Okaloosa County BOCC — January 18, 2013 — reading text

Attachment: Attorney General P&T Audit (1278 : Response to the Auditor General's Report) nonprofit organizations. As discussed in finding No. 15, the TDC and TDC Marketing Subcommittee also awarded special event grants to selected groups or organizations. Based on their responsibilities, both the TDC and the TDC subcommittees are subject to the Sunshine Law. The minutes of the TDC and TDC subcommittee meetings were generally recorded, approved at subsequent meetings, and electronically stored by the County. However, our review of the minutes of the TDC and TDC subcommittee meetings disclosed that County procedures for maintaining official records of the meetings needed improvement. For example, we noted that minutes were not recorded for a TDC meeting and a TDC subcommittee meeting held on December 8, 2010, and October 28, 2010, respectively. We also noted that the minutes of the remaining meetings were not signed by the committee or subcommittee chairman or the employee who recorded the minutes. In addition, we noted several meetings for which two versions of the minutes were retained by the County. The County?s legal counsel indicated that the different versions represented draft and final versions of the minutes, and a specific file for the final approved and official meeting minutes of the TDC and TDC subcommittees was not maintained. In the absence of meeting minutes signed by the TDC or TDC subcommittee chairman and the employee who recorded the minutes, the County cannot demonstrate that the minutes made available for public inspection represent the official record of the discussions and actions taken at the meetings. In September 2012, the BCC adopted policies and procedures regarding TDC and TDC subcommittee minutes as part of the TDC?s operations and procedures manual. These policies and procedures require written minutes to be maintained for all TDC and TDC subcommittee meetings and an audio recording of each TDC meeting to be made and retained as a public record. Recommendation: The County should continue to strengthen its procedures for maintaining official minutes of the TDC and TDC subcommittees by recording minutes for all meetings and requiring that the final approved minutes made available for public inspection be signed by the TDC or TDC subcommittee chairman and the employee who recorded the minutes. RELATED INFORMATION The State Attorney, 1st Judicial Circuit, and several law enforcement agencies, including the Okaloosa County Sheriff?s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are investigating alleged improprieties involving the TDC and the former TDC Executive Director. At the close of our audit fieldwork, these investigations were ongoing. 28 Packet Pg. 362  9.1.a Packet Pg. 363 Attachment: Attorney General P&T Audit (1278 : Response to the Auditor General's Report)  9.1.b From: KEN DANLEY [KENDANLEY@AUD.STATE.FL.US] Sent: Friday, December 28, 2012 3:24 PM To: Jim Curry Cc: Don Amunds; MARILYN ROSETTI; JIM KIEDINGER Subject: Preliminary and Tentative Finding Revision Mr. Curry, Attachment: AG P&T Amendment (1278 : Response to the Auditor General's Report) As requested, I am forwarding the revised Preliminary and Tentative Finding No. 17. Please don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions. Thank you. Ken Danley, CPA, CGFM Audit Coordinator State of Florida Auditor General (850) 484-5138 Fax: (850) 484-5112 In the event your response contains information that may be considered sensitive or confidential, please do not send that information via fax or email. Please contact me to make alternative arrangements to provide the information. Packet Pg. 364  9.1.b Finding No. 17: Tourist Development Taxes – Statutory Compliance Attachment: AG P&T Amendment (1278 : Response to the Auditor General's Report) As discussed in the Background section of this report, Section 125.0104, Florida Statutes, governs the use of tourist development taxes and indicates the various purposes for which they may be used. This Section further provides that any use of tourist development taxes not expressly authorized is prohibited. During the period May 2010 through May 2012, the County paid $1,912,095.68 from tourist development taxes to fund a portion of lifeguarding and beach patrol services provided by the City of Destin Fire Department and the Okaloosa County Beach Safety Department. Section 125.0104, Florida Statutes, does not expressly authorize such expenditures as allowable uses of tourist development taxes. In response to our inquiries, County personnel provided three opinions from legal counsel indicating that tourist development taxes may be used to fund lifeguard and beach patrol services, provided that the BCC makes a legislative determination that the primary purpose of these services is related to either promoting tourism within the County or the improvement or enhancement of beach facilities. However, in Attorney General Opinion No. 90-55, dated July 23, 1990, the Attorney General concluded that tourist development taxes may not be used to fund lifeguarding services or general governmental functions owed to the public at large. During the period May 2010 through May 2012, the County also used $564,000 in tourist development taxes to fund a portion of the County’s beach shuttle service. Section 125.0104, Florida Statutes, does not expressly authorize such expenditures as allowable uses of tourist development taxes. As part of its tourist development plan in effect during the period May 2010 through May 2012, the BCC concluded that providing beach shuttle services was a proactive step to reduce seasonal tourism traffic congestion and encourage efficient and environmentally friendly transportation choices, established a permanent and dependable connection between the beaches and adjacent tourist destinations, and was necessary to promote the convention center and provide an alternate mode of access thereto. However, transportation services are a general government function owed to the public at large and, as such, do not appear to be an allowable use of tourist development taxes. Beginning with the 2012-13 fiscal year, the BCC funded the beach shuttle services from other revenue sources. Recommendation: The County should seek an opinion from the Attorney General as to the allowability of the $2,476,095.68 of questioned expenditures and, if appropriate based on the Attorney General’s opinion, should restore this amount to the tourist development taxes accounts. Packet Pg. 365  9.2 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: January 8, 2013 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Commissioner Dave Parisot SUBJECT: Governor's Oil Spill Commission Report The Governor's Oil Spill Commission held 7 meetings from August - December 2012. The Commission membership consisted of County Commission representatives of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, Franklin, and Wakulla counties along with State Staff Agencies (Governor, FDEP, Attorney General, Agriculture & Consumer Services, FDEO, Financial Services, Health, Emergency Management and Fish & Wildlife). Attached is the cover sheet, list of participating organizations, executive summary, and the recommendations of the Governor's Oil Spill Commission titled "Recommendations for Improving Oil Spill Planning and Response Capabilities in Florida". I forwarded a complete copy of this report to each of the Commissioners, Jim Curry, John Dowd, Dino Villani, Dan O'Byrne and Jim Trifilio on December 20, 2012. Dino Villani, Okaloosa County Director of Emergency Management, attended five of the seven meetings as my advisor and provided many first-hand inputs to the Commission from his experiences in dealing with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. This Commission was formed per Section 496 of Chapter 2011-142 of the Laws of Florida, "Commission on Oil Spill Response Coordination" following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Oil Spill in April 2010. In addition to the above report, the Commission produced three Background Reports (NOTE: These Reports as well as commission membership by name and agency and meeting information and background are posted at www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/commission.htm): Report 1. Analysis of Current State and Federal Laws Addressing Oil Spill Planning and Response Report 2. An Analysis of the Effectiveness of the Use of the Incident Command System in the DWH Incident Report 3. A Comparison of the National Response Framework and National Contingency Plan during a Major Oil Spill Incident A copy of the full report of "Recommendations" should be posted to the above FDEP website soon. The purpose of the Commission was to review past and current spill response practices, assess shortcomings, and recommend improvements. Some recommendations that directly impact counties are that counties be included in Area Contingency Plan development and exercises; better involvement of local knowledge in assessing tidal impacts and flow patterns in predicting Packet Pg. 366  9.2 the movement of spilled oil; having pre-approved contracts for emergency equipment and services, e.g., boom acquisition and placement, and use of skiffs (pre-contract similar to what we do for debris clean-up following a hurricane); better assessment of pre-impact conditions (e.g., water quality, shoreline conditions, etc.); and placing U.S. Coast Guard and Responsible Party representatives in State and impacted County Emergency Operations Centers for better command and control functions. Packet Pg. 367  9.2.a Packet Pg. 368 Attachment: Oil Spill Commission Report Exec Summary and Recommendations (1270 : Governor's Oil Spill Commission Report)  9.2.a Packet Pg. 369 Attachment: Oil Spill Commission Report Exec Summary and Recommendations (1270 : Governor's Oil Spill Commission Report)  9.2.a