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1. 1Call to Order - Roll Call▶ 0:00
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   Review of Proposed Departmental Budgets for FY21-22

   discussed

   The City Manager and department heads presented proposed FY21-22 budgets for the City Council, City Manager, City Clerk, Administrative Services, Human Services, and Economic Development. Discussion covered line items including special events funding, cultural affairs, contributions to the West Pasco Historical Society, travel/training restoration, unemployment claims increases, labor attorney services for police union negotiations, and the Cody and Associates compensation study. No formal votes were taken; this was a review/discussion work session.

   • direction:Council consensus to keep cultural affairs events funding within the city council budget rather than moving it to the recreation department. (none)
   • direction:City Manager will bring forward a budget transfer/amendment to use salary savings from Rod's departure to fund implementation of the fire wage and classification study. (none)

   🏢Cody and Associates🏢Florida Association of City Clerks🏢Florida City Managers Association🏢Gillette🏢International City Management Association🏢Main Street🏢Muni Code🏢North American Van Lines🏢PRM🏢West Pasco Historical Society👤Bernie👤Crystal👤Debbie Manz👤Dixie👤Dr. Unger👤Judy Meyer👤Mike👤Mr. Rudd👤Rod👤Sue👤Tim#Account 42511 Unemployment Compensation#Account 43112 Labor Attorney Services#Account 43199 Professional Services#Account 43413 Employee Support Programs#Account 44011 Travel and Training#Account 44512 Building and Contents Insurance#Account 44731 Code Book Update#Account 45111 Office Supplies#Administrative Services Budget ($796,290)#Assistance to City Manager Budget ($122,820)#Bike Fest#CRA Budget#Chasco#City Clerk Budget ($57,030)#City Council Budget ($223,800)#City Manager Budget ($220,870)#Cody and Associates Compensation Study#Concerts in the Park#Cultural Affairs Committee#FY21-22 Proposed Budget#Fire Wage and Classification Study#Master Municipal Certification#Police Union Negotiations#Sculpture Walk Program#Winterfest

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   [00:00:19] Okay, Mr. Mayor, I will do so. Tonight's presentations will include the city council budget, the city manager's budget, [00:00:29] the city clerk's budget, a budget for administrative services, human services, and economic development, [00:00:37] and we're going to start with the city council budget. [00:00:42] And the city council budget is pretty much in line with what it's been in previous years. [00:00:51] The budget for the 2021 fiscal year comes in at a total of $221,870. [00:01:05] And the budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year total operating expenses are $223,800. [00:01:17] So that is roughly $2,000 of an increase in operating expenses. [00:01:26] We are charging 25% of the city attorney's salary to the budget. [00:01:37] And you can see that that line item is consistent. [00:01:42] We are not showing an increase in wages at this time for the city council. [00:01:49] We have reduced professional services by $5,000. [00:01:54] That's the most significant reduction that we are showing. [00:02:01] We are again showing a contribution to the West Pasco Historical Society. [00:02:10] We bumped up our special events support by an appropriation of $10,000, [00:02:18] expecting that we'll go back to some of our previous year's spending to support special events. [00:02:25] My recommended funding for that expenditure is $60,000. [00:02:36] And other than that, if you have any questions, I'm prepared to respond to them. [00:02:44] You will note that the settlement agreement of which there's been an appropriation in previous years [00:02:51] does not have any type of an appropriation. [00:02:56] And that's because it was related to a retirement benefit and that person passed away this year. [00:03:04] And so there is no retirement benefit to pass along. [00:03:11] If there aren't any questions, then I'll move on to the city manager's budget. [00:03:14] Just for a second. [00:03:15] Sure. [00:03:15] The $60,000, is that the movies and concerts in the park or is that something else? [00:03:20] No, that is for events that you provide sponsorship dollars to. [00:03:28] For instance, Chasco and Bike Fest. [00:03:34] And I will have a recommendation to you within the next month or so, [00:03:41] because all of the events have now submitted an application for funding consideration. [00:03:49] I'll pass along the applications to you and a recommendation and you'll determine how to spend that money. [00:03:56] Another question. [00:03:58] Is that Christmas also? [00:04:00] It is, yes. [00:04:01] Christmas. [00:04:03] Christmas. [00:04:04] Yeah, we have a boat parade and a street parade Christmas. [00:04:07] And plus there's all kinds of stuff in the park. [00:04:09] There's a, what do you call it, snow, for lack of a better thing. [00:04:16] Dr. Unger. [00:04:17] Dr. Unger. [00:04:18] Winterfest. [00:04:19] Winterfest, there you go. [00:04:21] Congratulations. [00:04:23] Woo! [00:04:26] And congratulations to her as well, to Dixie. [00:04:30] You don't look worse for wear. [00:04:32] Not yet. [00:04:39] Thank you. [00:04:40] Sorry to be late. [00:04:41] Mike. [00:04:42] Speaking of, so just a question. [00:04:46] The cultural affairs events, that money is, you know, [00:04:53] it looks like it's bounced around a little bit from, you know, [00:04:56] the estimate for 2021 and the amended budget increased considerably. [00:05:03] And it's now more aligned. [00:05:05] Is that set aside for specific events or is that set aside for [00:05:10] cultural affairs for recommendations? [00:05:13] What's the basis of that? [00:05:15] The cultural affairs committee makes recommendations to the city [00:05:19] council on how to spend funds. [00:05:22] Their current budget is $18,000 for the fiscal year. [00:05:29] They, to date, have only made recommendations and obligated $5,000. [00:05:38] And that's why I recommended that we reduce the amount of funding [00:05:42] that they receive for the next fiscal year to $15,000. [00:05:46] I'm just looking at the estimate for the 20, yeah, the 2021, [00:05:52] it showed $5,000. [00:05:55] And then we bumped the budget up to $18,000. [00:05:59] I mean, that was almost three times. [00:06:01] Well, they came with some. [00:06:03] That's what their actual budget is for the fiscal year is $18,000. [00:06:07] They came to us last year with a whole art program. [00:06:12] Right. [00:06:13] Which we didn't accept. [00:06:15] Sculpture walk program. [00:06:17] Because it was pretty much, you know, two reasons. [00:06:20] It was all one, pretty much one artist and it was all kind of [00:06:23] dangerous for the park. [00:06:25] So we sent that back and they never came back to us again. [00:06:28] So they could have actually spent more money, but they just didn't come around. [00:06:32] I hope they're not listening. [00:06:35] I would describe my thoughts on the proposal, but they might be listening. [00:06:41] Yeah, so that's okay. [00:06:43] I voted for it if you're listening. [00:06:45] Get a little clarification. [00:06:49] The art was dangerous for the A2 we have around. [00:06:53] Metal with sharp edges. [00:06:55] Yeah, around the splash pad. [00:06:57] Was it, well, we hired Gillette or somebody to do it? [00:07:00] Yeah. [00:07:01] All right, so fair enough. [00:07:03] Just a point of understanding there. [00:07:05] And then lastly, or not maybe lastly, but the other second question I had there. [00:07:10] The West Pasco Historical Society, is that pretty much, is that an expectation for us [00:07:18] to maintain that type of contribution to them going forward? [00:07:22] I personally would say yes, because I think we've had a problem with not being open with COVID. [00:07:29] Otherwise, you know, they are having things re-erected. [00:07:32] We are relying on the funding as a source of revenue to provide staff services. [00:07:38] So the expectation is that they would like us to continue to support the museum. [00:07:45] And they get a similar amount from the county, I believe, too, don't they? [00:07:49] Some funding. [00:07:51] I find it pretty interesting, you know, building a museum, and I find it interesting myself. [00:07:58] But I just didn't know if that was the expectation, or if the council had somewhere previously, [00:08:03] I didn't see notes where we had kind of committed that this is ongoing type funding. [00:08:08] So it's year by year, but they kind of rely upon us. [00:08:11] I asked that exact question, and Debbie told me, correct me if I'm wrong, [00:08:16] that we can only do a budget one year at a time. [00:08:20] But we kind of had the idea that we would go on, but we can't do that. [00:08:25] It would be the second year. [00:08:27] They basically, other than the city and the county, have no visible means of support. [00:08:34] They do some really cool stuff. [00:08:37] And this will be my final question on this page. [00:08:41] Just to go forward, the budget for, I guess I get kind of this professional services dash miscellaneous. [00:08:49] And not that the budget amount I'm concerned about. [00:08:53] I'm just looking at prior years, we were almost $25,000 for a couple years in a row. [00:08:58] I'm just kind of like, now we're budgeting $5,000. [00:09:03] What might have been the difference there? [00:09:06] What's causing that kind of difference? [00:09:08] Typically, the professional services line item is used for professional type services. [00:09:17] It could be some legal services. [00:09:20] It could be some appraisal services. [00:09:22] It could be for real estate services, for special projects that the council directs the staff to go forward with. [00:09:34] And we just haven't had any recent projects. [00:09:37] A need for that recently. [00:09:38] Right. [00:09:39] Alright, thank you. [00:09:40] I appreciate it. [00:09:41] For outside groups that we contribute to, like just an example, Main Street, does that fall on a different budget? [00:09:48] It does fall on a different budget. [00:09:50] And typically, the Main Street appropriation is taken under the CRA budget. [00:09:55] Okay. [00:09:58] Question? [00:10:02] Back to the cultural affairs events discussion again. [00:10:07] You know, our financial statements and the way we divide things up and tell the state how we spend money [00:10:14] is on a big matrix that you have to fill in that is standardized for the whole state. [00:10:19] And in our CAFRA, it shows culture in the parks and recreation and in the library. [00:10:30] And so we have had some duplications of cultural events and activities. [00:10:35] The library puts on shows, music, they do things there. [00:10:38] And the parks also has been putting on concerts in the parks. [00:10:43] So I'm not opposed to moving the cultural affairs events out of the city council budget. [00:10:51] If there's a reason it should be in there, it's because things end up coming to us. [00:10:58] I would think that's probably the biggest reason. [00:11:05] But a lot of stuff comes to us from throughout the departments. [00:11:10] It could just as easily be placed in the recreation budget. [00:11:14] They're the department that's responsible for the processing of cultural affairs recommendations. [00:11:21] I mean, I don't know how you all feel about it, but like when we had the art, the sculpture, [00:11:26] it went through a committee, the committee comes to the staff, [00:11:28] the staff sits with the committee, [00:11:30] we could just have a provisio that those budget items come before us [00:11:35] and then we don't, you know, it doesn't matter to me. [00:11:40] The path that it takes is going to be the same. [00:11:42] It is the same. [00:11:43] It's the same, it's just going to be the same path whether it's here or it's there. [00:11:46] Right, that's what I say. [00:11:47] As far as I'm concerned, you can put it there, let them analyze it, [00:11:49] tell us how much they should put in it every year based on what we're doing. [00:11:55] Are you saying that there would be an advantage to the city if we moved it? [00:12:02] I'm only saying that city council is legislative [00:12:05] and the acknowledgement of what we spend and what we put to culture comes from, [00:12:12] correct me if I'm wrong, Crystal, if you're familiar with it, [00:12:15] but at the end of the budget you have to take every expense [00:12:19] and recategorize it to go into the master state, master classification of all expenses. [00:12:27] And so that is, even if you look at our financials, [00:12:30] culture and art and the expenses we put in it. [00:12:33] So I think it gives the opportunity for the recreation department to say, [00:12:38] hey, we got something really good, we can move something from our department. [00:12:41] We don't have room to move stuff around in our budget, you know, [00:12:44] if something came up and we decided we wanted to, it's just a thought. [00:12:48] I mean, it doesn't matter to me, I would refer it back to finance and to you. [00:12:53] Once you guys talk it over with Parks and Rec. [00:13:01] I'm okay to keep it here. It gives us a little bit of leeway. [00:13:04] I mean, it's $15,000, not saying it's real money, [00:13:08] but it gives us an option if something comes up unexpected. [00:13:11] We can always budget that back to the recreation department [00:13:15] and do something we wanted to, right? So I'm okay with it. [00:13:18] Okay. [00:13:19] All right, I withdraw my suggestion. [00:13:28] I just want to say, since we're talking about the city manager, [00:13:32] she takes a couple days off, I come in here the day she comes back, [00:13:36] and there's a North American van lying out front. [00:13:39] I thought she was backing up and leaving and not letting us know. [00:13:43] It happens. [00:13:46] Two days off, I'm out of here. [00:13:52] With that being said, I will gladly present the city manager's budget to you. [00:13:58] As is the case with the city attorney's budget, [00:14:03] 25% of the city manager's salary is also taken out of the CRA budget. [00:14:11] And the current budget for the 2021 fiscal year is $229,410. [00:14:27] The proposed budget for the coming fiscal year is $220,870. [00:14:37] There is a position, one regular exempt position in the department, [00:14:51] all of the other operating expenses. [00:15:00] are fairly consistent. Travel and training is up considerably over what was the case [00:15:12] on the past year. We cut travel and training, as you'll recall, last year as a result of [00:15:18] both COVID-19 and budgetary constraints. We cut travel and training citywide. And this [00:15:32] year we have programmed both for my attendance at the International City Management Association [00:15:39] Conference and the Florida City Managers Association Conference. We increased the [00:15:51] office supplies by 1,000 and still were able to decrease the overall budget by roughly [00:16:03] $9,000. Oregon? No, not this year. Question. The executive assistant to the city manager, [00:16:25] I'm familiar with this position and it's always been my feeling that we should have an assistant [00:16:31] city manager in your absence. Someone that assumes that role. You always identify a department head, [00:16:36] primarily the chief. No reflection on the chief having that role. But from a standpoint of all [00:16:44] of the things that are on your plate and the authority that you could give to an assistant [00:16:49] city manager, can you explain why this assistant to the city manager or executive assistant position [00:16:56] is not a full-blown assistant city manager position? This is a support staff position. [00:17:07] This is actually Judy Meyer's position. So the assistant city manager you had? Is in another [00:17:20] budget, it's in administrative services. Okay, so that would be the name. And I'd like to have [00:17:27] another discussion with you about that when we get there. Why isn't a portion of Judy's salary [00:17:35] going into CRA? A portion of Judy's salary goes into city clerk. She does both jobs. [00:17:46] And we don't want to overcharge the CRA and we know of certain that and can document 25% of our [00:17:59] time, Tim's and mine, are spent on CRA related activities. A little harder. And given the [00:18:13] attention that that seems to get from some other CRAs that are using a lot of money, salaries, [00:18:21] that probably is conservative. So her salary does, I think, end up getting charged to the CRA in the [00:18:27] sense that you've got some 10% overall fee or whatever was calculated and that's where the [00:18:32] attention would need to go to help us to make sure we could defend that. And the next budget, [00:18:42] if there aren't any questions that I can respond to, is the city clerk and I would like the city [00:18:49] clerk to present it. Thank you, City Manager Manz. Would you like me to come down there or can I [00:18:54] present for you? Right where you are. Thank you. I am pleased to present the proposed budget for [00:19:00] the clerk's office for the upcoming fiscal year. The amended budget from last year overall was [00:19:07] $56,390 and the proposed budget for this year is $57,030, which is just under a thousand dollar [00:19:16] increase overall. The significant changes, as City Manager Manz explained in the city manager's [00:19:23] budget, is for travel and training. I do attend the Florida Association of City Clerks fall and [00:19:29] summer academies to obtain my credits towards my master municipal certification. The next line [00:19:39] item that was updated was 44731, which was the code book update service that was increased by [00:19:45] a thousand dollars and that's in anticipation of when we have hired a planning director that there [00:19:52] would be ordinances brought more frequently towards you that I'd have to update Muni Code 4. [00:19:56] The next significant increase was my office supply line 45111. That increased $1,250. As you're aware, [00:20:08] the city had an updated marketing and branding campaign last year. We updated our city seal and [00:20:15] I need to purchase a new embosser for the raised seal for documents and those machines cost anywhere [00:20:20] between $1,000 and $1,200. Overall, that's the term of the increases and if you have any questions, [00:20:28] I'd be more than willing to help. That's based on the number of candidates, so that was just an [00:20:36] estimated amount over the last couple of years. Hopefully, it will be that and not higher. [00:20:50] I don't know where it comes out of the budget, but you know I looked at these printing and [00:21:02] binding budgets here, $350, $250. I'm just trying to figure out where does the money come and all [00:21:09] this stuff that we get all the time. It's got to be above and beyond that, those last two categories, [00:21:15] so I don't know how you guys do it, but thank you. Now we come to the recycled paper and assistance to the [00:21:28] manager. Assistance to the city manager budget. At this time, I am proposing that we retain the [00:21:34] position in the budget. We are currently recruiting for the position and I have, the math isn't right, [00:21:49] the total operating budget for the current fiscal year is $119,980. The requested budget amount for [00:22:13] the fiscal year 21-22 is $122,820, so it's a couple thousand dollars more and in large part, [00:22:31] it reflects just a small step in salary and benefit increases. Everything else is consistent [00:22:45] with previous years. Will the amended budget be less because Rod took off? Well, we will have, [00:22:53] we would have a savings because we're not currently paying his salary, so we would have [00:23:03] rollover. Tonight though, I'll be asking you to approve a budget transfer and that will be used [00:23:15] to support the implementation of the fire wage and classification study and I'm proposing to use [00:23:26] the money that we're saving by Rod's leaving to implement their wage increase. It says amended [00:23:34] budget and you think there would be a lower number, that's what I asked. Right. When did we amend the [00:23:40] budget? The 2021 budget? Or have we amended it yet? We haven't amended it. So this is the proposed amended [00:23:49] budget? Yes. So we'll see some kind of a budget amendment. You're anticipating we'll do it? Right, [00:23:55] that's correct. Before we complete the document, I imagine, in the next month or two? Tonight. Good. [00:24:04] Yes. So we're amending it to put it there so we can then move it again. That's all right. No, it's there, we simply [00:24:12] yanked it out. And if we could have Mr. Rudd join us at the table, we'll ask him to present the budget for economic [00:24:24] development. Good evening. Very little change to my budget, there's a little increase, which is primarily in the [00:24:35] second line, the full-time wages. And that is our, the administrative assistant. And then we've actually had a [00:24:43] little decrease in the operating budget, cutting the office supplies, don't really use that much office supplies. So [00:24:51] the difference is a slight increase of just shy of $12,000 for the budget for the year. Any questions? So the same [00:25:08] situation, we just lost? He's in the CRA budget. This is Sue and myself are in this budget. Okay, all right. Yes, our [00:25:20] marketing full-time person is in the CRA budget. Okay. Maybe I can get clarification because I think I've figured this out now. [00:25:29] So the estimate is in the third column of what we think we're going to spend. But when you say amended budget, that would be [00:25:37] the actual budget plus any amendments that happened during the year, whether they were amended or not, right? So these could be [00:25:43] original budget numbers. Would that be right? Correct. Okay, so that's what throws me off. It hasn't been amended, maybe we're [00:25:50] just calling it the current and that's the way the columns read. Right. Thank you. You got off easy. If I may, I'm going to just take a [00:26:01] quick run and grab some papers and lock my car. It seems I'm not thinking quite as straight today. Somebody else now is thinking the other half. [00:26:14] Come on down, Bernie. Bernie and I are going to sort of co-present this one to you this evening. And you want to start, Bernie? Sure. Okay. [00:26:41] Go ahead. I'll let you, and I'll just jump in. This year's proposed budget is $796,290, which is an increase of last year's budget of $754,110, which is an increase of $42,180. [00:27:07] There are no personnel or capital projects requested for this division. And I will quickly go through some of the line items that have had some significant [00:27:16] increases. The first one that I would like to start with is account 42511, unemployment compensation claims. This has been increased from $9,000 to $20,000. [00:27:33] And this is from an increased amount of unemployment claims due to the pandemic. There's still some folks on there that currently wasn't working with the city that had got laid off from other jobs. [00:27:47] And their time sort of, it was the city's responsibility to pay for their, their unemployment claims. [00:27:58] We got tagged because they'd been employed here previously. [00:28:00] They were in the chain, or alternately, there were people working for the city that did not want to return to work. [00:28:08] Yes, sir. Ma'am. [00:28:10] And we've had some of that as well. [00:28:13] Battling that? [00:28:15] Yes. [00:28:16] Good. National Services is up. [00:28:22] The next line item that I'd like to discuss is 43112, labor attorney services. This has been slightly increased from $10,000 to $15,000. [00:28:34] And this is due to our current police union negotiations that are going on. [00:28:41] Next is professional services 43199. [00:28:47] This line item is normally used for pre-employment drug screenings, pre-employment background screenings. [00:28:55] And this was also used last year to fund the Cody and Associates compensation study. [00:29:03] So this one has been decreased because we are in the final phases of the compensation study. [00:29:09] And usually what is spent in that is right around $12,000 to $15,000 per year. [00:29:21] Next is 43413, employee support programs. [00:29:25] This has been, this line item's been increased from $7,000 to $15,000. [00:29:31] And this account is used for our twice-a-year employee luncheons, one in the summer and one around the holidays. [00:29:38] And also for our years of service ceremonies for our employees. And we also do that twice a year. [00:29:46] We also embellished the number somewhat to provide some additional training opportunities for the employees. [00:29:53] We have a good number of employees that have earned the employment benefits. [00:30:00] opportunity for promotional promotions, but haven't had the benefit of much management [00:30:10] experience or training, and so we want to give them some of the basis of those principles [00:30:17] so that they're better able to serve us. [00:30:21] Is the education reimbursement that 531 at the top, is that where you're going to school, [00:30:30] Bernie, and then we're going to reimburse you? Okay, so that's opening not just to you, [00:30:35] but to other employees? [00:30:37] Right. [00:30:38] Okay. [00:30:39] Right. [00:30:40] This was too close to your salary, that's what I want to make sure. [00:30:43] Yes, sir. [00:30:45] 44011 Travel and Training has been added back, and this is just for yearly staff conferences, [00:30:55] one-day seminars, things like that. [00:30:59] The next accounts that I'd like to discuss, the first account is 44512, which is building [00:31:07] and contents. [00:31:09] All members are seeing significant rate increases for the state of Florida. [00:31:16] It's still very early in the renewal process. [00:31:19] However, Debbie and I have been in a few conversations with our PRM group, and they have told us [00:31:27] to anticipate at least a 15% increase this year for building and contents. [00:31:36] We'll be shopping that. [00:31:37] Yes. [00:31:38] We also noticed some errors in our coverage. [00:31:41] There's buildings that we have sold that are reflected in our policy that should have been [00:31:47] taken out and a couple other things that we'll get adjustments on yet. [00:31:54] Property insurance market is still very tight in Florida. [00:31:57] I'm sure that carries over to public buildings as well as to private. [00:32:02] It's not out of line from what I'm seeing in the industry. [00:32:05] Really? [00:32:08] The other accounts, 44522, 44523, and 44591, we've been told that those will have smaller [00:32:27] budget increases, and we're going to budget 2% increases for those accounts. [00:32:35] Are you actually projecting a decrease in your auto and truck insurance? [00:32:40] Yes, sir. [00:32:41] There was, I think it was either 15 or 20 vehicles that were taken off this year, just [00:32:52] old trucks and police cars and things like that. [00:32:55] I'm not sure if they've gone to auction yet, but they'll be coming off as well. [00:33:02] Once they stop driving them, would that be the time to take those insurances off, [00:33:07] or do you have to keep them on even if you disengage the vehicle? [00:33:17] You mean if we're storing it on the property? [00:33:20] I mean if it's for driving and liability, that you might get into an accident or something [00:33:24] and you'd stop driving it. [00:33:26] One would think you could take it out of service and not have it insured for that purpose. [00:33:31] Right. [00:33:34] I don't know that we do that currently, so we'll need to check that. [00:33:38] Thank you. [00:33:39] I'll do that. [00:33:41] It still might have some coverage on it. [00:33:44] Right. [00:33:45] You could eliminate the liability if it has some value for theft, which is minimal cost. [00:33:52] I can confirm that. [00:33:55] 45243 operating, computer operating supplies. [00:34:00] This has been increased from $1,300 to $2,670 as the computer in the Human Resource Orientation [00:34:10] Office is due for an upgrade this year. [00:34:14] Lastly, I would like to quickly talk about our health insurance. [00:34:18] The city manager and I are currently in discussions with our health provider representatives. [00:34:24] The city has continued to see favorable group experiences. [00:34:29] However, final rates have not been established yet, and we should be getting those rates [00:34:36] probably the middle of July. [00:34:40] Our expectation at this point... [00:34:42] This is the middle of July. [00:34:43] August, I'm sorry. [00:34:44] Just checking. [00:34:45] I was going to say, I think we've already passed that. [00:34:47] Sorry. [00:34:48] We have not had a good experience year, though. [00:34:52] Our rating is very high, and we've been with Cigna now, Bernie, three years? [00:34:58] Three years. [00:35:01] And they've given us low rates consistently. [00:35:05] Consistently. [00:35:06] Last year, in fact, we were in the negative for a rate increase. [00:35:10] Yes. [00:35:12] We're expecting a 5%, which I think is still favorable. [00:35:18] And we'll have a firm number next week, right? [00:35:21] Probably next week. [00:35:22] Yeah. [00:35:24] Remind them about your previous year's good experience. [00:35:27] We've talked to them about that. [00:35:29] That's all I have for this evening. [00:35:32] Back to insurance for you. [00:35:34] You had commented that the liability insurance is not that high. [00:35:38] No, the FIF comprehensive. [00:35:40] Once you take it off, the liability is probably some of the more expensive part [00:35:44] of the vehicle insurance. [00:35:47] I was just thinking as well, though, that if we insure for liability [00:35:52] and for replacement in the case of an accident insurance, would you call it? [00:35:57] Collision. [00:35:58] Collision. [00:36:00] The collision would not be an issue for us anymore once we've decided [00:36:04] we're not going to get much at the auction or whatever. [00:36:08] So would you remove the collision and the liability once you've started? [00:36:11] Sure. [00:36:16] And then on the health insurance, there was a push back five years ago [00:36:21] to do a better job or to provide a better benefit to folks that we were hiring [00:36:33] at 30 hours or less or 24, folks we would call part-time, which is kind of, [00:36:38] you know, if you keep them part-time and they're not on the health insurance, [00:36:41] it all adds up. [00:36:43] And I'm just curious, with all of the increases that have gone on [00:36:48] for the American, from Obamacare or whatever you want to call it, the... [00:36:56] Affordable Care Act. [00:36:57] Yeah, the Affordable Care Act is providing just a lot of money to folks [00:37:02] who are in that lower income bracket to where their payments can only, [00:37:08] you know, they get a credit if it's not offered. [00:37:11] And I don't want to just kind of think of this as a loophole or whatever, [00:37:17] but from the standpoint of how our less paid recreation, [00:37:23] some of the librarians I think were on it part-time at one point. [00:37:27] I don't know how much they are, but there was a drive to put everybody on full-time [00:37:31] to make sure that they qualified for insurance. [00:37:33] It's almost like the government is paying for insurance for those folks [00:37:38] in those lower income brackets. [00:37:41] So I'd like to have your thoughts about that in terms of any strategy. [00:37:47] I don't want to take advantage of... [00:37:50] Well, I guess I do. [00:37:52] I mean, what do we do? [00:37:53] What's the best move? [00:37:54] I think what you're talking about is this. [00:37:56] All right, so if you have... [00:37:58] And I'm not a health insurance... [00:38:00] I'll tell you in a little bit, I'm not an expert, [00:38:03] and I'm sure, Bernie, you can talk with your folks about this, [00:38:07] and they'll explain it to you. [00:38:09] But if you have... [00:38:12] Let's say you have an employee that has an income range, you know, $35,000 to $45,000, right? [00:38:24] Depending upon what their other household income is, [00:38:27] that individual, let's say it's a single individual, [00:38:30] they could purchase insurance at a significantly lower out-of-pocket expense. [00:38:36] Significantly lower out-of-pocket expense for similar coverage [00:38:40] than what we might pay for them under an employee on a group plan. [00:38:45] So that's what you're talking about. [00:38:46] So, you know, part of it is, you know, I don't know what our policy is, [00:38:52] personnel policy, when someone becomes eligible for health insurance or not. [00:38:56] Is it so many hours or full-time or part-time, right? [00:38:59] If you work over 29 hours per week on an annualized average, [00:39:04] then we're required to provide health insurance. [00:39:07] So, you know, there's some rules set up that, you know, if you have somebody on board, [00:39:13] you can't all of a sudden pay them more and take the health benefits away. [00:39:16] But if you, you know, whatever your plan, you can't do that person-by-person, [00:39:19] but if you have an overall plan, there's probably some situations like that, [00:39:22] that, you know, is something that certainly we could take a look at. [00:39:27] But the problem comes in as an employer, [00:39:32] and I've faced this same thing with my team, that if you do that, right, [00:39:37] you take the health benefit coverage away, [00:39:40] knowing that as an employer I might be paying $550 a month for that coverage, [00:39:46] and knowing that that person, if they go and buy Affordable Care Act, [00:39:49] they might be able to buy the same coverage or better coverage for $150 a month, [00:39:54] that they'll do it. [00:39:56] $35 a month. [00:40:00] So then you get a question, will they do it, right? [00:40:03] And then you have that moral conflict to say, all right, we're doing this, [00:40:07] and I know I have this many people in my team that's running around there without insurance, [00:40:13] and you can't make them buy it. [00:40:14] But that's a dilemma that we have to think as a city, [00:40:17] understand what do we want to do for our workforce, [00:40:21] and analyze that cost and what that potential is. [00:40:26] So it's worth a discussion, [00:40:30] but it is something that we just probably have to explore a little bit more in detail. [00:40:35] And to add, just to give you my own situation, right, my wife passed away. [00:40:41] She was older than me, so I was able to get a reduced Social Security benefit for her, [00:40:46] provided that I don't make very much money at all. [00:40:50] So, I mean, for folks who are in that particular category, in their 60s or even 50s, [00:41:00] who have a small source of income that restricts them from how much money they can earn, [00:41:07] but they're not old enough, as I'm not, to get Medicare, [00:41:11] that was a lifesaver for me because I could get health insurance for $35 a month. [00:41:19] Say thank you. [00:41:21] Yeah, when I first sort of went off up to the mountains or whatever. [00:41:28] So there may be a particular group of people who are interested in part-time job work [00:41:37] who might fit that bill. [00:41:40] So I'd be curious for us to understand how that works [00:41:43] because sometimes we could maybe get some help when we need it on short-term or part-time basis [00:41:48] and find that right target market that would be not wanting to make more money [00:41:55] because then you lose your Social Security and you pay back your credit, [00:42:00] which you've gotten for your insurance, which is still $800 or $900 a month. [00:42:05] So folks that take advantage of the Affordable Care Act [00:42:08] and then all of a sudden they make a lot of money, [00:42:11] then they get a big bill that they have to send the money back [00:42:14] because it really isn't money, it's a credit that you lose if you make too much. [00:42:20] So it's a tricky business, but there may be a niche in there, in the library, [00:42:25] in the rec department, in some administrative roles. [00:42:30] I had that exact thing happen a couple of years ago. [00:42:33] We were on the Affordable Care Act [00:42:36] and discovered to my horror that I was just above the cutoff limit. [00:42:43] I wound up making a relatively small contribution to my IRA, [00:42:49] which saved me tenfold what I put into the IRA by not having to pay back the loan. [00:43:02] Anyway, thank you for that side note, but it's something to be aware of anyway, I think. [00:43:08] We've got a couple minutes for any comments since we've gone through the departments. [00:43:13] One question before we left the Human Resources Committee, our budget. [00:43:18] Going back to line item 43-112, that's an increase of $5,000, [00:43:26] and she explained what the purpose of that increase was, [00:43:30] which was, I believe— [00:43:33] We're embroiled in negotiations with the police union. [00:43:36] So are we sure we're budgeting enough money there? [00:43:38] No, we're not. [00:43:39] So maybe we should increase that budget amount? [00:43:44] Either now or later. [00:43:51] I wanted to make that public. [00:43:54] We've got a couple months to make that decision, too. [00:44:00] I just want to—can I say something about Bernie here? [00:44:04] She's made a lot of presentations here, and this is—I'm honest. [00:44:08] I'm not fooling—messing with you today, Bernie, [00:44:10] but you always come down and you're really, really nervous when you talk, [00:44:13] and you're always prepared, and today you're not nervous and you're prepared, [00:44:17] and I think that's a positive. [00:44:19] Thank you. [00:44:20] I appreciate that. [00:44:21] Now I'm nervous. [00:44:22] Especially out of me. [00:44:23] Thank you. [00:44:25] Just something that was totally off the budget, [00:44:33] but over the last few weeks I've gotten several requests for linkages [00:44:43] to various nonprofits from our website. [00:44:48] The more I think about it, the more dangerous that potentially becomes. [00:44:53] I've kicked it around a little bit with Debbie, [00:44:56] but I thought I'd kick it out and see what you guys think. [00:45:00] We don't have any resource links right now, but one that would be, I think, safe would [00:45:10] be a link to the United Ways 211 page, because they're the resource coordinator for the whole [00:45:19] county, the City of New Port Richey, and wanted to know where to get help for that. [00:45:27] Do we actually need a link or just an information bar? [00:45:31] Just a link for assistance on whatever. [00:45:38] I'd name it a little better than that, but for assistance with taxes or with anything. [00:45:51] If you need help on any of a number of things, United Way stands ready to help you with their [00:45:59] 211 system. [00:46:00] I'll just put a link. [00:46:02] I'll defer to somebody that can write the verbiage to that a little better, but I thought [00:46:06] it might be nice, because they've got a laundry list of all sorts of organizations. [00:46:13] You've got somebody that's got a family member that's suffering with Alzheimer's, they've [00:46:18] got links to a whole bunch of different Alzheimer's support organizations, you name it, they've [00:46:26] got links to it on different social service-type topics. [00:46:34] And the more I got to think about it after initially kicking it around with Debbie, [00:46:39] the less I want us putting a City of New Port Richey stamp of approval on any of these groups, [00:46:48] because that's what United Way does for a living. [00:46:53] So yeah, I'm with you, Mayor, as far as trying to work out through the list like that, and [00:47:02] for years I've been a supporter of United Way and think it's a great organization, but [00:47:06] then now there's other great organizations too that want to be listed on there, and you're [00:47:11] still going to be faced with sorting them out, which ones you pick, which ones you don't. [00:47:16] Maybe there might be a resource page, either through the State of Florida or Pasco County, [00:47:23] and we could link to their resource page, and that way, if they wander off on our side, [00:47:30] at least we have someplace to send them, but I don't want to necessarily be having to police [00:47:34] who we put and who we don't. [00:47:35] I'd assume they give that to some other office. [00:47:38] That's what the United Way 2-1-1 page is. [00:47:41] I think they get paid by the county to run the 2-1-1 system. [00:47:50] I'll look at it and try to craft a policy with Tim. [00:47:54] If any of you guys have any thoughts on it, let Debbie know, but this was something that [00:48:02] I can't say I've ever had anybody ask me about it, and in the last couple of weeks, I've [00:48:07] had several. [00:48:09] The United Way, the 2-1-1, the people they have in their system, in their group of people [00:48:14] that they refer to, they vet them, so they kind of do it themselves, so it's a good group. [00:48:21] It saves us from having to vet, going directly to them, they've done it already, kind of [00:48:28] a one-stop shop versus trying to get different organizations to go on. [00:48:33] I think our IT folks would go screaming out the door if we told them to list every conceivable [00:48:40] organization. [00:48:41] I wouldn't do that. [00:48:42] We'd be late to that. [00:48:43] I just don't think that'd work. [00:48:44] Mr. Mayor, because I'm headed out of town, I wonder, I know the city is not prepared [00:48:52] to go through the Thursday budget work session, but I mentioned I was going to be out of town. [00:48:58] I'm not sure that I'll put much feedback into it at this point, but would you allow me to [00:49:05] just do some high-level commentary, just for your consideration, for a few minutes to look [00:49:11] ahead, not to expect really even any response from anybody, but just, one of the things [00:49:18] I brought up last week was the concern that I had for our overall grounds maintenance [00:49:25] in particular, and the discussion about what happened with our budgets in the year of [00:49:32] COVID, and in the document that we have been provided, the estimate in the 2020-1 budget, [00:49:45] and the actual in the 2020 budget, are being used in order to inform how we're going to [00:49:58] go forward. [00:49:59] I'm just going to give you one example of something that I looked at, which is, if we [00:50:05] talked about the personnel services in grounds maintenance, and also the overall totals in [00:50:15] grounds maintenance, we had budgeted, originally, for grounds maintenance last year, personnel [00:50:30] of $498,000 for the folks that do the grounds maintenance. [00:50:36] We ended up only spending $368,000, which is $132,000 less than we said we needed the [00:50:46] year before, for 98, and so when we look at, I'm just looking at the grounds maintenance [00:50:55] this year, the budget has been amended to $472,000 from, for 2021, with the estimate [00:51:14] they're calling a $370,000, which effectively puts $100,000 back into the estimate and gives [00:51:24] us a budget amount in personnel up to $522,000, so $522,000 is, from the original budget, [00:51:33] a little higher than the $496,000, so I appreciate that you have looked to try to reinstate that [00:51:39] maintenance, and I want to mention that I appreciate that you have done that, and I [00:51:46] want to make sure that my experience in the community development district business for [00:51:55] the 10 or 12 years I was there, which are quasi-cities, they're municipalities of the [00:52:03] state, and they have taxing powers, but they don't have police powers, fire powers, or [00:52:08] land use or planning powers, and so our competition and assort as a city is those property values [00:52:17] that we see in places like Longleaf, or the Meadows, or all the places the folks that [00:52:24] you're insuring their houses on, and they pay an extra tax, a municipal tax, but it [00:52:30] all goes to maintenance and drainage, and in many cases, recreation amenities, and they [00:52:39] take so much care of those streets, the way they look, and we have put so much money into [00:52:46] code enforcement to make sure that we have our residents toe the line, so it's kind of [00:52:55] like we get it, we want them to fix their houses, we have huge efforts out there, I [00:53:01] just can't underestimate to me the importance of the curb appeal without going overboard [00:53:10] with you can't park your boat, or some of the things that people in the city that don't [00:53:14] like, that don't like all of the HOA rules, and the deed restrictions that are out there, [00:53:21] so I like the fact that we aren't over the top where somebody puts a basketball hoop [00:53:26] up in the front yard, or a flag, and the neighbors get all crazy if you remember those stories [00:53:32] Mayor over time, so I'm just going to keep advocating that we continue to step up the [00:53:42] pace, and the effort, and in particular, when this budget reflects, if it does already [00:53:51] reflect the American Rescue Act funds in your mind or not, but when we get to the end of [00:53:57] the line, we know what's coming in, and we have some good capital projects that we have [00:54:02] in mind for it, one of the emphases is, particularly for the next year or two, is to help the recovery [00:54:10] of the individuals who live in the city, and a lot of that goes to the lower income, [00:54:15] the underserved, and job training and the like. I would love to see some initiatives, [00:54:22] we have one in our CRA plan, but this is not the CRA, of removal of invasive species, really [00:54:32] working over all of our alleys. The man who purchased my home on Delaware Avenue, and [00:54:39] I have spent four years, and I'm not somebody that doesn't get the attention of the staff [00:54:44] or the folks because I've been involved, I've waited four years for any kind of resolution [00:54:52] to the alley behind my house on Delaware Avenue, which has been overtaken by the property owners [00:54:58] on the other side, it's blocked, there's no access to it, there's a monster tree there, [00:55:04] and just yesterday, just to share it with you, I got an email from the individual saying, [00:55:09] you know, my neighbors have taken over the alley, maybe I should take half of it back, [00:55:16] LOL, which you can't. [00:55:17] And you responded, don't worry about it, the city owns the alley. [00:55:22] I didn't answer him. [00:55:23] The city owns the alley. [00:55:24] Yeah, I didn't answer him, but the point is, we've talked about the alleys a lot, we've [00:55:29] mulled over whether or not we could afford to spend our really vital transportation money [00:55:35] on it, and we had somebody come in, begging us to repair the alley. I don't know if we [00:55:43] can come up with an initiative that would do what hasn't been done, or could take a [00:55:49] monster effort, but to try to create some sense of equity. West Delaware, the western [00:55:56] streets headed to the river, had always been sort of like River Road to the folks on the [00:56:03] east side, in the sense that there's a little more affluence, there's a little bit more [00:56:09] higher value properties that have been there, and the east side is now really our big opportunity, [00:56:16] the east state streets particularly, for this redevelopment and resurgence and trying to [00:56:20] change things. So, I'm just saying for the city as a whole, I think the economic benefit [00:56:26] of us trying to use some of our money to create a program that would accelerate that [00:56:31] effort, whether we hired folks, or trained them, or souped up our budget just so we could [00:56:42] go through however many employees we have to go through, if you've got to go through [00:56:45] five of them to get a good one, I mean, that's going to keep, but I want to make that a big [00:56:51] part of my push as I talk with you all during the budget. [00:56:54] Are you talking about yard debris pick up, make it look better? [00:56:58] Yeah, all of that, all of that, I mean, finding spaces where the yard debris goes, doing what [00:57:03] you had suggested to do, but let's just do it as a big effort, as a sort of, let's get [00:57:09] back on our feet, let's hire folks to do it, let's get supervision, we've got great equipment, [00:57:15] we've got great operators of our yard debris, and it's not just the alleys, I mean the amount [00:57:22] of money we spend on landscaping, I mean, just look at the bridge on Madison going across [00:57:31] to Louisiana, I just happen to live on the foot of it now, so it makes me uncomfortable [00:57:35] to talk about it, but the city did a great job of cleaning it, and then those damn potato [00:57:40] vines came up eight inches a day, they're choking off cedar trees, palm trees, they're [00:57:45] already up in the trees, they're choking off the expensive silver palms that we planted [00:57:50] there, they're all twisted up, and these are our sort of, you know, entry points and [00:57:58] our places of interest, we have a beautiful place for people to stand and look over the [00:58:02] river when we built that bridge, I think a good look at ourselves to say how do we get [00:58:11] those sidewalks, Joppa, you were talking about on the east side that aren't there, find a [00:58:16] way to really sort of try to kick it up so that we compete with the community development [00:58:23] district, to me they're kind of cheating, they skip all the hard stuff like police and [00:58:28] fire and land use, and they get the tax only to keep their sidewalks clear and their walkways

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3. 3Communications▶ 58:34
4. 4Adjournment▶ 58:44