Annual Budget

Annual Budget

Collier County, Florida Dwight E. Brock Clerk of the Circuit Court

For the Fiscal Year October 1, 2013 ?

September 30, 2014

Edmond Scott 1st Clerk of Courts 1932-1959

Dwight Brock Clerk of Courts 1993-present

Marco Island - today Collier County - aerial view 1950

Collier Co. - today

Current Collier Co. Court House

Original Court House 1926-1962

Everglades City

Celebrating 90 years

Cover photography courtesy of Collier County Museum.

A Message From The Clerk of the Circuit Court

Dwight E. Brock, Clerk

Mission Statement "Strive to build confidence in the Clerk's Office though perceptive planning, efficient operations, and an unwavering commitment to the

highest ethical standards for the citizens of Collier County"

To the Citizens of Collier County:

As the elected Clerk of Courts of Collier County, I am presenting to you the fiscal year 2014 budget for Clerk's office operations.

The Clerk of Courts is a Constitutional officer elected county-wide. Article VIII, section I, (d) of the Florida Constitution establishes the Clerk as "Ex-officio Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, Auditor, Recorder and Custodian of all County funds." As Clerk, I take these responsibilities very seriously.

The budget of the Clerk's office has been prepared based upon conservative funding principles; we budget the minimum necessary to meet the needs of the citizens we serve.

As a fee officer, the budget is presented according to Florida Statute Chapter 218. Section 218.35 provides that each county fee officer establish an annual budget for his office which shall clearly reflect revenues available and functions for which funds are expended. The budget must be balanced; that is, the total estimated receipts shall equal the total estimated expenditures and reserves.

The budget is presented in two parts reflecting costs associated with Clerk of Court related functions and those relating to functions as Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). The budget relating to the State court system is filed with the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation (CCOC) as well as the Florida Legislature. The budget relating to the requirements of the Clerk as Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, county auditor and custodian of all County funds and other County related duties is approved by the Clerk. Functions are funded by a transfer from the BOCC and Clerk non court fees. BOCC functions are funded by a transfer from the BOCC and Clerk fees.

The fiscal year 2014 budget is the result of many staff hours of review and analysis of Clerk activities, analysis of anticipated workloads, and planning for future service enhancements to the citizens of Collier County.

The operating budget totaling $20,556,534 reflects a decrease of $1,209,742 from last year's ending budget of $21,766,276. The decrease is due primarily to reduced operating and capital purchases in the General Fund and the Public Records Modernization Funds.

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While this year's budget will meet the minimum needs of our current operations, any opportunity for enhancing operational efficiencies through technology, is very limited at this level of funding. We have a decrease in our technology spending for changes to our court case management software. All but two of our smaller departments have migrated to our case management software. The last two years we have made several purchases and enhancements to our computer systems to provide effective and efficient services to the citizens of Collier County at easily accessible locations and through enhanced internet access using kiosks. At the end of fiscal year 2013 we enhanced our invoice processing with the implementation of optical character recognition software to help streamline the workflow and approval process. Our office routinely processes over 100,000 invoices annually.

The 2014 budget reflects a small decrease in the operating budgets. This is due to the capital purchases and enhancements made in the last several years for efficiency and ease of use for citizens of Collier County. Any income in excess of expenditures on noncourt activities is considered surplus and is returned to the Board of County Commissioners at the end of the fiscal year.

In 2009, the State changed the procedure for the court funded budgets. Revenues previously considered revenue of the Clerk became revenues of the State and funding for the court budget was provided by an appropriation from the State of Florida. Effective July 1, 2009, the State had changed the Clerk's court budget fiscal year for court functions to operate on the State cycle July 1 to June 30th of each year. As Clerk to the Courts, fees charged are governed by statute and the court budget is submitted to the State by October 1, 2012 for the year October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2014 for approval. Beginning July 1, 2013 the State required the courts be self-funding. All revenues that were previously turned over to the State are now being kept locally to run the court departments. The State has also changed the fiscal year for the courts to coincide with the county wide fiscal year ending each September 30th. For fiscal year 2013, the Collier Clerk's office was again a "donor" county, having returned $1,070,527 to the State. For the transition quarter (July 1, 2013 through September 30, 2013) the Clerk also had excess fees of $626,214 that will be returned to the State in January, 2015 per State Statute. The Clerk has also turned back excess funds of $674,776 to the Collier Board of County Commissioners.

This budget includes decreased funding for capital technology enhancements for both court and non-court operational and financial software. In the past two years we have aggressively enhanced the Court Records Information System (Showcase court software) integrating Court records, streamlining search capabilities and providing additional public access. Additional functionality of SAP financial modules (such as our Dolphin AP improvement project) will provide greater system interface capabilities, enhanced public information and streamline our ability to accurately maintain and report on the financial activities of the Clerk's office, the Board of County Commissioners and the Supervisor of Elections.

The Florida State legislature passed several laws in recent years that have affected the budget process. Beginning on July 1, 2011, all employees are required to contribute three percent to the Florida Retirement System toward their pensions. The State has continued to reduce the court appropriation budget from $9,228,000 in FY2008 to the current court appropriation of $7,972,738, while placing more reporting requirements

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upon our offices. Over the last three years the General Fund (non-court) budgets have also had yearly reductions. In order to function under these reduced funding levels our office had not given any raises for the last six years. During fiscal year 2013 the Board increased appropriations to the Clerk to allow salary increases to maintain payroll parity with the Board salaries. As employees terminate, positions have been left vacant and at various periods all employees have been required to take furlough days. While these cost cutting measures have enabled us to meet our budgetary constraints, they place a burden on staff and management to continually develop innovative methods to sustain operations at a level that effectively serves the public. The fiscal year 2014 budget reflects the minimum funding necessary to serve the citizens of Collier County. Entering my 22nd year serving the community as Clerk of Courts, I recognize the challenges and opportunities that face my office. We are committed to meeting the challenges of these tough economic times by streamlining operations and hard work. I appreciate the opportunity to serve the community and the ongoing support I have received from the Citizens of Collier County. If you should have any questions or comments regarding the budget of the Clerk's office please contact me at (239) 252-2745 or Crystal K. Kinzel, Director of Finance and Accounting at (239) 252-6299.

Sincerely,

Dwight E. Brock, Clerk of Courts

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"The Constitution of the State of Florida grants the power and authority of auditor

and custodian of county funds to the Clerk of the Circuit Court"

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ANNUAL BUDGET - 2014 CLERK OF COURTS

COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA

CLERK OF COURTS Dwight E. Brock

DIRECTOR OF COURTS Jill M. Lennon

DIRECTOR OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SERVICES Marc D. Tougas

DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES Dena W. Rader

DIRECTOR OF RECORDING Teresa S. Hart

DIRECTOR OF BOARD MINUTES AND RECORDS

Patricia L. Morgan

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Robert D. St. Cyr

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ACCOUNTING Crystal K. Kinzel

BUDGET PREPARATION:

Raymond L. Milum, Jr. Clerk Accounting Manager

H. Anthony Bermudez Senior Accountant

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The Government Finance Officers Associations of the United States and Canada (GFOA) presented a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award to Collier County Clerk of the Courts, Florida for the Annual Budget beginning October 1, 2012. In order to receive this award, a governmental unit must publish a budget document that meets program criteria as a policy document, as an operations guide, as a financial plan, and as a communications device. This award is valid for a period of one year only. We believe our current budget continues to conform to program requirements, and we are submitting it to GFOA to determine its eligibility for another award.

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