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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 05-13-04 ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Chairman Buck Malick St. Croix County Board FROM: Ralph Swenson, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE: Finance DATE: Thursday, May 13, 2004 8:30 A.M. LOCATION: Room 1281, Government Center, Hudson CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: June 10, 2004 8:30 A.M. ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES: April 8, 2004 and * *April 20, 2004 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: 1. Review of Vouchers 2. Treasurer's Report 3. Maintenance Department Report 4. Computer Services Department Report 5. Risk Management Report 6. Corporation Counsel Report 7. Clerk of Court's Report 8. County Clerk Report a. Request for Lodging Reimbursement — Supervisor Speer b. Miller/Passe Dog Damage Claim Update 9. Finance Department Report a. Financial Reports b. County Investments Plan Proposal c. Workers Compensation/Payroll Policy 10. Administrative Coordinator Report a. Review of Goal Setting Items b. 2005 Capital Outlay Items c. Update on Policies Collection Project d. Review of County Owned Land Parcels e. Discussion of June Finance Committee Meeting re: 2005 Budget Objectives 11. Request for Approval to Exceed Reimbursable Lodging Expense Limit — Family Court Commissioner 12. Wisconsin Counties Association Resolution re: TABOR (Tax Payers' Bill of Rights) ** 13. Review of CTH K and STH 64 Configuration ** 14. County Participation in Class Action Lawsuit Against Microsoft Corporation ** 15. Review of Information Services Committee Status ** 16. ATM Machine Options — Supr. Speer and Supr. Mehls ** CORRESPONDENCE: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) COPIES TO: County Board Office News Media/Notice Board County Clerk County Board County Departments * *ADDITIONS /CHANGES /CORRECTIONS 5/6/2004 UNOFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE ST. CROIX COUNTY FINANCE COMMITTEE Regular Meeting May 13, 2004 Meeting called to order by Chair Swenson at 8:30 a.m. Present: Clarence Malick, Daryl Standafer, Stan Krueger, Esther Wentz and Ralph Swenson. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Michelle Pietrick and County Clerk Cindy Campbell. Motion by Standafer, 2nd by Wentz to adopt the agenda. Carried unanimously. Date of next meeting is June 10, 2004. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Standafer to approve the minutes of April 8, 2004 and April 20, 2004. Carried unanimously. 1. Review of Vouchers. Malick indicated there were no exceptions to report. 2. Treasurer's Report. The Finance Committee reviewed the March 2004 reconciliation report as submitted by County Treasurer Cheryl Slind and had no questions. Standafer thanked Slind for providing the reconciliation reports in advance. 3. Maintenance Department Report. Ralph Robole reported on the status of the Huber addition. He indicated landscaping and seeding needs to be done and final roof inspection needs to be completed. Nursing Home remodeling is sixty percent completed. 4. Computer Services Department Report. Tom Boron indicated with respect to the Microwave project the connection between Hudson and New Richmond is completed and has been in operation for approximately one month. He will discontinue the T1 lines in July. The Computer Services Department is currently using the time and attendance software. Other departments will soon begin using it gradually. Pietrick and Boron are working on getting a revised budget for 2004. Boron indicated they will need to make a copy of this database to make changes, roll it into the 2005 database for use to project the results of the contract settlement. 5. Risk Management Report. Rachel Rubin provided workers compensation status figures as of May 11, 2004. Payments made year to date are $37,145.44. This amount represents payments for claims occurring in any year, and are based on first quarter statements from WMMIC and Wausau, plus one pre - Wausau claim. As of May 11, 2004 total 2004 submissions are 42. Breakdown is: General County — 3; Highway Department — 2; Human Services — 3; Law Enforcement — 8; Nursing Home — 26. Krueger asked for comparisons for previous years and departments, and more details regarding the Nursing Home. Swenson asked for enough information to maintain awareness of submission status. a. Employee ID Card/Electronic Access Project. Rubin provided recommendations from the Risk Management / Security Committee to implement the employee ID card and electronic access system. The Personnel Department has agreed to issue the IDs and set policies. The Electronic Access System will be serviced and controlled by Building Services. Discussion regarding employees encouraged to wear badges vs. required to wear badges. The Electronic Access Project is funded by the 2003 Homeland Security grant for outside door units and a camera system. Krueger asked the department name be eliminated from the badge. Motion by Krueger, 2nd by Malick to generally endorse this project, and to keep it moving forward. Carried unanimously. Finance Committee May 13, 2004 Page 2 of 6 6. Corporation Counsel Report. No report. 7. Clerk of Court's Report. No report. 8. County Clerk Report. a. Request for Lodging Reimbursement — Supervisor Speer. Supr. Speer requested reimbursement for lodging in the amount of $57.61. She indicated in a letter to the Finance Committee that due to weather predictions, she stayed at a motel in Hudson the night before the March Public Protection meeting to insure she would be able to attend the meeting to assure a quorum that day, knowing two committee members were unable to attend. Motion by Malick, 2 °d by Standafer to send this to the full County Board to suspend the rules for reimbursement. Carried unanimously. b. Miller /Passe Dog Damage Claim Update. Clerk Campbell indicated she received a letter from Thomas Miller regarding the status of his claim against Lori Passe. Mr. Miller's April 7` letter indicated he was waiting for a decision from Court Commissioner Timothy Heckmann. Campbell did an online court search and found this matter is scheduled for a pretrial before Judge Lundell on June 4, 2004. Campbell also indicated Miller had contacted her and indicated Heckman had made a decision granting $750 in damages and Passe is appealing the decision. Campbell distributed a spreadsheet providing expenses and budget breakdown for the Spring Presidential Preference Primary and Spring Elections. Campbell also indicated the successful bidders of the Village of Baldwin and Town of Cady properties were notified and deeds are prepared. Total amount for the Village of Baldwin property was paid and she is waiting for full payment on the Town of Cady property. 9. Finance Department Report. a. Financial Report. Pietrick reported a General Fund Cash and investments balance as of March 31, 2004 of $24,230,873.18. 2004 Contingency Fund balance is $250,000. Sales Tax Progress through February 2004 (received in April 2004) is $309,596.44. Pietrick provided copies of Revenue and Expenditure Reports. Nursing Home and Health and Human Services Operating Report was distributed. Pietrick will work with Judy Ziegler of the Health and Human Services' Department to revise the format and time frame for delivery of the report. Nursing Home — Excess Revenues over Expenses are $11,498.25 as of March 31, 2004. Health and Human Services Excess Revenues over Expenses are $43,672.84 as of March 31, 2004. Pietrick reported an error she made in levying the County taxes for 2004. When Pietrick completed the certification of apportionment's worksheets which are sent to the state in December, she forgot to subtract the library tax and the county aid bridge tax from total County tax. In essence, what has been apportioned to the levy is $533,490 higher than it should have been. Swenson clarified when the County Board set the levy which was 6.663% higher than the prior year (based on new construction increase), the actual levy is 8.6% higher than previous one. Pietrick reported this is a $.09 mill rate difference, which on a house valued at $200,000, it means the County levied $18.00 more than it should have. Pietrick recommended setting the 2005 target levy then reduce it, in Finance Committee May 13, 2004 Page 3 of 6 essence fully refunding the money so the overall effect of two years is exactly the new construction increase. Swenson clarified this error was inadvertent and unintentional. Standafer indicated to keep good faith with the public we correct in the subsequent year the over collection of the previous year so the net effect after expiration of two years is back to zero in effect. Whiting suggests the Finance Committee declare where they want to be on the levy side first. If the target is going to be new construction, then the County has collected a portion of that. The County budget expense will need to fit the lower amount. Swenson indicated last year to get to $20,111,000 the County used approximately $600,000 from Building Fund. Whiting indicated one item to include in the 2005 levy is the debt payment of $383,000. Swenson will report this to the full County Board on May 18, 2004 and will indicate there will be no impact on the taxpayers over the years of 2005 and 2006. Finance Committee agrees unanimously. b. County Investments Plan Proposal. Slind submitted proposals from various banks regarding Certificates of Deposits rates for various timeframes. Pietrick indicated part of an overall investment strategy is to look at all objectives, look at cash flow needs and economic trends. She added Certificates of Deposits limit the county's flexibility but is one of the few ways to invest locally. Pietrick analyzed the rates. Current average rate is 1.76 percent for one year. Pietrick has potential recommendations as follows: $500,000 with the River Bank at 2.01 percent for six months; $500,000 with Citizens State Bank at 2.3 percent for one year; $1,000,000 — $1,500,000 with Bremer Bank at 2.9 percent for two years; and possibly $500,000 with First National Bank of New Richmond at 2 percent for one year, which will be based on further analysis. Pietrick is proposing no more than $3,000,000 be put in CDs and stagger the terms to maintain liquidity. Discussion regarding investment managers and the amount of time it takes to invest and monitor funds. Standafer is supportive of seeking professional assistance when it comes to investing purposes. Fees for investment managers will vary depending on the range of the portfolio given to them to invest. Swenson asked Pietrick bring back proposal at a later meeting analyzing and engaging an investor. Motion by Malick, 2" by Krueger to proceed with the investments recommended by Pietrick and not to exceed $4,000,000, and not to exceed two year terms. Standafer indicated because of the award to Citizens State Bank he will abstain from voting. Motion carried. Standafer abstained and Swenson voted no based on the two year term and on the $4,000,000 amount verses the $3,000,000 as recommended by Pietrick. Whiting indicated he will send out Request for Proposals for investment managers, narrow down to top candidates, possibly three. Swenson thanked Slind and Pietrick for their work done on this matter. C. Workers Compensation/Payroll Policy. Pietrick has attempted to consolidate what currently exists regarding filing a workers compensation claim and injury handling procedures. A County employee on workers compensation can no longer continue to receive full payment from the county through use of PTO. Pietrick indicated workers compensation must be non -taxed and non- reportable income and is two- thirds of the individual's wage payment. The old process allowed employees to supplement their workers compensation pay by using PTO to get full pay. The 100% runs through the payroll system with 100% being taxed, then WMMIC would pay the County for two - thirds of the pay. Taxes and withholding were done on the entire amount. Pietrick added the County is required to pay 100% of employee's retirement if on workers compensation status. Pietrick indicated this policy needs to adhere to IRS rules and state standards and will go to WMMIC for review. She added this is essentially a progress report. Finance Committee May 13, 2004 Page 4 of 6 10. Administrative Coordinator Report. a. Review of Goal Setting Items. Whiting indicated Dr. Trechter is working on compiling his report from the goal setting session. Whiting pointed out items which appear to be the direct responsibility of the Finance Committee. Discussion regarding charging impact fees. Malick requested WCA provide St. Croix County with a letter regarding the County not being able to charge impact fees. Impact fees bear the cost of anew area to that taxing jurisdiction (i.e. to extend sewer and infrastructure costs). Whiting indicated in parks, costs were incurred to develop. An increase in population results in a higher use of the park. Impact fees may qualify regarding County parks. Malick indicated if the County would be interested in sponsoring legislation to collect impact fees, the deadline for sponsoring new resolutions to WCA is June 28. Whiting will discuss this with WCA. b. Capital Outlay Items. The Finance Department has included $200,000 in its 2006 Capital Outlay Plan for standardizing accounting system countywide. The Finance Committee asked Pietrick and Boron to make presentation on advantages of a new system. C. Update on Policies Collection Project. Whiting has incurred $1,100 in expenses to collect policies and is in the process of having an Access database template put together. Springsted is working on this. d. Review of County Owned Land Parcels. Swenson indicated four to six months ago a report was made on county -owned land. It was agreed a more detailed list be brought back to the Finance Committee. County Planner Dave Fodroczi indicated his report from January was given to the consultant working on GASB 34. Pietrick indicated she recently received the program from Maximus and indicated research must be done on the guidelines from Maximus. An updated progress report will be given to the Finance Committee in June and a full report in July. e. Discussion of June Finance Committee Meeting re: 2005 Budget Objectives. Swenson indicated he will not be attending the June Finance Committee meeting. Swenson recommended the Finance Committee establish a target for the 2005 budget objectives. Standafer recommended the over -levy issue be indicated at the beginning of the June meeting. Malick suggested the budget instructions include no increase in operation expenses. Swenson summarized the Finance Committee's objectives: zero percent operating expense increase; levy increase should not to exceed the new construction percent increase; be alert in terms of what capital spending items are submitted other than what was in the plan for this year and/or anything that was deferred last year into 2005; possible target spending regarding health insurance which is yet undefined; expectation that budget requests have no new positions. Malick suggested new positions be prioritized the same way Capital Outlay Plans are organized and we pick a target for how much the county is willing to spend on health insurance then direct that objective to the Personnel Committee. 11. Request for Approval to Exceed Reimbursable Lodging Expense Limit a. Family Court Commissioner. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to authorize payment. Carried unanimously. Finance Committee May 13, 2004 Page 5 of 6 b. District Attorney (2 requests). This request will be addressed at the next Public Protection meeting. No action by the Finance Committee. 12. Wisconsin Counties Association Resolution re: TABOR (Tax Payers' Bill of Rights). A draft of a resolution from WCA was distributed. Swenson indicated he supports this resolution and excused himself from the meeting at 1:35 p.m. Malick suggested looking back five years, if TABOR would have been installed and see where the County would be today. The resolution urges the Wisconsin State Legislature to allow time for meaningful dialogue and input from the taxpayers of this state before moving forward with a proposed Constitutional Amendment. It also urges the Wisconsin State Legislature to maintain the Wisconsin Constitution for items of a constitutional nature and make fiscal policy changes in Wisconsin statutes or department rules and that any proposed changes to the Wisconsin Constitution which address government spending must also include language reflecting the full intent of the citizens to "require the state to fully fund any program service or benefit it requires local government to provide ". Motion by Wentz, 2 ❑d by Standafer to support this resolution and take it to the full County Board with a recommendation to approve. Carried unanimously. 13. Review of CTH K and STH 64 Configuration. Supr. King and Highway Commissioner Tim Ramberg were present. Malick presented principal reasons to favor the squared intersection, which is the alternative proposed by the County, over the rounded, switchback plan. Standafer asked what would come out of this discussion since one option had been committed. King indicated the County Board did not have all the information they needed. Transportation Committee has talked to the State. King indicated the proposed interchange is not a good location for an interchange. Swenson pointed out Roberts Rules provides reconsideration of an action must take place at the next County Board meeting, and that time has passed. The Finance Committee may recommend to suspend the rules to revisit the issue. Ramberg indicated the resolution provides "upon approval by the City of New Richmond" and added the city is still working on their plan with WisDoT. Ramberg asked if three accesses, as they are drawn, are adequate for what we want to do for county purposes for this property. The type of development would drive what type of roads would be necessary. King indicated it was too costly for just property access and why not let the developer put the money into it. Malick replied the County would likely recover this cost if the property is sold. Whiting added his purpose is to make the County Board aware of what opportunities exist, and that it still comes down to what the County decides to do with the County farm property. Timmerman indicated reconsideration votes are intended to correct mistakes or new or additional information. Differences of opinion would not be significant for reconsideration. Whiting indicated another vote would need to come to the County Board as far as construction is concerned. Motion by Malick, 2 nd by Standafer to oppose reconsideration of this issue by the County Board. Swenson clarified this does not preclude the Transportation Committee from bringing this back to the County Board. King indicated since the Finance Committee is against the reconsideration, the Transportation Committee respects their opinion and will drop this issue as well. Whiting commended Ramberg for his follow up work on this matter. Carried. Iles - Malick, Swenson, Standafer; No - Wentz and Krueger. 14. County Participation in Class Action Lawsuit Against Microsoft Corporation. Attorney James T. Remington of Remington Law Offices of New Richmond, Wisconsin and Attorneys James Reece and Richard Hagstrom of Zell, Hoffmann, Voelbel, Mason and Gette, LLP of Minneapolis, Minnesota were present. Hagstrom indicated his firm has been involved in a Finance Committee May 13, 2004 Page 6 of 6 number of class action suits against Microsoft Corporation. The Federal Government and various State Governments have pursued Microsoft because of their monopolistic practices. This case is about Microsoft eliminating competition and thereby eliminating consumer choice and overcharging for products. Products include Microsoft operating systems (MS Dos, Windows 95, 98, etc.) and application software (Word, Excel and Microsoft office). The average overcharge is $38 per product. There is currently a case against Microsoft Corporation filed in St. Croix County. Hagstrom indicated to do the case right, they need a governmental representative plaintiff and are asking St. Croix County to come forward. If the County agrees to be named, the case will be done on a contingent fee basis. The County will need to provide inventory of Microsoft purchases over a certain period of time. Standafer and Krueger expressed reluctance to have St. Croix County participate in this class action lawsuit. Malick was in favor of participating because we are representing county taxpayers. Motion by Wentz, 2 nd by Malick to bring this matter to the full County Board with a recommendation to participate in class action lawsuit against Microsoft Corporation. Standafer and Krueger indicated they were supportive in taking this matter to the full County Board. Remington, Hegstrom and Reese will attend the County Board meeting. Carried unanimously. 15. Review of Information Services Committee Status. Malick indicated this committee consisted of two Supervisors and approximately eight staff members. No appointments were made to this committee and Malick reported this committee is no longer necessary because software review can be done at Department Head meetings or at staff level. Discussion regarding use of software and review of software which would benefit departments. Krueger asked Boron to report more routinely to the Finance Committee since the Informational Services Committee has been eliminated. Swenson asked for reports based on his objectives for 2004 and provide some sense on progress against those objectives and any constraints which the Finance Committee may dialogue with Boron on how they may be removed or modified. 16. ATM Machine Options — Supr. Speer and Supr. Mehls. Supr. Speer was present. Pietrick indicated the Finance Committee directed her to find a free placement of an ATM machine to be located in the Government Center. Her research has found the Government Center does not have enough traffic for a free placement. Pietrick asked First National Bank of Hudson to place a machine in the Government Center since they are the county depository this year. Leasing options include a lease to purchase. Leasing averages $80.00 per month plus transaction charges and maintenance. County staff would need to stock the machine. If we did not want to assign to staff it's $200 per week for stocking by armored car. Pietrick indicated the County would need a minimum of 1,000 transactions per month to break even or if leased, a minimum of 300 transactions per month. Pietrick added there is no way of knowing how many transactions there will be in a month. Speer asked Pietrick to provide this information in writing so she may bring it back to the Public Protection Committee. Meeting adjourned at 1:47 p.m. Esther Wentz, Secretary Cindy Campbell, Recording Secretary