MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF CAPE CORAL FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
JULY 18, 2011
COUNCIL CHAMBERS 9:00 A.M.
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Chair McKiernan called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.
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Roll Call: Bell, Celestino, Davies, Erbrick, Grosso, Mars, and Zink were present. McKiernan was excused.
Also present: Victoria Bateman, Financial Services Director Pete Brandt, Council Member and Liaison arrived at 9:04 a.m. Gary King, City Manager
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The minutes of the June 13, 2011 Financial Advisory Committee meeting were presented for approval.
Committee Member Celestino moved, seconded by Committee Member Davies to approve the minutes as amended.
Committee Member Grosso benefits should be the only word on page 440, not wages and benefits.
Committee Member Bell wanted solidity changed to salinity and of water pumped out added to page 443.
Committee polled as follows: Bell, Celestino, Davies, Erbrick, Grosso, Mars, and Zink voted “aye.” All “ayes.” Motion carried.
Set Agenda
Committee Member Bell moved, seconded by Committee Member Celestino to approve the agenda.
Committee polled as follows: Bell, Celestino, Davies, Erbrick, Grosso, Mars, and Zink voted “aye.” All “ayes.” Motion carried.
None.
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OPEB(Other Post Employment Benefits) DISCUSSION
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Financial Services Director Bateman noted where the City stood on the OPEB obligations.
Discussion held regarding the variables in the OPEB.
Discussion held pertaining to where the money that was set aside from the prior for OPEB was.
City Manager King stated that the current system was a pay as you go. He stated there was no trust or money set aside for that.
Discussion held concerning whether the Fire Department was willing to take on their OPEB obligation.
Discussion held regarding supplemental programs.
Discussion held pertaining to how the city was looking at a multitude of programs that would lower the cities obligations; however, increased the employees out of pocket expenses.
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REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF TREND ANALYSIS TO 2005
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Financial Services Director Bateman explained how they had gone back to FY 2005 and broke down by department: payroll and related benefits, operating costs, capital/infrastructure and debt service.
Discussion held regarding whether the city was attempting to prepaying any of the city debt.
Discussion held pertaining to the difference between a proposed budget, adjusted budget and actual budget.
Discussion held concerning how short term debt was being changed to long term debt.
Discussion held regarding having a breakdown of some of the government services.
City Manager King stated about 75% of the budget was personnel. He stated it boiled down to how many people worked for the city and the level of service to be provided.
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REVIEW OF 2011-2012 BUDGET BOOK
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Financial Services Director Bateman went over the presentation she would provide to Council at the meeting that evening. She stated Council would be setting a millage rate with a not to exceed amount. She explained how they had met with each of the departments and went over their budgets. She described some of the changes in the proposed FY 2012 budget and went over the three levels of possible reductions.
DISCUSSION AND PLANS FOR 2011-2012 BUDGET REVIEW
Financial Services Director Bateman stated she felt she was ready to answer any questions the committee had. She stated she hoped that the committee would have questions sent before hand, so when she attended the meetings, she could provide answers.
Discussion held regarding what the taxable value base included.
Discussion held pertaining to how the city could only budget 96% of the expected ad valorem taxes.
Discussion held regarding the quality of living regarding possible budget cuts.
Discussion held pertaining to the need of funding capital projects.
Committee Member Erbrick moved, seconded by Committee Member Davies moved to recommend to Council that they set the not to exceed millage rate at 8.2208.
Discussion held concerning how there was still wiggle room in the budget.
Discussion held regarding how it was just recommending a not to exceed amount.
Committee polled as follows: Bell, Celestino, Grosso, and Zink voted “nay.” Davies, Erbrick and Mars voted “aye.” Four “nays,” three “ayes.” Motion failed.
Vice Chair Mars requested that all questions go through the Recording Secretary and that all answers come back in one document.
Discussion held regarding whether the meetings needed to be held in council chambers versus a smaller conference room.
Public Input
Mark Muerth, President Union Local 2424, went over a few items. He stated he understood why there was not a lot of support to allow union representatives to speak at their meetings. He indicated that after listening to some of the committees discussions there were items that the committee needed to understand regarding open and pension costs. He stated it was not their intention to negotiate, but to provide information to the committee to assist them in making their decisions. He agreed that a large portion of budget was for salaries and benefits; however, there were outlying factors that affected those increases. He stated when payroll dropped and contributions remained the same it would appear a larger deficit. He stated they had brought before prior groups what they thought would assist with the OPEB debt. He stated they had a trust fund that helped them pay for their benefits. He stated another fire department had contacted them to become part of their trust fund, which would drop the amount paid for insurance.
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Committee Member Grosso stated he did not have a problem with listening to information being provided. He was for having win/win solutions.
Committee Member Davies stated he was also for hearing the information.
Council Member Brandt stated he would bring forward the vote that was taken by the Committee regarding the millage rate.
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The next meeting was scheduled for Monday, August 1, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. in Council Chambers.
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There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:59 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rebecca Perry
Recording Secretary