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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 01-08-04 ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Chairman Buck Malick St. Croix County Board FROM: Ralph Swenson, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE: Finance DATE: Thursday, January 8, 2004 8:30 A.M. LOCATION: Room 1281, Government Center, Hudson CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: February 12, 2004 8:30 A.M. ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES: December 11, 2003 December 16, 2003 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: 1. Review of Vouchers 2. Treasurer's Report 3. Maintenance Department Report a. Chiller Filter Improvement Request ** 4. Computer Services Department Report 5. Risk Management Report 6. Corporation Counsel Report 7. Clerk of Court's Report 8. County Clerk Report 9. Finance Department Report a. Financial Reports b. 2004 Budget Posting Reconciliation 10. Administrative Coordinator Report a. Update on Class Action Settlement Agreement Hearing 11. Review of County Options for WisDoT Taking of County Farm Property 12. Personnel Performance Evaluation Planning 13. Review of County Pelie-ies Priorities and Procedures ** 14. Closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. sec. 19.85 (1) (g) to confer with legal counsel concerning strategy to be adopted with respect to litigation in which the county is or is likely to become involved. ** 15. Reconvene into Open Session ** 16. Review of Policy Position re: WCA Opposition to Senate Bill 272 and Assembly Bill 588 Pertaining to Prohibiting Municipal Ownership of Cable Television, Telecommunication Service or Internet Service ** 17. Review of Policy Position re: Support for Assembly Bill 433 Defining Unfunded or Non - Funded State Mandates ** 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 January 6, 2004 Approved 2112104 MINUTES OF THE ST. CROIX COUNTY FINANCE COMMITTEE Regular Meeting January 8, 2004 Meeting called to order by Secretary Wentz at 8:35 a.m. Present: Clarence Malick, Esther Wentz and Daryl Standafer. Ralph Swenson arrived at 9:00 a.m. Absent and excused: Stan Krueger. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Michelle Pietrick and County Clerk Cindy Campbell. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Standafer to adopt the agenda. Carried unanimously. Date of next meeting is February 12, 2004. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Standafer to approve the minutes of December 11, 2003 and December 16, 2003. Carried unanimously. 1. Vouchers. Malick continues to review routinely. No discussion. 2. Treasurer's Report. County Treasurer Cheryl Slind did not present a report but submitted the November reconciliation report showing a balance as of November 30, 2003 of $1,553,856.12. 3. Maintenance Department Report. Robole indicated the Huber ceilings are about ninety percent completed. a. Chiller Filter Improvement Request. Robole provided a proposal from Cramer Building Services to furnish and install a Lithium Bromide filtering system for the Trane Absorption Chillers in the amount of $2,470.00. Robole indicated this is a safeguard to keep from having another failure. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Standafer to authorize expenditure for the Chiller Filter Improvement in the amount of $2,470.00 from the 2004 Maintenance Department budget and to look for savings in other areas of the Maintenance Department's budget for the remainder of the year. Carried unanimously. 4. Computer Services Department Report. No report. 5. Risk Management Report. Budrow reported on Workers Compensation status for 2003. Total payments made through December 31, 2003 are $151,879.38. Total claims for the year is 100. Breakdown is: General County — 4; Highway Department — 12; Human Services — 12; Law Enforcement —12; and Nursing Home — 60. Budrow is working with Health and Human Services in New Richmond concerning Fire Evacuation and Bomb Threat training. Budrow indicated WMMIC premium increased for General Liability, Auto Liability and Errs and Omissions to $203,675,000. Property went up about 50% to $90,205,000. Whiting indicated the 2004 budget is based on the 2002 claims and expenses. This increase will be paid for out of the fund. Budrow indicated the WMMIC deductible on the aggregate was $500,000 and has increased, effective January 1, 2004, to $630,000. This is an overall aggregate which is different then per claim aggregate. The County currently has a $150,000 per claim deductible. Finance Committee January 8, 2004 Page 2 of 5 Pete Boss is looking into premium cost saving if the per claim deductible is increased to $250,000. 6. Corporation Counsel Report. No report. 7. Clerk of Court's Report. No report. 8. County Clerk Report. County Clerk Cindy Campbell provided copies of letters she received from Irene Bertram and Verlyn Falde regarding the Helmer Severson property located in the town of Cady which the County owns through the tax deed process. Both letters indicated they would make a bid if the appraised value was reduced. Timmerman indicated Wisconsin Statutes holds the County to the appraised value as a sales price. He added that anybody may offer the appraised value and upon approval of the Finance Committee get the property without having to re- advertise. Motion by Malick, 2 nd by Standafer to ask appraiser on the basis of the rejected bid and questions which have arose, to verify his conclusions of his appraisal and inform the Finance Committee either way. Carried unanimously. 9. Finance Department Report. a. Financial Report. Pietrick reported a General Fund balance as of November 30, 2003 of $21,136,376.56. Contingency Fund balance is $20,675.73. Sales Tax Progress through October sales which were received in December total $3,763,484.98. Pietrick provided revenue and expense reports. Chair Swenson thanked Pietrick for the revenue summary report and looks forward to continued revenue information. Pietrick reported under Health and Human Services the Long Term Support program is behind in collections. Some of this is related to their waiver programs. The Nursing Home is projecting negative balance at year end to be ($25,375.10). Total Revenues for Health and Human Services through November 2003 is $19,776,305.01; total expenditures are $20,763,408.04. b. 2004 Budget Posting Reconciliation. Pietrick reported on adjustments to the 2004 budget. Sheriff Department — Health Insurance ($26,512.20); Jail - Health Insurance ($17,704.80); Budget Service — Interest Expense was understated $38,483.13; Wildwood Trail had an error in surplus applied $1,674.00; and Aging Department had a carryover in the amount of $3,380.00. Based on these figures there will be a reduction in Building Fund applied in the amount of $679.87. Motion by Wentz, 2 nd by Standafer to adjust 2004 Budget based on the adjustments provided by Pietrick. Carried unanimously. 10. Administrative Coordinator Report. a. Update on Class Action Settlement Agreement Hearing. Whiting indicated U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb has set February 27 as the settlement hearing date. Therefore, having a second vote on borrowing in January would be premature. He added the County could deal with this in March but there is a thirty day appeal period so we may not know by the March meeting if settlement is in place. Whiting said we may need to contemplate a Finance Committee January 8, 2004 Page 3 of 5 special board meeting or wait until April noting there will be new County Board members by this time. Timmerman suggested delaying the March County Board meeting. 11. Review of County Options for WisDoT Taking of County Farm Property. Whiting distributed a January 5, 2004 letter from Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which provided WisDoT has approved a revised offering price in the amount of $168,993 for the purchase of the County property for the highway project. This does not include the redesign portion rather it is for the original plan. It also does not include $8,000,000 for Parcel B. The letter indicated WisDoT and the County have been unsuccessful to date in concluding this transaction and they have no alternative but to begin the process to acquire the needed right of way by Eminent Domain. The first step in this process is issuance of a Jurisdictional Offer which will occur in the next several days and then the County will have twenty days to either accept or reject the Jurisdictional Offer. Timmerman met with Ted Morgan to understand the basis of his appraisal. Timmerman contacted an outside attorney who recommended the County make a counter - offer. If the County accepts the State's offer, the County receives payment and conveys the property to the State. The County would have up to two years to challenge the amount after the transaction. If the County negotiated a sale, the County would have six months to appeal the amount the County agreed to. If the County appeals the amount, it could petition the Circuit Court and then both sides would argue to the Condemnation Commission or bypass the Condemnation Commission and go to Circuit Court and have a jury trial. Once in condemnation the County would lose the ability to change design standards. If the route is changed, the County should make sure the City of New Richmond agrees. Timmerman suggested getting an attorney who has expertise in this area involved for the County. Malick suggested Whiting, Timmerman, Morgan and the outside attorney frame a written response that keeps the negotiation open and tells the State what the County seeks regarding the compensation and design. Standafer added we need to be clear the County desires to reach a negotiated settlement. The Finance Committee supports going with the alternate design. Motion by Malick, 2" a by Standafer to authorize Timmerman to enter into an agreement to retain outside counsel and the job of the outside counsel is to frame a response which will be brought to the County Board. The design issues will be addressed and how they relate to this process. Carried unanimously. 12. Personnel Performance Evaluation Planning. Whiting indicated there was an announcement at the December County Board meeting stating Committee Chairs are responsible for Department Head performance evaluations. He has asked Personnel Director Deb Kathan to send out the necessary information. The targeted completion date is March 1, 2004. Personnel policy indicates reviews must be done on the anniversary date. Malick suggested Department Heads' reviews include those employees who directly report to them. Malick will continue to push Committee Chairs to pursue the evaluations. It was suggested the County Board Supervisors be required to have two years of experience on the County Board in order to perform an evaluation. 13. Review of County Priorities and Procedures. Malick indicated at the WCA convention in LaCrosse several Finance Committee members attended a priorities breakout session. Swenson indicated this would be helpful in the budget planning process and should be Finance Committee January 8, 2004 Page 4 of 5 part of the April strategic planning meeting which is tentatively set for April 26 Malick would like to ask for input from the several counties that have this in place. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to include in next year's budget guidelines a general consensus on dollars or levy determined at a meeting of Committee Chairs, and justifications for operation expense prioritized within departments. Carried unanimously. This will be announced at the January 20 meeting. Whiting indicated he is in the beginning stages of attempting to codify the County's policies. At the last Department Head meeting he requested all departments provide him with copies of all of their policies. He will have someone review and structure them in the organization and put a system together to maintain the policies. There is no system in the County to keep track of the existing policies. Swenson suggested Department Heads sign something indicating this is all of the policies existing. Motion by Malick, 2 by Standafer to authorize the Administrative Coordinator to begin and continue a process cumulating and assembling all of the County's policies, practices and procedures but not spend more than $5,000 without returning to the Finance Committee with a progress report. Carried unanimously. 14. Closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. Sec. 19.85(1)(g) to confer with legal counsel concerning strategy to be adopted with respect to litigation in which the county is or is likely to become involved. Motion by Wentz, 2nd by Malick to go into closed session to include Whiting, Timmerman, Budrow and Campbell. Roll call vote to go into closed session. Yes — Wentz, Swenson, Standafer, Malick. Carried unanimously. 15. Reconvene into Open Session. Finance Committee came out of closed session at 1:47 p.m. No action was taken in closed session. 16. Review of Policy Position re: WCA Opposition to Senate Bill 272 and Assembly Bill 588 Pertaining to Prohibiting Municipal Ownership of Cable Television, Telecommunication Service or Internet Service. Swenson reported these bills would prohibit local units of government from enacting an ordinance or adopting a resolution authorizing the local unit of government to construct, own, or operate any facility for providing cable television service, telecommunications service, or internet access service, directly or indirectly to the public, unless certain requirements are satisfied. Malick indicated the Emergency Management/Emergency Communications Committee is working on this matter. Malick added this is of importance to St. Croix County because the City of New Richmond has a municipal system which would adversely affect the city; the County owns an unused radio tower in the town of Emerald and; the County has made an investment in telecommunications equipment. The bottom line would be left to the decision makers of the industry rather than the local if they were precluded of having this as an option. Malick asked for joint meeting the Emergency Management/Emergency Communications Committee on this topic and have one of the members of this committee work with a member of the EM/EC committee. Malick will represent the Finance Committee. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Standafer to recommend to the County Board some appropriate opposition to Senate Bill 272 and Assembly Bill 588 with details to be worked out with Emergency Management/Emergency Communications Committee and Corporation Counsel, and to bring this back to the Finance Committee for its next meeting. Carried unanimously. ^ J Finance Committee January 8, 2004 Page 5 of 5 17. Review of Policy Position re: Support for Assembly Bill 433 Defining Unfunded or Non - Funded State Mandates. This is a resolution from Eau Claire County which supports 2003 Assembly Bill 433 authorizing cities, villages, towns and counties to suspend their compliance with certain state mandates; recommending that the bill be amended to define unfunded or non - funded state mandates as state mandates for which the state does not provide 100% reimbursement. No decision was made. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to postpone this matter to the next Finance Committee meeting. Carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 1:47 p.m. Esther Wentz, Secretary Cindy Campbell, Recording Secretary