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Home My WebLink AboutFinance 08-10-2000 ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Chairman Thomas Dorsey St . Croix County Board FROM: Tom O'Connell, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE: Finance DATE: Thursday, August 10, 2000 8 :30 A.M. LOCATION: Government Center CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Friday, September 8 , 2000 8 :30 A.M. ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES UNFINISHED BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS 1 . Review of Vouchers 2 . Administrative Coordinator A. Brettingen Property Status B. Emergency Weather Report C. Health Insurance Status D. GASB 34 Report 3 . Corporation Counsel A. Government Services Agreement Relating to Proposed Casino 4 . County Clerk A. Election System Survey Results 5 . Finance Director A. 1999 Audit Report 9 :30 A.M. 6 . New Personnel Position Requests 7 . County Web Page Creation 8 . Government Center Storage Building 9 . Request for Easement on Fair Grounds 10 . County Library Fund CORRESPONDENCE ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) Date: 08/03 COPIES TO: County Board Office News Media/Notice Board County Clerk County Board County Departments *ADDITIONS/CHANGES/CORRECTIONS ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Chairman Thomas Dorsey St . Croix County Board FROM: Tom O'Connell, Chair j COMMITTEE TITLE: Finance DATE: Thursday, August 10, 2000 8 :30 A.M. LOCATION: Government Center CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Friday, September 8, 2000 8 :30 A.M. ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES UNFINISHED BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS 1 . Review of Vouchers 2 . Administrative Coordinator A. Brettingen Property Status B. Emergency Weather Report C. Health Insurance Status D. GASB 34 Report 3 . Corporation Counsel A. Government Services Agreement Relating to Proposed Casino 4 . County Clerk j A. Election System Survey Results 5 . Finance Director A. 1999 Audit Report 9 :30 A.M. 6 . New Personnel Position Requests 7 . County Web Page Creation 8 . Government Center Storage Building 9 . Request for Easement on Fair Grounds CORRESPONDENCE ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) Date: 08/03 COPIES TO: County Board Office News Media/Notice Board County Clerk County Board County Departments *ADDITIONS/CHANGES/CORRECTIONS i; FINANCE COMMITTEE August 10, 2000 Meeting called to order by Chair Tom O'Connell at 8:32 A.M. Members Present: Nancy Bieraugel, Tom Dorsey, Stan Krueger, Tom O'Connell and Ralph Swenson. Staff Present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman, Finance Director Rich Loney, Health & Human Service Director John Borup, Nursing Home Administrator Carolyn Krieger, Nursing Home Accounting Supervisor Judy Ziegler, Highway Commissioner Dan Fedderly, Computer Services Director Tom Boron, 1st Deputy County Clerk Marilyn Antiel. Others Present: Supervisors Berenschot, Dowd, Horne, Mortensen, Rose and Speer; Health & Human Service Committee Chair Bob Stephens, Mickey Brettingen, Troy Town Chair Dean Albert, YMCA Camp Representative John Duntley; Auditors Steve Tracey, Steve Scheidler and Rod Paulson; Judy Wiff, media. Motion by Dorsey, 2nd by Bieraguel to adopt the agenda as published. Carried. Next meeting is September 8, 2000. Motion by Swenson, 2" by Bieraugel to adopt the July 6, 2000 minutes. Carried. Vouchers: Motion by Dorsey, 2nd by Bieraugel to approve payment of the payment of vouchers. Carried. Brettingen Property Status: Surveying of the land has been delayed, but the County and Ms. Brettingen are working on an agreement that is fair to everyone involved. The house could be moved up the hill out of the flood plain. Chair O'Connell suggested touring the land when the committee tours the County. Emergency Weather Report: Administrative Coordinator Whiting feels weather emergency warnings need to be improved. A warning should come through the Emergency Communication Department and not left up to the Department Heads. We need to make better use of the PA system. Health Insurance: Whiting stated seven applicants were interviewed for the insurance consultant services. There is a fine line between consultant and broker. T. E. Brennan & Co. of Milwaukee is who the County is considering entering into an agreement with. The firm also handles workers compensation and risk management. Health and Human Services Chair Stephens stated that the Nursing Home has a need for a consultant. Risk management costs have increased dramatically since Bill Husbands no longer serves the County. Stephens is concerned about what could happen if someone isn't hired soon to deal with this issue. This issue will be discussed at the Health & Human Services meeting tomorrow, August 11, 2000. Supr. Swenson stated the contract regarding health insurance consulting should be signed and moved along as quickly as possible. GASB 34 Report (Government Accounting Standards Board) : GASB is the national board that, among other things, issues standards for presentation of financial reports in municipal audits, changes to the reports, guides the proper methods to be used in recording financial transactions, etc. Their recently enacted Statement #34 mandates various recording and reporting changes as well as rather far reaching changes in governmental reporting of fixed assets, including infrastructure (highways and bridges) . The timetable for implementation, based on total revenues, affects St. Croix County in 2003 . Based on the inclusion of infrastructure, it is felt that the Highway Department will be most impacted here. It should be noted that all levels of government, local, county and state, throughout the nation will be affected. Whiting said he feels we need to understand the standard better and how it will affect us. Plans are to begin implementation in 2001. Government Services Agreement Relating to Proposed Casino: Corporation Counsel Timmerman briefly explained what position the County is in at the present time. If a casino is added to the dog track, the land would be taken over by the tribes and put into trust. All taxes would have to be paid up. The tribes would make payments in lieu of property taxes. April 18, 1994 was the effective contract date. Land could not be taken into trust no later than 1995. Attorney George Steils said St. Croix County has no agreement with the tribes for government services. The contract is null and void. Motion by Swenson, 2nd by Krueger approving a resolution to accept the 1994 agreement as a null and void contract. Carried. Supr Bieraugel would also like to present a second resolution stating the environmental impact a casino would have on the City of Hudson and Town of Troy. County Board Chair Dorsey feels we cannot tie our hands. We need room to move. Motion by Bieraugel, 2nd by Swenson for a resolution that we will not negotiate another agreement for government services. Discussion followed. Dorsey stated we need to keep all options open. Makers withdrew motion and 2nd. A corrected motion was presented by Bieraugel, 2nd by Swenson for a resolution stating because negative environmental impacts are probable if a casino is located in the City of Hudson, St. Croix County will not negotiate a new agreement for government services without resolutions of support for the casino from the City of Hudson and the Town of Troy. Motion carried. Dorsey voted no. 1999 Audit Report: Steve Tracey, Rod Paulson and Steve Scheidler from the audit firm of Tracey & Thole, S.C. , met with the Committee and reviewed the audit. Representatives from Health & Human Services and the Nursing Home were also in attendance for the review of separate audits completed for those departments. The recommendation to seek improvements in the inmate trust/canteen accounting procedures in the jail was discussed. The General Fund undesignated unreserved balance as of December 31, 1999 stood at approximately 25% of General Fund expenditures, a level the auditors consider appropriate for the type of operation involved. New Personnel Position Requests: The Committee discussed the requests which had been forwarded to the Personnel Committee. Motion by Bieraugel, 2nd by Krueger to suggest that departments include them with their 2001 budget requests without any formal action by the Finance Committee at this time. Carried. The Committee would then consider them during review of the budgets in late September once a clearer picture of revenues and expenses emerges. Motion by Krueger, 2nd by Bieraugel to recommend to County Board for approval the Highway position for an Assistant Operations Supervisor for employment to start October 1, 2000. Carried. O'Connell voted no. A Health and Human Service request for an Environmental Health Specialist was sent back to the Health & Human Services Committee for more defining and discussion. Government Center Storage Building: The Committee discussed the need for a storage building for the command center van, boat and vehicles in the impound lot. Nothing has been provided to this point. The Committee recommended referring it to the Emergency Management Committee for their input and it will be discussed again at the September meeting. Easement for Fairgrounds: Baldwin Telcom has requested an easement to bury cable on a portion of the fairground property. Motion by Swenson, 2nd by O'Connell to grant Baldwin Telcom the easement. Motion carried. County Library Funding: The County Libraries have supplied us with their state reports. Reference was removed for any specific formula for funding. - The Committee referred it back to the Administration Committee for further clean-up. County Web Page Creation: Computer Services Director Tom Boron asked for approval to create a County Web Site in house at a minimal cost to the County. Motion by Bieraugel, 2nd by Krueger to get the plan started. Carried. The plan will first be presented to the Information Services Committee before any further action is taken. Motion to adjourn at 1:40 P.M. by Swenson, 2nd by Krueger. Carried. Stan Krueger, Secretary