2011-0906 Special City Commission Meeting

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Summary Minutes: Special City Commission Meeting September 6, 2011 First Budget Hearing Sunny Isles Beach, Florida were generated based on actuals from the other parks. We will be adjusting those numbers as we experience actual expenses but given that we have a lot of grass to water and based on the cost of water that we have seen in Margolis Park and Town Center, and elsewhere, that was an educated guess. Ms. Shah said that we received a bill this past month for water consumption for Gwen Margolis Park in the amount of$7,000 for the month. Intracoastal Park on pages C-21, C-22, C-23 and the Arlen House on page C-26. Commissioner Scholl said to look at the operating budget, the operating impact for Fiscal Year 2013, it is just about $5,000 per park and they are little swatches ofland. City Manager Cohen said the operating cost is not just for watering the grass, it is also for maintenance, the actual labor. Commissioner Scholl said he understands but it is $180,000 for a small swatch ofland along Collins A venue, it needs to be reviewed. Commissioner Gatto asked about page C-14, Town Center Skateboard Park, ifthere was any way we can shorten the completion date. City Manager Cohen said he would try to accomplish that in a shorter period of time. Commissioner Aelion asked if this budget will be revised and presented to them prior to the next meeting, and City Manager Cohen said yes, we will take a hard look at the dates and will look at the softer numbers for the total project costs. Commissioner Scholl said that we all like the format but when you have this ancillary data in there, it has to be accurate. What is nice is the format and we kind of want to get our own expectation and manage by that format, we know the finances are reasonably accurate but when the ancillary data is not accurate it becomes problematic and so whatever goes into the book, we have got to be careful. Mayor Ede1cup said one last thing, and again it is not something that we need to get resolved for this budget but within a month or two, we need to have a workshop with the Commission on what finally is going to be Gateway Park, what is and is not going to be in it, and we need to move that along so we don't lose steam on getting that park started. Vice Mayor Thaler said in going through all the Departments, how do we have a huge variance in the health and dental in each and every Department. In some Departments it is as much as 40% of the payroll, and in others it is 15% of the payroll. He took the regular salaries plus the overtime against the health and dental and the variance is huge. Assistant City Manager Shah said you are right, there are some Departments that are showing significant differences and she was concerned, and so she went back to her numbers from last year and this year and the differences are two-fold. One has to do with dental, in the current year's budget, the City was paying the PPO which is higher than the HMO, and we also pay 50% of the dependent's cost. That was a much larger number compared to now where we are paying for HMO Dental. The other is when we changed our Insurance program, in the past if an employee opted not to elect insurance coverage they would get approximately $270 a month as a cash siphon, that amount has changed to $500 a month. There have been a lot of individuals that are family, that have reevaluated and some have now separated off the City insurance and are covered by their spouses. And so when she had estimated a $9,000 a year expense for that employee, now that has become a $5,000 expense for the employee. Vice Mayor Thaler said don't we give them the difference if they don't take it, where does that show up, and Ms. Shah said it is in the health and dental line. City Manager Cohen explained that if an employee was on our insurance for family, they were eligible for up to $750 a month 9