COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE BUDGET WORKSHOP
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Escambia County Government Complex
221 Palafox Place
May 22, 2008. 9 a.m.
Call to Order at 9:04 a.m.
All County Commissioners were present.
2001/2007 Comparison Escambia County Full-Time Employees
This item was referred from the April 22, 2008 Committee of the Whole meeting.
A. Discussion
“Because of reorganization some departments are on this spreadsheet several times,” said Amy Lovoy, county budget. “That makes for a tough comparison.”
“Regardless of where they are moving, I just want 2007 and 2008,” Commissioner Grover Robinson said.
“Some of the higher number of employees is when several people sat in one position during the span of a fiscal year,” Commissioner Gene Valentino said. “But all I care about here is how much we spent. There aren’t three people on the job at the same time.”
“The issue here was to look at FTE from 2002 to 2007,” said Commissioner Mike Whitehead. “The purpose of this was to look at the actual number of employees. We are tracking very close to what we were back then. There is a 61-employee difference. My question is what have we changed in that 7 year period that we had to add 60 bodies?”
“I am interested to see what is the expectation for next year,” Robinson asked.
“The one element we didn’t have was the retirement buyout fees,” Lovoy said.
“Our next step is to drop in the 08/09 budgeted numbers,” Whitehead said. “That is truly the numbers we need to look at.”
B. Board direction
The board asked that Lovoy come back with a spreadsheet showing just 2002, 2007 and next year.
County-Owned Vehicle List by Department
Staff will provide justification for the number of vehicles from each department.
A. Discussion
Robinson said he got a suggestion from someone at Gulf Power to rent vehicles for certain tasks instead of leasing a vehicle.
“It seems to me we could get away with just one vehicle on our floor,” Whitehead said. “I think we could trim $4,000 in insurance cost for our floor alone. I don’t see a justification for three vehicles on our floor.”
Twenty-two employees have vehicles they take home and have 24/7.
“I don’t have a problem with those vehicles,” Whitehead said. “I have a problem with the ones that are just sitting there.”
“Why wouldn’t we take the entire list of vehicles off, except for the 22 that are 24 hours,” Valentino said. “Why wouldn’t we lease the others? We have got to see a cost analysis. I would like to see a cost per car. Then we can compare it.”
“What in the world does human resources need 8 vehicles for?” Whitehead asked.
“Six of those are for handicap parking,” Lovoy said. “They were bought underneath human resources.”
B. Board direction
“Let’s get the cost per vehicle by department,” Valentino said. “The justification can be pitched to us by staff.”
“I think we need to revitalize the policy on taking vehicles out of town,” Whitehead said.
Surplus Property/Common Building – County-Owned and Maintained Facilities
This item was referred from the April 22, 2008 Committee of the Whole meeting.
A. Discussion
“The county is currently maintaining 208 buildings,” said David Wheeler, public works deputy bureau chief.
“I did not see the civic center on here,” Robinson asked.
“We took over the Civic Center Oct. 1, so that was not the shown fiscal year,” Wheeler said. “I think we are looking at $289,000 for the Civic Center.”
“Is there a reason why we can’t ask the sheriff to pay his own bills,” Commissioner Marie Young said.
“It’s all the same pot,” Whitehead said. “Does taking money out of your left pocket and putting it in your right pocket make you richer?”
“Makes you feel better,” Young said.
B. Board direction
Other Issues
“I was concerned that during the district three budget hearings was the reinstatement of the HRC,” Young said. “I am asking this morning that this board reconsider and at least promote the $115,000 we gave last year for next year. There is a great need for it.”
“There has got to be a way to do it more efficiently,” Robinson said. “We could have a citizen advisory committee instead of a paid advisory board.”
“Citizens are not trained social workers,” Valentino said.
“Let’s give them the money and let them provide the services that they have provided for 42 years,” Young said.
“If you feel like this is something that you need I am going to support you on this,” Whitehead said. “I think your district feels this more than any.”
“We can bring this to the next budget meeting,” he added.
“I think we found a way to fund some of the increases,” Valentino said. “Chain reaction is at no cost to the county. We are looking at substantial savings if we look at volunteerism.”
Chain reaction provides service to 64 local non-profit organizations. They currently have 763 teen members.
“For $20,000 she will provide us with volunteers,” Lovoy said.
This is cost neutral, Valentino said.
“I would like to make a motion to allocate the Teen Reaction $20,000,” Valentino said.
This was passed unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:02 a.m.