1990.07.16_FAB_Minutes_Regularr
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TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH
FINANCIAL ADVISORY BOARD
REGULAR MEETING - MINUTES
Tuesday, July 16, 1990 1:30 P.M.
Chairman Fred Firstenburg commenced this Regular Meeting of the Financial
Advisory Board at 1:30 P.M. in Commission Chambers.
Present were the Chairman and Regular Members Richard Brunton, Victor J.
Page and John F. Rand.
Also present were Town Manager Mary Ann Mariano, Chief Accounting Officer
Michael Seaman and Deputy Town Clerk Doris Trinley.
Upon MOTION by Mr. Rand/Mr. Page, the minutes of the Regular Meeting of
June 19, 1990 were unanimously approved as amended.
Before continued review of the 1990/1991 Fiscal Year Budget, Town Manager
Mariano presented a budget transfer to the members, explaining that on ad-
vice of the Town Attorney, monies for the bike path study should be charged
to the General Fund and not the Open Space and Recreation Fund. After a
brief discussion, the transfer received the Board's recommendation for ap-
proval by the Town Commission.
Chairman Firstenburg questioned if the proposed county assessed valuation
rate, based on an estimated $532 million, would have an affect on the
actual rate. Mrs. Mariano replied that it is rare the final rate is dif-
ferent from the estimate.
Regarding official completion date for addition of property to the tax
rolls, Mrs. Mariano said a structure would have to be issued a Certificate
of Occupancy by December 31-January 1 to be included in a fiscal year
budget. Mr. Firstenburg noted that this was somewhat unfair in terms
of the Town's tax revenue should a structure be C.O.'d at another time
during the fiscal year. Mrs. Mariano said the taxes would start to be
incurred when a structure was C.O.'d, but the Town couldn't collect same
until the following fiscal year. She also noted that a bill had recently
failed in the Legislature which would have allowed collection when a
building was substantially completed, instead of being issued a C.O.
In answer to the Chairman's question, Michael Seaman replied that there
is no federal income tax on the Town's interest earnings.
Answering Chairman's Firstenburg question about garbage rates, the Town
Manager said that bids have already gone out, but it was difficult to
estimate what the results of the bidding would be since no tipping fees
would be reflected in the charges. Mrs. Mariano also said that since
Financial Advisory Board
• Regular Meeting - Minutes
July 16, 1990 Page 2 of 4
recycling will shortly be county -mandated and ultimately state -mandated,
some sanitation companies were rumored to be submitting very conservative
bids in order to "get in on the ground floor." She further noted that
while the new contract would include recycling fees, these should not
be what tipping fees, which were a substantial portion of the Town's
bill, were in the past. Also noted was the fact that payment of tipping
fees by residents directly to the county would be tax-deductible. Be-
cause of these changes being made and the corresponding figures regarding
same not being known at this time, Mrs. Mariano stated that last fiscal
year's figures had to be used for this coming fiscal year.
Mr. Rand advised Mrs. Mariano that despite discussions with former CAO
JoAnn Rutherford and Mr. Seaman, the members still did not fully under-
stand the Reserve Contingency Fund. For the record, he requested that
the Town Manager, when Coopers and Lybrands come in to do the Town audit
this year, arrange to make available to the FAB members someone from that
firm who understands what this fund consists of and why it is prepared
in this fashion. Mrs. Mariano agreed that some expertise was needed
and briefly shared some of the reasons why the fund might possibly have
come into existence. For the Board's information, it was mentioned that
the audit begins in November.
CONTINUED REVIEW OF 1990/1-91 FISCAL YEAR BUDGET
Before starting review of the Revenue portion of the budget, Mrs. Mariano
advised that of the total estimated 30% increase, only 6.5% of that amount
reflected the actual increase in the Operations Budget, the remainder being
attributed to the extreme increase in county fire/rescue services.
A discussion ensued regarding getting the message of the fire/rescue in-
crease to Town residents via the newsletter and Mrs. Mariano explained
that the Town Commission had not yet approved a new format for same;
therefore, she could not be certain when the next issue would be mailed.
However, the members reiterated their concern that the residentsbe ap-
prised of this situation as soon as possible.
Mr. Brunton then opened a discussion relating to the estimated total 30%
increase, saying that at the last FAB meeting, a 10-15% estimated figure
was used. He asked if more precise information might be available. Each
department was then reviewed again. At the conclusion of the review,
Mrs. Mariano noted that while individual departments might have experi-
enced a 10-15% increase , mainly personnel -related, the total estimated
budget increase for operations was only 6.5%, with the fire/resuce costs
comprising the difference in increases.
Another discussion took place regarding Mr. Brunton's question of what
problems the Town might incur if a one-year freeze was applied, except
for salaries and contractual arrangements. Mrs. Mariano noted that ex-
cept for a new police car and two computers, the budget contained no
Financial Advisory Board
Regular Meeting - Minutes
• July 16, 1990 Page 4 of 4
While agreeing that a fire/rescue study should be done, the members re-
quested the Town Manager to contact similar communities to determine
if others had recently done such a study and would possibly share their
information.
Regarding previous discussions of extreme increases in fire/rescue service,
the following MOTION was then made by Mr. Rand/Mr. Page and carried with
unanimous vote:
The 1990/1991 Fiscal Year General Operation Budget
is recommended for approval; however, that portion
of the budget dealing with increases in fire/rescue
services is approved under protest and the FAB desires
the Town Commission and the county to be so advised.
In the interest of time, Mr. Page's suggestion that these extras be dis-
cussed more fully at a future meeting was met with favorable response.
A copy of the items is attached hereto and made part of these minutes.
The next meeting was then set for Tuesday, August 14 at 1:30 P.M.
There being no further business to come before the Board at this time,
40 the meeting was adjourned upon MOTION by Mr. Page/Mr. Rand at 3:05 P.M.
APPROVE:
Fred Firstenburg, ChairmaV fRichdrd Brunton
Ix,4 A
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Victor Page Rand
ATTEST:
DATE:
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