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09-11-2000 - Special .. ...., t CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER SPECIAL KEETING SEPTEMBER 11, 2000 7:00 P.K. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Schmidt called the Special Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Donald Schmidt Councilman James Brown Councilman Dennis Vincenzi Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Councilwoman Judith Lichter City Manager Kenneth Hooper City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Police Chief Lawrence Schumaker Legal Assistant Robin Matusick Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present INVOCATION. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE There was a silent invocation and pledge of allegiance to the Flag. Hold Dublic hearinqs on Ord. 2000-0-19. adoDtinq tentative millaqe rate of 5.95 mills Der $1.000 of assessed taxable value and Ord. 2000-0-20. adoDtinq tentative budqet for fiscal year 2000/01 City Manager Hooper explained the process the Council will follow. This is the first public hearing. On September 25th, they will hold the second and final public hearing for next year's fiscal year 2000/01 budget. He went over the summary he presented to Council of what they have done during the work sessions and any updates to it. He went over revenues, expenditures and budget highlights. He informed Council they have listed what was done with the money last year in the budget and explained the list of goals for the upcoming year. City Manager Hooper asked Council if they had any questions. Councilwoman Lichter asked about the amount of money budgeted for the Economic Development Board. City Manager Hooper briefly explained they tried to place all of the money in one place this year. He further explained why the total amount is $36,750. City Manager Hooper informed the Council if they would like, they could have some folks at the next public hearing from the Economic Development Board and the Chamber, to better define how they intend to use some of those dollars. Councilwoman Lichter feels they should hear a little bit from them. It was the consensus of Council to have the Chamber and Economic Development Board come and talk to them. city Manager Hooper agreed to do this at the September 25th meeting. Councilwoman Lichter doesn't have a problem with the Chamber budget. They have been more than helpful the past couple of years. She feels they have come around full force to represent southeast Volusia. Steve Dennis, President, Chamber of Commerce, was present and agreed to provide any information the Council needs at the September 25th meeting. '-" ....., Councilwoman Lichter would like Enterprise of Volusia to also be present. City Manager Hooper also suggested having SCORE present at the second public hearing. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they did ask that Cultural Services be broken down to list a beautification line item and she doesn't see that. City Manager Hooper stated it shows cultural but not beautification. He agreed to make one more split. Councilman Brown spoke about the need for lighting. He thought they just replaced the docks at Kennedy Park. He spoke of the success of the skateboard park at Whistle stop. He would like to see another one put in. City Manager Hooper stated if the Council would like they could look at switching some of their priorities to accommodate a new skateboard facility at Rotary Park. Councilwoman Rhodes asked what kind of cost they are looking at. City Manager Hooper stated the first one cost around $30,000. He agreed to bring back a master layout of Rotary Park showing where it would go. There are several other improvements to go there. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she is not sure she is willing to give up the priority list they already have at this point. Mayor Schmidt stated they had the BMX park on there but now there are some concerns. City Manager Hooper spoke about insurance issues and permitting. It is at the phase of it is not in this budget, it's if they have the money when they come back and March and talk about the mid-year budget. Mayor Schmidt stated they could make this a priority instead of the BMX park. Councilwoman Lichter feels the new grant person on board may be able to look into something. City Manager Hooper stated there is a new law enforcement grant, that became available this year, for skateboard facilities. Councilwoman Lichter stated under the city Manager's program, when they get to line item 52340 - other contractual services what is the $100,000 for. city Manager Hooper stated that is him. There were no further questions from Council. Mayor Schmidt opened the public hearing. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, would like Council to consider the roll back rate of 5.74 rather than 5.95. The ad valorem taxes based on $442 million at 96%. He doesn't know why it isn't 99% or 100%. He spoke about new employees and there being quite a few of them for the next budget year. He feels if they work on it they can do as Council promised when they were elected to try to reduce the taxes. It's not much of a reduction but it will prove to the citizens that Council was sincere in what they said. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she never promised to lower taxes, she promised not to raise taxes. City Manager Hooper explained there is one new position in this budget for the YCMA for coordination between the YMCA and the City. It is 3.66% if they went to roll back. He hears everyday from citizens and Council that there are things they want. Right now, they have a balance. They have worked hard to try and get the millage as low as it is. Page -2- Council Special Meeting September 11, 2000 '- ,.,. ...." There was a brief discussion regarding cut-backs. He would make a list of the programs that are least desirable from his point of view and explain what they would do. He would define how much money it would be and what they would lose or have to give up. He has spoken to Council about impact fees on fire or pOlice. Those things also help take a burden off but they take time to implement. He spoke of the tax burden being taken off of many of the senior citizens. He doesn't think the Council can afford to do more and still be as progressive as he knows they want to be. Councilwoman Lichter feels the budget is pretty tight but it is also a forward going budget. Mayor Schmidt spoke about the ad valorem taxes and the 96% mentioned by Mr. Capria. That is the basic percentage you use because there are some people you won't recover taxes from. You can't count on 100%. That is the buffer number that you use. City Manager Hooper explained they are required to use 96% unless they can justify another number. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about the taxes being collected by the County. The City gets approximately a quarter on a dollar. Mr. capria spoke about the senior citizen $25,000 homestead exemption being used in this budget. Mike Visconti, 316 pine Breeze Drive, spoke about the last Council lowering taxes before the election. It was approximately $12 per year. He would rather see Edgewater grow the way it is growing. He spoke about the two medians that are just about finished now and he feels they are making Edgewater proud. He is proud of what is going on in Edgewater. City Manager Hooper stated he just ran the numbers and it is like $5.61 per capita. Dick Jones, 1530 Sabal Palm Drive, stated he is happy to see the improvements which have taken place in Edgewater over the last ten years. He spoke about the building going on in Edgewater. He asked how the proposed budget this year compare with our current year and how much does this construction contribute towards that difference. City Manager Hooper explained part of what occurs and makes it difficult is when they have new construction this year it takes about eighteen months to appear on the tax rolls. There is not much in the way of difference on tax rolls. He commented on two types of property increases, new construction and increased property values which can only be increased 3% per year. Our expenditures are up by $40,000, our revenues are up slightly over $100,000. Our gross revenues are at $1. 4 million. Councilman Brown asked if they are going to get closer to businesses taking over a little bit more of the tax base. The percentage that comes from residential is in the high 60's. Their idea is to put money along Park Avenue, S.R. 442, and the commercial areas. The goal is to have the commercial increase more than residential. He thinks over time that will happen, approximately seven to ten years. Mayor Schmidt closed the public hearing. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2000-0-19 and 2000-0-20. Councilwoman Lichter made a motion to approve Ord. 2000-0-19, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilman Brown made a motion to approve Ord. 2000-0-20, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Page -3- Council special Meeting September 11, 2000 .. '-' ...., ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to discuss, Mayor Schmidt called a ten-minute recess, at which time they would reconvene with the Regular Meeting. The meeting recessed at 7:35 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page -4- council Special Meeting september 11, 2000