Productivity Committee Minutes 03/20/2002 COLLIER COUNTY GOVERNMENT
PRODUCTIVITY COMMITTEE
Minutes
March 20, 2002
3:00 P.M.
Members Present: Janet Vasey, William Adams, Donald Campbell, Edward Ferguson, Dexter
Groose, and James Horner
Members Absent: James Gibson and Jean Ross-Franklin, with three vacancies
BCC Liaison Present: Commissioner Henning
Guests: Commissioner Fiala
Staff: Winona Stone and Mike Smykowski, Budget Director
Introduction: Janet Vasey, Vice Chair, called the meeting to order at 3:00 P.M. Janet noted that
she had attended the first session of the County Attorney's presentation on the Sunshine Law. She
thought it was very good and recommended for those unable to attend the first session they should
strongly consider attending the April 3rd session. She discussed the presentation including the fact
that the process of"pure" fact finding does not require public notification. Members must be careful
of perception problems and under the Sunshine requirements they may not have discussion with
each other, debate nor express personal feelings, but merely ask questions when fact finding.
Additionally per the County Attorney, one-way communication is legal. For example, a suggested
topic for proposed discussion at an upcoming meeting, with no personal opinions on the topic
expressed, nor response discussion on the topic solicited, would be acceptable one-way
communication. Staff(the staff liaison) should be utilized for setting up meetings but not for
disseminating a member's personal opinions to other members.
Minutes: The minutes of the February 20, 2002 meeting were amended to include the following
statement:
"The committee felt that the Board of County Commissioners should set a target budget
amount for the organization to work with. "
The minutes were unanimously approved, as amended.
The February 25 and March 11, 2002 Budget Policy Subcommittee minutes were unanimously
accepted.
Page 1 of 4
Old Business:
A. Report of the Budget Policy Subcommittee:
Janet Vasey distributed handouts including Productivity Committee Budget Recommendations for
FY 03, Proposed Sample Form I, Proposed FY 03 Budget Format Schedules, Discussion of
proposed FY 03 Budget Format Schedules, and Funding Prioritization Process, all of which are
appended to the file copy of these minutes. Janet discussed the Board of County Commissioners
responses to the Productivity Committee's recommendations at the Board meeting on March 12,
2002. She noted that the Commissioners appeared very interested in the Committee's suggested
funding prioritization process.
The Committee had suggested that the Board provide some percentage (i.e. 3%, 5%, etc.) decrement
for review of lowest priority programs. The Board elected not to do so with the understanding that
the method recommended by staff for prioritizing programs would result in the same end result.
The Committee recommended that the FY 03 "base" level be based on the FY 02 forecast amount.
Janet stated that, in her opinion, the Board directed staff to use the FY 02 adopted budget, reduced
by the FY 02 budget cuts and the 6 month hire lag that was approved by the Board of County
Commissioners on November 27, 2002. She asked Mike Smykowski why the Budget Instructions
Manual does not reflect the decisions made by the Board, since it states that the Requested Current
FY 03 column calls for the FY 02 adopted budget, "plus annualized phase-ins and new
positions/programs added during FY 02 (after the budget was adopted)." Mike Smykowski said he
would review the tape of the March 12, 2002 Board meeting.
The Committee will review the County's organizational structure, carryforward and reserves as well
as attempting to work with the Constitutional Officers in reviewing their budgets. Mike Smykowski,
Budget Director, previously met with the Constitutional Officers to present the new program format
being used in the County Manager's Agency. Mike also noted that only two of the Constitutional
Officers have a major impact on the budget, the Sheriff and Clerk of Courts. The Property
Appraiser, Tax Collector and Supervisor of Elections have a relatively small impact on the County's
total budget. Janet reported that she had spoken with Crystal Kinzel who is checking with Sheriff
Don Hunter about the possibility of the Committee's involvement in the development of his FY 03
budget.
Mike Smykowski reported that the Board had approved, as part of the budget policy, a 4%personal
services increase for FY 03 compensation plan adjustments. The typical employee with family
health coverage and meeting expectations in terms of job performance would receive a raise, net of
the increase in employee health care contribution, of approximately the cost of living(2.1%).
➢ Mike Smykowski will provide the Committee with the dollar amount that the 4% increase
represents.
Janet Vasey stated that during the Board's budget policy discussion, she questioned whether the
additional increase for health insurance was already covered in the CPI calculation. She reported
that Commissioners said they did not want duplication.
Page 2 of 4
� f
Mike Smykowski distributed the Budget Calendar, which was discussed by the Committee. He
noted that a millage neutral budget would generate an additional 15% in tax revenue, based on
projected property values. Commissioner Henning noted that the Board's priority is transportation
funding.
Janet Vasey stated her disappointment and surprise that Committee members will not be included in
the County Manager's budget review sessions with staff and noted that it is very important for the
Committee to receive the results of the reviews as early as possible. Mike noted that the budget
development process still has another three or four months before it is final. Janet stated that the real
decisions are usually made in June and that there are not usually major impacts after that date.
There was lengthy discussion regarding how effective the Committee can be in assisting with the
development of the FY 03 budget in light of the fact that the following two requests have been
denied:
1. That the Board set a target reduction percentage for lowest priority current workload
2. That the Committee participate in the County Manager's budget review sessions with
staff
The Committee feels they should work with staff during the process rather than making
recommendations after the County Manager has reviewed the staff's budget requests. There was
some discussion on limiting the focus of the Committee's FY 03 budget review and then do a
complete review for FY 04. Commissioner Fiala stated that she hopes the Committee continues to
review the FY 03 budget, as it is within their field of expertise, and that she considers their
recommendations as a service to her.
Mike Smykowski reported that the County Manager's executive staff is meeting next week to
discuss budget philosophy. He will discuss the Committee's concerns with the County Manager
prior to the meeting.
➢ Mike is to provide the Committee with feed back from the Manager's staff meeting as soon
as possible.
Once the Committee has received the results of the County Manager's staff meeting, a decision will
be made on whether or not the Committee will proceed with their review of the budget. In the
interim, the Committee appointed the following three subcommittees to review various aspects of
the FY 03 budget:
1. Organizational Structure Review--- Don Campbell, Jim Horner, Ed Ferguson and
Jean Ross-Franklin
2. Budget Review --- Janet Vasey, Dex Groose, and Bill Adams
3. Fund Structure Review--- Jim Gibson
Each subcommittee will elect a subcommittee chair.
Page 3 of 4
Commissioner Henning thinks that the Committee's ideas on the budget are good and he looks
forward to their future recommendations.
Janet asked if the staff was still preparing the quarterly reviews, that compare quarterly planned
spending, personnel and workload against actual performance. Mike noted that staff discontinued
preparing quarterly reviews over a year ago based on a lack of interest in the reports.
B. Report of the Membership Applications Review Subcommittee and Selection of Applicants
for Recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners:
This item was deferred until the next meeting to allow the subcommittee members time to evaluate
the applications received.
New Business:
A. Explanation of the Unit Price Budgeted for New Computer Purchases:
Winona Stone distributed a written explanation of the budgeted costs for additional County
workstations, which included a recent quote on personal computer purchases from Dell computers.
B. General Discussion on the Quality of Road Repairs:
Dexter Groose stated his concern regarding the quality of recent road repairs, such as the
deceleration lane at Gray Oaks Estuary. Commissioner Henning stated that Norman Feder,
Transportation Administrator, was also upset with the quality of that work and that it should be
corrected within the next month.
There was discussion on the current projected amount of funding needed for road construction for
the 5-year plan.
➢ Winona Stone will request that Norman Feder, Transportation Administrator, attend the
Committee's next meeting to discuss the current transportation financing policy issues.
Comments/Suggestions:
The meeting adjourned at 5:30 P.M.
Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Productivity Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, April
17, 2002, 3:00 P.M. in the County Manager's Conference Room, 2nd Floor of the W. Harmon
Turner Building (Building F, Administration Building).
Page 4 of 4