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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 03-11-1996ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Robert M. Boche, Chair St. Croix County Board FROM: Donald Brown, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE: FINANCE DATE: March 11, 1996 LOCATION: St. Croix County CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: April ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES UNFINISHED BUSINESS: ***NOTE CHANGE OF DATE*** Government Center 1. Review of Vouchers 9:00 A.M. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Administrative Coordinator Report A. PBX Report B. Discussion on Computer Advisory Committee and Computer Support Committee 2. Finance Director Report A. Unaudited 1995 General Fund Report B. Investment of County Funds 3. Equipment for Health Room - Chuck Mehls 9:30 A.M. 4. County Fairgrounds Land 10:15 A.M. 5. Clerk of Court Report A. Update on KIDS Program - *Request for Purchase of Signature Printer B. Report on Collections of Unpaid Fines 6. Personnel Report 7. Corporation Counsel Report 8. Closed Session per WI Statute 19.85 (1)(c) to Consider Employment or Performance Evaluation of a Public Employee 9. Reconvene to Open Session per WI Statute 19.85 (2) *10. Update. on Library Automation Cost Study - Ron Raymond *11. County Clerk A. Reconsideration of Motion Regarding Procedure for Sale of Tax Deed Parcels Under One Acre 12. Tour of County Library POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) DATE: 2/28/96, 3/7/96 COPIES TO: County Board Office News Media/Notice Board County Clerk County Board County Departments *ADDITIONS/CHANGES/CORRECTIONS ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Robert M. Boche, Chair St. Croix County Board FROM: Donald Brown, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE: FINANCE DATE: March 11, 1996 LOCATION: St. Croix County CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: April ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES UNFINISHED BUSINESS: ***NOTE CHANGE OF DATE*** Government Center 9, 1996 1. Review of Vouchers 9:00 A.M. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Administrative Coordinator Report A. PBX Report B. Discussion on Computer Advisory Committee and Computer Support Committee 2. Finance Director Report A. Unaudited 1995 General Fund Report B. Investment of County Funds 3. Equipment for Health Room - Chuck Mehls 9:30 A.M. 4. County Fairgrounds Land 10:15 A.M. 5. Clerk of Court Report A. Update on KIDS Program B. Report on Collections of Unpaid Fines 6. Personnel Report 7. Corporation Counsel Report 8. Closed Session per WI Statute 19.85 (1)(c) to Consider Employment or Performance Evaluation of a Public Employee 9. Reconvene to Open Session per WI Statute 19.85 (2) 10. Tour of County Library POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) DATE: 2/28/96 COPIES TO: County Board Office News Media/Notice Board County Clerk County Board County Departments *ADDITIONS/CHANGES/CORRECTIONS Gib FINANCE COMMITTEE Regular Session March 11, 1996 Meeting called to order by Chair Brown at 9:00 a.m. Members present: Don Brown, LuVerne Burke, Robert Boche, Bill Oemichen and John Bradley. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator John Krizek, Finance Director Rich Loney, Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman, County Clerk Sue Nelson. Others present: Suprs. Jack Dowd, Ron Raymond, Herb Giese, Daryl Standafer, Chuck Mehls. 46 Motion by Boche, 2nd by Bradley to adopt the agenda. Carried. Next meeting scheduled for April 9, 1996. Motion by Burke, 2nd by Boche to adopt the minutes. Carried. Vouchers: Burke reviewed the vouchers. Motion by Burke, 2nd by Bradley to approve payment. Carried. Administrative Coordinator: PBX System. John Krizek presented the PBX system report which features a payback in 2.3 years, automated attendant, least cost routing, voice mail and automated accounting. The core team used a National Counties booklet to write the proposals. The analysis worksheet was distributed. Bill Johnston from Johnston Communications was hired to do an evaluation of the proposals. Johnson recommended Mitel and Krizek recommended purchase of the Mitel system. Acquisition of the PBX system will reduce the lines needed from 229 to 55. Total cost is $97,990. With savings deducted from dictaphone rental the total is $91,052. Krizek said the savings from future line use and the flexibility of $4,000 is needed to obtain the system. This means an additional expenditure of $11,000 if all of the $4,000 is needed. Loney noted installation engineers may. need more funds to install the system and full accounting would be given on the project. Supr: Standafer asked why four Centrex lines would remain. Krizek replied a seven year contract had been signed and there are four years remaining. Oemichen questioned if a human voice would be available on all voice mail. Krizek assured him a human voice could be reached. Motion by Boche, 2nd by Burke to approve the amount of $97,-990 with authority to expend up to $1011990 if warranted in the opinion of the staff. Carried. Krizek advised that departments would be budgeting for new phones in future years although the present phones can be used with the Mitel system. Brown thanked Rich Loney, John Krizek, Bruce Brantner and Ralph Robole for their work in developing and reviewing proposals. Computer Advisory Committee: Krizek announced Bruce Callen has resigned as Computer Services Director. He suggested the Computer Advisory Committee be restructured and more department heads serve on this committee. This should be more of a supervising committee in the future, which may evaluate current staff and possibly hire consulting experts. Krizek would like Kathryn Beutel to be interim 1 director on a temporary basis. Purchase of new equipment would be suspended but implementation of ECHO at Health and Human Services and CLUES in law enforcement would continue. Co-chair Ron Raymond would like the authority to make decisions and move forward. Corporation Counsel Timmerman said the newly formed Advisory Committee should be identified. If people are no longer on this committee, they should be notified. Motion by Oemichen, 2nd by Boche to abolish the Computer Advisory Committee and to establish an Information Services Committee made up of two County Board members, the Administrative Coordinator, Human Services Director, Land Information Director, Highway Commissioner, Chief Deputy in Sheriff's Department and Finance Director. The charge of the Committee is to provide overall policy direction and implementation in the area of information services. Equipment for Health Room: Chuck Mehls, Secretary of the Emergency Government Committee, explained the Government Center has a health room not equipped with proper equipment. It would be counter productive to staff this room; training personnel to' deal with first aid would be a better answer. Mehls relayed the situation in a courtroom in which a lady had a stoppage of breathing. Since the health room had no airway equipment, an employee went to her car to get an airway kit. One solution suggested by Mehls, would be a line item in the budget for equipment and training. As a stop gap measure, he requested $240 for health room equipment and $382.00 for first aid training for 29 people (taken on county time). Motion by Burke, 2nd by Oemichen to transfer $622 from the Contingency Fund to the Emergency Government Fund for health room equipment and first aid training. Carried. Burke asked Supr. Giese to check with the Public Protection Committee to see if a jailer who is trained for emergency first aid could respond to an emergency situation. County Fairgrounds Land: Former Economic Development Director Dave Piggot stated he and others from Glenwood City had attended the Fair Board meeting and made a proposal for exchange of land. The Fair Board members were not ready to make a decision and a committee was formed between the City of Glenwood and the Fair Board. The proposal is to trade 3.4 A from the City owned ballpark for 1.2 A frontage area owned by the county in order for a new grocery store to be built. Dr. John Swingle, Treasurer of the Fair Board, related the list of concerns of the Fair Board. The Fair Board would like an appraisal of both parcels and are concerned with: loss of main street frontage, hard -surfaced area for handicap parking and area for the carnival; loss of main fair entrance and loss of only north side parking. Swingle said the completed long range plan calls for increased fair parking. Moving the Fair was not feasible. 2 Leon Berenschot, President of Glenwood City Industrial Development, addressed the Fair Board concerns: Appraisal --the City appraiser didn't think there would be much difference in the land value; Loss of frontage area- Fair uses area for five days, City uses ball park 150 days; Hard surface area for handicap parking - store owner would allow parking on his paved lot during the Fair; Hard surface for carnival - area around ball field is hard surfaced and field is drained. Berenschot noted the north entrance is an easement from the City. In a survey of Glenwood City residents, 630 signers indicated a new grocery store was needed along with increased tax base. Glenwood City Mayor Terrence Klinger said a grocery store is a vital part of a town and Mr. Ormson is willing to do something good for Glenwood City. Main street is on a hillside with no room for expansion of new buildings. Improvements of $20,000 have been made to the ball park including a new concession stand and bathrooms. Klinger said the Highway Dept., is concerned about losing the north entrance for the highway shop but the entrance is only an easement. Chair Brown stated the Finance Committee is not a negotiating committee. He would like Glenwood City and Fair Board to be in agreement and then come to Finance for action. Both Fair Board President Dick Sullwold and Fair Board member Kay Zwald wanted a land appraisal. Brown said the City would have to pay for the appraisal and any upgrades made to the property. Boche suggested finding a volunteer appraiser. Corporation Counsel Timmerman said both parties should try to agree on as much as possible before coming back to the Finance Committee. John Larson, Glenwood City resident, believed an agreement could be reached from the testimony given today. He asked what would happen if a complete agreement could not be reached when the issue is brought back to Finance. Brown replied the committee could handle a few loose ends. Personnel Report: Chair Bradley said the committee will meet March 13 to determine Elected Officials salaries for 1997-98. Corporation Counsel: Greg Timmerman will meet with the Board -of Review in the Town of Hudson in early May to challenge the evaluation of the Junker Landfill on which the County pays taxes to the Town of Hudson and Hudson School District. County Clerk: Sue Nelson advised the motion passed in January regarding tax deeded. property needed to be amended. Motion by Burke, 2nd by Brown to amend the motion to read, "Any parcels under $1000 based on fair market valuation on current tax roles be appraised by the County Board Chair and appropriate staff (County Clerk and Treasurer) and offered for purchase to adjacent landowners; parcels over $1000 valuation would go through the bidding process." Carried. 3 Library Tour Canceled: Due to Oemichen's excused absence and the length of the meeting, Chair Brown canceled the tour of the Library. Clerk of Court: Lori Meyer reported the State is having problems implementing the KIDS program and no new Counties are being added until the trouble is solved. After becoming on line with KIDS in April or May, new checks will be required which are larger than the present county checks. Computer Services estimated a cost of $9600 to upgrade their system. Meyer said other options are buying pre-printed checks, purchasing or leasing with intent to buy a printer attachment for $2100. Brown requested that Meyer do some more research. Meyer reported 1000 cases have been turned over to TransWorld for collections of $167,000 in unpaid traffic fines. Of this amount $7007 has been collected which has just covered our expenses. Brown requested this be placed on the April agenda. Credit cards are presently used in the Jail, Clerk of Court and the Sheriff's Dept. but not in patrol cars. Supr. Giese will contact (Public Protection Chair Linda Luckey to get this on this committee's agenda. Supr. Standafer thought using credit cards would be a good idea to collect payment at the time the liability is incurred. He also noted a Tripe AAA card can be used for traffic violations and posting bonds. Meyer stated the State Legislature did approve the tax intercept program but the Dept. of Revenue has not developed a method to turn over the collections. Social security numbers are also needed and are not available. Finance Director: Rich Loney presented an unaudited General Fund Report. The undesignated fund balance is $2,691,713.43 which provides a 16.880 of expenditures. The auditors have recommended a percentage between 15o to 20% so the county is within that range. There was a major reduction in expenditures due to the county no longer being involved with the incinerator. Investment of County Funds: Loney stated .the county presently invests in the State Investment Pool. He checked on interest rates for certificates of deposit and used a chart showing the different rates from various banking institutions. The State Pool is attractive because of ease of transferring funds and daily liquidity. Brown noted one problem with one year CD's is the effect on liquidity but an amount could be invested each month for a 12 month period. The present investment policy is very secure but 1/20 interest rate could result in substantial revenue. Supr. Standafer referred to a letter he sent to Finance Comm. Chair. He is not criticizing the County or Finance Director but it is hard to W quantify investment. Standafer is not suggesting placing county dollars in funds not paying sufficient interest but these dollars are from taxpayers in St. Croix County. He suggested that the bidding process be used and, if there is a comparable opportunity, that the money be invested within the county. Chair Brown recommended committee members study this matter further. Burke suggested that Loney do a sample or several scenarios of investments. Krizek noted the County Board must approve investmeInt of county monies. Loney added that St. Croix County did not lose any money from the State fund investments that failed but future earnings will not be as high as they could be. Library Automation Report: Chair Ron Raymond said two meetings have been held and there is no sharp focus at this time. The Committee needs a charter focus and a definition of their mission. This study may take more meetings than planned. The Finance Committee reaffirmed the statement in the County Board minutes regarding the mission of the Library Automation Committee. The minutes state the Library Automation Committee is to review the cost of computer software and hardware and report to the Library Board and County Board by July 1996. Closed Session per WI Statute 19.85 (1) (c) Motion by Bradley, 2nd by Boche to move into closed session. Roll call vote: all yes. Motion by Boche, 2nd by Bradley to come out of closed session per WI Statute 19.85 (2). Carried. Motion by Bradley, 2nd by Boche to accept resignation of Computer Services Director Bruce Callen. Motion by Bradley, 2nd by Burke to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. LuVerne Burke, Secretary 5 FINANCE COMMITTEE Regular Session March 11, 1996 Meeting called to order by Chair Brown at 9:00 a.m. Members present: Don Brown, LuVerne Burke, Robert Boche, Bill Oemichen and John Bradley. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator John Krizek, Finance Director Rich Loney, Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman, County Clerk Sue Nelson. Others.present: Suprs. Jack Dowd, Ron Raymond, Herb Giese, Daryl Standafer, Chuck Mehls. Motion by Boche, 2nd by Bradley to adopt the agenda. Carried. Next meeting scheduled for April 9, 1996. Motion by Burke, 2nd by Boche to adopt the minutes. Carried. Vouchers: Burke reviewed the vouchers. Motion by Burke, 2nd by Bradley to approve payment. Carried. Administrative Coordinator: PBX System. John Krizek presented the PBX system report which features a payback in 2.3 years, automated attendant, least cost routing, voice mail and automated accounting. The core team used a National Counties booklet to write the proposals. The analysis worksheet was distributed. Bill Johnston from Johnston Communications was hired to do an evaluation of the proposals. Johnson recommended Mitel and Krizek recommended purchase of the Mitel system. Acquisition of the PBX system will reduce the lines needed from 229 to 55. Total cost is $97,990. With savings deducted from dictaphone rental the total is $91,052. Krizek said the savings from future line use and the flexibility of $4,000 is needed to obtain the system. This means an additional expenditure of $11,000 if all of the $4,000 is needed. Loney noted installation engineers may need more funds to install the system and full accounting would be given on the project. Supr i Standafer asked why four Centrex lines would remain. Krizek replied a seven year contract had been signed and there are four years remaining. oemichen questioned if a human voice would be available on all voice mail. Krizek assured him a human voice could be reached. Motion by Boche, 2nd by Burke to approve the amount of $97, 990 with authority to expend up to $101,990 if warranted in the opinion of the staff. Carried. Krizek advised that departments would be budgeting for new phones in future years although the present phones can be used with the Mitel system. Brown thanked Rich Loney, John Krizek, Bruce Brantner and Ralph Robole for their work in developing and reviewing proposals. Computer Advisory Committee: Krizek announced Bruce Callen has resigned as Computer Services Director. He suggested the Computer Advisory Committee be restructured and more department heads serve on this committee. This should be more of a supervising committee in the future, which may evaluate current staff and possibly hire consulting experts. Krizek would like Kathryn Beutel to be interim 0 director on a temporary basis. Purchase of new equipment would be suspended but implementation of ECHO at Health and Human Services and CLUES in law enforcement would continue. Co-chair Ron Raymond would like the authority to make decisions and move forward. Corporation Counsel Timmerman said the newly formed Advisory Committee should be identified. If people are no longer on this committee, they should be notified. Motion by Oemichen, 2nd by Boche to abolish the Computer Advisory Committee and to establish an Information Services Committee made up of two County Board members, the Administrative Coordinator, Human Services Director, Land Information Director, Highway Commissioner, Chief Deputy in Sheriff's Department and Finance Director. The charge of the Committee is to provide overall policy direction and implementation in the area of information services. Equipment for Health Room: Chuck Mehls, Secretary of the Emergency Government Committee, explained the Government Center has a health room not equipped with proper equipment. It would be counter productive to staff this room; training personnel to deal with first aid would be a better answer. Mehls relayed the situation in a courtroom in which a lady had a stoppage of breathing. Since the health room had no airway equipment, an employee went to her car to get an airway kit. One solution suggested by Mehls, would be a line item in the budget for equipment and training. As a stop gap measure, he requested $240 for health room equipment and $382.00 for first aid training for 29 people (taken on county time). Motion by Burke, 2nd by Oemichen to transfer $622 from the Contingency Fund to the Emergency Government Fund for health room equipment and first aid training. Carried. Burke asked Supr. Giese to check with the Public Protection Committee to see if a jailer who is trained for emergency first aid could respond to an emergency situation. County Fairgrounds Land: Former Economic Development Director Dave Piggot stated he and others from Glenwood City had attended the Fair Board meeting and made a proposal for exchange of land. The Fair Board members were not ready to make a decision and a committee was formed between the City of Glenwood and the Fair Board. The proposal is to trade 3.4 A from the City owned ballpark for 1.2 A frontage area owned by the county in order for a new grocery store to be built. Dr. John Swingle, Treasurer of the Fair Board, related the list of concerns of the Fair Board. The Fair Board would like an appraisal of both parcels and are concerned with: loss of main street frontage, hard -surfaced area for handicap parking and area for the carnival; loss of main fair entrance and loss of only north side parking. Swingle said the completed long range plan calls for increased fair parking. Moving the Fair was not feasible. 2 Leon Berenschot, President of Glenwood City Industrial Development, addressed the Fair Board concerns: Appraisal --the City appraiser didn't think there would be much difference in the land value; Loss of frontage area- Fair uses area for five days, City uses ball park 150 days; Hard surface area for handicap parking - store owner would allow parking on his paved lot during the Fair; Hard surface for carnival - area around ball field is hard surfaced and field is drained. Berenschot noted the north entrance is an easement from the City. In a survey of Glenwood City residents, 630 signers indicated a new grocery store was needed along with increased tax base. Glenwood City Mayor Terrence Klinger said a grocery store is a vital part of a town and Mr. Ormson is willing to do something good for Glenwood City. Main street is on a hillside with no room for expansion of new buildings. Improvements of $20,000 have been made to the ball park including a new concession stand and bathrooms. Klinger said the Highway Dept., is concerned about losing the north entrance for the highway shop but the entrance is only an easement. Chair Brown stated the Finance Committee is not a negotiating committee. He would like Glenwood City and Fair Board to be in agreement and then come to Finance for action. Both Fair Board President Dick Sullwold and Fair Board member Kay Zwald wanted a land appraisal. Brown said the City would have to pay for the appraisal and any upgrades made to the property. Boche suggested finding a volunteer appraiser. Corporation Counsel Timmerman said both parties should try to agree on as much as possible before coming back to the Finance Committee. John Larson, Glenwood City resident, believed an agreement could be reached from the testimony given today. He asked what would happen if a complete agreement could not be reached when the issue is brought back to Finance. Brown replied the committee could handle a few loose ends. Personnel Report: Chair Bradley said the committee will meet March 13 to determine Elected Officials salaries for 1997-98. Corporation Counsel: Greg Timmerman will meet with the Board of Review in the Town of Hudson in early May to challenge the evaluation of the Junker Landfill on which the County pays taxes to the Town of Hudson and Hudson School District. County Clerk: Sue Nelson advised the motion passed in January regarding tax deeded property needed to be amended. Motion by Burke, 2nd by Brown to amend the motion to read, "Any parcels under $1000 based on fair market valuation on current tax roles be appraised by the County Board Chair and appropriate staff (County Clerk and Treasurer) and offered for purchase to adjacent landowners; parcels over $1000 valuation would go through the bidding process." Carried. 3 Library Tour Canceled: Due to Oemichen's excused absence and the length of the meeting, Chair Brown canceled the tour of the Library. Clerk of Court: Lori Meyer reported the State is having problems implementing the KIDS program and no new Counties are being added until the trouble is solved. After becoming on line with KIDS in April or May, new checks will be required which are larger than the present county checks. Computer Services estimated a cost of $9600 to upgrade their system. Meyer said other options are buying pre-printed checks, purchasing or leasing with intent to buy a printer attachment for $2100. Brown requested that Meyer do some more research. Meyer reported 1000 cases have been turned over to TransWorld for collections of $167,000 in unpaid traffic fines. Of this amount $7007 has been collected which has just covered our expenses. Brown requested this be placed on the April agenda. Credit cards are presently used in the Jail, Clerk of Court and the Sheriff's Dept. but not in patrol cars. Supr. Giese will contact (Public Protection Chair Linda Luckey to get this on this committee's agenda. Supr. Standafer thought using credit cards would be a good idea to collect payment at the time the liability is incurred. He also noted a Tripe AAA card can be used for traffic violations and posting bonds. Meyer stated the State Legislature did approve the tax intercept program but the Dept. of Revenue has not developed a method to turn over the collections. Social security numbers are also needed and are not available. Finance Director: Rich Loney presented an unaudited General Fund Report. The undesignated fund balance is $2,691,713.43 which provides a 16.880 of expenditures. The auditors have recommended a percentage between 15o to 20% so the county is within that range. There was a major reduction in expenditures due to the county no longer being involved with the incinerator. Investment of County Funds: Loney stated the county presently invests in the State Investment Pool. He checked on interest rates for certificates of deposit and used a chart showing the different rates from various banking institutions. The State Pool is attractive because of ease of transferring funds and daily liquidity. Brown noted one problem with one year CD's is the effect on liquidity but an amount could be invested each month for a 12 month period. The present investment policy is very secure but 1/2°; interest rate could result in substantial revenue. Supr. Standafer referred to a letter he sent to Finance Comm. Chair. He is not criticizing the County or Finance Director but it is hard to quantify investment. Standafer is not suggesting placing county dollars in funds not paying sufficient interest but these dollars are from taxpayers in St. Croix County. He suggested that the bidding process be used and, if there is a comparable opportunity, that the money be invested within the county. Chair Brown recommended committee members study this matter further. Burke suggested that Loney do a sample or several scenarios of investments. Krizek noted the County Board must approve investment of county monies. Loney added that St. Croix County did not lose any money from the State fund investments that failed but future earnings will not be as high as they could be. Library Automation Report: Chair Ron Raymond said two meetings have been held and there is no sharp focus at this time. The Committee needs a charter focus and a definition of their mission. This study may take more meetings than planned. The Finance Committee reaffirmed the statement in the County Board minutes regarding the mission of the Library Automation Committee. The minutes state the Library Automation Committee is to review the cost of computer software and hardware and report to the Library Board and County Board by July 1996. Closed Session per WI Statute 19.85 (1) (c) : Motion by Bradley, 2nd by Boche to move into closed session. Roll call vote: all yes. Motion by Boche, 2nd by Bradley to come out of closed session per WI Statute 19.85 (2) . Carried. Motion by Bradley, 2nd by Boche to accept resignation of Computer Services Director Bruce Callen. Motion by Bradley, 2nd by Burke to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. LuVerne Burke, Secretary 5