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05-20-2008 Regular Meeting• • • Barbara Estep, MMC VILLAGE CLERK MIAMI SHORES VILLAGE Office of the Village Clerk 10050 N.E.2nd Avenue Miami Shores, Florida 33138 Tel: (305) 795.2207 Fax: (305) 756.8972 E-mail: EstepB an.MiamiShoresVillage.com MIAMI SHORES VILLAGE REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING The Miami Shores Village Council held their regularly scheduled Council Meeting on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 in the Council Chambers of Village Hall. The Meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM with the following individuals present: PRESENT: Herta Holly Steve Loffredo Hunt Davis Prospero Herrera JC Rodriguez ALSO PRESENT: Tom Benton, Village Manager Elizabeth Keeley, Recording Secretary Richard Sarafan, Village Attorney PRESENTATIONS Mr. Benton distributed their payment to the Village Council members. Legislative Update by State Representative Ronald Brise. CONSIDERATIONS 1) VILLAGE MANAGER Tom Benton A) PRESENTATION BY JERRY CHIOCCA OF RACHLIN, LLP REGARDING THE 2007 FINANCIAL AUDIT AND THE COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT. Mr. Jerry Chiocca, from the auditing firm of Rachlin, LLP, presented highlights of the 2007 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). Mr. Chiocca reported no deficiencies or material weaknesses, nor any instances of non-compliance. Mr. Chiocca reported that the Village is in good financial shape, increasing the Fund Balance by $978,000 at the end of the FY07 fiscal year. Mr. Loffredo reiterated various figures quoted by Mr. Chiocca and contained within the CAFR. Mr. Rodriguez moved to accept the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. Mr. Loffredo seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in favor of the motion. , 2) VILLAGE CLERK Barbara A. Estep A) APPROVAL OF THE APRIL 15, AND MAY 6, 2008 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES. Mr. Loffredo moved to approve the April 15, 2008 Council Meeting Minutes. Mr. Rodriguez seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in favor of the motion. In response to a Council question, Mr. Benton advised that responses to the questions posed at the May 6, 2008 Meeting would be posted on the website once completed. Following this announcement, Mr. Herrera moved to approve the May 6, 2008 Meeting Minutes. Mr. Loffredo seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in favor of the motion. B) AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI SHORES VILLAGE COUNCIL, MIAMI SHORES VILLAGE, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 8.5 ENTITLED FLOOD DAMAGE PREVENTION, OF THE VILLAGE CODE OF ORDINANCES, BY REPEALING THE CONTENTS OF THE CHAPTER IN ITS ENTIRETY AND ADOPTING NEW CHAPTER LANGUAGE IN ACCORDANCE WITH A MODEL FLOOD DAMAGE PREVENTION ORDINANCE AS PROVIDED BY THE STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF COMMUITY AFFAIRS, PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY, PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EI1I bCTIVE DATE. Ms. Keeley read the title of the proposed ordinance into the record. Mr. Loffredo moved to adopt the Ordinance on second reading. Mr. Herrera seconded the motion. Mr. Sarafan and Mr. Dacquisto spoke of the purpose of the proposed code amendment and advised that no residents will be adversely affected by the amendment. Mayor Holly opened the floor for the Public Hearing but seeing no one present wishing to speak, closed the Public Hearing and called for the vote. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion. 3) RECREATION DEPARTMENT Jerry Estep A) DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF NON- RESIDENT FAMILY MEMBERSHIP. With Mr. Estep not in attendance, Mr. Benton offered information to the Council regarding the proposed new membership program for the Recreation Department. Mr. Benton provided general information, indicating that the Administration was looking for approval to try the concept of a Non -Resident Family Membership for 30 families for a one year period. Following a brief discussion regarding some of the logistics of the proposed program, Mr. Davis moved to approve the pilot program as outlined. Mr. Herrera seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous in favor of the motion. State Representative Ronald Brise arrived and provided the Council and audience with an update on the recent legislative session. Representative Brise spoke of the new legislation regarding the budget, healthcare coverage, insurance, education and energy, as well as bills he sponsored and shepherded through the legislature. 4) VILLAGE COUNCIL Herta Holly A) DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING PROVIDING STAFF WITH A FISCAL YEAR 2008/09 MILLAGE RATE. Mayor Holly explained the reason for placing the item on the agenda and spoke of the upcoming budget process. In order to give staff direction for preparing the budget, Mayor Holly moved to have staff use a millage rate of 8.21 when developing the proposed budget. Mr. Davis seconded the motion for discussion purposes. Mr. Davis handed out a packet of information that he had compiled; citing data regarding inflation rates and the need to fund a capital budget for FY09. Individual Council Members expressed their views • • • including pros and cons regarding proposing any millage rate at this time. Mr. Benton stated that the staff will continue with the budget preparation and he will provide an update to the Council at the second meeting in June. The vote on Mayor Holly's motion was unanimous against the motion. 5) ANNOUNCEMENTS Ms. Keeley read the announcements. 6) PUBLIC COMMENTS TF Chambers Mr. Chambers expressed his disappointment that residents were not in attendance. 7) COUNCIL COMMENTS Hunt Davis Mr. Davis thanked the people who turned out for the May 6, 2008 meeting. Steve Loffredo Mr. Loffredo also thanked the residents who attended the May 6 meeting. In addition, Mr. Loffredo spoke about use of the website for Village information. Prospero Herrera Mr. Herrera thanked residents for attending the May 6 meeting and congratulated the Miami Country Day School Orchestra for their performance at New York City's Carnegie Hall. JC Rodriguez Mr. Rodriguez welcomed a new police officer who was in attendance. Mr. Rodriguez spoke of his surprise at how uninformed about what goes on in the Village the residents are. Herta Holly Mayor Holly wished to echo the comments of her colleagues. She spoke of the associated costs in providing the convenience of information on the website. She stated that people should pick up the phone or visit Village Hall, as the Village does not have the funding to pay for this convenience. Mayor Holly announced that the first graduating class of seniors for the Charter School is taking place on Friday, June 6, 2008 in the Broad Auditorium of Barry University. 8) ADJOURNMENT The May 20, 2008 Council Meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM. Barbara A. Estep, MMC Village Clerk Herta Holly, Mayor • • • RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED DURING 5/6/08 COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING 1) Q: Will the proposed cuts balance the budget? A: The figures presented at the meeting are the worst case scenario and due to the large number of homes within the Village covered by Save Our Homes, we are anticipating that the proposed cuts will balance the budget if the millage is raised to approximately 7.97. We will have more information on these numbers when the Property Appraiser's office releases their preliminary figures in June and the final number in July. At that time, we will compare the revenues to the proposed expenses and take the necessary steps to present a balanced budget to the Council. 2) Q: Where has the money gone? A: Each year, the Village Council adopts a balanced budget based on the anticipated revenues and necessary expenses in order to provide the quality level of service our residents currently receive. Each year, money is reinvested into the community through various projects such as infrastructure improvements, vehicle purchases, building improvements and beautification. Over the last number of years, the Village has upgraded virtually all of the computer software programs and hardware, replaced the outdated and repair prone telephone system at Village Hall, the Library, Public Works and the Recreation Department facilities, replaced a number of specialty trucks in the Public Works Department, repaired sidewalks and repaved alleyways. In addition, beautification projects such as the median installations on N.W. 109th Street and Grand Concourse have been completed. A portion of the Village's funding must also be allocated to pay for unfunded State mandates, i.e. the required Evaluation and Appraisal Report of the Village's Comprehensive Plan. This lengthy process cost the Village approximately $85,000 in consultant, printing and advertising fees. Also mandated by the State, are certain Police Officer benefits which the Village is required to fund. Any funds that are left over at the end of the fiscal year are used to partially fund the next fiscal year's budgetary requirements or placed in a Fund Balance account which currently totals $2.79 million. These monies are used to help fund the Village's expenses for the first two and a half months of the fiscal year while the Village waits to receive ad -valorem tax money from the County. 3) Q: Can the Village get an audit? A: Each year, the Village is required by law to have a comprehensive independent audit of our financial condition. Our auditors are Rachlin, LLP, who specialize in municipal government finance. The auditors carefully examine our financial records and various accounts and conduct standard audit testing of our financial accounting practices. A Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is generated and presented to the Village Council, noting any irregularities or suggestions for changes in any accounting procedures. 4) Q: What about bio -diesel fuel for the Village fleet? A: Our Public Works Motor Pool has been researching this topic for some time. At the present, bio -diesel fuel costs more than regular diesel fuel and many of our older vehicles and equipment would require retrofitting of the fuel lines and rubber gasket components in order to avoid damage to the engines. It is anticipated that as demand increases for bio -diesel fuel and more people begin using this product, that prices will drop and manufacturers will ensure that all of their equipment is bio -diesel compatible. In fact, most new pieces of equipment will operate on bio -diesel. We are also looking at purchasing a percentage of diesel fuel, mixed with bio -diesel that will not damage the equipment in inventory and will be competitively priced. • 5) Q: What is the percentage between resident and non-resident fees? A: This varies by Division. For example, entrance at the Aquatic Facility will cost a non- resident 60% more to enter the facility. In Athletics, a resident would pay $100 for T -Ball and Coach Pitch Baseball and a non-resident would pay $155 for the same program, equaling a 55% increase to participate in our program. Each year, we review the fees associated with the Recreation Department programming and adjust them accordingly. In order to run a successful intramural sports program, we need to have a certain number of non-residents enter the program. This is why we price the programs so carefully, ensuring that we don't have a point of diminishing return whereby people drop out of the program due to the high cost. 6) Q: Why doesn't the Village use more volunteers? A: In past years we have used volunteers for various programs from athletic team coaches to women's garden clubs maintaining flower beds. Unfortunately, with people's busy schedules, we do not have the level of volunteerism that we once had as evidenced by the difficulty we have in getting the community to volunteer for the mobile patrol crime watch program. 7) Q: Can the Village renegotiate its construction project contracts? A: The Village has one construction project in progress that was competitively bid and the contractor we selected was the lower bid whom we engaged at a contracted price. 8) Q: Can the Village have residents pay for books for the Library? A: Residents can make donations to the Village for the purpose of purchasing books. Any donations would offset that line item on the budget and save tax dollars used to operate the Library. 9) Q: What can the Village do to entice grocery store, book store, etc. to downtown? A: The Village is currently working with Miami -Dade County to do a complete make -over of N.E. 2°d Avenue streetscape including new drainage, sidewalks, street signs, landscaping and decorative lighting to provide a more attractive downtown area for businesses. As far as enticing a grocery store, it would be very difficult to compete with the local Publix grocery store given its close proximity, however, the Village Administration continues to work with the property owners whenever a potential new tenant wishes to move into the downtown area and to do whatever we can to assist the building owners add new tenants to their buildings. For example, one of the building owners recently brought in a perspective tenant that specializes in a farmer's market type of operation, selling fresh fruits and vegetables. 10) Q: Why is the police car running at Publix? A: The only time a police car should be running at Publix is if one of our canine officers is working an off-duty detail at Publix. Our Police Chief will re-emphasize to his officers that cars are to be shut off when they are inside a store. 11) Q: Why is the Village continuing the shuttle bus? A: The shuttle bus that circulates throughout the Village each Monday through Friday afternoon, is funded by a portion of the County's %2 Cent Transportation Sales Tax. This particular tax was instituted in 2002 and 20% of the Village's allocation from the County must be used for direct transportation or be returned to the County. The remaining 80% of the allocation from the • County is used to fund such things as median improvement, sidewalk repairs, roadway repairs, etc. No Village ad valorem taxes or general fund monies are being used to operate the shuttle bus. Charter School children use this bus on a daily basis when school is in session and most days, it is standing room only at the end of the school day. If the Village discontinues the shuttle bus service, the 20% dedicated funding would need to be returned to the County for redistribution to the other municipalities. 12) Q: What is our reserve fund? A: Our Fund Balance reserve account currently totals $2.79 million after deducting expenses for our new planned fleet maintenance building. 13) Q: What are the set -asides for each of the past six years? A: The Village does not set-aside a specific amount of "undesignated" money during each budget year. The Village maintains a reserve fund as previously stated above. The rule of thumb according to the Government Finance Officers Association is that 15% of the General Fund Operating budget should be set-aside in reserve. The Village has approximately 23% set-aside in reserve. 14) Q: What is the actual spending in the last six years? A: The General Fund spending for the last six fiscal years are as follows: FY06-07 = $11,742,380 FY05-06 = $10,865,886 FY04-05 = $ 9,441,799 FY03-04 = $ 9,286,970 FY02-03 = $ 9,128,049 FY01-02 = $ 8,287,243 15) Q: What are the healthcare and pension costs? A: The General Fund FY06-07 health insurance costs total $373,452 which includes health insurance, dental insurance and long term disability insurance. The FY06-07 General Employee Pension costs were $56,709 for all general employees and the Police Retirement System Pension Fund was $600,853 for all sworn police officers. 16) Q: What makes up the $1.1 million in the "Charges for Services" revenue line item? A: The bulk of this money comes from Recreation Department fees charged, police extra duty pay, FDOT landscape maintenance contract, and lot clearing and mowing charges. 17) Q: Can the Village sell some of its services? A: Yes, in fact the Village has recently completed a contract for the neighboring Village of El Portal to patch potholes within their community at various locations. The Village also provides recycling services for the Village of Biscayne Park. • 18) Q: Can the Village patrol areas using electric carts with guards? A: We could do that however, it would ultimately raise the cost of police services throughout the Village as the Village needs to maintain a minimum mandatory compliment of police officers to • • • handle calls for police services within the Village. The addition of guards patrolling in electric carts would add to our costs as we would still need the same compliment of officers and would have to additionally pay for the guards and carts which could not handle the police calls for service. 19) Q: Why doesn't the Village use artificial grass and solar lights? A: Artificial grass and various manufacturers of sports turf are extremely expensive to install. In addition, artificial grass looks artificial and does not present the aesthetic appearance that our community would expect and demand. The Village does not use solar lighting as we have a long term contract with FPL to provide the street lighting and maintenance of all of the street lights within our community. Solar lighting technology is improving as compared to past years when the expense of installation was prohibitive. As solar technology improves and electricity costs rise, we will continue to investigate the feasibility of installing solar lights when the need arises. 20) Q: Would there be a savings if there are fewer garbage and trash pick-ups? A: Yes. If there were fewer garbage and trash picks in our community we would need less manpower and equipment to provide that level of service. Scaling back our garbage service from two pick-ups per week to one would suffice for some of our residents, however, many of our residents that have families would have large amounts of accumulated garbage stored on their property between the once a week collection that may be objectionable to their neighbors and the community at large. Trash collection could also be scaled back but history has shown that when we have tried to reduce pick-ups and trash has accumulated in our alley system, residents complain bitterly about the trash being stockpiled in the alleys between collections and demanded that we increase service to keep the Village neat and clean. Additionally, the accumulation of garbage or trash in the alleys could restrict access through the alleys and create other problems. It should be noted that our Sanitation Department, which includes garbage trash and recycling, operates as an Enterprise Fund meaning that there are no ad valorem property taxes supporting the Department. All waste collection services in the Village are 100% supported by the garbage fee which is currently $705.52 annually. Many cities charge a lower garbage fee than our Village but have ad valorem property tax revenues allocated in their General Fund budgets to be used to supplement their respective garbage and trash departments making comparison of various municipalities throughout our County extremely difficult. 21) Q: Can the Village control the number of non-residents attending events? A: This is a very challenging problem as most of our events occur outdoors in open air settings. Where possible, the Village uses wristbands to identify our residents at the various events. Some of our events are impractical to implement such a procedure such as the 4th of July fireworks and marshmallow drop due to the large volume of people participating. While we encourage our residents to get wristbands in advance where required, many of our residents wait until the last minute and come to the event without the wristband. This then requires dedicated staff members to check for resident identification proof and issue the wristbands at the event. This presents another set of challenges since many of our residents come to our facilities without proper ID and demand to access our particular program claiming to be tax paying residents. 22) Q: Can the Village centralize recycling? A: When the Village first began the existing curbside recycling program, we looked at centralized recycling drop-off points throughout the Village. At the time, our community conveyed to the elected officials that they preferred the convenience of a curbside recycling program in lieu of having to transport their recyclables to a central location. It is doubtful that we • • would collect the same amount of tonnage that we do using our curbside recycling program versus a drop-off centralized location when the residents would be required to load the cans, bottles, newspapers, etc. into their vehicles for transport. 23) Q: Can the Village get sponsors for events? A: The Village attempts to obtain sponsorship money for special events that occur within our community. Often times our events receive funding from Tropical Chevrolet, our local Publix and our own Mayor's Task Force, which generously sponsors many of our events such as Unity Day, Marshmallow Drop and Tree Lighting. Our Recreation Department is always looking for additional sponsorship revenues each time we have an event. 24) Q: Can the Village get grants for going green? A: The Village does not have a grant writer on staff. However, our Department Heads are always looking in their respective disciplines for grant monies that are available, not only for going green initiatives but any other type of project or service that the Village provides for our residents. A lot of our grant monies come from the State of Florida which, as the media has reported, is experiencing their own major financial problems and cut-backs. As the going green movement continues to become more popular we will continue to look for funding opportunities to assist us in this endeavor. 25) Q: What are the consolidated fmancials? A: In Government accounting, we do not have consolidated fmancials. We have a Statement of Net Assets and Statement of Activities which are our government wide statements. The Statement of Net Assets takes the entire Village and consolidates the funds into one statement. Our Statement of Net Assets shows total net assets of $18,641,398 and consists of the following funds: General Fund, Excise Tax, Local Option Gas Tax, Building Better Communities, General Trust, 1/2 Cent Surtax, Grants, Hurricane, Charter High School, Law Enforcement Training, Police Forfeiture, Debt Service, Capital Improvements, Aquatic Center, Charter High School Construction, Police Pension, General Employee Pension, Fleet Maintenance and Risk Management, Sanitation and Stormwater Utility. The Statement of Activities represents the income and expenses for those same funds for a total change in net assets for all of the Government activities and business type activities of $2,325,837. 26) Q: How does the Village compare with other municipalities of similar size/population? A: It is extremely difficult to compare our Village with other municipalities in general. Each municipality has its own unique service level as demanded by the residents of their community. Our Village is fortunate in that we have our own aquatics facility, charter school, library, garbage service, a police department with an emergency response time of 1 1/2 minutes, an award winning recreation department and all of the other amenities that the Village provides to our residents. Many municipalities of similar size do not offer this level of service. It is also difficult to compare municipalities due to the geographic location of Miami Shores. For example, Bal Harbour Village is a small city, however, due to their ocean front properties and the Shops at Bal Harbour, they have a huge tax base as compared to Miami Shores which is primarily single family residential homes. The same holds true with the Village of Key Biscayne which is similar in population to our Village. However, due to their geographic location, they also have large numbers of very expensive, water front properties and high-rises. • • • 27) Q: What about bike patrols for the Police Department? A: Our Police Department currently has a Certified Bike Patrol Officer within our ranks. Approximately 8 to 10 years ago, criminals committed crimes on foot, walking into and out of our community. At that time, a bike patrol officer was an excellent resource to combat this type of criminal activity. Today's criminals use vehicles to carry out their crimes against our community. Therefore, a bicycle would not be the practical choice to respond to the current type of criminal behaviors. 28) Q: What happens next? A: We believe that the financial scenario presented at the May 6, 2008 "Town Hall" meeting was the worst case scenario regarding the Village's possible financial condition for the future. The Village staff is currently in the process of putting together our annual operating budget that will show the expense side of our operation. We are awaiting the Property Appraiser's notice of revenue numbers that we use to balance our budget. The preliminary numbers become available in early June and the certified numbers, which are the numbers we use to balance our budget, are certified in early July. Once we receive these numbers and compare them to the operating budgets submitted by the Department Heads, we will go through a revenue versus expenditure exercise, as we do each year, and determine what budgetary cuts need to be made and what millage rate we need to charge the residents in order to balance the budget. • • Lyr . ,r QUESTIONS FROM THE MAY 6, 2008 MEETING Will the proposed cuts balance the budget? Where has the money gone? Can the Village get an audit? What about bio -diesel fuel for the fleet? What is the percentage between resident and non-resident fees? Where is volunteerism? Can the Village institute an "Adopt a Corner" program? 8) Village should increase zoning densities on N.E. 2nd and Biscayne Boulevard to allow different development = higher tax rates. Can the Village renegotiate its construct project contracts? Can the Village have residents pay for books at the Library? What can the Village doe to entice grocery store, book store, etc. to downtown? T) Why is Police Car running at Publix? 16 Why the Village continue the Shuttle Bus? What is reserve fund? Icy 15) What are the set -asides for each of the past 6 years? tiA 16) What % does that number represent? What is the rule of thumb? 6 17) What is the actual spending in the last 6 years (not budget but spent)? -144 What are the consolidated financials? 19) What have the costs of operating versus personnel costs? What are the health care and pension costs? • • /1°K What makes up the $1.1 million in the "Charges for Services" revenue line item? ) Can the Village sell some of the services? 3) Can the Village patrol areas using electric carts with guards? 74) What about bicycle patrols? - 1G � C11aP Why doesn't the Village use artificial grass and solar lights? How does the Village compare with other municipalities of similar size/population? 27) What happens next? igC Would there be a savings if there are fewer garbage/trash pick-ups? Z) / Can the Village control the number of non-residents attending events? Can the Village centralize recycling? ..1.1' / Can the Village get sponsors for events? Can the Village get grants for going green? General Fund 0 FY06-07 Department Health Ins Dental LTC Village Mgr 3,664 131 55 Village Clk 6,896 262 51 Code Enf 10,494 262 75 Building 14,391 524 142 Planning 3,598 131 Finance 16,687 480 164 Police 190,345 4,029 1,669 P/W: Parks 30,882 1,201 176 P/W: Street 7,496 262 177 P/W: Admin. 14,092 524 272 P/W: Rec. Maint. 10,494 393 225 Rec Admin. 7,795 262 100 Rec Athletics 11,993 470 110 Rec Comm Ctr 10,494 262 150 Rec Aquatics 11,393 393 91 Library 12,592 524 212 TOTAL S 363,304 S 10,112, S 3,666 • • General Employee Pension 56,709 Police Pension 600,853 RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED DURING 5/6/08 COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING 1) Q: Will the proposed cuts balance the budget? A: The figures presented at the meeting are the worst case scenario and due to the large number of homes within the Village covered by Save Our Homes, we are anticipating that the proposed cuts will balance the budget if the millage is raised to approximately 7.97. We will have more information on these numbers when the Property Appraiser's office releases their preliminary figures in June and the fmal number in July. At that time, we will compare the revenues to the proposed expenses and take the necessary steps to present a balanced budget to the Council. 2) Q: Where has the money gone? A: Each year, the Village Council adopts a balanced budget based on the anticipated revenues and necessary expenses in order to provide the quality level of service our residents currently receive. Each year, money is reinvested into the community through various projects such as infrastructure improvements, vehicle purchases, building improvements and beautification. Over the last number of years, the Village has upgraded virtually all of the computer software programs and hardware, replaced the outdated and repair prone telephone system at Village Hall, the Library, Public Works and the Recreation Department facilities, replaced a number of specialty trucks in the Public Works Department, repaired sidewalks and repaved alleyways. In addition, beautification projects such as the median installations on N.W. 109th Street and Grand Concourse have been completed. A portion of the Village's funding must also be allocated to pay for unfunded State mandates, i.e. the required Evaluation and Appraisal Report of the Village's Comprehensive Plan. This lengthy process cost the Village approximately $85,000 in consultant, printing and advertising fees. Also mandated by the State, are certain Police Officer benefits which the Village is required to fund. Any funds that are left over at the end of the fiscal year are used to partially fund the next fiscal year's budgetary requirements or placed in a Fund Balance account which currently totals $2.79 million. These monies are used to help fund the Village's expenses for the first two and a half months of the fiscal year while the Village waits to receive ad -valorem tax money from the County. 3) Q: Can the Village get an audit? A: Each year, the Village is required by law to have a comprehensive independent audit of our financial condition. Our auditors are Rachlin, LLP, who specialize in municipal government finance. The auditors carefully examine our financial records and various accounts and conduct standard audit testing of our financial accounting practices. A Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is generated and presented to the Village Council, noting any irregularities or suggestions for changes in any accounting procedures. 4) Q: What about bio -diesel fuel for the Village fleet? A: Our Public Works Motor Pool has been researching this topic for some time. At the present, bio -diesel fuel costs more than regular diesel fuel and many of our older vehicles and equipment would require retrofitting of the fuel lines and rubber gasket components in order to avoid damage to the engines. It is anticipated that as demand increases for bio -diesel fuel and more people begin using this product, that prices will drop and manufacturers will ensure that all of their equipment is bio -diesel compatible. In fact, most new pieces of equipment will operate on bio -diesel. We are also looking at purchasing a percentage of diesel fuel, mixed with bio -diesel that will not damage the equipment in inventory and will be competitively priced. • • 5) Q: What is the percentage between resident and non-resident fees? A: This varies by Division. For example, entrance at the Aquatic Facility will cost a non- resident 60% more to enter the facility. In Athletics, a resident would pay $100 for T -Ball and Coach Pitch Baseball and a non-resident would pay $155 for the same program, equaling a 55% increase to participate in our program. Each year, we review the fees associated with the Recreation Department programming and adjust them accordingly. In order to run a successful intramural sports program, we need to have a certain number of non-residents enter the program. This is why we price the programs so carefully, ensuring that we don't have a point of diminishing return whereby people drop out of the program due to the high cost. 6) Q: Why doesn't the Village use more volunteers? A: In past years we have used volunteers for various programs from athletic team coaches to women's garden clubs maintaining flower beds. Unfortunately, with people's busy schedules, we do not have the level of volunteerism that we once had as evidenced by the difficulty we have in getting the community to volunteer for the mobile patrol crime watch program. 7) Q: Can the Village renegotiate its construction project contracts? A: The Village has one construction project in progress that was competitively bid and the contractor we selected was the lower bid whom we engaged at a contracted price. 8) Q: Can the Village have residents pay for books for the Library? A: Residents can make donations to the Village for the purpose of purchasing books. Any donations would offset that line item on the budget and save tax dollars used to operate the Library. 9) Q: What can the Village do to entice grocery store, book store, etc. to downtown? A: The Village is currently working with Miami -Dade County to do a complete make -over of N.E. 2nd Avenue streetscape including new drainage, sidewalks, street signs, landscaping and decorative lighting to provide a more attractive downtown area for businesses. As far as enticing a grocery store, it would be very difficult to compete with the local Publix grocery store given its close proximity, however, the Village Administration continues to work with the property owners whenever a potential new tenant wishes to move into the downtown area and to do whatever we can to assist the building owners add new tenants to their buildings. For example, one of the building owners recently brought in a perspective tenant that specializes in a farmer's market type of operation, selling fresh fruits and vegetables. 10) Q: Why is the police car running at Publix? A: The only time a police car should be running at Publix is if one of our canine officers is working an off-duty detail at Publix. Our Police Chief will re-emphasize to his officers that cars are to be shut off when they are inside a store. 11) Q: Why is the Village continuing the shuttle bus? A: The shuttle bus that circulates throughout the Village each Monday through Friday afternoon, is funded by a portion of the County's 'A Cent Transportation Sales Tax. This particular tax was instituted in 2002 and 20% of the Village's allocation from the County must be used for direct transportation or be returned to the County. The remaining 80% of the allocation from the • • County is used to fund such things as median improvement, sidewalk repairs, roadway repairs, etc. No Village ad valorem taxes or general fund monies are being used to operate the shuttle bus. Charter School children use this bus on a daily basis when school is in session and most days, it is standing room only at the end of the school day. If the Village discontinues the shuttle bus service, the 20% dedicated funding would need to be returned to the County for redistribution to the other municipalities. 12) Q: What is our reserve fund? A: Our Fund Balance reserve account currently totals $2.79 million after deducting expenses for our new planned fleet maintenance building. 13) Q: What are the set -asides for each of the past six years? A: The Village does not set-aside a specific amount of "undesignated" money during each budget year. The Village maintains a reserve fund as previously stated above. The rule of thumb according to the Government Finance Officers Association is that 15% of the General Fund Operating budget should be set-aside in reserve. The Village has approximately 23% set-aside in reserve. 14) Q: What is the actual spending in the last six years? A: The General Fund spending for the last six fiscal years are as follows: FY06-07 = $11,742,380 FY05-06 = $10,865,886 FY04-05 = $ 9,441,799 FY03-04 = $ 9,286,970 FY02-03 = $ 9,128,049 FY01-02 = $ 8,287,243 15) Q: What are the healthcare and pension costs? A: The General Fund FY06-07 health insurance costs total $373,452 which includes health insurance, dental insurance and long term disability insurance. The FY06-07 General Employee Pension costs were $56,709 for all general employees and the Police Retirement System Pension Fund was $600,853 for all sworn police officers. 16) Q: What makes up the $1.1 million in the "Charges for Services" revenue line item? A: The bulk of this money comes from Recreation Department fees charged, police extra duty pay, FDOT landscape maintenance contract, and lot clearing and mowing charges. 17) Q: Can the Village sell some of its services? A: Yes, in fact the Village has recently completed a contract for the neighboring Village of El Portal to patch potholes within their community at various locations. The Village also provides recycling services for the Village of Biscayne Park. . 18) Q: Can the Village patrol areas using electric carts with guards? A: We could do that however, it would ultimately raise the cost of police services throughout the Village as the Village needs to maintain a minimum mandatory compliment of police officers to • • handle calls for police services within the Village. The addition of guards patrolling in electric carts would add to our costs as we would still need the same compliment of officers and would have to additionally pay for the guards and carts which could not handle the police calls for service. 19) Q: Why doesn't the Village use artificial grass and solar lights? A: Artificial grass and various manufacturers of sports turf are extremely expensive to install. In addition, artificial grass looks artificial and does not present the aesthetic appearance that our community would expect and demand. The Village does not use solar lighting as we have a long term contract with FPL to provide the street lighting and maintenance of all of the street lights within our community. Solar lighting technology is improving as compared to past years when the expense of installation was prohibitive. As solar technology improves and electricity costs rise, we will continue to investigate the feasibility of installing solar lights when the need arises. 20) Q: Would there be a savings if there are fewer garbage and trash pick-ups? A: Yes. If there were fewer garbage and trash picks in our community we would need less manpower and equipment to provide that level of service. Scaling back our garbage service from two pick-ups per week to one would suffice for some of our residents, however, many of our residents that have families would have large amounts of accumulated garbage stored on their property between the once a week collection that may be objectionable to their neighbors and the community at large. Trash collection could also be scaled back but history has shown that when we have tried to reduce pick-ups and trash has accumulated in our alley system, residents complain bitterly about the trash being stockpiled in the alleys between collections and demanded that we increase service to keep the Village neat and clean. Additionally, the accumulation of garbage or trash in the alleys could restrict access through the alleys and create other problems. It should be noted that our Sanitation Department, which includes garbage trash and recycling, operates as an Enterprise Fund meaning that there are no ad valorem property taxes supporting the Department. All waste collection services in the Village are 100% supported by the garbage fee which is currently $705.52 annually. Many cities charge a lower garbage fee than our Village but have ad valorem property tax revenues allocated in their General Fund budgets to be used to supplement their respective garbage and trash departments making comparison of various municipalities throughout our County extremely difficult. 21) Q: Can the Village control the number of non-residents attending events? A: This is a very challenging problem as most of our events occur outdoors in open air settings. Where possible, the Village uses wristbands to identify our residents at the various events. Some of our events are impractical to implement such a procedure such as the 4th of July fireworks and marshmallow drop due to the large volume of people participating. While we encourage our residents to get wristbands in advance where required, many of our residents wait until the last minute and come to the event without the wristband. This then requires dedicated staff members to check for resident identification proof and issue the wristbands at the event. This presents another set of challenges since many of our residents come to our facilities without proper ID and demand to access our particular program claiming to be tax paying residents. 22) Q: Can the Village centralize recycling? A: When the Village first began the existing curbside recycling program, we looked at centralized recycling drop-off points throughout the Village. At the time, our community conveyed to the elected officials that they preferred the convenience of a curbside recycling program in lieu of having to transport their recyclables to a central location. It is doubtful that we • • • would collect the same amount of tonnage that we do using our curbside recycling program versus a drop-off centralized location when the residents would be required to load the cans, bottles, newspapers, etc. into their vehicles for transport. 23) Q: Can the Village get sponsors for events? A: The Village attempts to obtain sponsorship money for special events that occur within our community. Often times our events receive funding from Tropical Chevrolet, our local Publix and our own Mayor's Task Force, which generously sponsors many of our events such as Unity Day, Marshmallow Drop and Tree Lighting. Our Recreation Department is always looking for additional sponsorship revenues each time we have an event. 24) Q: Can the Village get grants for going green? A: The Village does not have a grant writer on staff. However, our Department Heads are always looking in their respective disciplines for grant monies that are available, not only for going green initiatives but any other type of project or service that the Village provides for our residents. A lot of our grant monies come from the State of Florida which, as the media has reported, is experiencing their own major financial problems and cut-backs. As the going green movement continues to become more popular we will continue to look for funding opportunities to assist us in this endeavor. 25) Q: What are the consolidated financials? A: In Government accounting, we do not have consolidated fmancials. We have a Statement of Net Assets and Statement of Activities which are our government wide statements. The Statement of Net Assets takes the entire Village and consolidates the funds into one statement. Our Statement of Net Assets shows total net assets of $18,641,398 and consists of the following funds: General Fund, Excise Tax, Local Option Gas Tax, Building Better Communities, General Trust, 1/2 Cent Surtax, Grants, Hurricane, Charter High School, Law Enforcement Training, Police Forfeiture, Debt Service, Capital Improvements, Aquatic Center, Charter High School Construction, Police Pension, General Employee Pension, Fleet Maintenance and Risk Management, Sanitation and Stormwater Utility. The Statement of Activities represents the income and expenses for those same funds for a total change in net assets for all of the Government activities and business type activities of $2,325,837. 26) Q: How does the Village compare with other municipalities of similar size/population? A: It is extremely difficult to compare our Village with other municipalities in general. Each municipality has its own unique service level as demanded by the residents of their community. Our Village is fortunate in that we have our own aquatics facility, charter school, library, garbage service, a police department with an emergency response time of 1 /2 minutes, an award winning recreation department and all of the other amenities that the Village provides to our residents. Many municipalities of similar size do not offer this level of service. It is also difficult to compare municipalities due to the geographic location of Miami Shores. For example, Bal Harbour Village is a small city, however, due to their ocean front properties and the Shops at Bal Harbour, they have a huge tax base as compared to Miami Shores which is primarily single family residential homes. The same holds true with the Village of Key Biscayne which is similar in population to our Village. However, due to their geographic location, they also have large numbers of very expensive, water front properties and high-rises. • • • 27) Q: What about bike patrols for the Police Department? A: Our Police Department currently has a Certified Bike Patrol Officer within our ranks. Approximately 8 to 10 years ago, criminals committed crimes on foot, walking into and out of our community. At that time, a bike patrol officer was an excellent resource to combat this type of criminal activity. Today's criminals use vehicles to carry out their crimes against our community. Therefore, a bicycle would not be the practical choice to respond to the current type of criminal behaviors. 28) Q: What happens next? A: We believe that the financial scenario presented at the May 6, 2008 "Town Hall" meeting was the worst case scenario regarding the Village's possible financial condition for the future. The Village staff is currently in the process of putting together our annual operating budget that will show the expense side of our operation. We are awaiting the Property Appraiser's notice of revenue numbers that we use to balance our budget. The preliminary numbers become available in early June and the certified numbers, which are the numbers we use to balance our budget, are certified in early July. Once we receive these numbers and compare them to the operating budgets submitted by the Department Heads, we will go through a revenue versus expenditure exercise, as we do each year, and determine what budgetary cuts need to be made and what millage rate we need to charge the residents in order to balance the budget.