Thursday, May 1, 2014

Response to Mr. Bernard's E-mail


Fred:

As I hope that my response will be read as not being about agreeing or disagreeing with Steve's method of communicating (for the most part) I refer to Steve as the "E-mailer" in my response.

First of all, I want to thank you for providing this forum for interactive communication.  Unlike those who send E-mails out to the masses and provide no opportunity or venue (to date) for a response back to the masses, you put it all out there to let us decide what we end up believing.

I will attempt a response to the subject E-mailer.  It will not be detailed as to specific costs, as these have yet to be finalized in a proposed contract.  I will assume in my response that there will be a substantial savings in the event we contract out waste collection services.  I believe that I will make a conclusive case that this is a very, very simple equation with a very simple answer - contact out the waste collection services.

Item #1 can be boiled down to whether or not you agree that Waste Pro or any other contractor, including the other less expensive than in-house bidders, can perform for the quoted price. The E-mailer insinuates (an insinuation is just exactly what it is) that they can't or won't, with no data that says they will not or can't.  My position is that if they say they will, and they sign a contract to that effect, then I say sign the contract and hold them to it.  The firm was vetted as being competent, and they provided references to that effect.  These companies make their money based on making a little on each of many contracts, and their costs are based on volume savings as well.  To not trust this contractor while trusting the many other vendors we utilize as a Village or as individuals, would be disingenuous.

In item # 2 Administrative fees are discussed.  My take is that an administrative fee, appropriate to the type and quantity of administration provided, can and should be charged against the sanitation operation regardless of who performs it.  It is for our Commission to decide if they trust the administration they hired to appropriately determine the amount of this fee.  However the costs are distributed, they nonetheless  exist and will need to be paid for through the severe limits of the property tax system if not the sanitation fee.

In # 3 The Franchise Fee is discussed.  As stated, the fee is common and legal and indeed (no longer less than transparently) is a way of generating revenue for the Village to pay for things we need to pay for with or without a Franchise Fee.  It is a fee paid by the contractor for the privilege of being able to provide us with service by using our public roads - in effect, they are renting our public right of way.  Since we pay the contractor a fee for whatever service they provide to us - it can be presumed that they add the cost of the Franchise Fee into their waste fee structure so indeed we are paying for the Franchise Fee (one more less than transparent revenue producing method is exposed for all to see and appreciate).  This village and every government has a limited number of revenue producing means.  We should responsibly take advantage of the Franchise Fee, recognizing it for what it is and appreciating what it can buy for us to move our village forward.

#4 - the Franchise Fee and the Administrative Fees are different and separate things.  Both are appropriate means of either distributing costs or deriving revenue.

#4 b - If we outsource at a lower cost, the decision to provide (impose a fee) for the repair and maintenance of our roads and storm water collection system is made easier in that we will have reduced our overall personal outflow of cash by the difference of the cost of outsourcing as compared to in-house waste collection services.  We should impose a fee for these items as the work needs to get done and the General Fund can't afford it.

#4 b - Any contract should provide for our ability to benefit from an increase in recycling which correlates to a reduction in the solid waste tipping tonnage.

#5 - "Real Numbers" - indeed, the real numbers say that outsourcing is cheaper.  And once again, there is no evidence that the contractor will not perform as contracted.  If they don't, we will have the same options that we have now: find another contractor at some increase (or not).  We could (assuming the cost of contractor number 2 is too high) also return to in-house service by buying or leasing new vehicles (although it costs little or nothing to keep what we have for a few years as an [in my opinion] unnecessary safety net), and hire some new or the old employees (who it is said would jump at the chance to leave the contractor or other employer to come back to work for us at lower wages).

I have not heard that we would be selling off the Public Works property, and if it was repurposed as the Police station as is proposed, then in the event of going back to in-house services, we would simply be back at the current state of affairs wherein we would need to provide for a new Police station or new Public Works offices.

The E-mailer presumes that the administrative fees are too high as evidenced by their increase from $50,000 to the current amount.  I ask the Commission to decide if for whatever reason the fee was too low at $50,000 and is more correctly distributed at the higher number?  I don't know and it is no longer my job to decide, but since a budget was passed in September that provided for the costs of running the Village, I presume that those costs will need to be paid for by other means if not through the Administration fee.

#6 - Public Opinion - I love it when the preponderance of it speaks as I do, but I really respect when intelligent, responsible, honorable and true to reality public officials inform themselves of the facts and wade through the emotion to come to a logical decision regarding a subject, regardless of my position.  So far, there are emotional arguments that we owe our guys something for things like delivering ice to houses after hurricanes (that was their job for the day) waving at us, helping out people in distress (wouldn't anyone do this?  Yes, they would.), not robbing us of our belongings (seems like in the interest of not getting sued, any contractor would have a vested interest in vetting their employees, just like we do or better).  On the non emotional side, contracting out will put  more money in our collective pockets that can go to improving our community if we so intelligently decide to pull it out of our pockets for those activities.  We will get what we decide to buy at a lower cost than it could be provided in-house.  The price will be held more stable (or completely stable depending on the terms of the contract), whereas the cost of in-house service will likely go up over the same period.

#7 - Appreciated service.  I do appreciate the service I get for the most part and I will appreciate the services of Waste Pro guys, too, assuming they do a good job.  I do not appreciate it now when cans are thrown haphazardly after garbage collection, and there is residual yard waste strew all up and down the streets after collection.  Frankly, unless we really hold a contractor to high standards, I don't expect that to change.  At least it will cost me less in that case.

#8 - lots of questions here (and this is the type of communication I do not appreciate for its explosion of what ifs that tends to make problems where they do not exist.  The insinuation (easily verifiable by the E-mailer as by anyone else) is that the Commission is not well informed.  There is no proof that the Commissioners are not informed, but there is evidence by virtue of their votes that some are ignoring the facts in favor of the hypothetical and illogical (we can fix it in-house) and the emotional (we like our guys and we are willing to pay more for nothing).

#9 - the sky is not falling (but it is getting more likely that residents could fall into the many pot holes in our streets).  The fact of our tax rate near the 10 mil cap is a reality as is the low level of our reserves.  These millage issues may or may not improve as property values go up, but that does not negate the value of outsourcing at a lower cost, which is guaranteed to improve our financial position and will provide the added benefit of permitting the management staff and Commission the time to concentrate on the myriad of other issues that need to be addressed.

There is a point where analysis becomes paralysis.  This decision is just not at all difficult if you have the best interest of the Village and its residents in mind.  More money available for use to pay for things we need.

#10 - the big and very simple picture is as follows.  Outsourcing will save money which will be available for use by each of us personally or by our community for improvements that we need, if we through community processes decide to pay for them.

The E-mailer says that there has been a burning unanswered question out there for 7 years about the General Fund.  Honestly, is there such a conspiracy out there that he as a Commissioner or he as a concerned resident has not been able to get the answers?  They are there in black and white and when necessary through detailed verbal explanation for the asking of thoughtful questions.  The answers of course my not be to the E-mailer's liking and at times to mine either, as each of us may want more or less spent on a given governmental activity.

As to prices of homes going up and the prospect of this increasing revenues, this will indeed, if it continues, increase our revenues and provide for a lowering of our millage rate or for increasing expenditures on things we need.  Great, but is doesn't negate the value of paying less for contracting out services at a lower cost.

I have enjoyed the service of the Village for over 45 years (not that that adds any more validity to my or anyone's argument), but I am now confident that a contractor can provided for these services at a lower cost over in-house service, forever. The presence of several companies in the solid waste market provides for competition that I believe will continue to provide for competitive rates at each opportunity for a re-bid.

Of more value to my property values are the improvements that can be made through road paving and drainage subject to a new fee for those community improvements that I will pay for with dollars saved on my Waste fee.  The additional funding provided by the franchise fee will also provide funding for community projects or a lower tax bill.

To conclude, it is prudent and advisable to contract out the waste collection services of the Village and we will be missing a timely opportunity to do this now before additional funds are spent on new equipment.

Dan Keys
305-895-9920

13 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Well said Dan. Below are the numbers based on our Managers updated report:

    Waste Pro’s Projected Solid Waste Assessment
    October 1, 2014 $432.00 (includes a one-time fee to purchase new recycle containers)
    October 1, 2015 $366.00
    October 1, 2016 $385.00 (with maximum 5% adjustment per contract)
    October 1, 2017 $405.00 (with maximum 5% adjustment per contract)
    October 1, 2018 $426.00 (with maximum 5% adjustment per contract)

    Based on the terms of the WP contract, the estimate annual revenue to the Village is as follows:
    Contractual Obligation Revenue
    Franchise Fee $38,893.00
    Special Events Donation $5,000.00
    Recycling Rebate TBD
    Solid Waste Avoidance Rebate TBD
    Total Estimate Annual Revenue: $43,893 plus rebates

    BP Projected Solid Waste Assessment (4 options)

    $689.00-$755.00 per residential unit annually (+59%-75% higher based on year 1)


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  3. Dan,

    I just want to address two issues you raise, although you did a very comprehensive job of responding to a large number of kinds of inquiries. First, you mentioned the Administrative transfer, which both Steve and you note was 0, until it was $50K for a year, and then it escalated. Can we agree that the correct number could never have been 0? It would be a very odd coincidence if it had ever been precisely $50K (a dramatically round number), and the fact is, it wasn't. Ana Garcia invented that number to keep a place and symbolize a function. Whether the subsequent numbers were ever strictly accurate is debatable. The target is a moving one, and at best, the amounts chosen could only have been estimates of proportions of time. Steve raises the question of whether these estimates were padded, and he suspects they, too, were invented overestimates intended to divert sanitation money into the general fund. I had already thought a lot about this idea myself, and I have discussed it with our current management team. Although they make a sound presentation when they reassure that the estimate is roughly accurate (it could never be more than roughly accurate), I suspect Steve has a point. I differ with him, though, in that I'm not complaining. We have a uniquely endowed and a uniquely challenged municipality, and if a bit of creative accounting helped us meet our needs, I'm all for it. But I will tell you this: our management team feel very confident that the estimates are "real" and "confirmable," to the extent possible.

    The second issue is regarding whether the sky is falling. Steve says no, and you say slightly and indirectly. The correct answer is yes. The best many of us have proposed to do is stabilize the Village's fiscal status, so that we are no longer bleeding, whatever the cause of injury. The problem is that stability is not nearly adequate. We need to improve finances, so that we are building, not just to prevent us from decaying. At best, we are failing in many of our municipal responsibilities. How many times have I pleaded for median improvement, and how many times have you let me know we can't afford it? How many times have a number of us bemoaned the deterioration of the log cabin, and how many times have we had to admit we don't nearly have the money? How many of us have complained about inadequate lighting, or security, or audio-visual equipment, only to acknowledge we can't afford to do anything about it? A growing number of us are beginning to talk about a barrier along the track: a project we can't even afford to imagine. These are our fiscal municipal responsibilities, and we can't meet them, even with a stable budget. We are a failure as a Village, if we don't find ways to accrue.

    Great, great post, Dan. Thanks.

    Fred

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    1. Oops. When I said security, I meant cameras and other such equipment. But while we're on the subject, how many of us, how many times, have expressed frustration at not being able properly to compensate our employees, especially PW and the police?

      Fred

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    3. Fred,

      A quick question. If we utilize the Public Works building for our current Police Headquarters, wouldn't it be beneficial to include the savings of trailer rental, utilities,insurance, and the cost of NOT having to build a police department? Also, wouldn't we have potential savings, and less liability (workman's comp etc), if we had fewer staff on pay roll? Are these costs figured into the estimates? Thanks, Brad

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    4. Absolutely, to the first part, although we might have to build anyway. Currently, the log cabin is filled with our municipal management and filing/storage, and ideally, we would like that elsewhere. The talk has been of reclaiming the log cabin for meetings and ceremonial purposes, and we would tear out all the partitions and renovate the structure.

      I actually don't know about the second part. I would rely more on Milt's synthesis than Dan's for numbers like that, and I don't see that he made clear he knew the numbers to represent that. You can ask him. Dan's synthesis is more overarching and theoretical. Milt's is the added result of having sat with Heidi and looked at the sheets. The best source for that information is Heidi, and it's from her that the numbers came anyway.

      Fred

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    5. Brad, This is what I was able to uncover as to these costs:

      Cost associated with the rented police trailer. Cost $5,500.00 annually
      Cost associated with outside storage of records. Cost $ 3,204.00 annually

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    6. Thanks Milt... it may not be a large savings, but it's still one step closer to becoming more financially solid.

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    7. Agreed... every dollar counts these days. Plus the benefit of the removal of an eyesore.

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  5. Brad, the answer is yes to all your questions. A portion of the cost of liability insurance is usually based on a payroll component so there may be an indirect impact on the general fund and the trailer would likely not be needed. Also, we pay for outside storage and we may be able to utilize the building for some storage resulting in an additional savings. I did not see where these costs are figured into the savings so they are gravy. Further, the back of Village hall would be freed up to allow more room for administration to function.

    A comment to all on the administration fee. I think I can help clear up the so called “pretend” Administration fee (AF) to some degree. In the second year the Sanitation fund was established as a enterprise fund the (AF) was implemented for fiscal year end (FYE) 2009 sanitation budget while Frank Spence was manager. Administration realized (Pre Ana Garcia) in the second year as a standalone fund a portion of the administrative overhead that was required to oversee it was a proper charge back to the Sanitation fund; the initial charge was $50,000. The allocation of indirect or direct costs from another fund is an acceptable accounting procedure that is in common practice.

    In FYE 2011 there was an increase in the AF. To the best of my recollection, this was due to a change in the procedure to allocate the cost of labor. Some employees are budgeted in Public Works and the Road Fund, however they also contribute services to the Sanitation Fund. In the beginning a portion of an employee was charged as wages or salary among the funds but this was could be very confusing: To divide an employee’s cost to be charged among different funds. In FYE Sept 2011 administration changed the procedure to charge the cost of an employee directly to only one fund and then an allocation of the cost of that employee was charged back as a component of the AF as a direct labor charge. To prove this assertion in FYE Sept 2009 the salaries or wages were $250,000 as budgeted in the sanitation fund before benefits and six years later in FYE Sept 2014 the salaries or wages are $180,000 before benefits. The AF was $50,000 before this change and for FYE 2014 it is $145,522. Since FYE 2009 budgeted wages and salaries are down $70,000 and AF is up $95,000. It’s close but not perfect, nothing ever is. Why? Because there have been annual increases to salaries and benefits, there were additional allocations added since the original fee was calculated that were not contemplated such as the cost of the audit, the finance clerk, the finance director, the attorney, the village clerk and other personnel that all indirectly contribute to operating the sanitation department.

    The labor cost allocation from public works and the road fund is a direct cost and the cost of administration in Village Hall is an indirect cost allocation.

    This is not a thinly veiled way to transfer money from the sanitation fund to the general fund, it’s not a “pretend” fee but a generally accepted accounting principle that allocates the direct and indirect cost of operations to an enterprise fund for expenditures incurred by the general fund and other funds. If you review the Managers presentation the administration fee is clearly documented, there is no mystery.

    Breakdown of the Admin fee for FYE Sept 2014

    Direct Labor Cost $76,750
    Indirect Cost $68,772
    Total $145,522

    Go to pages 15 & 16 of the PDF in this link for details of the Admin fee.

    http://www.biscayneparkfl.gov/vertical/sites/%7BD1E17BCD-1E01-4F7D-84CD-7CACF5F8DDEE%7D/uploads/Agenda_Item_4.f_Regular_Commission_Meeting_05_06_2014.pdf

    Go to page 28 in the PDF of this link for details of the Admin fee if outsourced.

    http://www.biscayneparkfl.gov/vertical/sites/%7BD1E17BCD-1E01-4F7D-84CD-7CACF5F8DDEE%7D/uploads/Agenda_Item_9.b_Regular_Commission_Meeting_05_06_2014.pdf

    Chuck Ross

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  6. Good work and thanks Chuck. Anyone should now be able to understand our admin. fee and how it works.

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