Loading...
BCC Minutes 06/25/2015 B (Budget Workshop) BCC WORKSHOP MEETING MINUTES June 25, 2015 June 25, 2015 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Naples, Florida, June 25, 2015 BUDGET WORKSHOP LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County Commissioners, in and for the County of Collier, and also acting as the Board of Zoning Appeals and as the governing board(s) of such special districts as have been created according to law and having conducted business herein, met on this date at 9:00 a.m., for the BUDGET WORKSHOP in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: CHAIRMAN: Tim Nance Donna Fiala (via speakerphone) Georgia Hiller Tom Henning Penny Taylor ALSO PRESENT: Leo Ochs, County Manager Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney Mark Isackson, Finance and Management Services Troy Miller, Television Operations Manager Page 1 NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING Notice is hereby given that the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County will conduct Budget Workshops on Thursday, June 25, 2015 and Friday, June 26, 2015, if necessary, at 9:00 a.m. Workshops will be held in the Boardroom, 3`d Floor, W. Harmon Turner Building, Collier County Government Center, 3299 East Tamiami Trail, Naples, Florida to hear the following: COLLIER COUNTY GOVERNMENT BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS FY 2016 BUDGET WORKSHOP SCHEDULE Thursday, June 25, 2015 9:00 a.m.: General Overview Courts and Related Agencies (State Attorney and Public Defender) Growth Management Public Services Administrative Services Public Utilities Debt Service Management Offices (Pelican Bay) County Attorney BCC (Community Redevelopment Agencies, Airport) 1:00 p.m.: Constitutional Officers: Elections Clerk of Courts Sheriff Other Constitutional Officers requesting to address the BCC Public Comment June 25, 2015 CHAIRMAN NANCE: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to the Collier County Government Board of County Commissioners workshop for Year 15/16. At this time let us begin as we should always with the pledge, salute to the flag. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) CHAIRMAN NANCE: It is my understanding that this morning Commissioner Fiala, who's out of town, will be joining us by phone. Commissioner, are you there with us this morning. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I sure am, although I'm not getting very good sound up here, but I am here with you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Oh, well, that may be a blessing, ma'am, later on, depending on how things go. But thank you for joining us. We are, of course, going to be holding this workshop this morning throughout the day, and we have a general schedule for that. And then tomorrow we will continue on an as-needed basis. So, Mr. Ochs, please, would you start the workshop for us, sir. MR. OCHS: Yeah, it would be my pleasure. Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, good morning. Mr. Chairman, I believe as a matter of procedure, it may be appropriate for the Board to take a formal vote to allow Commissioner Fiala to attend by telephone due to her inevitable and unavoidable absence this morning. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I will make a motion to do so. Is there a second? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second. CHAIRMAN NANCE: There's a motion and a second. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: (No verbal response.) CHAIRMAN NANCE: Aye. Page 2 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER HILLER: Aye. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Aye. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any opposed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. Commissioner Fiala, you are officially joining us by phone. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you so much. GENERAL OVERVIEW MR. OCHS: Commissioners, good morning. As is our normal procedure, I'll begin the meeting this morning with a brief overview of your budget, and then we'll move into presentations by your various agencies and departments and divisions. Commissioners, your 2016 fiscal year budget is built around both your Board budget guidance given to us previously this spring as well as your strategic plan that is embodied in the six strategic focus areas that you see on your screen. The budget is built for FY 16 around a local economic landscape that is both growing and improving. And you can see in front of you a few of the many metrics that indicate that growth. Taxable value has increased by 8.3 percent countywide, and that's a continuing trend of increasing value over the last four years. Your county taxable sales continue to increase at a 7 percent rate over month to month from the prior year. Your countywide median home prices continue to escalate. State sales tax and state-shared revenues are continuing their strong growing trend. Your visitation to the destination, as all of us can tell during the season trying to move around town, continues to trend upward. All of your permitting activity, as we've shown you throughout the year, continues to grow at double-digit rate. Your unemployment Page 3 June 25, 2015 rate has dropped year over year, and all of these are signs, obviously, of a growing and improving economy; however, caution is always in order and fiscal conservatism has served this board well over time, and we believe it will continue to be a necessary component of your budget moving forward. In terms of the highlights of your FY16 budget, the budget meets your guidance, maintains the tax rates for both your general and unincorporated area general funds, continues to see increases in your reserve position, maintains your principal and your annual debt service at a declining rate. It does include expanded service requests for essential services and front line services, fully funds your state and federal mandates, continues to put an emphasis on funding your capital maintenance and your replacement infrastructure backlog to the tune of 8 to $9 million again in FY16. We are proposing a new capital vehicle recovery fund to allow us to get at your backlog of equipment over time and in a systematic and measured way. And, finally, we have provided for a cost-of-living general wage adjustment for your workforce; well deserved. Commissioners, as I mentioned, your countywide taxable value is trending positively for the fourth consecutive year after we came through a horrendous recession in '08 through Fiscal Year '12. You can see that the trend continues to grow. And while it is a positive trend over the last four years, I will remind you that compared to your peak year of taxable value both in your General Fund and your Unincorporated General Fund, you're still 12-and-a-half million below the revenue that you brought in in Fiscal Year '8 in your General Fund and 10.4 million (sic) below what you brought in at your taxable value peak in your Unincorporated General Fund in Fiscal Year '8. As I mentioned, your property tax -- excuse me? CHAIRMAN NANCE: That's billion, isn't it? Page 4 June 25, 2015 MR. OCHS: Billion, yes, sir. I'm sorry. Your property tax rates remain level both in the General Fund at 3.5645 and in your Unincorporated Area General Fund at 0.7161. This is your fifth consecutive -- it will be your sixth consecutive year of maintaining neutral millage rates. We'll go through a few of the highlights of the FY16 budget. The millage neutral tax position juxtaposed on an increasing taxable values countywide will result in an additional $19.2 million in your General Fund property tax receipts and a $2.4 million increase in your Unincorporated Area General Fund. Planned growth in your front-line services with expanded positions in County Manager's agencies and the courts total approximately $3.9 million, including 64 new full-time equivalent positions. We have devoted over $41 million to new capital and replacement capital spending in FY2016 with an emphasis on improving and maintaining your transportation network, stormwater, park infrastructure, and a large investment, continuing investment in your public health, safety, and welfare infrastructure, including your public safety radio system, your ambulances, and continued set-aside for replacement of your Medevac helicopter. Commissioners, these are some of the highlights of your capital asset spending I just alluded to. You can see the investments primarily in your public safety infrastructure and also in your road and bridge and road resurfacing and bridge repair programs. Again, 41-and-a-half million dollars programmed in FY16 for capital. As I mentioned, we have a number of expanded position requests to serve the growing population and the demand for service. We'll get into these in more detail as each division and department come up to present. As I mentioned, the budget as provided for by the Board in their Page 5 June 25, 2015 budget guidance provides for one-and-a-half percent across the board general wage adjustment for your workforce and also targeted pay plan maintenance adjustments based on the pay and compensation survey that we completed last year. Your FY16 healthcare program, we're happy to report, is actuarially sound, requires no premium increases on either the Board's side or employees' side for FY16. We continue to meet your guidance of your 80/20 payment split on premiums between the employer and the employee. That has also been adhered to by the Clerk and the Supervisor of Elections. We would hope that the other constitutionals will come around to that position at some point in the future. Commissioners, this is a new slide, and it's intended to essentially give you some comparative information, and it shows some changes in perhaps some trends in spending between the FY08 budget and your requested FY16 budget. On the revenue side, you can see that property tax revenue is still 10 million, almost 11 million below the high in 2008, impact fee revenue is 69 percent down from where we were in FY08, and your carryforward is down slightly, about 6 percent. On the expense side, you can see that the operating transfers to the constitutional officers are at or above the levels that they were in FY08, while your County Manager's agency is tracking about 16 million less than the peak in FY08. That's about 10 percent reduction. And also at the bottom of that chart on the expense side you can see the shift between the operating transfers and the capital transfers out of your General Fund. Essentially, now we're seeing a trend away from additional capital and more in the maintenance and repair through the operating transfer. And we can talk about these in a little more detail. You'll get more detail as each of the departments and divisions present their capital plan. Page 6 June 25, 2015 The overall county net budget is $950 million. This does not include the, as the footnote says, the Tax Collector's budget, which is submitted in August 1st of each year. You've seen these pie charts before, Commissioners. These are an indication graphically of where the money comes from to fund your overall budget. Ad valorem taxes, your carryforward service charges comprise the biggest slices of this pie, as they have traditionally. And on the expense side, you can see the breakdown between your County Manager operations in yellow, your constitutional officers in the brown slice, blue is your capital -- light blue is your capital budget, and your enterprise utility operations are in the red slice. Let's talk for a few minutes about your General Fund and some of the highlights from your General Fund budget. Your FY 16 General Fund budget is 358 million. It's an increase of 4.9 percent from the FY 15 General Fund budget. It still represents a decrease from your max, your peak in 2007. This is the pro forma that we show you every year on your General Fund. On the expense side, you can see the primary expenses are funding your County Manager operations and the transfers of slightly over $11 million to the constitutional officers. And on the revenue side you can see that we are still very heavily dependent on property tax revenue to fund your General Fund operations. And we have reduced your carryforward balance by about $6 million. Your General Fund reserves are a very important component of your budget that gives you protection and flexibility. It continues to grow. We've made a concerted effort with the Board's direction over the last several years to grow your General Fund reserves. You can see that they're up slightly from the current fiscal year. That's important for the following reasons. It certainly is an indication of our financial stability, and we've been rewarded by the grading agencies Page 7 June 25, 2015 with a Triple A corporate rating on our credit, and we enjoy that same rating in your utility enterprise. The General Fund certainly provides protection for your beginning cash balance and also funds the constitutional officer reserves, so it's an important component of your budget and one that we pay close attention to. You also set policies on reserves for your building operation, your water and sewer utility, and your land-use planning activities. You can see in the graphs here that most of those are at the floor of the range that was set by the Board for these reserve policies. Good news on your outstanding principal debt continues to decline. Your all-in principal debt is about $500,000 projected for FY16. And as you look at your debt service policy, we're happy to report that you are compliant with your debt management policy. That policy is a reminder. It says that the ratio of governmental debt to your overall bondable revenue should not exceed 13 percent of those bondable revenues. You can see that we're well below that for FY16 at 7.5 percent of bondable revenues. Your General Fund revenue sources, as we've discussed in the past, are heavily reliant on your ad valorem property tax receipts. Fully 70 percent of your General Fund is funded by that one source alone. Sales tax provides another 10 percent of that funding. Other General Fund revenues, very briefly, we'd like to show you the trend line. We just mentioned ad valorem is up about $19 million as a result of the 8.3 percent increase in taxable values countywide. Your sales taxes are up slightly for FY16, as are your state revenue sharing dollars. Gas tax estimates are up just marginally, about $200,000 from current fiscal year. Impact fees are projected to increase by about $1.4 million due to improving economy and the related construction industry increase; however, they're still far below the peak of 2007. Page 8 June 25, 2015 Your General Fund beginning fund balance is $47.1 million. That's about 15 percent of your forecasted expenses in '15. We like to keep that number in the range of 45- to 50 million, so we're essentially on target for your carryforward for next year. In terms of your Unincorporated Area General Fund budget highlights, tentative budget for 2016, $45,621,000, up 8.3 percent from 2015. The increases in your Unincorporated Area General Fund not only fund several of your key operating divisions, but there's a substantial increase in the capital transfers out of this fund to fund needed infrastructure in the unincorporated area in 2016. Again, this is a snapshot of your pro forma of your MSTD General Fund budget. You can see a large transfer, almost $3 million on the expense side to your stormwater program. And, again, the primary funding sources on the revenue categories are ad valorem taxes and your interfund transfers and also your communications services tax. This is the breakdown, again, that you've seen over time of the typical unincorporated area residential tax bill. The school board being the largest component, county government is less than 20 percent, constitutionals are about another 15 percent, and you can see the other taxing units to make up the difference. Finally, Commissioners, some area of ongoing concern. Most of these we've talked about over the last few years. The ability to continue to fund priority maintenance and replacement of assets and infrastructure which have been deferred beginning in 2007 when we began to feel the effects of the recession continues to be an area of focus for us. It becomes more challenging in a growth environment where we have to take existing dollars and try to figure out how to allocate as much as we can to make up the backlog while still being able to meet new service demands and capital requirements. We would suggest to you that if you do decide to issue debt in the Page 9 June 25, 2015 future -- and this particular budget does not recommend any new borrowing at this time -- that you offset that cost of that new borrowing with a new revenue source. We also need to make sure that we remain competitive in the employment market as the economy continues to improve and competition for good talent becomes more fierce. As I mentioned earlier, I think there's a need to continue to strive for equity across all county government agencies on the sharing of employer/employee health insurance contributions. We also have to continue to be mindful of unfunded mandates coming from the state or federal government. We've continued to work hard on the Medicaid and the DJJ issue with our partners in other counties and through the Florida Association of Counties. I mention time and again, and it bears mentioning again, that we are very reliant both in your General Fund and your Unincorporated General Fund on property taxes to fund your operations and capital; 90 percent of our ad valorem taxes are assessed against residential property, so it's important as a community we continue to follow the course that this board has set to try to diversify our local economy and promote some new, clean high-wage industry in our area. Also the future capital burden in General Fund 111 is a concerning trend for us. As more and more of our infrastructure needs and our backlog and replacement capital is in your unincorporated area, we need to devote more of your Fund 111 to those areas as opposed to your operations in those areas. And, of course, we're also looking for a tax on the communications services tax. That seems to be an annual sport in Tallahassee, and we were able to fight that off this year, but I'm sure it will be on the docket again next year. And, of course, the need to balance the need to -- and the desire to reserve growth and growth in operations with asset management. Page 10 June 25, 2015 And, Commissioners, those are -- those are the general highlights of the budget. I'll be happy to answer any questions now, or we can hold questions till we get into some of the department presentations. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Opening remarks, Commissioner Henning? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Page 7, Leo. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: The second bullet point. Expanding FTEs for the County Manager's and Clerk's -- or is that the Clerk of Courts' operations? MR. OCHS: The Clerk has, I believe, four expanded positions. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. That's what that means, that -- MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Now, we had some frozen positions on the downturn of the economy. Are those included in that 64? Is this 64 above and beyond those frozen positions? MR. OCHS: Well, sir, we had frozen positions early in the recession, but in Year 2 or 3, we just took those completely out of the budget. Your workforce was about 2,000 full-time employees before the recession. We eliminated about 400 FTE through the recession. So with these expandeds, you'd be up to 1,793, still a couple hundred below where you were before we got into this recessionary cutback. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. So these are really not new position FTEs; these are replacing the ones that were taken off the books? MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. They're employees that are needed to begin to restore some of the service cutbacks that we were forced to make during the recession. For example, you want to -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: I mean, you don't have to explain it. I mean, I was very concerned that these are above and Page 11 June 25, 2015 beyond those frozen positions. And those, like you said, it's been wiped out of the books, so we're actually still working on a deficit? MR. OCHS: Yes, sir, absolutely. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Is that true with the Clerk of Court and the other constitutional officers? That's some of the questions that we need to answer so we're on the same playing field. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I do have some other questions or concerns, but we'll wait till after your staff has presented. MR. OCHS: Thank you. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Board members, we have one housekeeping item that I'd like to ask you as to your preference. A question came up on your agenda. It does not show any public comment until the end of the proceedings, and I would like to ask you if you would like to hear public comment as the different agencies present. I don't think we're likely to have a huge number of citizens that are wanting to input. But, you know, it would be my preference to hear those as the individual concerns come up rather than have them wait for an entire day and a half. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yes. CHAIRMAN NANCE: What's the pleasure of the Board? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I would agree. CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. We'll proceed in that way then, Mr. Miller. MR. MILLER: Okay. MR. OCHS: Commissioners, I'm going to turn this over to Mr. Isackson to get us started on our calendar today. MR. ISACKSON: Thank you, County Manager Ochs. Good morning, Commissioners. Your first order of business is to entertain the court and related Page 12 June 25, 2015 agencies, so I'll ask those folks to come up. COURTS AND RELATED AGENCIES (STATE ATTORNEY AND PUBLIC DEFENDER) MR. RICE: Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Board. For the record, my name's Chuck Rice. I'm the Court Administrator here in Collier County. We're always happy to kick this off. I'll make some formal introductions here. You know most of the people at the table. To my immediate left we have our Administrative Judge, Christine Greider. JUDGE GREIDER: Good morning. MR. RICE: To my immediate right we have our Public Defender, Kathleen Smith. MS. SMITH: Good morning. MR. RICE: To her right, our State Attorney, Stephen Russell, and to his right, is Debbie Stanbrook. So with that being said, I'd like to start off by thanking Leo and Mark and their staff for helping us through this process every year. It's always exciting and challenging. And I know we're a small part of your budget, overall budget, but we take it very seriously, and we were able to work together as a group and present a compliant budget to you-all. We're basically presenting a $5 million, right under $5 million. That will be a total cost -- excuse me -- of nearly 1.9 million to the General Fund. With that being said, we're always, you know, aware of our carryforward and our revenue streams to try to make the least impact as possible to the General Fund. I sat here last year with Judge Greider. We talked about some transitions coming up in the near future, some new and exciting things Page 13 June 25, 2015 in the courts. I'm sitting here today excited to tell you that those are in place, they've been kicked off. For one is the unified family court, one judge, one family. With the leadership of Judge Greider, it's the first one in the state to be in place. She's also been asked to give a presentation to our chief judge and court administrators for the State of Florida. So it looks like what's going to happen is this is going to be a model for the state, and that's all under her direction and leadership, so -- and she may want to elaborate some on that when I finish here. We have our self-help center. Last year I sat here and told you it was going to open July 1st. It's up and running now for pro se litigants and family law. I think it's a big help to the citizens of the community. Case management. We now have case management in basically all of our divisions in the Circuit Court. Our criminal case management, thanks to Kathleen and Steve's staff working together, we've implemented criminal case management here in Collier County; been very successful so far. In the last two months, our criminal judges, Judge Hardt and Judge Brodie, have reduced their hundred oldest cases by 50 percent. That's outstanding, and that's -- you know, that doesn't go -- that doesn't happen without the help of the State Attorney and the Public Defender being onboard, so thank you all for that. We have our county judge, Janeice Martin, is spearheading our specialty courts. It's, you know, running strong. We have drug court, we've implemented a veterans court into that, and a mental health court. So that is all going strong. And, basically, I'll turn it over to anybody here that wants to make any comments on their budget, Steve or Kathleen, or -- MR. RUSSELL: I don't have any, unless there are questions. MR. RICE: Judge Greider, would you like to add anything? JUDGE GREIDER: Only that the implementation of the unified Page 14 June 25, 2015 family court and our ability to roll out the self-help center for citizens in Collier County to get assistance on the forms that are needed in family law and paternity cases was really done through a concerted effort with the Clerk of Courts office and his director of court operations, Jill Lennon, who was critical in the implementation of the unified family court as well as the self-help center. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Congratulations. JUDGE GREIDER: Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thanks. Good morning, Judge. JUDGE GREIDER: Good morning. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Statutorily, who's responsible for these, you know, forms and, you know, handing them out? JUDGE GREIDER: Statutorily, the Florida Supreme Court provides a self-help center, so to speak, on its website. But for many of our litigants, they don't have computers to print these forms out, and they don't have money for an attorney. So the forms are actually provided through our court system. There's also provisions in the rules of procedure that the Clerk is to assist as well in the providing of that form and particularly as it relates to domestic violence petitions, injunctions, and things of that nature. So the entities that are identified as being responsible are the courts and Clerk. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Courts and the Clerk. JUDGE GREIDER: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: So this is an expanded service and a new service, like you said. JUDGE GREIDER: It's a new service, and I need to report to you that all the other counties in the circuit had a self-help center but Collier County, and so when I came back in 2013 from serving in all Page 15 June 25, 2015 the other counties, I identified that as a need here in Collier County, and it is up and running. COMMISSIONER HENNING: So you're saying that Charlotte, Hendry, Lee has it already? JUDGE GREIDER: Yes. COMMISSIONER HENNING: And probably other judicial circuits have it. JUDGE GREIDER: They do, and all of that information as to the location of the self-help centers throughout the 20 circuits in Florida is available on the Florida state court website. COMMISSIONER HENNING: And I'm sure there's going to be, you know, expanded cost for this expanded personnel? JUDGE GREIDER: No, actually. It's a room with computers, because all of the forms are generated through computers. And between the Clerk of Courts office and Court Administration, we were able to identify some computers and paper. And it's amazing what can get done when we don't get in each other's way and just got the paper and -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Got together. JUDGE GREIDER: -- agreed who would make sure that the toner was filled in the printer. COMMISSIONER HENNING: That's great. Thank you. JUDGE GREIDER: Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller? COMMISSIONER HILLER: What improvements are you planning for the next year, since you're on a roll here? JUDGE GREIDER: To continue to look at the efficiencies other than the financial in our unified family court system and also looking to expand and enhance the coordination with David Lawrence Center and other community-based mental healthcare providers for the mental health issues that we see in every one of our courts every day, and it is Page 16 June 25, 2015 absolutely on the increase. So that -- I don't know that it's an improvement, but it's definitely a need that we need to address, and the need is expanding. COMMISSIONER HILLER: And as to the flow of cases through the court system, how's the timing going on that? Is that working well for you, or do you see backlogs, and both on the criminal and the civil? I hear that you've done well on the criminal side. How's it going on the civil side? JUDGE GREIDER: The civil side, our disposition rates are actually over 100 percent and continue to improve, and much of that was as a result of the initiative through the State of Florida on the foreclosures, which has ended as of this month. But every case is different. And some of the delay in criminal cases may be as a result of the fact that a defendant may not be competent to proceed. We're all mindful, I know I can speak on behalf of Mr. Russell and Ms. Smith, of the balance between Florida Constitutional rights of a crime victim and the constitutional rights that are present in every criminal case. So some of those cases are able to be resolved within the time guidelines, and some aren't, and -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: And on the civil side? JUDGE GREIDER: -- we have the same challenges in juvenile. COMMISSIONER HILLER: And how about on the civil side, any issues there, or are you comfortable? JUDGE GREIDER: As I indicated earlier, on the circuit civil cases, our disposition rate remains over 100 percent, as we are in our family law cases. But some cases take longer than others. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, congratulations. I think you're all doing a great job. MR. RICE: Thank you. JUDGE GREIDER: Thank you. Page 17 June 25, 2015 MS. SMITH: Thank you. MR. OCHS: Thank you. GROWTH MANAGEMENT MR. OCHS: Commissioners, next up is our Growth Management Department. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Good morning, Commissioners. Commissioners, with your blessing, I'd like to have David Wilkison sitting with us as your new GMD Department Head starting on the 6th. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Is he working for free? MR. CASALANGUIDA: He's working for free today, ma'am. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Would you consider expanding -- MR. OCHS: Get used to it, David. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah, I was going to say, if you'd like to consider expanding -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: These are the sorts of budget initiatives we like to see, people working free. COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's awesome. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Kiss your family time goodbye. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yeah. You got that right. COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's for sure. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Commissioners, thank you very much. Nick Casalanguida with our finance and operations group up here in front of you. I can honestly say this is one of the best parts of my job. I truly enjoy going through the budget, preparing for it, and then executing it over the year. It's outstanding, and I'm grateful to do it. This will be the last GMD budget for me as David takes over. And I'd like to acknowledge, he's already willing to dive in and be here. I thank the Board for guidance, especially Leo, wherever he went Page 18 June 25, 2015 to. MR. OCHS: He's over here. MR. CASALANGUIDA: He's over here. You know, I don't think I could work for someone that didn't give us the flexibility as department heads to really talk about what issues we have, and he does. He encourages it, and I'm really grateful for that. Mark, on the other hand, I would argue a little bit. We go back and forth quite a bit on priorities, but that's okay. GMD is approximately a $200 million budget in 2016, and we are in compliance with your board guidance on your 001 and 111 funds, staying under the 3 percent. We've nine-and-a-half FTE requests in there. I'm happy to tell you, Commissioners, that most of those are cost contained and already operating funds. Some of them are expanded. They're all front-line people, and I'll go through them real quick, because it won't take too long. A certified bridge inspector handling repairs; a maintenance supervisor overseeing contracts and inspections; landscaping inspector seeing the subcontractors and contractors who work on our medians and general property that we maintain; a traffic signal technician; equipment operator; two CEI inspectors. And over the last couple years, Commissioner, we've shown you through the value that those CEI inspectors do, and when we out-source those, we almost pay five times more. I don't know that there's much incentive for CEIs sometimes to see the job done early. It's an opinion sometimes. Project manager for bridge replacements. Our bridge program has gone from a paltry 2 million a year to almost 8 million a year, so we'll need someone to kind of manage those project replacements. And a line technician at the airports. On the airports, I want to really thank Gene and Allison over the last two years. When the County Manager put airports under our operations, I was a little -- I Page 19 June 25, 2015 said, you know, there are only seven days a week and, you know, one more day to do airports. But both Gene and Allison stepped up, and they're happy to tell me that they're running in the black with fuel sales. So this line technician will be Marco, Everglades, making sure there are people there to oversee our operations. Again, not an administrative personnel. These are people on the ground. Those are all your position requests in FY16. Your revenue centric operations are up 37 percent, from 41.8 million to 57 million. That's mostly what Jamie does in 113 and 131. I've got to give Jamie and his team a lot of credit. You know, year over year we review -- reduce the fees and improve the review times, and in working Commissioner Henning a couple years back, we brought fire plan review back in. And I will tell you that's been a resounding success. The feedback we receive from your customers has been outstanding. Working with OMB, we've rebalanced 001 and 111 funding to match restrictions. As the County Manager pointed out, we increased some of the money going back into roads almost $4 million. Stormwater is relatively flat. We have added in 111 but reduced in 001, and there was a chart I provided. I'll have Jamie pass that out in a moment. We echo the County Manager's comments as we continue to prioritize equipment and hard assets. We are pushing about $4.5 million in vehicles to FY 17, 6 million in maintenance, 5 million in hard asset drainage, and about $8 million in bridges. And bridges we're, you know, going to fund them, but our concern is that you'll see some more of those emergency bridge shoring it up going into FY16 or '17, depending on what our inspectors define. The focus as directed by the County Manager working with OMB is on infrastructure and operations and maintenance. This is across the board. And one thing I will tell you, Commissioners, in my new role Page 20 June 25, 2015 the last several months, it is not just GMD, and I would caution you on that. I've been working with facilities on their budgets and the other departments in parks, and those prioritizations for those assets management and replacements are there as well, too. So that's a big priority. Jamie, if you could pass out that chart. MR. FRENCH: You bet. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Commissioners, this is a chart we provided you separately, and Commissioner Henning asked us to add residential growth to it so you could kind of compare year over year what we look like a little bit. And this chart's really telling. I'll spend a few minutes on that because it kind of drives the conflict going forward. Wrapping up our capital expansion, as the County Manager pointed out, is going to be the challenge with respect to prioritizing assets are that, you know, past their useful life. I received a call, and I frequently speak to Mr. Norman Feder, and he always jokes with me about our magic pavement that outlasts everybody else's pavement. And I said, Norman, it's no different than our magic pipes and our magic bridges and our magic vehicles. They seem to be holding on, but they're at the point at the end of their useful life. What you see in this chart, Commissioners, is a dramatic increase in growth, and I believe we had an article confirmed by that Colorado firm that Naples will be the top area for national growth next year and this year. So this chart kind of matches what they're talking about. Interestingly, gas tax is flat. And you would imagine with a population that's gone from 250- to 330- in seasonal that gas tax would go up, but electric vehicles and miles-per-gallon improvements have kept gas tax flat. And I think nationally everybody's struggling with that dilemma. Page 21 June 25, 2015 You would think that the increase in population coming forward on new residential units would really drive impact fee collections. Your impact fee revenues, you've just done an increase going from about 5,000 on a single-family home to about 7,000. You won't realize that until next year, so that 9 million that we're forecasting might jump to 11. However, there's a lot of developments through FY04 and through FY08 that did prepaid impact fees. All of those dollars were expended, and that capacity was put on the roads. Going past this chart to the left in FY02, we borrowed about -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Excuse me. Mr. Ochs, can you put the -- would you be kind to put this on the visualizer. I think it would be helpful. Thank you, sir. MR. CASALANGUIDA: We borrowed about $225 million in gas tax with its maturity out to 2023, and Mr. Isackson has done a fantastic job of refinancing that debt and giving us the benefit of whatever recapture he has with those payments. So you see the growth coming forward, and the challenge going forward is a little bit of a foreshadow as we get into our AUIR and CIE in the fall. As those units come online, predominantly in the northeast and along 41, you're going to have a demand for that infrastructure capacity enhancements. At the same time that Golden Gate City's at 50 years of useful life and drainage, your 13 bridges out in the Estates are at 50 years, useful life's about to expire. So prioritizing those two is going to be a challenge. In echoing Leo's closing comments, I see two priorities, especially with the job market heating up in Collier County. Attracting, training, and retaining the best talent is also a challenge and opportunity. I think the general wage adjustment and some of the analysis we've done is showing that. Jamie will tell you, he comes into my office on a regular basis, and I sign personnel requisition requests. Page 22 June 25, 2015 The turnover is starting to definitely get to us. And then right-sizing our revenues and considering a diversified revenue stream is also an opportunity. I have two recommendations going forward. Your stormwater utility review. The Board approved us to bring back a feasibility study in 2010/2011 as part of your Watershed Management Plan. We had tabled that as part of the recession. I think we owe you that report. You're not taking any action with your nods or discussion today. We'll just implement your prior policy this summer and come back to the fall and tell you what it would cost, what it would look like to do a stormwater utility. Going from 15 million down to 5 really put stormwater in a little bit of a lurch. And then, Commissioners, across the board we talked about this budget. There's no new debt, but I would ask you to consider an additional alternative of diversified revenue source. And there's been discussions about a franchise fee or increased ad valorem. And I'm not going to tell you which one's right or wrong. They both have their pluses and minus. I don't believe as David takes on this new role and he spends the summer and this next year executing this plan with the growth coming online, that you will be able to maintain asset management and continue your expansion that you'll need if these two population numbers continue to grow the way they are. And with that, we will take questions and comments. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller? COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. One of the things that I requested when I first got elected now five years ago was that you develop an asset management system that basically ages your receivables and that you track that aging with dollars as well so you basically have a projection of what your deferred maintenance is and what your future obligation will be. Page 23 June 25, 2015 Where are we on that? Have you done that? Because last year when we spoke, I know that utilities was well ahead on that project, and they had acquired software, and they were inputting the information on the assets and, you know, they were moving along with that. But as I recall last year, Growth Management wasn't at that point yet. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Dr. Yilmaz is the lead agency on this. We are scheduled to follow in FY16. But we do know our assets right now, ma'am. We're not using an elaborate system. You didn't have the benefit of the package I was able to give to some of the other board members. Our budget is not done on a one-year schedule. It's done on a five. In your five-year schedules that are attached to this package, you will see deficits in each year, and each project is identified where the deficits are. So, for instance, Golden Gate City, that asset has been identified. Naples Park where Dr. Yilmaz is expanding, that's just an opportunity replacement. Wherever he comes in and replaces his pipes, at the same time we do drainage. Bridges are all forecasted out for 25 years in terms of assets. We have collected, Gene, I would say about half to two-thirds of the stormwater utility assets? MR. SHUE: Correct. MR. CASALANGUIDA: And that's -- so that is in. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I think you really need to have that formalized system, and you should be tracking not only what you've got, but with all the new assets coming online, if you had that formalized system in place, you would be inputting that data as they come online, and you wouldn't have to, you know, constantly be trying to play catch-up. So you should run the program, the new program, concurrent with your efforts to capture the information that is historical. Page 24 June 25, 2015 And as to your comment as -- with respect to additional revenue streams, I'd like to hear Mark Isackson's thoughts on that. MR. ISACKSON: Thank you, Commissioners. Nick and I and Leo have had long evening conversations about this topic. The -- we've indicated, and I think in some of the presentations that -- and would caution you. If you're going to go out and issue new debt, you've got to have a new revenue source to cover it, whether that's a franchise fee, whether that's an increase in the millage rate, things of that nature. I'm already thinking about '17, '18, and '19 in terms of how do we balance this backlog versus the operational needs. You've got a substantial amount of money in this particular budget devoted to operations, including the expanded requests. That doesn't mean that that's going to happen in '17 or '18 or '19. Every year we evaluate that. And I will tell you that I'm having thoughts in the back of my mind about, okay, you've got your expanded requests this year. Now we're going forward in '17 and '18, and we're going to think very critically about expanded requests and operations as we go forward. And using those additional dollars for higher levels of money devoted to backlog, devoted to the capital needs that we have. Every year we look at that balance. This year we decided to make a conscious decision to fund some 68 positions, new positions out of 135 that were originally requested. I will tell you that when you get policy in '17, you're going to have a -- we're going to have a long discussion, at least narratively in the power -- in the budget policy presentation, about, okay, how are we doing with the operations, and now can we afford to shift gears for the next couple of years? It's like an ebb and flow a little bit. I think you take a look at where you're at, and you do it. And that's kind of my thought on that whole concept of backlog, Page 25 June 25, 2015 how we get at it without incurring additional debt. I will tell you that you're two years into this. You know, this didn't happen overnight, and you're not going to get out of it overnight. So I would ask the Board to be a little patient in how we get at this. And I've talked to some of you individually about that, about some of my thoughts on that. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I think it's going to be extremely important that this be, you know, monitored, that we don't end up in a reactive state but, you know, that we are proactive on this. And I would encourage you to continue this dialogue. I think it's extremely important. But I think getting online with your asset management at the proper professional level, and especially now that David is on board, and with your experience and background in these kind of things, I think, you know, that's a ball that you could easily roll with. I think it's going to be very important. MR. SHUE: Commissioners, one quick comment on asset management. Growth management has had a system for about seven years now with a cartograph. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the enterprise asset management system, so we're certainly looking forward to getting on board with that, but it has put us pretty far along the path of collecting our assets. We've collected all the signs, all the signals, all the route segments. The biggest challenge we have are the stormwater assets. We've collected about 40,000 of those assets in the past year, but there's still probably two years ahead of us to collect all those assets. So what we're trying to do is have all those assets in our database so that when we plug into this new system we have exactly what you're projecting. I think we've made a lot of progress. COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's great. And I think the Board should support whatever you need to, you know, get that as efficiently Page 26 June 25, 2015 managed, you know, whatever software you need or whatever kind of assistance. If you need a consultant, I think we need to support you in that, because I think that will give the real picture of what we're facing in the future. And then I think when you talk about alternative revenue sources, we have to look at where ad valorem is going over the next few years as well. I mean, it's projected to continue to increase. What's your projection on impact fees? What do you see happening there? I mean, are we expected to face inflation, and then are we expected to face higher construction costs as a result that would push those impact fees up? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, ma'am, I think we will. In your impact fee schedule -- and I brought it with me, going back all the way to two thousand and -- I anticipated there might be a question. In 2004, your impact fees are almost at the same level as they are right now. At the height, they were twice as much at 11,000 per single-family versus the 5- to 7,000 we are at right now. And, obviously, you know, working with us over the last couple years, your impact fees are reflections of the cost-to-credit analysis. So as our costs go up, the impact fees go up. What the chart on the diagram will tell you is I don't expect impact fees to be anywhere near $69 million anytime soon. You've got a lot of prepaid impact fees. As commercial ramps up, they'll pay for it as well, too. But then you fall in the situation of it takes us approximately five to seven years to turn a program on. In your AUIR and even in this budget, there are two projects I'm bringing online for feasibility studies in FY 16, both Vanderbilt and Wilson, to start to turn them on and see what it would cost and how long it would take. But by the time you give us the green light, it could be five years before there's a vehicle on that road, and that's the challenge in terms Page 27 June 25, 2015 of revenue when you look at the chart that's in front of you. COMMISSIONER HILLER: So you have a timing issue? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Timing with revenue issue, as well as impact fees, ma'am. We've changed it to one-third down and then the balance on CO. It used to be one-half down and the second half would be within three years of the plat being approved or at building permit. And the reason the Board had done that back in the 2002/2004 period was because they knew that that lag between the revenue coming in and the execution would be a challenge. I expect over the next couple years this board or future boards will have that discussion again as when the timing of payment will be, the cost of impact fees. I've always struggled running this program for almost 10 years now -- is that we have such a high reliance on impact fees, and it's a growth, you know, pays for growth policy and that gas tax is not supplanting that income as much as I thought it would over time. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Before I go to -- let's check in with Commissioner Fiala. Ma'am, how are you functioning; are you okay? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, I sure am. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay, wonderful. Before I go to -- and you just chime in there, ma'am, when you want to make some comments or ask some questions, please. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you. You can tell Troy that it's hard to hear anybody sitting at the table. I don't know if he's able to adjust that up a little bit or not. MR. MILLER: Pull the mikes. MR. OCHS: Everybody needs to pull those microphones a little closer to you when you speak. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Don't be shy, David. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. I'm going to go to Commissioner Henning and then Commissioner Taylor. Before I do that, though, I Page 28 June 25, 2015 would like to say a few things. I very much appreciate this sort of analysis that we have on the visualizer now, and I believe that we are in serious need of an increased amount of this sort of evaluation, long-term trends so that we can decision-make. Thank you, Mr. Casalanguida, for doing that. It seems as if Growth Management is bearing the burden of some of this 30,000-foot discussion that was started by Mr. Ochs when he made his general overview presentation. I am very, very concerned about this. Some of the slides in the general overview are very indicative also when we have, you know, a review that shows we have 70 percent of our income coming from residential ad valorem tax dollars. And there's also a slide on impact fees which illustrated that back in 2007 we had somewhere between 90 and $100 million that we collected and spent, realizing that although it's not in your face at that time, that 90 to $100 million creates an obligation for repair and maintenance and replacement at some future time. You know, imagining that some of those assets have a 25-year useful life, I would caution everybody that's watching, and the Board, that we are well into the 25-year useful life on that 90 to $100 million in expenditures in 2007. So we need a system that gives us a way to predict it, gives us a way to evaluate what we're going to do. And, you know, I seriously think that we need to have some extended conversations. I hope -- and we didn't spend a lot of time on the general overview but, you know, the discussion -- the discussion in this general overview, to me, is some of the most important in this entire document. You can spend a lot of time reading figures and so on and so forth, but when staff and the County Manager uses words like "challenging," this is code, where I come from, for somebody that's saying, Houston, we have a problem, okay. That's a very polite way of cautioning the Board, and everybody wants to be respectful and so on Page 29 June 25, 2015 and so forth. Let's not minimize the severity of the challenges that we face. Let's start to work on this. I don't think it will be visited on anybody in this room necessarily, but there is a day of reckoning that's coming that is longer term in the county. And, you know, that's being worked on by Opportunity Naples in our -- you know, our economic efforts, no doubt. But, you know, I'm going to say that, you know, after the first of the year when people return and we can have a community conversation, that we should have a workshop on potential new sources of revenue and how they're to be collected or, you know, what our options are, and what they should be applied to. And, you know, it's outlined in general overview -- and not to repeat it but, you know, electric utility franchise fees are mentioned, stormwater utilities are mentioned, one-cent infrastructure local sales taxes are mentioned and, of course, an increase in the millage rate. So I think it is fair to say that we need a systematic review. I think if we don't do this we're not dispatching our responsibility. So I hope we can do that going forward, and I certainly endorse the suggestion by the County Manager that we employ concepts for dedicated funds to apply to these challenges, like the proposed capital vehicle recovery fund. I think this gives our citizens some certainty that if we have to impose additional revenue collection, that we're going to dedicate that conscientiously into something for which there is a clear need and that we're not just going to collect money and throw it into the General Fund and then, you know, go through "button, button, who's got the button"; how are we going to spend this nice money that we have? I believe these funds are very responsible, and I think they will be received well by our constituents. So I'll have some more comments, but I want to thank you for this Page 30 June 25, 2015 analysis. I think we need more of it. Commissioner Henning, then Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Actually, I think Commissioner Taylor was on before I. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I'm sorry, ma'am. Please proceed, and then we'll go to Commissioner Henning. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: One question, Mr. Casalanguida. With the -- with this wonderful chart that's up there, what I'm hearing from you is that we all are happy about the growth of the residential units, but because of the amount of growth or the -- the amount of growth, we can't -- there's no catch-up here. If the growth was a little bit less, then there would be a possibility of maybe implementing what Mr. Isackson talked about. But what we're facing now is unprecedented growth in this going forward, and that it's going -- we're out of sync here about what we need to do. Not out of sync. I'm using these wrong phrases. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Timing. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Timing. MR. CASALANGUIDA: It's timing, ma'am. When you look at this -- and this is the discussion Mark and I have had. You know, I don't want you to think we're not taking care of our assets. We are. Everybody's prepared on our team to get there and make sure that you don't have a catastrophic failure anywhere. As we go forward over the next couple years with additional General Fund, if the prioritization is towards asset management -- asset management replacement and you don't have additional impact fees coming in at the rate you need that at, you're quickly going to fall behind in terms of capital expansions. I'll give you some numbers, and we'll talk about at the AUIR -- Leo said, you know, be prepared during your AUIR/CIE to get into it in more detail. But Vanderbilt Beach Road extension just out to 8th Street could Page 31 June 25, 2015 be $45 million, and then Golden Gate extension, the next phase from 18th to Everglades, $20 million. At 9 million a year with very little General Fund going to that, you can see there's -- you're not going to be able to get those projects online. And so what I'm going to work on in the discussions I've had with Mark is getting them, with David as he takes forward, them shovel ready, getting them permitted, getting them the right-of-way acquired, start those phases as early as I can. And then when the Board's ready to, you know, fund them or we have an opportunity to fund them, we'll be able to turn these on fairly quickly. But it does take five years by the time you pull the trigger till these roads are in place. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We have two commissioners that were here, and I'm very interested in hearing from you and Commissioner Fiala on what you went through and what it was like. COMMISSIONER HENNING: It was pure hell. I really appreciate my colleagues addressing the hard issues here. We have some really hard decisions to make in the near future. But I want to start out by asking some questions. Expanded requests, Mark. Are you -- what I heard was they're a replacement of what we had in the past. Now, what I want to know in the future, is it a replacement of necessary positions, or are they actually new positions? Because what we had, Commissioner Taylor, in the past was unfunded requests. We had extra monies from ad valorem dollars and other sources that -- and also borrowing more money. We borrowed a lot of money, and we're still paying for it. But those unfunded requests, some of those were positions. The question that I need to have, and not today, were those really needed, so we can identify, are these new positions, or are they replacement positions. The second thing, stormwater management is really concerning Page 32 June 25, 2015 on where -- the level we were on funding that and where we're at today. That's a hole that we're not going to get out of. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yep. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. And I know that it was said that more money's coming out of 111, the Unincorporated Fund, and less out of the General Fund. Commissioners, I think that we need to take a look at -- I have some ideas for that particular issue that I'd like to get together with Leo and possibly bring something back on that. That is key. It's key not so much for protection of property. It's key for creating new capacity for stormwater so that it doesn't affect our estuarian system like it has in the past -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I agree. COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- in the coastal issues. I mean, that -- you know, I mean, that's near and dear to my heart because that's what I did when I was a kid. I was in the estuarian systems, and those need to be restored or protected. So I have some ideas I want to talk to the County Manager and possibly bring something back. The other thing that's really concerning is when we talk about new revenue sources, we are talking about increasing taxes. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yeah, we are. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yep. COMMISSIONER HENNING: And I want to try everything possible to avoid that, and I think there are ways that we can avoid that. But, Leo, your presentation was very, very insightful. And if you want to get back to that. MR. OCHS: Sure. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Statutorily, we're responsible for all the constitutional officers' capital needs and, statutorily, we are responsible for the maintenance of the constitutional officers' capital Page 33 June 25, 2015 needs. We're the ones that fund that. However, if we continue to budget the way we budget historically, it's a hole that just doesn't go away. I mean, we were, if I recall, approximately 8- or 900,000 -- 8- to $900 million in debt, okay, and we've taken a progressive mode to pay back that debt; however, we still have half of that; we're only halfway there. And I don't think that we can continue to borrow without a new source of revenue. But I believe that we can do it without new -- new taxes. But what's interesting, what the County Manager has provided is under 12 of your presentation, Leo -- MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- is where we were at peak of the budget and where we're at today, where we're at at funding levels by the constitutional officers back in '08 at the peak and where we're at today. And, Leo, you, in '08, was, on your budget -- that's not on this page, correct? County Manager's Agency -- there we are, okay, that's right. I highlighted it. You're a long way away for -- from what we were at the height, although we still need to maintain, which we have a backlog of capital -- our capital investments, which include the constitutional officers, and we still need to provide capital improvement for our constitutional officers. Give you an example, we've got a new substation coming out in District 5. That is -- that has been needed for a number of years, okay. We're still going to have to provide those capital growth to our constitutional officers. You can't get there by what is provided. And I have some ideas. And I briefly talked to Leo about that this morning, and I would -- with your blessing, Commissioners, I would like to get together with Leo and kind of lay out something and possibly bring Page 34 June 25, 2015 something back if the County Manager agrees on it, because it's a disaster. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning, I fully support any effort. You know, I've spent a lot of time considering this, as you have. And, you know, your recognition and statement that water management is an infrastructure, of course, it is. We are absolutely a wetland community -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right. CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- and doing that is huge compared to other communities. Before I go to Commissioner Hiller, I'd like to -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: I don't know if there's -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: I want you to continue. I don't want to cut you off, but I want to respond to you a little bit, because I think you're making some great points. Do you have something else, sir, before I -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: I just want to see if there's a consensus on the Board to work with the County Manager and possibly bring something back. Leo, you're in support of that, right? MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER FIALA: So am I. I think that's a great idea. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, me, too. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I absolutely do. You know, I -- Mr. Casalanguida, I appreciate your candor, you know. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: The realization that residential properties consume about a dollar and a quarter for every dollar they pay is true. We are not clearly seeing this because we have a very aggressive impact fee source of revenue. So we're being shielded from this. The Anderson Economic Group, which is a nationally acclaimed economic analysis consultant, has come here twice and cautioned us that we need Page 35 June 25, 2015 to be aware of this. We cannot continue to go down the road and ignore this and hope it's going to go away, because it's not. When you show the growth escalating like it is, it's like saying we're losing money per unit; we need to get a bigger truck. For every home that's built here and every residence that we rely on for 70 percent of our income, this shortfall that's coming is getting bigger and bigger. And, clearly, I don't think there is any manipulation that we can do that's going to show that we're keeping even. The shortfall and the need to replace and maintain infrastructure is a national crisis. We should not believe for a moment that we're immune to this. Everybody's facing it. Some of them are facing it a lot worse than we are because their infrastructure is older and was constructed after World War II; we're a relatively new community. But it's going to be visited upon us because we have so much infrastructure and people want extended service. So if we're going to maintain the level service, we have to do something. We have to either -- we have to have some source -- new source of revenue, or we have to have increased user fees for things or -- I'm happy to have Commissioner Henning or any of my fellow commissioners bring things forward, but I believe that we should plan on doing it in a structured way and not delay too much further. I believe that we have the ability to take some of our costs and utilize some sort of enterprise-related funding for some of these. And you want to call it a user fee, you want to call it an enterprise funding, make, you know, those that ride on the roads pay for the roads, that sort of a concept. I think we're going to have to do something. We're going to have to get creative. I agree with Commissioner Henning; I don't want to raise taxes. Nobody wants to raise taxes, but we can't stick our head in the sand anymore. Page 36 June 25, 2015 Commissioner Hiller, then Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah, and I still have two questions. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Oh, sir. I'm sorry. Go ahead. COMMISSIONER HENNING: The graph -- sorry. The graph on -- I would like some extra information, the correlation between your impact fees and the new residential units. And these are all new residential units; is that correct? MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's correct, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. I would like to, on the impact fee graph, plug in those DCAs in there so I can see, you know, when that is. MR. CASALANGUIDA: That would be easy for us to do, and I can put little stars with the table below and tell you what the DCA was, what the revenue -- the amount was, and that way you'll get a feel for it. I think that would be helpful. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. Because I need to see the level of impact fees for the single-family homes. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Right. COMMISSIONER HENNING: During the peak and where we're at today. MR. CASALANGUIDA: And for the board members that weren't here, those DCAs brought in significant revenue or allowed us to do capital projects. I'll give you one example, and it will give you a feel for it. U.S. -- 951 -- I-75 and 951 and Davis, all those ponds in the right-of-way that were put in there were from developer contribution agreements. We saved tens of millions of dollars in stormwater ponds and acquisition and construction in advance by doing DCAs with the developers that owned that property, and you're able to build those projects. Page 37 June 25, 2015 CHAIRMAN NANCE: So those are used as impact fees would be? MR. CASALANGUIDA: We issued almost like a Visa debit card. They have that now and they come in and they pull a building permit, they take a swipe of their card, it gets deducted, the value of those impact fees. But you have spent those dollars. And you've got the capacity for it, so I don't want you to think that those dollars -- and you didn't get the capacity. CHAIRMAN NANCE: But once again, also, those create a downstream obligation for operations, maintenance, and replacement. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN NANCE: So, you know, we're not filling that hole. We've got to have a mechanism for that downstream obligation. And that's what I'm mostly concerned with, and I think my fellow commissioners are echoing that. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sure. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, the law has changed on that stuff, so I think you need to -- we can maybe anticipate some, but I think you need to provide some more information to the Board -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: Happy to. COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- on that. My last question is on your capital, Capital 37. It's to replace a coastal zone boat, customized, specially outfitted boat associated with maintenance of the waterway channel markings and removal of derelict vessels. That's $160,000 investment replacement. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I know that it's up to the Coast Guard to maintain the markers. MR. CASALANGUIDA: We maintain our channel markers, sir. In the -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: But that's up to the Coast Guard. Page 38 June 25, 2015 Those are -- anytime they're marked, that's a navigational marker that is recognized by the U.S. Coast Guard. MR. CASALANGUIDA: I'll get clarification, sir, but I believe our staff is going up and replacing these markers as they get hit. And your -- for instance, just in Clam Bay, one of those little -- those markers that are in and out of there, we replace those. So I will get you that information. COMMISSIONER HENNING: And removal of derelict vessels. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: What is the funding source for this capital improvement? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Boater registration is covering about -- most of that, and then some of it is covering from 113 as well. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. So that's a rational nexus. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: That's my last question. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Very good. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Hiller, then Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER HILLER: The first thing I want to address is that we are going to be selecting a new MPO executive director. One of the things that we've faced over the last few years is that we were not getting our pro rata fair share allocation back from the state. And you can correct me if my memory is incorrect, but I think, you know, comparing ourselves to other donor counties, we were getting about 20 percent less than similarly situated counties were getting. So as far as, you know, sources of revenue that don't go to taxation or fees, it is very clear we need to get the money back that we are contributing to the extent that we can. And we're leaving money on the table at the state level and at the federal level. And those are our tax dollars that should be coming back to us to support our projects. Page 39 June 25, 2015 So one of the things I would encourage is that you -- you know, when we are looking at a new MPO executive director, that that be one of their key mandates to get money back and that when we look at our grants division, that we do everything we can through grants, through applying for grants aggressively to repatriate money for infrastructure improvements. Secondly, I think it needs to be made very clear that impact fees cannot be used for repairs and maintenance. It's only for new construction. And to that end, impact fees are not pledged against debt, so we can't use them as a stream of income to pledge against borrowings to build, and so we have to look to other sources. And I just state that as a reminder. As to developer contribution agreements, I think -- I think -- I think a word of caution is very much in order. They cannot be exactions. You can't exact these contributions to infrastructure improvement, for example, as a condition of a rezone, as a hypothetical. In fact, it's my understanding -- and I want to review this more closely to see how this ties back to these DCAs -- the Bert Harris Act has been modified to provide that you can't exact funding for these type of improvements from a developer unless there is a clear nexus between the development and the impact that you are looking to fund. And I would say that I see, you know, a potential stream of new litigation that will be facing the courts as it relates to this issue. But, again, you know, we absolutely have to follow the law. These DCAs can't be used as exactions. You know, you can't sit there and say, you know, if you don't pay for this, you know, we're not going to recommend approval of your rezone or PUD amendment or anything along those lines. And I want to make sure that we're very mindful and respectful of that. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Ma'am, your state law's even changed Page 40 June 25, 2015 this year to require that starting in October all of-- any donations are done by agreement that the Board approves. So not even in the PUDs anymore can they provide things that don't have to come with an agreement -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: And it's very important that these people understand that, you know, these donations, as you properly describe them, are voluntary. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Uh-huh. COMMISSIONER HILLER: And, again, if they refuse, that doesn't affect their ability to, you know, petition for whatever they want of this board as is their legal right. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Very good. COMMISSIONER HILLER: And to the extent that we do engage in these discussions, I think they should also be informed that they -- if we do take that property because we have a need to take property, for example, for right-of-ways or for whatever reason, that they have the right to compensation and their legal defense if they challenge the takings. MR. CASALANGUIDA: I know David is taking notes as you speak, ma'am. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I just think it's very important. You know, on the one hand we want to do everything we can to maintain and improve the level of service at the lowest possible cost, but we can't do it in any way compromising property rights or in contradiction of any other law. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. Thank you. Commissioner Hiller, do we have a history of doing that or -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yes, in the past. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Affordable housing. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh. Page 41 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER HILLER: And not only affordable housing, but yes. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER HILLER: And that is why it is absolutely essential that, you know, we -- and it's so wonderful that you are on board at the start of this wave, because -- and I'm referring to David, for Commissioner Fiala's benefit -- because this will give you the opportunity to start managing the future. As opposed to coming in into the middle of an issue, you're at the start. So with your experience you can help, you know, take us forward. MR. WILKISON: Thank you. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: One of the -- well, I was on the city council at the time when the county was -- came to the city council to ask if they could tap into our sewer system. That's, I guess, 2001/2002, because of-- and I was the swing vote that said yes, let's do it. And it's very -- to me, very encouraging. And, Commissioner Fiala, my compliments to you for going through all that, because now, you know, we're looking at things differently. We're not going to get caught like the county did before. And we're -- I think it's a great idea, Chairman, to have a workshop when folks are back to talk about the reality of what we're -- what we're facing and the hard decisions that we want them to help us make. So congratulations. COMMISSIONER HILLER: And with Commissioner Henning's project of-- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- working with Leo to bring this to that workshop, I think, we'll be well informed. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes, wonderful. It's good. It's a good -- it's a change of attitude which is very important. Thank you. Page 42 June 25, 2015 MR. CASALANGUIDA: You're welcome. Thank you, Commissioners. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Wait a second. Did you see that? Before we go to public speakers, I feel I'm obligated to do a couple of things. First of all, I'd like to do something positive, and then I'd like to play devil's advocate for a couple minutes. I would really like to commend Mr. Shue and your staff, sir, on the airports, and I would like to have you give us a little statement on how you're doing with the airports, because I understand that they are now in the black. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN NANCE: And I think that's something important that everybody needs to hear. So would you please make us -- bring us -- just give us a little update on your airports on how you're doing. MR. CASALANGUIDA: I'll take about 10, 15 seconds and pass it to Gene and Allison. Both of those two spend an inordinate amount of time, first of all, hiring people that have the same mindset for customer service and due diligence in the way they deal with the finances and the people that are there. Our new airport manager, Justin, is fantastic. But for Gene and Allison to take a moment both to get credit and to let you know what they've been doing. MR. SHUE: As you mentioned, nothing but good news. The past year's been a very good one. We started with a budget that would have required about $300,000 in General Fund support. We expect to be break-even this year. The budget before you for next year operating-wise would have been in the black, but we actually have some capital equipment needs that have been deferred for years. We have a couple very expensive Page 43 June 25, 2015 fuel trucks, and that's the lifeblood of the airport. So we did require a subsidy for next year but in order to replace needed capital equipment. We've restructured the airports. You'll notice we one had expanded position. In fact, we restructured in a way that we're able to add that position and still lower our payroll costs for next year. We've done a number of things at all three airports, really, and a lot of things are yet to come. I know we've dealt extensively with Chairman Nance with some opportunities out in Immokalee, and the future is bright indeed. And I will pass a lot of credit onto Allison. She had to be very involved in a hands-on capacity in restructuring the entire financial operations at the airports, and it's paid great dividends. So we have reliable numbers -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you so much. MR. SHUE: -- and good projections. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Congratulations, really. Thank you. MS. KEARNS: Thank you. I'd actually just like to take a moment to thank the airport staff that we currently do have in place, though. We may have spearheaded some new initiatives, but because of their dedication and positive attitude and teamwork, we're really going to see great things come out of them, and I'm really proud of what they've done. MR. SHUE: Absolutely. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I want to give you all my hardiest congratulations. You know, this was a very difficult transition. But at this time I would also like to thank my fellow commissioners for making the hard decisions that we did in eliminating four contract employees that used to work for Collier County: One of them at the airports, two at the CRAs, and one in the County Commission office. The combined elimination of those contract employees saves Collier County almost $500,000 annually, and staff has done an Page 44 June 25, 2015 absolutely wonderful seamless job in doing that work and I think doing a much better job at it. So my congratulations to you, and thanks to my fellow commissioners. And we took a lot of heat to do that, but I think the performance that we're seeing is bearing out that it's been a good decision. And I thank each of you for taking the heat and making those hard decisions. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Mr. Chairman, could I comment on a couple things as well? CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you very much. I'm going to go way back to Commissioner Henning's outstanding speech before. If I could, I would have applauded him. It was an excellent observation of the budget in general. I like the idea of all of us getting together, especially Commissioner Henning, working it out with the County Manager first and then coming back with a program to present to us. That's an excellent idea. I think it's essential that we focus on the stormwater management system because that is part of moving forward and, really, it's like step one before you even get into everything else. You've got to have a storm -- a functioning stormwater management system that can carry us forward as we -- as we continue this amount of growth. Heaven only knows if it will proceed in the next few years at the same pace or more, but we have to be prepared for it. Another thing I wanted to say was with the airports, Marvin Courtright had come back to us at a meeting just recently and suggested that it was time to put together an Airport Authority Board. And aside from us being the Airport Authority, he's talking about an advisory board, and I think it's something that at some point in time we should at least talk about. Whether you like it or not, I don't know. But it was something Page 45 June 25, 2015 that he presented, and so I thought -- I would like to put that on the table. I think we're all headed in the right direction. I would never want to see taxes raised. I feel that if we start a franchise fee, the problem with it is it will never end; we all know that. And so I think we have to step into that arena carefully to make sure that whatever we're doing is going to be needed not just to get us out of that position right now but, you know, sometimes we've even -- I'm sure all of us have noticed that sometimes money is spent just because if they don't spend it, then they'll never get it again the next year, so they'll spend it anyway. We don't want to do that, and we don't want to count on franchise fees to carry us into that position. So I think, as Commissioner Henning works with the County Manager in coming up with a plan, I think we all ought to carefully watch and listen and work with him. I think he's -- he's one of the most astute budget guys on the County Commission. So, anyway, those are my comments. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you, Commissioner Fiala. I have a couple more before we go to the public speakers. I want to be the devil's advocate on a couple items, and I'd like to focus, as Commissioner Henning is, a moment on FTEs. Regarding code enforcement, I believe that the Board of County Commissioners had received information after we adopted the policy that we were not going to have anonymous complaints, that the amount of cases that needed management had dropped off significantly. I believe somebody came in once upon a time and said they dropped off by half. So I was kind of expecting to see that we were going to be able to reduce the number of investigators and staffing in response to a lower caseload, but I haven't seen that occur. And I'd just like you to comment on that. Page 46 June 25, 2015 MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sure, Commissioner. And I'll probably bring you back a caseload analysis which would be good for you to look at, maybe even for the entire board by memo. But I think Jeff Wright and his department has done a great job on focusing on code compliance rather than -- a lot of these anonymous complaints, I don't want to say you're chasing your tail, but you're settling property disputes. So their focus has been on drainage systems, working with the road and bridge folks to make sure those are taken care of, blighted areas, derelict vehicles in Golden Gate City. If Jeff had his way and he was here today, I think he would ask you, Commissioners, I don't probably have enough people to manage what I have. In his opinion, I think he's being very proactive, and that's been what the Board has directed him to do. I will certainly give you those numbers. It is one thing with Collier County, if you can imagine a level of service per capita -- and that's what I think Jeff is looking at as well, too, is as we continue to grow and more properties develop, that's just more calls and more properties to keep an eye on. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Well, I just want to make sure that we don't have staff that is out there generating work, okay? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Crystal clear, sir. CHAIRMAN NANCE: The second thing is, on landscaping, I notice that there's a proposal to add a landscape inspector, and it indicates that we're supposed to be looking at engineering-approved construction plans and specifications. To my knowledge, we're not actively adding landscaping, although I understand there's a demand for it, that we're not adding it. So I'm just -- I'm just being devil's advocate and asking you why at this time, after we're going through a recession, we haven't added to this for years, why we need to do more inspection. Page 47 June 25, 2015 MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sure. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I'd like you to get back to me on that. And I would also like to encourage -- you've got a lot of things on your plate, Mr. Casalanguida, but I would -- under lighting, I would like to see at some point in the year there's a discussion on the amount of electricity that's used. I would like to have at some point a discussion, and I think we've mentioned this at the board level a couple times, on how dark-skies lighting might help us with the cost of lighting. I think that, obviously, it can make a great deal of difference in the quality of our community if we adopt some dark-skies technologies, but I'd also like to see if that wouldn't pretty much pay for itself in paying for the cost of electricity. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Commissioner, at the County Manager's direction, we've also been looking at LED lights. And I think the technology keeps getting better almost quarterly. I think the folks that are in lighting right now are working with several vendors, and I think that will be an opportunity that we bring back to the Board very shortly. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, thank you. That is all I have. Mr. Miller, do we have some public speakers? MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, I have one registered speaker for growth management budget, Brad Estes. MR. ESTES: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Brad Estes. I'm a resident of Poinciana Village. We live there and have lived there for 43 years, and we have two other properties there. And I just wanted to reinforce the concern about the stormwater issues. We're 45 years old. Our system is dysfunctional. I'm not sure it was ever properly designed. The rainfall on August 4th last year, the 50-year storm showed us how unsafe our community is. And when we talked to Mr. Casalanguida, sorry, and his staff, they're pointing to revenue issues for stormwater. So I just wanted to Page 48 June 25, 2015 reinforce that and tell you that we are very interested in the outcome of that and thank Commissioner Taylor for helping us with our issues, too, so -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: That's in the unincorporated area; it's not in the city? I know it's -- MR. ESTES: We're off Airport Road, yes. We're in the unincorporated. We're surrounded to the south by the city, but we're still in the unincorporated area. COMMISSIONER HENNING: But represented by the city, Commissioner Taylor. MR. ESTES: Yes, I'm sorry, yes. It's in District 4, yes. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah, that's where sometimes I get mixed up where the lines are. MR. ESTES: Right, yeah. Well, it's close because Poinciana Elementary School is now in the city, so... COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. MR. CASALANGUIDA: We just executed a work order, Commissioners, for that area just for an engineer to look at the system and give us back a report to see what the cost feasibility to do something would be. So that just happened in the last two weeks. MR. ESTES: All right. And we just are concerned when he says cost feasibility, because we consider it to be a crisis. Thank you so much. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Good to see you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you very much. Any further questions? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, I have a couple more. I wanted to ask Nick Casalanguida if they -- how the project is going with putting sidewalks in Naples Manor. We started it. We're getting some in there, but there's still a need for the rest of it to be done. And also considering that particular area, how are we doing in Page 49 June 25, 2015 putting some lights in there which will make it a much safer area for people to live in? MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Streetlights. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Currently right now we put about $250,000 a year to what we call unregulated sidewalk improvements. We prioritize through the Pathway Advisory Committee so that there's fairness across the board. So I will get you the prioritized list and meet with you to go over that, Commissioner Fiala. As far as lighting's concerned, no new real lighting projects on the books right now, but I'll evaluate that as well, too, and get back to you. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yeah. I think that that's essential for the safety of the residents in that area. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Very good, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: And you know what I mean. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, ma'am. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Further comments? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Break? CHAIRMAN NANCE: Hearing none, yes, we're going to take a break for our court reporter. Mr. Wilkison, thank you, sir. You know you're going to have to start growing a beard now. But thank you. The Growth Management Department is carrying a very heavy burden, and we're happy to have the people that we have now doing a great job. Thanks so much. MR. CASALANGUIDA: Thank you, Commissioners. MR. WILKISON: Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: We will take a break for the court reporter, and we'll come back at 10:50. (A brief recess was had.) CHAIRMAN NANCE: Ladies and gentlemen, let's reconvene, please. Page 50 June 25, 2015 PUBLIC SERVICES MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman and Commissioners, next up on your agenda is your Public Services Department. Mr. Carnell and his management team are here and ready to present. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Mr. Carnell? MR. CARNELL: Yes, sir. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board, including Commissioner Fiala on the phone. Hope you can hear us. Good morning. We are here to discuss with you our 2016 budget request and, just briefly, we are within compliance with regard to our countywide General Fund and the Unincorporated Fund balances where our budget increase right now that's proposed is 2.6 percent in the countywide General Fund and 2.9 percent in the Unincorporated Fund. I have with me this morning this motley crew or seemingly motley crew of my management team. And while they may appear to be motley -- and you'll have to take my word for it, Commissioner Fiala -- they are, in reality, a very bright and esteemed group here. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'll just tell you, I don't think they look motley to me. MR. CARNELL: Well, thank you. COMMISSIONER HILLER: But I will say I was listening to Motley Crew on my way in here to prepare to listen to your very attractive, professional-looking team. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Oh, that's a mixed message, isn't it? MR. CARNELL: Thank you. Really? Yeah. Well, don't confuse the band with this band. But nonetheless, we do have a -- we have a very impressive management team. And just -- I wanted to just take a moment and just share with you-all a few things and remind you of a few things briefly Page 51 June 25, 2015 among this group. Some of you may or may not be aware that our University Extension Division had a visit this year from the National Sea Grant Program in which they did a full program review and really found no deficiencies whatsoever and, in fact, walked out the door saying we were the model of a sea grant operation and want to share that with other sea grant operations nationally. So I want to commend Brian for that and make you-all aware of that. In addition to that, our Veteran Services Operation and Veterans Services Division just recently, and I do mean recently, received a Certification of Congressional Appreciation from the Congress sponsored by Representative Curt Clawson in recognition for the great service that they provide to our veterans every day down here. And Representative Clawson's staff was communicating to us how much they appreciate what we do for our veterans. In addition to that, our Parks and Rec Division just recently received reaccreditation. That's a big, mammoth process that took a good deal of time to go through. So congratulations to Barry and his group for achieving that. And our Community Health and Services Division, along with our friends in the Immokalee CRA, received an award from the National Community Development Association at their national conference for the good work they did on the Immokalee First Street Plaza project, the Zocalo. And in addition to that, our museum director, you-all may remember a few months ago, received the Stars Award from the Naples Cultural Arts Alliance, and Mr. Jamro is also celebrating his 35th year with Collier County this month, and that award was such a motivator to him that he's told me he's re-upped for another 35 years with the hopes of winning it again. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Hey, it's going to work. We've got Page 52 June 25, 2015 a blue zone going. You'll be there. It's okay. MR. CARNELL: So -- and then you'll remember as well that our Public Transit and Neighborhood Enhancement Division was recognized as the Transit Agency of the Year in Florida last summer. So we're very proud of our group and pleased to bring you this budget. Some important highlights -- let me highlight a few things for you across the department, and then we'll entertain questions for our directors. Our Domestic Animal Services Division continues to make progress with our live release rates. And right now that group is head on into -- in addressing the results of the study that we received from the veterinary college -- at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. They did a site visit back in the spring, and we just received their report last week, and there are several recommendations in which they are providing -- it was a shelter assessment -- in terms of where they're suggesting we try to make short-term and long-term improvements to our shelter operations. And part of our budget today for FY 16 begins to address that. We are requesting an expanded service position, a veterinary technician position, to try to do a better job and provide more resourcing to the surgical procedures that we do at the clinic. In addition to that, we're also looking for some capital funds to make improvements to our isolation building area, which Darcy can elaborate more on if there's questions. But, again, that's all pursuant to this study, in concert with the study from the University of Florida. We have a new Library Director. Some of you have met her; Valerie Kosin is with us. She comes to us from the Cleveland, Ohio, area, fifth largest public library system in the country, and Valerie came on board in April, and she's already figured out all of our problems, and they're all solved. But in all seriousness, we are going to be, in follow-up to the Page 53 June 25, 2015 BCC workshop on libraries back -- that we had back in February, you may remember we talked about conducting a community-wide assessment and outreach to our community with regard to library service and amenities to find out what our citizens want, in a systematic way, and we're going to be doing that study in the coming year and trying to engage the community with regard to their libraries. We do have a little more money in our books and materials section of our budget this year. We've been playing catch-up. You know, we had decreases on that through the recessionary years, and we are increasing that spend from about 700,000 to about $820,000 in the new year, continue to recover and work our way back on that backlog. We'll be proposing to expand operating hours at the Marco Island branch to return to Saturday hours at that location. And then our Museum Division continues to prosper on many fronts. Our Wednesdays lecture series at the main museum is booked every week; it's full. It's extremely popular. And Naomi Goren puts that program together for us and does a great job. We have, once again, a half million dollar -- a little over half-million-dollar capital project planned for the coming year that includes financing the Modern Marco exhibits and the Pioneer Room at Marco Island Museum, and those two events will essentially complete the fill-out of that facility. There always will be improvements to be made in the future as well, but in terms of completing the exhibit's presentation at that facility, we will achieve that through these two projects. And, additionally, we continue to press on with the refurbishment of the club car at the Naples Depot, expect that to be done at the end of two thousand -- or early 2016. And I guess those -- we continue also to look at other opportunities to expand museum outreach and services. I mentioned Parks and Recreation. We have the accreditation Page 54 June 25, 2015 achievement again, the reaccreditation of our programs there. There are expanded service requests in our Parks and Recreation Division this year, four specifically. Two of them related to trying to enhance our maintenance at our parks and two relate to enhancing either administrative functions and another one entails improving our customer service at the Vineyards Community Park, trying to get our staffing complement up to something a little more equivalent to what we have in our other community parks. Capital projects, we have, again, a pretty aggressive capital budget this year. The budget you're looking at, specifically these pages, do not include money appropriated against the capital backlog per se just yet. As the County Manager mentioned at the beginning, there is a million-and-a-half dollars set aside in the General Fund towards the backlog, and we will be working with County Manager's Office and the Budget Office to allocate those funds across the various departments between now and October 1st. But that said, we do have in our countywide Parks Capital Fund more than 20 projects, most of them maintenance projects that are budgeted for the coming year. And then our impact fee budget, there's really three big headliners there; the continued funding -- accruing funding for the Eagle Lakes community pool at the Eagle Lakes Community Park and also the construction and design of the Big Corkscrew Island Regional Park. We are putting aside over $7 million in this budget, and we'll have a cumulative total of about $11 million towards that park come next year. And we also are looking to expand what is kind of our hottest fitness center right now, which is the fitness center at the Immokalee sports complex. There's a tremendous demand, tremendous interest there, and we are -- we have grant funds to construct expansion to that facility in the coming year as well. Page 55 June 25, 2015 We continue to work closely with our partners, with the State of Florida Health Department, our Collier County branch headed up by Stephanie Vick. And Ms. Vick heads up just a very strong group of professionals, and they particularly excel in response -- proactive response to disease outbreaks and detections. We have really a stellar group there. And I mentioned University of Florida Extension, the successful visit that we had earlier from the sea grant program nationally. We are looking to enhance our 4H program this year by providing full funding to a position, one of our 4H outreach coordinators. This will not only provide literally more hours in the day, the week, and the year for the 4H'ers to -- staff to provide programs, but it will also -- by the Board picking up this piece of the funding, it's going to enable the 4H Association to leverage more of their dollars on supplies, gear, equipment, and even scholarships for kids going to 4H camps. So we're getting a lot of bang for not a lot of buck there. So we're excited about that. I will tell you that we got news this week that the Governor vetoed the funding on the Immokalee accelerator, and we're not sure what the consequences of that means just yet. We're working through that. We're in contact with the Governor's Office and the University of Florida. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Mr. Carnell, thank you for your service, sir, all these years. MR. CARNELL: Wow. CHAIRMAN NANCE: A little bit of humor. MR. CARNELL: Yes. Thank you, sir. We'll let you know when we figure that one out, and I'll get you my resignation if need be. But -- and then as I mentioned, the public transit neighborhood enhancement, our division there, they're rolling out with Phase 1 of Page 56 June 25, 2015 improvements to the Radio Road/Davis Boulevard facility. Those are well underway. And Phase 2, the Board just awarded the contract. We expect Phase 1 to be done early fall and Phase 2 to follow right behind it. That will add a great deal of, I think, superior amenities for our bus patrons and riders, and it will get rid of some of the temporary, kind of, makeshift equipment we've been using at that facility with some permanent facilities and equipment that will make a lot more sense and will be a lot more cost efficient in the long run. So that's where we are in a nutshell, and we'll field any questions that you may have at this time. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioners Henning and Hiller, I don't know which of you was first. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Henning was first. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning, then Commissioner Hiller. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Ladies first. COMMISSIONER HILLER: No, go ahead. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Really. COMMISSIONER HILLER: No, go ahead. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Really. COMMISSIONER HILLER: No, no. Seriously, you always say I was ahead of you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Do you want me to flip a coin? COMMISSIONER HILLER: No. I want to give you every opportunity to speak. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Human Services, you do a -- do you have an expanded position? Health and Human Services Community, Community Services Division? MS. GRANT: That's correct. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. For what? Page 57 June 25, 2015 MS. GRANT: We're asking this year for -- we actually have two expanded positions that we've asked. One is with funding; one we do not need funding for it because it's grant funded. The one that we're requesting funding for is for a senior accountant position, and this is to fulfill the last major element of the restructuring of our division associated with grant compliance. Last year you approved one expanded position for me to create a supervisor for compliance and monitoring units, and that's been going very, very well. And this year we finish that, assuming that it's approved, by adding a senior accountant so that we can focus on not only program but also financial compliance. COMMISSIONER HENNING: And that's not ad valorem dollars then? MS. GRANT: Yes, it is requested as ad valorem dollars. COMMISSIONER HENNING: For grant funding? Wouldn't that come out of the grant? MS. GRANT: The grant does allow for the funding for monitoring. The recommendation that's being made is that this be a grant-funded position so that -- I'm sorry, a General Funded position -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right. MS. GRANT: -- so that we can maintain complete and total control and separation of duties so that the -- essentially, the auditors or the monitors that we have on staff are independent from the grant funding, and it will further their ability to be independent in their review. COMMISSIONER HENNING: So -- I'm not sure I understand. Their independency so they can look at it more in-depth or -- MS. GRANT: Thank you for asking that question. The compliance and monitoring team, in large part, is responsible for monitoring our subrecipients, so the folks that we grant funds to. They also perform the development of the policies and procedures and Page 58 June 25, 2015 dealing with some internal control review as well. So the concept is if they were paid with grant funds, in the extreme, they may be more favorable, not provide findings, not look at things as stringently in order to preserve their funding in their position. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Gotcha. MS. GRANT: So that's the concept for the recommendation for it to be General Funded. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Now, I have the answer on the Coast Guard -- or the boat, waterway marking is on yours; however, the capital improvement is in Growth Management and your budget for the boat, 165-. How do you do that when you've got the same thing in two different departments? MR. ISACKSON: You talking about the -- you're talking about acquisition of the boat, sir? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. MR. ISACKSON: Well, remember part of it's coming -- we'll make a transfer from 113. The bulk of the acquisition will come out of the Capital Fund, and that will be boater improvement money. The majority of those dollars will be boater improvement in nature. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. The Public Services and Growth Management have the exact amount of 165-, 165-. I would imagine the boat's not going to be $300,000. MR. ISACKSON: No. COMMISSIONER HENNING: So at some point I guess you take it out of somebody's budget and recognize it in the other person's budget? MR. ISACKSON: Sir, if it gets approved, we'll make sure that -- you're probably wondering if it's being double counted or not. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. MR. ISACKSON: No, that won't happen. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Capital Page 15, you've Page 59 June 25, 2015 got Xfers reserves. What's Xfers? MR. ISACKSON: Transfers? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Transfers. MR. ISACKSON: Transfers and reserves, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: That's what I thought. Capital Page 14, Goodlette (sic), replace dock lighting. That's not that old. That facility is fairly new. MR. WILLIAMS: Commissioner, Barry Williams, Parks and Recreation Director. We are adding some lights at that location for security. It is a new facility, and there were some lights on the dock, but we want to add some more. We do have some folks coming in after hours, and we've heard that from boaters. And we would respect your ears, too, on that issue, but that's what that project is meant to do. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. It says replace corroded dock lights at the Goodland boat park, $50,000. MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: So if it's an enhancement -- MR. WILLIAMS: We are replacing some, but it's also adding some as well. The lights -- and we have had some corrosion. I don't know if you've noticed the issue that we've had with the ladders that we've had. You know, we've had to replace several of those and in relatively short time. We have done some coating on those ladders, however, to help protect from the barnacle buildup, but that's just a very corrosive environment. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Then the question that I have, what's the responsibility of the engineer, of the contractor, of the manufacturer of those items? Again, it's not that old. I mean, we can't keep on doing this. MR. WILLIAMS: We can check the warranty. Page 60 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. MR. WILLIAMS: I don't think it's in warranty, though. But we will check that detail for you. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well -- and the engineer, did they provide the specifications in a particular product/brand that it has to be replaced? I mean, is it reasonable to -- I mean, I don't think it's reasonable, but if they made a recommendation through their design or construction, maybe somebody could be held accountable there. MR. WILLIAMS: We can check, certainly. The warranty periods for this product, I mean, you're looking probably at a year, two years max. The boat ramp there has been open -- I think we're on Year 5, Year 4 perhaps. I can look at it and see if it's still in warranty. If it is, we could go after that. My suspicion is it's not. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I suspect you're right; however, that's not sustainable to have to replace it every four to five years. MR. WILLIAMS: And we would look for a product in terms of replacing that would have something more in terms of life span. We haven't evaluated -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: You're getting back to who's responsible; that should have been done in the first place. MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: And that would be the engineer or the contractor. MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. I would agree. COMMISSIONER HENNING: The next question is the Coast Guard building; is that a complete replacement at Caxambas? MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. And just to -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: It's a mobile home, isn't it? MR. WILLIAMS: It is. It's a modular that they use there. It's a very nice service that the auxiliary does. They do boater education for most of the folks on Marco. And the facility itself-- we went to do Page 61 June 25, 2015 some replacement a couple years ago, and the price tag on it, it was starting to get to a point where you're thinking, do we put 40-, $50,000 into this building or do you replace it. So this is a replacement of that modular. And the original modular was placed there with a pro -- with a share of it being paid for by the Coast Guard auxiliary, and they're prepared to do that as well. They have raised about $45,000. COMMISSIONER HENNING: That was my next question. MR. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. They're there -- they're a contributing partner. We have set aside 60,000 last year. We're requesting 75,000, which would be 135,000 with their $45,000 to replace that modular. And the lifespan of those, you know, we should get 25, 30 years; I would hope that we could get that. The modular itself, when it was purchased -- and I don't know quite the history -- we were in a position where we would buy modulars from the School Board, and I'm not sure if that was one of those, if it had some years on it or not when we bought it, so -- but that is a needed replacement there. And they are looking to expand their footprint just a bit. They do have -- it's a very successful program in terms of the people that attend that. So having a little more space will help them as well. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. I understand. That's the only question I have. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller, then Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. First of all, Kim, you know, I want to commend you. There's been a very significant improvement in grants administration since you've taken over, and we need to continue to head in that direction. So adding the staff position as you've described is the right thing to do. Page 62 June 25, 2015 I really think it is well worth our while to invest in a program for grants administration. The big four, a number of them have come up with programs that can be specifically tailored to the grants that we solicit. And rather than reinventing the wheel and have that wheel created by someone, you know, less experienced than, you know, professionals out of the big four, I think you will move ahead that much faster if we make that investment. And I think what we need to do is, while this budget doesn't contemplate it, I think we should go out and find out how much these programs are and consider a budget amendment to fund you to get a system that allows you to work effectively and efficiently, you know, with as few errors and omissions that might likely arise if you don't have something like that in place, because you're going in the right direction. And as I said earlier, if we're leaving grant monies on the table, it just means more of our ad valorem dollars have to go to a project, and we want to be able to save those ad valorem dollars where we can't get grant funding. So whatever we can do to, you know, better manage our grants division to solicit grants and manage the funding when it comes in, the better off for our taxpayers, because all we're doing is repatriating the money that they have paid in taxes to the state and federal government back to the county to benefit them and save them from increased ad valorem and taxes or other fees. So I would really ask you to look into that and if-- you know, bring that back to the Board and let us know. And if I can help in any way, I would be happy to do so. MS. GRANT: Okay. Thank you, Commissioner. We will do that. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thanks. I'm just trying to think; is there anything else? Page 63 June 25, 2015 CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Taylor? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: As we go forward and develop more in our parks system -- the City of Naples has just gone through a park assessment survey, and they brought someone in to do such. And, certainly, you can't compare the geographic area of the City of Naples with the county, but it's really the people that define this. And I know -- and I know that soccer fields are great. We don't have enough. We don't have enough athletic fields. Kids can't play baseball, so I'm not discussing and talking about that. I think that's well and good. But I'm wondering if we could -- and with the Commission's permission, do a survey to see what are in these parks for adults, like a band shell, like somewhere where -- and I'm not suggesting that it needs to be in one particular park over another. But if there's some way that we can start urbanizing some of the parks to accommodate adults that maybe want to listen to music in an afternoon and are willing to take, you know, lawn chairs and do such to see if there's room, number one, and, number two, does it work in terms of the geographic location of that. It's a thought I had. And, again, I don't know if I have agreement with the -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: I'm very -- I'm very -- personally, I'm very open to it, although we have to be careful in a lot of our areas, you know, the sound of shrubbery growing and children laughing is objectionable. So I don't know how we're going to integrate music into the parks program. Dogs barking and things like this are a constant crisis. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Crickets is the threshold. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And in talking about one of the most important parks we have, which are the beaches, and talking Page 64 June 25, 2015 about dogs on the beaches, you know -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: -- I'm not sure in Collier County we have a spot for a dog park. It's really not whether the dog is on a leash or not. It's whether whatever the dog is doing on the sand that, short of bringing shovels, will always stay there. And if you don't have it washed out in tide, it doesn't present a nice beach for folks to use, so COMMISSIONER HENNING: Put diapers on them. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: You're going to change them, right? CHAIRMAN NANCE: They're digging pitfall traps for the turtles, sir, is what I was told last. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And then getting to dogs -- and this is not a criticism, but it is the way we're set up, and that's not a criticism, personal, with, you know, Animal Control. It's always after the fact. And I'd like to see, again, with the Commission's concurrence, a more proactive part of Animal Control, and you start with the children in the schools, and you start educating children why, even though Mommy and Daddy doesn't want to neuter their beautiful, big, dark, black dog, it needs to be, and there's a reason for it, and it's really not good to have dogs have 12 puppies in a two-bedroom home, and the reason why. And, you know, if that could be part of your outreach -- and I think you'll find there will be volunteers that will be willing to do it, but I'm sure it has to be -- I know it has to be sanctioned by your department and by Animal Control, and the message has to be right. But I think it would go a long way into a proactive approach to trying to control something that I think you're doing a great job with, but I think maybe something else could be done. So that's -- MS. ANDRADE: I just want to comment on that. We have a Page 65 June 25, 2015 very active presence in the schools. Our Animal Control officers actually teach several different classes, like responsible pet ownership by prevention. They actively go to the schools and provide these services. They also go to a lot of the camps during the summer and teach the children at the camps, too. That's something we can always improve, but we do actively go out and try to do that education. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: All right. Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Before we go to the public -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Commissioner Nance? CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yeah. Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you very much. This is the one department within Collier County that seems to touch, visibly, every resident, every taxpayer in Collier County, each in their own way, whether it be 4H -- what a wonderful program that is -- or whether it be the extension service for all these gardeners out there and people who want to grow plants and so forth. Then you get down into the parks, and we all know that there's so much available in these parks to each and every person. And to answer Commissioner Taylor's query, just possibly one of the places we've had some bands operate or perform is over at Sugden Park where people bring their lawn chairs in and people -- others will bring in a stage -- and I think they've even done it in front of the stands over there where the water skiing shows used to take place, and that's a wonderful program. I think that the libraries have been -- oh, they've been doing such a great job in Collier County. Glad to hear that we'll get the Marco open -- Marco Island library open on Saturdays. That's something that has been requested in large numbers, and -- glad to see that happen. And with DAS, they are the animal shelter for all of Collier County. It doesn't make any difference which city it is; all of Collier County uses that animal shelter. And so I think this is the one Page 66 June 25, 2015 department where we must focus our attention because it does affect all of the taxpayers, and they can see their taxpayer dollars at work. Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Before we go to public speakers, I would like -- Mr. Camel!, I would like to commend each of your managers for the outreach to the public. I think Commissioner Fiala is exactly right. And over the course of the last year, you know, each of you has had a great deal of contact. And, of course, you're called public services, so you're interacting with the public, as I think the description is good. And I think you've done a very commendable job, because we have a very -- a demanding public here, and I think you've had challenges during the year, and I think -- each one of you that I've worked with, I give you my thanks personally for doing a great job. Bryan Fluech at Collier County Extension has done journeyman's work and energized Collier County Extension, and I know Commissioner Henning appreciates his involvement with the waterfront. You know, this is an element that we haven't had out of our Collier County Extension office in many, many years, if ever. And he's worked so hard together with the University of Florida group at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, together with Economic Development. And, Mr. Camel!, you know, you mentioned that we've lost some funding on our accelerator, and that certainly kind of casts a shadow over a little of that, but I'll tell you what, it's not for lack of everybody pulling the wagon in the direction. And thanks so much, Bryan, for your courtesy and the work -- the extra work you've put into that element of it. With that said, I would like to ask you a couple questions, Mr. Camel!, on Domestic Animal Services on Page 13, I think, of your presentation. I'd just like to inquire -- because I'm looking at some Page 67 June 25, 2015 numbers. And I notice that on Page 13, which is the department budgetary cost summary, that between the 2014 actual and the -- for Year 2016 requested we actually have an increase of$505,000 in total, which is not a 6 percent increase; it's actually over an 18 percent increase. And I will note that, you know, there's been a substantial increase in operating expenses. And, you know, at the risk of being considered dispassionate, I'd just like you to explain. One of the things that I'm asking you for is there's a 700 -- excuse me -- a $273,000 entry under "restricted for unfunded requests." Can you tell me what that quarter of a million dollars is right there? It seems like it's new money that hasn't occurred in our budget before. Does anybody know what that is? MR. FINN: Edward Finn from the budget office. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Those reserves are sourced from Pages 16 and 17; Page 16 being Neuter/Spray Trust Fund; 17 being Donation Fund. Those simply are funds that are available, and those two siloed sources are monies that aren't specifically earmarked in the budget this year. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. So those are monies that are there. Are those anticipated to be spent in this year for Year 15/16, or they're just monies that we found in the cushions of the couch, or what happened? MR. FINN: They're not -- those monies are budgeted as reserves. If they were to be spent, they'd be spent through a budget amendment mechanism. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. MR. FINN: If it were a large expenditure, it would return to the Board for approval. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, I just noticed in there substantial -- and I don't see where -- you know, perhaps they occurred prior to Page 68 June 25, 2015 2014, but they just seemed to fly into our budget for this current year, and I just -- I just wanted to make note that, you know, the expenses in Department of Animal Services Division are increasing at a rate that's higher than many other divisions. So I'll just ask that everybody, you know, be as diligent as they can to keep things within a, you know, reasonable amount of increase, because this seems to be some very substantial increases here. MR. CARNELL: Well, sir, let me clarify something for you on that. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Tell me. MR. CARNELL: If you're looking on the net -- look at the net operating budget line, you'll see it bolded across. Then you see the total budget line, which, I believe, is what you're referring to where you're comparing the actual of 2,766,000 and change -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes. MR. CARNELL: -- to 3.2. Well, if you back out the 273,000 in reserves -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Right. MR. CARNELL: -- and you go up a line to the other bolded line, you see 2.76 versus 2.935. That is considerably less of an increase -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, sir. MR. CARNELL: -- and that's the apples to apples. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I understand, but I'm also looking at for year -- in 2014, in that total of 2,766-, you had a capital outlay of almost $190,000 compared to this current year where you only have 66.5. So there's a substantial increase in operating expenses that's occurred over these past couple years. MR. CARNELL: But once again, you're looking at -- it's not apples to apples in the process. As I mentioned to you a moment ago, there's $1.5 million in the General Fund for capital backlog that has not been put into the Page 69 June 25, 2015 operating budget lines yet, and so DAS has some vehicles scheduled for replacement in '16 -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. MR. CARNELL: -- that will be added to that number. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, let's talk about operating expenses then, 708- versus 860- here in the last couple years. You know, that's substantial. It's substantial. It's at a fairly high rate of increase. COMMISSIONER HENNING: What page are you on? CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thirteen. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thirteen, okay. Let me get back there. MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, if you don't mind, I will note that one of the joys of having over 200 funds, sometimes your roll-up page doesn't identify that you've got separate trust funds that are right behind that that are -- and your specific question, Commissioner Nance, it's dealing with two specific trust funds, 610 and 180. CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. MR. ISACKSON: So that's probably where you're getting a little bit disjointed. CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. Right. Well, I'm just paying attention to -- you know, everybody has been very diligent and guarded in the increases, and it just appeared to me -- and, you know, it's hard to glean it from a 50,000-foot document, but I was just -- you know, I was just looking at it with some detail. And I'll apologize to you for that, but I'm going to keep doing that. Anyway. Public speakers, Mr. Miller? MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your first public speaker is Phil Brougham. He'll be followed by Murdo Smith. MR. BROUGHAM: Good morning. I'm Phil Brougham, and you've heard from me before on the same issue. For full disclosure, I serve as vice-chair on the Parks and Page 70 June 25, 2015 Recreation Advisory Board, and I'm going to be picking on parks particularly this morning and encourage some changes. Not having seen the budget presentations in advance of this morning, I'm very, very encouraged to hear the focus that you-all have had on asset management, on backlog of replacing our capital that is aging, some of which is 30 and 40 years old. That's primarily invisible to most citizens. The pipes under the ground people don't have a problem with until they can't flush their toilets or they can't get drinking water. And I'm very encouraged that it's now coming to the forefront. And hopefully this board, who's charged with the responsibility of putting the heads up out of the sand, will now take specific action to get these new funds available to discuss and decide what is the most appropriate, to get input from the citizens as to what means they would prefer that you go down, but something has to be done. Now, with that, I do have some words I'd like to read, if you'd indulge me. A year ago at the budget workshop, I encouraged you to support the asset management system. This system, when completed and fully installed in all agencies, will provide more accurate data on your capital assets and economic tradeoffs of repair or replace; however, that system will not, in and of itself, solve the serious issue of lack of adequate funding for asset and infrastructure replacement. With the exception of Public Utilities, nearly all agencies' capital project backlog is growing faster than projects have been completed, and there is no cure in sight for 2016. Hopefully 2017 and '18 we can start to do something about it. New sources of revenue dedicated to capital projects must be created quickly or emergency repairs and replacements will become the norm, and I see those options being discussed today. Using Parks and Recreation as an example -- and I'm not picking Page 71 June 25, 2015 on parks administration here. East Naples Community Park was built in 1987. It still does not have a maintenance building to store the equipment in. I'm going to exceed my three minutes, with your indulgence. Costing $400,000, it continues to get bumped by emergency projects for other capital needs. Pelican Bay tennis courts were constructed in the early '90s and have never had their court surfaces and surface irrigation renovated at an estimated cost of 3- or $400,000; whereas, industry standard is to renovate every five or six years. The book asset value, excluding real estate of Parks' facilities, is $122 million. The capital project money for 2016 is somewhere between one-and-a-half and 2 million. The total of Parks' Priority A capital projects list across all funds for 2016 is $3,849,000. If you took the Priority A, B, and C projects, it's over $6 million. How important are well-maintained parks and recreation facilities to this county? According to the Naples Daily News, 2014 produced record sports tourism revenue for Collier County, most of which were held at Parks' facilities. This represented $20 million in direct spending by visitors. If we cannot find new and creative ways to keep our Parks' buildings and facilities well maintained or replaced, eventually these tournaments are going to go elsewhere in this country. Sadly, in my opinion, there is over $7 million in TDC beach park money which cannot be used to renovate or replace aging Parks' facilities outside of the beaches, even though a significant portion of the TDC funds result from the usage of our Parks' facilities inland. We must find a way to address this funding issue, and I'm encouraged -- again, being redundant -- that you're on the right path. Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you, Mr. Brougham. MR. MILLER: Your next speaker is Murdo Smith. He'll be followed by Brad Estes. Page 72 June 25, 2015 MR. SMITH: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Murdo Smith, and I'm also a member of the Parks and Recreation Department. And I echo a lot of the things that Phil just said, that a lot of our parks need to have their older infrastructure improved; however, I'm here with a little bit of a different request this morning. I'm requesting maintenance staff. The Parks Department has a program for the advisory board which is called Adopt-A-Park. I have a couple of parks that are -- three or four that are in the beach park areas. And it's come to my attention that there's very few maintenance staff maintaining all of our beaches and water parks. In fact, why I'm here today is to request that you consider adding additional maintenance staff. The staff is doing a great job, don't get me wrong. They're busting their you-know-whats because they've got a lot on their plate. Currently, there's 10 maintenance people working on all the beaches and park facilities. They used to have 15, oh, about five or six years back before the recession hit, but we're adding more and more parks and very few new maintenance people. Just for an example, there's three staff members handling Barefoot Beach access, Barefoot Beach Preserve, Cocohatchee Park, Cocohatchee Marina, Connor Park, Vanderbilt Park, Vanderbilt garage, Gulf Shore access, Clam Pass, access on North Gulf Shore Boulevard and Bluebill Beach Access. That's three people. There's quite a bit of acreage there that they have to maintain. Sugden Park, there's one maintenance person there for -- the park is actually 120 acres, but it's only 60 acres because there's a 60-acre lake, but they have to do a lot of maintenance on the lake also. There's a central crew that has three members also. They do the Gordon River Greenway, Freedom Park, Isle of Capri, and Serenity Park. Freedom Park and the Greenway is almost 150-, 160 acres of Page 73 June 25, 2015 park, and they've only got three people working that, and that's tough to maintain when, you know, people are out sick and there's days off and so forth. That's hard. The south crew, they do the 951 boat ramp. They, again, have three people; 951 boat ramp, Tigertail, Marco Beach access, Marco parking lot, Port of the Islands Marina, Goodland Boating Park, Margood, the paddle park, and that's just kind of hard for just 10 people to maintain, and I would like to see some maintenance staff added, at least; I don't know, maybe four people to get up close to what it used to be. A thought I had is on the beaches if you could hire seasonal maintenance people during the busy season with the tourists, because there's a lot of tourists coming to our parks. So maybe we could hire at least some seasonal maintenance people to maintain those parks. That would be great. The other question, if I have some time. Do I have time? MR. MILLER: Your three minutes are up. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Please continue, Mr. Smith. MR. SMITH: Okay. Park Rangers. We used to have several park rangers and, of course, during the recession it's been cut back. As you know, the visitation at our beaches has been above and beyond whatever we expected. Every year we're getting record crowds. What I would like to have you request is additional park rangers to assist and educate the visitors of our requirements and our rules and regulations. I would like to see the Board consider four additional park rangers, seasonal park rangers versus the two that they have already requested, and I'd like to see four more rangers added to the 12 that they currently have in the budget. I feel that this is a reasonable request because we keep getting more and more people visiting the beach parks, and the beach parks are Page 74 June 25, 2015 what I -- or the beaches are what I came here to in Florida back in the '70s, and they just keep growing and growing. And to try to find a parking spot at Vanderbilt Beach is tough. In the winter you're probably out of luck by 9 o'clock, so -- you know, and that beach is crowded. And to get rid of the trash and all that, I think we need more maintenance staff. So thank you for your time and -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you for your thoughtful remarks. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chairman, your final speaker for Public Services is Brad Estes. MR. ESTES: Good morning, again. I have to correct my previous statement. I've lived in Poinciana Village 40 years, not 43, so --just for the record. I'm here as a volunteer with Volunteer Services for Animals. We are a 501(c)3 organization that has been in existence since 1982 improving and saving lives of Collier pets, homeless pets. I want to speak to you about a position that was requested by the DAS that was not funded and make an argument that this position is needed for a good -- as an investment for the future in terms of shelter capacity. I'll give you an example. Our shelter was built in 2001 with an estimated pet population of about 118,000. That population now is 161,000, and by the year 2020 it will be about 177,000. So how are we going to make sure and assure that that shelter can still have capacity in the year 2020 by good management techniques? You know, Darcy and her staff have come up with very innovative programs, and this will help that -- this position will help manage those programs, which are working. I'll give you an example. Last year, last fiscal year DAS transferred 1,154 animals to private pet shelters and, as a result, those pets lived and they probably are most -- almost all, if not all, are in homes today. And so that program needs Page 75 June 25, 2015 someone to take care of it. One of the critical issues on transferring pets -- and we're one of the organizations to which pets are -- pets are transferred, to which pets are transferred -- they need to be immediately vaccinated. The day -- immediately coming in, they need to be immediately vaccinated because they acquire immunity immediately (sic). It takes about two weeks for full immunity, but they acquire immunity gradually and, as a result, we or other shelters are not accepting pets that may cause us a catastrophic illness in our -- among our other pets. So that's just an example. There's a number of other reasons for this position, but just for your consideration. You know, a shelter expansion is not in the AUIR, and so this is just an issue that I request you consider. The other thing that's not in the budget is for ventilation. There is no ventilation system for the shelter areas for the pets. There's no transfer exchange of air even though it's recommended and it's essential that there be an exchange of air, and I ask you to consider that as well. Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you, sir. Commissioner Hiller? COMMISSIONER HILLER: Leo, Steve, I want to make a general comment, and I want to take off of what Commissioner -- what Commissioner Fiala said. She made a very astute observation, and that is your division touches everyone in the community one way or another, you know, regardless of, you know what service you all provide. So the thought I had, in light of that, is that why not use your division to educate the people about Blue Zone living. Like we want to keep Mr. Jamro alive to 100. Clearly he's a county asset we want to preserve for as long as possible to get the maximum return for the Page 76 June 25, 2015 investment that we put in him, you know, with all the training and so forth. CHAIRMAN NANCE: They earlier told us, ma'am, that he's well preserved already. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Oh, you're right. They did. But, you know, there's also room for improvement. So with that in mind, my thought was -- and I don't know if there are any budgetary implications to, in each of your divisions, bring out Blue Zone information to educate people on, you know, walking, you know, the sports, the food, the, you know, companionship, the social aspects, the vets. I think it could be incorporated. Leo? MR. OCHS: Oh, yes, ma'am, and I think we're doing that. We have several members of our staff participating on different working groups and policy committees, as are you and Commissioner Taylor, I know -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Right. MR. OCHS: -- working with Blue Zones group. As you know, Deb Milsap, the Executive Director, is a former employee of your county Health Department. I think we can work with her and all of these members of our team to find ways to incorporate from a marketing and an education standpoint the benefits of Blue Zones and how they impact our public service operations. COMMISSIONER HILLER: And one thought I had it would be no cost, for example, each of you have a website that people access all the time, to put information about Blue Zone living on those websites and start bringing, you know, the message to the public, and it's a matter of choice. I mean, this is not anything that we are, you know, directing people to do. It's just a matter of information and education. But as I look at you, to me, you guys are the best conduit. MR. OCHS: Steve has an excellent communications and Page 77 June 25, 2015 marketing member on his staff working through Amanda Townsend, and I'm sure they could incorporate those thoughts into their program. COMMISSIONER HILLER: And if there is a budgetary amendment that's required to promote it, you know, at a higher level, I think you should bring it back and let us know. MR. OCHS: Sure. We'll make that assessment. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Sure, thanks. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any other comments? Commissioner Fiala, you still with us, ma'am? (No response.) CHAIRMAN NANCE: Maybe Commissioner Fiala's taking a break. COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, I'm here. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Oh, there she is. She came back to life. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'm here. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Can you hear me? CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, ma'am. MR. OCHS: Commissioners, next up are your -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Hello? CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala, come in. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Hello? CHAIRMAN NANCE: I don't think she's hearing us? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Hello? COMMISSIONER HILLER: Can you hear us? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, yes. Now I can. I don't know -- my phone went, like, blank. I could hear you, but apparently you couldn't hear me. MR. MILLER: We can hear you. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Page 78 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, just for your information, Commissioner Fiala, the motley crew is leaving. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I thought that was kind of cute. CHAIRMAN NANCE: We need to evaluate the telephone service in Berlin, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, you do, as a matter -- and the computer service as well. Who do we have coming up right now? ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES MR. OCHS: Commissioner, Ms. Price and her team from the Administrative Services Department. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. MR. OCHS: Len, go ahead. MS. PRICE: Good morning, Commissioners. Is it still morning? It is. The budget that we've presented to you does meet your budget guidance, and it does ask for some increases in staffing. I think Commissioner Henning appropriately noted that while we're asking for, you know, a total of 64 positions throughout the agency, that we're not coming anywhere near where we were before. And, in fact, while this is 5 percent more staff than we had last year, it's 5 percent less than the staff that we had at the peak in 2007. And to the Commissioner's point, some of these positions are rehiring of positions that we lost, but in a lot of other cases it's a matter of changing the position because we're providing a different type of service or perhaps we've implemented a software system to help us work more efficiently, but now we need to be able to improve those services. We're focusing on increasing customer service, and most of our Page 79 June 25, 2015 customers are internal. So while Steve Carnell and his team touch everybody out in the organization, we help the folks who do that get their job done. And we've found that, you know, throughout time, as we start to grow, we've got to increase staff in the different departments, in the different divisions so that they can provide that enhanced level of service. We've brought on computer systems, we've brought on technology to try and do more with less. But all of this leaves us with logistical support requirements. And so this year -- this is the most additional staff I've asked for in the 12 years I've been here, and I think it's truly going to help us continue to meet the county's goals in providing services to the public and services throughout. Most of these positions are not General Fund positions. Most of them are funded either through Internal Service Funds or other means. In Facilities, we're looking to take five positions that we had contracted out and bring them back in as employees. What that does for us is it maximizes our flexibility with our staff, that we can keep them trained but, more importantly, they can work for us in every building that we have without needing to go with our staff to do the work. So we'll be able to do a little bit more, maybe a lot more, with the same number of people. So in that case, there's no additional cost, but it's just a matter of using folks in a different manner. Within our IT department, we're -- we've brought on a number of servers. We've brought on a lot of infrastructure. The enterprise content management system that we use requires a lot of care and feeding, and the enterprise asset management system that we're bringing on does as well. In some situations, we are -- we have one person who is the only person who can keep a system up and operational, and that keeps me Page 80 June 25, 2015 awake at night because if anything happens to that one person, we're really in a lot of-- a lot of hot water, and we can barely function without our computer systems anymore. We've become so highly dependent on them. We're providing much more GIS capability than ever before. And, again, there we need the ability to have the support to keep those things operational and to increase what we can provide. I think our accomplishments over the last several years, despite reduced resources, have been vast. They've improved customer service, given quality tools and equipment to our staff. They've made sure that we provide a safe environment. I am proud to say that we've got one of the lowest incidences of worker injuries in the industry. We've done that through very committed, professional workforce and a team pulling together. We're extremely proud of our EMS service which not only had accreditation for its ground service but is now fully accredited in its air service as well. We thank the Board for their support in providing additional staff and resources last year so that we can provide a better level of service throughout the county, and we've been able to really maximize that, and with the -- with the new station that you approved the construction of, we'll also be able to place those folks in a better position, again, to be able to maximize or minimize, in this case, response time to our staff. Obviously we still continue to meet our challenges, you know, high demand for services. If the general public is a very demanding customer, I can tell you that the internal customer is even more so, and so we continue to struggle with that. The -- work very closely with the County Manager's Office to try and get after our backlog of replacements and deferred maintenance, and I think we've got a plan in place to be able to do that. Page 81 June 25, 2015 We do have an asset management system within our Facilities Department, much like the one that Growth Management uses. It's not fully integrated with the other systems, and we'll be working towards getting ourselves there. But we do know what we've got, what the age of it is, and we make every effort to predict how they're going to fail and get after them ahead of that. We're -- you know, sometimes we misstep, and we've got to reprioritize our resources so that we can make sure that roofs stay on top and air-conditioning systems keep us cold, water stays within the pipes. We've been increasing our compliance with government regulations throughout the organization, and we're watching our county turn over with the economy improving. So there is staff turnover, and there's some positions that we're finding -- we're looking back in history to where we were struggling to find those quality employees to try and get after that. I think we've got a great program that recognizes employees and makes them feel appreciated for the hard work and efforts that they do, and we keep expanding those year after year so that hopefully we can -- we can keep our valued employees where they are and knowing how much we value them. And with that, I'm here to answer your questions. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you. Len, I had the privilege of talking to one of your new hires from HR, and I walked away with that's a really quality employee that we picked up, so I just want to pass that on. The other positions, new positions that you're getting, you're getting five. How's that go now? MS. PRICE: We're getting 18. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Eighteen? Page 82 June 25, 2015 MS. PRICE: Eighteen altogether. Would you like me to review where they are? COMMISSIONER HENNING: No. Fleet, you had three of them, I think, two or three? MS. PRICE: Yes. Three in Fleet, two technician positions, and one is a parts clerk so that we can do a better job of controlling our parts at the bus depot location as well as take the individuals who now are managing the parts and let them go back to work turning wrenches and keeping our buses operational. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Are we fully employed? Do we have full employment of technicians, mechanics? MS. PRICE: I believe that we do right now. MR. CROFT: Commissioner, Dan Croft, Fleet Management Director. Yes, we're fully staffed right now. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. So -- and you need two more. Why -- you've got two system analysis (sic) in your department? MR. CROFT: Yes, sir, we do. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Wow. What is your total budget? MR. CROFT: My total budget is about $2 million, half of that is fuel. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. And you've got two analysts? MR. CROFT: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I just don't understand that, but that's my comment. Is that -- now, when did you -- you had -- when did you hire a new analyst? Obviously you had one at one time, or zero maybe. MR. CROFT: Yes, sir. As you're aware, I came back into the system about three months ago. Page 83 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER HENNING: Uh-huh. MR. CROFT: And at that time Mario Menendez, who was the Interim Director, he was put into an analyst position, and -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: What was he doing before that? MR. CROFT: He was the interim director. Before that he was the maintenance supervisor. COMMISSIONER HENNING: He was the maintenance supervisor. MR. CROFT: Maintenance supervisor. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, why didn't he go back to the maintenance supervisor? MR. CROFT: Like I say, sir, that was a management decision that was made by -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Mario, because he was the interim director. MR. CROFT: Yes, sir. No, it wasn't made by Mario. MS. PRICE: Commissioner, I made that decision, and it was for -- it was for succession planning. When we lost Dan Croft, we realized that we didn't have positions that could easily move into that next level of management, and so -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Are you -- MS. PRICE: -- we reorganized. COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- pre-picking our next director? MS. PRICE: We are not pre-picking. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. MS. PRICE: However, we are trying to train people to be in a position where they might be able to take over or at least can cover us during any interim position, and we try to do that in all of our divisions. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I just met a very quality person from HR, and it came from the private sector. Page 84 June 25, 2015 MS. PRICE: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I mean, you're interviewing -- MS. PRICE: I came from outside of Collier County myself-- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right. MS. PRICE: -- so I'm a supporter of bringing in outside players. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Who do you have for your position? You don't have anybody. MS. PRICE: In fact, I've been working with a couple of our directors who might be interested in my position at some point in time. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. MS. PRICE: So I want to be able to give whomever is in that position the opportunity to make, you know, the most informed decision they can. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right. I'll tell you what I want. I want the best qualified person for our positions. MS. PRICE: I agree with you 100 percent. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller? COMMISSIONER HILLER: You know, I think it's an important discussion to have as it relates to the county as a whole. Cross-training is absolutely essential. And to know that we have people that are trained in multiple positions and in the event one position is vacated for whatever reason, you know, family, illness, just moving out of the community or moving on, it's important that we don't have a drop in our level of service because we don't have someone trained to fill the vacated slot. The second issue that's absolutely critical from an administrative perspective and goes very much to, ultimately, cost is succession planning at every level, and succession planning from, you know, A to B to C to D, you know, right up to the highest ranks. There is a very high cost to training. It takes a great deal of time to educate people. You know, Collier County, as an organization, is Page 85 June 25, 2015 very, very complex. We're dealing with an inordinate number of projects, very high volume of dollars. And so to the extent there is institutional knowledge, that needs to be recognized. Now, there are people who work with government and, as a result, have institutional knowledge. Like, for example, David who is the gentleman who inherited Nick's position, I mean, he's been working with Collier County, so that was a great example of someone from the private sector who also had, you know, public sector history, so it was a very positive transition. On the other hand, if you look at the position in Code Enforcement where we hired from within -- and the gentleman who's now director of Code Enforcement, Jeff Wright, was with the County Attorney's Office, and there was no qualified candidate in the private sector that could even touch Jeff Wright's knowledge of our code and our code enforcement practices because of the years that he had worked through the County Attorney's Office. So, you know, clearly we want the best, and the best can't exclude Collier County employees. We want to give Collier County employees the opportunity to get promoted. I mean, look at Mr. Kopka, you know, the chief. I mean, if we recruited from the outside, he wouldn't be sitting there, and he was the right choice for that seat. So it's not a one-size-fits-all. But succession planning is critical, cross-training is critical, and both of them do lead to cost savings. So I think it's extremely important to, you know, preserve quality employees when we can and give them the opportunity to move up, and that's not a negative to what you're saying. COMMISSIONER HENNING: No, actually, you proved my point. COMMISSIONER HILLER: It's to supplement it. COMMISSIONER HENNING: You proved my point. Two out Page 86 June 25, 2015 of one (sic) that you commended came from the outside, one from the County Attorney's Office. COMMISSIONER HILLER: And, I mean, we can go on. I mean, Jeff is an example of someone who was promoted from within, and now we're two to two. And Leo's another one who came from within, and now we're three to two, and back at you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I think we're on a slippery slope here, ma'am. COMMISSIONER HENNING: It sounds incestuous to me. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Spice is nice, but -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Anything else? (No response.) CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Do you have any thoughts to share, ma'am? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No. I think it's lunchtime. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I agree. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, we are close. I would like to say, Ms. Price, that, you know, your department in the past year and actually for longer than a year, has been very, very active and dynamic regarding evaluation on how you provide administrative services. And I know it's been challenging for you, but what I would like to do is I would like to compliment your entire group of managers on the professional ways they have addressed these challenges, and the discussions that have been had have been very wide and very open and I think, as much as possible, all inclusive. So I would like to commend all of you individually as you've interacted in examining how administrative services are to be provided for the way you approach them and the effort you put into your work. Page 87 June 25, 2015 I'd like to thank each of you. I think you've done an extraordinary job. I know it's been stressful, but I think it's -- you know, it's still active and ongoing, but I commend you. I really do. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman? COMMISSIONER HILLER: Let me just ask you a question. We've got Dennis over there, who's up as -- is he going to be our, like, next head of security or what's the -- have we come to that conclusion or -- are we there? MS. PRICE: He was promoted from within and is now our director of Facilities Management. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Oh, my God. You didn't get someone from the outside? Congratulations. Protect us. MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, I know you're close to the lunch hour, but I do see the -- some of the members of your Pelican Bay Services Advisory Board here and your staff. Would you like to take them before -- quickly before your lunch break? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: They've been sitting here all morning. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yes. CHAIRMAN NANCE: What is the pleasure of the Board? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Sure. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Would you like to do that before lunch break? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Sure. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Why don't we do that, sir. MANAGEMENT OFFICE (PELICAN BAY) Page 88 June 25, 2015 MR. OCHS: If we could get Mr. Dorrill to come forward, and his team. Commissioners, you find that budget under your management offices tab. Mr. Isackson will give you the page member. MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, beginning on Page 32. MR. DORRILL: Good day, Commissioners. I'll apologize in advance for the bluejeans. My Delta flight yesterday home was canceled, and I took the red eye overnight, and I arrived here at about 9:40 this morning. CHAIRMAN NANCE: You walked back, sir, did you? MR. DORRILL: I probably should have. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Where were you? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'm glad we're listening to you now, and you can get home. MR. DORRILL: Thank you. With me today is my current chair, Susan O'Brien, who comes to you from a lifetime in public administration within the school system, principally in Cook County, Illinois. Dr. Trecker, who's immediate past chair, was here. He had to leave for a doctor's appointment. He expressed his regrets. And in terms of current events, I'll just be very brief. I will tell you, as an old county manager it was gratifying to sit here and listen to your staff. They are so proud -- I'm talking about the divisions that preceded us. They're so proud of what they do on your behalf. And frankly, Leo, it was pretty gratifying just to sit back there and listen to them have just a few minutes, you know, with you to be able to share what they have done over the course of the past year. Two things very quickly. After 25 years, we replaced Kyle Lucas, who had been our Operations Manager for a quarter of a century. Our new manager is Marion Bolick who, in this particular case, comes to us from the private sector, a large regional hospital Page 89 June 25, 2015 system in South Carolina. But to your credit, he is actually an officer in the National Professional Groundskeeping and Nurserymen's Association and has been for years. So the fact that we get someone with a national reputation who comes to us with both of the required spray licenses for both horticultural and aquatic spraying and what it took to be able to have a very compressed learning curve is very admirable in that particular regard. Secondarily, I want you to know upfront we have had a real problem filling and retaining commercial representation. You may know years ago the Clerk worked to address a number of amendments to our enabling ordinance that gave commercial owners representation on our board. And, frankly, that's been a bit of a disappointment over the course of the last years. We currently have, for the second time in two years, no commercial representatives on our board aside from very aggressive efforts. We're going to have to address that. From a budgetary standpoint, let me tell you we do have several expanded service requests. This budget comes to you on an affirmative vote of our board, a vote of 8-2, for all expanded matters. I'll touch on those very quickly, and then we'll be happy to answer your questions in addition to anything that Ms. O'Brien might like to share with you as your late chair. There has been widespread concern within the community that the level of service for horticultural base level has not been maintained. In particular, through a new committee that involves safety and landscape matters, we've recently completed the first round of trying to digitize everything that, historically, we have been asked to maintain. And I can tell you that it's millions of square feet of both sod and plant material, not only the public road rights-of-way and public drainage easements, but the U.S. 41 berm, the landscape berm, and the facilities owned by the Foundation. Page 90 June 25, 2015 We're working to address and formalize and to prepare an inventory of everything that we're being asked to maintain. But there's widespread concern within the community that we are not maintaining to a base-level standard the necessary pruning and trimming and horticultural desires that they have. So we have proposed a new three-man crew, a crew leader and two entry-level groundskeepers and one additional contract day laborer. About half the staff there is -- comes every day from a contracted day-labor provider that is under annual contract to the Board of County Commissioners. And I can tell you that's a very difficult thing to try and maintain the continuity between one groundskeeper who's a county employee with benefits versus a contracted day-labor employee. I will tell you that we work a very awkward 48-hour workweek, and they have for almost a quarter of a century. So there's eight hours of overtime that is built into the groundskeeper element there, and there's concern from a managerial perspective within the community that we need to address that model long term and see whether or not we can continue to provide eight hours of guaranteed overtime every week in order to address those needs. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Mr. Dorrill, can I ask you a question? MR. DORRILL: Please. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Is the maintenance concern regarding weekly maintenance items such as mowing and things of that nature, or do these maintenance concerns have to do with the age of your plantings and the maturity of your trees and things related to that? Can you describe to me where you think the shortfall is there? MR. DORRILL: I think it has less to do with turf and more to do with the pruning and trimming not only of our world-class canopy oaks that run down the main boulevards in some of the major collector Page 91 June 25, 2015 and residential neighbors, but the plant bed material as well in addition to a -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Annual plantings, sir? MR. DORRILL: No. I would say more of our shrubs and our understory bushes, things like that. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Some of them may be due for replacement; is that a consideration? MR. DORRILL: Well, we also have a program, and we are -- currently we've completed two phases of what would probably ultimately be a four-phase renovation to the plant beds. The third phase has been temporarily suspended and will be re-evaluated next year. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. I'll let you complete your remarks, but I have some additional comments on that. Thank you. MR. DORRILL: In addition, we have our -- this particular -- and the two most recent boards have adopted a very hands-on committee orientation to how they go about their work. When I first arrived there five years, we averaged one meeting a month, which was our full board meeting. We now average four to five meetings per month because of the committee assignments that they have. So we have lay people who are very, very active within our committee framework for budget and finance, landscaping, water management, Clam Bay. We have some ad hoc committees for beach renourishment and some other issues to set priorities. So the overall needs in the number of projects has increased exponentially and, as a result of that, for things like the replacement of the 40-year-old streetlights, increasing requests to do drainage-related maintenance and repairs and renovations, issues pertaining to the Clam Bay system inlet maintenance, future beach renourishment. We're also projecting another expanded service to give us an entry-level associate project manager position. We've been funding Page 92 June 25, 2015 that on an hourly basis through the management contract that I have. There's a sub-element to that contract where you can hire from my company project management. Our board seems to want to ask you to fund a full-time entry-level project manager position for the type of work that we see out on the horizon. And then, frankly, we have some of the similar issues that divisions preceding us. We had five vehicles scheduled to be replaced this year. We're recommending three and deferring two next year. The one new crew, if we're successful in getting that, will also need a Ford one-ton-type pickup truck or equivalent and trailer for the mowers and whatnot. So we do have some expanded service requests. Overall the expenses are up, projected to be about 12 percent. I think I'd like to stop just there in the interest of your time, let Ms. O'Brien share with you a couple of comments and then, perhaps, we'll answer the questions that you have. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, ma'am. MS. O'BRIEN: I'm going to suggest we just go to your questions so we can respond to them directly. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioners? (No response.) CHAIRMAN NANCE: Hearing none, Mr. Dorrill, I'll just make one professional recommendation to you. I'm well aware that there is a substantial difference between ongoing landscape maintenance and routine maintenance and what happens in a community where you start to have maturing plant specimens. I have a personal concern throughout the urban coastal zone in the county that our tree canopy which is reaching maturity in many, many areas, is not getting the sort of professional care that it needs. And when I say that, I'm saying that a lot of times a decision is made by citizens on the visual look that they want. That's not the only consideration. Page 93 June 25, 2015 The consideration is, since we're coastal and since we're subject to high storms and we are in high density urban environments where a lot of trees are growing in restricted root environments and with root barriers that are installed by code, these trees, for their own health and survival and if you want to maintain them long term, they need to be professionally pruned. So I hope that you will seek the advice of professional arborists and not proceed kind of on a low-bidder -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Hear, hear. CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- on a low-bidder sort of a basis on your canopy, at least to decide what your program's going to be over time. MR. DORRILL: Very quickly, in response. Historically we have not done that. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, sir. MR. DORRILL: But in the course of the past year, you may recall I was here months ago seeking your approval for about a $200,000 budget amendment -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, sir. MR. DORRILL: -- in essence, to pay for work that we had done. And to our board's credit, we continue to have a relationship with Jack Lieber, who's the original landscape architect of record for Westinghouse, now retired, but who works in conjunction with Ellen Goetz, who was one of the principal designers of the Botanical Garden here. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, sir. MR. DORRILL: And the work that we did this past year for pruning our canopy trees was done with a certified arborist. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Go with your certified arborist. I mean, I have a real -- very real concern. If you saw the devastation that Hurricane Wilma brought to Crayton Road and the mature ficus that we had there, that could have been avoided. Page 94 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. CHAIRMAN NANCE: And the other thing that we have in this community that people are not paying attention to are royal palms. A lot of times royal palms are planted in an extremely restricted root area. When those trees get to be 50 feet tall and they fall, they are a serious, serious hazard. Those are big, huge, heavy trees, and they need to be taken into consideration. Thank you so much. MR. DORRILL: Thank you. MS. O'BRIEN: Thank you. MR. DORRILL: And as you'll recall, our budget does require a separate hearing, and so we'll look to see you again when you return from your recess at the end of the summer. MR. OCHS: Commissioners, just before Neil leaves, and I think in terms of full disclosure, Neil, if you could just, in a couple of minutes, touch on any proposed changes to the special assessments and the millages that you-all levy on your own residents so when you have your visit in September from Pelican Bay members of the community you've already had that disclosed. MR. DORRILL: Good point. We do -- we use a blended revenue source. In addition, we are both a MST and BU because we levy an ad valorem tax that is used exclusively to pay for our streetlighting program. So on the ad valorem side we're projecting a 6.4 percent increase in revenue next year. No increase in the millage, but because of, you know, improving values, there's a 6.4 percent increase on the ad valorem side. And at the current rate, we are projecting, if fully funded for all of the expandeds and some capitals, a 19.5 percent increase in our non-ad valorem assessment, which gets us -- Mark, I'll need your help as to what that works out to on an EDU basis. MR. ISACKSON: Whatever 71 -- I don't have my calculator. Page 95 June 25, 2015 Has anybody got a calculator up here? MR. DORRILL: Yes, it works out to $508.76 per equivalent dwelling unit that funds all of our primary and operational and capital needs. One final little note. We are going -- next year we are going to receive $150,000 from the county Unincorporated General Fund in support, primarily, of the ongoing work within the Clam Bay conservation areas, primarily exotic control, a number of biological studies that we've obligated ourselves to do as part of the adoption of the Clam Bay Management Plan. That is a first and something that's new and worth noting as well. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you. MR. DORRILL: Thank you. MS. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any questions from board members? (No response.) MR. DORRILL: We'll see you at the end of this summer. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Hearing none, we will take an hour break for lunch and return at 1 :15. (A luncheon recess was had.) CHAIRMAN NANCE: Ladies and gentlemen, let us reconvene, please. Let's see if we have Commissioner Fiala. Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Good afternoon, ma'am. I hope you had a brisk lunch. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I did. MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, we move now to the afternoon session beginning with your constitutional officer budget review. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, sir. Page 96 June 25, 2015 SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS MR. OCHS: First up on the agenda is your Supervisor of Elections Office. MS. EDWARDS: Good afternoon. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Good afternoon. CHAIRMAN NANCE: How are you? MS. EDWARDS: I'm good. How are you? CHAIRMAN NANCE: We're doing well, ma'am. Thank you for coming. MS. EDWARDS: Thank you. I'd like to introduce the staff that's with me. My Chief Deputy is Melissa Blazier. CHAIRMAN NANCE: How are you? Nice to see you again. MS. EDWARDS: And my Executive Assistant is Alex Breault. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Good afternoon. MS. EDWARDS: This is her first budget hearing. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Oh, it gets much better, ma'am, than this. MS. BREAULT: Great. MS. EDWARDS: Thank you. Well, as you all know, 2016 is a presidential election year, and what that means is in the budget office we conduct two primary elections. The first one will be March 15th, which is the presidential preference primary, and then we will conduct the August primary. We have two cost centers; we have administration and elections. And in administration, we have a $106,000 increase, and that is for upgrades to our Pitney Bowes equipment, and that's a piece of equipment that we use in sorting our mail ballots. And we also will be purchasing new switches for our information technology needs for the new building on Enterprise. And I have another capital request, and that is to replace a 1998 van. Page 97 June 25, 2015 CHAIRMAN NANCE: So soon. MS. EDWARDS: So soon. A GMC Safari, as a matter of fact. So we're asking for $26,500 to replace that van. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Has Mr. Jamro left the building? MR. OCHS: I was just going to say that. I think he could use that in his collection, sir. MS. EDWARDS: We'd be glad to provide it. And then, of course, in our elections cost center we have 618,000 budgeted for the March 15th presidential preference primary, and that includes 168,700 for the election workers' salaries as well as additional costs for postage and printing and binding and the ordinary things that we need for our countywide elections. Next I'd like to give you an overview of our equipment. As I like to keep both you and the budget office -- we communicate with them regularly on what we're going to need. And moving forward, we are required to replace the ADA equipment in 2020. That is in the Florida Election Law. And we currently have a reserve in 301 of$480,000, and the total cost to replace the equipment as well as software is going to be 850,000. So what we will be asking for, not this year but in the 2017 budget, we will need 360,000, approximately, for purchase of that equipment. That concludes my comments. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Thank you. Your new vehicle is not included within this budget. MS. EDWARDS: Yes, it is. COMMISSIONER HENNING: It is? MS. EDWARDS: It's in the administration cost center. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Oh, it's in administration. I was looking at the capital outlay. Page 98 June 25, 2015 MS. EDWARDS: It is in capital, but it's in the -- in the administration cost center. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. MS. EDWARDS: We budgeted 26,500. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right. I saw that. Thanks. MS. EDWARDS: Thank you. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I think you should give it back to GM as an advertisement of how long it lasts. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right. MS. EDWARDS: Good point. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I'm going to do that with my boat. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala, any comments or questions, ma'am? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, sir. It's -- I hear it all. Just trying to get back into this thing. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I'm sorry. I've been trying to connect my computer, and I cannot get through, so I've been working with the computer company while I'm talking to you. Sony about the little bit of delay there. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Any other questions from board members? COMMISSIONER FIALA: None for me. I think it's a go. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, thank you so much. I know -- I hope you get into your new facilities in the most timely fashion that prevents you from having to move around in the circle. I know you're looking forward to that. I think it will be much, much safer for your equipment. I think it's going to result in less wear and tear and vibration on technical equipment. It's never good to ride that stuff Page 99 June 25, 2015 around the way it's been necessary in the past. So thank you very much. MS. EDWARDS: Thank you. I appreciate that, and I want to thank you again for the new space. We're really looking forward to it. And I want to thank the County Manager's staff for the great work they're doing to help us move this along. Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you. CLERK OF COURTS MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that moves us to the Clerk of the Courts. MS. KINZEL: Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the record, Crystal Kinzel, Finance Director with the Clerk's Office. And I have with me Raymond Milum who is our Accounting Manager. On May 1 we provided the Board with a detailed budget book for Fiscal Year 2016. We are asking for four additional FTEs, two of those in our MIS relating to SAP process analyst, is one of the positions. The other position is for an SAP trainer. And those would be used countywide. The trainer position, in particular, came out of the SAP Fitz meeting that we have with all county user departments, and they felt that training for new employees was really deficient, and it was one of the ways that we could best utilize our large accounting system. So we did add that to our budget. We also added an accounting technician and one accountant for finance. But even with these additions, our budget request is below the Board policy of 3 percent, at a 2.47 percent increase. We follow the Board's policy for the pay plan maintenance and salary adjustments, and we have -- we do follow the Board's policy Page 100 June 25, 2015 regarding the insurance premiums and the employee cost-share portion of those premiums. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you. I appreciate that. MS. KINZEL: And we are in line with the five counties that the Board selects as comparable counties. We're pretty much right in the middle of them on everything and every statistic. And so with that, we're here to just answer any questions or go over any information you might need. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Commissioner Hiller? COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you. You know, one of the things that I've been thinking about with respect to funds that we award pursuant to a contract like this or pursuant to a grant, like, for example, TDC grants, is that I think it's important that the purchases made pursuant to this type of funding be done in accordance with the county's purchasing ordinance. And to the extent there are, you know, budgetary amendments that are required, that they come back to the Board for approval, and I think it's extremely important that we do that. You know, when we get funds from the state and the feds, those requirements attach to us, and those requirements attach to our subrecipients, and that is that the procurement has to be done in accordance with state law standards or federal standard as the case may be. And I think we need to be doing that at the county level. Now, you know, we have an exception in our purchasing ordinance for the constitutional officers, and that's appropriate for every constitutional officer except the Clerk, because the Clerk is not a budget officer in his opinion. So as a consequence, how we deal with the Clerk, which is as a fee officer with an interlocal agreement, requires a different handling of the situation. And I think we need to promote accountability and transparency in this process. Page 101 June 25, 2015 I mean, we award the Clerk, what is it, $6 million, I believe, in this year's budget. I have -- it's $6 million that we award to the Clerk for the services he provides. And I think -- you know, I think that those -- that budget that he presents to us that we -- and it's a budget for services that he's rendering -- that we -- we just have to ask that he look at it from the perspective of our purchasing ordinance and, when he makes those purchases, follow our purchasing standards. We also have to have the ability to go in, and we have to have the ability to audit that the monies that we are paying on this contract are being expended in accordance with the terms of the contract. And I'm sure we're not going to find any exceptions, but we still have to have the right to do it, and we should do it, and not only with the Clerk, but if we do an award of, for example, TDC funds pursuant to a grant, we should do it for those kinds of recipients as well, as long as with respect to those recipients there's no conflict with, you know, state or federal law as the case may be. So just focusing on the Clerk and not addressing the others, I think what I would like to suggest is we have a contract with him. And there's a provision in the contract that allows for an amendment to that contract. And I -- and it also requires good-faith negotiations on any proposed amendment. And I think that's something we should consider. I mean, $6 million is an awful lot of money, and basically what we do is, you know, give that money to him, and he just can go off and spend it, and we have -- you know, we have no idea how he's doing it, and we have no idea if it's serving, in all instances, the full intent of, you know, what we want those funds used for. MS. KINZEL: And, Commissioner Hiller, maybe I can give you some additional confidence. First of all, the Clerk isn't a subrecipient, so we don't act as the grants act. We are an independent constitutional doing services for the Board, and that was one of the reasons we Page 102 June 25, 2015 established the interlocal agreement. Our purchasing policy is actually probably more restrictive. I, as finance director, cannot make $5,000 purchases. I cannot make any purchase that does not flow through our purchasing department as well as the Clerk of Court's reviewing those purchases. So we have a very stringent -- staff-- COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'll give you an example. MS. KINZEL: -- isn't authorized to make miscellaneous purchases. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'll give you an example. Not to -- but let me just give you an example of a real material weakness in your purchasing policy which, by the way, is a policy and subject to the change by the Clerk unilaterally at any point in time. So at any point in time we have no reason to be able to know how he has changed that policy, so -- And, you know, the Clerk is not going to be there forever, so I think this is a standard that we need to set, not just for today, but prospectively. Take, for example, a bid protest. You know, the Clerk, who makes a decision with respect to a selection of a vendor also is the final decider as to whether or not a vendor who is not selected who files a bid protest wins or loses his bid protest. I mean, clearly, that's -- MS. KINZEL: Commissioner, that's very similar to your County Manager -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Oh, no. MS. KINZEL: -- who is the final authority on your bid protest. COMMISSIONER HILLER: No, no, no. We -- no, he's not the final authority, because it goes through the purchasing agent, and there's an appeal to the County Manager, and then they can appeal to us. So I wouldn't agree with that, but I don't want to debate the differences in our policies. That's not the issue. Page 103 June 25, 2015 We're making the award, and we can, as a function of that award, request that you make the purchases in accordance with the county's purchasing ordinance. And the reason I say that is because it's an award of board funds to the Clerk for these services. And you're right, you're not a subrecipient. You are a recipient, okay. You are like we are to the state and the feds. And we have to -- if we are receiving funds from the state or the feds have to adhere to the standards they specify. And all agencies, when they remit funds, want accountability, want transparency, and want to have the right to review to ensure that the funds are being expended. You can't audit yourself with respect to the funds that we give you. MS. KINZEL: And, Commissioner -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: And that's why I think -- and I say this because, again, the Clerk's Office is different than, for example, the Sheriff We have the Sheriff in the room -- or we have Greg. Greg, are you here? Yeah. The Sheriff is very different because the Sheriff is a budget officer. And so when we award the funds to him, it's very different than awarding the funds to the Clerk's Office. And so one thing I think we should consider doing -- and I bring this up for discussion now so everyone can think about it. But maybe at the next board meeting, formally request an amendment to this contract to require the Clerk to purchase in accordance with our purchasing ordinance and for us to have the right to audit the expenditure of those $6 million to ensure that there is full contractual compliance. And as I said, I don't expect there should be any issues, but I think it is extremely important we have the right, and I think it's also very important that we exercise that right to make sure it's being done properly. Page 104 June 25, 2015 And, finally, that, you know, if you do want to change the budget as you presented it to us -- let's say you want to change, you know, how you allocate the use of funds between these services that you're providing, that you let us know and that we approve that, just like we do with the County Manager. Whatever process we use for him we should also use for you because it's the right way to do business. MS. KINZEL: And I understand what you're saying, Commissioner, but let me explain a few things. Having done the Sheriffs budget for about 16 years before I came over to the Clerk, they are actually quite similar. We're a separately elected constitutional officer. In fact, what you are supporting are the functions of the Clerk that support the county departments in finance, accounting, computer systems, all of the things that we have been doing for many, many years. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Are you a budget officer? MS. KINZEL: So it is quite similar. No, we are a fee officer. And the interlocal agreement was established so that the fees that are generated by the request of the Clerk to the Board would cover the functions that we perform for the Board. COMMISSIONER HILLER: It's a contract. MS. KINZEL: And we are complying with all of your budget policies. We are also audited. I don't want anyone to believe that the Clerk's Office expenditures are not audited. We are routinely audited by the external auditors, as is the Board of County Commissioners. We are audited by the state for our court functions. So the Clerk's Office has a lot of scrutiny. We also provide you a very detailed line-item budget in the Clerk's budget to the Board, and it clearly outlines the $6 million that we're requesting for you -- of you for a transfer for our -- Page 105 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER HILLER: I think this is -- MS. KINZEL: -- duties and role as a clerk. And let me -- also I think the interlocal agreement does provide for an amendment. There are certain budget authorities for amendments within the Clerk's budget just as there are certain authorities within the County Manager and staff to make a line-item budget difference. We follow those things exactly the same. So there is no difference at this point in time. And it does function similar to your other constitutional officers. So there's nothing peculiar or unique. We outline our staffing. We outline every line item that we're spending, and you get full disclosure of that. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I mean, the sense I have is you're resistant to this board having the right to, for example, engage the external auditors to audit maybe a certain group of transactions or MS. KINZEL: The external auditors audit -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- look at how -- MS. KINZEL: -- us every year, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. But you know, they audit to a different standard than what we might ask them to audit to, as you well know, that their standard is, you know -- MS. KINZEL: If there's any item you'd like to vet, we'll be glad to provide information. That's not a problem for us at all. COMMISSIONER HILLER: So you wouldn't -- you're going to basically -- MS. KINZEL: There are particular parameters for auditing or reviewing the Clerk, and we'll be glad to review that with you if-- I'll take that back. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I feel -- MS. KINZEL: The wish of the Board. Page 106 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER HILLER: I really feel that we need to apply the Board's purchasing ordinance to this $6 million and the standard parameters budget approval that we apply to the -- MS. KINZEL: Commissioner, your purchasing ordinance is far more lenient than the Clerk's purchasing ordinance, I can guarantee you. COMMISSIONER HILLER: But he doesn't have a -- MS. KINZEL: Our expenditures are -- yes, we have a purchasing agent that vets them. All of our transactions go through the purchasing agent similar, exactly, to the county's function for a separately elected constitutional officer, so -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: You don't have a purchasing ordinance. You don't have law. You have a policy which is subject to change by one individual at any point in time and, therefore, we can't rely on your policy as something that isn't subject to change where we wouldn't even know about it; whereas, we have a law that's a matter of public record, and it's been approved by this board. These are county funds that we are approving in payment of the services you provide. And, you know, I'm going to bring this back for discussion at the next board meeting, and I think it's a fair and reasonable respect that -- or request. It's with the intent to promote accountability, it's with the intent to promote transparency, and I don't see why you seem to be so defensive and resistant -- and you are very different than the sheriff. You are very different than the other constitutionals. You, by your own admission, say you're a fee officer and this is a contract. That is very different. And I think, in -- it's very reasonable to request this as an amendment to this agreement, and I'm going to suggest that it. But I wanted to bring it out here, you know, so that we could -- MS. KINZEL: Thank you. COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- have this discussion and so you Page 107 June 25, 2015 could reflect on it, and I wanted the other board members to know what I was thinking ahead of this coming forward in light of the fact that we are reviewing your budget right now. MS. KINZEL: Okay. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah, thanks. Well, you do make a point, being different than the sheriff as a fee officer; is that correct? COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, that's what Crystal said. COMMISSIONER HENNING: No, that's what you said. COMMISSIONER HILLER: No. I just said I'm reiterating what Crystal described herself as. She -- they describe themselves, as part of the constitutional office of the Clerk, as a fee officer. You're not a budget officer, are you? MS. KINZEL: No. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Are you a budget or a fee officer? Hang on a second. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Don't answer that question because I have the floor. Mr. Chairman? CHAIRMAN NANCE: Go ahead. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I'm just trying to figure out where she's coming from, and what I heard, she said, you're different than the sheriff. You're a fee officer. You're different than the other constitutional officers because you're a fee officer. COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's what they say. COMMISSIONER HENNING: That's what you said, so -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's what they've told me. COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- if you do it for one fee officer, wouldn't you want to do it for all the fee officers? COMMISSIONER HILLER: Who are THE other fee officers? COMMISSIONER HENNING: You're kidding me, right? Page 108 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah, go ahead. Tell me who you think other fee officers are. COMMISSIONER HENNING: The Tax Collector and the Property Appraiser. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Oh, they're fee officers. Hmm. We have an interlocal agreement with them? COMMISSIONER HENNING: You know, so you see where this is going. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Do we have an interlocal agreement with them? COMMISSIONER HENNING: It's all about the Clerk and the Clerk's functions. You know, on budget amendments, as I stated at the last meeting, our budget is a macro budget, and there are transfers within inter-department funds in the budget that doesn't -- that's not approved by the Board of Commissioners. You know, we set out policy, Mr. Chairman, at the beginning of the year what the constitutionals need to follow as far as the budget guidance from the Board. And all of a sudden, because of this tiff with one commissioner and the Clerk of the Court, we want to change that in midstream. Wow. How ironic. Or it could be because we have a fight in the court, you know. Are we going to hear this through the elections of 2016? You know, it just -- it goes on and on and on. I mean, you say one thing and then you do another. Where's the accountability when you tell somebody this is what we want you to follow and all of a sudden you change it in midstream? That's all I got to say. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, we don't have interlocal agreements with these other officers. We have an interlocal agreement, we have a contract with the Clerk's Office, and I think this contract should be governed by our purchasing ordinance and we should have Page 109 June 25, 2015 the right -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: We don't have a contract. COMMISSIONER HILLER: We do. We have an interlocal. That's a contract -- no, that's a contract. COMMISSIONER HENNING: We have an interlocal agreement. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Is that a contract, Jeff? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Interlocal agreements we have with the City of Naples, City of Marco Island. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Is that a contract? MR. KLATZKOW: An interlocal agreement is a form of a contract. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you. I think in this instance, with the award and with the budget, I think it would be reasonable to request this. And we should look at these other interlocal agreements, too, and see whether or not maybe we should consider -- and we can come up with whatever we think works best. I mean, we may have one standard for one type of interlocal agreement because it makes sense. We could have a different standard for a different type of an interlocal agreement because a different approach applies better in that instance. And we can decide what makes most sense under the circumstances and in the spirit of promoting accountability, transparency, and what's in the best interest of the law and the people. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Mr. Ochs, regarding the Property Appraiser and the Tax Collector -- MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- what sort of an active or ongoing relationship do we have with them other than receiving a check from the Tax Collector and -- what do we do with the Property Appraiser? Do we work with them on a regular basis? What sort of interaction do Page 110 June 25, 2015 we have? MR. OCHS: They're fee officers under Florida law, and they're required to submit their budget to the Board in a different manner than the budget officers, and they run their office entirely on the fees that they generate in that if there's any excess fees beyond those needed to run their offices, they're required by the statute to turn those back to the commission. CHAIRMAN NANCE: So do, in fact, we have interlocal agreements with those constitutional officers? MR. OCHS: No, sir. COMMISSIONER HILLER: So we don't fund them. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Excuse me, ma'am. Which constitutional officers do we have an interlocal agreement with? MR. OCHS: The Clerk of the Circuit Court. CHAIRMAN NANCE: That's it? Out of the five, just that -- just that one constitutional officer? MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Commissioner Taylor? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Again, I'm kind of the new person up here. But I had a meeting yesterday with the -- with an auditor, Larson, from Larson. Anyway, do they not -- can we not, Commissioner Hiller, ask that auditor to audit the Clerk, and -- Does he not audit you? MS. KINZEL: Yes, he does already, Commissioner Taylor. We are audited. All of the constitutional officers in the county are also audited by Clifton, Larson, Allen. That is one audit firm, and they audit each constitutional separately as well as the Board of County Commissioners records and funds. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Well, it seems to me that that's quite enough. I get a little worried about targeting one constitutional officer over another. It looks very political, and I don't think we want Page 111 June 25, 2015 to look that political. MS. KINZEL: Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller? COMMISSIONER HILLER: There's a difference. It isn't political. We have a contract with the Clerk's Office, and we are paying for these services, and it's very different. And thank you for clarifying my understanding, Leo, because I -- and you're absolutely right, Commissioner Henning, those other officers are fee officers, as in the Property Appraiser and the Tax Collector also. They live off their fees. And if the Clerk's Office is a fee office, then they should be living off their fees. Now, we've entered into this interlocal agreement to assist, and I'm not saying we shouldn't assist the Clerk's Office and pay the Clerk's Office for the services that they're rendering. But it would seem, arguably, that we could also not pay if we were to consider you the same as the Property Appraiser and the Tax Collector and say that you have to provide the services and live off your fees to get that done. But, again, the point is, we are paying you for service pursuant to this contract, and I think it's very reasonable to ask that you make the purchases pursuant to this contract, not -- you know, what you do with the funds that you get from the other sources, like fees, that you get and how you procure with those funds has nothing to do with us. But strictly as it relates to this amount of money, I think it would be most appropriate for the contract to be amended to provide that those purchases be made in accordance with our purchasing ordinance and that any changes to the budget be brought forward to us the same way that the County Manager has to bring forward any changes to the budget to us, like budgetary amendments. And I don't disagree with you on the line items. Whatever we do with the County Manager we would do with you. And I don't know Page 112 June 25, 2015 why we wouldn't treat you exactly the same way. It's very nonpolitical because I feel that, you know, whatever governs him should govern you. MS. KINZEL: But, Commissioner, we're a separately elected constitutional officer, and therein lies the difference. But we're certainly open to any audit. We'll be glad to provide any information anyone requests. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Right. And as to -- yeah. MS. KINZEL: And additionally, let me clarify something that you did put on about assisting the Clerk. Remember, we came up with this interlocal agreement because it was to replace the fees that the Board would have to give to us or pay to us for the functions we are performing on behalf of the Board, which include the payables, you know, the payroll, debt, management, presentation of the CAFR, all of the financial systems. So this interlocal agreement -- and we thought at the time it was a grand solution because it provides for us that when we come forward with, under the same restrictions that you have given to the Board, the same policies, the same information, the same percent of increase, we bring all that forward to you in a line-item basis. And it seemed as a good solution for many years. I'll take back all of your comments to the Clerk. COMMISSIONER HILLER: They're on the record. MS. KINZEL: Thank you. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'm sure he can, you know, watch them on the video tomorrow morning when he wakes up and has coffee. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Let's see. I have 18 more months of this to go. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Mr. Chairman? Page 113 June 25, 2015 CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, ma'am. Commissioner Henning will speak, and then we'll go to Commissioner Fiala. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. COMMISSIONER HENNING: You know, not being the new kid on the block, I remember when this came up as far as charging us for each transaction that the Clerk provides. You know, the minutes, you know, hourly basis, each transaction you get a fee. It's cheaper to do it the way we're doing it now, but it seems like certain members of the board want to push the Clerk of the Court back into a fee officer. And I'm telling you, it's going to be a lot more expensive and a lot more time-consuming to do so than just provide the guidance like we do to all the other constitutional officers. But, you know, the majority rules, the majority rules. That's all I have. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala, your comments, please, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Oh, thank you so much. First of all, Crystal, you had asked for extra employees. I think in this -- at this time we all need some extra employees because the workload has just grown tremendously. I have no problem with that whatsoever. I think your budget looks great. I only had one question. What -- does the $6 million cover the lawsuits that -- you know, when the Clerk sues us and stuff, or does that come out of another area? I don't know that. I didn't see it on here, but I didn't know where to look. MS. KINZEL: Thank you, Commissioner Fiala. The Clerk also has revenues that he generates through recording fees. And if you look in the budget book that we provided under the recording revenues, those are separate fees that the Clerk does generate for his use of his office. Anything above and beyond what we spend, those do come back Page 114 June 25, 2015 to the Board by the way of surplus and are turned back at the end of the year. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. So that's, then, where the lawsuit money would come from? MS. KINZEL: Yes, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay, thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Anything else, Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No. I just -- I was just curious about that. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. MS. KINZEL: Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Mr. Klatzkow, I don't know if you -- do you -- are you the custodian of the interlocal agreement with the Clerk? MR. KLATZKOW: I'm not the custodian. It's a recorded agreement. I can get you a copy of it if you'd like. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, I think it's in your wheelhouse, right? I would appreciate if you would send it to me. I'm completely, really unfamiliar with the agreement that we have with the Clerk. MR. KLATZKOW: I'll send it to you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I would appreciate if you would send it to myself and all the other commissioners that would like to see it, and I'm sure that -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: It was on your last add-on agenda. MR. KLATZKOW: I will send a copy. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I have one, thank you. Don't waste any more paper. Don't charge me a fee for it, either. CHAIRMAN NANCE: No. He's not a fee officer. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Oh, yeah. That's right. CHAIRMAN NANCE: He might charge you for copying, Page 115 June 25, 2015 though. You never know. COMMISSIONER HILLER: And just to make clear, I mean, the intent is not to request a termination of the agreement. The request is an amendment to the agreement, and the amendment that I described. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's it. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Any other comments? Any further comments, Commissioner Fiala? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, sir. I was -- Leo, I had asked you for some information a while back, and maybe you could get that for me -- MR. OCHS: Yes, ma'am. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- about auditing and stuff. MR. OCHS: Okay. Will do. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. Thank you very much. MS. KINZEL: Thank you. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: And, Commissioner Fiala, I want you to know, when you want to speak, I am sitting in your seat, and so I am going to light your button. COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's funny. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I'm just -- that seems like a high hard one, but I'm just going to let that go. COMMISSIONER FIALA: It's a good thing. I see you're smart. MR. OCHS: That takes us to the Sheriffs Office. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I didn't say "push" your button. I said "light" your button. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Ma'am, let's not go there. That just makes me crazy. It seems like an overwhelmingly juicy opportunity somehow. Maybe I'm getting weak in the afternoon. Page 116 June 25, 2015 SHERIFF SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Mr. Chairman, if I may, before we open up for discussion, I've got some comments and background information relative to our request. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Please, sir. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Okay. I think as is the course, usually I'll start with introducing our group here. Chief Greg Smith in our administration area; Andrea Marsh, our Finance Director; Jean Myers and Laurie Sams in our Finance Department. They obviously help us to put together the budget and work through the year. But I also would like to thank our chief officers, Chief Bloom, Chief Hedberg, Chief Roberts, Chief Williams, and Chief Spell for the great work that they do all year long. I know they work together with you and your staffs, and I don't get a lot of time publicly to thank them as a group, so I would like to do that at this point. Also, our command staff and every man and woman of the Collier County Sheriffs Office because, you know, working together with community, with business, with the Board, all the constitutional offices, the school system, fire districts, and EMS, we continue to have positive outcomes in the arena of public safety, and that is absolutely terrific. We live in a great and a safe place. As many of you are aware, we had one of our busiest years last year that we've had in some time, yet the crime rate is its lowest since 1971, and that's only because that's when they started keeping records. So that's an accomplishment in and of itself with the entire community and the men and women of the Collier County Sheriffs Office. For 2015 thus far, since we're about ready to provide our Page 117 June 25, 2015 numbers, I can tell you that the crime rate, and more particularly the number of crimes you will see is down right now between 10 and 15 percent midyear. That's actually very good having gone through the season that we've gone through, but we will have a part of the season to start up from October to December. So we probably won't be down that low, but we are in a very, very good position. Traffic crash fatalities, down over the last four years since 2010. Volunteer and auxiliary hours, 37,000-plus hours, the highest we've had volunteered to the community in the last 10 years. And, obviously, I know you know; for the public's benefit I'll reiterate, that's a million-dollars-plus of service time, increased levels of service and support that we get from them. Our Youth Relations Bureau was recognized as a national model this particular year. We've had that in place for a number of years. You helped us in years past in providing the resources we need by the National Association of School Resource Officers, and I can tell you that we have submitted for the Florida School Resource Association, and you're going to see very shortly another award relative to operations that are future-looking and critical throughout the State of Florida, and your Sheriffs Office will be recognized again as the top recipient of that award reference the school resources. We continue to look at our programming for young people. Summer Fest has just started. We kicked it off a week ago Friday. I was at the water park with your staff, who I want to thank you for doing a terrific job, your support as the Board, your support as your staff to enable us to partner with not only the school system but government, 200-plus businesses, the fire departments. And we provide a terrific opportunity as a community for young people to have something to do not only throughout the year on their breaks but throughout the entire summer. And I will let you know again that we are in contact with more Page 118 June 25, 2015 than 40,000 young people a year now, which is about 10 times where we were five years ago. So that is a terrific operation. In corrections, we continue to look at ways through reintegration programs that we don't see people coming back to jail. People are expected and required to fulfill their entire sentence yet we're trying to prepare and transition people out, because 99 percent of the individuals that are sentenced to our jail are released. We hold some prisoners, state prisoners, only because they're going through the court system, and as we're doing that, we're looking at programs such as the cell dog program, the culinary arts program, getting people ready to live outside the four walls of the jail. Because at $136 a day, that's very expensive to house people, and we'd rather not see an increased number of victims out in the community first and then less cost to operate the jail. So that's extremely important. The Investigations Department has done a terrific job with regard to investigations in robberies and frauds, and in one -- and narcotics, and one emerging threat that we've talked about in the past, and that's identity theft. It is becoming the number one crime in the nation. We have created what we believe to be the first community-based Identity Theft Task Force, and investigations is coordinating that. And we've done dozens and dozens of programs throughout the county this year, and it has been very, very successful. We continue with our Crisis Intervention Training Program. I know I've mentioned that to you before, but that today has become more critically important than ever before in our history because, if you remember, we teach our deputies how to recognize problems, not only mental health issues, but look at problems and how to de-escalate the problem. And everything you're hearing about throughout the country today is focusing on this type of training. We currently have 831 of our deputies over the last six years that have completed training, and that includes Naples Police Department, Page 119 June 25, 2015 the Marco Island Police Department, and actually a couple of deputies from Hendry County as well. That training -- it's a 40-hour block, and it's a lot of investment of time, but that type of training is going to be required in basic law enforcement and mandatory retraining, and you'll probably be seeing that in the next year or two. I will tell you that we are so far ahead of most communities in the country regarding this. It deserves just more information and recognition to the public to see what we're doing to work together with the community. We have expanded our judicial functions. We have expanded our social media functions, providing information out to the community, receiving it back, addressing their requests and problems as quickly as we can. That all relates to our service philosophy: Community, safety, service. Service to others before self. Our 911 communications network that I mentioned last year, we are two-thirds of the way through. We are looking at completing that, the first element, computer-aided dispatch, in the first quarter of 2016. So we are in about a six-month window to get that started. We have worked together with each of the fire districts, EMS, each of the law enforcement agencies, and we are going to be able to identify the right resources, get the right resources to the right location in the shortest period of time, ultimately, with the potential of saving lives. I'd also like to thank you for all the support with regard to our facilities: The Orangetree substation is moving right along; repairs to the jail, more than a half a million dollars there; the completion of our special operations building. We're moving into that now; and the jail A/C replacement project. And I can tell you from the deputies that work in there, they appreciate the air-conditioning improvements that are being made. Page 120 June 25, 2015 A couple of things I think for the future which relate to where we're going with our budget. I'm going to prepare in the future an operator strategic plan. We always do one for capital improvement. We'll do that. But I want to look at more -- because of what we're going to see -- and you know what that is. It's growth and all the impacts of growth. So we're going to be planning how we're going to address that. And one of the issues to come front and center this coming year is going to be traffic; education and enforcement. That is the number one concern that I still get from residents throughout the community, and we are going to be looking at adding resources to that. Not asking for additional FTEs. It is positions that we had already approved that we are going to be including. We're looking at a concern of recruitment and retention. With housing increasing, it is becoming a problem already. I understand that you had talked about this at your meeting on Tuesday and are looking at maybe restarting the gap housing group. I would ask your consideration for us to participate in that group because it is as equally important to us as it is to you. Healthcare costs. The national healthcare impact is going to be significant. We don't know exactly what it is yet. But I completed this past year what I told you I would do, and that was to put together a group of our members to look at our healthcare plan, our costs, where we want to go in the future, and I will tell you that we will be adjusting the healthcare premiums of our members this year, this coming year, and we will be moving forward to review those annually, because we just don't know what the unforeseen circumstances are going to be. Threats against law enforcement. That is becoming a big concern. And I will tell you -- and I make this commitment to our members. I will do anything I have to do to ensure the proper training, the proper equipping, and the proper technology to keep your deputies Page 121 June 25, 2015 safe. We have actually been working on that for about the last year or more with new vests, upgrading radios, that type of thing, and we're going to continue to do that. We're also going to look forward and expand our intelligence-led or data-driven performance policing so that we can focus more on the services that we need to focus on, the crimes we need to focus on, and more effectively using resources and in as much real time as possible, and that's where technology will take us. There are so many more good things from the Collier County Sheriffs Office, and I don't have time to go over them all but would rather thank each and every man and woman that serves our communities 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because they do a terrific job. So as far as our submission for the budget year goes, our budget request has been developed and submitted within the parameters and strategy that you formulated, and we are here to answer any questions that you might have. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller, then Commissioner Henning. COMMISSIONER HILLER: First of all, Sheriff, thank you for all you're doing for Collier County and thank you to all the chiefs and your staff for really doing an outstanding job. We are so fortunate, and I think what makes Collier County so attractive, beyond its natural beauty, is the fact that it's probably one of the safest places to live definitely within the State of Florida and probably within the whole country. I mean, we are really, really fortunate to have you. You raise several things that I am concerned about. I want to make sure, are you adequately funded for your YRDs? Because I do care about deputies at schools. And I know last year you were talking about increasing that program to eventually have all schools staffed Page 122 June 25, 2015 with a YRD, and I want to make sure you have enough money to do that, and how close are you to that goal? SHERIFF RAMBOSK: We're getting very close. In fact, we added three or four positions this year, as we said we would do. We are looking at what grant availability is out there, and there still is some. So I -- we only have a few more positions per school relative to per campus -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Okay. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: -- to address. But we have law enforcement on every campus in every school for part of their day. Some it's an eight-hour day, some it's a four-hour day, but we do have everything covered. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I think it's important that you not hesitate to come back if you need additional funding for that. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: And we may. With whatever we see with the grant requests, we may need to come back there, and also with our corrections, because we are maintaining an inmate count of between 750 and 800, and right now that helps to save us from requesting additional dollars for more corrections deputies. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. But definitely, if either one of those -- and both of them are very important, you know -- to please come back. The other thing I want to address is something that our County Manager addressed, and that is it's his hope that at some point all the constitutionals have the same type of healthcare program. We have an 80/20. I know yours is different. I do want to make a point, and I think it's important to address on the record and that is, my concern is that your employees' wages are significantly lower than our average employee wages are. And so if you were to change your healthcare plan, you know, that, in effect, changes their compensation package, and if you've got a deputy who's Page 123 June 25, 2015 making $40,000 and has a healthcare plan as you currently have, that really would be a pay cut. And so my concern is, you can change your program and decide, okay, we're only going to give you an 80/20 plan but then, in turn, I think you would have to offset that with increased compensation to these employees because, I mean, they expect a certain value for the service that they're providing to the community, and we wouldn't want them to, in effect, suffer a pay cut. So I think we have to be very careful when we look to making changes in benefits to an organization like yours given your current pay scale. Now, you know, at some point, you're going to have a problem with recruitment unless you start increasing your wages notwithstanding the benefits that you award, because I understand that other jurisdictions are paying more. And, again, personally, I would support you if you came back and wanted to see, you know, your overall payroll increase to allow for adjustments because of inflation because of how expensive it is to live in Collier County. And I think that's one way to address the housing problem to the extent that there could be one down the road. It hasn't been identified as of right now. As of right now, our county's housing staff did a study and concluded that there wasn't a shortage. Now, that's not to say that down the road that won't happen, and more likely than not we will go back to where we were before. One way to address that is through compensation, by compensating more and letting people have the ability to buy those market-price homes wherever they want as opposed to us mandating artificially pricing only in certain areas which limits where people can choose to live based on affordability, based on salary. So it's an issue. It's not an issue right now, but it is sure to become one. And I just want you to weigh all of these considerations Page 124 June 25, 2015 in your decision making, because I'll support you any way you go. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Well -- and for the Board's information, like you and your staff, I've requested a pay and classification review study to determine where we are in the market, where we are relative to our own county, as well as those in other counties. So we'll await that information. But there could be the potential I may be back if I find that there are significant differences between where we are and where other agencies are. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, I think it will adversely affect your ability to recruit quality people, because the quality people are going to go where they're going to get, you know, the best value for their service and, you know, they might go to Lee County or up north of there, go to Tampa or go to Orlando as opposed to coming here, and we want to maintain the level of service that you're providing, and that's only going to happen as a function of people because, quite frankly, your organization's most important asset are your people. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Yes. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. If you need more YRDs or any of that, or pay increase, we could just take it out of the Clerk's budget, or maybe Commissioner Hiller will suggest a tax increase, because we know that the County Manager is not -- doesn't have any extra money. But the Sheriff asked for -- to be included in the gap housing crisis that most of us recognize. Is that a problem, County Manager? MR. OCHS: No, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Make sure that happens. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, that's a great suggestion. That's a really great suggestion. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala? Page 125 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I just wondered if you wanted to speak to the Sheriff and his esteemed staff at this point. COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, but I was happy to hear that he mentioned the gap housing. I thought that that was interesting. We've been saying that for a while now, and I'm glad to hear him confirm the need from his department, and I'm sure other departments feel quite the same or -- and that's a need. I think he's done a great job, really. I don't have any qualms. I don't have any questions, actually. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Wonderful. Thank you so much for your responsiveness and the very clear demonstration that you've given Collier County and this board regarding you being present and active on the issues of the day. I am so impressed with the Sheriffs Office because it seems to lead the issue becoming a problem in Collier County, and I think that's so important that we prevent things from happening rather than trying to mediate a crisis that comes to our community. So by paying attention and seeing what the trend is and what's going on, I believe you've been very effective at that, and I believe you should be recognized for your efforts in that direction. Thank you. Commissioner Hiller? COMMISSIONER HILLER: Just in conclusion, I think the public needs to understand that in the hierarchy of government spending, public safety is number one, and it is our obligation, not our option. And anything you need we have to give you and we will, because that's the law. So I don't want there to be any misunderstanding. You know, this is a must. The second tier are essential services, and then the third tier are nonessential services. Second tier being, like, roads and bridges Page 126 June 25, 2015 and so forth, and third tier being, like, for example, the nonessentials like parks and libraries, all of which we very much enjoy, but we need you, and we have to fund you, and we have to do it in the best interest of this community. So, again, whatever you need we will work to make it happen because the community needs to be protected, especially in these times. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you, sir. Thank you all. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Thank you. MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, that moves us back to our Public Utilities Department. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, sir. OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS — DISCUSSION REGARDING THE TAX COLLECTOR AND THE PROPERTY APPRAISER BUDGETS COMMISSIONER HILLER: Just a quick question, Leo, before you go on. And maybe, Jeff, you can help me. Do we -- do we have to -- what is our role with respect to the Property Appraiser and the Tax Collector and their budgets? Do we approve it? What's our real responsibility as that goes? Or do we get their budget from them for informational purposes to have an idea of what the rollback might be? MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, you approve their budget as part of their transfer out of the General Fund -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Okay. MR. ISACKSON: -- that's to support their operation. Remember, the Tax Collector's budget's actually endorsed by the Department of Revenue before it comes to you. Their budget submittal is in August, as an example. But we transfer money to them Page 127 June 25, 2015 for cash-flow purposes. They use what they need during the year, and they turn back at the end of the fiscal year monies that are unused. COMMISSIONER HILLER: So do we support their operations? Like, I mean, it -- I'm trying to understand what the relationship is, you know -- MR. ISACKSON: It's a rather complicated fee-type -- I can get you some background on it that might be helpful. COMMISSIONER HILLER: And I'm interested in the -- both the Property Appraiser and the Tax Collector. MR. ISACKSON: They function similarly in terms of the fees that they charge versus the monies that we're required to give them up front to support -- it's almost like a cash-flow arrangement. I'll get you that. COMMISSIONER HILLER: So we don't actually pay them for services. We're basically floating them till they collect their fees, and then they give the money back to us? MR. ISACKSON: And, remember, we also pay for all the cities, the school district, everybody, not just the county. So there's another nuancal difference between all of that. So I'll get you some information on that. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'd like to have a better understanding of it because I think it's important for us to understand that relationship, or those relationships. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. Actually, if you would open your budget book, you would see on each of the department levels there's a line item from the Property Appraiser, and there's a line item from the Tax Collector, and that's how they do it. That's how we budgeted for it. It's about on every page in the budget book. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you. Page 128 June 25, 2015 PUBLIC UTILITIES CHAIRMAN NANCE: Dr. Yilmaz? DR. YILMAZ: Thank you, County Manager. And good afternoon, Honorable Commissioners. George Yilmaz, Public Utilities. I'm pleased today to report that we have met your budget guidance and our County Manager's budget guidance. We have prepared a budget that is revenue centric and positions us to meet the demand from exponential growth that you have heard earlier from our County Manager, Deputy County Manager, and others, for life-sustaining services, including potable water, wastewater, collection and treatment of wastewater, irrigation quality and reused water production and distribution, and solid and hazardous waste collection, disposal and recycling services 24/7/365 with an outstanding fund management over $1.2 billion infrastructure assets as indicated in our CAFR and over a quarter billion dollar cash flow including debt service with Triple A Fitch rating. That's better than European Union. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Much better than Greece. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I was going to say, definitely better than Greece. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Is that -- yeah, well... DR. YILMAZ: I think our team and our board would rescue Greece, but... CHAIRMAN NANCE: How far is the pipeline? COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'm sure they would be thrilled to see you, Dr. George. DR. YILMAZ: And today we are respectfully requesting your tentative review and approval of our budget with balanced strategic investment in both infrastructure assets, backlog, maintenance, repair, but, more importantly, our intellectual property and, most important Page 129 June 25, 2015 assets, people, who will make those things happen for next five to 10 years to come, including our operations. With that, I have my finance director, his administrative title, I call him CFO, and he was a CFO in private sector, who will provide a high-level overview, as Commissioner Nance says, 30,000 feet above. Sir? MR. BELLONE: Thank you, Dr. Yilmaz. Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the record, Joe Bellone, Finance Director for Public Utilities. I'll start with revenue. Revenue: Charges for services, as you know, provide the sole funding to support the operating capital and debt expenditures for the two enterprise funds in Public Utilities, which would include the Water/Sewer District and Solid and Hazardous Waste Management. In our operations -- and you've heard many times today that sustained growth has placed pressure on the Public Utilities' mission for sustainable and compliant services for distribution of potable water, wastewater collection and treatment, IQ water production delivery, improve financial controls, inventory materials management, customer service both in the call center and in the field, billing services, as well as solid and hazardous waste collection, disposal, and recycling services. To give you sort of an idea, as of May 31st, Utility had 2,171 -- 74 miles of pipes stretching from Naples to Winnipeg, Canada. On those pipes, there are 23,292 valves. So a utility technician would need to stop 11 times every mile on that route to turn the valves as required by Florida Statutes; just to give you an idea of the magnitude. Staffing to minimize the operating, maintenance, and compliance risks are included in the FY16 budget proposal. And as Dr. Yilmaz mentioned, we've balanced that with the infrastructure repair, rehabilitation, and capital improvement project, and our user-fee debt Page 130 June 25, 2015 service is fully funded in FY16. As we've said, the FY16 budget anticipates growth to continue as it has as we've experienced in FY 15. In addition to that, I hope you'll be happy to hear that five full-scale asset management implementation projects are scheduled to launch in FY16. For these efforts -- to support these efforts, the proposed FY16 budget includes an additional 18 FTEs. And you'll recall that in midyear, in February of this year we came to you with a midyear adjustment. We asked you to convert 24 out of the 42 job bank and contract employees, and at that point we left 18 on the table knowing that we would re-evaluate business conditions and address them in our FY16 budget. So we're coming back to you today with 18 requests, 18 requests for 18 positions, 10 of those are conversions -- we left 18 on the table -- we're requesting 10, and eight new positions that we've identified since our last visit to meet the business conditions in asset management. Moving to the Capital Improvement Program. The department has funded CIP for FY16 to the tune of$49.4 million in new FY16 capital dollars. We did that on risk-based analysis. Operators in Engineering and Finance took part in that. The Water/Sewer District represents 46.6 million of that, and Solid and Hazardous Waste, 2.8 million. Our focus in the Capital Improvement Program is on pipe replacement. That's A/C pipes and the duct align pipes that are in the coastal areas. Meters. Our meters -- as you know we did a wholesale automated meter replacement back in the late '90s and early 2000s. Those have reached the end of their useful life, and we're doing a wholesale meter replacement. Those are the cash registers, so we will bill and collect Page 131 June 25, 2015 what's due. And also we're focusing on the wastewater collection system as well as the force mains and lift stations, which are a part of the basin program that you have approved. In Solid and Hazard Waste, our focus is on the business-recovery park and the hammerhead turnarounds that provide the turnarounds at the ends of those long streets in the Estates. Our FY 16 CIP for -- at least for the Collier County Water/Sewer District represents 4 percent of the total gross asset base of almost $1.3 billion. This will be something that's familiar to you. We've identified about 30 percent of those in green, meaning they're in good asset condition; 32 are yellow condition, meaning they require rehabilitation and maintenance to prevent them from turning red; and about 38 percent of the remaining base is in the red condition. And this budget, this CIP budget represents 4 percent of that. So in the red condition are assets that total approximately $433 million. And as we -- I think we told you about a year and a half ago in that initial asset management workshop that we would get to that over a 10-year period, and we're addressing a little bit more than one-tenth of that this year. Moving to reserves. As you know, there are two categories. Restricted, those can only be used for specific purposes, debt and impact fee reserves. There are unrestricted reserves, and as you know those are available to use if and when necessary to ensure the maintenance of life-sustaining services to the public during non-routine and unforeseen disaster situations. The Water/Sewer District unrestricted reserves meet your policy of a minimum of 40 days and a maximum of 90 days, and the Solid Waste reserves are within the recommended minimum of 60-day and 90-day maximum, and those are sufficient to fund at least the first-pass emergency debris removal missions. Page 132 June 25, 2015 As Dr. Yilmaz mentioned, the bond rating agencies, particularly Fitch, recognizes that the best reserve policies are both specific and flexible, and that's the reason why we want to maintain our Triple A rating. On the debt side, we are fully funded; $19 million in debt service this year, 7 million on the user fee side, and 12 million on the impact fee side. The Water/Sewer District is in compliance with all our bond covenants in terms of bond coverage, and the Water/Sewer District continues to operate on a cash-and-carry basis, as Mark indicated before. We don't anticipate debt in this budget. That concludes our formal presentation today, and obviously we're here to answer any questions you have. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Henning? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. Dr. Yilmaz, good afternoon. Your actuals of this budget, impact fees is higher than the requested or forecasted impact fees, 11 million, and -- no, I'm sorry, 12 million in -- that was adopted 12 million. The forecasted was 10 million in '15. You're requesting or forecasting 9.4 million. What is that due to? DR. YILMAZ: Commissioner, if I might, that's an indication of two variables. As you know, we've gone through rate study, we've gone through CIP master planning process. CIPs were adopted as part of our rate study program that you have approved. And during that CIP, we've done our best to forecast next three years at the time what kind of new capacity we would need and, of course, you have adopted AUIR. Level of standards came from that CIP master plan that actually lowered level of service due to water conservation efforts we have and tightening our wastewater system. Having said all that -- and that's been the background -- the potential increase and decrease in impact fees primarily, among others, Page 133 June 25, 2015 function of two variables. We reduced our impact fees by 23 percent COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right. DR. YILMAZ: -- which you adopted. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I know that was part of the answer, or all the answer. I just wanted to know if there was more to it. DR. YILMAZ: Got it. COMMISSIONER HENNING: But you're projecting growth within your system -- DR. YILMAZ: Yes. COMMISSIONER HENNING: -- but not growth to grow the impact fees because of the -- you have capacity. DR. YILMAZ: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: And because of that capacity, you lowered the impact fees? DR. YILMAZ: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. So that capacity is already there; you're already servicing that capacity? DR. YILMAZ: Yes, sir. And if I might, with your indulgence, we do have a checkbook consistent with and in sync with FDEP permitting process. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Right, I remember that. DR. YILMAZ: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: To make sure that we don't have anything go over the side. DR. YILMAZ: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I understand that, but -- so what was your -- do you know off the top of your head what your FTEs was in 2008? That's kind of what everybody's going off of. I know your enterprise fund and you really don't follow the same practices that -- Page 134 June 25, 2015 because of the downturn of the economy; is that a true statement? DR. YILMAZ: We follow the board-established guidelines, we are revenue centric. And, also, initially you mentioned, Commissioner, that there were some frozen positions. What applied countywide applied to the Utility. All the frozen positions initially shown in our budget were also eliminated, and we're building back by conversions and adding team members. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. Great. You answered that question, but maybe you can just email it to me what your FTE was in '08. MR. BELLONE: It was 384, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Three hundred eighty-four? MR. BELLONE: Three hundred eighty-four in FY08. Those were the approved budgeted positions in FY08, in the FY08 -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Across the board? MR. BELLONE: Between the Water/Sewer District and Solid Waste was 384. That excludes Pollution Control because, don't forget, we did a -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I'm looking at your Page 1, and I come up with 826 for this proposed budget. You've got the Public Utilities Department, 413; County Water and Sewer District, 382; and then Solid Waste, 31. MR. ISACKSON: Commissioner, maybe I can help you out there. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Sure. MR. ISACKSON: If you go to the overview section, your overview tab, go to Page 23, and there's a depiction there in terms of full-time equivalency. And if you look at the column on the left, it says FY09, prior to the reorganization. COMMISSIONER HENNING: What does that page look like? Because I'm on -- you said the overview? Page 135 June 25, 2015 CHAIRMAN NANCE: Right in the front. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Oh, in the front. MR. OCHS: General overview tab. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Oh, in front of the book. MR. OCHS: Front of the book, yes, sir. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Twenty-three. MR. ISACKSON: There's a schedule at the bottom of Page 23 that depicts the full-time equivalency, your counts. We've purposely left in there the column on the left which shows your FY09. It's prior to any reorganizations that were authorized. You'll see Utilities at 406.5. We're now in '16 requesting, with the expandeds, up to 413. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay. You're comparing '09 to MR. ISACKSON: Yeah, and that gives you a rough equivalency, I think, of your issue of pre-recession versus now. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Okay, thanks. MR. ISACKSON: Thank you. DR. YILMAZ: Thank you, Mark. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes. Dr. Yilmaz, a couple of questions for you. Longer term, past, you know -- and I know you're forward looking, regarding ASR wells. Earlier today we had a discussion that was kind of opened by Commissioner Henning talking about water management infrastructure and this is -- you know, this is treated water management, but I think everybody on this board recognizes that ASR wells and the use -- their use has got some utility in retaining and detaining peak water use from different areas. What are you visioning, say, 10 years out as far as ASR wells are concerned? DR. YILMAZ: Certainly. If I might, Commissioners, this board has already approved 10-year water supply plan that was submitted to Page 136 June 25, 2015 West Palm Water Management District. The difference was, first time, that 10-year water supply plan was subset of regional water supply plan called Lower West Coast Water Supply Plan that, personally, I traveled at least five times back and forth to West Palm making sure that this board's vision, mission, guiding principles are incorporated in Lower West Coast Water Supply Plan so that when we adopt our 10-year water supply plan, is that -- it is a subset of regional so we don't have to be in conflict. Within that conceptual planning, we have stormwater harvesting, we have wet season, dry season managing, and we have irrigation quality driven business model versus just the freshwater intake and deep inject. So we're looking at 50-year horizon, and we will be the first utility except within (sic) California, bringing back to you 50-year water supply sustainable resource management since we have first time 23-year permits, including freshwater permits for all our facilities due to the fact that our investment horizon is 25 years. So we're progressing very well, and we're partnering -- not as adversaries, but we're partnering with Water Management District, Big Cypress Basin Board, as well as our Growth Management planners working together. And our workshop that was scheduled in October, that will give us one more month in November, we will provide you 10-year, 20-year, 50-year business model first, with your acceptance, then business plan next, and that business plan and business model is not going to be just a dream, because we're going to put some finances behind it, how we going to fund it, how we going to finance it, and also affordability. And, more importantly, water is needed not only for our customer base, everyone in this room and our customer base, but also irrigation for commercial. As you know, our campus is working on reuse as we speak, Page 137 June 25, 2015 chillers on a reuse system. It used to be on potable water. So that's our pilot program that we're looking at how we can actually use recycled water for air-conditioning systems for large campuses like we have that's moving more and more towards sustainable vertical infrastructure management. Furthermore, we're going to look into our agricultural water supply. There's a lot of misunderstanding, agricultural water supply. We cannot just look at the pumpage because, yes, on paper it might appear that we're pumping a lot of water, but fee index being 80 percent, meaning at least more than 80 percent of the water goes back to the ground and recharges surficial aquifer system because of the fact that the way our farmers operate best management practices, and the remaining is evapotranspiration. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Evaporated. DR. YILMAZ: I could say it better in five different languages -- evapotranspiration and also, frankly, what we eat. It's part of the tomatoes, part of watermelons that are farmers working very hard and put it on our table. So we will do our best to bring what we know and tax and figures, good planning model, and we will be more than open to know what we don't know, because that's a 50-year horizon. But our goal is come up with business model, business plan that will make this county first in the nation for sustainable water supply, that we don't have to buy water from anywhere else. We may sell some, but we will not buy one. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, hopefully when we have our Growth Management Plans going forward -- you know, Public Utilities are normally not a consideration on that, but I think based on recent development trends in the eastern part of the county, which are primarily going to be with community development districts, I don't think that in the future these large community development districts Page 138 June 25, 2015 are going to have quite the stomach for having private utilities that they had previously. So I'm sure that they're going to be interested, and you're going to be interested, too, in their point of view in what their development trends are and what they're thinking, because if you continue to perform in the stellar way that you have over here, I think that you're going to be forever increasingly attractive to them and that we're going to have an opportunity to do something in a comprehensive way, and I think that would be a very, very good thing. Finally, I just -- I looked in here, and I didn't find it. If it's in here, I apologize. It's a very large presentation, but I just wanted to know what your remaining inventory of asbestos cementized pipe is. How much do you have remaining? Do you see that being a problem? How many years do you think it's going to be before we're out of the transited pipe business? Do we have much remaining in the county? DR. YILMAZ: I will address the compliance part of it and then may refer to, depending on if I fulfill your expectation in terms of answer -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yeah. I mean, you don't have to talk about it now, George. These folks may not be interested in it -- DR. YILMAZ: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- but it's just a question. Why don't you just get back to me unless there's a burning desire to hear it. DR. YILMAZ: I will say next five years; no more than 10 years, given our capital program, we will not have asbestos pipes left. More importantly, last three years our regulatory agency put asbestos compliance point, which we didn't have before. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. DR. YILMAZ: So earlier we get rid of that, better off we are; otherwise, we're going to have to expedite at the cost of other high-risk • Page 139 June 25, 2015 CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes. DR. YILMAZ: -- inventory. CHAIRMAN NANCE: That's just kind of a looming, nagging problem I think everybody shares. DR. YILMAZ: Yes, sir. Thank you for your approval and funding, and we're moving as fast as we can next five to 10 years. But I can tell you that at the end of 10 years we will not have asbestos pipe in this county, in Water/Sewer District. I cannot speak for Immokalee Water/Sewer District and City of Naples. CHAIRMAN NANCE: We may have some hollowed-out tree trunks out there yet, sir. I'm not sure. Okay. Any further -- oh, Commissioner Henning? I'm sorry. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I'm really impressed with your comments about our future water resources and being able to sustain it out that long. That's one of the number one concerns in the State of Florida. And if you have identified your resources, wow. That's very impressive. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, finally, Dr. George, I am very, very impressed by the approach you have -- oh, excuse me. Commissioner Taylor, let's go to you and then I'll -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: All right. You're going to -- all right. Dr. George, with your plan, your 10-, 15-, 20-, 50-year plan, it's my understanding the future is no more silos. You don't plan here and then Land Development plans here. It's all interrelated. And so I guess my question to you is, how do you envision development going forward? And that's a tough question, and I don't mean to put you in that position. But it seems to me, if we are -- as well as your water resources are integrated, so is development integrated with water. I mean, its essential. It's the common denominator. So how do we proceed going forward as we think about Page 140 June 25, 2015 the future of this county 50 years out? DR. YILMAZ: Yes, ma'am. As I understand your question, yes, indeed, it is integrated, and also our natural habitat and natural resources be a part of that water supply planning and replenishment and stormwater management as a whole hydrologic system. We have a saying in Collier County among our utility team members, all the way from utility tech up, in Collier County every day it rains 15 million gallons because we -- everything we take as wastewater, we put it on the surficial aquifer, especially on coastal zone as the recharge. Second part of your question was that going all the way to 50 years out we will leverage technology, we will leverage vision, and during our workshop, we will leverage your feedback, your vision, and also we will leverage our special act as you being the governing board for the Water/Sewer District managing our boundaries better and, therefore, establishing much larger and broader water supply consumption and recycle rules of engagement where we will not have Ave Marias independent of Water/Sewer District. If that's going to happen, it will happen not only decision by Board of County Commissioners, but also it will be decision by governing board or the $1.2 billion enterprise, special-act empowered business board. I hope I answered your question. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah, you did. Thank you. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you. Well, you know, my final words, Dr. George -- and then we'll see if there are any additional ones, you know, as public services are the department in our local government that probably has the most contact with the citizens, I think you can measure the success of public utilities by the fact that nobody knows who you are, they don't have to call you, and that you don't need to call them. So if you are -- Page 141 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's what Mr. Ballone is for. That's what he explained. That's why we don't know George's name. There's a reason for that. CHAIRMAN NANCE: If you-all are invisible, you are truly successful. I am very impressed in the transformation that's occurred over the brief time that I have paid attention to it in your adaption of technology, information, and your capital asset management system. I appreciate it very much. I think you've worked very hard at it, and there has been, indeed, a vast improvement that continues to go on. And I think you're really a model of operations, which is near and dear to my heart because that's what I did. So I really appreciate what you guys do, and I know what it takes, you know, in time and effort and energy to do that. So my personal thanks, and I give you all very high marks. Commissioner Hiller? COMMISSIONER HILLER: Well, you know how Commissioner Nance likes me to keep it brief. So in respect of his wishes, I say ditto -- DR. YILMAZ: Thank you. COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- for all of you. DR. YILMAZ: Thank you very much. PUBLIC COMMENT MR. OCHS: Commissioners, we're moving onto Debt Service. MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, your debt service tab -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Can I ask a favor, Commissioner Nance, before we go onto debt service? CHAIRMAN NANCE: What can I help you with? COMMISSIONER HILLER: The Doyles -- I know we have, Page 142 June 25, 2015 like, public comment, like, generally, but the Doyles were here for Pelican Bay, and Pelican Bay was heard before lunch because we had time, but they weren't here. Rather than keeping them waiting, could they be allowed to speak -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Sure. Dr. Doyle -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- because we've got more, and I don't want to see them -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- if you're willing -- if you're willing to comment prior to County Attorney's and a few other minor agencies, if you'd like to present now, it would be our pleasure. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I just saw them sitting in the back of the room as I was -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: I apologize that you missed earlier. We tried to be a little more broad in taking public comment, and I apologize to you for that, but -- DR. DOYLE: Well, I appreciate that. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Yes, sir. DR. DOYLE: Good afternoon, Commissioners. In fact, I saw your opening remarks this morning, and I saw how you were progressing, and I just figured that Pelican Bay would be after lunch but, anyway. Plus I also saw public comment. Anyway, thank you for -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: We were actually better than you thought we were going to be. DR. DOYLE: As you know, Dr. Joseph Doyle, for the record, here on behalf of my mother, Sandra Doyle, who's the property owner in Pelican Bay. And I've been involved with the budget process this year and -- both the budget committee as well as the full advisory board. And I just wanted to give you a little of the background as to what's going on here. Page 143 June 25, 2015 First of all, you know it's a $600,000 increase that's being requested. There are 7,600 equivalent residential units, so that represents $82 per equivalent residential unit. Last year the total assessment was 426, which is already a 5 or 6 percent increase from the year prior. This year this is almost a 20 percent increase. They're going from to 426 to 508. And there's a couple of things that are in the background here that I wanted to make the Board aware of, because it is an advisory board. First of all, we have a new budget, Chairman Henry Bachman, who's done a wonderful job, but he only came aboard in February to the budget committee. And we also had lost a couple of people because their term limits were up. And then we also have a new chairwoman, Susan O'Brien, and she came aboard April 1st as far as being chair. I want to point out to the BCC that the budget committee, when they made the recommendation to move forward to the full advisory board, it was on a 3-2 vote. Both Bachman, who's the chairman of the budget committee, as well as Susan O'Brien, who's the chair of the full advisory board, voted against it. That day there were some irregularities as far as one of the budget committee members was allowed to call in by phone, and it was not an emergency. So it's not clear that that was -- it was really more of a 2-2 vote. Okay. Then we get to the full advisory board earlier this month. And we also have some new advisory board members. Again, this was an 8-2 vote; the two people voting against it were the chairman of the budget committee as well as the full advisory board, Bachman and O'Brien. So I just wanted to let you know that those are the two, in my opinion, big players, and they voted against this budget initially as it's COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Excuse me one second. Just so Page 144 June 25, 2015 I'm clear, they voted against it not because someone called in and they didn't have an excused -- they voted against it for the substance of the issue. DR. DOYLE: Right. So now I'm going to get into the substance. The substance is this, is that -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: I just want to clarify. Susan O'Brien was here this morning. DR. DOYLE: Yeah. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Okay. And she didn't object. I just want you to know. DR. DOYLE: I know she didn't. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I don't know if you saw it. She didn't say anything -- DR. DOYLE: She told me -- I spoke with her on the phone beforehand, and she told me that since she is the chairman of the board, she is not going to go with her own personal. She is going to go with the majority. But I do want to let you know that what didn't come out is that she actually voted against it. So that's the background. Now, part of the problem that I see is that -- and the County Attorney has been -- made them aware of this, is that some of what's being done with public money is mowing foundation property. It's been an informal agreement for several years, but about 20 to 30 percent of the mowing and all that is being done by the Pelican Bay Services Division, and they've been told that they need to transition out of that. Now, I don't know how long a transition is going to take, but I certainly don't want it to take a couple years. That being said, if you look in the budget, there's a proposal to hire three new maintenance workers, and they should really be temporary, because if we give up mowing foundation property, we already have about 13 or 14 FTEs; we won't need those long term. Page 145 June 25, 2015 So Susan O'Brien, if you look in the minutes for all the other meetings, she has always said, let's just keep temporary workers, not hire full-time employees because of all the ramifications that go with the personnel stuff, all right. Vehicle replacement. As you know, I attended the Fleet Management workshop here a couple months ago. And we have three or four vehicles in there that they want to replace. One is a truck with 36,000 miles, 2009. I don't think that should be replaced. The other is for the new operations manager. It's a Ford Explorer, 2008, with about 90,000 miles. But the thing is, is I don't believe he needs to have another fancy 45,000, $50,000 Ford Explorer. He should have something more economical or that's cheaper or -- they're telling me that he needs to haul stuff. Well, if he needs to haul stuff, he can either have someone else do it or get him a Ford pickup truck at 30,000. So my point is, is that I think we could find 10,000 here, 15,000 there so that we don't have a 623,000 increase. And there has been a lot of things that need to be done, but does everything have to be done in one year as far as, you know, trying to bring the community up to speed? Why can't this be done in phases over three or four years and not have such a huge increase in our assessment in this one year? And so that's the crux of my point. And I don't know if you have time over the summer, because I don't know when the TRIMS have to come out, but I think that really the advisory board and the budget committee should go back to the drawing board over the next, you know, 45, 60 days and see if they can whittle some of that back, and, you know -- and I'm -- it's just the principle of the matter. So I appreciate your indulgence. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Thank you. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: I'm sorry your remarks are now not before. Page 146 June 25, 2015 How do we handle that, Mr. Chairman? I mean, do we take a consensus among us that we request them to address it or not or, I mean -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, you know, have you brought these items to the advisory board, sir? DR. DOYLE: I've been to all those meetings. CHAIRMAN NANCE: And what was their reaction? DR. DOYLE: Well, it's, as you see, at the budget committee -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: It was a split vote. DR. DOYLE: -- you have the budget chairman and you have the chairman of the full advisory board, Pelican Bay Service Division, who feel the way I do, primarily -- more or less. I'm not going to put words in their mouth, but that's pretty much it, against, you know, the others. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Well, you know -- DR. DOYLE: So it's a split, you know. And the thing is, is that I realize that this time of year there aren't any citizens around to really -- you know, that's part of the budgeting thing. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Honestly, as the Chair of the Board of County Commission, I would prefer you to work with Commissioner Hiller, because she knows her district better than I do. And I don't propose to go in and -- you know, I'm hearing what you're saying, sir, but what I'm saying is, please work with your commissioner to address this situation because I feel like she's so much better prepared than I am and, you know, I feel like I would be meddling should I go in there without her suggesting something. I'm just being honest. DR. DOYLE: Well, I appreciate that. CHAIRMAN NANCE: That's the way I feel about it, because I'm unprepared. Now, you know, some of the things that were presented today regarding the landscaping and the advanced Page 147 June 25, 2015 management of some of those trees, that's something I have direct knowledge of. It's something I did, you know, during my professional career, so I can understand that, indeed, some of those things absolutely have to be taken care of. And to the extent Pelican Bay and the finances of your services division echo what happened with the county and during the recession years, you know, it may well be that you're in arrears with some of the management that you had because of the shortage of funds during the recession, and I would be surprised if that were not the case, but -- you know. DR. DOYLE: That's true. CHAIRMAN NANCE: And that's just a -- that's just an overview. DR. DOYLE: Well -- but I just heard the public utilities, and other people have said in other presentations that they're doing their upgrades over five, some of them even over 10 years. I'm just saying, why do we have to do a lot of this over one year? Yeah, they want to put in the new sprinkler system, that's over three years, but -- and look at the vehicle replacement. I'm saying -- I'm saying of this 600,000, can't we just make it 500,000? Whittle some of this back -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: I absolutely hear what you're saying -- DR. DOYLE: -- this year? CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- but, like I say, you have committees and a system and a commissioner that I'm sure can service you -- DR. DOYLE: Well -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: -- best. DR. DOYLE: -- I'll do that, but what I'm trying to -- I guess I just don't know the process, because when I first came here six years ago, I came on September 5th, and it was at the budget hearing. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Sure. Page 148 June 25, 2015 DR. DOYLE: Then I got involved with budget committees. It seems like -- and this is the first time I've actually come to the June workshop, okay. So it seems like I'm always chasing the tail here and trying to find the right forum. And it's not that I don't want to work with Commissioner Hiller, but the BCC -- they report to the BCC as a whole, not just to Commissioner Hiller, so -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: True. DR. DOYLE: And it's in the Sunshine, so, you know, unless you want me to talk to each one of you individually beforehand. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Absolutely. I realize that those contentious issues that end up being a 3-2 vote, for example, are the most contentious issues and the most frustrating for people that, you know, don't have their point of view receive the majority of support, but that's -- you know, that's the nature of those sorts of difficult decisions. DR. DOYLE: I understand but -- okay. The thing is, those two people who voted against it, though, are very important people, in my opinion. CHAIRMAN NANCE: No. Sir, I understand, but I don't think -- I'm the Chair, and I don't think my vote is any more important than any of these other commissioners. You know, to the extent -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: I think you're very important. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I understand that, ma'am. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Now, when Commissioner Henning was here in your seat, I felt differently. But now that you're here, I think you're very important. CHAIRMAN NANCE: With that, we're going to go to Commissioner Henning. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I'm just kidding. Now -- but can I go -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah, Commissioner. I think Page 149 June 25, 2015 you -- Mr. Chairman, I think you make some good, valid points. Commissioner Taylor, I've always depended on Commissioner Hiller being the commissioner of the district and her input whether, you know, to raise taxes on the Pelican Bay people or not, so -- DR. DOYLE: So it this something that can be done -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Maybe I'm doing something wrong. I mean, you know, convince Commissioner Hiller that Pelican Bay doesn't need any more new taxes. DR. DOYLE: Or at least not that level, $80 increase. I'm not saying not do anything. I'm just saying, does it have to be $80? Yeah. So what's the process from here through September? Because the hearing is, you know, the first week in September. COMMISSIONER HENNING: We'll give you her cell phone number. COMMISSIONER HILLER: He already has it. He can contact me 24/7. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Hiller is next, so why don't you-all have a three-way conversation, if you wish. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I'm done. COMMISSIONER HILLER: So here's what my thought is on what the process ought to be under the circumstances. You're a concerned citizen. You've expressed a concern over the budget that was approved by a supermajority of the advisory board. And Commissioner Nance is correct, I mean, we are a board of equals. They're a board of equals. And I think the best thing to do -- because I think you raise some fair questions. I mean, obviously this board has already deliberated the questions that you've raised because you've indicated you've been to all these meetings and you've raised these points, so I'm sure that, you know, they have provided explanations. But I think what we ought to do is take your questions. Did you Page 150 June 25, 2015 write this up? Do you have a summary, a written summary? DR. DOYLE: I don't have a written summary, but I can provide you with it. COMMISSIONER HILLER: But I would like a written summary. And I think what we ought to do is give it to Leo -- because Leo is Neil Dorrill's boss -- and let Leo sit down with Neil and review it and then let -- COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: He says no. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Leo, you're not Neil's boss? MR. OCHS: Oh, yes, ma'am. I'm ready to do it. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yes, you are. And then what I would like -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: He's gotten off very light so far, so he's getting grumpy. COMMISSIONER HILLER: What I would like to do is let Leo talk to Neil, because that's the proper process on the county side, and then let Leo and I sit down. And when I get an understanding of, you know, what the responses are, you know, then you and I can talk and figure out if anything can be done. At the end of the day, I will help you get the rationale that they are using, we'll evaluate it to see if it's reasonable or if there's any, you know, possible angle that hasn't been considered by the advisory board or by staff, because, you know, we want to be as good as we can be. We want to provide the highest level of service at the lowest cost. But at the end of the day, the decision whether or not to accept that budget is going to be made by the Board, not by me, and so it will take, you know, a majority vote of the Board to change that budget if a change is justified. And I think we have to give them the opportunity to see what you say in writing and give the County Manager an opportunity to come back to me with responses to your concerns, because they should Page 151 June 25, 2015 properly -- I mean, since you've brought them to our attention, they should be vetted, you know, regardless of the vote of the advisory board. You know, if savings can be achieved, then I think we should save money. If they can't be, then they'll have a justification. And if it's reasonable, you know, given the supermajority vote, unless it was in error or because there was a lack of information. You know, it could be a mistake or it could be insufficiency, or it could be right. You know, it could be just a difference of opinion of how this should happen. And differences of opinion are okay. I mean, you've definitely brought up really good points in prior years, and we've adopted them. And this year could be the same, or it might not be, and I think we need to give them an opportunity to make their case. DR. DOYLE: I appreciate that. What type of timeline -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: And you've got my number. DR. DOYLE: Yeah. What type of timeline are we looking at here? COMMISSIONER HILLER: I have to ask Leo that because that's, you know, up to him in terms of coordinating with Neil. What's your -- MR. OCHS: I'd say a couple weeks to coordinate with Neil and he to coordinate with his advisory board, and then we can sit down with Dr. Doyle and yourself, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER HILLER: That's fine. Can you make sure you get him just a written summary of your key concerns? And what I would do is, in your presentation, do, here's the issue, here's my recommended solution, and just keep it very short and simple, and that way we can go through each of the solutions you present to each of the problems you've identified and, you know, maybe some of them will be adopted; some of them won't. And the only thing I don't know is in light of the fact that the Page 152 June 25, 2015 board, the advisory board has already voted on what's been present, you know, if there are new issues, if-- you know, we've got a little bit of a deadline. I don't know if we would need another vote of the advisory board. If we would need another vote of the advisory board, then my recommendation would be to adopt the budget as presented, and then every budget is a working, living document, and then we can come back and we can amend that budget, you know, after the Board has an opportunity -- the advisory board has an opportunity to revisit what information they didn't have or misunderstood. So the fact that -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: Particularly since you're talking about a potential reduction. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Right. And that's why I'm saying, the fact that, you know, they're -- the fact that we may adopt it as-is doesn't mean that we couldn't change it. DR. DOYLE: Right, and I understand that, and you've told me that before. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. DR. DOYLE: This is -- and I understand if we can't do a reduction because of the time constraints coming before the TRIM notices. My issue is this, when October 1st comes, I don't want them going out -- I'll say it right here. I don't want them going out and buying a Ford Explorer. I mean, if there can be a cheaper vehicle, for instance, and we can save 10- or 15,000, then so be it. You know, that's one of the things, you know, in other words -- and maybe that's part of the issue here, too, is, like, the spending authority. Once they get that budget approved and the new fiscal year starts, you know, let's go spend this on October 1st. Let's spend this on October 2nd. That's what I'm concerned about, because then it takes Page 153 June 25, 2015 away that ability to make it a living document and make the changes to the actual spending. Because I understand the assessment is one thing, and then the final -- and then you could do a carryover if there's funds left over. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Right. Let's -- what we should do is let's review -- COMMISSIONER HENNING: Let's sit down over a cup of coffee. COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- what the issues are. That's what we're going to do. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. And take a break for the court reporter. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. DR. DOYLE: Well, I appreciate it, Commissioners. Thank you. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you. MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, the court reporter is laboring, sir. We need to give her a break. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: She needs a brownie. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Oh, Mr. Miller, you weren't making yourself clear. You were signaling, but I didn't realize that the court reporter had gone into an emergency medical condition. We will take a break until 3:20 for the court reporter. MR. OCHS: Thank you, sir. (A brief recess was had.) CHAIRMAN NANCE: All right. Ladies and gentlemen, let's try to bring this one on back to the barn. MR. OCHS: To the barn we go. DEBT SERVICE MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, the next tab that we'd like Page 154 June 25, 2015 you to take a look at is your debt service tab. This will be the briefest presentation, unless you have any questions. We've gone over your general governmental debt service in ad nauseam over the past few years. We've put up some charts in the County Manager's overview. Page 2A of the tab, I think, is indicative of the environment that exists right now in your debt service, and I'll answer any questions that you have. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Commissioner Fiala, are you back with us, ma'am? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, sir. I am. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. Do you know where we are in the book? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yep. I've got it in front of me. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Ten-four. All right. Commissioners, any comments? I think, you know, we've made substantial progress on reducing it, and I personally look forward to Mr. Isackson's guidance on options for using the borrowing climate to our advantage as we go forward in the short term to make sure that we're doing the right thing and that we're getting guidance from our professionals on that so that we can spend our money, you know, in the long term wisely by making good decisions in the short term. So thank you, Mr. Isackson. I know you've been -- I know you've done us a lot of good through refinancing in these last several years, and I do appreciate your dedication to that and look forward to having this discussion integrated in the greater financial picture. Thank you. MR. ISACKSON: Thank you. BCC (COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCIES, AIRPORT) MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that takes us to your management Page 155 June 25, 2015 offices and CRA agencies. If you'll all come forward, please. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Suddenly. MR. OCHS: Mr. Chairman, given the hour, we can have each one of these directors make a presentation on their budget, or we can respond to questions, or they can just go over any highlighted expanded service requests that they have. Pleasure of the Board, sir. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Why don't you just hit any high points that you want to bring to the attention of the Board at this time. Unless the board members have questions, I would say, you know, tell us what you don't think we know. MR. OCHS: All right. Let's start with Mr. Muckel. Brad? MR. MUCKEL: Okay. Thank you, Leo. Let's see. First of all, we've increased our total expense budget for Fiscal '16 by 14.2 percent. We're on an overall expense budget of $659,600, which is mirrored by the increase in funding to the same tune: 14.2 percent increase, $659,600. Within that expense budget, we have a decreased personnel services budget of 22.1 percent that represents the closing of a CRA position for Fiscal '16. We have an increase in operating expenses, indirect costs in grants and aid. The operating expenses have increased 42.6 percent. Our indirect costs, reimbursables, county services have increased, and the grants and aid, which encompasses a $20,000 facade grant for the upcoming year; 15,000 sweat equity program grant funding, and $20,000 impact fee deferral program from previous commitments. And further down the list there, repayment to the Unincorporated General Fund also includes a $30,000 -- that's the first of probably nine annual installments for the Immokalee Business Development Center Program. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Mr. Chairman? CHAIRMAN NANCE: Sir. Page 156 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER HENNING: I agree with the County Manager. I don't have any questions. I think I like what the CRA's doing. I like what Bayshore's doing. I think we ought to move to the County Attorney. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Okay. MR. OCHS: Good. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Unless you have anything you think is an emergency, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you. MR. OCHS: Thank you, Commissioners. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I know each one of you has come before us fairly recently, so thank you so much. I think we're headed in great directions across the board. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Thank you for your patience. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Good to see you. MR. MUCKEL: Good to see you. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I've got to -- next time I'm out there, I need to stop by or call you. MR. MUCKEL: We'll go to Lozano's. COMMISSIONER HENNING: Well, I've got some favorites out there. MR. MUCKEL: Yeah? COMMISSIONER HENNING: Yeah. MR. MUCKEL: Okay. MR. OCHS: Okay. Where -- the County Attorney's under the Board. COUNTY ATTORNEY MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, the County Attorney's up next. MR. OCHS: It's under the Board of County Commissioners tab. Page 157 June 25, 2015 MR. KLATZKOW: I submitted a budget that's within board guidelines, one of the more simple budgets, I think, in the county, based on our small size, and I'm here to answer any questions. COMMISSIONER HENNING: I don't have any questions. CHAIRMAN NANCE: I have none. Commissioners? COMMISSIONER HILLER: None. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Nope. COMMISSIONER FIALA: None. MR. KLATZKOW: Cool beans. CHAIRMAN NANCE: All I heard was "none" from Commissioner Hiller. COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, that's Commissioner Fiala. CHAIRMAN NANCE: This is like one in a row. Oh, excuse me, Commissioner Fiala. Did you have a comment? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, I had none. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Oh, you were just nodding politely, okay. Thank you, sir. MR. OCHS: Commissioners, that concludes our review. Mark will wrap up with just what's next on your budget calendar over the next couple of events. MR. ISACKSON: Commissioners, at your July 7th meeting, you will have an executive summary that covers your maximum millage rates. We did receive taxable values yesterday at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon or so for July. The good news -- good news item. MR. OCHS: TRIM notices go out when? MR. ISACKSON: TRIM notices -- do you have that schedule, Leo? I don't have it. Forget it. So you'll get your executive summary on July 7th. You will get a tentative budget based on those taxable value numbers that will be Page 158 June 25, 2015 delivered to you on the 17th of July. It will also have a change log in it that talks to you about the changes from this document to the one you'll get on -- in July. And that transitions into your September hearings, essentially. So that's kind of the lay of the land that we -- that will exist now through your last public hearing in September, which is the 24th. The first public hearing is the 10th of September at 5:05; second hearing is the 24th at 5:05 p.m. CHAIRMAN NANCE: Wonderful. Thank you. Any -- Commissioner Hiller? COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. I had the opportunity to speak to Mr. Isackson over the break, you know, to address my question, which was to what extent we could in any way deny the budgets of the Property Appraiser and the Tax Collector. And he explained to me, in effect, we can't. What they do -- and I understand, you know, they collect fees, and we're basically providing, in effect, a working line of capital till those fees come in and they roll back any excess to us. But, in effect -- and, again, I just want to confirm this -- we can't -- I mean, they have to present it to us, but we couldn't deny them -- MR. ISACKSON: No. COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- what they present? MR. ISACKSON: The Tax Collector budget is essentially endorsed by DOR. It comes to us, and we kind of advance them money. There's a statute that requires them to notify us when they want that advance. You actually get that on your agenda. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Okay. MR. ISACKSON: Then we give them the advance, and they use those funds during the course of the year, and they turn that back -- that money back to us at the end of the year, so that's kind of the -- Page 159 June 25, 2015 COMMISSIONER HILLER: I just wanted to confirm what our role was in the approval process with respect to those two budgets. And then with the Sheriffs Office, again, we can't refuse. I mean, there's a -- isn't there a statutory provision there, too? MR. ISACKSON: Well, they come to you with a budget. If you desire to reduce their budget, you can, but they have an appeal mechanism through the state, which I believe the last time that was invoked was with former Sheriff Don Hunter. MR. KLATZKOW: And no county has ever won that. COMMISSIONER HILLER: What's that? MR. KLATZKOW: No county has ever won that. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Yeah. I actually thought that -- is there some part of the Sheriffs budget which we can't deny that -- MR. ISACKSON: We have a board-paid -- Commissioners, for all the constitutional officers we have a board-paid section that talks about rent and facilities and electricity and things of that nature. COMMISSIONER HILLER: So that's the facilities budget that we must approve -- MR. ISACKSON: That's correct. COMMISSIONER HILLER: -- because whatever they need in terms of facilities we have to provided. MR. ISACKSON: Yes, that's correct. COMMISSIONER HILLER: So, like, for example, when the Supervisor of Election came before us last year and we had that discussion about her facilities, in effect, we would not have been able to deny that? MR. ISACKSON: Well, I wouldn't go that far, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER HILLER: No, I don't know. I just -- I want to understand the legality of the approval process, you know. MR. OCHS: As Commissioner Henning stated earlier today, you Page 160 June 25, 2015 have a statutory obligation to provide reasonable space -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Facilities. MR. OCHS: -- and accommodations and facilities for the constitutional officers, but that's subject to your financial review and the standards that you set for space allocation for not only those constitutionals, but for your agency. So you're not locked into exactly what they ask for. You have to provide -- COMMISSIONER HILLER: Space. All right. MR. OCHS: -- some reasonable space. CHAIRMAN NANCE: From my part it's a constitutional officer with side arms, so he's got my vote. COMMISSIONER HILLER: I just want -- CHAIRMAN NANCE: We're going to call this meeting adjourned. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. COMMISSIONER HILLER: Thank you. Page 161 June 25, 2015 ***** There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 3:31 p.m. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL erAstece...- TIM NANCE, CHAIRMAN ATTEST DWIGHT E. BROCK, CLERK Attest as to Chairma ,sue Only These minutes approved b Y e Board on / / 5 /,'S—" ✓�' as presented or as corrected TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF GREGORY COURT REPORTING SERVICE, INC., BY TERRI LEWIS, COURT REPORTER AND NOTARY PUBLIC. Page 162