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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 06-05-08 NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING AND AGENDA ST. CROIX COUNTY FINANCE COMMITTEE DATE AND TIME: Thursday June 5, 2008 — 8:30 A.M. LOCATION: Room 1281, St. Croix County Government Center, CALL TO ORDER 1101 Carmichael Road Hudson, Wisconsin ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: July 3, 2008 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS: May 15, 2008 OLD AND NEW BUSINESS: 1. Review of Vouchers 2. Treasurer Report a. Monthly Reconciliation b. County Treasurer Capital Outlay c. County Treasurer Mission Statement d. Discussion of municipal charges for tax collection 3. County Clerk a. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities b. Election Update 4. Clerk of Court a. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities 5. Circuit Court a. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities 6. Building Services Report a. Geothermal Heating /Cooling System Project for Government Center b. Status of HHS Building c. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities d. Budget Transfer for New Equipment ** 7. Finance Director Report a. Financial Reports b. 2008 Borrowing Options c. 2009 Budget Instructions d. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities 8. Corporation Counsel Report a. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities b. Report on Referral of Corporation Counsel to Office of Lawyer Regulation 9. Risk Management Report a. Safety and Security Report — Hudson Government Center b. Safety and Security Report —New Richmond Facilities 10. Human Resources report a. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities b. Harassment policy c. Performance evaluations d. Employee Assistance Program e. New Position Description —Nurse Practitioner 11. Administrative Coordinator Report a. Interim Budget Steps i. review of department revenues and expenses ii. 2008 budget actions relative to carryover for 2009 budget iii. Discussion of hiring and purchasing freezes b. Emerald Tower Disposition c. Request from Baldwin Chamber of Commerce for Sign on County Property d. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities 12. 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. 4:13 PM 6/3/2008 OFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE ST. CROIX COUNTY FINANCE COMMITTEE JUNE 5, 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, County Clerk Cindy Campbell and Human Resource Assistant Amy Sabelko. Others present: Noted below. Media present: Judy Wiff. Motion by Wentz, 2 by Norton - Bauman to adopt the agenda. Carried unanimously. The date of the next meeting is July 3, 2008 beginning at 8:30 a.m. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to approve the minutes of May 15, 2008 which included minor revisions by Malick. Carried unanimously. 1. Review of Vouchers. Malick reviewed the vouchers and noted nothing to report for the last two weeks in May, 2008. Motion by Malick, 2 "d by Wentz to approve vouchers for the weeks of May 15 and May 22, 2008. Carried unanimously. 2. Treasurer's Report. a. Bank Reconciliation. April 2008 reconciliation report was reviewed. No questions. Motion by Wentz, 2 " d by Sather to accept. Carried unanimously. b. County Treasurer Capital Outlay. County Treasurer Cheryl Slind indicated her 2009 capital improvements include a computer wiring update. Motion by Malick, 2 " by Wentz to approve and to move forward into the budget process. Carried unanimously. C. County Treasurer Mission Statement. Slind noted she removed "parks fund" from her business responsibilities. There were no other changes. Discussion regarding tracking calls and counter work. Slind noted a decrease in calls and counter services crediting the information contained on county's website for the decrease. Slind will check with IT regarding tracking the number of hits on the website. The committee acknowledged receipt of the mission statement. d. Discussion of Municipal Charges for Tax Collection. Slind stated the County contracts with twelve municipalities to collect taxes. Slind reviewed her 2008 analysis of county tax collection. Discussion regarding the number of refunds issued by her office due to receipt of incorrect amounts for real estate taxes. Slind recommends increasing the fees for collecting taxes for the twelve municipalities from $.75 per parcel to $1.10 per parcel. Malick suggested establishing a fee for extra work due to payment error by taxpayer, either individual or mortgage company. Standafer asked Slind to do some due diligence with specifics and possibly charging a fee and bring it back to the committee. 3. County Clerk. a. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities. Campbell provided a revised version of her Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities. The committee acknowledged receipt. ' Finance Committee June 5, 2008 Page 2 of 7 b. Election Update. Campbell reported the Government Accountability Board (GAB) sent notice of receipt of a $2 million grant from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to improve the collection and reporting of election data. Ten states applied for five grants of $2 million each, and Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania were funded. As part of the grant's conditions, there will be a report to the EAC in March 2009, data collected from the November 4, 2008 election, to be used in their required June 2009 report to Congress. Campbell stated she's not sure what GAB plans to do, but she expects additional training. Campbell explained when an election contains municipal and school races she bills the municipality or school a portion of the coding costs, publication and ballot printing. She is in the process of calculating the charges for the Spring Elections since she received the last invoice last week. Campbell stated she budgeted $2,500 for the Spring Primary/Presidential Preference facsimile ballot notice. Final billing came in at over $7,000. Campbell indicated election budgeting is always a best estimate and wanted the committee to be aware of this. All other charges have been inline with her budgeted estimates, excluding supplies. Campbell indicated there are 18 municipalities relying on the St. Croix County Clerk's office for Statewide Voter Registration Services (SVRS). The City of Glenwood has three relier municipalities — Town of Emerald, Town of Forest and the Town of Glenwood. The city notified Campbell they intend to terminate the agreements with those three municipalities effective July 15, 2008 and asked if the County could take on SVRS duties for those municipalities. Campbell stated the County would take them on because they are smaller and have less activity. Campbell noted some relier municipalities have expressed interest in taking on SVRS duties after 2009 Spring elections. Campbell will forward the County's Memorandum of Understanding to the three municipalities. 4. Clerk of Court. a. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities. The Finance Committee acknowledged receipt. 5. Circuit Court. a. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities. The Finance Committee acknowledged receipt. 6. Building Services Report. a. Geothermal Heating/Cooling System Project for Government Center. Building Services Director Art Tobin stated last week he received results of the test bore and noted concerns regarding thermal conductivity which may require more wells than planned. Tobin stated KFI is putting together specific cost analysis by using the information from the bore test conductivity test. More than 300 wells may be needed because of the soil conditions. Tobin estimated costs at $1.5 million for 300 wells and estimates five months for completion. Tobin Finance Committee June 5, 2008 Page 3 of 7 explained another system is estimated at $750,000. Discussion regarding the ability to expand on both systems. Standafer stated a decision needs to be made as early as possible. b. Status of Health and Human Services (HHS) Building. Tobin stated he has contacted the engineering firm of Short Elliot and Hendrickson (SEH) regarding the water tower at HHS. Tobin explained the water system was installed in 1897 and the 50,000 gallon water tower on the site was constructed in 1931. Tobin expressed the need for fire suppression for the second floor of the nursing home. He added the water tower is behind on inspections. The City of New Richmond Water Department is looking at closing one tower in the city, because the cost to paint the tower is $320,000 and is looking into constructing a water tower on a 100' x 100' spot possibly on county property. The city has looked at a site on the west end of the property. Discussion regarding the tower's history. Review of estimated work plan received from SEH. Tobin recommends the County have Task 1 (includes: planning, identify deficient areas, run hydraulic model, live cycle cost analysis, review and finalize report) and Task 3 (includes: conduct a tank float down - internal and external inspection, pressure and flow testing, water quality sampling and report) completed. Total for Task 1 is $9,950 and Task 3 $6,542. Tobin recommends waiting on Task 2 which includes optional mapping services. Discussion regarding assessments, urgency and SEH costs. Motion by Wentz, 2 " by Sather allowing Tobin to pursue a contract with SEH to do Task 1 and 3. Motion failed. Standafer asked Tobin to get another engineering firm to review competing reports, bring back for discussion next month and review with the city of New Richmond. Malick suggested using the optimal area for a new tower. Tobin provided pictures of the HHS building showing the condition of the building and erosion and window problems. Tobin contacted contractors and received one response from Derrick Commercial Contracting. Derrick provided estimates for repair costs. Tobin stated downspouts /splash blocks need to be addressed and stated the Building Services Department can do that work. Estimates for all five area repairs totaled $255,200. Tobin stated the nursing home building foundation is good and added with proper renovation, could possibly relocate HHS personnel to the nursing home building. The nursing home was built in 1982 and has three levels. The lower level is not being used. Tobin noted funds for maintenance on the HHS building could be saved if HHS moves to the nursing home. Motion by Malick, 2 "d by Wentz to direct Tobin to proceed immediately with downspout, splash block and catch basin repair using Building Services staff and report status next month. Carried unanimously. Tobin reported the last storm caused more damage to the roof of the HHS building. The county has a $15,000 deductible for repair on more than one building. There was damage to the HHS building, nursing home and St. Croix Industries. C. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities. The Finance Committee acknowledged receipt. d. Budget Transfer for New Equipment. Tobin stated the Building Services budget contains funds to rent a trailer. The department rents a trailer approximately 3 — 4 times a month at $200 to $300 per month. Tobin found a tilt - trailer at a cost of $4,500 and would like to Finance Committee June 5, 2008 Page 4 of 7 use funds from his budget to purchase the trailer and is asking for no additional funds to purchase the trailer. Standafer stated there is no need for Finance Committee approval and appreciated knowing this in advance. 7. Finance Director Report. a. Finance Reports. Countywide Cash and Investments balance as of April 30, 2008 were $33,463,713.12. 2008 Vehicle Registration Fees for April registration received in May -- county share: $63,719.80 and total year -to -date: $215,396.16. Pietrick stated she has not received the March 2008 Sales Tax figures from the Department of Revenue. Contingency Fund balance is $148,815.02 with other potential costs of $14,000 to remodel Room 1259 in the Government Center, $1,500 for KFI specs for well drilling and $10,000 for test bore well drilling related to the geothermal system. Review of expenditure and revenue report. b. 2008 Borrowing Options. Pietrick explained the 2008 budget includes borrowing for a geothermal system, first half of Emergency Communications radio base repeaters and a new storage network for IT. Pietrick explained sales tax revenue goes into a separate fund and the Library Funding and County Aid Bridges come out of the levy. Estimates for borrowing include approximately $1.5 for the geothermal system and $500,000 for replacing the roof at the Government Center. Whiting stated they are looking ahead at the budget situation and starting from the premise of including everything and what would be freed up under the levy limit — debt levy is outside of levy limit. Pietrick stated county levy is limited for two purposes — operations and debt. Debt is the only way to finance capital improvement projects. Pietrick explained she is going into the 2009 budget not knowing what the net new construction will be and has prepared a summary using a rough estimate at 2 %. Pietrick distributed a budget summary showing estimates for 2009 and estimates at 95% and 90% of budgets. The summary also included debt service levy pre -July 2005 and post -July 2005. Discussion regarding long -term borrowing to free up operating costs and discussion regarding binding referendum options. C. 2009 Budget Instructions. Whiting distributed the Budget Instructions. Whiting explained the instructions request each department submit one proposed budget, one at 95% and one at 90 %. Motion by Malick, 2 "d by Norton - Bauman to issue the budget instructions. Sather would like strong justification regarding professional and/or consulting fees and feels more could be done in- house. Pietrick stated the instructions do not address new positions. Whiting suggested departments submit their budget, plus a second budget at 90% and third budget 95 %. Whiting will announce this at the next County Board meeting. Carried unanimously. d. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities. The Finance Committee acknowledged receipt. 8. Corporation Counsel Report. Finance Committee June 5, 2008 Page 5 of 7 a. Department Mission Statement and business Responsibilities. Timmerman explained changes reflect changes in staffing, modified measuring progress, and added Child Support work is reimbursable time. The Finance Committee acknowledged receipt. b. Report on Referral of Corporation Counsel to Office of Lawyer Regulation. Timmerman explained there was a referral to the Office of Lawyer Regulation as a result of the content in a brief he prepared on a particular case. Timmerman explained the process of the Office of Lawyer Regulation. Timmerman will submit a copy of the brief and his position statement. Materials will be passed on to the assistant director of the Office of the Lawyer Regulation who will decide to drop it or move to a more formal process. 9. Risk Management Report. a. Safety and Security Report — Hudson Government Center. Risk Manager Kristen Ziliak stated lockdown training has taken place at the Government Center. Ziliak reported equipment the County Board authorized to purchase is moving forward and stated camera placement at the Government Center has been finalized. She has worked with Dana Baker regarding the Lynx notification software and has reviewed other systems. One other system was found but does not provide as many options. The Lynx software is handled by several different vendors which placed a bid with the lowest coming in at $17,136. The County Board approved $19,000. IT and Emergency Communications will test the software and resolve usage on state computers in the Government Center. Per Boron, the system will likely be operational by mid - September. Ziliak is working with Tobin on additional door swipes. Tobin determined the additional door swipes will be installed on the second floor to secure eight doors. Building Services will include additional door swipes in its 2009 budget. Ziliak indicated additional security training for staff regarding defusing a hostile situation will be held in July and August for all employees. Chief Deputy John Shilts will complete an overall security assessment for the Government Center. b. Safety and Security Report — New Richmond Facilities. Ziliak stated lockdown training is scheduled at the New Richmond facilities. The New Richmond Safety and Security Committee is planning the migration to a single public access and hopes to accomplish this by September I". They are addressing signage and traffic issues and a sign -in and out system for visitors. 10. Human Resources Report. a. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities. Funk is updating the Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities. Funk will bring this back in July. b. Harassment Policy. The Harassment Policy was distributed. The Finance Committee will study and bring back next month. C. Performance Evaluations. Funk distributed revised performance evaluation forms and indicated this may need to be reviewed and brought back next month. Whiting asked Finance Committee June 5, 2008 Page 6 of 7 if this was coordinated with Springsted. Standafer stated the Finance Committee does not intend to wordsmith the form but needs to know a professional has developed the form and has gone through the process. d. Employee Assistance Program. Funk distributed an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Vendor Services Comparison. Funk stated there have been situations which could have and should have been referred to an EAR Currently, matters are referred to behavior health at HHS. Funk has reviewed this with Sara Hames and would like to pursue NEAS or VMS services in 2008 or budget for 2009. Discussion regarding integrating this type of program as a benefit. Funk stated this is the right thing to offer employees. e. New Position Description — Nurse Practitioner. Funk distributed a compensation schedule and updated job description for the Nurse Practitioner position. Funk indicated the HHS Board approved the job description. Funk stated a salary recommendation for this type of position is an educated guess. Motion by Wentz, 2nd by Malick to accept the updated Nurse Practitioner job description. Carried unanimously. Funk will continue to work with staff on specific needs and bring back a salary determination. 11. Administrative Coordinator Report. a. Interim Budget Steps. i. Review of Department Revenues and Expenses. Whiting asked the committee if they want to do something in more depth regarding department revenues and expenses. Discussion regarding limiting expenditures in the last quarter. Malick suggested Whiting discuss this at the next Department Head meeting. ii. 2008 Budget Actions Relative to Carryover for 2009 Budget. Discussion of Hiring and Purchasing Freezes. Discussion regarding not filling vacancies if they occur and instituting a hiring freeze. It was suggested Human Resources report all open positions monthly and have Department Heads justify the need. Discussion regarding a wage freeze requiring County Board approval for non - represented employees. Options considered by the Finance Committee to be discussed next month and then to County Board in July or August: wage freeze, hiring freeze, purchase freeze, travel freeze, lay offs, hours worked reduction, retirement enhancements. Malick asked if staff could provide a chart on the impact of the options discussed. b. Emerald Tower Disposition. Whiting reported the Emergency Management /Emergency Communications Committee made the decision to get rid of the Emerald Tower. Whiting stated this was given to Baker who expressed some confusion. Whiting talked to Transportation Committee and Rich Loney and stated the Highway Department will review an option and let Whiting know by July. Timmerman confirmed disposition of property requires County Board approval. Finance Committee June 5, 2008 Page 7 of 7 C. Request from Baldwin Chamber of Commerce for Sign on County Property. Present from the Baldwin Chamber of Commerce were Brian Bedford and Aaron VanRanst. Bedford explained the Chamber is seeking permission from the County to put a sign on the county property at the entrance of the Village of Baldwin's Industrial Park. Bedford stated the village board is in favor of this and Whiting indicated the Ag- Extension Committee is okay with it. The sign will list businesses in the Industrial Park including Ag- Extension and would likely be internally illuminated. There would be no cost to the County for construction, maintenance or electric power to the sign. The County would sign -off on the design of the sign and get proof of insurance. There would be a 5 -year agreement with an option to renew. The Village will pick up the cost of the sign and the Chamber will pay costs relating to the base of the sign. Bedford requested Whiting email specifics to be addressed. Whiting will discuss this with Corporation Counsel and Building Services. Malick suggested no vegetation around the sign so it can be mowed. Motion by Sather, 2 " d by Malick to approve and have Ag- Extension deal with details as well as Corporation Counsel and Building Services. Timmerman recommended the agreement be between the Village of Baldwin and the County. Bedford stated the sign will face south at a slight angle. Carried unanimously. d. Department Mission Statement and Business Responsibilities. This will be brought back next month. 12. Short and Long Term Planning Goals — Follow -Up to Board Goal Setting Session. No discussion. Meeting adjourned 12:30 p.m. Sharon Norton - Bauman, Secretary Cindy Campbell, Recording Secretary