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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 09-11-03 ST. CROIX COUNTY T0: Chairman Buck Malick St. Croix County Board FROM: Ralph Swenson, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE; Finance DATE: Thursday, September 11, 2003 8:30 A.M. LOCATION: Room 1281, Government Center, Hudson CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: September 24-25, 2003 8:30 A.M. ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES: August 7, 2003 UNFIlVISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: 1. Review of Vouchers 2. 2004 U~ Extension Budget 8:30 a.m. 3. Treasurer's Report a. 2004 Department Budget b. Discussion of Ag Use Penalty~`~ 4, Maintenance Department Report _ a. 2004 Department Budget 5. Computer Services Department Report a. 2004 Department Budget 6. Risk Mana ement Report g a. 2004 Department Budget 7. Corporation Counsel Report a. 2004 Department Budget 8. Clerk of Courk's Report a. 2004 Department Budget b. Staffing Review and Request - 9:00 a.m. Judges to appear} 9. County Clerk Report a. 2004 Department Budget b. Tax Deed Status 10. Finance Department Report a. Financial Reports b, 2004 Department Budget c. Proposed workers ComplLiability insurance Budget Distribution Formula d. Contingency Fund Draws 11. Administrative Coordinator Report a. 2004 Department Budget b. 2.004 Health Insurance c. Schedule for September 24-25 Budget Review d. Review of County Board New Richmond Land Use Exercise e. Review of County Owned Property 13. Highway Department 2004 Budget Presentation 10:00 a.m. 14. Status of ~isDoT Consideration of County Land in New Richmond 15. Zoning Department Request -Septic Contract Help 16. Review of Homeland Security Grant and Budget*'~ 17. Business Request for Sign on County Property in Baldwin*~ - CORRESPONDENCE: ADJOURNMENT Agenda not necessarily presented in this order} COPIES T0: County Board Office News MedialNotice Board County Clerk County Board County Departments **ADDITIONSICHANGESICORRECTIONS Revised: 9/S/03 I , OFFICIAL MINUTES DF THE ST. CRaI~ COUNTY FINANCE COMMITTEE Regular Meeting September 11, 2403 Meeting called to order by Chair Swenson at 5;30 a.m. Present: Ralph Swenson, Clarence Malick, Esther Wentz, Daryl Standafer and Stan Krueger. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Michelle Pietrick and County Clerk Cindy Campbell. Others present: Judy Wiff media}. Motion by Standafer, 2nd by Wentz to adopt the agenda. Carried unanimously. Date of next meetings are September 24 and 25 far Budget Review. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to approve the minutes of August 7, 2003 with the following corrections: Page 1, last paragraph, . sixth line, shall read, "WMMIC provides Incurred But Not Reported ~IBNR} claims that an actuarial computed amount which gets booked so the County has a much truer picture." Page 5, fourth paragraph, sixth line shall read, "The auditor recommended the County do an actuarial assessment of the Fund Balance." Page S, second paragraph, fourth line shall read Rather than looking for it in this budget take it from the line item, create the deficit for the whole budget creating a budget amendment that would take it from reserves or from the Contingency Fund leaving a large negative number at the end of the year." Carried unanimously. 1. Vouchers. August and September vouchers were reviewed by Malick. Motion to approve by Malick, 2nd by Wentz. Carried unanimously. Malick indicated the Finance Department is running weekly checks for more of a continuous process. Malick will review the weekly reports provided by Finance and will have the reports available in his office for others to review. 2. 2044 U~V Extension Budget 5:34 a.m. County 4-H & Youth Agent Kim Reaman and Supr. Chris Bethke were present. Reaman indicated a new budget category was created which includes general off ce items. The UW Extension office will no longer split general office expenditures four ways, The new category is called Administration. Changes in her budget include 4-H expenses equal to the revenue lost. operation and Maintenance will be picked up by Computer Services for the T1 line. New equipment includes a new server, jointly with Land and Water Conservation. Budget was approved by parent committee as presented allowing for chan es for Count em to ee ex enses. Motion to acce t b Malick, 2nd b Wentz sub'ect to g y p y p P y y the changes regarding employee expenses and to move this budget through the budgeting process. Carried unanimously, 3. Treasurer's Report. County Treasurer Cheryl Slind provided her reconciliation report. Balance as of July 2003 is $7,370,654.92. . a. 2004 Department Budget. Slind distributed proposed 2004 budget. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to accept and move forward into the budgeting process. Carved unanimously. b. Discussion of Ag Use Penalty. Slind provided information from the seven m.unicipalitiesresponding toher AgUse Penalty letter. Based on the information received, 212.17 acres were converted in 2002; total penalty charged $26,912.64 and the St. Croix County share to be retained is $13,456.32. Slind indicated it is the assessors' responsibility to Finance Committee September 11, 2003 age o report conversions to the County Treasurer and has written reminder letters to the assessors. ~f the Ag Use Penalty is not collected, the local municipalities will be contacted and the amount will be placed on the owner's tax bill. 4. Maintenance Department Report. a. 2004 Department Budget. Facilities Manager Ralph Robole reviewed line items and listed increases. The gas cost increase is included in the amount of $ ~ 0,400. Chiller discussion regarding repairs far immediate needs. He has not included chiller repairs in the 2004 budget. Huber increases included for water and sewer, electrical and heat. Actual outlay of $34,000 for Trane repair. He has sent letters to those property owners with land adjoining County land regarding maintenance of the County Land. Should assert County rights to property line. Motion to accept Maintenance Budget by Malick, 2nd by Wentz and to move through budget approval process. Carried unanimously. 5. Computer Services Department Report a. 2004 Department Budget. Director of Computer Services Tom Boron submitted the Computer Services budget. Baron indicated he hopes to start the optical imaging process in 2004. Qperation was down about $4,000, but $20,000 is built in for Visions program. Computer Services is looking at upgrading the email sohware to become HIPPA compliant. Estimated 2004 bud et is $909 200.79. Motion b Wentz 2nd b Krue er to acre t and move into the g ~ Y ~ y g p budgeting process. Carried unanimously. Discussion held regarding temporary help in the Jail to reconcile accounts or have Finance staff take on this task. Wentz recommended this task fall under the Finance Department. Krueger agreed with the funds coming out of the Jail budget. 6. Risk Management Report. a. 2004 Department Budget. Risk Manager Dawn Budrow reported worker compensation expenses will come down by $70,000 because of the change in the claim handler. 70% of Risk Manager's salary is included in worker compensation budget. The Liability Fund shows an increase of $11,000 because $x,000 was added to do an actuarial audit of the liability fund balance and calculated an overall increase in insurance premiums of 15%. Budrow indicated she will know the premium amounts from LGPIF in December and wMMIC by December or January. Pietrick added the increase will affect levy for 2005, but feeds into the overall allocation methods. Motion to acce t Risk Mana ement bud et b Wentz 2nd b P g g y ~ Y Krueger and to move it into the budgeting process. Carried unanimously. 7. Corporation Counsel Report. a. 2004 De artment Bud et. Motion to acce t b Standafer, 2nd b Krue er to move P g p y Y g into the budgeting process. Carried unanimously. Finance Committee September lI, 2003 age o S. Clerk of Court's Report, a. 2004 Department Budget. Clerk of Court Lori Meyer indicated she had little increase in expenditures. Highest increased is personnel for wages and benef is in the amount of $25,000. There is a decrease in Guardian ad Litem GAL} fees by $20,000 and asked this go into the Judges' budget to offset some expenses they have. Judge Lundell indicated the $20,000 is for law clerk and an increase far Family Court Commissioner, The potential litigation fund of $150,000 was forwarded from last year. This should be in a reserve account. The Finance Department will make this change. Meyer indicated credit card charges go through Clerk of Court budget. tither revenues increase of $35,000 is for court appointed counsel. This is used for indigent individuals who sometimes pay it back to the County. The County collects approximately 75% of the court appointed counsel funds. Revenues exceed expenditures which go to the general fund. There is no increase showing for any collection of delinquent fines and forfeitures. Circuit Court Budget. Judge Lundell reported there are three areas different from prior years. The budget has additional funds for a part time law clerk and an increase for the Family Court Commissioner. Family Court Commissioner is a contract position and the Judges feel he is underpaid. The proposed increase is $14,000. Court Commissioner Tim Heckman is being utilized for intake functions such as traff c, DNR forfeitures, small claims, etc. He is unable to get to legal research therefore the Judges are looking into hiring law students to do the legal research for another $6,000. Vlack indicated there is a program the state has where the law clerks work for free, summer only. Lundell added they plan to bring a resolution before the County Board for a fourth Judge in a few years. Judicial salaries are all state money. Lundell indicated adding a Judge is a three to five year process. The Circuit Court budget includes a new copier. Motion by Standafer, 2nd by Krueger to accept and move through budget review process. Carried unanimously. b. Staffing Review and Request - 9:00 a.m. Judges to appear. Meyer indicated she currently has the First Deputy Clerk of Court position vacant. Earlier this year the First Deputy position was reclassif ed to Office Manager, which is a nonunion position. Meyer requests to .fill First Deputy which will be rated the same as collection clerk financial assistant}. Meyer indicated her office has experienced signif cant turnover because of overtime and stress her staff has in trying to keep up with the caseload increase. Overall cost for position is $51,113 for salary and benefits. With an.additional staff person Meyer indicated her office would cooperate with the Judges to provide staff for probate and juvenile hearings. Judge Lundell, Judge Needham and Judge Vlack support Met'er's request. Whiting noted the positions are currently at a Grade 2 and the County's position is to move to grade 3. Union will ask for a grade 4 or 5. This also needs to go through the Personnel Committee for authorization of First Deputy. Motion by Wentz, 2nd by Krueger to accept the Clerk of Court budget as submitted with adjustment of $36,000 for position endorsement to Personnel Committee to provide staffing of First Deputy union position in the Clerk of Court off ce. Judge Lundell indicated there is some urgency to fill this position because of the passing of Cheryl Johnson. Carried unanimously. i Finance Committee September 11, 2003 Page4of$ 9. County Clerk Report. a. 2004 Department Budget. County Clerk Cindy Campbell indicated the most significant increase is the 2004 Elections budget. Fidlar, the County's election coding company, will apply a surcharge of $54.00 per ballot style for customers using a private printer.. Campbell explained a municipality could have up to four ballot styles if it contains more than one school district, legislative district or County Board supervisory district. Motion by Malick, 2n~ by Wentz to accept County Board, Committees and Commissions, Legal Notices, County Clerk and Elections budgets and move them forward in the budgeting process, Carried unanimously. b. Tax Deed Status. Slind and Campbell indicated tax deeds were filed on eight parcels on September S, 2003. Since that time, Slind has been contacted by three of the property owners regarding payment to the County. Corporation Counsel Timmerman indicated if the property owner paid the back taxes and all costs involved the County Board could pass an ordinance approving the property owner repurchase of the tax deeded land. Discussion regarding charging administrative costs. Timmerman suggested an ordinance be drafted which establishes a policy that lays out guidelines. Swenson indicated the ordinance should include the owner must pay all back taxes, interest and penalty at 1.5% per month, all disbursements including recording fees, appraisal fees, plus $150 for processing fees, and to include a 60 day repurchase period. The ordinance is to put the policy under the direction of the Finance Committee, 10. Finance Department Report. - a. Financial Report. Monthly report shows cash balance totaling $49,036,565.$1 which includes bond proceeds and tax payments. The report reflects payoff of State Pension Fund but not current Government Center bonds which are to be paid Gctober 1. Contingency fund includes Repair of Emergency Generator in the amount of $8,994.27 and Chiller Repair $21,000. May sales tax collected in July totaled $512,438.64. Nursing Home revenues recorded through July 31, 2003 equal $3,692.590.06 and expenses recorded through July 31, 2003 equal $3,706,926.90; excess Expenses over Revenues after July 2003 x$14,336.54}. b. 2004 Department Budget. Pietrick reported the Finance Department budget went up $55,000. The biggest increase was for the new position of purchasing agent. There is a $47,000 difference as a result of Act 150 and picking up $9,200 usage of other County libraries by St. Croix County residents. Motion to accept by Krueger, 2~a by Wentz and to move forward in the budgeting process. Carried unanimously. c. Proposed workers ComplLiability Insurance Budget Distribution Formula. Whiting reported this was prompted by his request that a budget for workers compensation and liability be formulated. In the past the County has based its internal funding on claims, retroactively with cash flow considerations. Pietrick indicated she has reviewed the general liability insurance fund and has a good idea of what generally goes into an allocation basis. Pietrick picked up every premium in the general liability fund. The general liability fund Finance Committee September 11, 2003 Page5of8 premiums include auto, collision in the Sheriff s Department, comprehensive, wMMIC auto liability, WMMIC liability insurance premium, hospital liability insurance premium which is charged 100% to the Nursing Home, insurance on the County's buildings, contractors equipment, moneys and securities, crime, employee dishonesty, and flood coverage charged 100% to the parks}. What is being picked up this year which haven't previously been dealt with are the uninsured property losses that the fund has been paying for ~i.e. windshields for SherifFs vehicles} and indirect fund expenses which include the Risk Manager's salary, mileage, wMMIC meetings, WMMIC conferences, etc.. Pietrick indicated they are proposing to allocate it back based on 2003 budget amounts. Pietrick received a range of recommendations regarding what the County should be picking up. Every year the auditors pickup incurred but not~reported claims for a given year. Pietrick took a conservative approach and took 3% of that number fat a 90% confidence rate} and came up with $94,000. One expert told Pietrick the fund balance should be in the area of $1.4 million, it is currently at $400,000. Pietrick spread the allocation throughout the entire County. She added if we go with this process, Highway will go from $66,000 to $95,000; Health and Human Services $36,000 to $94,000; Zoning $9,D00 to $68,000 because Zoning had a chargeable claim in 2002}, In total this will go from $202,000 to $433,000. Swenson asked regardless of where it goes in terms of allocated, is there more money. to be put on the levy this year than in the past, regardless of where it was? '~hiting indicated the County has to come up with the difference. In the past it has been paid out of the liability insurance fund, which has a steadily declining fund balance. Swenson said we are trying to make sure we have an appropriate fund balance and who has been paying the freight. Pietrick indicated there is a $231,000 difference between the old method and the new method. Ramberg asked about discounts and where the rebate is and how does it factor in; and what more is included in allocation? Ramberg added the Safety Committee has made great gains in accomplishments and the incentive should remain. Pietrick will proceed with allocation basis, d. Contingency Fund Draws. whiting indicated for Health Insurance the request is $214,1 OD. Ideally he would have it paid on October 31 ~t which is the date before the renewal starts, however the amount needs to be determined on that date, wait one week while the County goes through a preliminary arbitration hearing regarding the union's position that the County has under funded the Health Insurance. Malick indicated Gary Kollman has requested $15,000 relating to telephones. Health Insurance will be charged back to the departments. Motion by Standafer, 2nd by Krueger to authorize allocation of Health Insurance reducing Contingency Fund by $214,100. Carried 3 - 2 ~vating no -Swenson and Malick}. Other Fund Requests include: Decertified social workers unit - $78,000; Emergency Generator - $8,994; Zoning Truck Difference - $7,400; Chiller Repairs - $21,000 totaling, with Health Insurance $329,494. Malick left the meeting at 3:OD p.m. for personal business. 11. Administrative Coordinator Report. a. 2004 Department Budget. Motion by Wentz, 2nd by Krueger to accept and move forward with the budgeting process. Carried unanimously. Finance Committee September 11, 2003 Page~of8 b. 2004 Health Insurance. Whiting reported Sara Haines of Frank Haack & Associates is working on getting renewal figures. He should have firm numbers by September 24th. . c. Schedule for September 24 - 25 Budget Review. Whiting submitted proposed schedule. Budget books will be distributed to the Finance Committee on or about September 20. Standafer lei the meeting at 3:30 p.m, far personal business. d. Review of County Board New Richmond Land Use Exercise. County Planner Dave Fodroczi distributed a summary of the results of the exercise for land use the County Board members completed in August. Twenty supervisors responded. The highest preference allocation of use was agriculture. Fodroczi explained the number in parenthesis after the use description indicated the number opposed to that particular use. Comments were included on back of the handout. Malick indicated the next step recommended by Vierbicher is to estimate market value and forecast a revenue stream. Swenson thanked Fodroczi for putting this together and indicated we need to forward the results to the full County Board. Whiting indicated the County will invariably be involved in the development of this property. The City of New Richmond is interested in the land use. The City has been thoughtful towards. this Land use issue and assured the County it's the County's decision. Malick suggested the County should for the moment negotiate sewer and water access to the north and look into selling parcels A and B, but no more for the foreseeable future. Ted Morgan appraiser} suggested building a frontage road and getting an estimate from the Highway Department for this construction. He added the County could possibly be the developer for this land, e. Review of County awned Property. Fodroczi reported there are 250 parcels of land listed as St. Croix County land and the tax roll shows the County owns 1228 acres. Fodroczi indicated some parcels do not carry acreage. Glen Hills property does not show up on the list because the County holds property from the State of Wisconsin on along-term lease. There are a number of very small parcels which have no acreage involved because they are used for road projects (small pieces of right of way}. Fodroczi indicated more detail for County inventory has never been tasked. A map was distributed which included the largest and most significant properties owned by the County. The point is to reach the conclusion we da not. know what we own. Pietrick indicated GASB 34 will require a list of County owned property next year. Krueger requested more detail for those parcels listed as 0.000 acres. Swenson requested more detail including value of county assets, insurance ramifications, GASB 34, reasons we do not know about et. Motion b Krue er, 2n~ b Wentz to have a more detailed Y y g y report put together by County Planner Dave Fodroczi, provide progress report at January Finance Committee, with completion by April 2004. Carried unanimously, 12. Highway Department 2004 Budget Presentation 10:00 a.m. Supr. Richard King, Highway Commissioner Tim Ramberg and County Surveyor Brian Halling presented the Highway Department and Surveyor's 2004 proposed budget. Ramberg showed an overall 3.02% Finance Committee September 11, 2003 Page 7 of S increase and separate from that, the County Aid Bridges with a 2.97% increase. Gross expenses for areas of operation with County appropriations are estimated to be $5,776,740 and the County's appropriation for anticipated revenues associated with the expenses is $3,354,354 or 55.07%. Four departments are involved in the Highway Department budget. Proposed budgets for 2004: Surveyor - $180,731 X4.18°/p increase}; Administration - $550,493 1.17% increase}; Road Construction - $852,460 3.27% increase}. Snow Removal (Maintenance - $1,719,804 X3.39°/a increase}. Wage increases were included at 3% and 10% for health insurance. The Highway budget does not include an increase in liability insurance. Ramberg indicated the County has no control over the County Aid Bridge~Program which is estimated at $50,870 for 2004. Motion by Malick, 2n~ by Wentz to accept the Highway Department budget and put it into analysis for budget review. Whiting added the County Surveyor has put together a budget which uses his time for a number of things including some non-constitutional surveying duties. There are things which fall between as a constitutionally appointed surveyor what other departments may like to see regarding records management and who should do this. Discussion regarding how to get the old information into the system and who is responsible for this. Supr. King added in the past, when surveyor budget was short it always came out of the Highway Department budget. Swenson thanked them for their presentation. Carried unanimously. 13. Status of ~visDoT Consideration of County Land in New Richmond -11:00 a.m. Pat Karlen from WisD~T, Ted Morgan the County's appraiser for the County Farm property and Dave Solberg WisD~T, project manager Houlton to New Richmond project were present. Karlen indicated she is not here today to negotiate a deal and is not here for an open debate in the difference of appraisals. Two issues to discuss are access and water coming into this property. Karlen presented a map of the County Farm property. She added "black dot" markings are not shown on the map. Black dot areas mean no access. There are black dot areas in effect on this property. Karlen indicated the City of New Richmond is currently rnaxed on water usage and is planning to build another tower. The remaining parcels include: Parcel A containing 18.13 acres. Karlen reported no damages were assessed in the County's appraisal of Parcel A because access and water are in the before condition. Parcel B is a remnant and is 1.57 acres in the after condition. The County assessed 50% access damage. Parcel C contains 117 acres. Damages were assessed which is access from west side of the Health Center. ~ The state's position is through the permitting process to obtain access off of new County Road K and County Road CC. Karlen indicated the state is going to come back for the purchase of a parcel near County Road CC to provide driveway access for a private property owner. There was discussion of water and sewer. The state will not issue permits from Highway 64. Permits only come off of county roads. Ted Morgan reported sewer along County K will be cut off. Sewer and water along County Road CC would be valuable. The State's appraisal did not mention access along County Road K for water and sewer. State has been contacted by a potential developer for Parcel A, 14. honing Department Request -Septic Contract Help. Supr. Art Jensen and Zoning Director Steve Fischer indicated at the August 26, 2003 Planning, Zoning and Parks Committee meeting the committee voted unanimously to support the Zoning Department's need to contract out for Private On-Site Wastewater Treatment Specialist ~PGWTS} inspection assistance, The Finance Committee - September 11, 2003 Page S of 5 County currently has two fulltime septic inspectors working in the Zoning Department. Septic Revenue for 20x3 will be $239,775. Gf that $75 of each permit goes to the state. The net proj ected revenue for 2003 will be $179, 850. Fischer suggested contracting out for septic help and has issued a Request for Proposal ~RFP}. Cedar Corporation has two fulltime certified staff ready to assist. Rather than a per inspection charge of $155 per permit plus mileage, Cedar Corporation has agreed to time and materials at $55 per hour with $.45 per mile. An average of six inspections a day with an average of 25 miles per inspection would be approximately $500 per day. Fischer suggested the County accept the RFP at time and materials for Cedar Corporation to assist the Zoning Department. Motion by Malick, 2~a by Wentz, authorizing Zoning to proceed with a contract with Cedar Corporation based on a time and materials charge of $55 per hour with $.45 per mile which will cover until the end of 2043. Carried unanimously. 15. Review of Homeland Security Grant and Budget. Supr. Chuck Mehls and Emergency Management Director lack Colvard indicated the County applied for two grants for Homeland Security, Part 1 and 2. The grants were budgeted for 2004. Colvard recently received notice that the monies must be expended by November 1, 2403. As a solution, the County can generate purchase orders from the County far the products purchased under these grants, provide it to the vendor, submit to Homeland Security and get reimbursed. Colvard needs approval to amend the Emergency Management 2003 Revenue and Expenditure budget because it does not account for this. Motion b Malick, 2n~ b Wentz to amend the Emergency Management 2003 budget in the Y Y amounts of $52,900 X2003 Homeland Security Grant--Part 1}and $214,739 X2003 Homeland Security Grant Part 2} for a total of $297,639. Carried unanimously. 16. Business Request for Sign on County Property in Baldwin. Whiting has received a request from Comforts of Home to place a sign an the Baldwin Ag Center property directing Seniors to its new housing complex. whiting indicated he requested information regarding the sign including information contained on the sign, location for the sign, proof of liability for the sign, etc. He has received no further information. Wentz indicated County property should be free of advertising for things non-County related. Krueger agreed. 17. Review of Wisconsin Counties Resolutions Pertaining to Finance. Swenson received copies of resolutions from WCA regarding late payment on property tax bills, Joint Survey Committee on State Mandates and waiver on the Lottery Gaming Credit Processing by sending out cards every five years and Property Tax Bills to Identify Gperating Costs and Debt Service. Swenson will communicate with Malick indicating we have reviewed the resolutions. Motion to adjourn by Krueger, 2na by Wentz. Meeting adjourned at 3:55 p.m.