How Can The St. Pete Administration Cut The Budget?

For the past few years the City administration has used the traditional budget balancing methods of reducing capital expenditures, eliminating training budgets and reducing general operating expenses. There have been a significant number of staff reductions including eliminating positions, resignations and retirements. But the administration has run out of quick fixes.
There have been calls to use the City's massive reserves to defray operating expenses, but Mayors and City Councils have generally shied away from this as a bad business practice since it really just pushes the problem down the road.
The private sector for decades has used a combination of plans to incentivize people to leave the payroll. These plans allow those at or near retirement to leave early or if they have just been hanging around, like a lot of City employees, it encourages them to leave.
Three steps To Transforming the City Administration
1. Determine the total amount of savings necessary to bring both the 2013 and estimated 2014 budgets into balance.
2. Look at the entire MANAGEMENT team and reduce the number of supervisors and managers, Majors, Captains, Assistant Chiefs, District Chiefs and administrators to meet that goal. As a general rule of thumb reduce:

• 2 senior administrators, and their support staff such as secretaries and assistants
• 1 manger in every 5 and their support staff such as secretaries
• 1 supervisor in every 8
• Public safety must participate but only with senior staff such as Assistant Chiefs, District Chiefs, and Majors, Captains, and civilian managers and supervisors.
• Once identified these people must leave the organization.
• No cut and shuffle leaving them hidden away on the payroll.

3. How?

• Put together a viable incentive program that adds significantly to the normal termination pay and will encourage people to leave.
• Don't worry about people walking away with large sums of money. This thinking is a holdover from the David Fisher Administration and is last century's thinking. These payouts are investments in the City's future.
• Identify those whose positions are being cut, inform them of the decision, and they will have 1 month to take the incentive package or simply be removed from the payroll.
• Take whatever amount is necessary to fund the incentives and termination pay from the reserve funds.
• This approach creates permanent solution to the problem, blunts the argument against using reserve funds, because this program is a onetime effort that resolves the problem going forward.
• The pay back on this investment should be 100% in less than three years.
• Do not hire a consultant to study or do this - just do it.
• Maintain a hard hiring freeze for at least 24 months.

Draconian? Insensitive? Uncaring? Perhaps. But if Bill Foster had had the courage to take similar steps when he came to office, there is a good chance the budget would be balanced and maybe even running a slight surplus.
Two administrations, Baker and Foster, have tried to wait this thing out hoping something magical would happen. There is no magic bullet, it's time to act.
e-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net, or send me a Facebook Friend Request.

The St. Pete City Budget Round 2

In what could easily be called a rare show of wisdom the City Council voted down the Fire Fee.

Ill conceived, as an attempt to load budget responsibility on the fire fighters, who by the way did not support the mayor's election bid, and would not have benefitted from this fee, it created yet more unneeded controversy and division in the City. To say nothing of the cost of the "consultant" brought in to give the administration some cover in this debacle.

Council agreed to a millage increase, the right way to go if the City really needs more money, and then started asking some budget questions. The Mayor could not provide any answers simply because he has no clue what is going on in the budget process.

A public records request for the third quarter numbers and year end estimates resulted in the two documents above you can look at for yourself.

The Third Quarter shows a $5.2 million deficit and a yearend surplus of $12.5 but the Year End only reveals a $2.66 million deficit a bit short of the Mayor's $10 Million number.

Council wanted some questions to ask so here are a couple:
1. Where is the other $7.5 Million? The LENS Maybe.
2. Is the bond fee for the LENS financing included in the 2013 Budget?

Council is looking for some recommended budget cuts here are a few:
Police

Eliminate the Assistant Chief of the Administrative Services Bureau ($162,000), eliminate 3 crime analysts (about $200,000), and if the City started moving the Police dispatch to the Sheriff there is several million dollars in recurring savings. We don't know how much because not one City official will ask the Sheriff for a cost estimate.

City Development Administration  
Could likely be eliminated $652,000. What do they really do?

Planning & Economic Development
If you can find $3.2 million dollars worth of value in there send me a note. This is likely where LENS money is buried. A $1 million dollar cut here probably would not affect any citizen.

Public Works Administration/Engineering
With a combined budget of $6.2 Million there has got to be some room here for some house leaning now would be the time. Let's get $750,000 out of this area, and the City will be better off.

Budget and Management
I am still trying to figure out how this department runs a $2.6 Million dollar deficient. Someone help me.

The problem is all of these cuts involve eliminating jobs. The Mayor and his administration have not had the stomach for that, but it needs to be done. Still plenty fat, the staff has got to be cut and City council will have to hold the Mayor responsible.

Council needs to be very specific that cuts in police officers, and fire fighters, that are designed to enflame the public, will not be accepted.

These cuts designed to stir up the public and engender things like this millage increase and are the oldest tactics in the political playbook book. It is way past time to recognize them for what they are - political theater.

Look through the documents above and come up with your own ideas and send them to your District Council person. If you don't want to do that, just copy this and forward it to them.

e-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net, or send me a Facebook friend Request.

Where Did all of Those RNC Bucks Go?

Now that the RNC is over and most of the clutter is cleared up we are starting to see local
merchants and businesses carp about how little business they did during the RNC. How the RNC revelers didn't patronize the local businesses like the RNC and local politicians said they would.

Alarmingly, and apparently surprisingly, the RNC folks did not drink as much, shop as much, or cavort as much as the local business folks expected.

Fearing the worst for South Pinellas County, I took a drive down the beaches on Wednesday of RNC week and was amazed at what I did not see. Hotel lots were empty. Right below the WELCOME RNC signs the Vacancy sign was on.

If you listened carefully to the convention, only Clearwater was mentioned as a delegate site. I did not hear St. Pete mentioned after the welcoming Party.

Even the famous "Gentleman's Club" on St. Pete Beach had the "WELCOME RNC" sign out along with an empty parking lot. This group of Republicans were truly a conservative lot.

More and more often these days, large events promoted by the Politicians as great money makers turn out to be duds for the local business owners. You may want to think about that before you make a major donation.

For many, the GOP Convention and St. Pete "RNC WELCOME PARTY" turned into a local business debacle. It should not have come as a big surprise, since many of the delegates who showed up for the welcome party were bussed in bussed out and had no way to get down to Beach Drive, the real heart and soul of St. Pete. The weather didn't help much either.

On the Saturday before the Convention started, I saw one downtown moderate sized bar with 5 beer trucks lined up outside unloading kegs of beer. Probably as much beer as they sell in a month or more. Wonder how that worked out?

Small business owners are not the only ones that may end up hoodwinked by the RNC Convention. Apparently there is a bill at St. Pete City Hall for over $500,000 that somebody, most likely the tax payers, will have to foot. I did note that the Mayor seemed to have a good time.

There is a message here. If you're a small business person you need to carefully evaluate any of these large scale events promoted by the County or City as a "big economic benefit". Look at where they are, when the events are scheduled, how attendees are transported, how they affect your customers access and the nature of the attendees.

Some local business people always benefit. But they are usually the ones who know the "right" people.

e-mail doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net, so send me a Facebook Friend

Charlie Crist - Republican, Independent, Democrat, Chameleon

The first time I met Charlie Crist was at what is now Tropicana Field, then the Thunder Dome. It was a brief meeting short introductions, couple of questions about what we were working on. For the next few years every time I ran into Charlie he went out of his way to say hi.
 
I supported Charlie for Governor, was there at the Vinoy victory party, and I thought Charlie would make a really great governor.

Sometime during the second year Charlie seemed to become weary of being Governor. It is a tireless and somewhat thankless job. The problems never end, you can't put them all in jail its probably not that much fun. It seems to take someone with the tenacity and conviction of a Jeb Bush to really do the job and enjoy it.

Charlie started looking around for a high profile political spot that didn't have all of that grungy detail like unions and budgets to deal with. The US Senate was perfect.

But the party had grown weary of Charlie, dumped him for a better looking Marco Rubio so Charlie took the Republicans money ran as an Independent and lost.

Now Charlie is courting the Democrats. And boy are they interested. They are especially interested if they can snag a little of that John Morgan money and influence.

Could Charlie beat Rick Scott? Good possibility if the Democrats can rustle up some serious cash. It would be a brutal campaign against Scott. If he didn't win, Charlie would be done in Florida politics.

But what if Scott decided not to run? Impossible you say, but maybe not. How would you like to get up every day facing an almost impossible task, where everything you read and hear about you, your efforts and your family is trash talk. Where you can't trust anyone including your own staff, and you're doing it all on your own dime?

Rick Scott is far from a quitter, but even you harshest Scott critics have to admit it will have been a grueling 4 years. The real question may be how much of this is Rick Scott willing to put his family through?

What would Charlie do? Run as a Democrat and risk another defeat? Come dashing back to the Republicans with John Morgan in tow begging forgiveness? All good questions.

If I were the Democrats, I would watch Charlie very carefully. This mad rush to get him on the speakers list at the Dems Convention may be another indication of just how good a politician Charlie Crist really is. Who is really being showcased during this speech? Charlie Crist not Barack Obama.

Charlie's party may actually be the POM Party(Party of the Moment).

E-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net or send me a Facebook Friend request.

Foster- Flip Flopping or just Desperate?

Mayor Foster is now trying to gain some support for the sagging fire fee by asking City Council to exempt non-profits. I don't know if this one qualifies as a genuine flip flop but it sure shows some serious desperation on the part of the administration.

Foster has also said he wants to lower both of the components of the fire fee. Either you have budget problem or you don't. If you're going to reduce the base and lower the amount of the fee it sounds like the true budget detail may not support the fire fee at all.

If you want some detail, Mark Puente has an informative piece in the Tampa Bay Times: "Mayor Foster now says nonprofits shouldn't have to pay the fire fee"

Foster has done a good job of keeping Council off point on the Budget with the fire fee. It appeals to the base instinct of a politician, because it raises revenue but is not really a tax. Most of the discussion has been about raising revenue not really looking at costs.

Council rolled over and voted for the fire fee to "get a balanced budget" when what they should have done is reject the fee, send the budget back to Foster, specified no cuts in public safety and directed him to bring back a balanced budget. Put the pressure where it is supposed to be - on the Administration. That is what the Charter amendment voted in during the last election allows them to do.

It is hard to imagine that in a $200 million plus budget, with a shortfall of around $10 million, that another 5% cut would as the Mayor said, "lead to the deterioration of our city and the deconstruction of what we have built up over the last 20 years." It might if the Mayor let that happen, but if he would just lead instead of waffle, things would not deteriorate.

Proving once again it is easier to grandstand than fix the problems.

Council has one more opportunity to kill this really regressive fee/tax. No talking, debating, over thinking, legal mumbo-jumbo from the lawyers on the Council, just vote it down.
It is time for the Mayor to look at all of the departments and do some more cutting. There is room and he knows it.

e-mail Doc at: dr.webb@veriozon.net, or send me a Facebook Friend Request.

Unanswered Questions = More Fees and Taxes

City Council and the Mayor are pretty good about starting things but not to good at following up.
 

Here are some lingering questions that need answers:
 

Several months back Chief Harmon told the PS&I City Council Subcommittee that the Armored Video Surveillance Unit to be built in a vehicle donated over 9 months ago would be available in July. Where is it?

Well part of the problem is the PD decided to have a "naming" contest so they can figure out what to call the thing. Good idea or just a delaying tactic. I'll let you decide.

While we're on the subject of video surveillance cameras, the PD was supposed to come up with a policy on where they would be located, who would monitor them and so on. Never mind the fact they have had a draft policy for over a year, no report yet.

What about the $250,000 or so in cameras from the RNC? Did anyone ever really figured out what they are going to do with those after the party?

Sticking with the PD, did anyone ever call or e-mail the Sheriff and ask him how much it would cost to have the Sheriff's call center dispatch the PD? Last time Wengay ask the question they all just ignored him. But the amount you're going to pay the City to cover the PD budget overage of $9 million or so is real. Either you'll pay a regressive fee/tax or a property tax increase, but no real serious effort to reduce cost.

While we're on a roll with the PD, that new building will have $2 to$4 million or more in costs associated with the communications center. Last time Mike Connors was asked for a cost estimate on that part of the project he said he didn't have the number but would get it. Anybody seen the figure?
 

Foster was supposed to bring a balanced budget to City Council in accordance with the last Charter amendments but he really didn't do that. He used the Police budget overage as a lever to get a fee/tax increase.
 

Mayor Foster should ring a few bells and get some answers. Good luck.
 

Council should throw out the fire fee/tax, forget any mileage increase hand the budget back to Mayor Foster and tell him to bring it back with no operational cuts at the PD.
 

E-mail Doc at dr.webb@verizon.net, or send me a Facebook Friend Request.