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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 12-10-02 ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Chairman Buck Malick St. Croix County Board FROM: Ralph Swenson, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE: Finance DATE: Tuesday, December 10 2002 8:30 A.M. LOCATION: Room 1281, Government Center, Hudson CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: January 10, 2003 8:30 A.M. ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES: November 8, 2002 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: 1. Review of Vouchers 2. Maintenance Department Report 3. Computer Services Department Report 4. Risk Management Report 5. Corporation Counsel Report 6. Treasurer's Report 7. County Clerk Report a. Dog Damage claim for Francis Obermueller, Town of Glenwood b. Contingency Fund Request - Replacement/Repair of Meeting Recorder 8. Finance Department Report a. County Funds Investment Options b. 2003 Debt Financing Options c. Fund Reserve Policies 9. Administrative Coordinator Report a. Building Space Issues re: Clerk of Court File Expansion b. Follow Up to Defibrillators Issue c. Performance Evaluations 10. Treasurer's Office Organization Discussion CORRESPONDENCE: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) Date: December 4, 2002 COPIES TO: County Board Office News Media/Notice Board County Clerk County Board County Departments * *ADDITIONS/CHANGES/CORRECTIONS Approved with corrections 119103 FINANCE MEETING Regular Meeting December 10, 2002 Meeting called to order by Chair Swenson at 8:30 a.m. Present: Ralph Swenson, Clarence Malick, Daryl Standafer, Stan Krueger and Esther Wentz. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Rich Loney, and County Clerk Sue Nelson. Others present: Cindy Campbell, County Treasurer Cheryl Slind, Suprs. Julie Speer and Dan Raebel and Judy Wiff, media. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to adopt the agenda. Next meeting is January 10, 2003. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Krueger to approve the minutes of November 8, 2002 with the following correction: the correct amount for the Contingency Fund transfer request regarding defibrillators is $5,077. Also entire motion regarding Huber facility was added. Carried. County Clerk Nelson Recognition. The Finance Committee recognized Sue Nelson for her many years of service to St. Croix County. Krueger presented Nelson with a unique floral arrangement. She also received a personalized cake pan. Chair Swenson commended Nelson on her professionalism, helpfulness, prompt responsiveness and her honesty. Nelson thanked the Committee for their kind words and gifts. She also thanked her staff for their able assistance. 1. Vouchers: Reviewed by Krueger prior to the meeting and moved for their approval, 2nd by Wentz. Carried. 2. Maintenance Department Report: No report. 3. Computer Services Department Report: No report. 4. Risk Management Report: Dawn Budrow indicated Workers' Compensation payments through December 10, 2002 were $336,616.22. This year so far, 87 claims have been filed compared to 104 by this time last year. Budrow indicated that departments are being more accommodating with light duty work. There have been two settlements paid this year which are not included in the above figure. Budrow has completed a review of the County's current premiums for Workers' Comp, Property Insurance and Bonding of Officials. She recommends the County remain with LGPIF. With the current Finance Committee December 10, 2002 Page 2 $500.00 deductible LGPIF's premiums are much better than the comparisons. The County currently has its casualty insurance through WMMIC. Budrow is not aware of an umbrella policy but will check into this and report at the January 2003 meeting. The coverage is $5,000,000. Budrow received three quotes with respect to bond coverage. The County currently bonds six public officials and thirty-six other employees. Budrow discovered there was a $1,000 bond on the District Attorney. This may have been a carryover at the time the District Attorney was a County employee. She will cancel this bond. Budrow was asked to redistribute the Security Committee mission statement to the Finance Committee for review. The Emergency Procedures Booklet is being put together. Budrow announced the Government Center locks will be replaced in 2003. New keys will be distributed at that time. Malick requested that Budrow look into designating an area for delivery trucks to park temporarily at the Government Center. Delivery trucks are currently parking along the yellow area in the front of the Government Center. 5. Corporation Counsel Report: No report. 6. Treasurer's Report: Cheryl Slind reported she has been on staff since December 4, 2002 and commended her staff on the transition. Slind plans to work with Finance Director Rich Loney and Financial Assistant Dennis Peterson with respect to returning bank reconciliation duties back to the Treasurer's office. She will be working with Dennis Peterson regarding eliminating duplicate receipting and will look into an online receipting program sometime in March. Slind reported the current delinquent tax due on the dog track property is $1,088,600.53 including penalty and interest. Slind is aware of the need to review tax deed property and research liens on the property subject to tax deed. She indicated during tax collection time, this is not a priority. Finance Committee December 10, 2002 Page 3 Malick proposed to add a temporary staff person in the office to expedite the tax deed procedure and lien searches. 7. County Clerk Report - Sue Nelson: a. Dog Damage claim for Francis Obermueller, Town of Glenwood. The total claim was $825.00 for damage to an Angus- Holstein cross in the amount of $550.00 and a Guernsey steer in the amount of $275.00. Said claim was approved by the Glenwood Town Board. Motion by Krueger, 2nd by Malick to pay the amount of $825.00. Carried. Standafer questioned why the County is involved in the decision making of dog damage claims. Malick moved to have Budrow review and prepare a draft of what is needed to improve the Owner's Claim for Damages to Animals. Motion failed due to lack of second. Krueger volunteered to prepare a list of items the County will require from the animal owners when submitting a dog damage claim. b. Contingency Fund Request - Replacement/Repair of Meeting Recorder. County Clerk Nelson reported that the recorder in the County Board room is approximately ten years old and is not working consistently. Nelson requested that the Finance Committee approve $250 from the Contingency Fund for a replacement recorder. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Krueger to approve. Carried. Malick presented a bill for the County Clerk's retirement reception. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Krueger to pay $38.01 from the Contingency Fund. Carried. 8. Finance Department Report: Finance Director Rich Loney reported the following balances as of November 30, 2002: Cash $14,314,421.58; Contingency Fund $224,403.50 Sale's Tax collections should exceed the revenues budgeted. Nursing Home excess of revenues over expenses stands at $361,016 which is on track. The Revenue Summary Report indicated the board of prisoners` line item is $534,987 under budget. Finance Committee December 10, 2002 Page 4 Chair Swenson recommended that in the first quarter of 2003 the committee study in depth the revenue and expenditure funds. Chair Swenson recommended the finance report include the following: 1. Balance of the audit 2. Levy or State grants 3. Carryover or lapsing funds 4. Delineate who has authority to charge expenditures to the fund Committee agreed to this concept. a. County Funds Investment Options. Chair Swenson asked Loney and Treasurer Slind to check rates and options and to report at the January meeting. b. 2003 Debt Financing Options. Whiting referred to the Springsted report regarding refinancing the Government Center bonds, microwave project for Emergency Communications, the new Huber facility and the Perch Lake Park maintenance building. The report did not include using the $735,000 set aside in the building fund nor options of borrowing from the State Trust Fund. There is a need to combine the timeline of projects so one payment can be made at the completion of the projects. The Huber Building Committee was appointed by Board Chair Malick. The committee members are Suprs. Mark Erickson, Esther Wentz, Denise Gunderson (Dan Raebel, alternate) and ex officio staff, Chuck Whiting and Ralph Robole. Discussion on timeline for Huber facility. If the Huber Committee has information ready, the County Board could vote in January, bids could be let in February and awarded in March. Wentz commented the benefits of the new Huber facility could be renting space to other counties, possible use of some space for record storage and indicated electronic monitoring is not encouraged by the St. Croix County Judges and Sheriff for some people, especially if they have been convicted of a DWI. Standafer requested more information on the need and necessity of the building, not a picture of the building. The Finance Committee requested the Huber Building Committee to report to the County Board in January or no later then March. Finance Committee December 10, 2002 Page 5 Public Protection is to provide operational costs of the Huber facility. The Emergency Management and Communications Committee was requested to proceed on the same time frame described above. The Springsted report indicated that $179,131 would be saved after refinancing Government Center Bonds. C. Fund Reserve Guidelines were distributed and reviewed. 9. Administrative Coordinator Report - Chuck Whiting a. Building Space Issues re: Clerk of Court File Expansion. Clerk of Court Lori Meyer, District Attorney Eric Johnson along with the assistance of District Court Administrator Gregg Moore, Judge Needham, Judge Vlack, Facilities Manager Ralph Robole and Supr. Dan Raebel provided views with respect to the use of the current law library space located between the Clerk of Court office and the District Attorney's office. Meyer requested use of the space for file retention. She sees the need to secure the public access area. Meyer proposes to use one-fourth of the current law library space for expansion. Meyer indicated that many of the books have been removed from the law library because they are available on compact disk or online. Johnson requested use of the current law library space for additional office space due to a recent grant received for an assistant district attorney for drug prosecutions and the need for additional staff. Public Protection Chair Julie Speer indicated that it was the understanding of the Public Protection Committee and the District Attorney's office the law library space would be used for the District Attorney's office since the Victim Witness office lost its office space to the Register of Deeds. The Finance Committee toured the Clerk of Court office, District Attorneys' office and the law library. It was questioned if the County needed to provide a law library. Meyer said state and federal rules indicated the County needed to provide a law library. Gregg Moore stated it is not statutory, but the State Supreme Court recommends it. Finance Committee December 10, 2002 Page 6 Standafer noted this issue is clearly within the Building Services Department and should revolve around Robole. Following discussion, motion by Malick, 2nd by Standafer to postpone this matter to the January Finance Committee meeting and to refer it to the Administrative Coordinator and Facilities Manager, who, with the input of the Public Protection Committee, are to provide three possible solutions in January and to freeze any further moves. Krueger suggested they not limit their proposals to three. Carried. Clerk of Court Reporting. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to have the Administration Committee consider having the Clerk of Court and Judges, report to the Public Protection Committee. The Public Protection Committee would then oversee the following departments: Sheriff, District Attorney, Medical Examiner, Child Support and the office of the Clerk of Court. Carried. b. Follow Up to Defibrillators Issue. Whiting said the United Way grant is no longer available. United Way cannot commit funds until April 2003. Motion by Standafer, 2nd by Krueger that the Finance Committee will match the funds from United Way and the earlier terms and conditions regarding training and use will apply. C. Performance Evaluations. Malick requested the evaluations completed by Whiting on Department Heads reporting to the Finance Committee be presented to the Finance Committee before Whiting meets with the Department Heads to discuss evaluation results. Whiting will submit other Department Head evaluations to the appropriate committee chair. The evaluation of Whiting and Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman will be done in closed session at the January Finance meeting. 10. Treasurer's Office Organization Discussion. Malick asked committee members to keep in mind the possibility of combining the Finance Department and Treasurer's office but not before January 2005. Adjournment: Motion by Wentz, 2nd by Malick to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 12:35 p.m. Esther Wentz, Secretary