expanded from three to six members, with three of the members being Chief Administrative Judge, Public Defender, and State Attorney; it will continue to asses the jail population trends; and examine the crossing guard service levels based on future conditions.  

 

Dr. Marlowe stated the presentation will move forward to the Emergency Management section.

 

Mr. Jefferson stated Emergency Management is $8.7 million of the budget; $691,000 of its budget is from the General Fund; $41.2 million is from Grants and there is some leveraging to the General Funds with the Grants; the Charges for Services are about $1.8 million, which is about 20 percent of the budget; Fines and Fees consist of $779,000; and some Balance Forward and Transfers of about $1.3 million.

 

Dr. Marlowe inquired if the Board has any questions relating to the budget at this time.

 

Mr. Whitten mentioned Emergency Management's staff is not very big; and it has the 800 MHz dollars and E911 now.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated there is one other thing that he thinks the residents do not understand; Emergency Management is very active in every shuttle and rocket launch; and those folks are on the front line a heck of a lot more than Orlando and other locations are.  Chairman Bolin mentioned that is could even be for a 2:00 a.m. launch timeline; and if it does not launch staff is back out the next day.

 

Mr. Tipton stated he will tell the Board of some history in Emergency Management; in 1951 Florida Statue 252 mandated a Emergency Management Office; in 2004 it was a year of tremendous exercise for the Emergency Operation Centers (EOC), he would like to add, Mr. Lay is a tremendous asset in resource for this community, and he is recognized Statewide for his expertise; in 2006 the 800 MHz radio system and communications were place under Emergency Management, which came from the Sheriff's Office; and in 2010 the E911 system was placed under Emergency Management.  He stated 361,000 9-1-1 calls were handled Countywide; there was 100 percent re-banding done on the 800 MHz radio system; there is a capacity to shelter 38,000 residents, with increasing the special needs shelters from four to five, by capacity of 150 residents; and increasing the pet friendly shelters from two to three, by capacity of 300.  He stated Mr. Lay mentioned at a recent Board meeting that evacuation is an important step, because there are so many people who will not evacuate unless he or she are allowed to bring their pet.

 

Mr. Whitten stated the challenges for Emergency Management is about six hundred and some odd thousand dollars in the General Fund transfer that is used to leverage on a one-to-one basis, with a 20 percent reduction; it affects the ability to pull down those State or Federal grant dollars; and he thinks those dollars are primarily used for the 800 MHz radio system, which is at the tipping point of the General Fund transfer allowing him to pull down a one-to-one match for State dollars.  He stated the maintenance and upkeep of the 800 MHz radio system is a big issue and has been a big issue for several years, which is a multi-million dollar undertaking that has no funds available to upgrade the system; and as the special needs shelters are increased, it will be hard to find employees to staff them, because of the reduced workforce.  He mentioned the Emergency Management's service function has some departments assigned to help staff the shelters; and it may be required to expand that function, as a requirement of somebody's job junction in other departments.

 

Mr. Tipton mentioned one of the concerns he has is with the 800 MHz radio system is it is aging, everybody relies on it, and it is a component of the emergency response system; and he is concerned about the ability to defer, as moving forward is critical, it is not cheap, and it has to be figured out sooner rather than later.

 

Mr. Whitten stated some initiatives that are underway for the next fiscal year budget are to re-evaluate the general revenue transfer, to mitigate the loss of grant funding for this program, the 800 MHz radio system, and the need to replace it in a fairly short period of time; stated there will be explorations with cities in terms of funding a portion of it for some capital replacement costs; and the 9-1-1 Administration consolidation of a countywide dispatch, which is a long-term initiative that needs to be explored for EMS, Fire, and Police.

 

Dr. Marlowe inquired if the Board has any question before moving forward.

 

Mr. Tipton stated the impact of strategies will continue to be reviewed in the areas mentioned today, with the ultimate goal being to develop a balanced budget, and present it to the Board soon.

 

The Board recessed at 1:55 p.m. and reconvened at 2:03 p.m.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated other than the governance workshop in July, all of the basic departments have been discussed at this point to gather information and ideas; the development of the budget will be worked on and presented to the Board in July; and next month's work will be to engage in a very complex analysis of all information discussed at all of the workshops.  He mentioned what he would like to do today is something different, with how the Board will sustain fiscal sustainability; stated he has some models to show the Board; and he wants to show the Board some reasonable amounts of numbers to sum up what has been accumulated with these workshops.  He stated the staff at the table today are very sophisticated with public finance; stated when he does not have a suit on he is really a farmer; and Monday when staff was doing high-level things, he was milking a cow, trying to save a calf; and he is going to talk real simple, because that is really who he is, he does not mean to offend anybody, but he does not have the staff at the table's sophistication at the table today.  He stated he would like to talk about the revue that the Board is likely to have in fiscal year 2010/2011, with money that comes into general revenue; he wants to show the Board the services with some level of commitments to do, such as funding with Constitutional Officers; he wants to show the Board the amount of discretionary resources it really has; he will show the Board four models illustrating different approaches to the role and function of County Government and for the last two or three weeks there have been public engagements with this process; he and Mr. Arrington have done a lot of participation around the State; and while doing that, they inquired about what people think County Government really ought to do. He stated he will illustrate whether those models are financially sustainable or not; he does want to stress to the Board it does not have to select a model today; but he does want it to understand the scope of the challenges, because what he is going to be doing is abstractions, Mr. Tipton will have to start dealing in real numbers.  He stated the numbers are going to look a little bit different, because the discussions have really been General Fund one and two; now it will include all of the property tax funds, so the Board will have the full picture.

 

Mr. Jefferson stated throughout these workshops the General Fund has been discussed as the primary focus; it was about $37.5 million; now the preliminary numbers are in from the Property Appraiser; and the entire tax sheet is being looked at, not just the General Fund.  He stated the numbers that will be seen today will be a little bit different from what has been discussed, because all of the numbers are going to be looked at; and are not just evaluating the General Fund it is every item on the tax sheet from libraries, Mosquito Control, and the Road and Bridge MSTU.  He stated the numbers are new, but the communication focus is the same, which is primarily the General Fund; and now it is everything that comes to light since the numbers are now available.

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if, for example, the General Fund was anticipated to be 12 percent down and it gives $37 million; and MSTU's are going to be down because the tax values are down, the library MSTU, Parks and Recreation MSTU, and Road and Bridges MSTU; and now when all of that is totaled it goes from $37 million to $48 million.  Mr. Jefferson responded yes; some number between $40 million and  $48 million; in going back to the General Fund, a couple of things to remember is when first talking about the $37.5 million; it was a combination of many different things; it increased costs of Medicaid, which was about $1.4 million and there were some other one-time other revenues that are not going to come next year, so that number went from a base number up to $37.5 million; and those numbers have to be considered as well.

 

Mr. Whitten stated the General Fund and its revenue sources are just one of the 26 taxing districts that make up the aggregate operating millage; and on the tax sheet there are six debt service millages, so the General Fund is simply being a component of the aggregate operating millage now; and that discussion is expanded to talk about everything that is under the aggregate operating millage.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated at any point in time should this get confusing he would like to know.

 

Mr. Jefferson stated the chart shown is basically showing operating revenues; he wants to be very clear that it is property tax and general revenue fund related millage.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated this is at current millage, because one of the directions from the Board earlier was to create a budget around current millage, so everything is based on that premise.  He stated when developing a budget there are three elements of information needed before starting to seriously get into the budget work; he thinks it holds true when dealing with millions and millions of dollars, such as this or a personal budget.  He stated the point is there has to be some sense of knowing how much income is going to be generated; in fiscal year 2010/2011 it will generate $228 million and this number will vary in a few months, but this is generally the amount of revenue planned to fund next year.

 

Mr. Whitten mentioned it is $228 million for the entire tax sheet that includes the operating aggregate operating millage of the 21 millages, programs, and services that make up the aggregate operating millage.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated that is the first point, knowing how much money is going to be coming in; secondly, the current financial commitments need to be knows; and he has a model of what he calls the "givens".  He stated givens are debt payments that are going to be paid, meeting the mandates that the State is putting on the County, the voter referendums or Board directions, Utility costs, not needing as much space, infrastructures with administrations, Facilities, Policy making, and support to Constitutional Officers.  He stated as the Board debates its budget it will have the chance to change some of the givens; he is interested in hearing what the outcome will be; the givens current costs are $205 million.  He noted one thing he put in the given section is the Library; based on a prior workshop, the Board indicated it wanted the Library maintained at its current level of services.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if the Economic Development Commission (EDC) was put in the givens, as well.  Dr. Marlowe responded he was not aware of EDC being a given; and did not include it in the givens.  Commissioner Infantini stated she thinks EDC is still up for more discussions.  Commissioner Fisher advised if EDC is a given it will now be $206.5 million.  Dr. Marlowe responded if it is a given then $1.5 million will have to be added to the $205 million; and he was not aware of it being a given.  Commissioner Fisher replied it is fine.  Commissioner Anderson stated he wants it to remain clear, for the record, that all of the Board Members voted to maintain libraries.  Dr. Marlow responded yes, the Board acknowledged those services.  He stated he has two models of cost givens for fiscal year 2010/2011 to present to the Board; the County Manager asked all departments for a 20 percent reduction scenario; and requested from the Constitutional Offices a 15 percent reduction, which was put in there; and when it was added up it is going to cost $181 million next year to pay the givens.  He stated with the other model provided it has a different assumption assuming everybody could be three percent more productive; and it will cost $200 million next year to pay the givens.  He stated when the Constitutional Officer's present their budgets to the Board, with the case that the three percent cannot be given, $3 million will have to be added back into the givens; and that would make it go from $181 million to $203 million.  He stated the financial resources to allocate unless the givens and revenues are changed with model one being $181 million, with $47 million available are resources to allocate next year or model two being $200 million, with $28 million available in resources to allocate next year.  He inquired if the slide models are making sense to the Board by simply taking the revenue, minus a couple of different expense models, and that gives what is left.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if the Constitutional Officer's portion there has to be $16 million from them to make the model one then added to the $181 million, and have $47 million to allocate.  Dr. Marlowe responded that is correct; and the 20 percent from the Board's departments in the Model one also.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if it is individualized out, how much would it be for the Sheriff.  Dr. Marlowe responded about $12 million.  Commissioner Fisher inquired how much for the Property Appraiser.  Mr. Jefferson responded he can provide all the individual information via emails.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated he has provided the Board with a list of every single department that is not part of the givens, that gets some property tax revenue; it may be a small percentage, it may be everything it has, but all of those departments he listed for the Board are currently spending $70 million to support them.  Chairman Bolin inquired one option shows $28 million and another option shows $48 million to be spread out in areas that usually need $70 million.  Dr. Marlowe responded correct.  Chairman Bolin stated that is a huge impact; and she understands now.  Commissioner Anderson stated he does not understand; and inquired why some of the special taxing units are on the list.  Dr. Marlowe responded if it is a voter referendum it is on the list.  Commissioner Anderson inquired why is Mosquito Control on the list.  Dr. Marlowe responded it is because it is property tax.  Commissioner Anderson stated he understands now; and he only wants to focus on the General Fund right now.  Commissioner Fisher inquired what does Commissioner Anderson not understand.  Commissioner Anderson stated he understands now; Mosquito Control is going to bring whatever amount of money it brings, just like the library, if the millage is not changed; it is just maintained; the way this is being presented to him, it shows a shortfall, but Mosquito Control is going to operate anyway, because it is a special taxing unit; and it is not affected by the shortfall.  Commissioner Fisher stated the math is part of the $228.  Dr. Marlowe responded that is correct; he is trying to give a very big picture, as the Board gets into its discussions; it will have to make those types of decisions on what to do.  Commissioner Anderson stated he just wants to get down to the discretionary funding; he does not want to talk about things that are going to be funded regardless if this Board takes action or not.  Commissioner Fisher stated Mosquito Control is in the $228; and inquired if they are MSTU.  Dr. Marlowe responded yes.  Commissioner Anderson stated what he is getting confused on is the sheets given to the Board telling it to spread what is left into those areas listed.  Commissioner Fisher stated Mosquito Control should be a given.  Dr. Marlowe stated if the Board wants to make Mosquito Control a given, then that is a policy call.  Mr. Tipton stated he thinks the point is, it is a policy call; and in St. Lucie County, which is south of Brevard County, it decided to dramatically cut its Mosquito Control Program, and shift the millage somewhere else.  Dr. Marlowe stated the Board has the discretion to do that if it so chooses.  Chairman Bolin stated the Board also has the option of knowing that it is only going to get this much now.  Commissioner Anderson stated he was confused and everyone is acting like it is discretionary; it is really not; and everything is discretionary if millages are going to be cut and added here and there.  Dr. Marlowe stated that is correct.  Mr. Tipton stated the Board's direction is to try and look at the overall aggregate; and to keep it the same.  Commissioner Anderson stated the way it was trying to be communicated to him, he was not understanding the $48 million left to spread over the function of the list provided; and he guesses that is true when tinkering with every special package.  Commissioner Fisher stated he is under the understanding of current funding being $70 million; and now it is $28 million or $47 million, depending upon the model chosen; but $16 million has to be received from Constitutional Officer's to get to $47 million.  Dr. Marlowe responded yes.  Commissioner Anderson stated the Board should talk about every taxing unit one-by-one instead of like this; the Board can go through Mosquito Control with a zero based budget and see what it actually needed; it can go through the library with a zero based budget to see what it actually needs; and then go into Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL); EEL is a debt service; it cannot be messed with; and then the Board can talk about the Sheriff and its MSTU.  He stated that is why it is hard to discuss it in this neat manner; but he guesses it can be overall discussed.  Dr. Marlowe stated the Board is going to have all of those types of discussions; stated what he has presented to the Board is not the County Manager's budget; and it is just a financial overall view of the situation.

 

Mr. Arrington stated some people are deductive reasoners who like to start with the big picture then go through it line by line; others are inductive reasoners who like to start with a line item and build up to the big picture; both sides cannot be done simultaneously because it will drive a person nuts; the Arrington and Marlowe Associates have chosen to do the deductive way, to show the Board the big picture; and it will get very discrete and the big picture will obviously change once the decisions are made.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated the Board can make its own assumptions if $28 million or $47 million are more realistic; originally it was telling the Board $37 million, but there have been a lot more funds put in and now it is $47 million.  He stated the Board will be engaged in discussions of the roles and functions of the County's Government; when there is this magnitude of a gap to close it really has to have discussions.  He stated he would like to illustrate four models of County services; it is not real budgeting, but he wants to show philosophical positions of what occurs; he stated what he is trying to show is the analysis staff has to use with graphs, leveraging, and if taking $100 off somewhere does it lose $1,000 somewhere else type of situations; and staff will have a more complex analysis to do, as well as the Board.  He stated this methodology is encouraged to the Board; it works with the budget office to create its own model, such as historical funds in Road Patrol, Public Works, EMS, and Road and Bridge MSTU; and he is assuming these areas will be three percent more productive, which are fully funded; it will cost roughly $35 million; and if the Constitutional Officers come to the table, the Board will have an additional $12 million to allocate across the departments, but if not then there will be a shortfall of $7 million to fund just the basic historical model.  Chairman Bolin inquired if model two will not have enough money to fund model one.  Commissioner Anderson stated there is a $13 million swing depending on the Constitutional Officers; and if they can meet the Board halfway, there will be a balanced budget under this scenario.  Dr. Marlowe responded correct.  Commissioner Nelson stated it will not be a balanced budget; it would be just for those specific issues; and it could mean the closing of some parks.  Commissioner Anderson mentioned he is a historical guy and that is a philosophical thing to a Commissioner.  Dr. Marlowe stated it will be a discussion the Board will have to have; and it can use the sheet provided as a guide.  Commissioner Anderson advised those are considered core government functions.  Commissioner Nelson inquired how should the Board deal with the State mandates it is required to provide for services; and not call them core.  Dr. Marlowe responded he used the term historical instead of the term core, because what Mr. Tipton and his staff have to do is go through every analysis, which is already being worked, for the past several months; and the numbers in reality will show less money to work with, so instead of being $7 million short it will be a little bit more than that if the Constitutional Officer's come through.  Chairman Bolin inquired if going with historical there will not be an Animal Control department at all.  Dr. Marlowe responded correct.  Commissioner Anderson stated there are a lot of assumptions given; the Board still has a lot to look at, such as retirement; and stated he appreciates what Dr. Marlowe is doing, but this is why he is a promoter of zero based budgeting, such as giving everybody zero dollars; and prove to him what the dollars are needed for.  Dr. Marlowe stated Mr. Tipton is asking for very dramatic reductions in the budget.  Commissioner Anderson stated it is only showing shortfalls and trying to build from there.  Dr. Marlowe stated he is not trying to build the budget from shortfalls, but there are still large amounts of monies that the Board has to come up with.  Commissioner Fisher stated the bottom line is there is not enough revenue for all the services provided; it is not anywhere near close; and when getting down to core services it is showing all there seems to be concerns about roads, Law Enforcement, and Public Works; stated he does not believe the Sheriff is going to fund $7 million without giving up some public safety stuff; and in his conversation with Sheriff Parker he was going to try to not do an increase.  Commissioner Anderson mentioned $7 million is across-the-board of all Constitutional Officer's, not just the Sheriff.  Commissioner Fisher stated the Tax Collector has kind of a zero base; and she gives the County money back every year.  He stated the Property Appraiser did not give anything last year.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if any of the Constitutional Officer's said he or she was going to cut their budgets by 15 percent.  Commissioner Fisher responded no, they were all hoping to do some consolidation.  Commissioner Anderson stated if this is all the money there is and the Board cannot trim money like the Federal Government; he inquired what does those Constitutional Officer's do.  Commissioner Fisher responded he does not know.  Commissioner Nelson responded the Constitutional Officer goes to Tallahassee.  Commissioner Anderson stated he is willing to take on the battle, with the press, and the media; and stated lets fight it.  Commissioner Fisher mentioned the Sheriff.  Commissioner Anderson stated he is not talking about just the Sheriff; and he is talking about all of the Constitutional Officer's.  Chairman Bolin stated it will have to be all the Constitutional Officer's to keep it equal.  Commissioner Anderson stated it should be $2 million from each Constitutional Officer.  Chairman Bolin stated for the Commissioners to look at all of the scenarios first.  Commissioner Anderson stated he will make the Board a bargain, so he does not have to talk anymore during these workshops; and when it gets down to the actual core services, he will talk with the Board about millages.  Commissioner Fisher inquired why are these not core services.  Commissioner Anderson responded it is a high level scenario.  Commissioner Fisher inquired what part is so high; and stated he is confused.  Commissioner Anderson responded he does not know; it only has three things listed; and if all the MSTU's start with zero and move up, that is not done in the provided paperwork.  Chairman Bolin stated the Board needs to continue on with the presentation.  Dr. Marlowe stated if the money comes from the Constitutional Officer's there will be $12 million to allocate; and if not there will be a shortfall.  He stated another model is comprehensive public health and safety; this model will cost $35.4 million, which is fully funded with the assumption of three percent productivity; and if the Constitutional Officer's give what is planned there will not be a shortage of $7.2 million to fund this particular type of model.  Commissioner Fisher stated there is an assumption scenario with the numbers that both models cannot be funded with the cash available.  Dr. Marlowe responded no, each model is short; and remember, if the Constitutional Officer's give back then there will be $12 million to spend and more public safety functions can be picked up; and if not, a shortfall of $7 million will exist.  He stated another argument that folks make is there really is an economic development law that people move about in the economy, with quality of life being really important; and if the Board wants to attract the workforce needed it will need to invest in some of those features, to get the EMS, 15 percent of Parks and Recreation, half of current funding for Agriculture, and about 10 percent for Planning and Development; and that is a choice for the Board, he is not telling the Board those are reasonable approaches, but it will cost $35 million to fund that model, which will have the same sort of results with the $12 million from the Constitutional Officers, if not, it will have a $7 million shortfall.  He stated the final model is the safety net model; stated the argument people make is the purpose of Government is to help those who are in need who cannot help themselves; Transit is an important service for folks with low incomes, the community based organizations, Housing and Human Services, roads, Law Enforcement, Emergency Management, EMS, and recreation with $200,000 for special needs programs; the safety net model will cost nearly $37 million to support; and it has a shortfall of $8 to $9 million, but if the Constitutional Officer's come through it will have $10 million. 

 

He stated he would like to start telling the Board how to solve this; it is going to take some hard thinking for staff and the Board to figure what the real key rolls of County Government are.  He stated productivity is the first solution, which is to take the same amount of resources and do more or have less amounts of resources; he inquired what level of productivity can the Board expect; he looked at what the Federal Reserve Bank studied over the past 50 years of all businesses in America except agriculture; it shows every year an average, in the worst year it shows a 1.5 percent productivity growth and in the highest year it shows 2.75 percent productivity growth; if the long-term is looked at it can expect productivity growth to be around two to three and one-half percent; there will be spikes of high productivity growths seen, for example with the computer revolution; and when it was first done it caused less productivity, because everyone was trying to learn to work the computer and kept the paper system, but if 1995 is looked at it started to pay off, with being more productive.  He stated spikes around eight percent will be seen where folks are able to make real productivity jumps; it can be expected and it requires investments in technology, people changing processes, and he has assumed a three percent productivity.  He stated when the Board does its budget it will need to have discussion about what it really wants to push for in productivity, and it may want to push for higher or less, but that is the very first solution, and that is the County Manager's solution to do that.  He inquired if Mr. Jefferson will tell the Board about some of the set balancing strategies.  Mr. Jefferson responded these balancing strategies are part of implementing, which have been seen before; he would like to point out this year there has been a holding of several vacancies as part of the budget process, but the items have been seen; and are being utilized to balance the budget.  Dr. Marlowe stated on the next two slides it is some stuff that the County has done so far.  Mr. Jefferson stated these items were told to the Board on March 18th about the things that were already in place that were moving forward, such as suspended non-essential capital outlay, reassessed, and adjusted capital projects; and are in place now to gain efficiencies.  He stated the County Manager has mentioned to the Board it is around the 88 to 90 percent expenditure pattern right now; hopefully, it can maintain that pattern; and there are several things going on right now to hopefully maintain that efficiency with some savings, so that it can assist with the next budget development.  Dr. Marlowe stated the slide shows the example of some other items.  Mr. Jefferson stated these items are the same items presented to the Board on March 18th; and it has been underway throughout the year.  Dr. Marlowe stated the effect of those items are to save some money; some of the money may be available to the Board next year, depending on what is occurring or not, which is a source of potential revenue to work with, but at this point he is not prepared to say what it would be; and he would like to acknowledge the great work staff has done.

 

Mr. Arrington stated his firm has noticed throughout the State, the Board's of County Commissioners over the last two or three years of its departments under their directions have been doing these kinds of things rigorously; there is a point that has been reached where there is no more flex in the budget; but by virtue of the actions Board's have been taking over the last few years; it has reached a point where there are no more rabbit's in the hat; and in many places Constitutional Officer's have not been doing the same thing; he or she have been reducing, but he or she have not been reducing at the pace and rate as County Commissioners have.  He stated one reason could be because people see public safety as a high priority; County Commissioners do not have control of those budgets, as a result; it has seen outrageous trends developed; and the Board is really at a point where some hard choices are going to have to be made.

 

Dr. Marlowe stated he is going to use a football analogy; imagine being on the home twenty-yard-line; the County Manager has all the tools for productivity and budget balancing, which will get the Board to about mid-field, to get from mid-field across the goal line, it is going to require the Board's decisions on the assets sale, new revenues, new expectations, recurring expense eliminations, and changes in the business model solutions.  He mentioned an article Mr. Arrington sent him from a gentleman in Wisconsin; where one county executive raised the question of the need for county government; could governmental relationships be restructured to where there is no more county government anymore; and he replied he cannot answer that question, because it is hard for him to imagine it, but those are the kind of questions this level reduction needs to asked.  Commissioner Fisher inquired how to get rid of county government.  Dr. Marlowe responded he does not know.  Mr. Arrington stated he has been following all of the local government reform discussions that has been going on for a long, long time; it is resurfacing again nationally; in a New York Times article a reporter called state and local governments around the country; and inquired what he or she were looking at.  He stated what is going on in many places is this kind of foundational discussion about the structure and function of state and local governments; stated he would now like to focus on counties in Florida; there are 67 counties and if the big picture is looked at, it does not make sense to have things set up like it is; he and Dr. Marlowe have done some consulting work and he has served on a Local Government Reform Commission; and there were many ideas that were out there, but nothing happened with any of them.  He stated people are very reluctant to change the structure and function of government because they do not trust government to do it; and if it does happen, future Board members will be faced with possible changes in government.  He stated in July when the governance section workshops are held it will be discussed more; and it has really gotten to the point where the basics have to be looked at, because the revenue trends are that bad. 

 

Chairman Bolin inquired with the thought of restructuring government, should there be five districts in Brevard County; when the unincorporated area is looked at between districts five and three, those are still not as large as districts two, one, and four in the unincorporated area, and if that theory was done then it could be changed to four districts, so all are even with population, even in unincorporated areas.  Commissioner Anderson stated to be able to reduce the majority the taxpayers within municipalities will not pay any tax.  Chairman Bolin stated the representation would be by one versus two.  Commissioner Anderson stated the person would pay the same; and inquired now he or she would get their own.  Commissioner Nelson stated no.  Commissioner Anderson stated everybody pays the same top-line on County.  Commissioner Nelson stated everyone pays a portion into the General Fund, for services that are Countywide; and then those in the unincorporated pay additional fees for its services.  Commissioner Anderson stated that is right, for municipal services; stated he thinks that is a charter question; and it will not come up this go around.  Chairman Bolin stated she was only talking about trends that may be happening in the future; stated she does not want to get Commissioner Anderson upset.  Commissioner Anderson stated the only reason he is upset is because he represents the largest population between districts three and five.  Chairman Bolin stated municipalities provide the services to constituents.  Commissioner Anderson stated but the Board represents taxpayers; and he would be glad as a Palm Bay resident not to pay County taxes.  Commissioner Nelson stated those are the taxes everyone pays.

 

Mr. Tipton stated a lot of what is being dealt with was set up well over 100 years ago; the world has changed many times; he thinks the point that Mr. Arrington was trying to make is in the new world is that framework worked under still working today.  Commissioner Anderson stated he does not disagree; and he thinks Miami, Dade, and Duvall Counties have to be looked at as models of how things work. 

 

Mr. Arrington stated he can tell the Board back in the early 1990's he was on the consulting team that put together the first County Charter; it was a bold step for Brevard County because it availed itself of a tool, to restructure, and talk about function; but there are Case Laws and Statutory Laws on Constitution Law that limits what can be done, but to get it through municipality is one tool that can be had in the tool kit.  He stated in the next few years he thinks this kind of dialogue will be going on all over Florida, as it is now going on all over in the United States; it is going to be a time of extreme challenge for everyone, but it is an exciting time, because there might be an opportunity to do something at this point in time that people for a long time have wanted to do, but the timing has not been right.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the State has got the tax laws so fouled up that there cannot be an honest discussion about it; with the decision on libraries, he will pay about $5 more; his neighbor will pay $15 less; it does not make any sense to him; and inquired how can there be discussions of changing government when it is so fouled up.  Mr. Arrington stated one of the things that will be discussed in the governance workshop is legislative issues; he thinks counties that feel strongly about some of the State policies that are in place, which need to be looked at and changed; and the need to express their point of view may help make the difference.  He stated he thinks there will be a tremendous amount of reshuffling and revising some polices, as well as structure and function; and the only pathway out of these trends is fundamental change of direction.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated the tax delinquency rate appears to be 100 percent higher than it was last year; she inquired if there are any thoughts by any Commissioners to increase taxes, to cut back on services; it will shift the tax burden, because now the delinquency rate has been increased from 100 percent to 150 percent; and now the few people that are still paying the taxes will pay even more.  She stated she is not willing to do that; and she wants to go on record, one more time, stating she is not willing to raise taxes.  She stated there are places to make cuts; in just sitting here she has came up with a list of 11 items of places the Board can cut right away; there are things that can be done to change spending practices; and it is not revenue generated.  She noted she does have one revenue generated idea; she stated in 2008 Brevard County was already on the downturn in the economy; the housing bubble had already hit; and now 97,000 votes said given them another exemption, because he or she does not want to pay more in taxes.  She stated if this Board does not go forward and continue to keep the millage rate the same or decrease it; it will be making an awful mistake for the taxpayers and they hopefully will not reelect any Members on this Board, if that decision is made.  Commissioner Fisher inquired what are the 11 ideas Commissioner Infantini has.  Commissioner Infantini stated she does not know if Dr. Marlowe is ready for them.  Dr. Marlowe responded he would like them when the Board gets down to the details of the budget; the size of this is going to depend on the discussions with the Board; and it can do all the efficiency things suggested; but it is up to the Board as a whole.  He stated after all of that discussion is done there is still going to be a very big nut to crack with what levels of services to cut in July.  He inquired if Mr. Tipton has anything to add.  Mr. Tipton responded he thinks the point of the conversation today was to talk about the magnitude of the challenge, which has been covered for the last couple of months; the staff wanted to talk about some of the areas that are inside the core services area; it also wanted to talk about transformational times, as the budget is being put together based on the discussions it has with the Board; he will be coming forward with likely a very different looking County government and that may be exciting or challenging, as the expectations of the citizens out there.  He stated in some of the public sessions the public may think the cuts are great as long as they are impracticably not affecting them and that is to be expected, because that is human nature; but in moving forward, a policy of expectation change is going to have to be apart of the dialogue, because the County will be a different organization of performing higher or having better levels of service where it is provided, but there are going to be some things that are going to see dramatic changes. 

 

Commissioner Fisher stated Dr. Marlowe has done a great job; one thing he would like to see that was not listed is how does it affect people in these different models provided today; and he would like to see what matching dollars might be lost in the equation, because he thinks there are grants, or Federal dollar matches that may not be able to be had.  Dr. Marlowe expressed his apology for not providing that information and he will provide it once the Board has decided upon a model.

 

Mr. Jefferson stated that information will be available for the Board; and the leveraging component is being created in a report; he knows the Board was shown one leveraging component with Emergency Management today; and at another workshop Transit was shown with leveraging components; but a big picture with all of the dollars will be show to the Boards for the County.

 

Dr. Marlowe expressed his thanks to the Board for being allowed to provide the presentation today.

 

Chairman Bolin inquired if she may move on to Public comments, because she has a couple of cards; and then the Board can come back to Board Discussion and Direction.  Mr. Tipton responded that is okay.

 

Dr. Marlowe mentioned those are the types of discussions the Board will need to be having. 

 

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS

 

Ginny Franco stated she is a teacher who teaches 11th and 12th graders in Cocoa Beach; those kids are working very hard to graduate; he or she has dreams, and want to have a job; some of those kids are going to get cars for graduation; and then there are so many other kids whose parents do not have a car.  She stated the students would like to go work in hospitality on the beachside, but the managers tell the students that the Canadians want to eat at 10:00 p.m., which means he or she would have to stay until 11:30 p.m. or 12:00 a.m., to close the restaurant; and the student has to tell the managers that he or she is unable to take the job because of transportation issues.  She stated she has seen pockets-of-kids in Cocoa just standing around on the streets; if those kids are not given something to do, or cannot achieve their dreams, she thinks the only place he or she is going to go is into the Juvenile Justice System.  She stated senior citizens cannot get to a wellness program, the doctor, or go shopping by themselves, to feel good about taking a walk, and getting on a bus; and she feels that his or her ride will end up being in a ambulance to the hospital, and die probably sooner than he or she needs to.  She stated the Transit system is needed; its routes need to be looked at; she thinks some of the mid-day can be cut, so it can run at 11:00 p.m. or 12:00 a.m., when the kids get out of work and need a ride home; and she feels very passionate about this because she talks with her students everyday, and she wants to make sure everybody gets a chance.  She stated she feels lucky, because she has a little house, a little car that gets her to where she needs to go, and has a salary; but some people are in such poverty and the only way out of poverty is with an education and a job.

 

Sara Ann Conkling stated she wants to share with the Board a couple of cut ideas; she came up with two of the three community budget discussion, which she personally attended.  She stated when looking at the budget in general; she would like the Board to consider services that benefit the disenfranchised in the County, including public transportation, libraries, and the abused children at Country Acres; and she does not want anyone to be hurt anymore by those services being cut, because it helps prevent joblessness, homelessness, education, and equality.  She would like to the Board to look at services in County government that has had an ever increasing public demand, such as public transit, and libraries, and she is sure there are others; and she would like for the Board to not look at those services first for cuts.  She suggested for the Board to look for services that have not been cut in previous years or disproportionately cut in previous years; Transit took a 24.8 percent cut last year when the average cut was 9.1 percent; she thinks this year's cut was taken last year; and inquired if the Board will consider that when discussions are taking place with Transit for next year.  She inquired if she heard Commissioner Fisher correctly when he said public transportation was the $1.5 million in the given, or was it something else.  She stated she would like for the Board to make sure it compels if there are going to be cuts; she knows there will be cuts somewhere; and some are willing to raise the millage to kingdom come, which she is one of those individuals.  She mentioned she would like for the Board to make sure the Constitutional Officer's take their cuts, because it is unfair to keep cutting the poor and disenfranchised and have the Constitutional Officer's take no cut at all; and as a citizen she finds that abhorrent as general policy.  She mentioned she would like for the Sheriff to do his part this year and take a cut, because the Sheriff's Office was not cut last year.  She stated she would like for the Board to preserve every high-leveraged dollar in the budget; stated if there is a dollar that is producing a dollar or more somewhere else, those are obviously dollars needing to be kept.  She mentioned two common cuts that came out of the community meetings; one is going from an 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. government to a 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. government and/or to go to a four-day government for non-public safety essential functions, which is something that most citizens consider to be a reasonable way to cut; second idea is cutting trash collections from two to one; she understands that is primarily contractual agreement with an outside vendor to pick up the trash, but that is something that every citizen present at the community meetings said he or she would not even notice that change.

 

Gerald Storrs stated the discussions he has been hearing today are absolutely boggling his mind; he remembers in the last couple of years the budget discussions were tough, but revenues that are going like they are it is just incredible to him.  He stated he is representing the Ocean Rescue Program function, as some may know, he was involved with its function and it has been redone over the past couple of years; and it was a falling apart department, with not enough manpower, its profession is being lost, and 10 people were found dead in one season, with two of those being right in front of his property line and four were ones he rescued himself; and this has personally impacted him.  He stated his first concern is with the operation of the department, which has had a fantastic turn around with 10 drownings to none; one thing he heard that disturbed him just now was in the study done by the United States Lifesaving Association of a lifesaving water recommendation and where it will be going; and the core recommendations were the full-time employees and he is hearing why bother with the Canadians in the winter, because he or she can take care of themselves.  He mentioned that is really not that funny, because he sees up to one dozen Canadians in waist deep cold water all day long; he thinks the core recommendation missed was the full-time employees, who are the core of the lifeguard organization; and he urges the Board to give very careful consideration to the idea of full-time versus some other cut.  He stated $800,000 is left on the beach areas by tourists every year; the $1.1 million of lifeguard costs is a good edge to keep that $800,000 coming in.

 

Ayn Samuelson, President, South Patrick Residents Association, stated she serves 3,000 homeowners in Satellite Beach; she is a small business owner; she has came up with an example of how to cut spending; it is awfully cold in this room, so the degree can be hiked up a little; and it might be able to save a little bit of money in utilities.  She stated citizens are struggling, he or she are being forced to make hard decisions, with his or her jobs, homes, pensions in retirement plans, and many have had to cut back to the bare necessities; and people are angry with the way many governments have handled spending and debt, which has led to increases, taxes, fees, and hiked government revenues over the past several years; and websites can be visited to see that information.  She mentioned two questions must be addressed; one being where the cuts will be; and second will the tax rates be raised or lowered that fall under the Board's authority.  She stated analyzing the County budget has similarities of analyzing a household budget; there are good and bad spending habits; it should be labeled by applying equal reductions across-the-board, for all programs and services is making absolutely no sense to the public.  She stated the Board has the opportunity to reduce the tax or millage rates, while also having the power to roll them forward; it has to be asked in these seriously dire economic conditions; and she is speaking from the front lines of the community telling her it is not affordable.  She stated she recognizes a lot of the services in the safety net are already funded; she did not see any there that are not and it does depend on the level of funding; it is surprising as the County's operating funds are looked at that come from the County's taxing districts for Ad Valorem taxes; and the comparisons can be drawn between fiscal year 2001, which she picked, because it was before the big run-up in property taxes; she has compared it to fiscal year 2008 in three categories consisting of the taxable value set by the Property Appraiser, the millage or tax rate that is set by the Board, and resulting revenue in its simplest form, which is computed by multiplying the taxable value by the millage rate.  She stated she wants to look at the taxable value in 2001, which was $18.25 billion, which was from the Property Appraiser's web site; in 2008 the taxable value was $37.9 billion, which is a generous $19.65 billion, or 108 percent, increase; and that is a pretty hefty amount.  She stated she now wants to talk about the millage rate; in 2001 the total County millage or tax rate was 12.9016; and in 2008 it was 9.5476, which was a 26 percent decrease.  She stated the 2001 the total County Ad Valorem revenue, without debt service was $112.4 million; in 2008 it was $214.2 million; and that was an increase of $101.8 million or a 91 percent increase.  She stated if the General Fund was strictly looked at there was an increase from 2001 to 2008 of 59 percent; this information is simple computations that can be made from the Property Appraiser's website and information from the County's Finance department; she inquired if businesses and homeowners would have loved to have a percentage increase in revenues and wages; but instead businesses and salaries are headed seriously down, with many businesses not in business anymore.  She stated the Holy Grail is to not get back to the mega-revenue levels where the tax bills were doubled and there was double the cost, but the benefits were not doubled, so the focus has to be on the fact that the County is losing small businesses and technical employees.  She stated the bottom line is she can conclude just from the facts that the millage rate still needs a downward correction to allow revenue and spending to fall and fit the existing economy, which it is not doing from the data that she is hearing today; stated no one said these decisions would be easy, but the citizens rely on the Board to make these difficult decisions.                

 

 

BOARD DISCUSSION AND DIRECTION

 

Commissioner Fisher inquired if staff can answer some of Ms. Samuelson's question referring to the taxable value going from $18.9 billion in 2001 to $39.2 billion in 2008; and inquired what caused the revenue to jump.  Stockton Whitten, Assistant County Manager, responded those numbers would be property value numbers, so it was a type of value.  Commissioner Fisher stated there has to be some growth increase to have taxable values.  Mr. Whitten stated there are existing properties, new construction over time, so it is a combination of both.  

.

 

 

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BUDGET

 

Chairman Bolin stated there is a proposal for the Commissioners office budget.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she did not want staff to think the Board was holding itself immune and that it was above budget cuts, so when she did a quick calculation by cutting its budget by 12 percent, which was the expectation of the property value decrease; and the current budget is $1.45 million and for fiscal year 2010/2011 with a 12 percent cut it would be $1.27 million and divided it by five, so each Commission district would receive the same allocation of funding and prepared his or her own budget rather than have it prepared by staff each person would be responsible for the same amount of money.  She stated she would like to make that proposal so everybody is treated exactly the same; stated if a Commissioner thinks that driving to and from meetings is important and others may think travel to Washington, D.C. is important; it is up to each Commissioner to be able to spend their money on what is important to them.

 

Chairman Bolin stated she understands what Commissioner Infantini is telling the Board, but there are a couple of things she seen when she was looking at it; she inquired if travel will be anticipated across all of the Commission districts, such as the lobbying in Washington, D.C., because it is for the good of the entire County; she is thinking that specific items should be kept out of the day-to-day budget rather than roll it into each individual Commissioner's budget; and if it is not used for that purpose she inquired what accountability is there for not using it and what is the money used for instead.  Commissioner Infantini responded she will be accountable to her taxpayers by putting her budget online for all to see where she is or is not spending money; most of the time her office works with two full-time staff members, with other offices having three full-time staff members; stated her office is able to generate a great deal of research, by working hard and getting the job done; she spends money kind of the way Scott Ellis, Clerk of the Circuit Courts does, because she thinks he has always operated very frugally; and asking Mr. Ellis to cut a certain percentage from his budget, she thinks it would be hard if the person has never spent more than what was absolutely necessary.  She stated she would like everyone to look at her car, because she does not spend more than what is absolutely necessary; she would rather have the same amount of money as everybody; she thought there were lobbyists that were paid; $1.5 million is being paid to Economic Development Commission to go on those lobbying trips; there are elected officials who are State and Federal Representatives, which is what he or she are elected to do; and she personally finds it to not be a good use of her money.  She stated each Commissioner looks at their job differently; she would rather be held accountable for her $255,000, which is what she has to spend for one year; if people inquire where she spent it, it will be online; and she could return possibly five or ten thousand dollars if it is not all spent.  She stated if someone thinks going to Washington, D.C. or Colorado Springs is important then that is a good thing and it may be of good value; but she thinks she cannot create jobs doing that.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he is assuming Commissioner Infantini wants the Board to make its decision right now.  He stated he has a position that is leaving in his office and he is not filling it, plus he has some other ideas planned to do, so $255,000 now means next year he will be $31,000 below that; he inquired if it means he gives the $31,000 to the rest of the Board.  Commissioner Infantini responded it is not only for salaries; it is the whole budget; and there are two funds.  Commissioner Anderson stated he is including those two funds, with the redaction of the telecommunications; he will still be $31,000 under.  Commissioner Infantini mentioned she will actually be coming under, as well.  Commissioner Anderson inquired if the under amount will stay in his office.  Commissioner Infantini responded it will be returned back into the General Fund every year, which will help everybody to be accountable; and she thinks her staff works just as hard as anybody else's staff does.

 

Chairman Bolin stated the compensation of salaries and benefits, which is on a hand-out given to the Board is not correctly calculated; and inquired if it can been corrected.  Commissioner Anderson mentioned he does not know, but he pays $52,000 to one person and $32,000 to another; and it is in the public record.  Alphonso Jefferson, Budget Director, stated there were some issues with the SAP System and PCP over compensating some items; when the total was assigned it looked a little bit higher; and actually the current budget numbers should be looked at; and Information Technology has been working on some of the issues.  Commissioner Anderson stated his point is to make sure that the lowest cost is correct for his office; he inquired if the economy takes off does he have the opportunity to hire a part-time person and utilize that $31,000, or does it go to other commission offices.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated when he saw this on the Agenda his assistant, Liz Lackovich, did a wonderful job getting him some information and data; and Ms. Lackovich is not an auditor, but she definitely did provide some good numbers.  He stated each district was looked at and who it serves in the unincorporated area; he serves 28 percent of the unincorporated population, which is 217,000 people; district two serves 25 percent of the unincorporated, which is 56,000 people; and district three serves 11 percent, which is 24,000 people.  Commissioner Anderson mentioned he has 19 percent in his district.  Commissioner Fisher responded district five has seven percent.  Commissioner Anderson stated he does not just represent unincorporated people; he does not know why there is this fallacy; and he supports the Cities of Palm Bay and Melbourne.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if the residents call him about trash.  Commissioner Anderson responded he does receive calls about the trash and what social services are available, because he or she need help paying their Florida Power and Light bill.  He stated he is a City Councilman; he does not want people to think that he does not know anything; stated he represents the biggest city in Brevard County, so whatever Commissioner Nelson is going through he has gone through in Merritt Island; he is going through it ten-fold, with 100,000 people; stated he does not want to hear that unincorporated people are not important, because unincorporated people do pay for most of the operations in Brevard County; and he is not going to let them be taken advantage of because other Commissioners do not have cities in his or her areas.  Commission Fisher stated he has a city is his area.  Commissioner Anderson stated his cities pay the most General Fund money; and he is not going to take that they do not anymore.  Commissioner Nelson stated what he is trying to explain in the differences between the two offices are there is no one else to call for trash complaints; the Commissioners are called because he or she are their representatives; the residents in City of Palm Bay can call the City of Palm Bay, because they pick up the trash; and the workload is different.  Commissioner Anderson stated no it is not.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if he can finish his presentation.  Commissioner Anderson responded no; and he inquired if his assistant, David Isnardi will tell the Board how many hours he worked last week.  Mr. Isnardi responded 65 hours.  Commissioner Anderson stated he wants to know how the workload is different.

 

Chairman Bolin stated she will adjourn the meeting if there is no order; she inquired if that is understood; and stated Commissioner Fisher has the floor.      

 

Commissioner Fisher stated district five has 16,000 people in the unincorporated area; Waste Management serves 102,000 people; of those 102,000 people he has 23,878, which is 23 percent, Commissioner Nelson has 21 percent, Commissioner Infantini has 11 percent, Chairman Bolin has the most with 38,000, and Commissioner Anderson has 6,700; and stated if Commissioner Anderson is getting Waste Management complaints, when combined with Commissioner Infantini together it does not add up to Commissioner Nelson.  He mentioned there were 1,580 Code complaints between October 29th and May 10th, with district one having 645, district two having 418, district three having 70, district four having 293, and district five having 54.  Commissioner Anderson stated he has the largest land mass; and inquired what Commissioner Fisher is trying to say.  Commissioner Fisher responded he is not trying to say anything, but the facts; and stated the total miles of unincorporated paved roads is 1,042, with district one having 329 miles, district two having 287, district three having 101, district four having 201, and district five having 124; stated the total number of dirt roads are 98 miles, with district one having 83 of them and it does not matter what the rest of the districts have because he has the majority of them; stated there are 328 miles of open ditches, with his district having 138 miles, district two having 73, district three having 30, district four having 32, and district five having 54; there are 744 miles of swells, with district two having 90, district three having 33, district four having 92, and district five having 112; total mowing acreage to be mowed is 4,479, with district one having 2,200, district two having 736, district three having 607, district five having 696; water utilities in Mims has 2,800 people and Barefoot Bay in district three has 5,150 people; Law Enforcement for the Sheriff, with district one having a population of 61,000, district two having a population of 56,000, district three having a population of 24,000, district four having a population of 59,000, and district five having a population of 16,000; and people being served in Parks in district one are supporting the City of Titusville are 61,000 people to serve, district two serves Merritt Island and the City of Cocoa having over 80,000 people to serve; district three having 24,000 people to serve, district four having 59,000 people to serve, and district five having 16,000 people to serve.  He stated when efficiency is talked about every one of those generate calls to his office; he does not believe that Commissioner Infantini and Commissioner Anderson have more road calls than he; he knows Commissioner Anderson does not have as many Code issues than he does because Commissioner Anderson hates Code and does not even let the people call him; district one has 102 Waste Management issues, swells and ditches that have to be mowed, and he thinks the hit has to be taken from a standpoint, but there needs to be a proportionate share; and he wants to look at how many people Commissioner Anderson serves in the unincorporated area and when that formula comes out his budget it should increase based on the calls he is getting.  He stated Commissioner Infantini needs to go way down, Commissioner Anderson already knows he needs to go way down; in one year there has been insurance costs increasing, people being laid off, positions not being filled, furloughs are being discussed; and inquired if Stockton Whitten, Assistant County Manager will tell the Board again what has been happening in this past year to balance the budget.  Mr. Whitten responded it has reduced service hours with libraries, the capital, the travel, and all of those already mentioned by Commissioner Fisher.  Commissioner Fisher stated with all of those named items having been done; district three salaries went up in a year when everybody else in this organization's salaries have gone down; when talking about fiscal services the last Commissioner in there ran the office on $172,000 in salaries; Commissioner Infantini is up to $188,000; and last year it was $183,000, which is an increase in salaries.  Commissioner Anderson inquired if Commissioner Fisher can tell him about his district, with a former Commissioner having a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).  Commissioner Fisher responded it was $201,000 in 2008/2009, $198,000 in 2009/2010, which is showing a down-trend; and he is hearing things like he is a fiscal conservative and is watching the taxpayers money.  Commissioner Anderson stated he is doing that.  Commissioner Fisher stated he is down too.  Commissioner Infantini stated Commissioner Fisher's employees are paid way more than her employees are paid in salaries and benefits being exceptionally higher than hers are, which is coming in at about $147,000 so far; and stated there is just no way she can hold a candle to him.  Commissioner Fisher noted his people do a whole lot more than her people do, too.  Commissioner Infantini stated it can be seen how well prepared she is at every single meeting, because she has tabs and comments on every single thing; and she has no doubt that her office does its share of work.  Commissioner Fisher mentioned Commissioner Infantini does not have 329 miles of roads.  Commissioner Infantini stated it does not matter everyone has exactly the same job, some travel more, and some do less.  Commissioner Fisher stated no they do not.  Commissioner Nelson stated he disagrees.  Commissioner Fisher stated Commissioner Infantini's research is not very factual.  Commissioner Infantini stated Commissioner Fisher cannot find one mistake in any of her research; and she does not understand why he is shooting out these stupid random comments to try and make himself look important.  Commissioner Fisher stated he is going by the numbers; and she is the one who has the higher salaries.  Commissioner Infantini advised he is not going with the numbers, because he has someone who was is earning $50,000; and her people are not earning that amount.  Commissioner Anderson stated he is protective of his staff; it keeps a file of every call taken in; and inquired if Commissioner Fisher would like him to bring those files to the Zoning meeting tonight, to show the productivity of his office from last year.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she makes a motion to accept the proposal.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if Commissioner Infantini wants to make his motion.  Commissioner Infantini stated no, she is going to make her own motion; and she is making the motion to cut the budget by 12 percent and divide it by five.

 

Motion died due to the lack of a second.

 

 

Commissioner Fisher stated if the Board wants to set an example let’s set one; stated he wants the Commission to take a 20 percent salary cut; and stated that should be the motion Commissioner Infantini should make.  Commissioner Infantini responded no.  Commissioner Fisher stated he will make it for her.

 

Motion by Commission Fisher for the Commission to take a 20 percent salary cut to set the example for the organization.

 

Motion died due to the lack of a second.

 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she is not going to take a 20 percent cut.  Commissioner Fisher inquired why not; stated Commissioner Infantini is so worried about other people; and all of the folks around them now also put in a lot of hours too.

 

Chairman Bolin stated she thinks what the Board is talking about is whether or not the Board should have a set amount of money for each Commission office.  Commissioner Anderson stated he is okay with it; and inquired what happens when coming under budget.  Commissioner Fisher responded the Board should wait until it goes through its whole budget cycle; and thinks the Board should be included with it.  Commissioner Anderson inquired if it is going to be done evenly.  Commissioner Fisher responded it depends on where the Board is at the end of the budget cycle.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he does not think it is fair; Commissioner Fisher has over thirty years of experience of County government within his office; and Commissioner Infantini and all of her employees she has four years of County government experience.  Commissioner Infantini stated experience is nothing, she hires new kids right out of college, and sometime not even out of college; and stated the things the new kids offer to her office can dance circles around old-timers, because of new technology.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if Commissioner Infantini is trying to tell everyone that her new kids are smarter than his 19 years of experience in his office.  Commissioner Infantini responded she is not saying they are smarter she is saying the new kids offer something entirely different; she thinks young people offer something new that the people in the generation he or she comes from do not have; and stated experience only goes so far.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated he finds it interesting that when Commissioner Infantini mentioned she had two full-time employees, she did not mention she had four part-time employees.  Commissioner Infantini advised she does have four part-time employees, but does not have them all at the same time.  Commissioner Nelson stated Commissioner Infantini seemed to fail to mention that.  Commissioner Infantini stated she will mention it; she has four part-time employees, she had two practical's who have already left, and now she only has two part-time employees.

 

Commissioner Fisher mentioned Commissioner Infantini holds herself out to be fiscal conservative; and she wants to cut government, but her salaries are up.  Commissioner Infantini advised her salaries are not up; and she disagrees.  Commissioner Fisher stated Commissioner Infantini should ask the Budget Office.  Chairman Bolin inquired if Mr. Jefferson has the figures to solve this question at this point in time.  Commissioner Infantini stated she would like to see the other Commissioners employee salaries for all of their people; and she knows of one who took a 49 percent pay increase.  Mr. Jefferson responded information was pulled directly from the SAP system, which is currently budgeted for the salaries and benefits; actual numbers were run from 2008 and 2009; and compared them to budget in every district.  He stated there is Commissioner Administration, which is a separate item from all the Commissioners budgets.  Commissioner Fisher inquired what Mr. Jefferson found out when he looked at the numbers.  Mr. Jefferson responded there are some differences from district to district.  Commissioner Fisher inquired if district three's salaries are up or down.  Mr. Jefferson responded compared to fiscal year 2009 to the current budget in just strictly a compensation standpoint yes, district three is $188,000 and in 2009 the actual was $183,000.  Commissioner Fisher inquired what was it for the last Commissioner in district three for fiscal year 2007/2008.  Mr. Jefferson responded $172,998 in compensation.  Commissioner Infantini stated she is sorry, but she was not going to have her staff come in lower than what other people were earning, because he or she are required to do exactly the same job as everybody else's staff; and her staff does no less than Commissioner Fisher's staff does and maybe more.  Commissioner Fisher advised he did not say that he or she does.  Commissioner Anderson stated he is not filling the vacant position in his office, so he should be the lowest now; and stated he would like for everyone to just lay off of him for awhile.

 

Chairman Bolin stated for the record, in district four during fiscal 2007/2008, she was at $179,000 for one and one-half years she ran without a staff person; she could not get the reduction down in staff; and went back and filled her staff 100 percent, so that is why it looks like there is an increase in her district going to three staff members like everyone else.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he and Commissioner Anderson are the spending Democrats who have the lowest salaries.  Commissioner Infantini stated Commissioner Fisher's salaries are not the lowest, his area is actually the highest, which is about 22 percent; and hers are around 17 percent.  Commissioner Fisher stated 18 years versus 18 months is a big difference.  Commissioner Infantini advised no, it is not.

 

Chairman Bolin stated every one has a wonderful staff; and the Board is going to move forward with the issue of whether or not it should be a set budgetary amount for Commission offices.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he does not think that is fair; the only thing he has to say is Commissioner Fisher has people that have been there for many, many years; and it is the only issue he has.  Commissioner Fisher advised it is also due to the number of people his district services, with phone call about the dirt roads and trash.  Commissioner Infantini stated Commissioner Fisher has the remainder of the budget; and stated lets keep salaries immune, and inquired what about the remainder of the budget.  She stated she went to submit something for travel or office supplies last year; she knows she was extremely frugal; and was told there was not enough money left in the budget to cover it.  She mentioned when she is spending less than many people and there is no money left in the budget to things are moved around; stated there are certain pots that she does not want to share with everybody; she wants everyone to have the exact the same amount, whether it is travel, or office supplies; stated if she is not going to win on salaries than that is fine, but on all the expenses she does not think it should be put in one big pot; and whoever gets there first gets it, and there is none left for the rest.

 

Commissioner Anderson mentioned the RICOH copiers are all shared out of the same pool of money. Commissioner Infantini stated she wants to get rid of the RICOH copiers; she does not need that nice of a copy machine, it costs $200 a month, and she could buy a new printer for $700.  Commissioner Anderson stated his office uses it as its printer, because it is the only machine he has.  Commissioner Fisher stated everyone agrees that everyone is not going to be totally immune to doing something; and he thinks it does not have to be solved today.

 

Chairman Bolin stated she does not like the idea of having the Commissioners Administration column on the budget, because that is a catch-all for items that should be billed back to the district office that is generating the expense, such as cell phones; and she would like to have that column dissolved.

 

Commissioner Fisher stated he is getting charged $10,300 in benefits for an employee who does not even take health insurance; and it goes in his numbers, because that is the system.  Commissioner Anderson advised he understands what Commissioner Fisher is saying.  Chairman Bolin stated she does not take health insurance; and she is charged for health insurance also.  Commissioner Anderson stated that does not show accuracy; and he does not know what to do about it.

 

Chairman Bolin stated at this point in time it will be monitored; and further discussions will take place.

 

The Board acknowledged Commissioner Infantini's request to reduce the Board of County Commissioners budget by 12 percent and equally dispense between each of the five Commissioners, but took no action.

 

 

Upon motion and vote the meeting adjourned at 3:52 p.m.

 

 

 

 

ATTEST:

 

                                                                        _________________________________

                                                                        MARY BOLIN, CHAIRMAN

                                                                        BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

___________________                            BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK