Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 05-15-07 special minutes — reading text

275 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 15, 2007 INTRODUCTION A special meeting of the City Council of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was held on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 5: 30 p. m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, with the following present: Mayor Mike Anderson Councilmen: Mike Holmes, Virgil Miller, Dennis Reeves, Dr. Wayne Pullen, and Mike Minich. Absent: Jim Hartwell Also Present: Joyce Shanahan, City Manager; Helen Spencer, City Clerk; Lisa Absher, Finance Director; Toni Craig, City Attomey; and Department Directors. CALL TO ORDER The Mayor called the meeting to order. MOMENT OF SILENCE The Mayor asked for a moment of silence in honor of Police Memorial Day and the 152 law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the performance of duty in the past 12 months. PLEDGE The Mayor led in the Pledge of Allegiance. ORDER OF AGENDA Mr. Miller moved to change the order of the agenda to address item 2, Interlocal Agreement with Okaloosa County for a hydrological study, and item 3, budget policy issues, first and item 1, Ord. 1730, last. Motion died for lack of a second. PUBLIC HEARING - ORD. 1730: SENIOR HOIVESTEAD EXEMPTION The Mayor read the ordinance by title. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA; AMENDING SECTION 4. 04. 02, ENTITLEMENT, OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES TO ESTABLISH AN ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION OF $ 50, 000 FOR CERTAIN PERSONS WHO HAVE ATTAINED THE AGE OF SIXTY- FIVE AND WHOSE HOUSEHOLD INCOMES DO NOT EXCEED $24,214; PROVIDING FOR AUTHORITY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECllVE DATE. The City Manager reported that 276 parcels receive the senior homestead exemption which amount to approximately $32, 056 in ad valorem taxes at the current millage rate of 4.458, and doubled it would be approximately $ 63- 64, 000 in lost revenue to the City. She explained the adjusted gross income form is I'" filed with the Property Appraiser by the individual along with a copy of their Federal Tax Return or additional documentation, the Property Assessor' s office reviews, the filing deadline is June 1 st, and the adjusted gross income limitation is set by the Property Appraiser. She said if Council is inclined to approve the ordinance on first reading, there would be an additional senior exemption up to $ 50, 000. She said it is not known currently what the State Legislature is going to do with regard to exemptions but if the legislature does something different then Council can take action to repeal the ordinance if necessary. She stated the ordinance is required to be advertised ten days prior to the second reading, sl which would mean in order to adopt by the June 1 deadline there would need to be a Special meeting on May 29th at 5: 30 p. m. for consideration of second reading if it is passed on first reading. 276 Special Council 5- 15- 07 ORD. 1730 cont. The question was posed whether the City would notify those affected, the City Manager explained it is not the City's responsibility to notify those affected, it is the Property Appraiser's responsibility and he places a large ad in the paper to advertise the senior exemptions. She said the City could place in on the web site with a link to the Property Appraiser' s web site. The City Attomey was asked if Council could rescind the ordinance at a later time. The City Attorney replied Council can always amend the ordinance and they may have to, it depends on the actual language of any bill that has been passed and not 'vetoed. The City Attorney was asked it the ordinance was not passed because of the uncertainty of the legislature, if Council could give the individuals who would have qualified a tax rebate. The City Attorney stated if the question is whether Council can make it retro- active if Council were to implement an additional senior exemption in the future, the answer is probably yes because it would be beneficial, but she could not say how it would work with the Property Appraiser and the Tax Collector because the City is reliant on their system, so she is unsure if they could take the system back to a previous year, which could be why the City is facing a deadline now. The City Manager added that the Department of Revenue set the deadline of June 15\ and they govern the TRIM calendar, so in order for it to be effective for the 2007 calendar year, it has to be passed now and if it is not passed now they miss that opportunity for the current year. She did not believe they could go retroactive in that regard. It was clarified the question was whether a rebate can be given. The City Attomey replied she could not answer that question at this time. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. As there was none, public input was closed. Dr. Pullen moved to adopt Ord. 1730 on first reading. Mr. Garvie seconded motion. Dr. Pullen commented if the ordinance was not passed and then tried to give a rebate that it would be a complicated matter, so the ordinance should be approved now and Council can always rescind or amend the ordinance at a later time. The Mayor called for the vote on the motion and it carried unanimously with Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, and Minich in favor (Holmes and Hartwell absent). HYDROLOGICAL STUDY Consideration of participating in an Interlocal agreement with Okaloosa County for a hydrological study of the Gap Creek Basin area. John Hofstad, Utilities Director, stated what is before Council is a request to participate with Okaloosa County with a match for a grant funded project through the Northwest Florida Water Management District to study the gap creek drainage basis, which is north of Lovejoy and City streets of Bay, Burnett, Combs Manor, and a few other streets in the westem end of the City. He said there have been substantial flooding problems in that area over the last several years and a partnership with Okaloosa County has rt.. i... been developed to address the problems through an in- depth hydrological study complete with a modeling effort. He reported the County Commissioners approved at their meeting today the funding methodology of a 70/ 30 split with the City to contribute 30% of the match funds. He stated staff requests approval of the request so they can begin the project.  277 Special Council 5- 15- 07 HYDROLOGICAL STUDY cont. It was mentioned that the map appears to show the headwater of the Gap Creek to be located on Hurlburt Field and it was questioned whether the Military had been contacted to contribute. Mr. Hofstad replied he did not know but the problem has been researched in the past and at that time it was felt a portion of the contribution was coming off Hurlburt Field. He said the completed study should tell all the jurisdictions contribution to the water shed and if a portion of that is on Hurlburt Field, the County and the City will approach Hurlburt about partnering with the construction efforts to clear up the waterway. He said Hurlburt is saying that all of the stormwater generated within Hurlburt is collected and maintained on Hurlburt, and they will not be able to determine the percentage contributions to the watershed until a hydrological study and the accompanying model are complete. It was mentioned if there are additional funds available in the CIP 5019 Storm Drainage Program, that the funds be applied to solve some of the immediate problems. It was noted that may be separate from the issue before Council at this time. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. As there was none, public input was closed. Mr. Minich moved to partner with Okaloosa County for a Northwest Florida Water Management District grant to study the Gap Creek Drainage Basin at an amount not to exceed $ 17, 600. 00, or approximately 30% of the grant match. Mr. Miller seconded motion. The City Attomey clarified the agenda item is a request is to approve the participation and once the Interlocal Agreement has been drafted will come back to Council as a consent agenda item. The Mayor called for the vote on the motion and it carried unanimously with Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, and Minich in favor (Holmes and Hartwell absent). BUDGET POLICY ISSUES Consideration of major budget policy issues to guide the development of the Fiscal Year 2006- 07 Operational Budget and Capital Improvements Program. The City Manager noted Council has been provided a workbook with information on the financial condition of the City, major policy issues, and some internal issues that staff needs guidance on in order to move forward. Charlotte Dunworth, Budget and Grants Manager, went through a PowerPoint presentation which started with the objectives of the meeting is to assist City Council in understanding the City' s available revenue sources and plan of operation, and allow revisions as desired; to establish service levels and funding mechanisms in accordance with City Council' s priorities; to ascertain City Council' s position on policy issues critical to development of the FY 2007- 08 operational budget and capital improvement program; and to prepare a balanced budget that matches ongoing expenditures with ongoing revenues, provides maintenance of current infrastructure, and maintains prudent cash reserves. The presentation included information on the economy with the local unemployment rates, retail sales, affordability of housing, and the City' s population; revenues of all funds; the general fund revenues; the major impacts to the revenues with the property tax reform under consideration by the Legislature and the decrease in the Communication Services Tax; the ad valorem exemptions for homestead and senior citizens; the expenses Citywide for all funds and expenses of the general fund; the factors that affect the expenses citywide such as the cost-of- living wage adjustment, the performance evaluation, health insurance, pension contributions, operations & maintenance, capital outlay and capital improvements; the fund balance in the general fund with 36. 5% in reserves; the benchmarks to ascertain how the service levels compare with similar municipalities; and a local comparison of the assessed value and millage rate. 278 Special Council 5- 15- 07 BUDGET POLICY ISSUES cont The City Manager recalled specific issues were discussed at the Strategic Planning meeting held in January. She pointed out the strategic plan goals that Council wanted to focus on or explore were: program & service levels, general fund reserve level, the cost-of- living adjustment, the compensation structure, the healthcare benefits, the general employee' s pension, and vacation/ sick leave. She