Okaloosa County BOCC — November 4, 2012 — reading text

drainage. City officials said that, in the past couple of years, six or seven developers have met with the city about the property but couldn't make anything work. Mr. Morrill and John Hutton, the city's acting inspections director, are more optimistic about this proposal because three developers, including a group building a mall just to the south, are working together to address the big issues, such as drainage. "All of a sudden, you are looking at doing something for one-third of the cost," Mr. Hutton said. -46- Packet Pg. 315  6.1.a.b Internet Research Morrill, Christopher Note: This research will be presented in reverse chronological order Savannah Morning News (GA) October 15, 2002 SAVANNAH OFFICIALS TO STAY IN INDONESIA THREE CITY EMPLOYEES TO CONTINUE GOODWILL VISIT DESPITE VIOLENCE. Attachment: Colin Baenziger (1222 : Search Firm for Position of County Administrator) Author: Savannah Morning News Friday, three Savannah city officials departed for Indonesia on a goodwill mission to offer their expertise to a sister city across the globe. The next day, while the group was in midflight, a bomb exploded in a Bali nightclub. Sunday, the Savannah trio landed in Indonesia as thousands of Westerners attempted to flee the island nation. The three - acting Revenue Director Buddy Clay; Development Services Administrator John Hutton; and Public Development Coordinator Cindy Boyette - were given the option of returning, but decided to stay, despite a U.S. embassy order evacuating all nonessential personnel. The city they are visiting, Yogyakarta, is located on the main island, they reasoned, and they are being accompanied at most times by Indonesian security. As an extra precaution, they have canceled planned media events to lower their visibility. "They feel safe and they are going to stay," said Assistant City Manager Chris Morrill. "If the situation changes, we will get them out quickly." Morrill, City Manager Michael Brown and Finance Director Richard Evans visited Yogyakarta in March to establish the sister-city partnership as part of a program funded by the International City/County Managers Association. Hutton, Clay and Boyette will spend the week helping Yogyakarta improve its revenue system and inspections process. -47- Packet Pg. 316  6.1.a.b Internet Research Morrill, Christopher Note: This research will be presented in reverse chronological order Savannah Morning News (GA) September 13, 2002 LOST SOLUTION MAY BE FOUND NEGOTIATORS TENTATIVELY AGREE HOW TO SPLIT ABOUT $45 MILLION A YEAR, BUT THE COUNTY COULD BLOCK THE PLAN TODAY. Attachment: Colin Baenziger (1222 : Search Firm for Position of County Administrator) Author: Jennifer Moroz, Savannah Morning News After months of bitter back-and-forth, negotiators for Chatham County and eight municipalities have reached a tentative agreement on how to split up millions of dollars in sales-tax revenue. Under the proposed distribution of the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST), the cash-strapped county would get about $2.3 million a year more than it does under the current arrangement. County Commission Chairman Billy Hair and representatives of the municipalities, including Savannah, agreed the deal was a fair compromise. But some county commissioners say that it does not go far enough, and their voices count: The proposal needs the stamp of the majority on the nine- member commission to become final. The commission is expected to consider the matter at its regularly scheduled meeting this morning. Pooler Mayor Buddy Carter was confident: "We've got five votes lined up." County Commissioner Frank Murray, one of two designated negotiators for the county, wasn't so certain. "I don't think it's an offer that has the support to pass," he said. Murray himself is against the proposal, which was hammered out over the last few days between Hair and Savannah Mayor Floyd Adams Jr. Representatives of the other seven municipalities, which have teamed up with Savannah in the negotiations, have signaled their approval. "I think we're getting close," Murray said, "but I don't feel the offer is where it needs to be right now." Proceeds from the 1-percent sales tax represent a major source of revenue for local governments, which use the money to fund services - and lessen the property-tax burden on homeowners. Over the next 10 years, the tax is expected to generate about $500 million. About 35 percent, or $175 million, of that comes from tourist spending. The proceeds are divided based on a number of criteria, including population, level of services provided by each government, and where the tax is generated. The first split is between the county and the municipalities as a group; the municipalities then decide how to divvy up their share. Under the current distribution formula, negotiated in 1995, the county gets 19.22 percent of the annual proceeds - about $8.3 million last year. Savannah gets the bulk at 68.73 percent - about $30 million last year. Over the last three months, county officials have argued that they have lost millions a year as a result of the 1995 deal, when they picked up the cost of housing municipal prisoners in return for a slightly larger piece of the sales-tax pie. Commissioners, who just finished closing an $11.7 million hole in the county's operations budget, have blamed a large part of the county's ongoing financial woes on the prisoner issue. -48- Packet Pg. 317  6.1.a.b Internet Research Morrill, Christopher Note: This research will be presented in reverse chronological order Municipal officials countered that the county has overestimated its losses, using faulty figures to calculate prisoner costs. Under the proposed new agreement, the county would get 17.6 percent of the sales-tax revenue - an amount equal to about $7.9 million next year. It would charge the municipalities $30 a day for each municipal prisoner housed in the county jail. The county would pay for municipal prisoners not yet bound over to the state court system after 28 days. Attachment: Colin Baenziger (1222 : Search Firm for Position of County Administrator) County officials estimate those prisoner fees will bring in an extra $2.7 million a year. "I think we've come to an agreement we can all live with," said Garden City administrator Tom Gates. "We tried to do what was fair and right and protect the tax to make sure it continues to exist." If an agreement is not finalized by Dec. 30, the tax expires. Up until last week, negotiations appeared deadlocked. County officials had originally been asking for 18.6 percent of the tax proceeds, plus $45 a day for each municipal prisoner. City negotiators in return offered the county a 15.51 percent cut of the sales-tax pie, with no help to maintain the county jail. Savannah Assistant City Manager Chris Morrill said the proposed deal was especially sweet for the county. "They started at 18.6 percent and $45 (a day per prisoner) and look where this agreement is," Morrill said. "This is a good deal for them." The city, which last year got about $30 million of the proceeds and didn't have to pay to house its prisoners, would lose about $600,000 a year. Morrill said he did not yet know how officials would make up the lost revenue. If county commissioners ratify the agreement, the municipalities would decide how to divide the remainder of the sales-tax proceeds. That division is usually based on population, which would give Savannah 67.37 percent, or about $30.3 million next year. Bloomingdale would get 1.37 percent; Garden City 5.78 percent; Pooler 3.2 percent; Port Wentworth 1.68 percent; Thunderbolt 1.2 percent; Tybee Island 1.74 percent; and Vernonburg .07 percent. -49- Packet Pg. 318  6.1.a.b Internet Research Morrill, Christopher Note: This research will be presented in reverse chronological order Savannah Morning News (GA) February 1, 2002 SAVANNAH AGREES TO IMPROVE ACCESS SETTLEMENT WITH JUSTICE DEPT. COMES ALMOST 2 YEARS AFTER AUDIT FOR COMPLIANCE WITH ADA Author: Kate Wiltrout Attachment: Colin Baenziger (1222 : Search Firm for Position of County Administrator) Navigating Savannah's streets - and its bureaucracy - will soon get a little easier for disabled people. The city is one of 21 state and local governments that settled Wednesday with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Now almost 10 years old, the act requires that public facilities be made accessible to all people. Chris Morrill, an assistant Savannah city manager, said the 11-point agreement should take about two years to complete. He estimated it would cost about $300,000, and that money would be found in the budget for the improvements. Some of the changes are easier than others. For instance, all letters sent from city offices will have a central TTY telephone number on them, so hearing-impaired residents can contact the city. City Council chambers will be fitted with listening systems for the hard-of-hearing, as will Grayson Stadium and the Martin Luther King Jr. Arena at the Civic Center. Others are more labor intensive. The city agreed to physical modifications so that "parking, routes into buildings, entrances, doors, elevators, signage, public telephones, restrooms, dressing rooms, locker rooms, service counters, drinking fountains and swimming pools are accessible to people with disabilities." Carol Bell, Central Services director, said the city would go beyond what's required. "We don't really have any qualms with the agreement," she said. City Hall will get one wheel- chair accessible bathroom, though it was technically compliant already, with bathrooms in the nearby hospitality center on River Street, said city architect Thomas Perdue. "God only knows whether the original City Hall even had bathrooms," Perdue said. "The city occupies a lot of buildings that are very historic and very old, and most of those are the ones we have problems with." -50- Packet Pg. 319