Fall 2006 - City of Coral Springs

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features The Future ofTransportation Illustration by Traci Parrish roward voters will decide next month whether they think traffic problems are bad enough to pay Ban additional one percent in sales tax for improvements to mass transit over the next 25 years. On June 6, the Coral Springs City Commission passed a resolution supporting the sales tax increase to expand the mass transit system. Later that month, Broward County Commissioners agreed with a 5-4 vote to place the 1% sales tax increase referendum on the November ballot, giving residents the chance to be heard. With an extra 600,000 people expected by 2030, the advocacy group People for Progress said they are confident that the sales tax increase is the only way to improve traffic congestion. Raising the sales tax from 6% to 7% would initially raise about $260 million each year that would be spent on a new rail service, downtown streetcars, express shuttles to Miami and Boca Raton, shorter wait for buses and synchronized streetlights. The remaining sales tax increase would pay for about half of the transit improvement costs, eventually raising $460 million a year. The rest of the cost would be paid through fares, federal and state aid, and the money the county currently spends on transit. Construction would not begin until 2013 at the earliest, but People for Progress schedule in their plans immediate transit improvements. Supporters say some of the money in the first year of sales tax will be spend on express bus service from park-and-ride lots in Miramar, Weston and Coral Springs to Boca Raton, Hialeah and downtown Fort Lauderdale. By 2030, the county bus fleet is expected to double, and will include 78 extra routes. The plans also include light-rail along State Road 7 from Atlantic Boulevard to Interstate 595, with spurs into downtown Fort Lauderdale and Sawgrass Mills by 2015. By 2018, a commuter rail service along the Florida East Coast Railroad corridor will be implemented. If the referendum passes, the measure would have a profound effect on transportation issues in the City. Initial estimates are that Coral Springs would benefit from approximately $1.9 million in new improvements. The City would also receive an annual allocation through 2032. Staff will work on a plan of how best to utilize these funds if they become available. Residents continue to express concerns regarding traffic conditions and that’s why the City developed a new priority for Fiscal Year 2007 titled Traffic, Mobility & Connectivity. An ongoing initiative is traffic management and to support the construction of Downtown, exclusive right-turn lanes near the Sample Road and University Drive intersection will be added. Broward County will also install signal mast arms by 2008. Construction of new dual-purpose pathways for pedestrians and bike riders will link the new Downtown, the Medical Center, schools, churches, government offices, library and Mullins Park. Since the development of “The Walk”, pedestrian traffic has increased between Starbucks and Barnes & Noble on NW 28 Street making it difficult to cross. As a result, a textured crosswalk with in-street lighting and additional signage will be added to make pedestrian traffic more obvious to drivers. A new initiative is street indexing signage, which will aid motorists in finding their way around the City’s main commercial areas. A sample indoor sign will be installed prior to the manufacturing of additional signs. It’s in the voters’ hands, so get out and vote! For more information on the proposed sales tax increase, visit keepbrowardmoving.com. 2 • Coral Springs • Fall 2006 Visit coralsprings.org
Voters to decide on City Charter amendment referendum This November 7, Coral Springs voters will have one referendum question related to the City of Coral Springs on the ballot for their consideration, relating to compensation paid to the City Commission. The question deals with two separate issues, how compensation should be set and how much that compensation should be. The referendum question asks voters to decide if they wish to allow the Commission to change Commission salaries by ordinance rather than by referendum and if they wish to increase the rates to $30,000 a year for the mayor and $28,000 a year for each commissioner. An ordinance is voted on and passed by the City Commission, where a referendum must be approved by the voters. In addition, the proposed amounts in the referendum question were subject to a review by a Compensation Committee and an outside accounting firm, and were to be set at the lesser of the amounts above or those recommended by the committee. The Compensation Committee, comprised of eleven Coral Springs residents, was established in July and worked with Cynthia Borders-Byrd, CPA, an outside accounting consultant. The Committee convened their first meeting on August 10, 2006. After three meetings, they reached a unanimous recommendation, that the mayor should be paid $30,000 annually with an increase every two years tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and that other commissioners should receive $28,000 per year, with the same limit on annual increases. The main reasons for recommending this charter amendment was to provide parity for Coral Springs’ elected officials with other local jurisdictions and to make future changes to Commissioner compensation through ordinance. Research by the outside accounting firm verified that Coral Springs’ compensation was insufficient and low by local standards, as can be seen in the table above. Some Commissioners have also noted that officeholders commit a lot of time to public service, and that equitable Referendum Question On the November 7 ballot, the referendum question to amend the City’s Charter will appear as follows: “Section 4.08 of the City Charter, ‘Compensation and expense allowance,’ is revised permitting the Commission to amend the compensation and expense allowances for the mayor/commissioners by ordinance, subject to the recommendations of an outside accounting firm and a citizen-based Compensation Committee. For the fiscal year 2006-2007, the mayor’s compensation shall be $30,000 and the commissioners’ compensation shall be $28,000, or an amount recommended by the accounting firm and Compensation Committee, whichever is less.” Yes for Approval No for Rejection 2006 Commission Salaries (for Broward County cities with populations greater than 50,000) City Population Mayor Commissioners Ft. Lauderdale 171,344 $35,000 $30,000 Pembroke Pines 151,045 44,246 22,566 Hollywood 143,025 38,000 28,000 Coral Springs 126,852 18,441 14,752 Miramar 108,387 30,796 23,800 Pompano Beach 101,712 30,000 28,500 Sunrise 89,736 32,881 32,881 Plantation* 85,157 112,142 28,000 Davie 83,762 9,179 9,179 Deerfield Beach 75,160 30,410 25,380 Weston 61,042 13,000 10,000 Tamarac 58,711 29,000 25,000 Lauderhill 58,637 24,990 19,992 Margate 54,982 29,393 28,719 *Plantation has a “strong mayor” form of government, where the mayor directs the day-to-day operations of the City, rather than having a City Manager. compensation would help increase the pool of qualified candidates and at the same time recognize the level of sacrifice demanded of elected officials. In proposing this referendum, Commissioners have demonstrated that the City has accomplished much over the past decade, such as winning two Florida Governor’s Sterling Awards, being the first Florida League of Cities City of Excellence, being recognized by America’s Promise as one of the 100 Best Communities for Youth, and making Money Magazine’s Best Places to Live list as the top city in Florida, all while holding the tax rate steady as the lowest in the County for full-service cities. During that time, Commission salaries went up an average of 2% per year. In addition, the City is well-known for its conservative fiscal management, having been reaffirmed by all three Wall Street rating agencies with AAA credit ratings in September 2006. For the first forty years of the City, from the institution of the City’s charter in 1963 through 2003, salaries for elected officials were determined by the City Commission. In 2002, a Charter Review Committee was convened that made a number of recommendations to change the City’s Charter. Those recommendations were ratified by voters in fiscal year 2003. As part of their proposed slate of charter amendments, the Commission’s compensation was made subject to referendum, rather than by ordinance, and was locked in at the then current rates, with increases limited to the CPI. In the end, the Commission decided that whether the Commissioner salaries should be set by referendum or ordinance was a question that the voters should decide. For more information on this referendum and answers to frequently asked questions, visit coralsprings.org/voting or call 954-344-1065. features Data provided by Cynthia Borders-Byrd, CPA Watch CityTV Channel 25 Fall 2006 • Coral Springs • 3
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Fall 2006 - City of Coral Springs

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