Fire/Rescue Contract Negotiations – Back to the BCC

TAB members have been attending these, mostly once/monthly, negotiations since mid-June.   It was clear that little or no progress had been made in six months, and we of  TAB wondered how many more billable hours  would be spent for attorneys from both sides, sans resolution to anything.

Well – apparently, the County management team’s patience has been exhausted.  The County expected the Union to appear with a wage proposal, or at least an analysis of the County’s 22% across the board cut for new employees.  The Union said ‘No – the person who was doing the analysis had surgery and so we don’t have a response for you”.  County asked “Any movement on any of the proposals made by the County’?  “No” to that as well.  In fact, the Union said that it was very difficult to respond to 45 changes that the County wanted to make to the contract and although there has been probably some resolutions to 5-10 of these 45, that there are still 35 issues to work out.  The County attorney said he wasn’t going to get into exactly how many issues there were or remain.

County then went through 2 minor (one to two word changes) in articles 20 and 28.  County called them clarifications.  Union said these were changes, not clarifications.

Robert Norton (attorney for the county) then probed if there could be any meetings in January.  Matthew Mierzwa (union attorney) gave reasons why he was unavailable.  Mr. Norton said that “It’s clear that no progress is going to be made today”  and went on to say that he doesn’t recall any time in his career, making so little progress on a contract, and if there was a time, he doesn’t remember it.  While he wasn’t quite ready to call an “impasse”, he said that it was time to go back to the elected officials (Board of County Commissioners), to get guidance from them.  Depending on their decision, he’ll either work to get new bargaining dates or do whatever the next step is.

As a citizen and tax payer, watching twelve men waste their own (and our) time for six months, to achieve nothing, highlights why trust in government is at an all time low.

Note: the current contract expired in September.

County Adopts New Financial Standards

The county commission today discussed and approved new accounting standards for the next budget year that will adopt a more standard accounting methodology, making comparisons with peer counties possible (perhaps). For a full description, CLICK HERE.

Highlights included:

• Adoption of GASB 54, reporting spendable fund balances in 4 categories, possibly providing more transparency. During the discussion it was stated that since Hillsborough is already using this standard, it was not possible for TaxWatch (or anyone else apparently) to compare the currently reported Palm Beach County reserves to theirs. John Wilson mentioned they have had numerous discussions with TaxWatch on the subject since the budget hearings and that TaxWatch now “understands” their reserves, but the county is going back and looking at each capital project balance in more detail.
• Adoption of a “target” debt limit of $1200 per capita (which we are very close to at the present time). This is county only, not including SWA bonds. Additionally, debt service payments, exclusive of general obligation and self-supporting debts, will be no more than 5% of governmental expenditures.
• A policy proposal to consider voted General Obligation bonds over non-voted revenue bonds for future borrowing. As you might expect, this was not very popular but Steve Abrams suggested that projects could be “bundled” to make them more attractive to the voters. Karen Marcus indicated that was done in the past for Parks and Recreation.
• A non-specific proposal for departmental “Performance Measures” that could be used to compare to outsourcing alternatives and aid in evaluating department requests for increased funding. Bob Weisman suggested that there already were measurements in place but several commissioners were outright skeptical. Commissioner Vana thought that we can only take “baby steps” in this direction, but that measurements could also be used to consider “in-sourcing” tasks where the county can do it much better than a vendor. No examples were given.

Fire / Rescue Contract Talks continue on Wednesday

Contract talks that have been ongoing since June for a new three year contract with IAFF local 2928 will continue this week. Three all-day sessions are scheduled for Wednesday through Friday, from 10:00AM to 5:00PM in the Everglades Room at the Chief Herman W. Brice Administrative Complex on Pike Road.

The last meeting was somewhat contentious as reported by Mike in “F-bombs Fly at Fire/Rescue Negotiations“. Given a month has passed, we wonder if the IAFF attorney has been able to cool down.

The meetings are open to the public and TAB plans to attend. Given the time involved, we are asking coalition partners and interested members of the public to help us in monitoring these meetings. Send us a note at info@pbctab.org if you can devote a few hours to a public service by sitting in on a portion. They are not recorded, nor are detailed minutes kept (to our knowledge). The only way to see what transpires is to physically attend.

To get an idea why these meetings are important, see Andrew Marra’s editorial in the Sunday Post: End the payroll paradox

Here are some resources that may be helpful:

• Marked-up Contract Proposal
• September Meeting: F-bombs Fly at Fire/Rescue Negotiations
• August Meeting: Little Progress in the IAFF Contract
• July Meeting: Fire/Rescue Talks Continue
• June Meeting, Genesis of a Collective Bargaining Agreement

2012 Millage set at 4.7815

Click HERE for Channel 20 Video of the meeting.

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In a relatively short meeting last night, the County Commission approved a 2012 budget by a 4-3 vote. Setting the county-wide millage at $4.7815 per $1000 valuation, the rate is an increase of 0.66%.

TAB has been working over the last few months to avoid any increase, but this outcome is acceptable, given it is a lot closer to our $4.75 target than the rollback rate proposed in June at $4.922. We would have liked to see more restraint in the Sheriff’s budget (it is actually increasing when pension reform savings are taken into consideration), but four of the seven commissioners were hard over on not cutting his budget at all. The Sheriff did pony up $1M in excess fees that helped them bring the millage down ever so slightly.

This was the closest budget vote in recent years – many thanks to commissioners Abrams, Burdick and Marcus, who kept to their position from the beginning of the process back in March to the final vote not to raise the rate. The others did exhibit some flexibility this year, even Burt Aaronson who has rarely argued for lower tax rates. Commissioner Taylor thought that the result was a compromise that had something for everyone and we would agree.

It can’t be proved whether our efforts in TAB have affected the outcome, but given the starting proposal of 4.922 and the significant progress towards the goal, we would like to think so. Almost all of those who spoke at the meetings in opposition to the tax hike were associated in some way with TAB.

Special thanks to those who spoke at the final meeting: Janet Campbell, Mel Grossman and Laura Henning of PBC Tea Party, Mayor Dan Comerford and Commissioner Chip Block of Jupiter Inlet Colony, Matthew Leger, Dionna Hall and Christina Pearce of RAPB, County Commission candidate Albert Key, State Senate candidate and 912 member Mike Lameyer, South Florida 912 members Dennis Lipp, Victoria Thiel and Nancy Hogan, and Barbara Susco, Mark Dougan, as well as Fred and Iris Scheibl of TAB.

Next year will be particularly challenging for the county budget, with an increase in pension costs expected as well as continued pressure on valuations. Be assured that TAB will continue our watchdog role going forward.

Call to Action – September 27 Budget Meeting

TAB Members,

Tomorrow evening, September 27, is the final county budget hearing at 6:00pm in the County Building at 301 North Olive, WPB. You should arrive by 5:30 if you want to be assured of a seat in the main meeting room.

On the table is the 4.79 millage carried over from the last meeting, along with a 4.784 “alternate” proposal that shaves another $700k off the first. If they were able to find only $5M (less than 0.25% of the proposed budget) then the tax rate hike would be unnecessary. Although the commissioners like to talk about “only pennies a day”, it is useful to remember that county spending has grown 10x population growth and 3x inflation since 2003. A line needs to be drawn in the sand. Now. This year.

Currently three of the seven commissioners have voted to avoid the rate increase and consider further cuts to the Sheriff’s budget. We agree, yet the other 4 have been unwilling to challenge the Sheriff, and can block any action in this area. On the bright side, that is the smallest majority we have seen to date, thanks to the courage of commissioners Abrams, Burdick and Marcus. Maybe we are making progress.

Please attend the meeting tomorrow, fill out a comment card, and speak, or send emails to the commissioners. Nothing has changed that makes the TAB proposal any less appropriate, and it remains:

• 4.75 millage – don’t increase the tax rates
• Take the remaining cuts from the Sheriff
• Sell off unused property
• Use reserves where necessary

For some useful background, see

• Tax Rate Proposal Still Too High on the TAB website
• Jennifer Sorentrue’s piece in the Post: Divided Palm Beach County Commission finds compromise increasingly tough on budget cuts
• Andrew Marra’s Editorial in the Post: To serve and protect budgets
• John R. Smith’s Op Ed in the Sun Sentinel: Time for Palm Beach County to go budget diet
• The TAB synopsis of the last meeting: A Surrealistic Budget Hearing

Fred Scheibl
Taxpayer Action Board

Tax Rate Proposal Still Too High

The current proposed millage on the table for the 2012 budget is $4.79 per thousand dollars of valuation, up 0.8% from the $4.75 of last year. With declining valuations, that millage would collect $596M in taxes, $7M or about 1% less than last year. An “alternative” offered by Bob Weisman differs by about $700K – hardly worth mentioning.

At the September 13 preliminary hearing, commissioners Abrams, Burdick and Marcus voted against the rate increase and were in favor of further reductions in the Sheriff’s budget. At $467M, it is down slightly from last year, but not as much as the estimated $19M he is saving from pension reform which requires contributions from employees for the first time. The other four commissioners (Aaronson, Santamaria, Taylor, Vana) declined to challenge the Sheriff in any way, and thus there were not enough votes to even discuss this prospect.

There are three major components to the county budget – county departments, Fire/Rescue, and the Sheriff’s Office.

In the last 9 years, the county departments grew fat on the rising real estate bubble, but have cut their tax requirements significantly since the peak in 2007 and are now only about 3% over what they were in 2003.

Fire Rescue grew and stayed high (up 70% since 2003) but this year they are not increasing the tax rate and have reduced spending by about $4M. They are also negotiating in good faith with the IAFF to avoid across the board raises in the next contract and reduce starting salaries 22%.

PBSO on the other hand, at almost $400M, is almost twice the county department’s ad-valorem requirement, up from close to parity a decade ago. (See graph below) There is very little the commissioners have been able to do about this balloon in public safety spending. At the first hint of cuts, the Sheriff threatens neighborhood groups with reductions in patrols or the closing of a substation and they bring enormous political pressure on the individual commissioners. As an independently elected constitutional officer, the Sheriff has autonomy in how he spends his budget, but the county commissioners are empowered to set his bottom line. Typically, no commissioners have seriously challenged the Sheriff, but this year we see a change. Newly elected commissioner Paulette Burdick does not seem to be afraid to ask the right questions and suggest that the Sheriff share the cuts with the county. Neither does commissioner Abrams. Commissioner Marcus, not too much of a PBSO critic in the past, has joined the other two in challenging the PBSO budget this year, to her credit. What is the matter with the other four? If there ever was an economy that called for across the board cuts, including in PBSO, this is it.

We call on Commissioners Aaronson, Santamaria, Taylor and Vana to think about the Taxpayer this year and show a little spine.

Only $5M in additional cuts are needed to avoid a rate increase.  Cut the $5M from the Sheriff’s budget (1.25%) and you will be done.   PBSO has become unaffordable at the current level.

We stand by the TAB Proposal for 2012:

• Don’t increase the tax rates
• Take the remaining cuts from the Sheriff
• Sell off unused property
• Use reserves where necessary

Budget Diet?

On today’s opinion page of the Sun-Sentinel, BizPac chairman John R. Smith takes the county to task over its budget process, from what he calls the “Weisman ritual” – proposing a budget that always seems to out of step with conditions, to the arcane and obscure way that the budget is prepared by OFMB. Mr. Smith cites the recent TaxWatch report which concludes the county is holding too much in reserves, owns too much unused property, has too much debt, and does not prepare their budget “in a way that is uniform with Florida’s standard financial reporting“.

He concludes:

For the full article see: Time for Palm Beach County to go budget diet

F-bombs Fly at Fire/Rescue Negotiations

TAB has been attending the meetings between County Fire/Rescue management and IAFF Local 2928 since they began four months ago (See Genesis of a Collective Bargaining Agreement, Fire / Rescue Contract Talks Continue, and Little Progress in the IAFF Contract.)

We had been advised that the meetings tended to be raucous and filled with stunts and theatrics on the part of the union, but in three meetings we saw none of that. While very little progress was made, the tone of discussion was professional and cordial.

Apparently, that has all changed now.

The latest meeting was Wednesday, 9/14, starting at 10:00am. After about an hour in which the county proposed that a group of sections that were not particularly controversial be approved as a package, the union began a private caucus that lasted about an hour. Since the caucus is private, members of the public are excluded so we went into the conference room next door. This wasn’t far enough evidently, as one of the negotiators suspected we could hear them through the wall and asked us to go farther away.

We returned at the conclusion of the Caucus for 10 minutes only as they spoke briefly to the county and went back into caucus for the next two hours. We were not able to return at that time, but a member of one of our coalition partners attended the afternoon session and sent us the following report. Evidently, the negotiations are taking a different turn. We are speculating that the union attorney has been restrained in his language up to now because there was always a woman present.

A Surrealistic Budget Hearing

Click HERE for Channel 20 Video of the meeting.

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At about 11:00pm Tuesday evening, the County Commission voted to set the county-wide tax rate at $4.79 per $1K valuation. This is up 0.84% over last year – a small increase, but an increase nonetheless.

After the last meeting, the rollback rate of 4.8751 was on the table, intended to collect $607M in countywide taxes, $4M more than last year. The new rate will collect $596M, an $11M difference and $7M less than 2011. That is some progress, but going another $5M to flat millage would have sent a signal that the commission “feels your pain”. Any increase, no matter how small, sends the opposite message and all good will is lost. Thank you to Commissioners Abrams, Marcus and Burdick for trying to do the right thing.

The real story is how the dynamics of the meeting played out and the bizarre behavior of some of the commissioners.  What played out was a perfect example of why people are losing confidence in government at all levels. It was sad to watch.

The five and a half hour meeting started with a brief overview presentation by Administrator Weisman that contained a strangely petulant rant against the recent TaxWatch study on county reserves. It was if his integrity was being questioned by a Tallahassee interloper that had no business telling lies about his stewardship of the county purse. TaxWatch claims that Palm Beach County has excessive reserves when compared to objective measures or peer counties. Nyet, says  Bob. Move along, nothing to see here.

Next we had “public comment”. By TAB’s count there were about 80 speakers. 75% were very much opposed to any cuts in “their” programs, including all the usual suspects – Palm Tran Connection riders, directors of Financially Assisted Agencies with their hands out, the minions of COBWRA and others from the West Boynton area reacting to the Sheriff’s threat to close their substation, advocates for Victim’s Services, the blind, lifeguards and swimmers, Animal Control, and the eloquent (even poetic!) supporters of the Green Cay Nature Center.

Speaking for the taxpayer and greatly outnumbered were about 20 citizens opposed to the millage increase – almost all associated in some way with TAB. The other 1.3 million residents of the county stayed home last night and get the government they deserve.

When the public portion of the circus was over, the meeting “returned to the board” where the real show began.

In a motion that had jaws dropping throughout the chamber, Commissioner Aaronson proposed funding EVERYTHING on page 8 of the package (the list of programs they would like to restore above a flat millage benchmark). This would be done by adopting a 4.80 tax rate, then funding the additional $7M or so in additional  items (Sheriff adders, BDB, Cultural Council, Film Commission) by “taking the money from the roads programs”. If the $7M required would be too difficult for that department (it had been previously discussed with staff), then take the money from “reserves”.

Wow – an admission that we can spend reserves. (TaxWatch?, TAB?) Most striking was the hanging question, finally asked by Commissioner Marcus – how come we are just learning that this $7M is available? Couldn’t we have dispensed with stirring up all the constituent groups by just using this from the get go?

Steve Abrams said this was going in the wrong direction. Instead of funding everything on the page, why not use this “found money” to fund some of the programs while keeping the millage at 4.75?

It has been a long standing tradition that when cuts are made, the county departments and the Sheriff share them dollar for dollar. On the table was an additional restore for the Sheriff of $5M, not matched by the county. Steve Abrams wanted to see the tradition continue and Chairman Marcus polled the board to see if it could be maintained. No. Aaronson, Santamaria, Taylor and Vana will vote to give the Sheriff everything he wants. Case closed. The other three did not like this but there was nothing to be done. Chalk one up for the impressive Ric Bradshaw political operation. This was clearly a done deal before the meeting as there was no discussion on the topic.

The meeting then became a horse trading session – Shelley Vana would delete the mediation program that Priscilla Taylor wanted as well as letting Animal Control close one day a week until it was pointed out that there could be more euthanized cats and dogs (oh my!), prompting Vana to look horrified and say “oh no, we can’t do that!” and Taylor to say “if you restore that then give me back my mediators!” Finally, Vana threw up her hands and said “OK, Just fund EVERTHING!”. Now there is leadership!   Karen Marcus around this point made the observation “..we’re not looking too good up here right now..”.

Someone then threw out an arbitrary number – “Why don’t we set the millage at 4.79?” It was after all, getting late. One number is as good as another I guess. Chairman Marcus regained control of the meeting at this point and called a 20 minute “time out” to let staff calculate what 4.79 and “funding everything” would mean.

At the end of the break, staff reported that this would require an additional $7.9M, which would come from the roads program and/or reserves. Since there were not 4 votes to revisit the Sheriff’s share, Mr. Weisman was directed to identify this amount before the final meeting on 9/27, “taken from programs that have no constituency, like engineering or buildings and land”, and the meeting wrapped up with the formal votes on the millage rates.

So what are the take-aways from this meeting?

• The millage was set at 4.79 or below, at most a 0.8% increase over last year.
• The Sheriff got everything he wanted and was not required to match cuts with the county departments, breaking a long-standing tradition.
• About $7M in surplus or deferrable program funds were mysteriously “found” after threatening all the programs with vocal constituencies that could have been satisfied with less.
• After claiming TaxWatch was wrong and our reserves are too low to use, Mr. Weisman reversed course and offered $7M to fund the programs.

In summary, this was not too bad an outcome given where we started, but the cynical way the process was conducted by staff and some commissioners was not government’s finest hour.

Call to Action – 9/13 Budget Meeting

This is a call to action for next week’s county budget hearing, Tuesday evening, 9/13/11 at 6:00pm. The meeting is in the county government center, 301 North Olive in West Palm Beach. Come early as the meeting is expected to be crowded.

As you prepare for the meeting, here are some resources that may be useful:

• September Talking Points
• Sample email and 3 minute remarks
• The 2012 TAB Proposal – September Update
• September Budget Hearings – Some Background

Also check the “News Articles” tab on the TAB website for the latest budget stories from the Palm Beach Post, Sun Sentinel, and others.

Those on the “receiving” side of the budget will be out in force. Those of us on the “paying” side must also have their voices heard. If you can’t attend, send an email. Addresses for the commissioners and administrator can be found on right side of the TAB website, or you can email all at once at: BCC-AllCommissioners@pbcgov.org.

For some specific details about this meeting, see the 9/9 TAB email.

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