Among the changes put forth for a vote are a supermajority for raising taxes and the unifying of ordinances to state laws.
By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published October 27, 2004
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH - Residents can vote yea or nay on Nov. 2 on a raft of charter amendments. No candidates are up for election.
All but one of the 16 proposed amendments to city law came from a charter review committee. Here is a list, translated into ordinary language, of what each amendment does.
1. Prevents city employees or commissioners from supporting any candidate or referendum issue while employed or on city business. "We're not supposed to be implying that the city has any position on any candidate or any issue," commissioner Bill Ockunzzi said.
2. Shifts the terms city manager's employment from the city charter to the employment contract. This is an attempt to escape redundancy.
3. Requires a supermajority (four out of five votes) before the City Commission can raise taxes by 6 percent or more over the current rollback rate. "Rollback" refers to the tax rate needed to bring in the previous year's tax revenue. This is the only amendment proposed by the commission.
4 and 5. Requires a supermajority before imposing any taxes or fees not already in place by Jan. 1. Commissioners wanting to impose a tax on, say, utilities, or to assess a stormwater fee, would need four out of five votes to do so.
6. Removes a section from the charter about local improvements and levying assessment - allowing the city, for example, to pave a segment of road and charge neighboring residents. Such provisions already exist in state law.
7. Lessens the number of signatures required to get an issue up for referendum, from 15 percent of voters to 10 percent. Rationale is the same as No. 6 - it's already in state law, which supersedes local ordinance in any case.
8. Removes the discretionary charter review committee from having to meet every two years. A committee would convene every 10 years, but the City Commission would have the option of ordering a charter review every five years. The idea is to strike a balance between two years and 10.
9. Requires the City Commission, each October, to discuss a "long-range plan for the city and its quality of life." This would ensure that commissioners come around to big-picture issues at least once a year.
10. Establishes as a condition of hiring for a city attorney, at least two years of city government experience.
11. Requires that meetings conform with established procedures and rules about quorums. Boiled down, this means that at least three votes are necessary to pass an ordinance. If only three of the five commissioners showed up to a meeting, a measure could still pass, provided all three commissioners voted for it. But no more ordinances could pass on a 2-1 vote.
12. Provides for any commissioner under threat of removal to present a defense.
14. (Amendment 13 was not approved.) Downsizes the formality of establishing polling places, from ordinance to resolution. This reduces the number required readings before the commission from two to one. "You don't need two readings to establish a date and time and place for the election," Ockunzzi said.
15. Removes the mayor from taking command over police during times of emergency. State law already gives county commissions certain powers during hurricane evacuations and other emergencies. Indian Rocks Beach contracts its law enforcement services with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department. This provision attempts to bring an old local ordinance in line with state law.
16. Changes the title of the vice-mayor to "vice mayor-commissioner". The mayor's full title is "mayor-commissioner."
17. Formalizes the separation of duties for some city employees. This affects the city manager's job description. For their essential duties of counting money or keeping records, the treasurer and the city clerk report to the City Commission. But both of these jobs also entail duties for which they report to the city manager. "What this is saying is that the treasurer and the clerk work for the city manager, with the exception of the narrow duties prescribed in the charter for those positions," Ockunzzi said.
