1. Call to Order UPPER CAPTIVA FIRE & RESCUE DISTRICT Board of Commissioners Budget Meeting Saturday 15, 2018 10:00 a.m. Chairman Bill Byrnes called the preliminary budget meeting to order at 10:15 a.m. due to difficulties with the conference call phone line. Roll Call Those present were: Commissioners Bill Byrnes Tom Jenkins Bill Fry A.J. LaVallie Steve Sward phone Public On the Phone Staff /Firefighters David and Teresa Bolme, Nancy Ulrich, Joe Wright, Travis Parker, Zeke McDonald, Horst Eylerts, Hart Kelley, Ron and Lisa Lund, Rick Fox, Sue Ann Cousar, Karen Sirabian Kristie Riggle, John Majia, Tom Murphy, Steve Martin, Tema Goetzel, Charm Thometz, Kerry Williams, Chief Jason Martin, Micah and Rita Verona, Jackie Byrnes, Sandy Werner, Glen Prater, Ron Givens Attorney Richard Pringle, Renee Lynch, Chief Bob Kinniry, Tom Tomlins Chairman Byrnes asked District Accountant, Renee Lynch, to address the presentation of the Budget. Renee presented the advertisement placed to announce the budget meeting and verified with Attorney Pringle the ad complies with Florida Statute. Renee Lynch then proceeded with her prepared power point presentation of FY 2018-19 proposed budget. Presentation ended at 10:40 a.m. As a point of discussion, Chief Kinniry commented that for his three years as chief he made the decision to place a hold on spending to build up reserves. Now there is money to replace faulty equipment properly. He stated the decision had been made to begin with the 5-ton truck and then work on each piece of equipment down the line. He recommends not dropping the millage rate too soon until equipment is replaced with fire rated equipment in compliance with mandated regulations. There is a need to spend the money in reserves to replace the needed equipment. Chief Jason Martin (phone) spoke regarding the status of existing equipment. The current plastic pipes are not safety rated for the pressure needed to fight fires. Chair Bill Byrnes read the proposed resolution with the final budget numbers. At that point, the public present in the room were asked for comment and there was none. Bill Fry made three points: 1. 3.0 millage rate is an increase of $18,000 over this year s rate 2. 2.5 ton unbaffled military truck has been in service 5 years to date 3. If we use military grade truck, there is a 50/50 grant fund program to help with the cost.
AJ LaVallie made three points: 1. We have big issues to deal with in relation to roads, equipment and public safety 2. We need to improve our trucks and roads at least to the minimum standards of emergency 3. The #1 tool the district has is the Fire Engine. The current engine is a 1995 Pierce Pumper and has been twice retired by other departments before we acquired the 23-year-old truck. Bill Byrnes made these points: 1. There is a need for $40,000 to improve the 5-ton truck versus the cost of a new truck at $750,000. 2. NFPA regulations need to be met. Steve Sward commends Chief Jason Martin for his detailed report on the status of the equipment. Attorney Richard Pringle stated his qualifications as a representative of 8-10 fire districts. He stated the districts need to build reserve funds to pay for disaster situations. Auditors suggest a 90-120 day expense line item to cover disaster costs. Most fire departments do not reduce that line item and should consider a 130+ day funding. The UCFRD reserve is set at $200,000, 17% of the budget is in reserve to cover the End of the Fiscal Year before funds are collected and disbursed. He stated that the disaster reserve is a separate category from these two funds. Bill Byrnes commented on the length of time it takes to receive funds from FEMA claims in case of emergency. Chief Kinniry s former contract did not allow for overtime paid by FEMA or otherwise. The new contracts have been corrected to represent the district adequately. AJ LaVallie, who is a certified financial planner, asked what the proper amount of reserve would be for our size district. The use of four firefighters gives us an ISO 4 rating, thus lower insurance premiums. We are proud of the designation and would not want the increased insurance rates if we lost it. Bill Fry stated that there is no legal minimum requirement, but the best practices are 17% of gross budget. The reserve funds have never been segmented. Tom Jenkins reminded the group that Upper Captiva is the last island to get served in an emergency. The contingency should be set at a higher rate due to the length of time it will take to recover services. Bill Byrnes stated that all legal requirements were met for the preliminary budget meeting. Bill Fry referenced the Florida law requirements. Attorney Pringle spoke to the number of laws regarding Budget and Postings. The Independent Special District has a notice of requirements regarding the posting of the meeting in the newspaper. Compliance has been met. Agenda items should be posted seven days in advance of meeting with their accompanying documents. The tentative budget two days in advance. Failure to post the tentative budget is not fatal to the adoption of the budget. There are varying interpretations regarding a tentative budget being posted prior to the budget hearing. The tentative budget is not official until after the tentative budget hearing where the budget is established. Pringle s recommendation is to post the tentative budget 2 days prior to the first tentative budget hearing. Many Fire Districts do not release the Proposed Tentative Budget because it is not adopted yet.
AJ LaVallie then turned the conversation to the line items with the 1. Generator ($25,000) and 6 Radios ($18,000). Chief Kinniry and Chief Martin stated they would like to have one radio per firefighter with one extra in case of equipment failure. They stated that Lee County Control will be changing to a digital communication platform in the near future causing some of the existing radios to become nonfunctional. The most recent donation of radios was analog and will not be able to be programmed to work on the digital platform. There are currently only 4 radios that will be able to be reprogrammed to the new platform. The number of new radios was suggested to go from 6 new to 3, reducing the line item by $9,000. 2. Generator is 10-12 years old and needs some work in cowling and maintenance. Steve Sward commented the charges needed to come from the capital budget to pay for needed items. The numbers can be adjusted with board approval as needed. Bill Fry suggested taking the money from $60,000 in extra Pay and Benefits. Renee Lynch highly disagrees with the characterization of an expendable $60,000. She stated the budget received a 5% increase from last fiscal year s numbers. Tom Jenkins agrees with District Accountant, Renee Lynch s budget numbers. AJ LaVallie supports Renee s budget. Chief Martin stated he plans to be a responsible guardian of the district s budget. The chair then opened the floor for public comments, beginning with the people in the room. Public: Rick Fox, Manager of Safety Harbor Club agrees with Renee Lynch s aggregate budget. To reduce the millage to 3 mils is risky. From a CPA s perspective, it is a bare bones budget and in his opinion, they do not work. Even at 3.4441 it is still a slim budget. He suggested taking the bare bones + 15% and keep a control on spending. Horst Eylerts expressed thankfulness to the fire district and agrees with the sentiment of a transitional period but suggests a more conservative budget. Hart Kelley agreed partially with Rick Fox and the 3.441 level but suggested 3.25 as being adequate funding. Zeke McDonald agreed with the 17% best practices emergency reserve. He feels the equipment should be ready to serve the district and that redundancy in some areas is worth it. He encourages the district to look toward the future and become ready to serve. He supports the full millage rate. Chief Kinniry reiterated his attempts to save the district money in years past to be able to do the projects that are now needed. Bill Byrnes stated his desire to bring the district into the 21 st century in every area.
AJ LaVallie then offered the public on the phone the opportunity to speak: Christy Riggle requested 3.25% John Mejia offered his thanks to the fire district and chief and requested 3.0-3.25% Tom Murphy offered thanks and suggested the rollback number of 3.4441% Kerry Williams suggested 3.0% and do not fund the reserves Mike and Rita Verona suggested keeping the rate the same Sandy Werner suggested a compromise between 3.25 3.5% with a reasonable reserve Glenn Prater suggested 3.25% A survey of Commissioners: Bill Fry 3.25% AJ LaVallie 3.44% Tom Jenkins 3.30% Steve Sward 3.44% Bill Byrnes compiled an average of suggested millage rates and found it fell between 3.4 and 3.5% Steve Sward made a motion to adopt the current roll back rate of 3.4441% for FY 2018/19. AJ LaVallie seconded the motion. There was no discussion or public comment. In a roll call vote, the commissioners voted: AJ LaVallie Aye Bill Fry No Tom Jenkins No Steve Sward Aye Bill Byrnes Aye The motion passed 3 2 with a total budget $1,642,682. Bill Byrnes declared the Resolutions adopted at 1:20 p.m. AJ LaVallie read Resolution (1) and Resolution (2) effective immediately. A motion to adopt was made by Tom Jenkins, second by AJ LaVallie, motion passed by roll call vote 4 1 (Fry, no) Adjourn: A motion to adjourn was made by AJ LaVallie, second by Tom Jenkins, motion passed 5-0. Budget Meeting ended at 1:26 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Steve Sward, Secretary SS:tjb