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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 09-22,23,24-04 ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Chairman Buck Malick St. Croix County Board FROM: Ralph Swenson, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE: Finance DATE: Wednesday and Thursday, September 22-23, 2004 8:30 A.M. Friday, September 24, 20041:00 P.M. LOCATION: Room 1281, Government Center, Hudson CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: October 14, 2004 8:30 A.M. ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES: September 9, 2004 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: 1. 2005 Budget Review NOTE: This is expected to be a three-day committee meeting. Department budgets will be presented periodically over these two days. A working schedule for those presentations are available from the County Clerk. 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 TENTATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE 2005 BUDGET REVIEW SCHEDULE Wednesday, September 22nd 8:30 AM Public Protection departments 8:30 AM Medical Examiner 8:45 AM Sheriff & Jail 10:15 AM Child Support 10:30 AM District Attorney, Victim/Witness 11:00 PM Emergency Communications, Emergency Government 1:00 PM Land & Water Conservation 1:30 PM Parks 2:00 PM UW Extension 2:30 PM Fair Board 3:00 PM Capital Outlay 3:30 PM Revenues Thursday, September 23rd 8:30 AM Health & Human Services 10:45 AM Nursing Home 11:45 PM Veterans Services 1:00 PM Personnel 1:30 PM Aging 2:00 PM Planning & Zoning, Real Property, Recycling 3:00 PM Register of Deeds 3:30 PM Review of Previously Approved Administration Budgets Friday, September 24`" 1:00 PM Budget Summary and Review It should be noted that this is a tentative schedule and may be changed. Times are approximate. Departments reporting to the Finance Committee are requested to be available to fill in as desired by the Committee on Thursday afternoon. OFFICIAL- Approved 10114104 MINUTES OF THE ST. CROIX COUNTY FINANCE COMMITTEE BUDGET REVIEW SEPTEMBER 22, 23 AND 24, 2004 Meeting called to order by Chair Swenson at 8:30 a.m. Present: Ralph Swenson, Clarence Malick, Esther Wentz, and Daryl Standafer. Absent and excused: Stan Krueger. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Michelle Pietrick and County Clerk Cindy Campbell. Motion by Wentz, 2nd by Standafer to adopt the agenda. Carried unanimously. Date of next regular meeting is October 14, 2004. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to approve September 9th minutes. Carried unanimously. 2005 Budget Review. Budget Review - Wednesday September 22, 2004 Public Protection: Committee members present Julie Speer and Chuck Mehls. Medical Examiner: Cindy Litzell and Casey Swetlik were present. Swenson noted the coversheet indicated a reduction in the budget projection. Litzell indicated autopsies are down. Total budget is $106,551. Sheriff & Jail: Sheriff Dennis Hillstead, Bob Klanderman, Ron Volkert and Mary Martell were present. Sheriff: Sheriff Hillstead indicated activity in the Sheriff's Department continues to grow. New positions include supervisory personnel. Discussion regarding Government Center security and overtime. Hillstead explained one security officer is on workers compensation. He added with additional supervisory personnel the overtime would be controlled more in his department. Hillstead reported concert revenues are down because of number of concerts. Gas was budgeted at $1.80 per gallon. New vehicles include eight new squad cars. Equipment over $500 includes a new server due to an upgrade to the State reporting system. Hillstead reported $30,000 was received in grant monies for this purchase. The County's responsibility is approximately $39,000. Hillstead indicated they currently operate approximately 25 squad cars. Ten laptops were placed in the 2005 budget for patrol officers. Total proposed budget: $4,901,837.62. There was a brief discussion regarding staffing structure in Sheriff's Department. Jail: Sheriff Hillstead indicated new positions including one additional supervisor and one additional correction officer. Hillstead indicated the most probable number for Huber population average 45 inmates every day of the year. Overtime in jail increased from $82,000 to $118,000. Hillstead indicated this was due to personnel turnover in the jail. Meal expenses decreased by approximately $33,000 based on average population. Jailers will receive new jackets. Hillstead indicated jackets are budgeted for five employees to receive new jackets with all jackets being replaced over the next six years. New equipment over $500 includes anew audio system. The Finance Committee Budget Review September 22 - 24, 2004 Page 2 of 8 new system in Huber no longer supports the old system. Hillstead indicated they need to replace the entire system for safety and security reasons. The audio system was not in the Jail's 2004 Capital Outlay Plan. Hillstead was asked if the audio system could come out of Jail Assessment Fund. Speer indicated she felt it was reasonable to use the Jail Assessment Fund for the audio replacement and cross match palm scan system. Total proposed budget: $3,068,245.38. Child Support: Linda Gherty was present. New computers are in the budget with Federal reimbursement at 66%. No other questions from the committee. District Attorney, Victim/Witness: District Attorney Eric Johnson and Ann Gustafson were present. District Attorney: Johnson explained the St. Croix Valley Drug Task Force applied for a grant to fund a prosecutor which is split with St. Croix, Polk and Pierce. In 2005 this position cost is $68,000 including benefits. The grant requires a 10% local match. Johnson explained this position is split with three counties. St. Croix would pay $3,400 with Pierce and Polk Counties paying $1,700 each. Johnson indicated Polk County committed to pay its share; Pierce County has not committed to pay its share of the grant match yet. Johnson added there are increases for investigative expenses. Victim/Witness: Gustafson reported the largest increase is in salaries. VOCA grant is a federally funded grant under new equipment applied for and received. Of the $2,150.00, 80% is reimbursed. Reimbursement rate from the state is approximately 62%. Emergency Communications, Emergency Government: Supr. Chuck Mehls, Gary Kollman, Casey Swetlik and Jack Colvard were present. Emergency Communications: Question regarding new equipment and new equipment over $500. Kollman indicated the CAD vendor recommended the existing equipment be replaced which totals $10,128.28. Discussion regarding storage space for the Communication Van. Kollman indicated they have been doing a contraction system to save on overtime. There has been an increase in calls from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. They would like an additional person during this shift. Kollman provided statistics and information supporting a request for an additional staff person in Emergency Communications. Total estimated salary increase is $59,214. This position was approved by the Personnel Committee. Discussion regarding removing the storage building from the COP, increase rental to store the Communication Van to $1,500 and remove $250,000 for radio consoles from COP. Emergency Management: Jack Colvard indicated operations have remained steady with no increase in operations. The summary sheet provides a large decrease because there were no budget entries for grant monies. Colvard thanked Pietrick for her assistance with grant money application. Lunch Break at 12:30 p.m.. Convened at 1:00 p.m. Finance Committee Budget Review September 22 - 24, 2004 Page 3 of 8 Land & Water Conservation: Supr. Raymond and Bob Heise were present. Heise indicated this budget met the target set by the Finance Committee. Heise provided an overview of the budget. $20,200 is total timber sales. Parks: Supr. Raymond and Bob Heise presented this budget. Discussion regarding boat landing and fishing pier for Glen Hills Park. Heise indicate the boat landing grant was approved. St. Croix County's commitment is $17,000. This amount is in the county's 2005 proposed budget. Raymond indicated there are several refurbishment projects for Glen Hills Park. UW Extension: Supr. Raymond and Kim Reaman were present. Reaman highlighted changes regarding salaries, office supplies and new equipment. Line items have been totaled to one, rather then splitting four ways. Swenson asked about fair premiums. Reaman indicated she is satisfied with the budget versus what will be received from the state. The budget includes only youth 4-H and FHA exhibitors. Department on Aging: Sandy Gehrmann, Tracey Davis and Ralph Bader were present. Gehrmann indicated that most of their services are related to preventative care. The basic programs serve approximately 1,200 seniors. The County portion of the Aging budget includes the Department of Transportation's required county match of 20% for the Specialized Transportation program and the remainder helps offset salaries of office staff and the nutrition program. Fundraisers and grants are projected in the amount of $106,767. Gehrmann indicated she plans to retire in 2005. A PTO payout is included in her budget. Capital Outlay: Whiting presented a Capital Outlay summary. The largest item is the radio consoles in the amount of $250,000. Whiting indicated the list was not complete due changes in department numbers and account numbers. Revenues: Pietrick explained the County sales tax is estimated at $4,500,000. Interest and penalty on taxes are constant. State Shared Taxes are estimated at $665,093. Discussion regarding County Farm lease and revenues. Discussion regarding Board of Prisoners at County Jail and Huber revenues. Pietrick will review Parks Dedication Fee revenue with Heise. Pietrick reviewed Charges to Other Department for workers compensation and liability which are listed under revenues in the amount of $439,902; debt service transfer from other funds total $315,500 and charges to Human Services for maintenance total $338,387. Interest on investments is estimated at $265,000. Surplus applied is year-end carryovers which include County Parks, Debt Service, Jail Assessment Fund and Land & Water Conservation and Highway Department. Swenson asked Pietrick to get a second opinion from Tracey & Thole regarding the surplus under Debt Service Fund. Jail Assessment Fund comes from fees associated with fines. Health and Human Services has no carryover from 2004. The Building Fund has been fully utilized. Pietrick reported her estimates indicate total revenues are up all most $5,000,000, however total expenses are up by $8,300,000. Finance Committee Budget Review September 22 - 24, 2004 Page 4 of 8 Pietrick indicated with respect to the library funding, she has learned the Town of St. Joseph is joining Hudson Joint Library. This will reduce the Library Funding amount by $38,401. Swenson summarized current status. Options discussed regarding possible reductions. Discussion regarding holding additional Finance Committee meetings to review the budget. Whiting proposed October 7th and October 21 st. September 22 Budget Review adjourned at 4:50 p.m. Budget Review Continued - Thursday, September 23, 2004 Meeting called to order by Chair Swenson at 8:35 a.m. Present: Ralph Swenson, Clarence Malick, Esther Wentz, and Daryl Standafer. Absent and excused: Stan Krueger. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Michelle Pietrick and County Clerk Cindy Campbell. Health & Human Services, Nursing Home: John Borup, Judy Ziegler and Carolyn Krieger were present. Health & Human Services: Borup reported the total Health and Human Services 2005 County levy is $6,734,814 with a capital outlay request of $212,865. Borup highlighted there is no previous year carryover. Proposed budget breakdown for county levy: Administration - $579,006; Alcohol-Drug Abuse - $47,362; Mental Health Services - $1,347,113; Coordinated Family Services - $0 (new program - grant based); Long Term Support - $1,989,047 (supports approximately 355 clients) if funds are cut from this area, state aid is also cut (LTS operations line item include social workers salaries); Family Children's Services - $1,705,503 (all mandated services); Emotionally Disturbed Children - $88,560; Economic Support (mandated programs) - $186,397 - General Relief is not mandated used for medical emergencies and funeral expenses - 2005 expense is $15,000; Public Health - $791,826 - this department administers several grants. Discussion regarding Tobacco Control funds. Capital Assets Request Detail for Health and Human Service: Maintenance items total: $33,565. St. Croix Industries vehicle replacement total $105,000. Borup indicated two items could be lowered to decrease the total approximately $10,000. Administration includes software upgrades, new computers, optical imaging and two automobiles for fleet net of trade-in and a server for a total of $74,300. Total Health & Human Services COP - $212,865. Borup reported salary and fringe benefits have a bottom line of $9,753,422.16 with nearly a $500,000 increase from 2004. Estimated cash balance for St. Croix County Farm for December 31, 2005 is $45,949.37. Health and Human Services Department summary: Total expense increase from 2004 to 2005 total $3,650,842. County Levy increase is $1,123,550 (20%). Major factors impacting levy Finance Committee Budget Review September 22 - 24, 2004 Page 5 of 8 include Juvenile Alternate Care, Mental Health, Long Term Support and Health and Human Services Salary and Fringe Increase. Farm surplus is $38,424. Swenson asked if Mental Health Services could be reduced by $100,000. Borup indicated the expenses are estimated at worst probable rather than most probable and added this could be reduced recognizing they cannot control some expenses because they have to serve the people that need it. Discussion regarding hiring a nurse instead of a doctor for certain facets of mental health. Borup will be researching this matter further. He indicated the problem with this if finding a nurse with proper credentials. This is in the budget at a non-union pay range 10. Swenson asked if there was room for adjustment in Public Health. Borup indicated St. Croix County's per capital costs for Public Health are at the low end and the State does not back counties in public health activities. Borup indicated with respect to the Public Health tobacco program $14,000 is a percentage county match that is required. If this is cut there may be a reduction of $44,000 in the program revenue. Borup indicated they would try to work with the reduction in order sustain program. The Finance Committee discussed reductions in Mental Health, vehicles, $41,800 in Economic Support, $14,000 regarding tobacco program and reducing General Relief by $5,000. Wentz disagreed with the reduction in General Relief. Estimated total reduction for Health and Human Service budget of $167,500. Nursing Home: Krieger noted a change in the levy amount from the last printout. Krieger explained downsizing status of the nursing home and bottom line impacts. Greatest loss in revenue is Medicare private pay and IGT. The Nursing Home budget was prepared using a population figure of 70. Total Nursing Home COP for 2005 is $147,852. Discussion regarding removal of dining room chairs ($3,000) and fire doors ($18,000) from Nursing Home COP. Ralph Robole was present regarding lawn mowers and lawn care at the Health Center. He indicated contracting this service is too high. Question if there is equipment available to use rather than purchasing new for New Richmond. Robole indicated there is a tractor available, but it's used for snow removal at the Government Center. Summer help does lawn mowing at the Health Center. Veterans' Services: Lorin Sather was present. Sather indicated he added $15,000 for services to hire someone to scan files. Other than that addition, there were no other changes. Total budgeted expenses for 2005 are $229,133. Personnel: Deb Kathan was present. Kathan indicated there is a zero percent increase in operations. Kathan indicated job descriptions have been entered into the Access format. Discussion regarding employee data in SAGE. Finance Committee Budget Review September 22 - 24, 2004 Page 6 of 8 Fair Board: Greg Warner, Dick Sullwold and Supr. Ron Raymond were present. Warner indicated the operating budget of $49,000 is approximately the same as 2004. The additional money requested is to build a horse facility. The budgeted amount is $229,000. Warner reported this year the fair had its biggest year. Revenue generated from 1994 to 2004 went from $30,000 to $90,000. $10,000 comes from storage rental on the off season. At the fair there are approximately 500 horses on the grounds. 4-H would use the horse building in preparation for the fair. Swenson asked if there is a 3 to 5 year plan for the fair grounds. Warner indicated $500,000 to $700,000 is the low end to replace structures and build a horse barn in 3 to 5 years. Warner indicated $50,000 is set aside in a building fund account. They expect the building to cost approximately $200,000. Warner indicated at this time, there is no fund raising currently in place. Warner asked if it can't be in this year's budget, can it be projected out so it may move forward. Swenson explained the current budget dilemma and added it looks like a doubtful proposition especially if we have levy limits due to TABOR. Warner thanked for the support and anything they can do as they move forward. Planning & Zoning, Real Property, Recycling Planning and Zoning: Supr. Zoerb and Dave Fodroczi were present. Fodroczi reviewed the budget. He added the COP includes a new copy machine which will be split between departments. Fodroczi indicated an adjustment to fees could be done in the next few weeks. Fees need to be calculated with a 5% increase. Discussion regarding office remodeling and digital imaging. Malick suggested pulling out digital imaging items. Swenson asked about the ground water study in the amount of $15,000. Fodroczi indicated this establishes a three county groundwater model and develops a more site specific detailed modeling effort on sites each county would select. This would likely be a two fiscal year project. The county would share in the 60% cost share. State would fund also. Zoning salaries increase because reclassifications were not appropriately coded in the 2004 budget therefore a large increase in salaries shows in 2005 budget. Register of Deeds: Kay Walsh and Supr. Jan Zoerb were present. Walsh indicated the total budget is down from 2004. Walsh eliminated a part time position. Walsh updated her staff positions and the Personnel Committee approved the job descriptions. No pay adjustments were approved. She indicated that would have been an impact of $18,000. Walsh provided a projection of revenues for 2005. No revenue was entered under internet access fees because it's difficult to project how many users will sign up. Revenues for real estate transfer fees are estimated at $440,000. Review of Previously Approved Administration Budgets Finance Department - Pietrick indicated she added $2,000 to staff development for the new position to get training in SAGE. Finance Committee Budget Review September 22 - 24, 2004 Page 7of8 Computer Services - Discussion with Tom Boron regarding eliminating optical imaging from the 2005 budgets and to add $5,000 in the Computer Services 2005 budget to obtain a concept study for an optical imaging plan. Discussion regarding the number of new copy machines in the 2005 budgets. Pietrick indicated the Liability Fund Balance was $515,000 as December 31, 2003. The Finance Committee previously requested a $600,000 fund balance. Pietrick indicated $455,000 was allocated to departments and built into the 2005 budget. New Positions: Current new positions requested in 2005 include: Court Clerk (Clerk of Court office), Tele Communicator (Emergency Communications), Jail Sergeant, Patrol Sergeants (Jail and Sheriff Departments) and an advance nurse practitioner (Health and Human Services). i Discussion regarding potentially reducing a certain designated fund balance by $150,000. September 23, Budget Review adjourned at 4:40 p.m. Budget Review Continued - Friday, September 24, 2004 Meeting called to order by Chair Swenson at 1:00 p.m. Present: Ralph Swenson, Clarence Malick, Esther Wentz, Daryl Standafer and Stan Krueger. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Michelle Pietrick and County Clerk Cindy Campbell. Budget Summary and Review: Pietrick provided update budget review. She indicated a new sales tax number providing an additional $500,000 in sales tax dollars was received late yesterday. Pietrick's projections for sales tax are estimated at $5,000,000 for 2004 which will be placed in a special sales tax account. Revised projections include additional sales tax and items postponed, reduced or eliminated. Discussion regarding placing new copy machines on hold until a purchasing agent has input. Discussion regarding delaying start date for new positions. The committee agreed to no delay on starting positions with the possible exception of the Nurse position with a possible start in the fourth quarter of the year. Whiting indicated the most probable savings for 2005 health insurance costs is $100,000. Whiting will have final numbers for health insurance by October 12th for renewal on November 1 st Discussion regarding non-rep increases. The 2005 budget has 3% increase projection. Swenson provided a breakdown of current shortage and potential budget cuts. Finance Committee Budget Review September 22 - 24, 2004 Page 8 of 8 Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to accept requested budget less $740,884 of adjustments and tentatively plan to take $800,000 out of surplus. Carried unanimously. Swenson summarized a 6.45% increase with $1,297,000 as the levy increase, less $535,000 as credit for the 2004 over levy. Pietrick will email draft to committee members. Next meeting is scheduled for October 7th to begin at 8:30 a.m. for further 2005 budget I~ consideration. Adjourned 2:20 p.m. Esther Wentz, Secretary Cindy Campbell, Recording Secretary I