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09-08-1997 - Special "-" ....", CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER SPECIAL MEETING SEPTEMBER 8, 1997 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER vice Mayor Martin called the Special Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Jack HaYman Councilman Danny Hatfield Vice Mayor Louise Martin Councilman Michael Hays Councilman David Mitchum City Attorney Krista Storey City Manager George McMahon City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Police Chief Lawrence Schumaker Excused Present Present Present Present Excused Present Present Present MEETING PURPOSE vice Mayor Martin stated the purpose of the meeting is to hold public hearings on Res. 97-R-23 adopting millage rate of 6.44000 and Res. 97-R-24 adopting final budget for fiscal year 1997/98. vice Mayor Martin opened the public hearing. City Manager McMahon presented a brief summary of the proposed budget for FY 97/98. Finance Director Fred Munoz presented comments regarding the budget workshops or public hearing. No one has come forward to show him where they can cut $5 million. Mr. Munoz commented on the FY 96/97 budget for New Smyrna Beach. Mr. Munoz stated there is no tax increase in the FY 97/98 budget. City Manager McMahon spoke about the services provided by the City. He spoke about the per capita cost and this being what the net cost comes down to. The Economic Development Board, three years ago, pointed out the cost of services being more than what the revenue is that is brought in from property taxes. City Clerk Susan Wadsworth read Res. 97-R-23 and Res. 97-R-24. Mr. Munoz pointed out the amount in the title of .012 percent should be 0.12 percent. City Clerk Wadsworth agreed to have this corrected. city Manager McMahon explained section 2 of the resolution is correct as published with 0.12 percent. Richard Jones, 1530 Sabal Palm Drive, appreciates the budget and taxes that have to be placed on his personal residence based on the fact that he knows where the City has been, where the City is coming from and where the City is going. Mr. Jones presented suggestions to cutting the budget such as Councilmembers being absent. He feels if a Councilmember does not make a meeting you don't get paid a prorated share for that meeting. Councilman Hays informed Mr. Jones absences are pointed out in the Charter. '-" ...., City Manager McMahon presented comments regarding the rolled back millage rate in reference to comments made by Mr. Jones. Mr. Munoz clarified the rolled back rate is state mandated and that is to the truth in millage. He further commented on increases and decreases in property value. There was a brief discussion regarding increases in taxes for the County. City Manager McMahon stated the City budget has actually decreased this year. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, spoke about grants for the police. He understands that is worked into the budget. He can't visualize how it is worked into the budget without it being in the final budget which would increase the millage rate. City Manager McMahon explained the amount of money that is worked in from any grant is part of the overall revenues distinguished from the property tax and revenue section of a budget. It is not considered as part of the property taxi it is considered as the whole revenue. He informed Mr. Capria that does not involve the millage rate. Mr. Capria commented on the City having 100 less employees than the City of New Smyrna Beach. He wants to know why the millage rate isn't lower. Councilman Mitchum stated the assessed value in New Smyrna is three times what it is in Edgewater. City Manager McMahon stated if we had the equivalent here in terms of taxable value, the millage rate could logically probably be about 1 or 1 1/2. Mr. Capria commented on bonuses for City employees. He questioned if that is worked into the budget. City Manager McMahon explained every employee in the City is under the pay for performance plan. The evaluations of everyone are put into a computer and averaged out and based on the evaluations that percentage is put up against the total amount that is budgeted for that purpose in the budget. Mr. Capria asked if that is similar to other cities. City Manager McMahon explained it is superior to a lot of them. He further commented on the City doing wage and salary surveys. There was a discussion regarding City employees receiving bonuses. It was determined the City employees do not receive bonuses. Councilman Hatfield spoke about employees with salary caps and the lump sum they receive is given at one time instead of over the course of a year. Mr. Munoz spoke about a meeting with a candidate that was under the impression the Council is in the pension plan. He clarified the Council is not in the pension plan. City Manager McMahon further spoke how employees are weighed as to how much of a raise they receive. He briefly spoke about the reclassifications that were done this year. vice Mayor Martin closed the public hearing. Councilman Mitchum thanked staff for their hard work with the budget. He went on to speak about a couple years ago when the City faced the difficult task of raising the millage rate which went over 7 mills due to the paving issues being addressed at that time. Page -2- Council Special Meeting September 8, 1997 "-" ..." Councilman Mitchum feels the City has the millage rate over the last couple doesn't seem to be huge decreases, it direction. made a good effort to lower of years. Even though it is going in the right Councilman Mitchum spoke about decreasing the budget by $5 million by eliminating the Police Department, Fire Department, Parks & Recreation and Public Works. He feels the City will be closed if this is done. He feels comments like the one made about decreasing the budget $5 million is absurd. He feels people who make these kind of statements should be prepared to back them up. Councilman Mitchum is proud of the fact that this Council and previous Councils and City staff have worked hard to get us where we are. Every time he has had to make a decision that affected the people of Edgewater it affected him too. vice Mayor Martin feels we have a quality City with a qualified staff and the City should move ahead. City Manager McMahon feels the City is in excellent condition for economic development particularly because of the water and sewer. Councilman Hays thanked all of City staff. He thanked City Manager McMahon, Mr. Munoz and the department heads for their work with the budget. Councilman Hays feels if people don't want to see their taxes continue to go up, a line will have to be drawn on the services. He doesn't feel this is acceptable. He feels there is an alternative which would be the Enterprise fund. There are other avenues for enterprise money out there and this should be a priority. Councilman Hatfield also expressed his appreciation for City staff. Councilman Hatfield made a motion to adopt Res. 97-R-23, second by Councilman Hays. The motion CARRIED 4-0. Councilman Hatfield made a motion to adopt Res. 97-R-24, second by Councilman Mitchum. The motion CARRIED 4-0. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, feels the department heads, Mr. Munoz and Council have done a great job. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilman Hatfield made a motion to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:31 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Kruckmeyer Page -3- Council Special Meeting September 8, 1997