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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 06-12-02 ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF C("IMITTRE ME TO: Chairmw Buck Malick St. Croix County Board FROM: Tom O'Connell COMMITTEE TITLE: Finance DATE: Wednesday June 12, 2002 8:30 A.M. LOCATION: Ole Anderson Community Room, Government Center, Hudson CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: July 10, 2002 8:30 A.M. ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: 1. Review of Vouchers 2. 2003 Budget Review - Meeting with Committee Chairs 9:00 a.m. 3. Review of Fines and Forfeitures Collections Options* 4. Building Maintenance Report 5. Information Services Report 6. Finance Report a. Review of Financial Reports 7. Corporation Counsel Report 8. Clerk's Report 9. Risk Manager's Report 10. Administrative Coordinator's Report a. Status of State Budget, Finance Committee Position b. 2003- 2008 Preliminary Capital Outlay Plan c. Update on Personnel Study d. Consideration of Ag Center Lease Renewal CORRESPONDENCE: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented m this order) Date: June 10, 2002 COPIES TO: County Board Office News Media/Notice Board County Clerk County Board County Departments * * ADDITIONS/CHANGES/CORRECTIONS Finance Committee June 12, 2002 FINANCE COMMITTEE Regular Meeting June 12, 2002 Meeting called to order by Vice Chair Swenson at 8:30 a.m. in the Government Center Community Room. Present: Ralph Swenson, Stan Krueger, Esther Wentz and C.W. Malick. Absent and excused - Chair Tom O'Connell. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Rich Loney, Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman and County Clerk Sue Nelson. Media - Judy Wiff. Motion by Krueger, 2nd by Wentz to adopt the agenda with the addition of dog damage claims which were properly published. Carried. Next meeting is July 10 at 8:30 a.m. Brief discussion on changing Finance meeting dates closer to County Board date. Moved by Wentz, 2nd by Malick to approve the May minutes. Carried. County Clerk: Dog Damage Claims - Two claims had been held over from last month pending more information. Clerk Nelson noted the Town Chair had filled in the amount of $325.00 for Mary Bazille and John Bazille, II. A range of values for the sheep were provided by the Bazilles. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Krueger to pay the middle amount totaling $292.50. Tie vote; failed. Motion by Wentz, 2nd by Swenson to pay $325. Tie vote, failed. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Krueger to pay the $292.50. Carried on 3 to 1 vote. Regarding the LeMay claim for sheep, Corporation Counsel Timmerman advised the County must pay the claim and then file action on the known dog owners. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to pay the $600 claim and Corporation Counsel pursue the claim with the dog owners. Carried. Vouchers: Loney said O'Connell had reviewed the vouchers last Friday and no problems were found. He read the revised language on the Supervisors' mileage and per diem listing which is now approved by the Chair and County Clerk. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Krueger to approve the vouchers. Carried. Risk Manager's Report: In the absence of Dawn Budrow, Clerk Nelson highlighted her report. Workers' Comp numbers increased from last month due to settlement of a large claim. Number of claims submitted this year is lower to date than 2001. Three Emergency Evacuation training session have been held with approximately 60 employees attending. Several members of the Security Committee conducted a physical assessment of the 1 Finance Committee June 12, 2002 Government Center and grounds. The results will be shared at a later meeting. Nelson requested support from the Finance Committee to paint the curb in front of the Gov't. Center yellow to indicate "no parking." After the no parking signs were removed, people are randomly parking in front of the building. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to approve painting the curb yellow with paint purchased and work done by Building Services. Carried. Corporation Counsel: No report. Finance Director: Loney reviewed the financial reports. Sales tax revenue was budgeted at $4,250,000. The average through May is usually 36% and this year we are at 38%. Contingency fund balance is $228,500. The net current items in the Nursing Home as of April 30 are $682,434. Ag. Center Lease: Whiting requested permission to sign renewal of the Ag. Center which increases from $12.24 per square foot to $13.06. He indicated another exit may have to be added to meet building codes since the Farm Service Agency has relinquished some of their space. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Krueger to table until next meeting and have Administrative Coordinator investigate the cost of a new exit and the 6% increase for the next five years. Carried. Joint Meeting with Committee Chairs: Present: Personnel-Daryl Standafer; Public Protection-Julie Speer; Health and Human Services-Leon Berenschot; Land and Water and Planning, Zoning and Parks-Art Jensen; Ag. and Extension- Chris Bethke; Emergency Management and Emergency Communications- Chuck Mehls; Information Services-Ron Raymond and Administration- Linda Luckey. Swenson welcomed the Committee Chairs and noted the purpose of the meeting is to be in partnership with the Committees, share information and issues and arrive at a consensus regarding budget issues. The four areas of focus are: current status, internal constraints including revenues and expenses, capital outlay and presentation of budget concept at the June Board meeting. Status of 2002: Supr. Speer said the jail is full with 123 inmates. Jail overtime, Sheriff's patrol and food service will 2 Finance Committee June 12, 2002 be over budget. Public Protection Comm. is working on the COPS grant, capital outlay for vehicles and a new Huber facility. Supr. Raymond reported Computer Services staff and Information Services Committee members are going to Coon Rapids to check their Visions program to see if corrections can be made to our software. There may be expenses of $30,000 to $40,000. Sheriff Hillstead noted there are 20 more inmates per day. The daily average through May was 113 and currently there are 123. The jail situation has flip-flopped. In 1998-99 there were 25 to 30 county inmates and space was rented to 60-65 inmates from other sources. Now there are 68 local and rental to 25. The Judges are sentencing more DWI and drug cases. Hillstead said the homicide and rape cases are dropping but crimes that have sentencing for less than a year are increasing. By 2006 he expects the jail to be full of county inmates and no rental space available. However, it may be cheaper to rent space than build at that time because other counties are building large jails in order to rent space. Overtime in the Jail is due to the turn over of staff. The patrol overtime has increased due to three officers on leave for medical reasons. The Sheriff cannot replace these officers and has to use overtime to get the normal coverage. Hillstead estimates the overtime at $130,000 over budget but one half will be reimbursed through revenues. The $242,000 for rental space will be less than forecasted. Four persons are now on electronic monitoring and Hillstead advised he has to be selective of people placed on monitoring. Speer noted the waiting time to be placed in Huber is August. Health and Human Services Director John Borup reported the Nursing Home is within budget this year. The census is 90 and staff has been shrinking. H&HS is within budget. Supr. Berenschot said 51% of Nursing Home residents go home which is a big increase from past years. The Management Audit recommended some changes and this report will be given to the Board. Supr. Jensen said both the Planning, Zoning and Parks and Land and Water Conservation budgets look good for this year. He requested the Administration Committee consider placing Parks under a different committee. Area wide waste water purification is a big project planned for 2003. 3 Finance Committee June 12, 2002 Supr. Bethke stated Ag. and Extension runs a tight budget and if something is needed, they expect to get it. Supr. Mehls said Emergency Management is within budget. Director Jack Colvard writes and obtains many grants. Less overtime hours for law enforcement are required with the use of the Communications Van. One shortfall in Emergency Communications is the contract for the weather monitoring device that is no longer used. The settlement with the company includes the county paying last year's contract. Supr. Standafer indicated the 2002 salaries are 1/3 to 1/2 of the County budget. The Union contracts end in December 2002. Loney reported the General Fund accounts are within budget. The Highway Dept. is aware of potential reductions and is being conservative for summer maintenance in case of early winter weather problems. The 2003 Budget Worksheet showed the impacts of 2,3 and 4% increases in wages, budgeted revenues and budgeted expenses. The Health Insurance premium should be known by early July. Two concerns for the 2003 budget are a decrease in Shared Revenue and a limit or freeze on the levy of property tax. Standafer said Personnel Comm. is trying to identify red flags and health insurance is the biggest issue. He gave the example if the insurance increases 20% the premium would go from $810.37 to $914.10 with employee's paying 6% or $58 the increase in cost would be $770,000. He asked if a zero wage increase was proposed and a 3.37% increase for insurance was provided, would the Board support this proposal. Vice Chair Swenson commented reclassifications and step increases are two other issues. Malick said the Finance Comm. was not too conservative in adopting the goal of a 4% cap on the levy. Whiting said the capital outlay plan is nearly complete. The most significant item in 2003 is the Huber facility at $1.4 million. Two large items for 2005 and 2006 are new microwave towers costing $1 million each. Borup noted the fleet of cars used by H&HS are operated cheaper than the 36.5 cents mileage rate. Standafer referred to an anonymous letter complaining that the County offered only a family health insurance plan with no option 4 Finance Committee June 12, 2002 for a single plan. He said the composite rate was negotiated by the Unions. Speer commented there are still too many unknowns to plan for budgeting in 2003. Standafer said new position requests should be well thought out and not to put blame on the Personnel Committee for denial of positions. Loney suggested the time line for budgeting could be delayed with budgets due in mid September, the two day Finance Comm. budget reviews in October and the County Board budget hearing could be early November. Swenson said we should meet again with the Chairs and possibly have a closed session. The synopsis of ideas for parent committees to consider at their next meeting is: 1. Look at cost savings 2. Consider combining departments and/or positions 3. Increasing revenue fees 4. Pursuing grants and other revenue sources 5. Cutting programs 6. Review capital outlay spending 7. Reducing operating expenses 8. Validity of new position requests 9. Review of reclassifications and step increases Parent committees should decide operating expenses, new positions, capital outlay expenditures and give the total package to Finance. A joint meeting is scheduled with Committee Chairs at 9:00 a.m. on July 10th. Committee chairs adjourned at 11:50 a.m. Fines and Forfeitures Collection: Supr. Mehls reported he is working with Clerk of Court Lori Meyer Frasht to collect over $2 million in unpaid fines. The new person's duties in Clerk of Court office will be to work on collections. The plan calls for the Judge to execute a new warrant. People on a payment plan often quit paying. A phone call or letter will offer the person 10 days to pay by cash or credit card. If the person fails to pay, he/she will be arrested. In the past the tax intercept could go back one year and only on State withholding and not Federal. 5 Finance Committee June 12, 2002 In the future, the Clerk of Court, Judges, District Attorney, Sheriff and possibly Corporation Counsel will be involved in collections. Mehls outlined the credit card swipe that could be used in patrol cars. The services of Government Payment Services would be utilized. The patrol office would call the toll free number to process the credit card number. The fees charged by GPS are paid by the credit card holder. A report is sent back to the Clerk of Court. Out of state persons account for 53% of violations. Motion by Krueger, 2nd by Wentz the Finance Committee supports and encourages the aggressive collection of fines and forfeitures and recommends the plan of Chuck Mehls, on behalf of Public Protection. Personnel Study: Loney and Personnel Director Deb Kathan met with classification agent from Springsted. Vice Chair Swenson will give the budget presentation to the County Board on June 18th. Discussion on budget instructions. Committee agreed salary increases should not be paid from the Contingency Fund. Loney was requested to work with Chief Jailer Karen Humphrey on actual rental income vs projected income and on food service costs. He was also asked to itemize overages in the 2001 budgets for the next meeting. Clerk Nelson distributed a letter from former Deputy Treasurer Irene Seabright in which she objected to the County Treasurer's cut in salary. Motion to adjourn by Malick, 2nd by Wentz. Meeting adjourned at 12:45 pm. Stan Krueger, Secretary 6