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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 12-14-06 NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING AND AGENDA ST. CROIX COUNTY FINANCE COMMITTEE DATE AND TIME: Thursday December 14, 2006 — 9:00 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: January 11, 2007 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: November 9, 2006; November 17, 2006 OLD AND NEW BUSINESS: 1 Review of Vouchers 2. Joint Meeting with Public Protection Committee — 9:00 a.m. re: Building Storage Issues a. Review of BDRS project 3. Clerk of Court Report a. Review of Collections — 9:45 a.m. 4. Treasurer Report a. Treasurer's Reconciliation 5. County Clerk Report a. 2007 Meeting Schedule b. Statewide Voter Registration Agreement with Relier Municipalities c. Community Room Usage 6. Risk Manager Report a. Review of County Liability Insurance Presentation — 10:30 a.m. 7. Finance Director Report a. Finance Reports b. Review of Jail Assessment Fund 8. Administrative Coordinator Report a. Request from St. Croix Electric for Utility Easement b. Proposed Personnel Manager Position Description Changes c. County Farm Property Appraisal — 11:30 a.m. d. County Government Center Property Discussion in Preparation for County Board Meeting e. Review of Lake Mallalieu Dam Payment Request 9. Review of Space Interest in Government Center Room 1259 a. EDC b. Corporation Counsel c. District Attorney d. Veterans Services e. Health and Human Services f. County Clerk 10. Personnel Items a. 2007 Non - represented Employees Pay Plan b. Life Insurance Issues Follow Up c. Review of Position Modifications" i. Nurse Manager (HHS/NH) ii. MDS /Staff Education Nurse (HHS/NH) d. Closed session per WI Stat. 19.85 (1) e for the purpose of discussing bargaining strategy. Reconvene into open session to complete other agenda items. e. Closed session per WI Stat. 19.85 (1) e for the purpose of discussing bargaining strategy. Reconvene into open session to complete other agenda items. Items for County Board approval must be submitted to the County Clerk's office by Wednesday morning preceding a County Board meeting. 4:40 PM 12/12/2006 1 hear a gFie ------- - Pled by a former emplayee pursuant to the Fellewing the ! .! te p r r eeHip e agen •+ g. Adjourn to closed session pursuant to s.19.85(1)(f) to investigate possible discipline against an employee related to the County's email policy. Resume open session. ADJOURN (Items may be taken in different order) * * Additions /Changes /Corrections I Items for County Board approval must be submitted to the County Clerk's office by Wednesday morning preceding a County Board meeting. 4:40 PM 12/12/2006 UNOFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE ST. CROIX COUNTY FINANCE COMMITTEE Regular Meeting December 14, 2006 Meeting called to order by Chair Krueger at 9:00 a.m. Present: Clarence Malick, Daryl Standafer, Tom Caflisch and Stan Krueger. Absent and excused: Esther Wentz. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Michelle Pietrick, Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman and County Clerk Cindy Campbell. Others present: Bill Cranmer; Public Protection Committee Members Julie Speer, John Borup and Chuck Mehls. Tom Dowd arrived at 10:25 a.m. Media: Judy Wiff. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Standafer to adopt the agenda. Carried unanimously. Krueger stated the next scheduled meeting is January 11, 2007 (later corrected to January 4, 2007) but there may be a special meeting before the County Board meeting on December 19 to correct the compensation for the Condemnation Commissioners. Krueger stated Bill Rubin requested under the EDC Proposal for Office Space in the minutes of November 9 th state the request be specific to convert one -half of the large lunchroom. Campbell indicated Greg Timmerman stated it is customary to identify the committee members voting against a motion. The EDC office space proposal motion carried three to two. Voting in the negative were: Wentz and Malick. Motion by Malick, 2 by Standafer to approve the November 9, 2006 minutes with the noted corrections and the November 17, 2006 minutes. Carried unanimously. 1. Review of Vouchers. Malick reported he did not find anything to bring to the committee's attention regarding voucher review. 2. Joint Meeting with Public Protection Committee — 9:00 a.m. re: Building Storage Issues. a. Review of BDRS project. Whiting explained he asked Dana Baker to put together a history of the process completed for paper storage issues. Whiting suggested committee members review the storage area in the basement of the Government Center. Baker presented project goals relating to digital imaging, reducing hardcopy storage and storage solutions for hardcopy that needed to be retained and document destruction. Procedures and a timeline were detailed by Baker. Baker reported St. Croix County contracted with Business Data Record Storage (BDRS) for hardcopy storage. Baker provided costs and expenditures to date relating to hardcopy storage. Information Technology Department's 2006 budget contains $25,000 for optical imaging. There being no optical imaging purchases in 2006 the funds were used toward hardcopy storage. To date $8,827 has been spent from this account on hardcopy storage. The breakdown is: $7,100 on temporary and overtime pay, $600 in supplies, $193 for transportation, $250 for shredding and $600 spent on storage. Baker reported departments estimated 445 boxes needed to be stored. After further review by departments, some departments realized stored documents could be shredded. Actual BDRS onsite storage to date is 267 boxes. It was estimated that 25 to 30 boxes would be moved monthly to BDRS and to date, zero have been moved. Finance Committee December 14, 2006 Page 2 of 8 Whiting summarized departments need to spend time to get rid of what they don't need. Discussion regarding ongoing costs with BDRS. Whiting stated the annual cost for storage at BDRS is approximately $600. There are fees associated with retrieving documents from BDRS including a flat fee for transporting documents of $35. The 2007 budget contains each department's estimates for storage and retrieval. Departments currently using BDRS: District Attorney, Finance Department, and Sheriff s Department. Speer asked about the potential of a storage building on the Government Center property. Mehls listed six needs for onsite secure storage: Sheriff's Department evidence, Communications Van, boat, trailers, clean up of the impound area and equipment for Building Services. Mehls asked if an onsite building is considered, could it contain humidified storage area for document storage. Whiting stated a cost comparison could be done. Caflisch stated constructing a building is a budgetary process. Borup asked if is it cost effective to continue on this route or look at building since we have the land and space available. Baker confirmed the BDRS contract has a 3 year term and when up, it would automatically renew for a one -year term unless the county gives a 60 day notice to end the contract. Mehls stated the paper storage issue has been addressed but there are other issues. The committees thanked Baker for her presentation. Krueger suggested an abbreviated presentation to the County Board at its next meeting. 3. Clerk of Court Report. a. Review of Collections — 9:45 a.m. Tom McCarty, County Administrator for Eau Claire County presented Eau Claire County's alternatives used for debt collection. Lori Meyer, Kristi Severson and Katy Kapaun were also present as well as Eric Summers from the HE Stark Collection Agency. McCarty stated the approximate total outstanding debt owed to Eau Claire County is $4.5 million, with the Eau Claire County Clerk of Court's total $3.4 million. Debt collection methods were reviewed which include payment plans, Department of Revenue tax intercept, small claims actions, commitment (warrants) orders, contracted collections vendor and the creation of an internal collection agency. McCarty noted collection actions are staff and time intensive. McCarty stated payment plans are allowed on amounts due over $1,000. Eau Claire County Judiciary allows credit of $50 per day for time served in jail. McCarty reported for 2007 the County Board approved collections staff in Clerk of Court office working on payment plans and no longer issuing warrants for traffic fines and forfeitures. Contracted collection vendors are used as a last resort. McCarty stated Waukesha County has an internal collection agency and has contracted with other local municipalities. Discussion regarding the effectiveness of publishing names and last known addresses of those owing to Eau Claire County. McCarty stated for a while there were payments received but in the last four years there has not been as much return on the investment. Eau Claire County no longer does this. Krueger asked McCarty if the State of Wisconsin would do anything to assist. McCarty stated the Eau Claire County Board has asked the state to change its parameters. Discussion regarding retaining a percentage if fees are collected in the first 60 days, etc. Finance Committee December 14, 2006 Page 3 of 8 Meyer distributed a collections proposal which collaborates with the Child Support Agency on collection of delinquent fines. Meyer described the proposed plan in which two child support employees will work a total of ten hours per week for six months in the Clerk of Court office. The objective is to determine if additional revenue collected can support this portion of a new Collection Clerk position in the future. Duties include: locate social security numbers, issue wage assignments and follow up with employers, track payments via wage assignment, maintain a master list of cases being worked on by the Child Support Agency, assist with turning debts over to the Collection Agency, assist with marking accounts "inactive" in the CCAP system. The proposal estimated $30.00 per hour or $7,800 for six months. Kapaun stated the Child Support Agency would lose 66 percent of $7,800 in Federal funding. The second step in the proposal was to turn debts over to a collection agency. This would include cases without social security numbers, out -of -state cases, cases in which an employer cannot be located to implement a wage assignment and cases more than six months delinquent. The third proposal was to place a portion of the new position request on hold for six months and review status of these efforts after six months to determine how to proceed on payment plan issues. Meyer stated she discussed this with the Judges and the Judges stated they would not discontinue issuing warrants. Judges believe it's a tool they want to continue to use as a consequence. Meyer added St. Croix County does not hold people in jail, as Eau Claire does, for unpaid fines. Kapaun stated this plan is feasible and she has collection experts staffed in the Child Support office. Kapaun stated Child Support tools for collection cannot be used in the Clerk of Court office. Malick asked about tracking the revenue. Meyer stated wage assignment tracking is easy. Other methods to track revenue will need to be developed. Malick suggested developing rules in advance. Discussion regarding staff in Child Support who are non -union vs. union employees in the Clerk of Court. Borup stated this is a low risk pilot and a good thing to attempt. Krueger asked about the financial staff person added in 2002 and asked for results. Meyer stated the Finance Committee approved this position but the County Board denied it. Meyer stated she does not have a new collection person in her department. Krueger asked Campbell to review previous minutes regarding this position. Pietrick stated there are no additional costs from Clerk of Court and there is no need to transfer budget expenses between departments. Both are part of the General Fund budget. Finance Committee: Motion by Caflisch, 2 nd by Malick to move forward with this proposal. Carried unanimously. Public Protection Committee: Motion by Mehls, 2 nd by Borup to accept this proposal. Carried unanimously. Borup requested a status report back by Child Support to the Public Protection Committee and by the Clerk of Court to the Finance Committee. Finance Committee December 14, 2006 Page 3 of 8 Meyer distributed a collections proposal which collaborates with the Child Support Agency on collection of delinquent fines. Meyer described the proposed plan in which two child support employees will work a total of ten hours per week for six months in the Clerk of Court office. The objective is to determine if additional revenue collected can support this portion of a new Collection Clerk position in the future. Duties include: locate social security numbers, issue wage assignments and follow up with employers, track payments via wage assignment, maintain a master list of cases being worked on by the Child Support Agency, assist with turning debts over to the Collection Agency, assist with marking accounts "inactive" in the CCAP system. The proposal estimated $30.00 per hour or $7,800 for six months. Kapaun stated the Child Support Agency would lose 66 percent of $7,800 in Federal funding. The second step in the proposal was to turn debts over to a collection agency. This would include cases without social security numbers, out -of -state cases, cases in which an employer cannot be located to implement a wage assignment and cases more than six months delinquent. The third proposal was to place a portion of the new position request on hold for six months and review status of these efforts after six months to determine how to proceed on payment plan issues. Meyer stated she discussed this with the Judges and the Judges stated they would not discontinue issuing warrants. Judges believe it's a tool they want to continue to use as a consequence. Meyer added St. Croix County does not hold people in jail, as Eau Claire does, for unpaid fines. Kapaun stated this plan is feasible and she has collection experts staffed in the Child Support office. Kapaun stated Child Support tools for collection cannot be used in the Clerk of Court office. Malick asked about tracking the revenue. Meyer stated wage assignment tracking is easy. Other methods to track revenue will need to be developed. Malick suggested developing rules in advance. Discussion regarding staff in Child Support who are non -union vs. union employees in the Clerk of Court. Borup stated this is a low risk pilot and a good thing to attempt. Krueger asked about the financial staff person added in 2002 and asked for results. Meyer stated the Finance Committee approved this position but the County Board denied it. Meyer stated she does not have a new collection person in her department. Krueger asked Campbell to review previous minutes regarding this position. Pietrick stated there are no additional costs from Clerk of Court and there is no need to transfer budget expenses between departments. Both are part of the General Fund budget. Finance Committee: Motion by Caflisch, 2 nd by Malick to move forward with this proposal. Carried unanimously. Public Protection Committee: Motion by Mehls, 2 nd by Borup to accept this proposal. Carried unanimously. Borup requested a status report back by Child Support to the Public Protection Committee and by the Clerk of Court to the Finance Committee. Finance Committee December 14, 2006 Page 4 of 8 4. Treasurer's Report. a. Treasurer's Reconciliation. October reconciliation report was reviewed. Motion by Standafer, 2 nd by Malick to accept the report as distributed. Carried unanimously. Slind commented that optical imaging is a huge desire in her department and it's not going anywhere. Whiting will coordinate and report back in January 2007. Slind explained her department took over the tax billing process from Real Property Lister and everything is going well. She is waiting for city of Hudson numbers at this time. 5. County Clerk Report. a. 2007 Meeting Schedule. The proposed meeting schedule for 2007 County Board and Finance Committee meetings was distributed. No questions. b. Statewide Voter Registration Agreement with Relier Municipalities. Campbell explained the agreement between the county and municipalities relying on the county for voter registration data maintenance will end December 31, 2006. Campbell recommended an extension of this agreement to December 31, 2007 under the same terms. There are currently eighteen municipalities relying on the county for voter registration data management. There are two elections in 2007 and Campbell stated she does not anticipate a large number of registration entries in 2007. Campbell stated eleven of the eighteen reliers have responded to her request regarding intentions of eventually becoming a self - provider. Two of the eleven would consider it for 2009 and one is considering it; eight do not intend to become self - providers. Campbell stated this will be reviewed in 2007 with consideration of a fee increase beginning in 2008. C. Community Room Usage. Campbell explained she continues to receive requests from various groups regarding using the Community Room at the Government Center and requested guidelines from the committee as to usage of this room. Discussion regarding limiting usage. Motion by Malick, 2 nd by Caflisch to allow only charitable non - profit groups and government groups with no set up and the user responsible for clean up and returning the room to original set up; and double rental rates to $50 for half day and $100 for full days. Standafer expressed concern regarding limiting groups. Malick and Caflisch agreed to substituting the motion to open to all non - profit legal entities (corporations, LLC, partnerships) and rental and scheduling done not more than two months in advance. Carried unanimously. 6. Risk Manager Report. a. Review of County Liability Insurance Presentation — 10:30 a.m. Risk Manager Kristen Ziliak presented a review of the county insurance coverage. She stated this is being done as a result of a request at a County Board meeting. The focus of the Risk Manager is to preserve county assets from the effects of loss. Ziliak stated her presentation focuses on the financing of losses and impact on county budget. County insurance coverage, claims history, funding and department budgets were reviewed. Ziliak stated the four largest areas are liability, Finance Committee December 14, 2006 Page 5 of 8 property damage, hospital liability (medical malpractice) and worker compensation. Ziliak stated the county currently pays the first $300,000 per worker compensation claim. Excess coverage is purchased from Safety National via WMMIC and WMMIC is third party claims administrator. A summary of workers compensation history by department for the past five years was presented. Costs are allocated to each department. Fund balance limits have not been established for workers compensation. Ziliak reviewed the liability fund, premium history, property loss history and budget allocation. Ziliak explained the county liability insurance is structured in which the county pays the first $250,000 per claim with a maximum aggregate of $1,500,000 per year. 2007 allocations based on 2005 expenses were reviewed. Ziliak highlighted the benefit of WMMIC membership including the county's longstanding relationship of 19 years; $683,181 initial investment and resulting in annual dividend averages of $80,000 per year; and the ability to participate in WMMIC management. Ziliak reported WMMIC premiums are decreasing. Premium and dividend history reviewed from 1988 to 2006. Total dividends received are $1.4 million. The committee thanked Ziliak for her report. 7. Finance Director Report. a. Financial Reports. General Fund Cash and investments balance as of October 31, 2006 was $23,500,842.07. 2006 Contingency Fund balance is $250,000. 2006 Sales Tax received in November 2006 for September 2006 sales are $503,042.23. Year to date sales tax received is $4,092,512.20. Expenditure and Revenue Summary Reports reviewed. Pietrick estimates general fund expenses to be $21 million and revenues at $19.6 million. Pietrick expressed concerns regarding grant - related revenues. b. Review of Jail Assessment Fund. Pietrick provided revenue and expenses information as of November 30, 2006 regarding the Jail Assessment Fund. Pietrick stated the Sheriff's Department is allowed to spend $50,000 out of this fund. Pietrick estimates a negative balance of $36,954.44. Pietrick reported she discussed this matter with Sheriff Hillstead who stated State Patrol is down by four officers in St. Croix County and St. Croix County gets a portion of every ticket issued by the State Patrol. In addition, his department has not been issuing as many tickets because deputies have been going out on increased calls for service and less time for traffic enforcement. Pietrick's report listed revenue sources. Pietrick stated this is a "heads -up" to the committees. 8. Administrative Coordinator Report. a. Request from St. Croix Electric for Utility Easement. Stan Higby from St. Croix Electric was present. Higby provided a map of North Bass Lake Estates showing the area in which St. Croix Electric seeks a utility easement on property owned by St. Croix County. Higby stated the easement needs to cross Outlot 1 and will be ten feet wide by eighteen feet long for buried electrical lines to a parcel adjoining this property. Whiting stated Land and Water has reviewed this request and found no issues. Motion by Standafer, 2 °a by Caflisch to approve easement. Carried — voting no was Malick. • Finance Committee December 14, 2006 Page 6 of 8 Speer asked the status of the county -owned land inventory. Whiting stated it has been reviewed by various committees and will place this on a future agenda if desired. b. Proposed Personnel Manager Description Changes. Whiting distributed a revised job description for the Personnel Manager position. Whiting stated labor relations and contract management were added and there is a reduction in data management which moved to the Finance area. Whiting reported he may bring benefit management duties before the Finance Committee in January to be added to the Classification Compensation Specialist position. Whiting stated this should fall in line with what it's been and comparable with the others. Pietrick suggested adding exit interviews to the job description. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Caflisch to approve the job description with adding exit interview duties. Carried unanimously. C. County Farm Property Appraisal — 11:30 a.m. Jeff White of Valuation Specialists in Eau Claire and Fred Katter of Pineapple Management were present. White did an appraisal on the New Richmond property located south of the highway. White highlighted the parcel which he appraised and stated there is only one access to this property from Fourth Street. The parcel contains 18.13 acres and twelve acres are actually buildable, with the remainder being swamp and low land. Katter stated the city has approved a preliminary plan but requires a detention system which would be paid for by developers. White stated they focused on the twelve buildable acres located east of Sharon Drive. White appraised the property at $1,015,000 or $2.00 per square foot. White reviewed improvements proposed by the city with all at the cost of the developer. Highest and best use is commercial and it is currently zoned commercial. White will make this presentation to the County Board at approximately 9:30 a.m. on December 19 d. County Government Center Property Discussion in Preparation for County Board Meeting. Whiting stated Dennis Welsch from Barsness Consulting in Forest Lake, MN is planning on attending the County Board meeting. Discussion regarding Judge Lundell's recollection of restrictions on the Government Center property. Caflisch recalled the intention was specific for public use. Judge Lundell joined the meeting stated at the time this purchase was being negotiated he was the county's District Attorney and Corporation Counsel. He stated in 1984 or 1985 the Finance Committee asked Jim Steele and Lundell to negotiate purchase of property from Ed and Nellie Boody. Lundell recalled driving to the Boody farmhouse and negotiated an offer to purchase and brought back to County Board which was voted on and approved. Lundell recalled the Boody's request was to have no private development on the property and requested courthouse and public uses only. There is no restriction noted on the deed. Lundell stated this was the understanding and suggested the committee visit with Jim Steele regarding this matter. Lundell stated if it's not a legal then it's a moral conundrum. e. Review of Lake Mallalieu Dam Payment Request. Wally Habhegger was present. Pietrick stated two statements were received from city of Hudson totaling $26,282 for Lake Mallalieu Dam maintenance. Fodroczi and Pietrick have contacted the city. Pietrick stated there was $5,000 in this year's budget and $5,000 in last year's budget for Lake Mallalieu Dam maintenance. The city did not bill the county last year. Habhegger suggested meeting with city to get a resolution and be part of the decision process when it comes to Lake Mallalieu Dam maintenance. Motion by Malick, 2 by Standafer to pay $10,000 with $5,000 from the Finance Committee December 14, 2006 Page 7 of 8 Contingency Fund and on behalf of the county, Whiting negotiate a new written agreement with the city of Hudson with a provision the county get fifty percent of the vote on what is to be done in the future. Carried unanimously. The county is on the title and is responsible for maintenance. Clerk's note: Caflisch left the meeting at 1: 00 p.m. and Standafer at 2:11 p.m. Items 9, 10. b, c, e and d were not addressed due to lack of quorum. 9. Review of Space Interest in Government Center Room 1259. This matter was not addressed at the meeting. No quorum. i a. EDC b. Corporation Counsel C. District Attorney d. Veterans Services e. Health and Human Services f. County Clerk Caflisch left the meeting at 1:00 p.m. 10. Personnel Items. a. 2007 Non - represented Employees Pay Plan. Classification Compensation Specialist Scott Guinter presented the non - represented employee pay plan. Compensation terms and principles reviewed including percentage between steps and pay grades. Guinter stated the proposed change is going from a five -step grid to a seven -step grid. Discussion regarding transition from one grid to the next. Guinter noted 85 to 90 percent of the non - represented employees are at the top of their scale and will transition from level five of old grid to seven of the new grid. Guinter added approximately fourteen people between levels I and 5 will need to transition into the new grid. The proposal is a 2.5% increase January I" and any step- increase on the employee's anniversary date. Malick suggested delaying implementation date. Discussion regarding flat dollar amount increases. Springsted adjustments were reviewed. Guinter provided a graph identifying positions over the line of best fit and under the line of best fit. Those positions under the line are proposed a 2.5% increase and then move into a higher grade in January 2008. Those positions over the line need to be reviewed and adjusted. Guinter stated Planning and Zoning area positions warrant some review for Senior Planner and Land Information Manager. There were no pay adjustments when the positions were approved. These positions have been re- pointed and the recommended effective date for these adjustments is January 1 Motion by Standafer, 2„d by Malick to approve and offer to the County Board with a recommendation for submission of the Pay Plan. Carried unanimously. b. Life Insurance Issues Follow Up. Not addressed at the meeting — no quorum. C. Review of Position Modifications. Not addressed at the meeting — no quorum. i. Nurse Manager (HHS/NH) ii. MDS /Staff Education Nurse (HHS/NH) Finance Committee December 14, 2006 Page 8 of 8 d. Closed session per WI Stat. 19.85(l)(e) for the purpose of discussing bargaining strategy. Reconvene into open session to complete other agenda items. The committee did not go into closed session. Standafer briefly summarized the negotiated LAW contract. Motion by Standafer, 2 nd by Malick to recommend to the County Board approval of the LAW contract. Carried unanimously. e. Closed session per WI Stat. 19.85(l)(e) for the purpose of discussing bargaining strategy. Reconvene into open session to complete other agenda items. Not addressed at the meeting — no quorum. fl. At appr-exifflately 1:00 ., adjeum into elesed UVUJIVLL YuaJUUrr< to r9.v5(r)w+, ., ., to uvuvvr usv re" g. Adjourn to closed session pursuant to 19.85(1)(f) to investigate possible discipline against an employee related to the County's email policy. Resume open session. Not addressed at the meeting — no quorum. Meeting adjourned at 2:11 p.m. Cindy Campbell, Recording Secretary