MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
FEBRUARY 10, 2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:02 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Mike Lehman, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Carol Thompson.
DISCUSSION: FISCAL YEAR 2005 ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION SERVICE AREA BUDGETS
Budget Coordinator Jeff Horne explained that the Secondary Roads Department budget includes enough funds to cover the allocated projects for this year. He said that there are some small reductions in the personnel area of the budget. He explained that the Board must transfer funding ranging from a minimum of $496,487 to a maximum of $661,983 from the General Fund and a minimum of $2,165,760 to a maximum of $2,887,679 from the Rural Fund. He said that the budget has the minimum amount from the General Fund and adds the difference to the Rural Fund minimum to arrive at the current funding. Thompson said that the Board has been criticized for not building roads fast enough and the Board has the taxing authority to increase the amount spent. Neuzil said that Secondary Roads has a limited amount of personnel. Stutsman said that the Board needs to be concerned with increasing taxes on the rural portion of the budget. Harney said that he wouldn’t be opposed to adding additional funds to upgrade a few additional bridges and culverts this year. Stutsman said that any increase would hit farmers in the rural areas even though now there are many people living in the rural areas who are not farmers.
Horne said that the Secondary Roads Fund is conservatively projected to carry-over $1,156,505. Harney asked if there are enough monies to fund the 12th Avenue extension project in the current fiscal year. Thompson said that there should be, with the County’s share currently calculated at $130,000. Horne said that Secondary Roads’ largest revenue source is the State’s Road Use Tax. He said that he doesn’t believe the State will cut this funding. Thompson said that the State wants to change how the tax’s formula is calculated in order to even out the peaks and valleys in the funding. Horne said that the County would benefit from the new formula.
Horne said that the amounts allocated to Secondary Roads are $496,487 from the General Fund and $2,331,256 from the Rural Fund making the total $2,857,743 with the escrow funds. He said that he did not include the $100,000 transfer from the Reservoir Roads Trust Fund. Stutsman said that what those funds were spent on was never specified. Horne said that the money was just added to the Secondary Roads Fund, but it commonly went towards gravel. The Board decided not to include the transfer in the budget. The Board decided that the Reservoir Road Trust Fund’s current balance should be invested and designated for the Mehaffey Bridge project, but to allow the interest to accrue or be used in future years if necessary. Horne said that if there is an emergency, it is easier to transfer funds than to ask for an amendment to the budget so it is beneficial to have these funds in the escrow account.
DISCUSSION: ELECTED COUNTY OFFICES
Horne said the Recorder’s Office has slight increases in their staff development lines per the strategic planning goal of additional continuing education. He said that there is also a request to reclassify a Clerk I position to a Clerk II position, which is necessitated by the change in software and additional duties that go with it. Thompson asked if this would make all the people in the office a Clerk II. Horne replied that it would because County Recorder Kim Painter believes that technology has changed the office to the point that the functions have changed. Stutsman said that Human Resources recommended against making the change because there are still Clerk I duties in the office. Horne said that it will cost $3,690 to upgrade the position. Neuzil asked if the Clerk I job description will need to be updated to account for the changes in technology. Thompson said that the Board doesn’t want everyone in the Recorder’s Office to be cross trained for the same work, but have one person making $3,600 less than the others.
Horne said that Painter increased her office’s revenues in the budget to better reflect what they have been seeing over the past few years. Thompson said that .5% increase in the interest rate would greatly impact their revenues. Neuzil asked if cutting the hunting and fishing licenses affected her budget. Horne replied that it has not because Painter felt it wasn’t worth the revenue to continue. He said that the increase in staff development includes additional funds for both Painter and her staff.
Horne said that there were no changes in the Sheriff’s Department’s operational budget. He said that the department is requesting $200,000 to finish the acquisition of a new management information system. He said that $300,000 has already been saved. Horne said that their vehicle funding remains constant and the line for out of county prisoner housing remains at $400,000. Horne explained that the new MIS system will upgrade the Sheriff’s Department to a Microsoft Windows platform and will breakdown statistics. Thompson said that their current system, the AS400, is obsolete. Stutsman asked if the County is investing a sizeable amount just to have more statistics for the public. Horne said that the Department needs a certain amount of sophistication in their system. The Board discussed the pay grades required for the new Courthouse Security positions. Horne said that if needed, he will decrease the Sheriff’s regular budget to accommodate for moving seasoned deputies into the Courthouse positions.
Horne said that there is only a slight decrease in the non-personnel side of the County Treasurer’s budget. He said that County Treasurer Tom Kriz has consistently decreased his operating budget since he has been elected. Horne said that Kriz’s revenues went up for this year as well.
Recessed at 9:45 a.m.; reconvened at 9:50 a.m.
Horne asked Human Resource Director Lora Shramek if there needs to be a reevaluation of Clerk I duties throughout the County. Shramek replied that the job descriptions are up to date in the respective offices to match the technology. Thompson said that Painter wants to spread out the Clerk I duties among the entire staff and cross train the entire staff. Shramek replied that all the Clerk II positions in the office are already cross trained and if the Board approved the reclassification, they would be paying Clerk II wages for Clerk I duties. Thompson asked if Shramek sees merit to keeping the clerk duties segregated. Shramek replied that there is Clerk I work in every office. Stutsman said that she felt that this is just a way to increase salaries because their jobs wouldn’t entail much more responsibilities.
Stutsman asked Shramek to explain the rules of transferring positions within the County. Shramek replied that an employee will automatically be accepted for a transfer within job classification unless the County has just cause to deny the transfer. She said that when applying to transfer, an employee informs HR and then when a position becomes available the employees on the list are interviewed in order of seniority. Shramek said that if an employee wants to change job classification, they would have to go through the bidding process. She said that in bidding, seniority is not the focus, but it plays a role. Stutsman asked why this office would need all their employees at a Clerk II status. Shramek replied that there is more technology than most departments, but she believes there is still Clerk I level work. The Board decided not to reclassify the position.
DISCUSSION: CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION
Horne said that the budget assumes a 3% across the board cost of living adjustment totaling $461,000. Thompson said that the year she and Lehman were elected the cost of a 1% raise was $100,000 and now it’s $153,000. The Board decided to hold off discussion on everything but the elected official’s salaries until after they hear the fact finder’s decision at their next meeting. Harney asked what a 3% increase would allow the deputies in the elected official’s offices. Thompson said that deputies will fall behind. Harney said that he’d like to keep a balance between the deputies and their employees. Neuzil replied that the Board would have to approve more than a 3% increase because employees receive longevity and step raises, but law ties the deputies to their elected official’s salary so they cannot receive them. Stutsman said that it is a vicious cycle because the next time the County negotiates with the unions, they’ll use a large increase against them. Shramek said that there were 3 exhibits in union negotiations on the elected official’s increases. Neuzil asked if the mediator factors in longevity and bonuses into the union’s raises. Shramek said that HR stresses how the Board of Supervisors has historically cut the Compensation Board’s salary recommendations, but they do not explain the situation with the deputies. Neuzil said that HR needs to present that to the fact finder in mediation. Shramek said that every County is faced with this problem, which is shown in the comparability group. Stutsman said that there is not much turnover in deputy positions throughout the County. She said that there is only one office with high deputy turnover, and it is not because of the salary. She said that employers in the private sector can’t offer these raises and don’t always get a raise, but with government it is not if, it is how much.
Neuzil said that it is not fair for deputies to get less of an increase than everyone else. Horne said that the Code doesn’t match the reality in Johnson County because deputies are operational, not political appointments. Shramek said that deputies accept the positions knowing the reality of the salary constraints. Neuzil said that in the Recorder’s Office there is a $12,000 gap between a Clerk II and a Deputy and the gap will continue to narrow. Neuzil suggested eliminating longevity from the County’s department heads in order to make it fair. Stutsman said she feels the County should do away with longevity across the Board because County salaries are now very competitive with the private sector. Shramek said that the County would have to buy longevity from the unions, which would then include the same amount in their base salary increases costing the County more in the end. Stutsman said that she understands the fairness issue, but it has a cumulative effect. Neuzil said that the only way to it turn it around is to cut longevity from those departments that it can be cut from. The Board decided to keep the elected officials salary increase at 3% until they hear further from the unions.
Shramek said that 3 years ago the Administrative Unit increased their longevity schedule so there was a higher amount paid at each level. She said that at the time there were not the funds to increase the longevity schedule for the Non-Bargaining Unit as well. She said that if the Board chose to increase that unit to match the Administrative Unit it would cost $2,412. She said that the Non-Bargaining Unit has had the lowest longevity schedules for the past few years. She said that the only way deputies could receive a longevity bonus is if they are not paid to the maximum allowable level, but an elected official has the authority not to pass on an increase. Thompson asked if there are any other areas where the Non-Bargaining Unit needs to be adjusted. Shramek replied that it is the only adjustment she can currently discuss.
Horne said that the cost for Employee Health Benefits will rise by 6% this year, which is much better than what the increase has been in the past. Shramek explained that moving to a PPO has made a difference and last year the County had a very good year. She said that the County will move to an employee contribution plan in 2006. Horne said that the County has had 15 to 20% increases since he’s been here. Thompson asked if the County is still subsidizing retirees’ health care. Shramek said that they are and the Board needs to decide at what percentage they would like to fund it unless they want to go to the full cost for retirees this year. Shramek said that in 5 years, the County’s health care costs doubled. Lehman asked if having Chatham Oaks participate in the County’s insurance program is a positive or a negative. Stutsman said that it’s only a problem if there are large claims made.
Neuzil asked if Shramek has considered incentives for taking the single plan instead of the family plan. Shramek replied that Scott County offers single plans at no cost and then charges a sizeable amount for family plans. She said that it wouldn’t save the County money because the double-covered employees save the County money. Horne said that it would shift the expense from the Supplemental Fund to the General Fund because incentives would not fit into the Supplemental Fund.
Horne presented the County Vehicle Fleet summary to the Board, which details the vehicle type, year, and requested replacement schedule. He said that 60% of the County’s trucks are older than 1998. He asked if the Board would like to form a committee this summer to set guidelines for replacement and use. Thompson said that the Finance Committee should look into the matter. Stutsman said that she would like to see a comprehensive vehicle study. Horne said that he believes the largest vehicle users should be on the committee, but there are also some groups that need to be taken into account with special vehicles. He said that the committee should also address the Conservation Department because currently the County funds Public Health’s vehicles, but does not fund the Conservation’s vehicles. Horne said that the Board has previously discussed the idea of maintaining a pool of vehicles that could be checked out and billed to each department for departments that do not have a regular need. Thompson said that the committee should also look into replacement schedules that are figured in the budget rather than requesting vehicles each year. Neuzil said that if the Board wants the Finance Committee to look into this they need to give them direction, but if they want to set up another committee, then they should go through the informal agenda processes. Horne replied that it is a large enough issue to warrant an internal committee. Neuzil suggested that County Insurance Agent Bob Saunders be involved with the committee as well.
Recessed at 11:30 a.m.; reconvened at 11:40 a.m.
Horne said that the flexible spending changes are an offset of $120,000 from the revenue side. Thompson asked if the $4,000 budget for Township meetings and Trustees is what the trustees cost the County. Horne said yes. Horne said that the minutes publication line item has increased because the County has longer minutes and the rate has increased. Horne said that postage has increased by $12,000. Thompson said that the line item should be closer to $92,000 instead. The Board agreed. Horne said that he added bonding fees to Central Services this year, because they’ve had to amend for them the past few years. He said that the cost is tied to the size of what the Board decides to bond for. He budgeted $20,000 based on last year’s fees. Horne said that the Bee Inspection/Animal Control line item is expected to increase by $9,000 due to increased usage. He said that the County’s audit costs went up last year due to GASB requirements. He said that labor relations will increase due to increasing fact finding and arbitration for union contracts. Stutsman said that there have been less grievances recently. Horne said that there are some consulting funds in the budget. Horne said that worker’s compensation insurance went up $110,000 based on use. Horne said that the County might be getting close to looking at self-insurance.
DISCUSSION: FISCAL YEAR 2005 COUNTY BUDGET
Horne said that regarding the Conservation fieldworker position, Conservation Director Harry Graves said that they’ve been filling the position with temps. Graves reported that the new position will be advertised in March with the idea of having the new person on deck by May. He said that this will allow individuals who will be graduating from college in the spring who have worked on the Conservation crew during the summers an opportunity to apply for the position. The Board went over the Conservation vehicle and equipment replacement schedule.
Lehman said that the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP) is being downsized so the money the County gives them can’t be used. Stutsman said that it sounds like the HACAP Director is asking that the County give the money to the Shelter House. Stutsman said that she is uncomfortable with giving money to Shelter House without a contract. Harney agreed. Horne said that HACAP is also saying that they will not do the match to receive the STAR grant. Thompson asked if all of the Head Start classrooms are being closed. Horne said yes. Neuzil said that the Federal funds aren’t available and it isn’t a priority with the current administration. Horne said that there is a cost shift from early childhood and youth services to crisis services. Harney said that he isn’t ready to do that. Neuzil said that the Board already committed $22,500 for the FY 04. He asked if that was spent for what the County intended. Stutsman said that it appears that their programs will go until June 30, 2004. Thompson said that they use the $41,000 to leverage the funds for the STAR grant. Neuzil said that the money was supposed to be for HACAP, not for the STAR grant. Horne said that there might be just cause to terminate the contract. Horne said that he will investigate the situation.
Adjourned at 12:26 p.m.
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Kate Darnold, Recording Secretary