INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

  Chair V called Workshop to order at 4:05 p.m.  Bow heads to pray and led in Pledge to the U.S. Flag.

Citizens Requesting to be Heard on Non-Agenda Items (3-Minute Limit)

Due to the restrictions on gatherings as a result of COVID-19 virus, this meeting may be viewed by accessing the Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners Facebook Page, www.facebook/GadsdenCountyBOCC. Virtual meeting access details will be posted to the Gadsden County website, www.gadsdencountyfl.gov.

Public comment for the meeting should be submitted via email to Citizenstobeheard@gadsdencountyfl.gov until 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 18, 2020. Any comments submitted after this time will be accepted and included as part of the official record; however, may not be read in the meeting.

None were had.

GENERAL BUSINESS

1.

Overview and Summary Highlights (Henry G. Grant, PhD, Interim County Administrator)

Dr. Grant introduced the above item and asked Mr. Price to give the 20/21 Budget Summary.

Price- 6 month review and projects and status: Page 2

1. Dispatch Center - completed March 2020

2. Green Shade Fire Department - Anticipated completion date: June 2020

3. Cell Tower Generators -4 Generators and Transfer Switches Anticipated to be complete - January 2021

4. Social Security Office - Move completed March 2020

5. AG Center - Anticipated completion date: August 2020

6. Courthouse Renovations - completed March 2020

7. Stevens School - Site design and renovation design phase under way

8. Woodham Building Roof - completed April 2020

9. Move EMS campus - Phase One to be completed September 2020

10. Received$ 300,000 reimbursement for Hurricane IRMA

11. Working with Synergy to obtain maximum allowed from FEMA for Hurricane Michael

12. CO-ID 19

13. Special Needs building - Design Phase

Price asked for questions- Mr. Meeks was available for any questions as well.

 Chair V stated Hinson was in the Workshop.

Hinson had no questions but said he could not hear Mr. Price. Commissioner Hinson had a poor connection. Price was given a microphone and Hinson stated it was still hard to hear him. 

Price Preliminary Budget Issues: Page 3

• Revenues expected to decrease due to COVid-19 - April 2019 to April 2020 down approximately 20% - for how long? Goes lower?

• 2021 Medical Insurance rates are expected to increase 7%-9%

• Status of all projects being worked on in the County

• The new Interim Administrator has reviewed all Departmental budgets - making cuts or adding items were needed

• No Non-profit requests were received by the May 1 deadline

- extended deadline to May 29 - Six received

• Constitutional Officers budgets were due June 1 (except Tax Col 8/1) - at first glance they have requested nearly $1.3M (*NOW AT 1.6M*)

• GOAL - Balance Budget

Mr. Price- Everything here was a draft and Revenues was the biggest issue. Asked for questions on this section.

Chair V- Questioned Constitutional Officers Budget going from a request of $1.3M to $1.6M. Is that a total request by all Constitutional Officers?

Price- Total new requests

Chair V.- $1.6M beyond what it was in this current budget?

Price- Yes

Expenditures: Page 4

*Non-Profits:

*Boys and Girls Club- $96,187     

*Big Bend Comm. Dev.- $25,000 

*GC A-Z Village Plaza- $2,807

*Havana Main Street- $10,000

*Health United Resources- $12,250

*North FL Ed Dev. Corp- $5,000

*Economic Development- $120,000

*Gadsden County Senior Citizens- $102,000

*Summer Youth Jobs- $100,000

*County Auditing- $129,400

*County Attorney- $150,000

*Medical Examiner- $134,000

*Apalachee Regional Plan- $ 7,026

*Forestry Assessment- $ 3,000

*Developmental Disabilities- $ 7,500

*Apalachee Mental Health- $ 136,000

*Medicaid- $1,000,000

  Chair V- Asked if the $100,000 projected for Summer Youth was including the $50,000 from this current year that was not spent. He stated the $50,00 from this year should be left alone and what ever was brought in this fiscal year would be added to what was received for the next fiscal year. The $100,000 should have nothing to do with the $50,000 from this year.

Mr. Price said he did use the $50,000 from this year and added $50,000 for next year.

Chair V- Leave the $50,000 from this year alone and whatever got hammered out would go to Summer Youth to make it $100,000.

Dr. Grant- Asked for clarity on the $50,000 and Chair V told him the $50,000 from this FY should stay in reserve untouched.

Hinson- Had a bad connection and after no response, seemed to have left or was disconnected from the meeting.

Holt- asked to finish the presentation and have questions answered when Mr. Price was finished.

Non-Profits: Page 5

Name                                             F/Y 21 Request                                        Activity

Boys and Girls Club                      $96,187                                         After school program

Big Bend Comm Dev.                   $25,000                                         Donation to citizens

GC A-Z Village Plaza                     $2,807                                           Amateur Radio

Havana Main Street                     $10,000                                         Way Finder Signs

Health United Resources            $12,580                                         Health Awareness

North FL. Ed. Dev. Corp.              $5,000                                           Renovation Food Pantry

                               A copy of each application is in the back of the book.

Mr. Price- Stated he had the paperwork from these entities for the Commissioners to review.

June 18,2020 Snapshot: Page 6

Current shortfall per the budgets turned in $3,000,000

Included in this number:

Constitutional Officers- $1,300,000 (Higher now)

Small projects- $1,500,000

5 new staff with benefits- $275,000

Correction action suggestions:

Cut Constitutional Officers, cut projects, cut new staff, cut requests,

start collecting a 6cents gas tax, raise millage rate, impose an assessment, others?

Price- Need to be creative- Looking for guidance from the Board.

Holt-Going through the Budget items-

Previous Discussion on the Ag Building and bus transportation, wants to see the two (2) line items and know what happened in the budget last year.  Where are the generators going? More info needed in the handouts to make things clear. Put this information online so people can see it and have their own questions. Grant writer money in the budget.

Price- Yes $70,000 advertised numerous times and there was one application in Mr. Prices mailbox.

Holt- Should be moved up to $100,000. Where is reimbursement money from Irma going?

Price- Mostly into Transportation because it was Public Works money.

Holt- Wanted a breakdown of what was received and where it was going.

Holt- Need an update from Synergy. Wants to see the Hospital restored as a hospital. At the beginning of the virus she sent email from herself, not the Board, requesting funding for improvements to the hospital. No cases at the time. Contact Governor’s office and the Senator at the Federal level. COVID money to use on the Hospital.  Page 3, 20% decrease, what areas they were coming from, wanted a written report to make projections.  8% set aside for insurance from CHP, why did it go up, request documentation about why it went up. What are the Old projects being worked on?  

Price- Cell towers.

Meeks- Tower locations:  1) 27 at the peeve Peavy site 2) Midway close to City Hall 3) Jail 4) Flat creek by the Jai Alai there was a tower site with Crown Castle.  5) Oak Grove to the old AT&T tower intersection. 6) In an agreement with Family and Children Services to utilize the water tower at the Florida State Hospital.

Holt- Can the County lease space at the jail tower.  

Meeks- Once it was up space could be leased, can go back and assess the old tower and see if there was anything that could be removed.

Holt- Maybe there was space on the old one to lease. This would help generate funds to help pay for these projects.

Meeks- Currently had one lease agreement on the table with Motorola, they have use of space on one at the old tower and the lease agreement was in review with their council and had already been reviewed by the County’s council.  

Holt- income for us or them on that

Meeks-County proposed $1,000 monthly and were waiting for their response and would be income for the county.

Holt- get information on what was average for a tower lease.  

Meeks-The County had leases and were paying $750 and $1,500. Will pull data. Ground space is a lease as well as the tower. American towers were asking $3,000 in Midway and the County negotiated to $1,780.

Holt- wants hard data/averages.

Holt- what services does the County provide at Florida State Hospital?  

Meeks- EMS. Per local agreement they have access to our radio system in case of an emergency.

Holt- 1.6 million additional for Constitutional Officers, get what they did last year. Don’t know what revenue will be.

V- Keep Constitutionals like it was the last fiscal year.  

Holt- Can’t look at non-profit because we don’t know if school would be in. What is the Chamber at? Part of the $120,000. Price- Yes. Holt- Not a fan of the Chamber, they won’t give a report and show the County where they were trying to help get out of debt then the Board needed to look at not funding them. That would save $120,000.

V- 120,000, was it supposed to be $60,000 for each? Would not support. If the Chamber was getting money, we should not be giving the same as GCDC, because one was more productive than the other. A larger percent should go to GCDC.

Holt- she would give to the Chamber if they gave a report. Not in favor of anything that does not help families this year. Going to have to have a hard cut to get monies to families unless we can get some Grants in from a State or Federal level.

Holt told Dr. Grant there were cuts.

Holt- Page 6, 5 new staff members, what positions.

Price- Elder Affairs Coordinator, Construction/Maintenance Worker, Accounting and IT Staff.

Holt- Assistant Manager salary in budget

Price-Yes

V- Administrator also. Need to be competitive to retain.  

Price- Manager $85,000 plus benefits, Administrator $104,000 plus benefits.  

Holt- not enough people on the revenue side, should not look at purchasing any trucks that were not for physical work, more concerned about the year of the truck rather than the work. No more new vehicles, the Board needed to stand still. Maintenance should not be high. Won’t get gas tax money, millage rate increase would not happen during election year. Need to back up and try to increase revenue. Reduce expenditures and go after any grants from the State and Federal Government. Advertise out of the local area now for a Grant Writer. Emergency Management side, did not increase the temporary employees needed for housing, and building inspection, which was a recommendation from Emergency Management. Until FEMA money the County had was moved, will we be allowed to apply for more money. The only other way to get monies in was housing, FEMA and USDA. Concerning the insurance report, wants a report on the buildings, as far as damage, which buildings the County had received money for, what is the progress on those buildings getting done and how much more needed to be done. (Flow sheet for projects)

V- Most of Holt talking points were his as well. B&G Club- No school, what program was provided. Look at it seriously.  Wants a packet of each Non-profit applications. Things that were not worked with before, like Big Bend Commercial Development Donation to Citizens, what are they donating to citizens? Work on making Administrators salary competitive, $104,000 is not enough. That is an assistant pay. Want to recruit and retain. Will come back with alternative sources of Revenue. Need some form of special assessment that would be considered by the citizens, user-based assessments. If you use it, you pay kind of thing. Holt made a good job questioning things. Economic development is something that needed work as far as GCDC and the Chamber.

Ms. Steele – Audience member from One Gadsden Foundation was on the phone and wanted to speak. Connection was lost and no one spoke. They would be allowed to speak when they were brought back on.

Chair V not on the list. Needed application.

Holt- To Price, is the amount of increase in buildings due to FEMA and Insurance?  

Price- Insurance proceeds and projects, the building the County had to repair flooring, roofing. Holt- Where is that money coming from?

Price- $300,000 from Insurance proceeds.

Holt- Is FEMA included?

Price- No

   Chair V- Does this FY amount for County Buildings include the houses the county has for emergency. One needed to be repaired and he asked if it was included in this expenditure for this FY?

Meeks-Spoke with Sonya Burns and the County will roof the house on Virginia St and the other one they were putting $80,00 into it to renovate.

Chair V- Is that money part of the $2,095,102?

Price- Not yet

Holt- the two houses, were they damaged in the hurricane

Meeks – the roof had a tarp. Using some insurance proceeds but the damage did not reach the deductible, most damage was prior to the storm.

Holt- that was for the insurance, but you can still file with FEMA.

Meeks- FEMA assessed it and was in preliminary work and they were not taking any new claims.

Holt- People should have had it done. Income coming in to do buildings, compare to see where the money was going and see if something else needed to be done.  Don’t know what to apply for until we inventory. What was the Jail reduction?

Price- Cell towers and Jail maintenance was together for some reason in one location and that was split into two.

Holt- Jail Maintenance was going to be $144,000, Where is the $192,000 going?

Price- to Cell towers.

Holt- Where was the addition for Custodial services?

Price- Hiring a new Custodian, got a new building to maintain.  

Holt- Why is Code enforcement down?

Price- didn’t look at anything under $10,000.

Holt- Hospital Maintenance

Price- went down because we are not doing as much since the lease was renewed, they do most of the maintenance.

Holt- was that in the agreement? What was the Parks and Rec increase?

Price- Gentleman is retiring and has a payout coming for sick leave and annual leave.

Holt- will they hire someone new?

Price- No

Holt- asked about the County Commissioners line item

Price stated travel, pictures and they added more because their may be new people on the Commission so new pictures would be needed.

V- If that was the case, the number would increase, this number was a decrease.

Holt- Medicaid up $30,000, Who processed Medicaid claims

Price- Did not know

Holt- Asked Dr. Grant to check into the process of Medicaid claims. Sometimes it depended on how they were processed. It may save some money.

Holt- Office Management and Budget was up $137,352.

Price- Grant writer and Personnel

V- did that include the $275,000 to hire 5 new staff with benefits or was that out right salary without benefits?

Price- $275,000 was with benefits the Management and Budget was the cost with Benefits of an Accountant and also the Grant Writer.

Holt- Where would the accountant be used at?

Price- To help out in Budget.

Holt- Increase to the County Administrator for what?

Price- Elder Affairs Coordinator.   

Holt- Why do we need that?

Chair V- this was talked about when Mr. Hall was Interim Administrator, because of the issues with the Seniors and the coordination of the Senior Citizens Programs and Centers. The last FY it was postponed for this FY.

Holt- Just trying to figure out numbers.

V- Elderly Affairs Program Coordinator was $62,000 when Holt asked earlier

Holt- Asking of Price if you put a topic up saying this is what the money was for, under that, list those particular things under that. Increase or decrease should be broken down.  Extension Services is down $60,714.

Price- Rent being paid on a house. They will move into the new building and not have rent.

Holt- They will still have utilities there, so look at that. That facility was not just for Extension Services. Look at the use of that facility.

 Chair V- Did not see a variance in the amount for the County Attorney for the rate the County was currently using Legal Services. With all the meeting and various contact. If they will be used at the rate that it is being used now, He wanted to see a variance from the $150,000. How much now from the current budget had been drawn on? Use that number to project something for next year. Do not know how long COVID will last then there was hurricanes and other hazards where legal council would be needed.

Holt- Senior citizens???

Price- Getting $106,000.

Holt- Information technology, did they hire someone?

Price- They are hiring a Staff person.

Holt- $15,233 decrease at Veterans Services, why?

Price- 2 part time drivers were being combined into 1 full time  

Holt wants to know why.

Price- Did not know.

Holt- Asked Mr. Grant to find out why.

Price- Community development was a typo and should have been (3,640)

 Holt- Board Finance up $65,511.

Price– that is the Finance Department

Hot- For across the street?

Price- Yes

Holt- The ones that are not supposed to be helping us with our Budget, say yes.

Price- It is part of the BOCC Budget

Holt- Not supposed to be helping us with our Budget, say yes.

Price- Yes

Holt- The Finance Director is paid by the Board and not a Clerk Employee and they are not supposed to co-mingle over there. The person who plans the money is not supposed to be the person that writes the check.  

V- When he was elected, he went across the street and asked before he was sworn in. Asked to consider moving the budget finance position to under County Administrator instead of Clerk. Should be separation between the auditor and the Finance Manager.  

Holt- Clerk says he was going to hire someone and she told him, “you get the interest off all the money, so go right ahead.” Bottom line is that position is a County Employee. Why an increase of $65,511.

Price- Increasing 2 employees

Holt- Any leaving?

Price- They have 9 employees and were adding 2 more.

Holt- Any particular reason they gave?

Price- No

V- Looking for clarity asked if the two employees being added, those are employees that work under the Budget Director.

Price- they work for Finance, not sure what position they had.

Holt- They work for the Commission

V- This is a Clerk Expenditure

Price- This is what we pay the Clerk

V- since we pay this to the Employee across the street, they are actually County Employees and answerable to the Board (County Administrator) Not the Clerk.

Holt- True.

Holt- Information Systems Increased $66,869, Why.

Price- Finance Department IT section and looking to upgrade their software and hardware.

V- this is just for Finance?

Holt- Finance Director.  Health at the top of the page?

Price- Health Department, no longer giving them money. $10,000 was what the County Paid for Insurance. Bold numbers were totals.

Holt- Courthouse Facilities, -$24,955

Price- Testing of equipment for false alarms, fire equipment and that type of stuff. Was some money in there for X-Ray Machines and they either received them or not but were taking that money out of the Budget.

Holt- This was not X-Ray machines.

Price- I will go back and look at detail. 

Holt- Decrease in Road and Bridge Maintenance is good because of the equipment, right?

Price- Right, Also from the decrease in Workman’s Comp. Insurance.

Holt- Sheriff’s Office up $3,349,196. Is he buying cars this time?

V- Line items does not show a difference but the Variance line does. Why?

Price- Just plugging in numbers, and there were 3 versions of the Sheriffs Budget and was still working on it. 

Holt- to Dr. Grant, with the Sheriff’s budget, you have to call the Sheriff and say “Lets sit down and go through the Budget. That way you get a good understanding of what they needed. Sometimes the County and the Sheriff order together, if possible, to reduce his cost.

Dr. Grant- Just received the Sheriff’s budget this week.

Holt- the numbers are listed the same and should not be there, Right?

Price- Yes, this is a work in progress.

Holt- Just leave it blank so it does not look like a mistake, just looked like you were working on it.  

Holt- What is the library increase?

Price- The past couple of years the County had been cutting books and this year they would be increased books and promotion.

Holt- Any Library Grants?

Price- Yes, Donations and some Grants.

Holt- Libraries in the towns were down a total of $32,287, Why?

Price- One had a repair that was fixed.

Holt- Building Inspection. Personnel issues where somebody changed insurance from single to family, and retirement, increased the amount.

Holt- questioned the amount. 

Holt- Indigent Surtax down. Why?

Price- think it was going to be different. Haven’t figured out what different meant yet.

Holt- You think it would be less in Sales?

Price- Less tax, yes.

Holt- EMS up $167,544, Why?

Price- In the process of moving the location. Get the facility ready and making the rooms livable.

Holt- Moving from where?

Price- at the Hospital and moving next to the Health Center.

Holt- They are just moving down the hill.

Price I think it had to do with the plumbing, showers, walls, cable.

Holt- Wants numbers and reasons for that move. Plumbing should be contracted out.

Meeks- They are going to have to have windows cut into the bedrooms for building code, also a fire sprinkler system installed at $30.000. That project would do a design and bid it out.

EMS Administration picking up $ 28,684, Why?

Price- One person moved from one Department to this one.

Holt- Which Department?

Price- 144 (Emergency EMS)

Holt- you increased an employee?

Holt- $Gadsden Express up $100,000, Why? What happened with the Clerk on this?

Price- Finishing the journal entry to make this $200,000.

Holt- Why didn’t he come to the meeting and say that it wasn’t there?

Price- Can’t answer for him.

Holt- Going to have to find out about that one.

Holt- Debt services?

Price- All the Debt Services Were not done yet, no amortization schedule yet. Will have before the next meeting.

V-Debt services for the Fiscal Year will decrease by $132,637 for the F/Y or the entire year? Why the decrease.

Price- Will do that.

Holt- to Dr. Grant, look at the loans and see if there are better interest rates.

V- Did not think the County would get better interest rate.

Holt- Does not hurt to check.  

V- after the budget passes, figure out how we are performing financially with a quarterly update. have better detailed report.

Holt- need help in permitting and budget. People cannot come in and see that money is not in the place it should be.

V- One person alone could not catch everything.

Holt- Going to lose on a federal level if we do not get things figured out. All Departments need to see what crossed their computer to see what the County could apply for. That is not up to a Grant writer, it was up to the director in that department. The Grant writer would go after the Federal stuff needed to save some of the projects that would need to be done.  

 ADJOURN

Chair V called the workshop adjourned at 5:38 p.m.