CRESTVIEW — The City Council’s unanimous action on Monday moved Crestview closer to complying with a recommendation to integrate all city services into a comprehensive computer system.

This comes more than a year and a half after a Utilities Billing Department forensic audit.

Former City Clerk Janice Young’s investigation of billing discrepancies evolved into a forensic audit after her July 2011 retirement. Then-acting city clerk and Finance Director Patti Beebe ordered the audit, which O’Sullivan Creel consultants conducted with the council’s direction.

The audit found discrepancies between departments within the city clerk’s office and, during subsequent investigation, between other city departments.

Monday, the council, Beebe and Roy recommended amending the city’s contract with SunGard Public Sector, provider of the city’s records and billing computer system. This was in accord with O’Sullivan Creel’s recommendation to integrate all the city’s revenue stream systems into SunGard.

An advantage of upgrading the city’s SunGard system, which will incur a one-time set-up and $27,000 implementation cost, involves two off-site backup systems, in different locations, if there were loss of City Hall facilities, Roy said.

“This brings us into compliance with the continuity of operations (plan) and what the council has already asked in forensic audits, and it brings us into a situation where if the system blows up, we won’t lose anything,” she said.

The city’s operations continuity plan ensures residents can access most city services amid disasters and that city records can be preserved.

“If this building was hit by a tornado tomorrow, it would cost a lot more than $27,000 to replace all of our information,” Roy said.

In addition to updating and maintaining software for utilities billing, business tax receipts and asset management, the proposal would add the Code Enforcement and Permitting departments to the system. Planning and Zoning, Public Works and Parks and Recreation have not been integrated into SunGard.

Public Works Director Wayne Steele said a firewall prevented the city’s technology consultant from bringing his department — including Parks and Recreation — into SunGard. A firewall digitally shields a computer from malicious attacks; in this case, it prohibited Steele’s departments’ systems from communicating with SunGard.

City Planner Eric Davis said his department uses a system called Blueprints, which it chose after analyzing systems of other cities, including Fort Walton Beach’s planning and zoning department.

Davis said SunGard has not offered a demonstration of its capabilities for his staff and he would “hate to see us spend money on a new program that does not do as well as what we have now.”

Councilwoman Robyn Helt encouraged department heads to finish integrating all the city’s computer systems in SunGard as soon as possible, including resolving any impediments the information technology contractor has encountered.

“If by the next meeting they are not able to resolve the firewall issue, I want to see a recommendation by the clerk for a new company to resolve that issue,” Helt said.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview's $27,000 software update could save priceless information

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A law championed by Gov. Rick Scott that requires teachers, state and county workers and some municipal employees to contribute 3 percent of their pay to the state's pension plan was narrowly upheld by the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday.

The 4-3 decision reversed a trial judge's ruling that the law violated the collective bargaining, contract and property rights of about 600,000 public employees including police, firefighters and other first-responders.

The law, which went into effect on July 1, 2011, also repealed 3 percent annual cost of living increases for benefits accrued after that date.

The ruling was vindication for the Republican governor — who had sought an even bigger 5 percent employee contribution — and the GOP-controlled Legislature. The decision was a bitter defeat for public employee unions, led by the Florida Education Association, which had challenged the law.

"The court's ruling today supports our efforts to lower the cost of living for Florida families," Scott said in a statement. "This means even more businesses will locate and grow in our state."

Scott argued it was unfair that Florida's public employees didn't contribute because workers in most other states and the private sector are required to help pay for their pensions if they still have that benefit.

The public employees' contributions, though, were not used to strengthen the Florida Retirement System, already one of the nation's strongest pension plans. Instead, they reduced contributions made by state and local government employers.

"Balancing the state budget on the backs of middle-class working families is the wrong approach," teachers union president Andy Ford said in a statement.

A ruling against the contribution law would have created a nearly $2 billion budget gap for state and local governments because they then would have had to return the employee contributions.

"We still believe that a promise is a promise," Ford said. "We are more determined than ever to change the face of the Florida Legislature. The next elections in 2014 can turn this decision around."

Although Democrats, who are closely allied with the unions, picked up a few seats in the Legislature last year, Republicans continue to hold large majorities in both chambers.

"The changes made to the Florida Retirement System reflect the Legislature's efforts to maintain a sound retirement system for our hardworking state and local government employees as well as the reality that Florida taxpayers can no longer bear the full cost of this benefit," said Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville.

A key legal issue was how to interpret a law passed in 1974 that declares the retirement rights of public employees are contractual in nature. That year, the Legislature, then led by Democrats, also eliminated employee contributions to the pension plan.

The high court majority cited a 1981 Supreme Court opinion that said the law protected rights and benefits already earned but did not preclude the Legislature from altering benefits prospectively for future service.

Justice Jorge Labarga wrote for the majority that the same principle applied to the new law that restored employee contributions, so it does not violate employees' contract rights nor take away property in the form of their pension benefits.

The new law also doesn't violate collective bargaining rights guaranteed by the Florida Constitution for public and private employees because it doesn't prohibit such negotiations between unions and employers, Labarga wrote.

"Although I understand the frustration of state employees, who have in effect taken a 3 percent pay cut in addition to years without cost-of-living adjustments, this case is not about the wisdom or fairness of the Legislature's decision," Justice Barbara Pariente wrote in a concurring opinion.

Labarga and Pariente were joined by Chief Justice Ricky Polston and Justice Charles Canady, the high court's two most reliably conservative members.

In a dissent, Justice James Perry argued the 1981 ruling was wrong and the high court should have receded from it. Justices R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince concurred with Perry.

"The retirement benefits protected by contract, as established by the Legislature, were simply taken from our first responders, those who protect us, those who teach and protect our children and others who have provided us services every day, to be used for other purposes," Lewis wrote in a separate dissent.

Un-rebutted expert testimony shows the law will cost each public employee from $12,446 to $329,684 over the span of their working years, Lewis noted. He pointed out the employee contributions, meanwhile, saved the state $861 million in the 2011-12 budget. That's money the state didn't need because the budget also included $1.2 billion in unspent general revenue, he contended.

Lewis wrote that the law also effectively, although not explicitly, impaired collective bargaining rights because "the Legislature has unilaterally predetermined the term or condition (of employment) through statute, rendering any subsequent negotiations futile."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Florida court upholds pension law repealing cost of living increase

CRESTVIEW — A garage to store and investigate impounded vehicles?

A recycling center?

A community meeting hall?

These are among the possible uses city officials have suggested for a building that Gulf Power donated to the city.

The Crestview City Council on Dec. 10 unanimously agreed to accept the donation of a 3,552-square-foot warehouse sitting at the end of Cadle Drive off P.J. Adams Parkway.

The utility only required that the city disassemble and move the building.

Public Works Director Wayne Steele investigated the structure, praised its solid construction, metal truss roof, skylights and HardiePlank siding, and said his department could store the disassembled building until the council decides a use for it.

It would be disassembled using inmate labor at relatively little cost to the city, he said.

After discussion with Council President Ben Iannucci III, Steele said the building could be a city recycling center, and could be reassembled for that use on city-owned property off Brookmeade Drive.

Councilwoman Robyn Helt at Monday’s meeting suggested a different use.

“I am recommending that immediately upon disassembly, the building be immediately reassembled in Country View Park to provide an additional service for our citizens,” she said.

The building could provide a community center for “Zumba classes or any other kind of recreational facility,” she said. “That facility (Country View Park) is in need of improvement and it’s been in need for quite some time.”

After discussions with Steele, Helt said the building could be split in half and provide the city with two new buildings.

Crestview Police Chief Tony Taylor had a suggestion for one half, Steele said.

 “The police chief has … asked me about having a portion put up at his location to house confiscated vehicles in an area that is secure,” Steele said. “They only have room to park one car in their current area.”

City planner Eric Davis told­­ the council that city codes would require landscaping and adequate parking whether the building is split in half or relocated intact.

Council Members Tom Gordon and Tim Grandberry agreed with Helt, but requested more time to study the matter before the council makes a decision.

Iannucci — who supports the recycling center as part of green initiatives he is pursuing for the city — agreed.

“We don’t want to sit on the building, but I don’t like the ‘dartboard’ way of making a decision. I want to make sure we address all these possibilities and make the best decision. I think we need input from the citizens about what we should do with the building.”

Iannucci proposed a workshop to discuss all the ideas before making a decision.

The council then voted unanimously to add discussion of what to do with the building to a previously set Feb. 9 workshop.

Want to go?

The Crestview City Council will hold a public workshop 8 a.m. Feb. 9 at City Hall to discuss, among other matters, possible uses for a building that Gulf Power donated to the city.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview City Council considering donated building's possible uses

OKALOOSA ISLAND — Florida must begin looking for alternatives to gas tax revenue to pay for future road work, state Department of Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad said Wednesday.

That was one of Prasad’s main messages during his keynote speech at the first Emerald Coast Transportation Symposium at the Emerald Coast Convention Center.

The one-day event drew almost 200 people from Escambia to Gulf counties.

“The gas tax as a funding source is not sustainable,” Prasad said.

With the advances in fuel-efficient vehicles, that revenue is dwindling fast, he said. Prasad predicted the state is about 10 years away from a “gas tax cliff.”

Although Floridians are driving the same amount, they are using less gas. That means less money goes into the state’s Transportation Trust Fund.

Prasad said one solution is for the state to offer incentives to counties that join forces to fund transportation projects.

“It’s important that we think about transportation as a regional idea,” he said. “Congestion doesn’t end at the county line.”

Another solution is to move toward more user-financed infrastructure such as toll roads — and give local governments the flexibility to build them, Prasad said.

“Tolls are user fees,” he said. “You use the road, you pay for it. You don’t use the road, you don’t pay for it.”

Prasad said he intends to propose to state lawmakers in the coming days a plan to form three new tollway authorities, two of them in Northwest Florida.

The Okaloosa-Bay Regional Tollway Authority would encompass Okaloosa, Walton and Bay counties. The Northwest Florida Regional Tollway Authority would encompass Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. The third, the Suncoast Regional Tollway Authority, would include Citrus, Levy, Marion and Alachua counties.

Prasad said his proposal needs the support of Northwest Florida and its lawmakers. He also urged officials to be willing “to use new tool boxes” and get creative with the way they finance transportation improvements.

In a question-and-answer session after his talk, he said the DOT has no plans to consolidate the state’s bridge authorities under Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise. But he noted that his toll road proposal calls for the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority to be placed under the umbrella of the proposed Okaloosa-Bay Regional Tollway Authority.

That move “would allow the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority to expand its footprint,” Prasad said.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Dept. of Transportation secretary to propose toll authorities

FORT WALTON BEACH — Okaloosa County commissioners will form a nine-member advisory committee to help decide how RESTORE Act money should be spent locally.

Take a look at the meeting agenda and its PowerPoint presentation. >>

Commissioners discussed the county’s treatment of RESTORE Act funds during a workshop Tuesday night attended by a large crowd of local business owners, government officials, educators and residents.

County Commissioner Dave Parisot, who briefed the board on the RESTORE Act, said the county must demonstrate that it has a plan in place to keep state and federal officials from “interceding and making decisions for us.”

Although the fines against BP for the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill have not been finalized, the county should begin developing its multi-year plan for how the money will be spent.

“We must press forward with planning activities to be ready when the funds are made available,” Parisot said.Under the RESTORE Act, which was approved last year, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas will receive 80 percent of all the fines levied against BP for its role in the environmental disaster. The eight

Northwest Florida counties directly touched by the oil spill will receive 75 percent of Florida’s share.

For example, if BP were assessed $10 billion in fines, Okaloosa, Walton, Santa Rosa, Escambia, Bay, Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla counties would receive about $420 million. Of that total, Okaloosa County’s share would be about $63.9 million.

The RESTORE Act requires that every county establish an advisory committee and distribute its funds according to specific rules set forth by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Under a tentative consensus, Okaloosa commissioners decided that its advisory committee will include representatives from cities, education, economic development, chambers of commerce, the lodging and tourism industry, the seafood and fishing industry and environmental protection.

Committee members will be selected by the commissioners through an application process except for the city representatives, which will be selected by the Okaloosa County League of Cities, and the economic representative, which will be chosen by the Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County.

Commissioners are set to approve the committee’s structure at its Feb. 5 meeting. The board also will discuss whether to hire a company to help guide the county in allocating the RESTORE Act money or use a new contracted staff position.

Most of the commissioners voiced support for hiring a consulting firm to help develop its spending plan.

When Commissioner Nathan Boyles noted that a staff position might be cheaper, Commissioner Kelly Windes said that shouldn’t be the county’s top concern approaching the RESTORE Act funds.

“This is not the time where you want to try and save a penny,” Windes said.

He said the county was going to receive “so many millions of dollars” that it needs to have a national firm with the proper expertise to oversee the distribution.

County Administrator Jim Curry told the board the RESTORE Act money will present a challenge for the county.

"I think this is a major event that is going to take place in our community,” said Curry, who added that it would be smart to “bring in some expertise to help us craft a plan.”

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa to form committee for RESTORE Act (DOCUMENT)

FORT WALTON BEACH — Last year state Rep. Matt Gaetz was able to neuter but not kill a state requirement that Florida service stations pump only gasoline containing ethanol.

His fellow lawmakers refused to take the 2008 Renewable Fuel Standard Act off the books, but they did agree to remove provisions through which merchants could be punished for ignoring it.

“Only in government do you get a compromise like I got,” Gaetz told the Okaloosa League of Women Voters recently. “We still have the mandate, but you don’t get in trouble for violating it.”

This year he and state Sen. Greg Evers of Baker have vowed to try again to do away with the ethanol mandate.

Gaetz, who has already filed House Bill 4001 to eliminate the ethanol mandate, said he learned Tuesday that Adam Putnam, commissioner of Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, was dropping his opposition to it.

“Last year Commissioner Putnam’s opposition was a major hurdle for us,” said Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach.Gaetz said Putnam decided to drop his opposition after learning that BP, which had considered building a major ethanol refining plant in Central Florida, was backing off the idea.

“They’ve decided ethanol production in Florida is not viable,” he said.

The Renewable Fuel Standard Act was passed in response to a federal decree that states begin moving toward using gasoline containing more ethanol.

What Gaetz has called “a feel-good attempt to use alternative energy” became state law, he told the League of Women Voters, at a time in Florida when “Gov. Crist was being politically romanced by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in California.”

Ethanol is a product created by fermenting and distilling starch crops that is said to help lessen the amount of carbon dioxide released in the air as fossil fuels are consumed.

When the act was implemented in 2010, all the gasoline sold in Florida was required to contain between 9 and 10 percent ethanol.

A ruling by a Federal Court of Appeals this week opened the door to distribution of fuels with a 15 percent ethanol concentration, The Hill website reported Tuesday.

Christina Martin, executive vice president of the national Renewable Fuels Association, said, “Now is not the time for Florida to stick its head in the sand and deny its role as a potential leader in biofuels.”

“At this time, next generation ethanol companies are starting up like the one in Vero Beach, which is currently generating 400 direct and indirect jobs and will result in 60 full-time jobs,” Martin said in an email.

"The state is implementing a vision to improve infrastructure for moving ethanol product," Martin said.

“Florida should be proud.  It should lead, not run from a future that is more energy independent and economically secure,” she said.

The Gaetz-Evers bill introduced last year added language making that there would be no penalty for distributors or retailers who provide gasoline without ethanol, Gaetz said.

He argued last year that ethanol had proven to be hard on some engines and reduced a vehicle’s miles-per-gallon performance, and that the energy required to produce ethanol negated any savings that might be realized.

He said he wants to finish last year’s work “to send the right message of freedom in every corner of the market.”

Gaetz also said eliminating the Renewable Fuel Standard Act will clear up any existing controversy for gasoline distributors and retailers.

“I think at a minimum they are confused,” he said.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: State Rep. Matt Gaetz continues fight to end ethanol mandate

LAUREL HILL — The city’s elected leaders will discuss the north county community’s budget during a Jan. 15 workshop at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

However, one way they’ll help pay down a $126,000 debt is by giving up their pay.

City leaders on Tuesday voted to contribute their compensation toward the debt.

Mayor Joan Smith monthly would give up $200, whereas each council member would defer $100, City Clerk Anita Miller said.

Council members Larry Hendren, Clifton Hall and Betty Williamson voted in favor of deferring the pay; Willie Mae Toles and Robby Adams dissented.

"I don't have any problem with anyone who decides to do that," Adams said. "I don't see why everybody else should decide for the others."

"Were trying to get the debt paid off," Hall said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill city leaders giving up their compensation to pay down debt

LAUREL HILL — City officials on Tuesday will move toward placing a dissolution ordinance on a future ballot.

Two items on the meeting agenda pertain to a proposed ordinance that would allow Laurel Hill residents to vote on the whether the north community should remain a city.

One item involves discussing a fact sheet that would list pros and cons of dissolving Laurel Hill.

Council Chairperson Larry Hendren is working on the fact sheet, which would be mailed to residents after he gets fellow city and Okaloosa County officials’ approval.

"This will give the citizens insight before they make a decision on whether or not they want a dissolution," he said.

Residents would receive the information in advance of a March 2014 referendum.

In addition, the council on Tuesday will discuss creating a timeline for placing the ordinance on next year’s ballot. The timeline would include circulating the fact sheet and the scheduling the ordinance’s first and second readings before the matter appears on the ballot.

The council at a December town hall heard residents’ input on the matter. Most attendees favored dissolution.

Those who support such an ordinance hope dissolution would lead to improving the city's roads, particularly Steel Mill Creek Road and portions of New Ebenezer Road.

The timeline includes possible application for federal and state grants that would help fund road repairs.

The council on Tuesday will discuss possibly applying for a $600,000 Small Cities Community Development Block Grant for road repairs, Hendren said.

The council has unsuccessfully applied for the grant for the past two years.

"(Laurel Hill) would have most likely received the grant due to the amount of points they earned during the application process," Sonya Negley, president of Green Consulting and Solutions LLC, said.

However, the city lost consideration in 2012 for not having a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permit submitted with the grant application.

"That money could provide a lot of street repair," Hendren said. "I think everyone in the council will be for it."

Should the city get the grant, Hendren suggested the grant would provide timelier road improvements than the county could provide.  

"It would be awhile before the county gets out here to repair our streets," Hendren said.

If a dissolution ordinance passes, roadwork wouldn't immediately happen, Okaloosa County officials have said.

"It’s not like we show up the next day and start repairing the roads," Okaloosa County Public Works Director John Hofstad said at the December town hall. "We have a process we have to go through."

Protocol would require county commissioners’ consideration and approval of the project and its funding.

Want to go?

The Laurel Hill City Council will meet 6 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall,  8209 State Road 85 N.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill council to push for dissolution ordinance Tuesday