BCC Minutes 09/18/1985 B
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am 08'9 W.! 3G5
September lB, 1985
on ~he FY eS-B6 budget,
Budget Director Lori Zalka explained that the county-wide tax
increa.e is 21.4\, of which Bt is being spent for the Sheriff's Depart-
~ent for road patrol, inve.tigative and administrative positions and
also for overtime cost. to implement the Fair Labor Standards Act1 7'
of the tax increase i. for capital improvement to reduce the County'.
. 'reliance on debt service and also for increased courtrooMs1 2\ tax
increase is for a reserve account to cover higher insurance costs and
other unanticipated expense., 2' increase is for public service., which
includes the n~w paramedic unit in East Naples and the operation of
three new community parks, Golden Gate, North Naples and Immokalee,
Also, 1~7\ tax increase for the water pollution control program to
monitor water quality, which was approved by the voters, for a total of
21.4t
Dr. Merle Reyes, Assistant Medical ~xaminer, referred to a medical
examiner'a survey which was prepared by the County for the period
October - July 1983-84 vs. 1984-85. She pointed out that there was a
2\ increase in routine autopsies, 14\ increase in complex autopsies1 6'
increase in routine narrativea7 9' increase in denth certificates, 31'
increase in cremation permits, 49' increase in court appearances and a
54\ increaae in scene investigations, for a total overall increase of
20\, Regarding time on-call, Dr. Reyes said that baaed on 24-hours per
day, 7 days a week, the Medical Examiner is on-call 168 hours per week
x 26 weeks. 4.36B. plus the other 26 weeks. based on 40 hours a week.
1040 hours for a total of 5408 hours a year versus 2080 hours for a
40-hour a week employee.
Dr. Royes pointed out at the previous hearing it was sU~gested
that what other physicians receive should be taken into consideration.
She said that what a physician makes in private practice is several
times what you can make by working for the County. She said that even
though all physicians go to ~ollege for four years and to medical
school for four yeara. some do specialize further. She said that a
pathologist is a physician who. after medical schoel, trains for four
yeara in order to become a pathologist. She said a forensic patholo-
gist is a physician who, after becoming a pathologist, pursues further
specialization in medical legal medicine either by work experience or
by doing a fellowahip in a recognized training center. She said that a
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September 18, 19B5 .'
one-year fellowship in forensic pathology is considered equivalent to
ten years of work experience. She said that she is a physician with a '
pathology specialty and a forensic, pathology specialty, both by train~
ing. Dr. Reyes gave a detailed explanation of her training and quali-
fications.
Dr. Reyes said that $65.000 a year is the average salary for an
assistant ~edical examiner in Orange, Dade and Broward counties but, in
those counties they are salaried employees and receive benefits of
40-45\ of their salary, plus they are also staff members at the
hospital or university. She said that in Collier County, due to the
fact that there is no university and only one hospital, there are no
other income opportunity sources. She said that Pinellas and Pasco
lead Hendry, Glades and Orange, Dade and Browa~d counties as they all
have a larger staff which means being able to delegate some of the
work. She said that the staff of the Collier County Medical Examiner's
office consists of three persons. She said that Pinellas and Pasco
co~pare ~ore closely with Collier County and they are paid $80,000 a
year on contract plus car mileage. She said that it is obvious from
the survey that is a reasonable rate for an assistant medical examiner
and Collier County deserves a high quality Medical Examiner's office.
Mr. Walter Shikany, Bonita Funeral Home, said that Dr. Sch~id
should be congratulated fOl hiring Dr. Reyes because of her qualifica-
tions. He said that ehe is extremely qualified in the field of
forensic pathology. He pointetl out that she receives no benefits and
asked the Board to reconsider Collier County's need for Dr. Reyes
assisting Dr. Schmid.
Chairman Voss said that he does not question Dr. Reyes 'competency,
he questions the ability of the County to keep increasing the budget,
He said that he is not in favor of an increase and Commissioners Hasse,
Holland and Goodnight concurred. Commissioner Goodnight said that each
of the departments have asked for different things and the Board has
tried to give some and cut some and it was her understanding that
providing the Medical Examiner with a place to do his work was the .1
priority, also noting that at the previous budget hearing the Board
increased the Assistant Medical Examiner position to full-time.
Commissioner Hasse pointed out that there is a considerable amount
in the budget for increasing the Medica\ Examiner facilities and that
~CQK GSg PAf,¡ 3'66
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'COil 08'9 ~~r.t 3G7
Septe~ber 18, 1985
the"propoud budget of $302,000 was increased by $25,000 at the last
budget hearing for a total of $327,000.
Commissioner Holland said that they added a part-time Medical
Examiner at $40,000 a year and he will not go along to double the
salary. Deputy Assistant County Manager Brangaccio explained that the
position was hired as a part-time and never approved for a full-time
position.
Chairman Vo.s said that it was the opinion of the Board to not
increase the budget another $20,000.
Mr, John Frischkorn said that he believes nothing will be done to
cut the, budget and he objected to a tax increase. He noted that Motor
Pool has been increased $65,000 and questioned the justification.
Chairman Voss reitterated Ms. Zalka's previous explanation of the
tax increase,
Replying to Mr, Frischkorn about the City of Naples taxea,
Chairman Voss pointed out that Naples residents pay a franchise tax on
their utilities, Mr. Frischkorn said that the proposed increase is not
reasonable.
Mr. James Coll said that there is poor management when the County
cannot control expenses and must increase taxes 21.4\ He pointed out
that most of the retired, older people do not have income increases of
211, He said that he realizes it is a fast growing community requiring
new roads, water, etc. and this expense should be placed on the people
being benefitted.
Chairman Voss pointed out that during budget reviews Ms. Zalka
reduced the County Manager's propoøed budget by $900,000.
Budget Director Zalka explained that of the $145.000.000 budget,
$47,000,000 is for reserves which is not spent, therefore, the actual
increase in spending is $17.000,000.
'rape '2
Commissioner Holland referred to the three new parks that will go
on line this year and said that the County has been negligent for many
years in providing recreational services. Also, he said that there
will be a tremendous increaøe in insurance for the coming year.
During a brief discussion of millages and asøessed valuation, Ms,
Zalka pointed out that the proposed increase would be about $67.00 on a
~135,000 home.
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