Taxes are one of the key reasons many people first choose to move to Florida. The lack of a state income tax, moderate sales taxes and business taxes, and state-wide property taxes below the national average are all attractive reasons to call Florida home.

At the same time, however, taxes in South Florida—particularly property taxes—are often considerably higher than locations elsewhere in the state. In Broward County alone, the median property tax bill comes in around $2,664 based on a $250,000 median home value.¹ That’s more than 60 percent of the state median of $1,773 for a similarly valued home in other Florida communities.

Those extra taxes go a long way toward making South Florida the most desirable destination in the state, but it also means there’s not much room for cities and municipalities to increase taxes further to compensate for inflation, rising costs, or instituting new programs. The city of Miramar, however, has found a solution by approaching these challenges from a new angle—the city’s new Comprehensive Assessment of Revenues and Expenses (C.A.R.E) program. Rather than raise taxes on property, introduce an increase in sales tax, or pursue other means of revenue that negatively impact residents, the C.A.R.E. program seeks to recapture revenue, optimize budgets, and minimize unnecessary expenses or waste through employee involvement, analysis, and execution.

“Serving the community well and what it costs to provide those services has always been a delicate balance,” shares Vernon E. Hargray, Miramar city manager, and one of the lead public officials behind the C.A.R.E. program. “We must always recognize that our residents have entrusted us with significant portions of their income in exchange for maintaining an excellent quality of life. That is ultimately how we add value to those who live, work, and play in Miramar.”

The Beginnings of C.A.R.E

In 2018, Hargray identified a number of items that would need to be addressed if Miramar were to continue a trajectory of positive growth and advance its position as a major South Florida city. Among these needs were enhanced work environments for employees, improved and expanded best practices for government administration, optimizing the city’s human and financial capital, and additional quality of life benefits for the community at large.

“Many cities struggle with exactly these same needs,” says Hargray. “Often, the decision is to put together a task force to address one issue at a time. It’s a good-enough approach, but I felt strongly we needed something more holistic if we wanted it to be not only effective but also sustainable for years to come.”

At the foundation of the program, Hargray identified four pillars for measuring success:

1. The new program must ensure crucial identified needs were met.

2. The program should also be used to identify areas of inefficiencies within the city.

3. Inefficiencies must then be addressed and corrected to eliminate waste and better utilize resources.

4. With the city running in an optimized manner, the program should create opportunities for financial savings and revenue generation. 



How C.A.R.E. Works

To make C.A.R.E. a reality, Hargray sought out Kelvin L. Baker Sr., ICMA-CM, and assistant city manager—one of the most experienced professionals in leading programs as expansive as this one would be. “The C.A.R.E. Program is an internationally proven program that includes strategic planning, goalsetting, and implementation of viable ideas while empowering all employees, residents, and the business community to participate in the innovative advancement of the city,” explains Hargray. “Mr. Baker’s experience and knowledge in running a program of this scope and size is how C.A.R.E. was able to deliver abundant financial gains, advancements for the business community, enhanced employee relations and interactions, and leadership development opportunities in city government so quickly since the program was launched in November 2018.”

Baker’s approach was simple, direct, and actionable—create a program that is employee-driven to encourage participation, teach accountability and responsiveness, and instill leadership across all levels. The C.A.R.E program starts with employee participation with full support from the city manager. This module allows employees to see the positive impact in their area, as well as other areas of the city. It also allows employees to engage in “out of the box” thinking in areas outside of their daily departmental roles. To initiate the process, employees make “suggestions” via suggestion forms/cards submitted to the C.A.R.E. department. Once received, the C.A.R.E. department filters them based on category. These include:

• Workplace efficiency.

• Expenditures.

• Revenues.

• Public/private partnerships.

• Grant programs.

• Reserves.

• Volunteer programs.

• Energy policy.

• Conservation policy.

• Capital improvement plan.

Each category is overseen by a committee comprised of staff members from a variety of departments. Disciplines such as practice leadership, engagement, decision-making, teamwork, and more are built into the submission process, during which time committees receive, review, vote, process, and implement recommendations deemed viable, upon approval by the city manager. In addition, some of the suggestions are easy to implement, so the city has used the opportunity to take action on ideas at the supervisor, assistant director, director, and assistant city manager levels without the need to request the city manager’s approval. This has increased the number of implemented suggestions while decreasing the approval timeline.

The beauty of the C.A.R.E. program is that it allows individual employees to contribute suggestions and ideas to those areas in which they have the most interest, expertise, or connections to facilitate change. “Having multiple categories under the C.A.R.E. umbrella also allows us to be responsive to new or emerging needs and opportunities as they occur,” says Baker. “For instance, we may not need to make capital improvements every year. Or, we may be approached by an organization hoping to expand solar power. We cannot predict when or where future needs may happen, but with C.A.R.E. we have the framework for addressing them in a timely manner.”

Results

The outcome of the program thus far has proven successful; not only in the accomplishment of city objectives, but in employee relations as well. With staff collaborating beyond their respective departments, engagement is a natural by-product of the program. So, too, are positive outcomes.

With over 264 employees creating the 1,408 suggestions received since the program’s conception through January 2021, the C.A.R.E. program’s successes included the following:

• Increased the number of suggestions implemented via work orders (from zero to 58).

• Implemented suggestions approved by the city manager and completed via work orders.

• Negotiated $36 million (over 20 years) of billboard revenue.

• Negotiated $48,000 for the term of a two-year agreement in valet parking and event management services revenue.

• Raised $85,000 of savings from the utility bill audit.

• Created $51,000 in estimated savings from an energy audit.

• Discovered $13,000 of savings from stranded assets.

• Produced $1,101,138 of four-quarter savings from our investment policy (as of February 25, 2021).

• Established $68,290 savings per month and 80 participating vendors from our P-card policy.

• Collected $88,286 in reimbursements from contractors.

• Improved our cell phone stipend program.

• Negotiated an estimated $47,250 in city savings and employee benefits, negotiated a 20–25% hotel discount (for city travel and city employee personal use).

• Created a potential revenue of $17,000 with a memo of understanding with Kohl’s Department Store.

• Current reserve total of $20,000 via a reserves policy creation and utilization.

• Upgraded the quality of life for our residents with the “Be Strong” community program and South Florida Institute on Aging community program. (Both delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.)

• Implemented the city manager’s quarterly video using two employee videos.

• Saved $10,565 with double-sided default printing.

• Saved $10,404 with a computer hibernation policy.

• Improved energy usage by installing LED street lights.

• Created $45,000 estimated revenue from solar-powered trash and recycling bins.

• Improved the quality of life of employees with HR programs.

• Work-from-home opportunities (fast-tracked by the COVID-19 virus).

• Established a $160,992 annual savings with an anti-idling policy.

• Created additional opportunities for revenue increases:

◦ $20,000 potential annual revenue for a water trailer.

◦ $130,838 potential 10-year savings for fleet electrification.

Near completed projects and programs:

• Working on a $300,000 grant with FPL for level 1 (best) chargers, revenue-based project. We’re awaiting the grant award decision (revenue-based).

• Working with FPL on free level 2 unit installation (cost-saving $8,000 per unit). These units will be “city use only.”

• Installation of revenue-based level 2 chargers (revenue not estimated).

• Potential savings of $130,838 for fleet electrification with an eight electric vehicle pilot.

• $5,000 received with an estimated revenue of $75,000 annually (for five years) from bus bench advertising.

• Generated $457,146 in C.A.R.E. grants during the first year (city total $8,111,366).

• $404,543 current grants awarded.

• Exceeded 1,000 suggestions (total of 1,095) during the first program year (2018–2019).

• Established two public-private partnerships (Marriott and Kohl’s).

• Additional programs started, created, or implemented due to association with the original suggestions:

◦ T-Mobile cell phone discount with payroll deduction for all Miramar employees.

◦ Contract management (in the RFP process).

◦ T-Mobile Connecting Heroes program (early stage).

“It’s not often that a city gets to say they’ve cut costs and improved the value of delivery to all it serves... but that’s precisely what C.A.R.E. has done for the city of Miramar,” finishes Hargray. “As we continue to identify other areas of revenue generation and growth through the C.A.R.E program, we welcome communications with other municipalities to learn how they may experience the same savings, over time, by undertaking similar programs best suited for their needs. Because C.A.R.E. has worked so well for us, we are eager to share it with others.”

 T. C. ADDERLY is C.A.R.E. manager, Office of the City Manager, Miramar, Florida.

 

KELVIN LEWIS is C.A.R.E. assistant, Office of the City Manager, Miramar, Florida.

 

 

Endnote

¹ www.tax-rates.org/florida/property-tax