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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 05-15-08 i' NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING AND AGENDA ST. CROIX COUNTY FINANCE COMMITTEE DATE AND TIME: Thursday May 15, 2008 — 8:30 A.M. LOCATION: Room 1281, St. Croix County Government Center, 1101 Carmichael Road Hudson, Wisconsin CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: June 5, 2008 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS: April 29, 2008 OLD AND NEW BUSINESS: 1. Review of Vouchers 2. Building Services Report a. Geothermal Project Status ** 3. Human Resources Report a. 8:45 a.m. Sheriff Report re: Officer Winberg Incident and Discipline ** b. Human Resources Activities Report c. Policies Status d. Springsted Project e. Wage and Benefits Review f Employee Health Insurance Review 4. Finance Report a. Investments Report — Bob Moore 5. Administrative Coordinator Report a. 2009 Budget Preparation b. Budget Related Data Review c. County Funds Balances d. CTH K Drainage Connector Extension 6. Short and Long Term Planning Goals — Follow Up to Board Goal Setting Session ADJOURN (Items may be taken in different order) * * Additions /Changes /Corrections Items for County Board approval must be submitted to the County Clerk's office by Wednesday morning preceding a County Board meeting. 11:12 AM 5/13/2008 OFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE ST. CROIX COUNTY FINANCE COMMITTEE MAY 15, 2008 Meeting called to order by Chair Standafer at 8:30 a.m. Present: Esther Wentz, Clarence Malick, Sharon Norton- Bauman, Lorin Sather and Daryl Standafer. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman, Finance Director Michelle Pietrick, Human Resource Administrator Tammy Funk and County Clerk Cindy Campbell. Others present: Building Services Director Art Tobin, Julie Speer, Roger Rebholz. Motion by Wentz, 2 nd by Sather to adopt the agenda. Carried unanimously. The date of the next meeting is June 5, 2008 beginning at 8:30 a.m. Motion by Sather, 2 nd by Norton -Bauman to approve the minutes of April 29, 2008. Carried unanimously. Motion by Malick, 2 nd by Wentz to approve the minutes of April 8, 2008 to include the following under item 6.b. Ag Center Cleaning Contract Award. Seven RFB responses were received with the lowest responsive responsible no exception bid coming in at $41,820. Baker explained lower bidders were sole proprietors which are not bonded or insured now but could obtain bonding and insurance if awarded the contract Carried unanimously. 1. Review of Vouchers. Malick reviewed the vouchers and noted nothing to report for the first two weeks in May, 2008. Motion by Wentz, 2 "d by Sather to approve vouchers for the weeks of May 1 and May 8, 2008. Carried unanimously. 2. Building Services Report. a. Geothermal Project Status. Building Services Director Art Tobin reported the test borehole was completed on the Government Center property for the geothermal system. Tobin reported the City of Hudson approved the bore work and thanked Dennis Christophersen of the City of Hudson and Bill Furbish of the DNR for the cooperation. Tobin stated the borehole was done on the most level spot on the property and was 200 feet in depth, which is the normal depth. Some concern was expressed there may be too much sand and gravel on the site. Results will be done by the end of next week. 3. Human Resources Report. a. 8:45 a.m. Sheriff Report regarding Officer Winberg Incident and Discipline. Standafer stated he requested Sheriff Hillstead report on this matter. Hillstead provided a history of Officer Winberg's employment with the county and a summary of the incident in which Winberg was arrested and placed on administrative leave. Hillstead explained how he determined Winberg's 30 -day suspension and demotion. Discussion regarding the public's perception of the incident. Hillstead pointed out law enforcement officers' jobs are stressful and added divorce and alcoholism rate are high for law enforcement. Standafer expressed thanks and understanding of the stresses to Sheriff Hillstead. b. Human Resources Activities Report. Funk distributed a list of Human Resource Department (HR) identified needs as of April, 2008. • New Employee Orientation Program — Funk stated by fall she could be ready to hold the first employee orientation. Finance Committee May 15, 2008 Page 2 of 4 • Harassment Policy and Training — Funk indicated this will be for all employees and supervisors. The Sheriff's Department and Jail have this in place. • Update Personnel Manual /Policies/Forms — Discussion regarding HR outreach. Funk is working with IT to create a better online manual for employees. Malick requested this be completed before new employee orientation. • Performance Appraisals — Funk is working on creating a new form and tracking mechanisms. Funk will bring the new form to the June Finance meeting for members to compare to the old form. • Springsted — Ongoing evaluation of all jobs and creation of ongoing policies and processes • Human Resource Website — Funk is working with IT to update the HR website, including information for employees and applicants as well as including wellness program information. • Conflict Resolution Program — Funk stated this is a strategic initiative for staff and clients to better resolve conflicts. She is working with HHS staff trained in this area. • Supervisor Training — currently being reviewed and identifying needs • Open Enrollment Program — Funk identified the need to organize a more formal process to better assist employees. Malick suggested an open enrollment program be in place by October 1 sc • Exit Interview Process — Funk indicated an exit interview tool has been created to offer to exiting employees on a voluntary basis. • Wellness program — Funk is working on this and will bring this back in July. C. Policies Status. Covered in 3.b. above. d. Springsted Project. Whiting provided a history of the PAWG group. Funk reviewed the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) status and stated she is waiting for Springsted to return draft job descriptions to the County for review. Springsted's goal is to realize there is no need for a different job description for jobs that fall under the same classification. Sather expressed the need for an organizational chart. Malick stated if the County Board allows making decisions on a political basis, it messes up the system. Discussion regarding job descriptions and comparisons to other counties — Wisconsin and Minnesota employee pools. Funk stated Springsted compares benefits and job descriptions. Malick suggested comparables from private, Minnesota and some Wisconsin counties. Whiting stated there is a 3 -year commitment with Springsted. e. Wage and Benefits Review. Whiting stated clean up of the non - represented employees wage grid was completed. This needs to be done for represented employees. Whiting suggested waiting to see what comes out of Springsted. f. Employee Health Insurance Review. Whiting reviewed basic information on the HRA approach and stated the Union has tentatively agreed to an HRA concept. This means a higher deductible - $1,500 in which the County would fund $1,400. Whiting indicated this would require coming up with a way of capsulizing this in a policy and the County would need to earmark $1,400 per employee to be consistent which would be viewed as a liability to the - Finance Committee May 15, 2008 Page 3 of 4 Health Insurance Fund. Whiting suggested if needed, consult with an actuary regarding future payouts of funds retained. Standafer reminded members the Union has not voted on the contract yet. Discussion regarding options. Whiting indicated Sara Haines will attend the next Department Head meeting to explain how this works for non - represented employees. Malick suggested an earlier deadline for non - represented employees to choose which plan for budgeting purposes. 4. Finance Director Report. a. Investments Report — Bob Moore. Moore provided an economic overview, market outlook and portfolio review. Moore stated investments are doing well. He reviewed macro economic issues. Moore recommended building inflation expectations into the budget process. Moore highlighted the rise in import prices, commodities and energy costs. He reviewed employment issues noting job creation is weak and claims for unemployment are high. Consumer confidence decline hurts spending. He reviewed the Housing market with a discussion regarding foreclosures doubling. New home sales are down 22% year on the year. Moore recommended paying attention to what the Federal Government is doing. He reviewed how Federal Reserve has responded to the market. Discussion regarding borrowing. Pietrick explained where county funds are currently invested for the accounts she manages. 5. Administrative Coordinator Report. a. 2009 Budget Preparation. Fund balance issues were reviewed. Whiting reported there is not as much fund balance to apply to the 2009 budget. Pietrick provided an estimated general fund balance handout. Estimated unreserved fund balance is $7,655,112 or about 27% of the estimated 2007 expenses. Based on the 2008 General Fund Expenses which total $31,643,128, Pietrick reported the County's unreserved fund balance is 24 %. Discussion regarding levy by fund comparison 2007 vs. 2008 budgets. 2008 budget scenarios were reviewed. Pietrick stated health insurance is calculated at 10% and increases at 2.5 %. Discussion regarding comparisons with other counties relating to budget and staffing. Discussion regarding defining a 5% reduction. Pietrick provided a spreadsheet to assist the committee on how to focus on a direction using expenses from the 2008 budget and department specific revenues. Whiting suggested this be discussed at the June meeting. Malick asked if there are any actions to be taken in 2008 in order to have more carryover to 2009. Malick stated this should be a discussion for the June agenda and asked Pietrick to bring back ideas. Sather suggested freezing purchases in the last quarter of each year. Standafer stated it would be appropriate at the next Department Head meeting to give an indication there is an expectation from the operating budget standpoint as the County begins budget preparation for 2009, we are going to need not just the concept of a zero based budgeting but need to have the Department Heads look at appropriate ways to contract budgets to start a narrative dialog that the quantified budget instructions, which will be coming, are going to need that kind of orientation from the Department Head level. The Finance Committee knows, based on the decline in sales tax revenue, the pressure of levy limits, and the non - ability to use fund balance that is the direction we are required to go. Norton - Bauman suggested a discussion regarding a potential hiring freeze be held at the next Finance Committee meeting. Finance Committee May 15, 2008 Page 4 of 4 b. Budget Related Data Review. Covered in 5.a. above. C. County Funds Balances. Covered in 5.a. above. d. CTH K Drainage Connector Extension. Whiting reported the Highway Department has reviewed the work done on County Road K in New Richmond and has reported a drainage issue. The Highway Department is proposing putting in a culvert under County Road K to drain into the filtration pond. This will be done for $18,000. Whiting stated in the past, funds have come out of the capital project fund for work done on this project. Motion by Malick, 2 nd by Wentz to authorize expenditure, not to exceed $18,000, for a culvert on County Road K from the north to the south side. Carried unanimously. 6. Short and Long Term Planning Goals — Follow -up to Board Goal Setting Session. Review of Strategic Initiatives for the Finance Committee prepared by Whiting. Meeting adjourned 12:25 p.m. Sharon Norton- Bauman, Secretary Cindy Campbell, Recording Secretary