Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter- News Analyst
On August 20, 2012, the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) held what appeared to be its final budget workshop in formulating the city’s budget for fiscal year 2012-13, which begins on October 1, 2012. About a dozen members of the public attended this meeting, which lasted for barely an hour. Two city commission hopefuls, Ed Boner and John Elwell, were also in attendance. No audience member asked to be heard on any item.
Since this was an advertised workshop, not a special meeting, no votes were taken. However, City Manager Joe Gerrity sought input from the commissioners on two options for increasing the millage rate. Gerrity recommended the second of the two options – 6.3001 as opposed to 6.1316 – citing what he believed would be a an opportunity to strengthen the city’s reserves in preparation for an even tougher FY 2013-14. Adopting the second option would result in a $9,350,000 budget with a reserve of roughly 22%. Both options include increasing the franchise fee to 7.32%.
Gerrity told commissioners, “It is difficult for me to bring this budget to you, and it is difficult for you to approve it.” He recapped that he had eliminated 11 city positions and would continue to seek economies throughout the coming year. Vice Mayor Jeffrey Bunch said that Gerrity had “inherited a lot of commitments to projects and needs to keep the city running and services going. This is tough when money isn’t coming in.” While Commissioner Tim Poynter remained relatively silent through most of the discussion, he expressed the position at previous workshops that the city has not been sufficiently creative in looking for new ways to do business that could reap added savings.
There seemed to be an air of resignation among most of the commissioners to follow Gerrity’s recommendation. However, until the vote is taken, it remains to be seen whether there are the required 4 affirmative votes to proceed with a budget that exceeds the rollback rate. The first public meeting on the proposed budget is set for September 4; the second and final meeting will be held September 18.
Changes to the Proposed Budget Since July 27
City Controller Patti Clifford updated the commissioners on changes to the proposed budget following the July 27, 2012 workshop. She eliminated the line item for the McGill lawsuit payout ($1,376,000) since that will be paid by September 30, 2012 (FY 2011-12).
She also made a series of adjustments to reflect expenses added back in by commissioners and the city manager as well as newly identified savings, resulting in $343,881 in revenue savings. The revised figures added back into the budget money that had previously been cut to reduce the hours of the Peck Gym and the MLK After School program, as well as part time staffing adjustments for both the Community Development and Information Technology Departments. A position for an administrative services manager was added to the city manager’s office.
Additional savings were found through efforts of the city manager to reduce costs for insurance and workers’ comp as well as eliminating the purchasing agent position from the Finance Department. In light of the city’s moving forward on the joint program to rehabilitate and expand the library facility, Clifford was also able to save an additional $90,000 that had been set aside for a new library roof.
City Manager Gerrity informed the commissioners that in light of the concerns they expressed at the last meeting regarding information technology, he had engaged an IT consultant at no cost to evaluate the city’s current status and make recommendations.
Mayor Arlene Filkoff expressed concerns in three areas: pension reform; pursuing licenses for mobile vendors on the beach; and seeing someone in the city take ownership to create a plan to increase city revenues. She stated that she was already working to create economies of scale by bringing the city and various non-profit groups together to both improve service delivery and save money.
Gerrity suggested that these ideas return after the current budget is finalized.
Capital Improvement Plan
In presenting the Capital Improvement Plan, Gerrity said, “Despite a tight budget year, we have some good projects on the list.” Work to repave streets and repair sidewalks will continue. The first phase of the Main Beach boardwalk replacement (from Sandy Bottoms north to the second gazebo) is slated to begin. And bathroom repair at the MLK Center has been funded at $55,000. Other equipment replacement and maintenance functions throughout the city will continue to be funded.
Non-profit Grant Allocation
City commissioners had been given an opportunity to submit their proposals to allocate a total of $35,000 to fulfill grants requests from local non-profit organizations. Commissioner Charlie Corbett said that he would like to give money to everyone on the list of requestors, but that the critical needs of the Information Technology Department, articulated at the last budget meeting, caused him to wonder whether the money might not be better spent to address those needs.
The largest grant of $10,000 was given to the Amelia Island Museum of History, in recognition of their staffing the Marina Welcome Center 7 days a week, thereby helping the city fulfill requirements of a grant. After considerable discussion, the commission also agreed to provide $1,000 each to Micah’s Place and the Barnabas Center and $3,000 to the Nassau Mental Health Alliance.
City commissioner Tim Poynter strongly advocated providing $10,000 to the Council On Aging (COA). Some commissioners believed that the city was already supporting the COA sufficiently with its contribution to building the new facility. Poynter disagreed, citing the difference between capital expenditure and the delivery of services to the elderly. He suggested that if the city does not contribute toward keeping that agency afloat, it would result in more emergency calls to the city for assistance. Filkoff agreed and after additional discussion, the commission came to consensus to provide $5,000 to the COA.
The requests from Keep Nassau Beautiful, the Police Athletic League will be funded from other sources.
Controller Patti Clifford informed the commissioners that awarding less than $1,000 to any requestor would not be cost effective because of the amount of time required for the requesting agency to monitor the funds and submit reports back to the city.
Commissioners seemed content with reserving $15,000 of the amount reserved for non-profit grants and only awarding $20,000 at this time.
August 21, 2012