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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 05-10-01 ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITIFF MEETING TO: Chairman Thomas Dorsey St. Croix County Board FROM: Tom O'Connell, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE: Finance DATE: Thursday, May 10, 2001 8:30 A.M. LOCATION: Government Center CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: June 7, 2001 8:30 A.M. ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: 1. Review of Vouchers 2. Building Maintenance Report A. Veteran's Services Memorial Benches Funding Request 3. Information Services Report 4. Finance Report 5. Corporation Counsel Report 6. Clerk's Report A. Tax Deed Property, Apple River B. Contingency Fund Transfer for Spring Valley Library 7. Administrative Coordinator Report A. Capital Outlay Program - Springsted demonstration 8:30 a.m. B. Personnel Program Presentation - Joint Meeting with Personnel Committee 10:30 a.m. 8. Humane Society Dog Impoundment Bill 9. Risk Management/Workers Compensation Position Status CORRESPONDENCE: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) Date: COPIES TO: County Board Office News Media/Notice Board County Clerk County Board County Departments *ADDITIONS/CHANGES/CORRECTIONS FINANCE COMMITTEE Regular Meeting May 10, 2001 Meeting called to order at 8:35 a.m. by Chair O'Connell. Present: Tom O'Connell, Tom Dorsey, Ralph Swenson and Stan Krueger. Absent and excused - Nancy Bieraugel. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Rich Loney, Corporation Counsel Timmerman (arrived later) and County Clerk Sue Nelson. Others present: Supr. Speer, Bob Klanderman and Ron Volkert from the Sheriff's Dept. and Judy Wiff, media. Motion by Krueger, 2nd by Dorsey to adopt the agenda. Carried. Next meeting is June 7th. Whiting asked if the Committee could meet prior to the County Board on May 22nd to approve an agreement regarding the house located in the Glen Hills Watershed. Meeting set at 6:30 p.m. Motion by Dorsey, 2nd by Krueger to approve the minutes with the following corrections: remove "with funding from Dog License fund" from Humane Officer discussion and in Building Maintenance report regarding panic buttons add "No action was taken. If appropriate, the cost for a new system should be part of the capital planning and budgeting process." Carried. Building Maintenance: Ralph Robole reported the cement benches in front of the Gov't. Center are disintegrating and would cost $1200 to replace. There is no money budgeted. He recommends casting new legs and budgeting for new benches in 2002. Motion by Dorsey, 2nd by O'Connell to replace the legs this year. Carried. Information Services: Director Tom Boron indicated his department is working to get PTO time accounting on line and connected to the Payroll software program. Whiting noted it has taken many hours to get the Paid Time Off hours corrected. Finance: Director Rich Loney is working with Health and Human Services on a revised report of revenues and expenses. The Federal Government has just approved $255 million more than was expected for the operations of Nursing Homes. H&HS Director John Borup is optimistic the funds will come to the County Home. Swenson asked the item listed under the Contingency Fund as Potential Government Center Expansion be changed to the Hudson Land Planning Committee. Contingency Fund balance is $217,797.00 as of 4-30-01. Loney reported the Fund Balance is 25% of expenses for 1999 which is a good level. If fuel prices remain about the same the 2001 budget should be ok; if prices increase, the budget may not cover the costs. The 2000 operations budget was distributed by Tim Ramberg from the Highway Department. County Clerk: Sue Nelson relayed a request to purchase some property from a property owner on the Apple River. This parcel is currently owned by St. Croix County from a tax deed. There are three parcels that could be purchased by adjacent land owners. They cannot be offered to the public because they are land locked. Motion by Krueger, 2nd by Dorsey to offer parcels in Lots 4, 9 and 10 to adjoining landowners with the right to reject any and all bids. Carried. The Spring Valley Library has contacted Nelson to request payment of $1688 for a library fund payment required by Act 150. A letter was received from Mike Cross, Consultant for Public Library Administration and Funding, who stated since part of the Village of Spring Valley is located in St. Croix County the county is obligated by law to reimburse the Spring Valley library for 70% of the cost of rural St. Croix County residents' use of this library. The matter was referred to Corp Counsel. Later in the meeting Timmerman advised the Spring Valley Library was legally entitled to reimbursement but he requested the circulation numbers be verified by the Librarian. Springsted Capital Outlay Presentation: Chuck Whiting introduced Mike Hoheisel and Nick Dragisich who outlined the Capital Improvement Program for the County. Nick reported the basic model is done and includes projected equalized values to determine the tax base. Not all departments have reported their future requests. Any item over $500 should be included. If a request is changed from one year to another, the figures are updated throughout the program. Discussion on control of and access to the program. No firm decision made at this time. Whiting said every year a 5 year plan will be developed for capital outlay items. This program should make the budgeting process easier for the Finance Committee. Memo from Public Protection: This memo recommended the Finance Committee have Brian Larson from Ayres consider the possibility of building a new Huber facility, juvenile detension center and impound storage. Swenson stated Brian Larson was only directed to provide a plan for potential needs of Government Center land, not whether or not to expand. Memo was referred to the Hudson Property Committee. Humane Society Bill: After further negotiations with the Sheriff the Society agreed to a 15% reduction of the bill for dogs housed after being taken from the owner by the Sheriff's Dept. Timmerman advised if the Sheriff directed the dogs be taken to the Humane Society, the County is obligated to pay. Chief Deputy Ron Volkert said a Vet determined the dogs were not cared for properly before being taken by a Sheriff's deputy. Swenson asked about the role of the Towns in these situations. Timmerman asked if a Town does not want to be involved, will the Sheriff's Dept. be responsible? He said there is a need to determine who is responsible for mistreated animals. Timmerman reviewed a letter from an assistant District Attorney who handled the case. He said the bill needs to be more detailed and broken down into time frames. He further stated the Dog License Fund can be used for expenses at a designated dog pound by action of the County Board. Public Protection Chair Julie Speer said this committee is working on a joint resolution to designate remaining Dog License funds (after dog damage claims and other expenses are paid) to the Humane Society. Motion by Swenson, 2nd by Dorsey to pay the current bill of $8479.60 (a reduction of 15% of the original $9976) from the Contingency Fund. Carried. Krueger voted no because the taxpayers are being hit twice. Risk Mangement/Workers Comp Position: Whiting said 22 applications were received. Interviews will be held the afternoons of May 17 and 18. O'Connell will sit in on the interviews. Joint Meeting with Personnel Committee: Personnel members present were Chair Gerald Peterson, Mary Louise Olson, Julie Speer and Ralph Swenson (also a member of Finance). Whiting introduced Jan Hillard, consultant with Public Management Associates and Professor, Political Science and Master of Management, UW-River Falls. He outlined a Personnel related system showing what we are trying to achieve and a system to help reach the goals. Department units in the County are running well but may need a tune up. His recommendations for St. Croix County were: assess current managerial practices and supervisory capacity, provide appropriate training curriculum and create a competency-model for the County. y « Other CommLents: Krueger suggested Finance members attend some of the WCA seminars offered. Whiting and Loney will attend the GASBY 34 (Government Accounting Standards Board) conference in Wausau. Personnel Chair Peterson noted the Professional Social Workers contract is in binding arbitration. Krueger thanked Swensen for the suggested format for financial reporting. Motion to adjourn by Swenson. Meeting adjourned at 12:35 p.m. Stan Krueger, Secretary