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09-10-2001 - Special , '-' ..... CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER SPECIAL MEETING SEPTEMBER 10, 2001 7:00 P.M. 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 Legal Assistant Robin Matusick Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present MEETING PURPOSE Hold public hearinqs on Ord. No. 2001-0-55. amendinq the city Budqet for the Fiscal Year endinq September 2001: Ord. No. 2001- 0-58. adoptinq final millaqe rate of 5.95 mills per $1.000 of assessed taxable value and Ord. No. 2001-0-56. adoptinq final budqet for fiscal year 2001/02 city Manager Hooper informed Council this is the first of two public hearings on the budget and of the budget message enclosed. He stated they would be doing the first reading of looking at the budget for October 1st through next year, setting the millage for next year and any amendments to the current budget they have underway currently. At the end of this he will hand out a list of those that have sought additional funds from the Council for various organizations. He would like to hold those public hearings at the second public hearing but for Council to see the requests tonight. Like always, the Council is being asked to have more money dispersed than Council has in hand. Finance Director Michele Goins went over the need for an amendment to the current year budget. She stated there were some additional opportunities and revenue changes that need to be taken into consideration for this year's budget and listed those items as being the purchase of the property adjacent to Dustin's, expenditures for Phase I and II of FIND, $35,000 for local law enforcement block grant moneys that were not budgeted, and an increase of $270,000 in State aid for Hurricane Floyd and Irene which were not budgeted. The two decreases were the Federal Grant for the gym in the amount of $277,000, which was budgeted this year. We will still receive that however it will be probably into next fiscal year before that happens. She has put this into next year's budget. She then went over the last item being the financing of the Fire Truck. They have decided it would be a better opportunity to lump that into a larger debt issue. She has taken those revenues out of this year's budget. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2001-0-55 into the record. There were no questions or comments from Council. Mayor Schmidt opened the public hearing. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, he feels the amendment is confusing. He feels they should have more answers on why because he feels this sounds like quite a bit of money. He is totally confused on all these dollars that they should have considered that they did not consider. 'W ""-II Ms. Goins stated they had no way of knowing about the $410,000 for the purchase of the Dustin's property and to remain in compliance with Florida statutes they have to amend the budget. She further commented on the FIND expenditures being confusing because it is an offset, which is amending the revenues and the expenditures so the bottom line is zero. City Manager Hooper the Hurricanes. You allocation for that. gymnasium. further spoke about the reimbursements for can not predict or budget an amount of He then spoke about the grant for the Mayor Schmidt closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-55, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Ms. Goins went over the tentative budget for FY 2002. She referred to the budget message (attached) and informed Council she has highlighted most of the changes that have occurred since the preliminary hearing. They have suggested keeping the current millage rate of 5.95 mills. She needs Council to adopt the ordinances with Ord. 2001-0-58 first and Ord. 2001-0-56 second. The Council needs to adopt the millage rate ordinance first followed by the budget. City Manager Hooper commented on two new officer positions in the Police Department. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if the police officers would be dedicated solely to traffic. City Manager Hooper stated that is the plan but could be used to assist in any other type of police law enforcement as needed. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if they are less expensive than putting cars on the road. City Manager Hooper stated particularly after the first year due to start up costs. Councilman Vincenzi asked city Manager Hooper what he sees as far as tax revenues and millage rate over the next three years. City Manager Hooper commented on a large dollar increase occurring because of annexation and new construction. He sees a trade-off and doesn't see us reducing millage in particular. He would like to highlight and bring back to Council a look at user fees. If they increase some of the user fees there may be an ability to lower some of the property tax. He is trying to bring this back to Council in either December or January. Councilman Vincenzi would like to see over the next couple of years a steady, controlled decline even if it is a half a percent per year. City Manager Hooper spoke about there being an increment each year. The Council will be asked if they want to do things with that dollar amount such as increase service or add parks or those kinds of things. He thinks that will be Council's trade off. If they should expand in some areas and add what they don't have or can they lower some of the taxes. Councilman Vincenzi asked if they could expand and still lower it a little bit. City Manager Hooper stated no. Councilman Brown asked if it would be possible later on as businesses that we are attracting here kick in to lower the taxes a little bit later on. City Manager Hooper stated you can see some of that as they have more relief from the residential tax burden and more of it shifts to a commercial/industrial, that can occur. He spoke about this being a long process. Councilman Brown questioned if they are headed that way. City Manager Hooper informed him they are definitely headed that way. What they are doing right now and the services they are being asked to create are going to make it extremely difficult to lower some of the tax rate, to be realistic about it. Page -2- Council special Meeting September 10, 2001 '-' ....., Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2001-0-58 and Ord. 2001-0-56 into the record. Mayor Schmidt opened the public hearing for Ord. 2001-0-58. There were no questions or comments from Council. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside circle, stated last year they approved the 5.95 millage rate. The rolled back rate at that time was 5.74 which would have brought in the same amount of money as the previous year. To him that is a tax increase. He agrees there is no new taxes but a tax increase. He read in the newspaper the rolled back rate was 5.86 but he sees in tonight's budget it is 5.802. He commented on why he feels they should go back to the rolled back rate. He feels this budget was drawn up before the County came out with its rates on real property which has been increased 3%. He feels the 3% increase would have been larger but a few years back they had the right to vote on the constitutional issue that they could not raise taxes no more than 3%. The 3% increase brings them to a net tax increase on the 5.95 millage rate. He doubts this was considered when the budget was done. He again stated they should go back to the rolled back rate and give the residents of Edgewater a small break. Andy Anderson, pine Tree Drive, stated it looks to him like they have had a more than reasonable increase in the not too distant past on their utility taxes, the portion that goes back to the City on the cable, phone and electric bill and all these other things they don't look at. He looked at them and inquired about them. They list it on there but they don't tell you on your tax bill where the money is going. He is finding out a lot of it is going back to the City. He asked if there is something they can do to reduce that or at least hold the line on these taxes. Councilman Vincenzi asked if they have an estimate on what kind of taxes they get. City Manager Hooper stated he doesn't know of any changes to the utility tax since he has been here. He further commented on the simplified communication tax that is supposed to be revenue neutral. City Manager Hooper further commented on roll back which is $4.50 per household which he feels is a very small amount which totals about $4,200 for the city. He informed Council they have a tight budget. He doesn't think there is any extra. If they had to find ways to cut, the next thing they would be talking about is services to cut. He doesn't know of any. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if anyone would be willing to trade off the $4.50 for one of the police officers they are going to hire. Councilwoman Lichter feels it is a cut budget. has been many more desires and needs expressed departments and they have been cut. She feels and the department heads are stretched. She thinks there by the different it is pretty tight Mayor Schmidt closed the public hearing. Councilman Brown moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-58, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Mayor Schmidt opened the public hearing for Ord. 2001-0-56. Ed Ellison, 20 year businessman in Edgewater, who has with him Herman Barker, stated they represent Pop Warner, which is a non- profit organization. They are here to ask for help. They have successfully disguised Edgewater's football program as New Smyrna's football program for several years and they are falling short. They need some help. Page -3- Council Special Meeting September 10, 2001 ~ "WI Mr. Ellison explained there are 300 kids in the program, 144 being from Edgewater. He submitted a letter earlier in the year asking for less than $5 per child. He commented on Mr. Barker, who has been a long time resident and volunteer coach in Edgewater. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if this has been budgeted. Ms. Goins commented on the list for donations requested for Council. The dollar amount she has assigned is arbitrary and is a starting figure. The amount budgeted is $9,600 and the total contributions requested is around $10,600. There is not enough money to fund all of the requests. City Manager Hooper stated it is probably more than that because some of these letters came in and didn't have a specific amount. Councilwoman Lichter asked if they are bringing this up tonight or is this going to be brought up at the next budget meeting. city Manager Hooper suggested they take this and look it over and talk to him through the week on areas they are interested in. He agreed to get Council a copy of the letter that came in. He would like to have the individuals making the request at the second public hearing come before Council. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she has received two letters from Mr. Ellison. She thinks they should give him some idea of what they have available which is $350. She informed Mr. Ellison if he wanted to come back at their next meeting and plead his case he is welcome to do so. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about none of the Council being against youth but for youth. In his letter he mentioned the amount New Smyrna kicks in and that Edgewater doesn't do anything. She stated Edgewater kicks in the total fireworks for Edgewater, New Smyrna and Oak Hill to enjoy. Mr. Ellison stated he is working on New Smyrna about that. Councilwoman Lichter stated and we have pleaded. Mr. Barker asked if they would like them to come back to the next meeting. Councilwoman Rhodes stated if they want to feel free to but they have already presented their request to them. Mr. Ellison asked if their needs will be considered. Councilwoman Rhodes stated absolutely but probably not to the amount they want. The city just doesn't have it. Mr. Ellison stated he knows the YMCA is trying to build a program and they hope to work hand in hand with them to build their program with the Pop Warner boys. He further commented on needing more awareness for Pop Warner. Councilwoman Rhodes feels another issue is that not everyone in the community that is paying tax dollars wants their dollars to go to Pop Warner football due to maybe having a child in soccer or tennis and wanting the money to go there. Councilwoman Lichter asked if they are all male teams. Mr. Barker stated they have five football teams and five cheer leading teams. They have had female football players but not this year. Councilwoman Lichter stated they have to consider they are using taxpayers money. Mr. Ellison stated they are looking at the youth involvement. He spoke about keeping the youth distracted. The kids are worn out when they go home. They are very focused on their grades. They have their report cards as well as their report cards from the year before. They have a standard of excellence that is paramount for what they are trying to do with community youth. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if anybody can play that wants to. Mr. Barker stated football is restricted by weight and age and you have to have a 2.0 grade point average to play. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if that goes for the cheerleaders also. Mr. Barker stated yes, there are no tryouts. Page -4- Council Special Meeting September 10, 2001 '-' ...., Councilman Vincenzi asked for a breakdown of how many kids play from Edgewater, New Smyrna and how much money New Smyrna gives. Mr. Barker agreed to provide that information tomorrow. Councilman Vincenzi asked him to give it to city Clerk Wadsworth. Councilwoman Rhodes stated maybe they can increase their contribution as times goes on. City Manager Hooper stated the listing is on the board of those that have applied in the past and the Council has funded and the new requests for the audience to see. William Geno, 119 Magnolia Street, spoke about the problems the Council on Aging is having. He has given each member of the council a copy of what they are short to serve the people of Edgewater that are presently eating with them, not counting the roughly 200 people on their waiting list. They are short around $18,000. The budget had an amount in it that would come to 2.25 cents a day for the people they are feeding. He is short $.87 per day for all the residents he is serving. He needs all the help he can get. If he could get half of what he is short per day per person he would be very happy. He informed Council if they have any questions he is at the Brannon Center every day from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., sometimes 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. The $18,000 he is short is for Edgewater, it does not include Oak Hill, New Smyrna or Samsula. He would appreciate any help or input the Council could give him. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-56, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The motion CARRIED 5-0. ADJOURNMENT There was a ten-minute recess at this time before the Regular Meeting. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page -5- Council special Meeting September 10, 2001