HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 2011 (66)
RESOLUTION ADOPTING RESOLUTION DRAFTING AND REVIEW POLICE'
Resolution No. (0 bo f ' C)! 0
St. Croix County, Wisconsin
WHEREAS, the St. Croix County Board exercises its powers most often by adopting
written resolutions; and
WHEREAS, it is desirable that fiscal impact and legal reviews be done of resolutions
before being considered by the County Board, and that adequate time be provided for these
reviews; and
WHEREAS, it is also desirable to standardize to the greatest extent possible the format of
the resolutions.
THEREFORE, be it resolved by the St. Croix County Board of Supervisors that the
Resolution Drafting and Review Policy attached to this resolution be implemented and made a
part of the County Operations Policies.
FURTHER, be it resolved that all resolutions to come before the County Board shall
follow the requirements and timelines of the Resolution Drafting and Review Policy.
Offered by the Administration Committee
YES NO ABSTAIN ABSENT SUPERVISOR SIGNATURE
❑ ❑ ❑ Ryan Sicard~~❑~
[V ❑ ❑ ❑ r-- -
Esther Wentz
F~l ❑ ❑ ❑ Roger Rebholz
lf~j
Eti ❑ ❑ ❑ Lorin Sather
Sharon Norton-
Q f ❑ ❑ ❑ Bauman
a
❑ ❑ ❑ Buck Malick
❑ ❑ ❑ Daryl Standafer
d
This Resolution was adppted by the St. Croix County Board
Reviewed as to form on J a,,, of Supervisors on A"" 4- tt
Greg Ti erman, Corporation Counsel Cindy Campbel , County CI rk
Revised 7128111- item 7 added and item 8 was renumbered
ST. CROIX COUNTY
RESOLUTION DRAFTING AND REVIEW POLICY
A. PURPOSE
1. The County Board exercises its powers most often by adopting written resolutions. It is
desirable that fiscal impact and legal reviews be done of resolutions before being
considered by the County Board, and that adequate time be provided for these reviews. It
is also desirable to standardize to the greatest extent possible the format of the
resolutions. Therefore, this Resolution Drafting and Review Policy is implemented.
B. PROCEDURES
1. Resolutions originate in standing committees or the Committee of the Whole (COTW).
The standing committee or COTW shall direct the appropriate department head to
compose draft resolution language and prepare a fiscal impact statement.
a. The draft resolution language should contain straight text without the use of any
special formatting other than bold, italics, or underline and will, contain the following:
1) A proposed title of the resolution;
2) "WHEREAS" clauses;
3) "RESOLVED" clauses;
4) Name of the sponsoring committee(s); and
5) Committee member vote result if resolution is composed after committee
action (yes, no, abstain, absent).
b. A fiscal impact statement is an analysis of the revenue and expense impact on the
County for the current year and future years, including changes in staffing, program
costs, contract costs, reimbursement rates, etc.
2. The draft resolution language and fiscal impact statement shall be emailed to the Finance
Director. The fiscal impact statement shall be reviewed and approved by the Finance
Director. The fiscal impact statement shall contain proof of the Finance Director's
approval.
3. The draft resolution language and approved fiscal impact statement shall then be emailed
to the County Board Chair, County Administrator, Corporation Counsel, County Clerk
and Corporation Counsel Paralegal at least 15 business days prior to the County Board
meeting at which the resolution will be presented. The subject line of the email shall
indicate when the committee wants the resolution to go to the County Board, e.g.,
"Resolution for January from the Committee." The body of the email shall
indicate the name of the person to contact if there are questions about the draft resolution
language if it is someone other than the person sending the email. The draft resolution
language and fiscal impact statement shall be attached to the email as Word documents.
An email attachment or interoffice mail may be used to provide a copy of any documents
that are to be sent to the County Board with the resolution. A list of the documents shall
be included in the email if they will be sent through interoffice mail.
Revised 7/28/11- item 7 added and item 8 was renumbered
4. Draft resolution language shall be reviewed for legal issues and formatting by the
Corporation Counsel and Corporation Counsel Paralegal, and shall be reviewed by the
County Board Chair and County Administrator for policy and administrative purposes.
5. The Corporation Counsel Office shall send to the department head or designee a fully
formatted PDF copy of the proposed final resolution to review. A marked up copy of the
draft resolution will also be sent if changes are made to the draft resolution language.
6. The department head or designee is responsible for providing the final resolution to the
committee for action. If the resolution is prepared prior to the committee meeting, the
committee member votes will manually be recorded and the committee chair will sign in
the designated area to verify the votes. If the resolution is prepared after the committee
meeting, the member votes will be entered electronically and the committee chair will
sign the resolution prior to the County Board meeting at which the resolution will be
presented.
7. The County Administrator may authorize exceptions to this policy on a case-by-case
basis.
8. A resolution checklist, resolution drafting guidelines and an example of the format of a
resolution are included in this policy.
RESOLUTION CHECKLIST
DRAFT RESOLUTION:
❑ Proposed title of the resolution.
❑ "WHEREAS" clauses explaining why the resolution should be adopted.
❑ "RESOLVED" clauses stating what action is to be taken.
❑ Name of the sponsoring committee(s).
❑ Committee member vote result if resolution is composed after committee action (yes, no,
abstain, absent).
❑ Edited, spell-checked, and proofread the draft.
❑ The draft resolution language contains straight text without the use of any special
formatting other than bold, italics, or underline.
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT:
❑ A fiscal impact statement providing analysis of the revenue and expense impact on the
county of the proposed resolution has been completed.
❑ The fiscal impact statement has been submitted to the Finance Director for
review/approval.
EMAIL:
❑ Addressed the email to County Board Chair, County Administrator, Corporation Counsel,
County Clerk, and Corporation Counsel Paralegal.
❑ Indicated in the email subject line the date of the County Board meeting at which the
resolution will be presented and the name of sponsoring committee.
❑ Provided the name of a contact person (if different than sender) in case there are
questions about the draft resolution language.
❑ Attached the draft resolution language as a Word document.
❑ Attached the approved fiscal impact statement as a Word document.
❑ Attached any documents that will be sent to the County Board with the resolution or
listed each one in the email and indicated that documents will be sent via interoffice mail.
❑ Submitted the resolution to County Board Chair, County Administrator, Corporation
Counsel and Corporation Counsel Paralegal at least 15 days before the County Board
meeting at which it will be presented.
RESOLUTION DRAFTING GUIDELINES
GENERAL STANDARDS:
Organize your thoughts and prepare a brief outline before you begin writing.
® Write as simply as possible using clear and concise language.
® Arrange provisions in logical order.
® Use consistent language and sentence structure throughout the resolution.
® Avoid acronyms, jargon, and legal and technical terms whenever possible.
® Edit, spell-check, and proofread your draft before submitting it.
® Prepare your draft using straight text without any formatting, such as line
numbering, special fonts, tab sets, or attributes other than bold, italics, or
underlining.
® Use previously adopted County Board resolutions as a guide for drafting the text
of your resolution.
PROPOSED TITLE
® The title should provide a succinct description of what the resolution is about, will
generally be only one or two lines long, and will be used on the meeting notice
and agenda.
® The first word of the title will always be "resolution" and the second word will
almost always end with the letters "ing."
® Typical second words include approving, authorizing, supporting, creating,
denying, and opposing.
WHEREAS PROVISIONS
Whereas provisions provide the background information, facts and reasons
supporting the resolution. They need to clearly explain why the resolution should
be adopted and should be arranged in a logical order.
® Every whereas will begin with the word "WHEREAS."
® Every whereas except the last one will end with a semicolon followed by the
word "and."
® The last whereas will end with a period.
RESOLVED PROVISIONS
® Resolved provisions state each action that is to be taken. Each resolved needs
to be stated in the affirmative, clearly state the action or position taken, and
should make sense when read by itself.
® Begin the first resolved with the phrase "THEREFORE, be it resolved that"
followed by an action statement.
® Begin subsequent resolved with the phrase "FURTHER, be it resolved that"
followed by an action statement.
® Every resolved will end with a period.
® Every resolved must be stated in the affirmative to avoid the confusion that can
be caused by recommending negative actions. For example, state that the
County Board "opposes" an action and not that the County Board "does not
support" an action.
® Every resolved must be able to stand on its own, and every resolved needs to
make sense when read by itself and without referring back to any of the whereas
provisions.
® If you want a copy of the resolution sent to specific people, provide that
information in the last resolved.
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
® The fiscal impact statement provides information about the financial impact on
the County of the proposed resolution.
® The fiscal impact statement should indicate whether the resolution has a tax levy
impact or has a different funding source, identifying the source; state any
assumptions made; and describe any projected changes in cost, debt, expense,
or revenue.
® The fiscal impact statement should include a reasonably estimated dollar
amount. If the amount cannot be determined, it should indicate why it cannot be
determined.
I RESOLUTION
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3 Resolution No.
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5 St. Croix County, Wisconsin
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7 WHEREAS, >
8 and
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10 WHEREAS,
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12 THEREFORE, be it resolved by the St. Croix County Board of Supervisors that
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15 FURTHER, be it resolved that
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Offered b Committee/Board
Yes No Abstain Absent This resolution was adopted by the St. Croix County
❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Board of supervisors on
❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
❑ EJ ❑ ❑ County Clerk
I verify that the vote shown above is true and correct.
County Board Vote: Ayes
Nays
Chair, Committee/Board Abstain
Absent
LEGAL REVIEW FISCAL REVIEW
Reviewed as to form on ❑ There is a fiscal impact.
❑ There is no fiscal impact.
Corporation Counsel
See attached Fiscal Impact Statement.
LEGAL NOTE:
VOTE REQUIREMENT: Maori of supervisors resent
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