5-9-22 BOC Budget Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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Sports Complex With the development of the sports complex, the County will need to review how we maintain Parks and Recreation Facilities in the FY 2023-24 budget. At one time Parks and Recreation maintained their fields while General Services maintained the grass and landscaping around other facilities. In 1992, these services were combined into one at General Services. Due to the size of the Sports Complex and the maintenance required, Parks and Recreation should take over responsibility for not only maintaining the Complex but all parks in the system. Other County facilities can be maintained by either reducing General Service staff, or by contracting with a private company. Due to ongoing capital costs for equipment, contracting maybe a better option if General Services is no longer required to maintain the grounds for all park facilities. Based on the Brailsford and Dunleavey Report which was completed in 2015, the estimated net increase in expenditures for the Complex would be around $350,000. The plan staff is working on would have a Complex Director, a program/marketing specialist, 4 full-time maintenance staff and 2 part-time maintenance staff. This staff would not only maintain the Complex property, but all Parks and Recreation property. Added maintenance, utility and personnel expenditures would be around $650,000 per year. This amount would be partially offset by revenue generated from field use and the reduction of expenditures in General Services. Although we are hopeful to get down to the amount of net expenditures from the 2015 report we believe the amount will be closer to $450,000 per year. This amount will need to be budgeted in the FY 2023-24 budget. Buggy Factory Building The Buggy Factory will generate rent revenue for Lee County Government when purchased. The County will still bill the City of Sanford and SAGA for the space they occupy at the facility. In discussions with both entities, it will be agreed that we will hold the current rent at the $13.81 per square foot amount in place for the 2022 year. I will be asking them for a ten-year lease. For an old building, the renovation that Progressive Contractors completed has made the building very energy efficient. In addition, the facility was making a profit and if purchased the revenues from the leases to the City and SAGA will continue to provide revenues to cover expenditures and debt service. Essentially after the initial 10 years nearly 50 percent of the County's investment will be paid back. Unless major repairs are needed, additional revenue will not be needed to operate the facility after our initial investment based on the rent payments. That initial investment is estimated at $5,125,000. Organizational Growth In 2009, the County needed to reduce expenditures by$6,000,000 to balance our budget due to the great recession. With this reduction came the elimination of 36 positions in the County. The County "flattened"the organization eliminating most middle management positions and additional support personnel. In the period since this time a few middle management positions and a few support staff have been added back. However, from a supervisor/management perspective the organization remains very lean. This will need to change if we want to adequately support our operations. As the County grows, the services we are providing are growing as well. We have added many front-line employees that now need additional supervision and leadership. Administration and Finance are the