City Council has discussed pursuing legal action on a special pension plan since 2012. It’s been pursuing a balanced budget for the past couple of months.
Both issues will now take a step back after a decision and some key news came down Tuesday.
The first part deals with the often-criticized senior staff voluntary retirement plan, a perk the Police and Fire Pension Board created in 2000. It has three members, including fund administrator John Keane.
In 2012, former General Counsel Cindy Laquidara offered a legal opinion that the fund wasn’t authorized to create such a plan. Since then, council passed one resolution to pursue the issue that went nowhere. Another attempt was through a resolution that urged a remedy by the Florida Legislature, which didn’t address the issue.
That leaves the latest attempt, introduced in November, for the general counsel to commence litigation about whether the fund mismanaged or took unauthorized actions by creating the plan.
Instead of a vote Tuesday, it will head back to the committee level. Finance Committee Chair Bill Gulliford said the issue could have financial implications and should be reviewed by the group.
It was the fault of the 2014 Rules Committee chair that didn’t happen, he said — and as he was that chairman, he took the blame.
Not everyone agreed with the decision.
Council member John Crescimbeni, a co-sponsor of the resolution, said the matter was simply finding out from a judge whether the board acted legally or illegally. There shouldn’t be any direct costs because city attorneys, not outside counsel, will be used.
“If we’re not going to enforce our binding opinions, then what good are they?” he asked.
The motion to move it to the Finance Committee passed 13-6.
It isn’t the only matter heading back to the committee.
Gulliford announced before the meeting the group also will have to revisit the budget it has been working on the past two months. The multi-hour sessions concluded last week, but the latest figures from the Property Appraiser’s Office show a dip in revenue of more than $320,000.
Gulliford said he found that out Tuesday afternoon from the city auditor, which means the group will have to take money from other places it’s tentatively allocated.
He said it’ll be up to the committee as a whole, but suggested that some of the last funds provided could be the first looked at. In the final day of hearings, the committee provided additional funding for sidewalks and drainage projects, vehicle purchases to offset borrowing and to restore pay cuts for non-union members.
Property tax revenue is consistently updated during the final weeks heading to the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year. Gulliford said the number only will go one direction.
“Hopefully, this is the last ‘down’,” he said.
The Finance Committee meets Monday.
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