HomeMy Public PortalAbout15-9016 To Review the Mayor's Task Force Recommendations Sponsored by: Mayor Taylor
RESOLUTION NO. 15-9016
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY
OF OPA-LOCKA, FLORIDA, DIRECTING THE CITY
MANAGER TO REVIEW THE MAYOR'S TASK FORCE
RECOMMENDATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH THE CITY'S
FINANCES AND TO BRING BACK A BALANCED BUDGET BY
JUNE 24, 2015; PROVIDING FOR INCORPORATION OF
RECITALS; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, The City of Opa-locka currently has a gap in its fiscal year budget,
as well as gaps and budget issues projected for future years budgets; and
WHEREAS, The Mayor formed a Task Force to address these issues and make
recommendations for short and long terms solutions to the City's budget issues; and
WHEREAS, the Task Force is made up of individuals with over one hundred
years of combined municipal government and private experience; and
WHEREAS, the Task Force has conducted an extensive review of the City's
finances and budget and has made recommendations which the Commission desires to
adopt; and
WHEREAS, the Task Force has submitted a Final Report and Recommendations
for the Commission to adopt that are attached as Exhibit "A".
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COMMISSION OF
THE CITY OF OPA LOCKA,FLORIDA:
Section 1. The recitals to the preamble herein are incorporated by reference.
Section 2. The City hereby directs the Manager to review these
recommendations, fully cooperate with the Task Force and bring back a balanced
budget by June 24, 2015.
Resolution No. 15-9016
Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 16th day of June, 2015.
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yra . aylor
Mayor
Attest to: Approved as to form and legal sufficiency:
J. nna Flores BROWN LAW GROUP, LLC
Ci Clerk City Attorney
Moved by: COMMISSIONER SANTIAGO
Seconded by: COMMISSIONER PINDER
Commissioner Vote: 3-1
Commissioner Kelley: NOT PRESENT
Commissioner Pinder: YES
Commissioner Santiago: YES
Vice Mayor Holmes: NO
Mayor Taylor: YES
Honorable Mayor City of Opa-locka, Myra L.Taylor, as requested,the Task Force has concluded its
review of the City of Opa-locka's budgetary issues. In conducting its analysis,the Task Force thoroughly
reviewed all relevant budget related documents. Provided below are the findings and collective
recommendations of the following Task Force members:
1. Roosevelt Bradley,former Miami-Dade County Transportation Director
2. Anthony Brunson, CPA and Financial Advisor
3. Steven Barrett,former Opa-locka Commissioner and Opa-locka Community Leader
4. Alex Rey, former Miami-Dade County Assistant Budget Director,former City of Miami Beach Building
Director and City Manager of the Town of Miami Lakes
Additionally, Honorable Mayor Town of Miami Lakes, Michael Pizzi, and former City Attorney of the
Town of Medley,served as legal advisor to the Task Force.
FINDINGS
In general,the Task Force determined that:
• The City of Opa-Locka's existing identifiable administrative policies and procedures
encompassed inherent fiscal impacts,yet lacked:
o Requisite oversight
o Safeguards
o Checks and balances and general accountability
• Many of these deficiencies stemmed from flawed procedures which are fundamentally based
on an antiquated honor system with no accountability or oversight.
• The City of Opa-Locka has failed to implement aggressive safeguards to readily identify
potential misuse and abuse of City resources.
• The City of Opa-Locka has simply failed to properly evaluate its existing administrative policies
and procedures to determine their effectiveness and measure their costs.
The specific findings and effective recommendations are detailed below:
PERSONNEL
PART-TIME EMPLOYEES: A review of staffing policies indicates that the City of Opa-Locka employs an
ordinate number of part-time employees as a significant percentage of its total workforce. There are a
total of twenty(20) part-time employees with pay rates as high as$20.00 per hour and durations of
employment from 2-3 years. This is a costly and inefficient employment practice. Conceptually, part-
timers are utilized on an as needed basis to augment existing staff for short term durations. Part-time
employees are not intended for long-term need, unless they offer some unique skill such as an electrical
inspector. Moreover,to garner optimal financial benefits, part-time employees should be hired at or
near entry level wages. However,financial records indicate that part-time employees receive premium
pay rates.
RECOMMENDATION:
• Evaluate staffing to assess actual needs. Based on staffing needs, consider absorbing some of
the long term part-time employees into full-time positions and eliminate any overage,
unneeded staffing.
• Establish a policy which limits the employment terms of part-time employees.
• Consider employing part-time employees seasonally,or project driven, on an as needed basis.
When employees are transferred to a lower position their salary must be decreased.
CODE ENFORCEMENT:A review of Code Enforcement staffing reflects a total of seven (7)employees
assigned to the Unit. However,the staffing levels are inconsistent with any measurable results.
Specifically,there is a remarkable lack of productivity. Given the staffing levels,there should be a
marked level of revenue directly related to compliance activities. However, revenue levels are not even
close to budget projections. This is yet another potential loss of revenue directly attributable to a lack of
accountability and oversight.
RECOMMENDATION: Establish an aggressive oversight of Code Enforcement. Establish measurable
goals and objectives for Compliance Officers commensurate with budget projections. Evaluate staffing
levels based on measurable objectives and initiate corrective measures including rightsizing and
administrative sanctions for failure to achieve established objectives. Management should also explore
the option of contracting out versus performing Code Enforcement activities in-house.
CIP: CIP is also in need of staffing evaluation. Given the number of engineering projects,there is an
obvious imbalance in staffing levels. Moreover, most engineering projects are contracting out and the
contractor should have their own engineer. Therefore, engineers are provided as a part of the contract.
This creates a costly duplication of staff and unmerited increase in labor costs.
RECOMMENDATION: Evaluate CIP engineering staff based on existing,short term and long term
projects to effectually right size staffing levels. Consideration must be given to staffing incorporated as a
part of construction projects to eliminate duplication.
VEHICLES
A review of vehicle usage indicates that a significant number of staff are assigned take home vehicles
without legitimate need. History has revealed that administrative policies that allow take home vehicles
under an honor system provide ample opportunity for abuse and misuse. More importantly, it increases
unnecessary costs. Additionally, it was specifically noted that there were gross inconsistencies in fuel
usage amongst employees assigned take home cars. These irregularities require further investigation to
determine whether there may be cause for administrative action stemming from confirmed
improprieties.
RECOMMENDATION:An immediate discontinuance of the City of Opa-Locka's take home vehicle policy.
This should be replaced with a pool car program. The program must include strict oversight and
accountability. Employees are allowed to sign out for the use of cars strictly on an as needed basis. In
extremely rare instances employees may be approved for overnight car usage but requires advanced
authorization by the Manager. Additionally, an immediate and comprehensive investigation should be
launched regarding identified irregularities in the use of fueling for employees assigned take home
vehicles.
REVENUE/FINANCIAL
GRANTS: It was determined that employees who have been assigned to work on grant funded projects
salaries are not being properly allocated against the grant. Instead,these employee salaries are being
paid out of operation funding. This is not only improper allocation, but fail to maximize the fiscal
benefits of grant funding. It also improperly encumbers operational dollars better utilized to address
other fiscal needs.
RECOMMENDATION: Budget and Finance staff must ensure the proper allocation of grant funding to
finance employee salaries.
REVENUE PRODUCING PROJECTS:The City of Opa-locka has a number of revenue producing contracts
including Advertising Contracts, Red Light Cameras and Gaming Machines. However, it has been
determined that due to a lack of contract compliance and oversight,these revenues are simply not
being realized. In essence,there is no aggressive monitoring of contract compliance to ensure that
entitled revenues are received resulting in lost revenues. Given current fiscal challenges,this is
reprehensible.
RECOMMENDATION:There needs to be an immediate and sustained corrective action to ensure
absolute contract compliance and continual receipt of entitled revenues from all revenue producing
contracts. Management must also explore sanction options as allowed by contract including Cease and
Desist, and Contract Termination. However,this must work in tandem with an aggressive recovery of
lost revenue.
POLICE FORFEITURE FUND:Another potential loss of funding is the Police Forfeiture Fund. It was
determined in consultation with Law Enforcement Administrative Staff that the City of Opa-locka has
failed to pursue available proceeds consistent with federal and state regulations regarding their
potential entitlement to shared participation of assets stemming from criminal activity in accordance
with the Police Department's Police Forfeiture Fund. These lost proceeds are estimated to be over
$700,000.
RECOMMENDATION: The City of Opa-locka must pursue an agreement and establish related files to
aggressively implement federal and state regulations in accordance with the Police Forfeiture Fund to
recover and recapture these loss proceeds.
ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS: Given the City of Opa-Locka's existing fiscal condition, a salary
freeze is recommended for all non-bargaining unit employees for the current and succeeding fiscal
years. Additionally,the City is further advised to pursue salary concessions for bargaining unit
employees within the confines of their labor agreement and in accordance with applicable labor laws.
Short Term:
• Cancel vehicle leases and grant vehicle allowances to staff as needed, and review all
other vehicle maintenance expenses
• Hard freeze on overtime except for police emergencies approved directly by the City
Manager
• Mandatory unpaid furlough days every Friday until the end of the year for all employees
except for police
• Close the jobs programs
• Cancel all discretionary activities for the balance of the Fiscal Year (special events,
travel, consultants, etc), with the exception of events for which the City is already
committed or financially obligated
• Aggressive collection efforts through usage of collection agencies and/or legal action if
needed, but expedited
• Firm hiring freeze, with any budgeted positions to be filled from existing staff or internal
transfer where qualifications are met
All of the recommendations provided herein can be fully initiated within the next ninety(90) days.
While some require a longer period of completion, most are fully attainable within one-hundred and
twenty days (120). Therefore,the City of Opa-locka should attain measurable results in a relatively
short-term period.
Long Term:
• Earmark 100%of tax rolls increase to pay down general fund deficit and begin creating a
positive fund balance until it reaches 10% of operating budget
• Close all inactive subaccounts and consolidate all sub-accounts under the general fund
to portray a more accurate picture
• Identify all functions and conduct a needs assessment with surplus positions during the
FY 15-16 budget process and offer a more aggressive departure incentive program
• Explore private or public partnerships for the provision Building Department services
• Do not expand services nor pursue grants for new assets until the City has
demonstrated the ability to stay within the budget for two full years
• Offer incentives to local businesses to hire existing City employees
• Improve budget practices by making conservative and non-speculative budget
projections
• Require Capitol Projects awardees to hire local residents
• More productive allocation of employees
The longer term goals present a greater challenge. Primarily,the longer range goals include the
formation and implementation of formalized policies and procedures to systemize oversight and
compliance activities. However,to ensure absolute effectiveness,these policies must incorporate
measurable goals and objectives as further safeguards and evaluation.
The Finance and Budget team must develop and implement score card measures to include regimented
data analysis and review to facilitate a continual forensic review of budgetary issues. This not only
provides a real time review of budget shortfalls, but provides a foundation to make critical
administrative decisions to ensure long term fiscal stability and most importantly a foundation for future
growth.
In conclusion,the City of Opa-locka is strongly advised to adopt full and aggressive implementation of
these recommended corrective measures. The City is further challenged with implementation of a
sustained program of identifying gross mismanagement, inefficiencies and lack of administrative
oversight that have significantly contributed to its current fiscal condition. The Task Force is confident
that these recommendations will significantly improve, although not eradicate,the City's existing fiscal
crisis.
Additionally,the Task Force remains available for technical guidance and assistance as needed.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve the City of Opa-locka.