Commissioner Murman mentioned in this Creative Loafing article on HART:

HART board approves budget that will raise taxes and reduce some services

Posted by Mitch Perry on Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 2:50 PM

Sandy Murman said she didnt want to balance HARTs budget on Hillsborough homeowners.

When Hillsborough county voters rejected the penny transit tax last year, officials with HART knew it would have a major impact on their budget going forward.

That impact was felt directly today after the HART board approved the 2012 budget that will include a 3.7 percent reduction in service, and an increase in Hillsborough homeowners property taxes, from .4682 to .5.

HART’s Katharine Eagan, who runs the agency’s Service Development Division, gave a detailed presentation to board members on the staff’s recommendations. She said that there would be some reduction in current services – such as eliminating service on holidays like Christmas and New Years, as well as reducing bus routes on Sunday evenings. The bulk of south and east county would have no weekend service. There would be no south Tampa service east of Dale Mabry, and only hourly weekend service in the Town ‘N Country/northwest Hillsborough region.

There would be some reduction of employees through attrition, but there are no plans to eliminate any other workers.

Voting for an increase on ad valorem taxes is always a sensitive issue, and these days, it’s become a third rail of sorts for Republicans. The only two votes on the board who voted no on the budget were the only two GOP elected officials, County Commissioners Sandy Murman and Mark Sharpe.

Their Democratic party colleague on the BOCC, Kevin Beckner, said he would proudly support the millage increase. He said that though he doesn’t have kids in the school system, he understands fully why it’s important that some of his taxes go to support public education, and said that was his same philosophy in terms of supporting HART, even though he doesn’t utilize their services.

Looking for potentially new sources of revenue, Commissioner Murman suggested buses that would drop off sports fans who go to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg or to the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. But HART officials say that federal law prohibits that – later attorney Mary Ann Stiles suggested that the agency’s lobbyist seek a waiver from the feds on that potential source of new revenue.

HART’s interim CEO Philip Hale, who took over for David Armijo back in April, said one reason why the agency is facing this a tough budget situation is that is that it’s been drawing off of reserves in recent years. “We’ve been kicking the can down the road,” he said, sounding like members of Congress discussing Medicare and other daunting issues in the federal budget.

Board member Fran Davin noticed that there was no funds allocated in the budget for recruitment for a new CEO, prompting her to ask Hale if he was amenable to staying on for the next year or two.

“If you’ll have me,” he replied.

During her presentation Eagan scribbled down suggestions for possible ways to save money from other board members. John Byczek suggested cutting expenses withthe agency’s health care program might turn up some savings. In addition to the plan paying 100 percent benefits for HART staffers, the plan also pays 70 percent for that staffer’s family members who sign up on it.

Another proposal that was on the table was a 3.2 percent step pay increase for drivers and others with the Amalgamated Transit Union. Commissioner Murman said she was puzzled by that request, since it was in the same budget where staffing and services were being reduced. HART’s Eagan said that a one year freeze on that step increase would be implemented, with the board’s consent, which they obviously supported.

There is the chance that the budget could change by the time it must be voted on in late September. There will be pubic hearings in August.

Coffee with the Commissioner

Come out and meet me for coffee at Sava Café on Friday, June 10th at 8:30 a.m.

Share your ideas for our community and our county.

I look forward to seeing you there.

When: Friday, June 10, 2011 – 8:30 a.m.

Where: Sava Café, 143 Harbor Village Lane, Apollo Beach, FL 33572

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tribune article on the Regent:

Hillsborough commissioners want Regent to disclose financial records

By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 02, 2011

TAMPA —

Hillsborough County commissioners want to take a closer look into not only how taxpayers’ money contributed to the construction of The Regent but also how profits from the opulent structure in Riverview are used.

“I’d like to know the financial flows of how those funds are used and how those monies are accounted for,” Commissioner Kevin Beckner said of the rental fees charged by The Regent. “There were public funds used to construct this. I think it’s absolutely appropriate we ask this.”

Commissioners voted unanimously for the Clerk of the Court to conduct an audit and assessment on The Regent and the Brandon nonprofit that runs the building at 6437 Watson Road.

The audit would delve into the financial records of the nonprofit Brandon Community Advantage Center and trace how $2.5 million from the county’s Community Investment Tax was used to build The Regent.

Another $3.9 million came from state and federal grants.

How various county departments approved the project during its development will also be part of the audit and assessment. Dan Pohto, the clerk’s audit director, told commissioners he would report back to the board with his findings in about 90 days.

“We need a clear process,” Commissioner Sandy Murman said of approving CIT funds. “Maybe an accountability check-off sheet. I do believe the process and management of CIT money is really an issue here.”

The $2.5 million in county money for The Regent was initially approved by commissioners in 2008. The issue was a consent agenda item, which is a long list of items that the commission usually votes on as a package without a public hearing.

Beckner said the information he and the board was given at the time was that The Regent could be used as a hurricane shelter and a community center for Brandon.

Commissioner Les Miller said today that that kind of oversight must stop.

“This was placed on the consent agenda, which just flew through this body,” he said. “We have to do better.”

At the meeting today, Pohto provided commissioners with a copy of the scope of service between the county and the Brandon nonprofit regarding how the tax money would be used.

The agreement listed only that the $2.5 million from the county would be used for construction costs.

“I don’t see anything about it being a hurricane shelter,” Pohto said. “That came after the fact.”

Miller said the document left him baffled.

“This is the scope of service?” Miller said. “Is this supposed to outline what this building is supposed to be?”

The nonprofit that runs The Regent has come under fire from commissioners and other community leaders for not being accessible as a community center.

Although funded with public dollars, The Regent’s upper floor is rented for lavish banquets, wedding receptions and parties with rental fees of up to $4,250. Hillsborough Community College uses space on the building’s lower floor for classrooms.

State Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Riverview, said her office had fielded complaints from groups and organizations who wanted to rent out rooms at The Regent, but the fees were too high.

A local Boy Scout troop was told a $700 fee was needed to hold a two-hour event on a Tuesday night and a women’s counseling group was asked to pay $3,000 to use the building for a few hours, Burgin said.

County Commission Chairman Al Higginbotham asked County Administrator Mike Merrill earlier this month to investigate how county money was spent on a building that boasts a 10,000-square-foot ballroom with hardwood floors, 20-foot tall ceilings with chandeliers, grand staircase and outdoor terrace. Commissioners later expanded the investigation and asked the Clerk of the Court to conduct an audit.

Before Merrill was appointed county administrator, he was director of a county department that approved the business plan for The Regent. The plan outlined the extravagant high-end details of the buildings and how its upper floor would be rented for private events.

Merrill said he had one person in the department who reviewed all the business plans and the purpose of the plan was to “look at the operation feasibility of a project. Could the nonprofit that was proposing the project afford to operate it? He would focus on that and nothing else.”

The business plan said the nonprofit estimated $444,750 in revenue in the first year of operation. The plan did not include a commitment for private money to help pay for the building and its furnishings. Neither did it mention a commitment for community programs.

Merrill said the Debt Management Department, which reviewed the business plan, was not interested in design or engineering.

“”It’s really a situation where the scope is limited to looking at feasibility of operation,” he said.

The Brandon nonprofit has since outlined a six-step plan to make The Regent more accessible to the public.

The steps include the creation of a task force of local community leaders to provide input on programming and outreach, revamping The Regent’s rental prices and contacting groups across eastern Hillsborough County to offer the building as a possible venue and ask what their needs are.

Commissioner Murman quoted in this story from News Channel 8 on Brandon Community Advantage Center:

Merrill headed department that OK’d Regent plan

By STEVE ANDREWS | News Channel 8
Published: June 01, 2011

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The opulence of The Regent should come as no surprise to Mike Merrill, Hillsborough’s county administrator.

In 2009, Merrill was director of a county department that approved the business plan for the $7 million upscale community center near Brandon, in Riverview.. The plan outlined the extravagant high-end details of the building and how its upper floor would be rented for weddings, receptions and other private events.

Now, Merrill is overseeing an investigation of whether Hillsborough County’s $2.5 million for The Regent was spent appropriately.

The county required that the business plan be approved by its debt management department before it provided $2.5 million to the Brandon Community Advantage Center, the nonprofit group building The Regent.

“I don’t recall reading the whole thing myself,” Merrill says of the business plan.

He said he had one person in the department who reviewed all business plans.

“The purpose of it was to look at the operational feasibility of a project,” Merrill said. “Could the nonprofit that was proposing the project afford to operate it? He would focus on that and nothing else.”

County commissioners recently expressed surprise that tax dollars were the only source of funding used by the Brandon organization to pay for The Regent.

State and federal emergency management agencies contributed $3.9 million toward the project.  Hillsborough Community College provided $750,000.  The Brandon nonprofit group deeded the building to HCC once construction was finished.

The business plan said the nonprofit entity estimated $444,750 in revenue in the first year of operation. The plan also pointed out that the building’s design plan included a grand event space opening onto a covered terrace, with a grand outdoor staircase.

“Adding to the stately nature of the (Regent) are its classical columns at the porte cochere, open balusters at parapet walls, classical entablatures, and marble tile finish,” the business plan stated.

The plan did not include a commitment for private money to help pay for the building and its furnishings.  Neither did it mention a commitment for community programs.

The Brandon nonprofit group has said it will have more of a focus on community programs in the future.

Merrill said the debt management department was not interested in design or engineering.

“It’s really a situation where the scope is limited to looking at feasibility of operation,” he said.

County Commissioner Sandy Murman took office after the deal to build The Regent was approved.  She says there should have been more county oversight. “You could tell that they were trying to make it look like a private facility more than a public community center, and that should’ve been the red flag that went up,” she said.

The business plan presented to the county stated that the building’s features “establish the (Regent) as a prime venue for formal parties, … weddings, graduation celebrations, anniversary gatherings, grand reunions, elaborate functions, community get-togethers” and more.

The plan was submitted to the county by Earl Lennard, current county supervisor of elections, who was working as a consultant for the nonprofit group at the time.

The plan also showed that the group intended to keep less upscale events on the ground floor of the building. “The so-called ‘community room’ will ensure that groups that tend to be more ‘messy,’ such as children’s theatre performances and rehearsals and scouting luncheons, will be accommodated in spaces that are outfitted less expensively,” the business plan said.

The plan also stated that the building’s attributes put “it in great stead to compete in the grand space venue market that includes such Tampa options as Higgins Hall, the A La Carte Event Pavilion, Pepin’s Hospitality Centre, University Area Community Center and Centro Asturiano de Tampa.”

“We don’t need our public facilities to be competing with private,” Murman says.