Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Andrew J. Meyers
Department: County Attorney
Information
Requested Action
title
A. MOTION TO INCREASE Fiscal Year 2022 personnel cap for the Office of the County Attorney (“CAO”) to add one permanent attorney position to provide dedicated additional legal services for, and to be fully funded by, the Aviation Department; and to direct the County Administrator to take all necessary administrative and budgetary action to effectuate same.
(Transferred to the Consent Agenda.)
ACTION: (T-10:22 AM) Approved.
VOTE: 9-0.
B. MOTION TO ADOPT budget Resolution in the General Fund to transfer $163,029 from Commission Reserve to the Office of the County Attorney Funding to increase the Fiscal Year 2022 personnel budget of the CAO, inclusive of the funding for the above-referenced new position; and to direct the County Administrator to take all necessary administrative and budgetary action to effectuate the same.
(Transferred to the Consent Agenda.)
ACTION: (T-10:22 AM) Approved Resolution No. 2022-333.
VOTE: 9-0.
body
Why Action is Necessary
Board approval is required to increase positions and to provide the requested funding for the CAO.
What Action Accomplishes
Provides an additional attorney dedicated to providing legal services for the Aviation Department, and provides additional funding for the CAO.
Is this Action Goal Related
No
Previous Action Taken
Summary Explanation/Background
Recently, the number of attorneys assigned by the CAO to exclusively perform airport legal work was reduced from four attorneys to three, in large part due to the impact the pandemic was having at that time on airport revenue. Based on the airport’s current and projected workload, and with the Airport Director’s concurrence, the CAO recently restored the fourth, dedicated airport attorney using, on an interim basis, a tough-to-fill vacancy the CAO has for an experienced land use and environmental attorney. This item would create a new position for the fourth, dedicated airport position, to be fully funded by the Aviation Department, which would restore the vacant position that had been used on an interim basis.
Additionally, this item would provide funding to enable the CAO to retain highly performing attorneys who are often the target of hiring attempts from private firms and entities. The CAO has lost a number of outstanding lawyers over the last several years to the private market (including one within the past few weeks), and high-quality replacements are not only in great demand and therefore difficult to attract but generally come with less experience yet require the same or greater salary.
If approved, the CAO budget would be increased by $163,029 for Fiscal Year 2022 and the CAO personnel cap would be increased by one attorney. The $163,029 increase referenced in Motion B represents the prorated portion for the balance of Fiscal Year 2022 of a requested additional recurring annual salary amount of $437,500 (which amount is exclusive of the applicable additional sum for standard County employee benefits and employer-side expenses).
Source of Additional Information
Annika E. Ashton, Deputy County Attorney, 954-357-7600
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
$163,029 from Commission Reserve in the General Fund for the balance of Fiscal Year 2022. In the third supplemental budget, the cost of the new position will be recovered from the aviation fund, and the applicable share of the additional costs recovered from port and surtax funds. In Fiscal Year 2023 and beyond, portions of the requested recurring $437,500 increase, plus an additional sum for standard benefits and employer-side expenses, would be funded by the applicable enterprise fund (e.g., Airport, Surtax).