Resolution 181-2013RESOLUTION NO. 181 - 2013
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA APPROVING THE
REQUEST BY CRIME STOPPERS OF THE KEYS, INC., A
NON - PROFIT FLORIDA CORPORATION, TO MERGE
WITH CRIME STOPPERS OF MIAMI -DADE COUNTY,
INC. AND AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF THE FIRST
AMENDMENT TO LETTER OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN
THE MONROE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS AND CRIME STOPPERS OF THE
KEYS, INC., TO INCLUDE THE PROPOSED MERGER.
WHEREAS, in 1997, F.S. 16.555 - 16.556 directed the Florida Department of Legal
Affairs (the "Department ") to establish the "Crime Stoppers Trust Fund" for the purpose of grant
administration to fund Crime Stoppers and their crime fighting programs with the units of a local
government of the State; and
WHEREAS, F.S. 16.555(1)(c) defines "Crime Stoppers" as members of the Florida
Association of Crime Stoppers, Inc., a Florida corporation; and
WHEREAS, F.S. 16.555(4)(a) requires the Department to make applications available
for all federal and state or private grants which meet the purposes of advancing Crime Stoppers
in the State of Florida and, upon securing such grants, depositing those funds into the "Crime
Stoppers Trust Fund "; and
WHEREAS, F.S. 16.555(4)(b) further requires the Department to deposit the court costs
imposed pursuant to F.S. 938.06 in each judicial circuit to be deposited into a separate account in
the trust fund and, within that account, designating the funds according to the judicial circuit in
which they were collected; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to F.S. 16.555(5)(a), the Department of Legal Affairs is the
disbursing authority for the distribution of funding to units of local government, upon application
to the department for funding assistance; and
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Res merging local Crime Stoppers w/ Miami -Dade
BOCC 6/19/13 (kp 5 24 13)
WHEREAS, pursuant to F.S. 16.555(5)(b) any County may apply to the Department for
a grant from the funds collected in the judicial circuit in which the county is located under F.S.
938.06; however, a grant may be awarded only to counties which are served by an official
member of the Florida Association of Crime Stoppers and may only be used to support Crime
Stoppers and their crime fighting programs and only one such official member shall be eligible
for support within any county; and
WHEREAS, on July 21, 1999, the County entered into an Letter of Agreement with the
Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc., a non - profit Florida corporation, authorizing them to apply for
grants from the Crime Stoppers Trust Fund that may be available for use in Monroe County and
to administer such grants on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County,
Florida ( "Board ") ensuring financial records are maintained in accordance with generally
accepted government accounting principles and to make those records available to auditors
employed by the County or State upon reasonable request; and
WHEREAS, the Letter of Agreement further ensures that should an audit reveal that
grant funds have been spent in a manner contrary to the terms of the grant, or the audit reveals
any irregularity in the expenditure of grant funds, any reimbursement of grant funds to the State,
plus any applicable interest or penalties, is the sole responsibility and liability of the Crimes
Stoppers of the Keys, Inc. and not of the Board; and
WHEREAS, the County has received a written request from Crime Stoppers of the Keys,
Inc. advising of their desire to merge the local Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc. program with the
Miami -Dade Crime Stoppers program and seeking written authorization from the Board to do so
as required by the Bureau of Criminal Justice Programs, Office of the Attorney General, (copy of
request attached hereto as Exhibit A. and made a part of this resolution); and
WHEREAS, the County has received written support of the proposed merger from
Sheriff Rick Ramsay, Monroe County Sheriff's Office (copy of support letter attached hereto as
Exhibit B. and made a part of this resolution); and
WHEREAS, the First Amendment to Letter of Agreement amends the existing Letter of
Agreement to include the Board's authorization for Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc. to pursue
merging with Crime Stoppers of Miami -Dade, Inc. with all conditions of the Letter of Agreement
dated July 21, 1999 to remain in full force and effect (First Amendment to Letter of Agreement
attached hereto as Exhibit "C" and made a part of this Resolution); and
Page 2 of 3
Res merging local Crime Stoppers w/ Miami -Dade
BOCC 6/19/13 (kp 5 24 13)
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the Board to continue its support of the efforts of Crime
Stoppers and their crime fighting programs in Monroe County, Florida; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA:
Section 1 . The Board hereby approves the attached First Amendment to Letter of
Agreement providing written authorization to Crime Stoppers of the
Keys, Inc. to pursue its merger with Crime Stoppers of Miami -Dade, Inc.
with all conditions in the Letter of Agreement approved July 21, 1999 to
remain in full force and effect.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County,
Florida, at a regular meeting of said Board held on the 19` day of June, 2013.
Mayor George Neugent
Yes
Mayor Pro Tem Heather Carruthers
Yes
Commissioner Danny Kolhage
Yes
Commissioner David Rice
Yes
Commissioner Sylvia Murphy
Yes
(Seal)
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
ATTEST: AMY HEAVILIN, Clerk
By:
Deputy Clerk Mayor
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Page 3 of 3
Res merging local Crime Stoppers w/ Miami -Dade
BOCC 6/19/13 (kp 5 24 13)
From: Diane Gibson rmailto:dianeg@kevsbank.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 3:47 PM
To: Cyr- Connie; Gastesi -Roman
Subject: Crime Stoppers of the FL Keys - BOCC Agenda Item
Roman and Connie:
I wanted to reach out to you both for guidance regarding the best way to get an item added to the consent
agenda for a BOCC meeting and thought I would start by sending an email. While I work for First State
Bank and am involved with various local organizations, I'm also the Project Director for Crime Stoppers of
the FL Keys and our local Board of Director's have expressed an interest in merging our program with
Miami -Dade Crime Stoppers.
As you know, the crime rate is low in the Keys and while that is a good thing, our Crime Stoppers grant
program funding is based on fines assessed through the county courts upon sentencing so our grant award
normally amounts to only about $13,000 annually where Miami -Dade Crime Stoppers receives about
$350,000. Our Board feels that the merger will enable us to increase our advertising exposure here in the
Keys and the mainland through name mention during local news programs, being featured on the Miami -
Dade Crime Stoppers weekly television program and assist us with other media venues that we don't have
as an advantage living in the Keys. It will also help us with providing law enforcement assistance for not
only the Monroe County Sheriff's Office but the Key West Police Department and help us continue with
keeping our anonymous tip program running now and into the future. In speaking with our grant manager
from the Bureau of Criminal Justice Programs from the Office of the Attorney General, she advised me that
we would simply need an approval letter from the BOCC before they can move forward with any paperwork
for our grant to make this happen.
Please let me know what you'll need from me, if we need to be present at the meeting and what steps we
need to take to get BOCC approval on this. My contact information is below and I look forward to hearing
from you. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Best regards,
Diane Gibson
Vice President/Corporate Services
First State Bank of the Florida Keys
3406 N Roosevelt Blvd Key West FL 33040
Office: (305) 293 -6800 Cell:(305) 923 -1689
Fax: (305) 293 -0482
dgibsonCkeysbank.com www.keysbank.com
EXHIBIT
A.
TO RESOLUTIO
MONROE COUNTY $HERIV ]r`S O ]PrICE
RICHARD A. RAMSAY, SHIERIFF
8.5 g"d
Roman Gastesi
Monroe County Administrator
1100 Simonton Street
Key West, FL 33040
Roman:
nECEIVED
MAY 2 4 2013 May 21, 2013
BY:
I am aware issues regarding the Crime Stoppers of the Florida Keys program will be coming
before the Board of County Commissioners in June. I just wanted to let you know how important
the program is to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
The Crime Stoppers program in Monroe County has been responsible for the arrest of many
criminal suspects over the years. Many people who would not normally come forward with
information in a criminal case will choose to do so when there is-an offer of a reward and of
anonymity. Crime Stoppers offers both, and because of this, is oftentimes successful in
soliciting information we would not be able to obtain otherwise.
The Crime Stoppers program is funded by a state grant and it is my understanding the grant has
become excessively burdensome to administer, particularly for a small program like ours. The
opportunity to merge bookkeeping and grand writing requirements with Miami -Dade County,
and still maintain control over the awards given by our local board is an ideal opportunity.
Particularly if it means we can continue to utilize Crime Stoppers for our Monroe County crime
fighting efforts.
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office supports whatever the program's board of directors feels it
needs to do to keep the program running.
Sincerely,
Rick Ramsay
Monroe County Sheriff
EXHIBIT
B.
RESOLUTION
E TO N
5525 COLLEGE ROAD KEY WEST, FL 33040 *** (305)292 -7001 WWW KEYSSO.NET
- N. 4 )
0
FIRST AMENDMENT TO LETTER OF AGREEMENT
THIS FIRS AMENDMENT TO LETTER OF AGREEMENT is entered into this
L 9_ day of , 2013 by and between the Board of County Commissioners of
Monroe County, Florida (hereinafter "Board ") and Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc., a non - profit
Florida corporation, whose mailing address is Post Office Box 6100, Key West, FL 33040.
WHEREAS, the parties entered into a Letter of Agreement dated July 21, 1999 attached
hereto and made a part hereof as "Exhibit A." to this First Amendment to Letter of Agreement;
and
WHEREAS, Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc. have expressed their desire to merge the
local Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc. program with the Crime Stoppers of Miami -Dade, Inc.;
and
WHEREAS, the Department of Legal Affairs, who administers the Crime Stoppers Trust
Fund, requires prior written approval of the Board allowing Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc. to
pursue the desired merger; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the Board to continue its support of Crime Stoppers of the
Florida Keys, Inc. and their crime fighting programs in Monroe County; and
WHEREAS, the merger desired by Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc. with Crime
Stoppers of Miami -Dade, Inc. requires an amendment to the existing Letter of Agreement
between the parties;
NOW THEREFORE, IN CONSIDERATION of the mutual covenants contained
herein, the parties agree as follows:
1. The Board hereby approves the request of Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc. to pursue
a merger of the local Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc. program with Crime Stoppers
of Miami -Dade, Inc.
2. The Letter of Agreement is hereby amended to add the following language:
3. The Board hereby authorizes Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc. to pursue their
desired merger of Crime Stoppers of the Keys, Inc. with Crime Stoppers of
Miami -Dade, Inc.
4 All remaining provisions of the agreement dated July 21, 1999 remain in full
force and effect.
EXHIBIT
Page 1 of 2 C .
First Amendment to Letter of Agreement
Crime Stoppers merger w/ Miami -Dade TO RESOLUTION
BOCC 6/19/13 (kp 5 24 13)
4. This First Amendment to Agreement is effective upon execution by both parties.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have set their hands and seal on the day and year
first above written.
(Seal)
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
ATTEST: AMY HEAVILIN, Clerk
By:
Dep ty Clerk Mayor
ATTEST: f CRIME PPERS HE KEYS, INC.
By:
Secretary Signature
- T� Z AD,
Printed Name/Title
r
Page 2 of 2
First Amendment to Letter of Agreement
Crime Stoppers merger w/ Miami -Dade
BOCC 6/19/13 (kp 5 24 13)
- h
LETTER OF AGREEMENT
This letter of agreement is entered into this the 21 st day of July, 1999, by and between
the Board of County Commissioners (Board) of Monroe County and Crime Stoppers of the
Florida Keys, Inc. (CS), a non - profit Florida corporation. The parties agree as follows:
1. The Board hereby authorizes CS to apply for grants from the State Crime
Stoppers Trust Fund that may be available for use in Monroe County. The CS is also
authorized to administer such grants on behalf of the Board.
2. In carrying out the duties described in paragraph 1, CS agrees to keep its
financial records pertaining to Crime Stopper grants in accordance with generally
accepted governmental accounting principles and to make those records available to
auditors employed by the County or State upon reasonable request. If an audit reveals that
grant funds have been spent in a manner contrary to the terms of the grant, or the audit
reveals any other irregularity in the expenditure of grant funds, any reimbursement of grant
funds to the State, plus any applicable interest or penalties, is the sole responsibility and
liability of CS and not of the Board.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have set their hands and seals the day and year first
above written.
(SEAL)
ATTEST: DANNY L. KOLHAGE, CLERK
By
lerk
ATTEST:
By -
S retary
iconvagreelet
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
y
By
Mayor /Chairman
CRIME STOPPERS OF THE FLORIDA
KEYS, INC.
w
By
An officer authaAid by the ch er or by-
laws to bind the corporation ,
EXHIBIT A.
FIRST t AMENDMENT
A OF
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