Official Records and Legislative Services

Department Overview

Official Proceedings Management - Processes items presented to the City Council for official action and follow-up. Prepares a written summary of official proceedings and actions taken by the City Council and board members. Provides staff and resources to prepare required ads for publication and notification to property owners of possible changes concerning their property. Ordinances and resolutions are distributed under this function.

Records Management - Coordinates retention and destruction of official records, includes cemetery, document processing and microfilming. This function includes maintenance of the City Code and distribution of supplements. Part of this program is to provide information to other departments, citizens, etc. by searching through City records. An integrated document management system, implemented in the 99/00 budget year captures official City documents, minutes and agendas in an electronic format for Citywide access, establishes workflow for processing the agenda electronically, and facilitates research of information.

Property Assessments, Code Enforcement and Liens - Assesses property owners for improvements, imposes code enforcement fines and files liens.

Election - Establishes the election schedule for municipal elections, and coordinates election activities with the supervisor of elections. In addition, there are two employee elections, Pension Advisory Committee and Civil Service Board, which are handled under this program.

Legislative/Lobbyist - Coordinates the City's priorities and appropriation requests with federal and state lobbyists; and tracks proposed legislation through both House and Senate. It also provides the staff and resources to coordinate the City's priorities and serve as liaison with lobbyists, Florida League of Cities, and legislators.

Grant Writing - Coordinates and implements all grant-related activities for the City. This program is charged with researching funding opportunities and communicating possible funding sources to city staff. The writing of grant proposals is undertaken by the Grants Coordinator in conjunction with the requesting division to obtain project funding from a variety of funding sources including federal, state and foundation grants. This program was added to the Official Records and Legislative Services Department in fiscal year 2001/02. Prior to that it was operated within the General Support Services Department.