A
REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF
BUDGET
WORKSHOP
AUGUST
14, 2007
The
Lake County Board of
The
Chairman opened the meeting.
SHERIFF-FUNDING
ADJUSTMENTS
Ms.
Cindy Hall,
On
a motion by Commr. Stewart, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously, by
a 4-0 vote, the Board approved the funding adjustments in the Sheriff’s budget,
as presented, and for said funding to be taken from
Reserves.
ENVIRONMENTAL
SERVICES
Mr.
Daryl Smith, Environmental Services Director, addressed the Board regarding the
County’s attempt to take over the operation of its recycling facility, which has
been operated by a private contractor since October 1, 2002 and before that by
the County. He discussed the
current contractor, SP Recycling, and the fact that they pay the County
approximately $50,000 to $60,000 per year to rent the facility. He stated that it is a good deal for the
contractor, because they only pay the County for what comes in from the
unincorporated areas and the municipalities, which represents approximately
11,000 tons per year of recyclables, and, in addition to that, they bring in
7,000 to 8,000 tons of their own material, which only they receive revenue
for. He stated that their annual
revenue is approximately $2.4 million, based on current market rates, which he
feels is going to stay fairly high, because of what is happening over seas, so
that is additional revenue that the County could receive, allowing the
opportunity to share more revenue with each of the municipalities. He stated that staff hopes, by enhancing
the revenue for each of the municipalities, the County can encourage them to do
more recycling. He stated that the
County will do some additional separation of the recyclables and will utilize
people from Sunrise Arc, as well as inmates from the Jail, to do so. He stated that new collection service
contracts will be coming up in 2009 and, by being in charge of the operation of
the facility, the County will have much more flexibility and be able to enhance
the recycling program when it does the new collection services, which is another
aspect of taking over the operations and it being beneficial to the County. He stated that, if the Board concurs
with staff’s recommendation, they would ask that they be allowed to hire
personnel, as well, to enable them to get started on October 1st,
noting that the current contract expires September 30, 2007. He stated that they need to purchase
some equipment, which costs $156,000, and would ask that the Board allow them to
initiate the Procurement process for the purchase of that new
equipment.
Commr.
Cadwell stated that he liked the idea that the County would have environmental
and economic control over the sale and disposition of the recyclables, as well
as the fact that it would employ the services of physically and mentally
challenged individuals, in partnership with Sunrise ARC of Lake County, and/or
perhaps inmates, to accomplish its sorting activities.
Commr.
Renick stated that it is an excellent idea; however, she feels it might be
prudent on the part of the County to wait one more year, to see how things go,
with regard to the risks involved.
She stated that she would like to know what the contractor would be
willing to do and the County has not gone through that process
yet.
Mr.
Smith interjected that, in discussing the matter with the contractor, they did
not seem to be receptive to negotiating the contract.
Commr.
Stewart stated that, when she met with the contractor, they were very eager to
keep the contract with the County, which gave her the impression that it must be
very lucrative for them and, therefore, could be very lucrative for the County.
She stated that Mr. Smith has done
his research and feels comfortable about the market value of recyclables, and
she does not feel the County would jump into this endeavor without being pretty
sure that it will be successful.
She stated that she feels anything the Board can do to help the County
make money and possibly save the citizens money down the road is
worthwhile.
Commr.
Hill, the Solid Waste Advisory Committee Liaison to the Board, stated that the
Committee did a very intense financial analysis of the recycling process and was
very positive about it. She stated
that their recommendation was for approval, but, if the Board approved to do so,
she would recommend that the equipment used for the recycling process be
upgraded.
On
a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously, by
a 4-0 vote, the Board approved a request from the Department of Environmental
Services to bring the Recycling Program in-house and, by doing so, to amend
their budget, as presented, increasing both the Revenue and
Expenditures.
OTHER
FUNDING ADJUSTMENTS
Ms.
Regina Frazier, Budget Director, informed the Board that there will be further
adjustments to the budget, with the Solid Waste Revenue figures changing, noting
that the administration fees coming to the General Fund from Solid Waste will
have to be adjusted.
On
a motion by Commr. Renick, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously,
by a 4-0 vote, the Board approved funding adjustments to the General Fund, as
indicated.
The
Mr.
Greg Mihalic, Tourism and Business Relations Director, addressed the Board
stating that the Tourist Development Council (TDC) will pay back the $1 million
over four years, however, noted that they do not anticipate borrowing that money
until next fiscal year.
Commr.
Hill stated that she would like the Board to have a discussion about reserving
the monies within that fund for incentives, etc., to promote businesses to come
to the County.
Commr.
Cadwell interjected that incentive dollars are played less now than they used to
be, in getting companies to come to the County, noting that it is now more about
the work force where they are moving to, etc.
800
MHZ RADIO SYSTEM FUNDING
Ms.
Cindy Hall, County Manager, informed the Board that staff has come up with a
funding solution for the 800 mHz Radio System, noting that a number of months
ago they approved for Public Safety to work out a contract with Motorola, which
they have done and are now ready to bring it to the Board for approval. She stated that they have established a
price for the new system of $32 million, adding in the cost of replacing the
Staff’s
recommendation would be cash funding in the amount of $24.9 million; a bank loan
of $10 million, or have the balance of the project paid over 7 years from
Infrastructure Sales Tax; the County will carryforward monies that were
previously earmarked for Conserv II and/or the South Tavares Complex; there are
insurance proceeds from the destruction of the tower in February of 2007 from
the tornadoes; and grant funds are anticipated from Federal
legislation.
Commr.
Cadwell stated that it has been a long time coming and that he was glad the
County would not be tapping into the bond money to pay for
it.
Commr.
Renick stated that there was a need for this system before the tornadoes - the
tornadoes just emphasized the situation.
She stated that she did not have a problem with the radio system, but was
concerned about the bank loan. She
suggested that the County make the loan as small as possible, by cutting
elsewhere, which she elaborated on, noting that she feels the County should be
prepared for the worst case scenario, so, rather than having an okay year this
year and then having to make cuts next year, she feels the County should make
more cuts now and reduce the amount of the loan.
Commr.
Stewart concurred, stating that she feels the County can make more cuts to cover
the cost of the system. She stated
that lives are being risked every day and the least the County can do is make it
as safe as possible for those men and women who are risking their lives, who
need to be able to communicate with each other. She stated that she feels the County
needs to approve this request and, if some cuts can be made someplace else to
reduce the amount of the loan the County needs to do it, especially with the
uncertainty of what is going to happen next year.
Ms.
Hall,
On
a motion by Commr. Renick, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously, by a
4-0 vote, the Board approved staff’s recommendation for the funding of the 800
mHz radio system, with the stipulation that staff continue to look at other
projects to draw down the amount of money that the County will have to borrow at
the end of this project.
UPDATE AND COST
CONSIDERATION OF JOINT USE LIBRARY WITH
The
Ms.
Wendy Breeden, Library Services Director, addressed the Board stating that
another $1 million could be matched by the State, which would put the project
within range, and they have some other options that they feel could get them the
rest of the way, which she elaborated on.
Commr.
Cadwell stated that this is a diamond of a project and he would hope the County
would continue to fund it fully, so that they can get it done and have something
to be proud of.
Commr.
Stewart concurred, stating that businesses looking to relocate look at an
educated workforce and this request goes a long way towards educating the
County’s workforce. She stated that
she feels it is an important thing for the County.
Commr.
Renick stated that she thought the library was going to be smaller than it
is.
Ms.
Breeden stated that it was originally smaller than what was being presented this
date and that she feels one of the ways to help bridge the gap in funding is to
go back to the original square footage.
Mr.
Richard Scott, Vice President of Administrative Services,
On
a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously, by
a 4-0 vote, the Board approved for the County to move forward with the joint use
library project with
RECESS
AND REASSEMBLY
At
10:00 a.m., the Chairman announced that the Board would recess for five
minutes.
CITY OF
VACATED
PORTION OF
Mr.
Sandy Minkoff,
On
a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Renick and carried unanimously, by a
4-0 vote, the Board approved the Interlocal Agreement between
Mr.
Minkoff stated that another item that came up, with respect to the Parking
Garage, was the fact that the County has a fast track system involving its
permitting, where projects that are placed in it receive priority attention,
permitting-wise, and, in discussing the Judicial Center and downtown projects,
the Building Department questioned whether the Board would like to have those
projects placed into that fast track system.
It
was noted that the Board did not want the County’s projects to receive any
special treatment.
DISCUSSION
OF SIGNATURE AUTHORITY
Mr.
Barnett Schwartzman, Procurement Director, addressed the Board and discussed the
County’s purchasing policy, as it pertains to the signature authority of the
Commr.
Renick stated that she was in favor of reducing the signature authority for the
County Manager from $50,000 to $25,000, noting that it was no reflection on the
County Manager, it is just that she feels it is a way to make sure that anything
over $25,000 comes back to the Board for approval.
Ms.
Hall, County Manager, stated that she did not have a problem with the Board
reducing the amount of her signature authority, however, requested that the
Procurement Director be given some time to figure out how to make it work,
noting that there are some operational issues. She asked that, rather than it being
done this date, staff be allowed to come back to the Board at a later date with
some suggested changes to the Procurement Policy, giving them a chance to work
with the departments and make sure that everything is aligned and that nothing
that is already in the works gets cut off.
Commr.
Stewart interjected that she too would like to lower the
threshold.
On
a motion by Commr. Renick, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously,
by a 4-0 vote, the Board approved for staff to bring back to them at a later
date a new Procurement Policy reducing the signature authority for the County
Manager from $50,000 to $25,000.
OTHER
BUSINESS
SPECIAL
SESSION OF LEGISLATURE REGARDING MEDICAID
The
County Manager, Ms. Hall, informed the Board about some things that will be
coming before them that she wanted them to be aware of, one being that a special
legislative session has been scheduled, to look at Medicaid. She stated that the worst case scenario
is that the County may end up having to pay approximately $1.2 million in
additional money for Medicaid. She
stated that it is something that may be coming the County’s way and, if so, they
will need to make an adjustment for it.
RECOMMENDATION
FROM PUBLIC SAFETY COORDINATING COUNCIL
REGARDING
The
County Manager, Ms. Hall, stated that another thing that is going to be coming
before the Board at a later date is a recommendation from the Public Safety
Coordinating Council for the LifeStream Behavioral Center to apply for a grant,
which is a matched grant, that would reduce the population in the County’s Jail
of inmates who have mental problems, in that they will be moved to the
LifeStream Behavioral Center. She
stated that, if the County is awarded the grant and the Board chooses to move
forward with it, it will be approximately $330,000 for three
years.
Commr.
Hill interjected that it will be for non-violent misdemeanor inmates, who need
medical attention more than they do incarceration. She stated that they require a different
level of care and it is very expensive to house them – it costs more to house
them than it does a regular inmate.
She stated that they are not receiving proper care in the Jail, so when
they get out they still have a problem and end up right back in
Jail.
PROPOSED
REDUCTION IN COUNTY’S BUDGET
Commr.
Stewart stated that, with regard to the County’s budget, she feels they have
made a good start in reducing it, but is not sure that they have gone far
enough, because these are tough times and the citizens of
Commr.
Renick stated that she felt each of the Commissioners, in going through their
copies of the budget, saw things that could still be cut. She stated that she feels they should
cut back as much as possible this year, because it will make the transition a
little easier next year, when she feels the County is going to have to cut back
a lot. She suggested that each of
the Commissioners give a list of their concerns about the budget to the
Commr.
Cadwell stated that he disagreed with Commr. Stewart’s suggestion that the
directors be told to revisit their budgets, noting that he feels they have made
professional determinations about what they need to operate their departments
and it is now the Board’s job to look at those budgets and, if they do not agree
with the directors’ determinations, to tell them so.
Ms.
Hall stated that the first public hearing on the budget is set for September 4,
2007, which is the first Tuesday after Labor Day, therefore, suggested that the
follow-up Budget Workshop be held the last week in August. She asked that the Board get their lists
of concerns to her by Friday, August 17, 2007.
ADJOURNMENT
There
being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the
meeting was adjourned at 10:50 a.m.
____________________________________
WELTON G. CADWELL, CHAIRMAN
ATTEST:
__________________________
JAMES
C. WATKINS, CLERK