MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
JANUARY 11, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Discussion: Fiscal Year 2009 County Budget
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:00 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne said that there is a four-year commitment for the underpass and the County is on target for that. Neuzil asked if they paid for the underpass in FY07 and FY08. Claiborne was unsure. Claiborne said the first capital development started in FY07 and was $20,000 for five years. Neuzil asked if they committed $100,000 to ICAT. Stutsman said yes. Claiborne said that the Historical Society Capital Campaign would start in 2008 and run through FY13. Meyers asked if they got reimbursed for the MECCA Block Grant. R. Sullivan said that the County does not get reimbursed. He added that the money came out of the General Supplemental Fund. Claiborne said that General Supplemental Fund doesn't have a cap on it and several expenses, like substance abuse, were included in it. Neuzil said that the expense shows up in the Block Grants and reiterated that they are paid out of the General Supplemental Fund. Claiborne said the Block Grants are in the General Basic Fund, but the reimbursement comes from the General Supplemental.
R. Sullivan said that Claiborne was going to talk to Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson about the jump in his budget and staffing. Stutsman said that it sounded like he had grants that were expiring and the Board was being asked to pick up those grants. Neuzil said that Cedar County is dropping and they would lose $28,000. R. Sullivan didn't know if his expense would end just because his grant was ending. Stutsman said that the expenses would continue. Claiborne said that is a General Supplemental expense. R. Sullivan wanted a better explanation of what it was. Stutsman said that she was seeing a pattern that if a department does not receive a grant the County ends up picking it up. Harney said if a department has operated off of a grant and then they no longer receive the grant it becomes a decision of keeping the services or cutting back. R. Sullivan asked what services are provided. Harney said storm readiness and emergency plans are some services provided by the grant that Wilson's department is losing.
Stutsman said that the Board needed to send a message to all departments that it is not a given that the budgets would see increases every year. R. Sullivan said that the Board needs to inform Wilson of their expectations. Neuzil said they could partially fund the request. Stutsman was concerned that Wilson just wanted to round up his budget. R. Sullivan suggested that Claiborne talk to Wilson about the process expectations. Neuzil said that the department should not spend the money just because it's there. Stutsman asked if all the Homeland Security Grants went away. Harney responded that it depended on what the State decides. Stutsman would prefer to wait on making a decision. Harney sent Wilson an email asking for clarifications as to how the money would be spent. Claiborne said that they would have Facilities Director David Kempf on the agenda for the next meeting.
Neuzil commented that he is in favor of funding the Historical Society. He added that they are requesting $100,000 over five years. Meyers asked what they were using the funds for. Neuzil said that they had made a presentation about it. R. Sullivan said that the Historical Society was trying to fix the building in Coralville. Stutsman said that historically the Board has not been involved in capital campaigns. Harney would rather use some of the money for the preservation of the buildings at the County Farm. Stutsman is concerned that if the Board would help fund one capital campaign they would be expected to fund others as well. Harney said that $100,000 was too much. Neuzil said the Historical Society is trying to create a foundation. Stutsman said that they could direct the Historical Society on what the Board's priorities are. Neuzil said that the group had done a study as part of the County Farm Plan.
R. Sullivan said that if they were going to attach conditions, the Historical Society Board would have to agree to those conditions. Kempf said that at the very least the Historical Society could help maintain the Asylum. He added that the Asylum is currently maintained out of the Physical Plant's budget. Kempf said that the Historical Society conducts tours there and have many things stored in the West Barn and it would be nice if some of their funding went toward maintaining the Asylum. R. Sullivan said that they needed to get in contact with the Historical Society Board. Neuzil said the Board could set up a sub-committee. Claiborne would need a decision made by the next meeting. R. Sullivan said the Historical Society usually receives $46,000 a year. Claiborne said that last year the Board increased the funding to $50,600 but went back to the usual Block Grant of $48,300 because of the capital campaign.
Neuzil said that he would contact the Historical Society. Stutsman asked if the Board of Supervisors was going towards the direction of turning the County Farm buildings over to the Historical Society. Harney said that the Board has not made a decision in that regard. Neuzil said that the County Farm Buildings would be the next big project for the Historical Society. Stutsman said that the Historical Society should be a partner in maintaining the buildings. Neuzil and Kempf said that they would contact the Historical Society and would use the input received to make a recommendation to the Historical Society Board. Neuzil said they could fund an additional $20,000 if the Historical Society would agree to help preserve the County Farm Buildings. He said that if the Historical Society would not maintain that commitment, the Board would reduce the funding. Harney asked if the $100,000 requested included the $48,000 regular County commitment. R. Sullivan said that the total contribution would be $68,000 a year. Stutsman is concerned about the pledges that the Board makes. Neuzil said that the funding could be contingent on meeting certain criteria. Stutsman said that the support is not a pledge but a year-to-year commitment. She said that the Historical Society should be reminded of what the Board's expectations are.
Claiborne asked if the Board wanted to fund the Food Alliance. Stutsman said they were trying to connect strategic planning with some of the budget requests and wished they had made a greater commitment to promote local foods so that it would be logical to fund the Food Alliance. Neuzil said the Board wants more Rural Economic Development. Neuzil said that they should consider building a fund that would promote Rural Economic Development in general. R. Sullivan said that they should consider adding $5,000 to the Rural Economic Development Fund. He also recommended that the Board bring someone from Woodbury County to discuss their accomplishments in regard to local foods and Rural Economic Development. Stutsman agreed. Harney said that he did not want to add it this year.
Neuzil said they could create a flex account similar to that for Social Services. Claiborne said that the Rural Basic Block Grants are set-up for rural development. He added that the line item is titled Regency Community Center, but is actually for rural development. Claiborne said there is $12,500 in that fund. Neuzil said they do not want that fund to be the same because Regency is different then promoting food. R. Sullivan said they could rename the line item. Stutsman wanted to know who would oversee that line item. She thought they needed two separate funds, one specifically for Rural Economic Development and one targeting the Human Services in rural areas. Neuzil asked if the Food Alliance is a General Fund or Rural Fund expenditure. Harney responded that it could be both. Neuzil said that he would like to see this in the General Fund as a Rural Economic Development line item and suggested they put in $5,000 for the year. R. Sullivan said that Iowa City Area Development Group President Joe Raso hired two additional staff members and that could provide support. Claiborne confirmed that the Board would budget $5,000 for Rural Economic Development. Neuzil said that they should never have a line item without oversight. Stutsman stated that she would like to be part of the Rural Economic Development Committee.
Talking about personnel, Claiborne said that if Kempf no longer contracts for cleaning services and hires two janitors he would be saving money. R. Sullivan said the same can be said for the Expediter that County Attorney Janet Lyness asked for. Stutsman said that the part-time Paramedic position would cut overtime. R. Sullivan said that Ambulance Director Steve Spenler would prefer adding the Education Training Supervisor position. Stutsman said that she did not support that. R. Sullivan said that if the Board would like to budget the part time Paramedic position they should discuss that with Spenler. Claiborne said that Spenler sent an e-mail to the Board describing the need for the Education Training Supervisor. Stutsman was concerned about hiring additional staff because those are ongoing expenses for the County.
Neuzil said that the additional hours requested for Information Services are not included. Claiborne explained that the hours were included in the Information Services payroll worksheet. Neuzil asked if the total cost included computer costs. Claiborne said that computer costs are part of the Technology budget. Neuzil said the Social Worker position requested by Medical Examiner Administrator Mike Hensch would cost $6,500 and $11,500 after adding the computers. Stutsman asked if Hensch would consider a contract, non-benefit position and hire someone on-call. Neuzil clarified that the proposed position was a part-time and on-call position.
Neuzil said that he was against budgeting for 30 additional hours for the Auditor's Office. Stutsman said that she would support the part-time hours, but not the Education Trainer Supervisor position. R. Sullivan said that Lyness made a good case for the Case Expeditor position. Harney was not sure what the Case Expeditor would do. Neuzil said that they could fund this for a half-year starting on January 1, 2009. Neuzil said that he was comfortable funding the position. Harney said that the cost of the position is very high even without adding benefits. Stutsman said benefits were included, but the technological expenses were on a different form. Claiborne said that the technology expenses were included in the County Attorney’s 06-40 line item. Stutsman said that $57,000 would include salary, benefits, desktop computer, Pro-Law and other things, but commented that she thought that was pretty high for a paralegal. R. Sullivan said that it was something they had been asked to try to help with the overcrowding. Stutsman said that they should hold off on the decision. R. Sullivan asked if they wanted to review the position at the next meeting or not fund it for the year. Neuzil said that they wanted to keep it in there and would not mind holding off on half the funds until January 1, 2009.
Harney said that the County Attorneys should follow their cases because they were doing the prosecutions and the Public Defenders should be looking out for their clients. Neuzil said that some of them work on over 1,000 cases and try to keep track of them as best as they can. Neuzil said that the options are to fully support the position, support it at half the amount, or not support it this year. Meyers would like to wait before making the decision. Stutsman said that the Jail Alternatives that they are currently pursuing are not making a dent in the jail population. Neuzil disagreed. R. Sullivan said that the Jail Alternatives are working, but not enough. Harney said that the Jail Alternatives Program has diverted very few people. Stutsman said that it is an expensive program and there is not much relief on the jail crowding. Harney said that once it was set up it would stay there. Stutsman still has several questions and would like to think the issue over. R. Sullivan asked if the Board wanted to make a decision on January 23, 2008 and have Lyness come in to speak. Harney said that someone from MH/DD should also come in. Stutsman said that if the groups would come in all they would do is lobby. Neuzil said that the Supervisors should contact the groups if they have any questions.
Stutsman was in favor of the request for Public Law Clerks. Harney agreed. R. Sullivan said that the extra five hours a week requested by Information Services Director Jean Schultz are included in the budget. Neuzil said that the position would still be part-time. Neuzil was in favor of adding the extra hours. Stutsman and R. Sullivan agreed.
The Board was against funding the part-time Recording Secretaries in the Auditors Office. Claiborne asked if the Board would fund the Account Clerk II position. Neuzil said that the request was for a part-time permanent Administrative Secretary Clerk II. Stutsman said the position would be for Minutes, but the recording secretaries would be students. Neuzil said the part-time recording secretaries are students. The Board decided to deny both requests for additional staff for the Auditor's Office.
The Board approved funding for increasing the hours for the Community Health Nurse as requested by the Public Health, but did not approve the part-time Clerk position. The Board approved the Civil Clerk II position requested by the Sheriff. R. Sullivan said that the Sheriff made a good case that the position would pay for itself.
Claiborne said that the Sheriff has been receiving a 75% reimbursement for the Drug Enforcement Officer and for FY09 they were not getting anything. Claiborne said that for FY09 the cost would be $82,600 and asked if the Board would like to cover that. Stutsman would rather spend the money on additional patrol in un-incorporated areas. Harney said that the Sheriff listed the Drug Enforcement Officer position as a first preference. Claiborne asked if the back spending was from money saved for the Communications Center. Stutsman said yes and added that the people attending the Government Affairs meeting were concerned about that. R. Sullivan said that the Board should make the decision of how the money is spent. Stutsman said that they need to look at the position rather then the person who is in it and they need to make sure they are not just preserving somebody's job. R. Sullivan said the person that used to have the position transferred to a different job after seeing the writing on the wall. Harney said that they should ask if the City of Iowa City is assigning a Deputy/Officer out of their own budget. Harney said that the Drug Enforcement position is a multi-county operation. R. Sullivan said they would put the issue on the agenda for next week along with the Expeditor position. R. Sullivan said that he was alright with the Social Worker position as long as it would be signed into contract. Stutsman said that it should not be a permanent County position.
R. Sullivan said that SEATS Director Tom Brase said that it has been six to seven years since they've added a full-time position. Meyers said that the rider-ship is increasing. R. Sullivan said that they have to keep in mind that the expenditures continue to rise and consider that the County population has increased 15,000 from 1990. Claiborne said that SEATS is a revenue-producing department. Stutsman said that the University of Iowa is one of the few transportation systems in the country that receives federal funding. Neuzil noted that that money is taking away from SEATS. The Board agreed to fund the full-time Driver position. The Board of agreed to fund the Custodian positions requested by Kempf.
Claiborne asked about the Seasonal Workers for Conservation Director Harry Graves. Harney asked if the workers would receive benefits. Graves answered that they would not and added that they would work 40 hours per week. Neuzil said that Oakdale would no longer provide labor. Neuzil said that Graves is looking at hiring three seasonal workers that would work 40 hours per week for 12 weeks at $9 per hour.
R. Sullivan said that MH/DD Director Kris Artley requested a Clinical Supervisor position and a Case Manager. Claiborne said that Artley is looking to redo MH/DD's accounting procedures to match the State's procedures. Stutsman supported the Clinical Supervisor position, but not the Social Worker II. Neuzil said that there were three positions currently not filled at MH/DD. He said these were an Account Clerk, a Word Processor III and a Contract Coordinator. He said that they are not adding an Accounting Specialist. Meyers said that 60%-70% of the Clinical Supervisor's salary would be reimbursed from Medicaid. Stutsman said that the Social Worker's salary would also be partly reimbursed. Meyers said that the estimated salary and benefits for the Clinical Supervisor position is $72,600. Stutsman said that adding a Clinical Supervisor would lessen the burden on social workers. Neuzil wanted to make sure that the costs include just expenditures for personnel and not for technology.
Claiborne said that in FY08 they paid $5.5 million towards the Health and Human Services Building. He said that they had $3,571,994 left to spend in order to get the General Supplemental Fund for FY09. Claiborne noted that the Board budgeted $1 million as payment for the Health and Human Services Building. He said that the Board could use the $3.5 million and the $1 million saved to make a payment of $4.5 million towards the Health and Human Services Building. He noted that by doing this they would have 90% of the Health and Human Services Building already paid for and added that by FY10 or FY11 the building could be paid for in its entirety. Claiborne said that the $11 to $12 million figure included the cost of the parking ramp. Claiborne said that there was a 17 cents Debt Levy from FY08 bonds. The FY08 bonds were set up for three years from FY08 to FY10. He noted that the Board also bonded for SEATS for a period of four years at eight cents. In FY10 the 2008 bonds will be paid off and therefore the Debt Levy in FY11 will be eight cents.
Claiborne asked if the Board wanted to fund the voting machines. Stutsman commented that the original machines were supposed to last for 20 years, but two years later they are already being asked to spend more money on them. Meyers said that the County paid $200,000 two years ago, but the total cost of the voting machines was around $800,000. R. Sullivan said that the State reimbursed the difference. Meyers said that the State Legislature is looking at having no budget increases and therefore will probably not be able to reimburse the cost of the voting machines. Neuzil said that the State reimbursed part of the cost of the initial voting machines because they received Federal funding to do so. Harney said that any cost that the County would absorb on the voting machines could be done under public purpose and bonded for. Stutsman said that they should send a message to the legislature in this regard. Neuzil said that they have to add the new machines. R. Sullivan agreed that they didn't have a whole lot of options. Claiborne said that Capital Improvements includes Administration Building repairs and Jail and Courthouse repairs at a total cost of $162,000.
Claiborne said that in FY11 and FY12 the Debt Levy will be 12.5 cents. He said that in FY09 and FY10 the Debt Levy will be near 30 cents and will drop off to 13 cents in FY11. Claiborne said that the cost for the Conservation Project will be $2.25 million. The bond was set up for 8 years at $300,000 per year which represents an impact of 6 cents for taxpayers. By adding the voting machines and the Capital Improvements the impact on taxpayers will be 35.5 cents in FY09 and FY10 and will drop to 18.5 cents in FY11. Claiborne said that this is a tax increase that will pay for itself. He said that it will be a $35.50 increase in taxes for a $100,000 piece of property in Johnson County. Claiborne said if they did everything as shown for FY09 then a $100,000 property will be taxed $35.50. He said that currently taxpayers are paying $25 per $100,000 worth of property for the SEATS/Secondary Roads Facility. Stutsman said that the rollback does not apply to commercial properties. R. Sullivan said the rollback does not apply to the Debt Services Levy. Neuzil said that with the Debt Services Levy, they can draw from the $750 million that is in TIF districts. Claiborne said that TIF's have increased seven percent. Neuzil said that with the seven percent increase, the TIF's would be close to $800 million. Claiborne said that the only tool for recapturing some of the TIF's, is to bond. Stutsman said that another alternative would be not funding additional projects
Meyers said that after FY09, the Health and Human Services Building will be approximately 90% paid for using the General Supplemental. He asked if it would make sense to pay off the building before the bond is due. He asked if they would be taking in more money by continuing the levy against the TIF Districts and paying the bond interest for the life of the bond. Claiborne said that was something the Board needs to decide. He noted that when money from the General Basic Fund is used to relieve a Debt Levy, the people who are paying the General Basic end up paying twice, once for the General Basic Fund and once for the Debt Levy. They would be rewarding the TIF Districts by paying their debt off earlier and penalizing those paying the General Basic.
R. Sullivan commented that he believes they should take the items in Supplemental and move them back into the General Basic Fund to decrease the tax bill if the Board finds itself in that position. Neuzil said that they could also consider the next thing on the list. Meyers said that by moving the Supplemental back to the General Basic, the impact of the Communications Center could be lessened. Neuzil said that in a couple of years, the County's growth would further slow down. Towns such as Tiffin, North Liberty, and Coralville are already starting to see a slower increase. Claiborne would like to see the projects paid off while the cash is there. He noted that the Bonds will take care of themselves. Claiborne said that the County is using existing money that will not raise the Debt Levy or taxes. He noted that the Board has chosen to cash flow a huge project and commented that other counties and cities would have had to increase their bond levies to pay for such a project.
Neuzil said that he thought the amount would be more than $35.50 for the first two years. He said that if the Board moves forward with all the projects, they will need to look at the Communications Levy and determine how to keep it lower for the first two years to lessen the impact on taxpayers. Neuzil said that the Board should fund the Communications Center at least the first year to enable them to get an Administrator position filled. Meyers said that the Board could research other possible ways to help fund the Joint Communications Center. He said that there is some concern about how the money currently spent by the County and Iowa City on the existing communication centers will be spent after the Joint Communications Center begins operation. Meyers asked what would happen if the County and Iowa City made a commitment of a lump sum of cash to get the Communications Center's infrastructure going. He said that the County could then levy to support the ongoing expenses.
Meyers said that people have questioned him about where the $800,000 that Iowa City is currently spending and the $700,000 that the County is currently spending on the existing communication centers will go when the levy is set up. Another question was why some taxpayers will be taxed twice when the County could use the current budget for the two existing centers to fund the Communications Center. Meyers said that people living in Iowa City will be taxed twice because Iowa City and the County will tax them for the Communications Center. Harney said that until the new Communications Center begins to operate and the old ones are closed, there will be some double taxation. He noted that the Board is unsure how much money is needed to get the Communications Center going. The original plan was that the City or the County would bond for the entire cost and the levy would pay it back. The Board needs to know how much the payback payment would be. Beyond Iowa City and the County, the other cities and townships are not paying their share even though each of their fire departments will receive benefits from the Joint Communications Center. Harney asked if they could use minimal taxation in the first couple years to lower the burden on taxpayers.
Neuzil said that a decision should be made by February 1, 2008. R. Sullivan said the levy can not be set until the Board decides how much it should be set at. Neuzil said that the Board's Finance Committee could get together with Iowa City Planning Director Jeff Davidson to discuss some options. Harney said the levy should be set up through Emergency Management so that it can be tracked and transferred because it should be accounted for. Neuzil said the impact of the first year might be substantially lower than the impact in subsequent years. Harney said the big unknowns are the total cost of the Communications Center, who's going to bond for it, and who is going to pay it back. Neuzil is uncomfortable bonding $12-$14 million dollars when the Communications Center Subcommittee does not even have a site chosen yet. He added that the Subcommittee is assuming that the County will hand them the money. He said that one big thing is missing and that is hiring someone to organize the process. Stutsman said this builds distrust with the taxpayers because the Board cannot answer these basic questions. Harney said that the $12-$14 million cost includes all the equipment and radios. Neuzil said that $14 million is a very high cost for the building. He noted that they could propose that the first year be less of a burden. Claiborne said the impact would be less than a dime. Neuzil said it is important to have less impact at the beginning.
Claiborne said that in 2009 they could get a Director hired for the Joint Communications Center and in 2010 they could increase the levy and work on infrastructure. R. Sullivan said that they would need to discuss more details with Davidson. Harney asked if the money could be carried on if not spent. Stutsman asked who oversees the process. She noted that the County sets the levy and asked what information they would use to make that decision. She asked if they would look through the budget of the Communications Center or if the Board would base the decision on recommendations. Harney said that the oversight of the Communications Center is not in place yet. Harney said that the appointees would be overseeing the budget. He said the Communications Center needs to get the commission in place. Stutsman would like to see the total impact on taxpayers. Neuzil said that there would be at least $35 more per $100,000 property. Stutsman said that the Communications Center will be a terrible hit on the taxpayers for the first two years. Stutsman would like the levy leveled out more. She said that is not fair that the people currently living in the County pay the bulk of the money and the people moving in will take advantage of the projects without paying much for them. Claiborne said that he would include all the projects and determine the tax impact on residents and based on these numbers, the Board could decide what projects they will fund.
Claiborne said they are already at 25 cents and asked if they would like to bond for the voting machines. Harney said the Board does not know what machines are needed and how much they would cost. Claiborne said the cost is $325,000. Harney said that was just an estimate. Neuzil said the problem is the poor performance of the current machines. Stutsman said they should include all this and compute the changes and determine what will be kept or not.
R. Sullivan said they still need to decide on several new positions, including the Debt Services Levy, the Joint Communications Center, and the Historical Society. Harney said they have not discussed the heating and cooling upgrade for the Administration Building. Harney said that worker productivity has decreased due to high heat and cold. Stutsman said they will do the heating and cooling upgrade when they remodel the Board offices. Harney said they will need to have money set aside for that. R. Sullivan said they put $1 million aside to be used for capital projects and commented that it could be used to fix the heating and air conditioning in the Administration Builiding. Harney asked if they could use part of the money set aside for capital projects to put the additional footings in and build a two-level parking ramp and then use the rest to pay off the building. Kempf said that the Board could put less money down for the Health and Human Services Building and use the difference for the upgrades to the Administration Building.
Stutsman said that if they pursue this scenario they will almost put people out of business and out of their homes for the first two years. Stutsman said it should be leveled out more. R. Sullivan said they are talking about adding $10 for a $100,000 home. Neuzil said that is true. Stutsman said that as they get these projects done they are already thinking of doing other projects. Neuzil said that they are addressing the infrastructure problems of the County, which has not been done since 1985. Stutsman asked if they have to do it all in two years. Neuzil said they are doing it in five to six years. Meyers said that because the infrastructure issues were not addressed for more than 20 years everything has piled up.
Stutsman said the Board is doing all the projects in an unbelievably accelerated rate. Stutsman said that the tax payers will not be happy with their tax bills. Meyers agreed and said he is always shocked when receiving his tax bill. Stutsman commented that there are small businesses that will go out of business because the Board continues to increase taxes. Stutsman said that small businesses cannot continue to operate when the expenses go up and the revenues do not come in. R. Sullivan said the County is in the same situation. Stutsman said that it seems that the Board is unlimited in what it can do. Stutsman said that they could continue to raise taxes and do project after project. R. Sullivan commented that not keeping up with the infrastructure issues will cause everything to pile up even more. Stutsman asked if in the five year period, they will fix all of the County's infrastructure issues. Neuzil said that in five years they are looking at finishing some major projects. Stutsman said they are expecting to pay for all the projects in two years and asked what impact that would have on homeowners and commercial businesses. Stutsman said that they look at accelerating and paying off the projects in two years and then the next two years they could accelerate again with other projects, therefore going on and on.
Stutsman said that the Board's philosophy is to pay more so they can have more money to buy and do more projects. Neuzil said that has happened because the list of projects to do is extensive. Stutsman said that the Board makes it extensive. Neuzil said that looking at the list of projects to complete, he would only add the project for the Ambulance. R. Sullivan said that is true. Stutsman said that the previous night the Board added $2 million to the cost of the Health and Human Services Building for an additional ramp level. Harney said that that decision has not been finalized. Stutsman said the Board is not being fiscally responsible. R. Sullivan said the question ultimately comes down to whether the taxpayers would rather not have the improvements, pay for the projects quickly, or pay over the long run. R. Sullivan said that these are the three options that the Board needs to decide on. Stutsman asked what the Board's motivation to pay for everything quickly is. Claiborne said they would save on interest. R. Sullivan said the only motivation would be to save on interest. Stutsman said that interest rates are very low. R. Sullivan said the situation is similar to paying a credit card. R. Sullivan said if money is available the credit card bill is paid in one month and not in six because doing so saves on interest. Meyers said they do not know what is coming up in the future.
R. Sullivan said that all of the decisions made so far are for the good of the majority of people in the County or the Board would not have made them. R. Sullivan said the question is how to pay for the projects. Neuzil said it would not be cheaper to wait, and therefore it is fiscally responsible to do the projects now and not in five years. Stutsman said there are people that say there is no need for the Health and Human Services Building, the parking ramp, or more conservation land. Stutsman said there are residents who say that Government is too big and spends too much money. Stutsman is stunned at how the money is flowing. Neuzil said the Board has identified the projects that need to be done and needs to determine how many years they want to put those projects off for.
Claiborne said that from a business perspective he likes the idea of doing a tremendous amount of infrastructure and work in just a few short years. He said that other agencies bond and build up their debt. Claiborne said the County is getting all these projects done and paid for while keeping the debt low. He added that in a few years the Board could relieve the General Supplemental and taxes will come down. Stutsman said that the taxes will not come down because the Board will move on to other projects. Stutsman said that the Board will hopefully have more discipline.
Neuzil said that the Board has not yet discussed computer and vehicle requests. Claiborne said that all the requests have been received. R. Sullivan said there is a discrepancy in the cost of vehicles. R. Sullivan said there are departments that propose to buy a new vehicle for $15,000 and others to buy a used vehicle for $18,000. R. Sullivan said there should be more consistency. Stutsman said they should be moving towards a fleet management system. Kempf said they are moving towards that through the consolidation of services out of Secondary Roads.
Adjourned at 9:21 a.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2008
By John Deeth, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on May 12, 2008 at 10:30.