Susan Stanton evaluates her 2010 Performance

Top Ten organizational accomplishments in 2010:

1. Reduced General Fund spending by 19%, maintained the current property tax rate, and balanced revenues and expenditures without drawing funds from the City’s Catastrophic Emergency Reserve Account. Personnel expenditures were reduced by 11% in all funds and 17% in the General Fund. I played a very active and critical role in setting the performance goals of departments and established financial targets which effectively address the critical economic crisis.
2. Reduced by $1.2 million the Palm Beach Sheriff Office’s Law Enforcement Services Agreement, with minimum reductions in level of service.
3. Reduced the City contribution into the Police Retirement Fund by $200,000 for FY 2011 by negotiating an agreement with the PBA. The negotiated agreement to use insurance premium revenue to pay for existing benefits is unprecedented in the City.
4. Reduced City contribution to the General Employees’ Retirement Plan for FY 2011 by $1.3 million. This required an extensive operational and financial understanding of pensions and assessing the true cost of the City’s unfunded accrued liability which did not exist prior to my employment.
5. Successfully managed the Casino reconstruction project, based on a comprehensive Financing Plan and the selection of a Construction Manager at Risk. I played a critical role in developing the financial plan to fund the project and re-engineering the City’s contract management systems to end a twenty year stalemate. The project is on schedule and within budget.
6. Directed the negotiations of an Inter-local Agreement between the City and Palm Beach County for the redevelopment of the Lake Worth Beach which preserves and protects public access and community ownership. The project is on schedule and within budget … ending a five year impasse.
7. Helped settle a critical City/County water dispute, paving the way to begin the construction of a new RO Water Treatment Plant and deep well. Developed a management team to finalize the design, permitting and financing. The Project is on schedule and within budget.
8. Adopted comprehensive Financial and Investment policies to ensure prudent management of public funds, the availability of operating and capital funds when needed, and competitive investment returns. The City was awarded a Certificate of Achievement from the GFOA for its FY 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and finally began to address the 34 pages of managerial accounting deficiencies identified by the City’s auditors.
9. Successfully recruited and employed a professional Finance Director, OMB Manager, Assistant Utility Director, Assistant to the City Manager, Grants Analyst, and Budget Analyst to improve the City’s managerial processes. This has been a major challenge given the City’s history of excessive turn-over of key management positions. Closely associated recruiting of new professionals to the City’s management team has been my role in creating an environment where other Department Directors can exercise their leadership skills in a supportive, respectful and non-confrontational public setting.
10. Proposed and received tentative City Commission support to reduce the FY 2012 electric rate and charges by 5% and reducing the General Fund transfer payment in FY 2012 by $500,000 which reverses a decade-long trend of using electric revenue to subsidize the General Fund. This would not be possible without the achievement of the previous nine accomplishments.