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08-18-1977 - Budget Workshop ,. o u CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EDGEWATER BUDGET WORKSHOP August 18, 1977 Mayor Armstrong called the budget workshop meeting of the City Council of the City of Edgewater, Florida to order August 18, 1977 at 6:30 P.M. ROLL CALL: Mayor Dana T. Armstrong Councilwoman Ryta F. Webber Councilman Carl Shell Councilman Walter B. Sikes Councilman Calvin R. Dietz City Attorney Judson Woods City Cl erk Sue Bl ackwel 1 Police Chief Earl Baugh Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present Present Mayor Armstrong stated that the Council has been over this budget about twice now. Councilman Dietz questioned the number of employees in the Street Department. He stated that we have never had fifteen men in this department before. There was some discussion about this. The City Clerk explained to the Council which of these employees are CETA employees, and she went over the salaries with them. 1here was discussion about whether Mr. Martine is going to be retired and if this will effect the amount of the salaries in this department. Councilman Dietz suggested that when ~1r. Martine retires, we should hire some- one to be superintendent of Public Works, that has some knowledge of engineering, streets, drainage and all of the type of work that goes on in that department, and pay the man $10,400 a year. Councilwoman Webber stated that we don't have that kind of money. Councilman Dietz stated that this will be saving over $4.00 an hour. Mayor Armstrong stated that we are paying out this money now and not getting the work done for it. There was more discussion about this, and whether there is anyone employed out at the Street Department now who would be able to handle the superintendent1s job. There was also discussion about the wages, and that you should hire capable men ~nd pay them more, and just not hire as many. The employees were counted. Councilman Dietz asked if twelve men would be enough to handle that department? Councilman Sikes stated that we could transfer some of them to the Water Depart- ment. Councilwoman Webber stated that the Water Department has a stack of men that we have to get rid of tonight. The Council began going over the employees in the Water Department. o u They went back to the employees in the Street Department and began counting them again, and there was discussion about who could be laid off, and if any- one should be laid off. Councilman Shell stated that we can not sit here and decide who we are going to keep and who we are going to layoff, we should have a recommendation from the superintendent. Tape 1 B The City Clerk explained that after she went through the budget and made some more cuts she has it down to $64,300 which is left to be cut, to meet the appropriated revenue. The City Clerk went over the figures that she came up with for the hourly wages in the Street Department, and explained how about $8,000 can be taken out of this figure. She explained that we put $2,650 under the Park Maintenance for wages, which was already added in the wages for the Street Department. If you are going to leave this in this account, you can go back and take that much more out of the Street Department. She added that you also have $3,000 budgeted in the Landfill which was added into the Street Department. All of these figures were added in twice, therefore you can take a total of $13,000 out of the $100,000 which was put in the Street Department. Mayor Armstrong stated that we should be looking for some $30,000 or $40,000 to cut somewhere. It was explained that what we have done is make duplications in different places and we have to go and take this out one place. The City Clerk went back over the figures she was talking about. After more discussion it was decided to leave this all as it was, and the City Clerk went back to Account #100 and started going over what she took out of each category. She took $1,049 out of the entire account. She took $2,000 out of Legal Fees. She took $4,000 out of City Clerk. She left Finance Director at $1.00 and Property Manager at $1.00. She cut $3,200 out of the top of the Police Department. She cut $7,000 out of the bottom of this account, however Mrs. Webber left it at $10,000. She explained that the reason she did this was that if we have $1.00 when we get through for Capital Outlay anywhere in the entire General Fund Budget it is going to be a miracle, but she left $3,000 in there. She left Municipal Court alone. She stated that she spoke with Tommy Duane at Florida Power & Light today, and if $30,500 covers the Street Lights, it will be a minor miracle. She did not touch Emergency Pre- paredness, nor Rescue. Mayor Armstrong stated that he questions the increase in this portion of the budget. Councilman Sikes stated that most of this is for equipment. The City Clerk went on to explain the rest of the items that she cut from. She took $8,000 out of the Fire Department Capital Outlay. She stated that she did not touch City Hall or Community Center or the Library, Shuffleboard or Building Inspector. She said that in the Street Department she took $20,000 out of the Capital Expenditures and left $7,000. She took $500 out of the Equipment under Capital Outlay in the Park Maintenance & Recreation. She did not touch Sanitation.She took $3,500 out of Landfill. In the Non- Department account, she put $18,000 for Social Security, Health Insurance - $11,000, At this point there was more discussion about the Social Security. The City Clerk went on with the figures in the Non-Departmental account. Workman's Compensation - $16,000. She stated that since this saves about $2,000 here, we can leave the Social Security figure at $19,000. Tape 2A There was discussion about the Humane Society figure, but it was left as it was. -2- o u At this point the Council stopped with the Non-Departmental account. Mayor Armstrong asked how much we are going to reflect in over collections in the various departments? The :City Clerk stated that so far this year we have over collected $33,329 on various items. Mayor Armstrong stated that now he would like to know how much we have under collected anticipated revenue that we did not get? The City Clerk stated $25,496. Mayor Armstrong stated that that give us about $8,000 surplus, so we have $41,000 per month for two months and we are showing a reflection here of $20,000 surplus to carryover to the new fiscal year. He added that he thinks that we will be safe to say $30,000 to account for the over collections. He said that what we are going to have to do is this next few months we are going to stay within the budget. The City Clerk worked with the figures on the revenue sheet. The total being $672,045. She went over the figures that have changed. She added that after she figured up the cuts that she had made in the budgeted figures, the total came to $729,345. There was discussion as to where the Council can cut the budget. They went back and looked over the different accounts. Councilman Sikes stated that we have all more or less agreed to get into a retirement plan, but what if we start that the first of the year, that would be about a fourth of the amount off on that; about $7,000. Councilman Dietz stated that we have a Building Inspector who works two hours a day and another man who works four hours a day. They are making 23,400 and they don't pay us anything for the use of the office or anything, let's cut their percentage back to 50% and that will give us $6,000. We can charge them $6,000 for their office space, lights and materials. Tape 2B Mayor Armstrong stated that we will have to write a new contract with them. Councilwoman Webber agreed with this idea. Mayor Armstrong also agreed. They went back and raised the revenue figures in regard to the building permits, and decreased the Building Inspector1s category in the budget. There was quite a bit of discussion on doing this, and how exactly it is figured. Then the City Clerk stated that by taking everybody's Capital Improvements we need $30,600. Councilman Sikes asked if the Council feels that we can take $500 out of Account #103? This was agreed upon after some discussion. Mayor Armstrong stated that he is not sure if we should do away with all of the Capital Improvements. Councilman Dietz stated that he has gone over the Water & Sewer budget and they have come up with $84,000 and some of Capital Improvements for this year. If the City Clerk can get this to come up to about $86,000 he will say that he thinks that they can give the City $25,000 to put in the General Government fund. He went on to say that he feels later on we will have to adjust the water and sewer rates again because the taxpayers are being hurt by the money that is being charged for the Utility Taxes. At this time there was some discussion about the water and sewer rates, and how they might be adjusted. -3- o Q Mayor Armstrong stated that we are going to be in trouble anyway, because we have $36,000 on interest plus $1,000 principle of $37,000 a year on F.H.A. notes that we are going to have to start paying, plus the increase in the light bills that we are having. Councilman Dietz explained that this has all been taken into consideration and we will still have $84,000 and some. Mayor Armstrong stated that this will not last, because you can't take your investments and invest them, in other words, you are going to lose your interest if you spend your principal. Councilman Dietz stated that they are not taking anything out of the invest- ments; these are monies over and above what we have, and has been put into Capital Improvements. There was more discussion on the figures, and Councilman Dietz asked before we go any further did the City Clerk agree that he could cut his Capital Improvements that much? The City Clerk stated yes, that she will agree with this. Councilwoman Webber asked if he could make this $30,000 so we can go home. Councilman Dietz stated that we changed our bookkeeping system, so this is one reason we can't do that, no longer do we have line extensions, or any- thing in Operation and Maintenance, because those are all Capital Improvements. Mayor Armstrong stated that this is where we are getting ready to go to jail, and when it comes to intermingling funds between General Government and the Water and Sewer Department. He added that he is not going to have anything to do with this. Councilman Dietz stated that this is not intermingling funds. He asked if Ordinance 400 says we can't do this? Mayor Armstrong stated that you can't raise rates for the people in Edgewater and supply the General Government with any money at all. Councilman Dietz stated that we can do this, and he will clear it with May, Zima in the morning. Mayor Armstrong stated that this will be another bill that we will have to pay May, Zima. There was more controversy. Mayor Armstrong stated that he is not going to argue, we might as well adjourn the meeting. Councilman Dietz stated that we did not raise the rates to do this because the new rates don't go into effect until October 1st. This is monies from this year. Mayor Armstrong asked how we can substantiate that we need a rate increase if you have a lot of surplus money? Councilman Dietz stated that because we are going to borrow $300,000. Mayor Armstrong stated that this is not certain yet. There was discussion and controversy over the loan and the financial condition of the City. There was much controversy about the way the loan matter has been handled. The City Clerk interrupted and stated that she has balanced the budget. -4- o o Councilman Sikes asked her to explain it to them. The City Clerk stated that she got it down to $5,650, and she went back and said that we are going to over collect on taxes, because that figures at 95% and this year we have already over collected taxes $6,000 and some taxes. The Council and the Clerk went over the changes on the sheets of the budget. The City Clerk explained that she went back and took out all of the Capital Outlay figures. If we can have the $25,000 and it is not illegal, then she will be able to go back and put some of it back, but if we don't we are still in balance. The Council went back with the City Clerk as she explained the exact figures that she took out. She explained that she will go back later and put $1.00 in these items in order to keep them open. There was discussion about the millage. Councilman Dietz stated that he feels that we should leave it the way it was last year instead of dropping it. The County dropped it. Councilwoman Webber stated that we can't go higher than the County. The City Clerk stated that she does not think that we have time to advertise for this. Mayor Armstrong stated that he thinks that it takes fourteen days to advertise, but it calls for two Public Hearings. The City Clerk suggested that we go with the budget without any Capital Im- provements, then next year you maybe can justify Mayor Armstrong stated that at a crucial time for money he feels that the Capital Improvements should be based on what you can afford to do about half way through the fiscal year, or so. He went on to say that a third of our budget is take home pay and he doesn't think that we are getting enough for what we are spending. Councilman Sikes stated that in any business, a third of the budget is salaries and a third of that salary figure is the benefits. He said that perhaps we could utilize the men's time to better advantage. Mayor Armstrong stated that this is what he means. At this time the Council began working on the Water and Wastewater Budget. Anticipated Income: Councilman Dietz went over the figures: Water connections - $22,500 Wastewater connections - $3,000 Hydrant rental - $6,300 Water sales - $142,350 Wastewater treatement - $112,788 Utility taxes - $97,000 Interest - $10,000 Miscellaneous - $450.00 Tape 3B Anticipated Expenditures - Councilman Dietz continued: Operation and Maintenance - $195,842 Bond Indebtedness - $94,000 Fm.H.A. loan - $36,000 New loan - $15,000 Councilman Dietz explained that he and the City Clerk found about $35,000 of surplus monies that has been laying in these accounts, plus there is some interest that has not been accounted to anything. He added that if we can come up $86,000 in Capital Improvements then he is sure he can give the City $25,000 and it won't hurt the budget. -5- o o The City Clerk stated that one thing was left out; that is the reserve account that we have to fund for the Fm. Home loan. This comes to $4,149.96 a year. She continued working with the figures. Councilman Dietz continued, stating that they only figured 5% on the wages to be put toward the retirement or whatever. There is an 8% increase in the salaries which includes an additional one man.He explained the different salaries for each of the men in the department, and what their salaries will be as they advance. Councilman Dietz began going over the expense figures in his budget, explaining how he has come up with the different amounts. He also explained that a lot of the items now go under Capital Improvements, which was a recommendation of May, lima. He stated that the budget has an increase of $30,000 this year. Councilman Sikes questioned whether the retirement should be shown in the expenses? The City Clerk stated that it should be shown. Tape 4A There was discussion on this. Councilman Dietz stated that he feels sure that this will balance, because we anticipated a lot of growth. Councilman Dietz stated to the Mayor that he did talk to May, lima about this and they informed him that all monies over and above the necessary monies for operating, maintenance, capital improvements, loan indebtedness can be declared surplus and the City can take that into the General Government. He added that he will clear it again with them. Mayor Armstrong stated that he knows that after all of the debts and so on in the Water and Sewer Department has been paid and it is surplus, that it can be appropriated by the City Council and spent for any lawful purpose. But when you are talking about obligating money from the electric plant to operate Capital Government ..(the tape was turned over and the rest of this sentence was missed). He added that we can't appropriate any money at all out of Water and Sewer unless our Consulting Engineers gives us an opinion of the feasibility of it. Councilman Dietz stated that he was told by May, lima that this can be done. but we can get it in writing. Councilman Sikes stated that he would rather have these type of letters in the event that anything is wrong. We are not accountants, they can better make such recommendations. Councilman Dietz asked if everyone is in agreement with the budget? Councilman Sikes stated that we should let the City Clerk work this up and let May, lima look over it and check this out with them. The City Clerk should report back to the Council on this. Councilman Sikes also asked that on all of the salaries, he would like to see a break down on exactly what is paid for. There were various discussions at this point in the meeting. The different salaries were discussed, the different job positions. Councilman Sikes stated that he is not really pleased with Tomoka, but since we had to close our land- fill that was the only feasible way we had to go. Councilman Dietz explained that we are going to try to work out a system with a pager for the garbage men so that they can be called right away when we receive a complaint. Councilman Sikes stated that he spoke with Dan Cory today about the survey and the situation at the Pumping Station. He added that perhaps he will have some- thing to show the Council at the next Council meeting. Councilman Dietz stated that we have had a lot of trouble with Lift Station #4. He explained the work that he and Mr. Kuyk decided to do to take care of this situation. The estimated cost is $6,500 for the equipment and we will go out on bids for it. -6- o o There were some questions about this work, which Councilman Dietz answered. Mayor Armstrong stated that as bad as he hates to see this done, it is going to have to be done. Councilman Dietz made a motion that we instruct Briley, Wild to go ahead and put this out for bids, for the equipment for replacing the pumps at Lift Station #4, being seconded by Councilman Sikes. Upon roll call vote said motion CARRIED, 5-0. Councilman Shell stated that on Lake Avenue Mr. Palmer is building a house, there is a ditch on his property and across the street there is a catch basin. He would like that fixed. The City Clerk explained that she told Mr. Palmer to see the man from the Mosquito Control about this. There was discussion about the ditch. Mayor Armstrong stated that we are not involved in this. Councilman Dietz said that if he covers up the ditch and floods the area we will be involved. Mayor Armstrong stated that the City can not go on private property and lay drain pipe. If Mr. Palmer closes up the ditch he will be liable for flooding the other property. Councilman Sikes made a motion to adjourn, being seconded by Councilwoman Webber. Said motion CARRIED. ATTEST: i~k~ t/:.J Approved this I q day of ~A.D. 1977. ;~ ~ _. c;/Z-/ 'fA tFR#~ ~a____~- M yor ~ -7 -