MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
JANUARY 23, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
League of Women Voters Representative Rebecca Reiter: Joint Communications Center........... 1
Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey and Iowa City Director of Planning and Community Development Jeff Davidson: Joint Communications Center Funding........................................................................................ 2
Board of Supervisors: Joint Communications Center Site........................................................... 8
Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson: FY09 Emergency Management Association Budget 9
Board of Supervisors: FY09 Personnel Budget........................................................................ 11
Board of Supervisors: FY09 Debt Services Levy and Capital Projects Budget.......................... 16
Board of Supervisors: FY09 Historical Society Budget............................................................ 21
Board of Supervisors: FY 2009 County Budget....................................................................... 22
Board of Supervisors: Staffing Board of Supervisors Office for January 28th Through February 5th. 23
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.
League of Women Voters Representative Rebecca Reiter said that for several years the League has supported a Central Emergency Dispatching System for the County. One of the key issues, she said, was that Iowa City and the County use different frequencies to dispatch their units making communication between the Sheriff's Department and the Iowa City Police very difficult if at all possible. Reiter said that currently some areas of the county are out of the communication range and the addition of towers as proposed in the study would correct that. She noted that the events of September 11, 2001 and Katrina have shown the importance of good communication between agencies and the disastrous effect of no communication. She said that the whole county could be at risk if the emergency dispatching system is not adequate. Reiter said that emergency dispatching plays a vital role and is a top priority. She urged the Board to pass the Emergency Management Levy to pay for a Joint Emergency Communications Center. Reiter said that the County has been debt free for sometime and is in a good position to ask for a levy to insure adequate funding. R. Sullivan said the Board appreciates the involvement of the League of Women Voters in the issue.
City of Iowa City Planning Director Jeff Davidson said that JCCOG Subcommittee members were present to answer any question that the Board might have. Davidson said they are at a very significant point in the project when the Board is adopting the County budget and is in a position to approve the Emergency Management Levy and begin funding the Communications Center. Davidson said that the JCCOG Subcommittee is working on the preliminary concept design for the Communications Center. He noted that at this point everything could still be changed and the Board's input would be valued by members of the Subcommittee. Harney represents the Board on the Subcommittee. Davidson said the input of those that would actually use the facility was vital to getting the design process started. Davidson said that they are hoping to wrap up the preliminary design in the next couple of months and direct the consultant to commence final design by the beginning of spring. Davidson said that by mid to late summer they plan on bidding out the project and hope to commence construction in FY09. Davidson said that FY09 will be a transition year and the two existing communication centers will still continue to operate. He added that by March 2009 the Executive Director should be hired and should start hiring personnel soon after. He is hopeful that most of the personnel hired will be from the existing communication centers. Davidson said that there will be a transition period when people will begin training for the new Communications Center while still operating the old centers. He said that by FY10 the new Communications Center would begin operating and the two existing centers will close down.
City of Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey said the objective of the Subcommittee was to improve the communication capabilities throughout the county. Bailey noted that there were certain approaches that would have made improvements for Iowa City communications, but not necessarily improve communications throughout the county. Bailey said that since all residents of the County would pay for the Communications Center it is important that there be consistent communication capabilities throughout the county. Bailey said that consistent communication throughout the county involves adding more towers, which accounted for some of cost increases of the project. The Subcommittee has moved forward not taking a municipality by municipality view, but looking at how to get the best services for the safety of all County residents. Davidson said that the fund request has been increased to allow for the addition of more towers to provide coverage for all County residents.
R. Sullivan said the levy would shift purposes over the course of the years because they need to build the building, outfit everybody with equipment, and pay for employees. R. Sullivan said that the $3 million projected for FY09 could decrease over time. Davidson confirmed that there would be a decrease over time. He added that there are three main components of the funding: annual operating costs for the facility, debt service for constructing the building, and equipping the facility. Davidson said they are projecting the debt service for the building to be 15 years. He noted that equipping the facility will be a big expense because every public safety individual in the county will get new radio equipment. Davidson noted that Iowa City's equipment is in very bad shape and the Sheriff will be in a similar situation fairly soon. Davidson said the Emergency Operations Center will have a new facility in the new building and during an emergency that would become the nerve center for communication in the county. R. Sullivan asked what the estimated time for paying off the equipment is. Davidson said that for the equipment they will use 10-year bonds. Davidson said the difference between the building and the equipment is predicated on the life span. He said that the building should last more than 15 years. Davidson said that as the building and equipment expenses are paid off the levy would be lowered.
Harney said the Subcommittee looked at different options as presented by the architect. He noted that the first option was combining the services without reaching the dead points where communication is not available. Harney said they had to decide to do the project fully or partially. He said they decided to approach the project as a whole instead of having to come back and improve it at a later time.
Neuzil said that providing full communication in the county is very expensive. Neuzil asked if the project could be started without the initial $3 million. Neuzil said that he is hesitant approving $3 million when there are a lot of unanswered questions about the project. Neuzil is worried that even when the entity is in place the County will not have the ability to lower the taxes. Davidson said that in the next month he will be asking the County, Iowa City, and North Liberty to name their representatives on the Policy Board. Davidson said the Board will have three representatives, two Supervisors and Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Wilson. Coralville will be represented by Councilor Henry Herwig. Davidson said it is very important to get the Policy Board in place as soon as possible. He added that there will also be an Advisory Committee made up of public safety officers that would advise the Policy Board. The Policy Board would have the oversight of the levy funds during the construction and operation of the facility.
Neuzil said that during budget time the Board can decide to give less money than asked for each County Department, but noted that with the Communications Center there will not be a similar leeway. Neuzil asked what happens if the Board denies the request for money. Bailey said that the Communications Center is similar to the Iowa City Library Board. She noted that the Iowa City City Council can govern what the sum is, but the Library Board determines how to spend the money. She added that the Policy Board would be formed out of elected officials that would be very cognizant of the tax amount required from the citizens. Neuzil said that the County will have to levy for the project.
Stutsman said the Policy Board will recommend a budget and the Board of Supervisors will set the budget. Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell said that when they discussed and adopted the 28E Agreement it was made very clear that the Board, in taking a leadership role in this process, was going to delegate that budgetary authority to the Policy Board. He noted that under the Iowa Code, the County is the only entity given the authority to issue this levy. Chappell said that the levy reaches broadly across the county. He noted that the Board knew early on that the Policy Board would determine the budget. Chappell said that the Board will have two representatives on the Policy Board and Wilson. He noted that the Board has ample representation on the Policy Board. The Board, Iowa City, and North Liberty have not yet named their members. Chappell noted that this is a unique situation and is unlike any of the other County Departments or the Library Board.
Meyers clarified that if the Communications Center Policy Board sets a levy, the County will not have any say in whether that would get adjusted up or down. Chappell agreed. He said that the Board will have representation on the Policy Board. Wilson said the other members of the Board could discuss the matter with the two Supervisors on the Policy Board who could then influence the decisions. Chappell said there would be a transitional time when the two existing City and County communications centers would continue to operate and the public may need some explanation as to what is happening. He said that they would need to do whatever is necessary to make sure everyone understands the goal.
Neuzil is worried that asking for $3 million will be a huge impact on County taxpayers. He noted that the Policy Board must realize that the funds are not unlimited and they must keep in perspective how much the County can afford. Neuzil said that the Board wants to strategically accomplish many things, but will be limited because of this additional tax increase. Chappell said the levy would be more like a $3 million line of credit to get an entity up and running. He noted that if the money is not spent, it will still be there. Chappell said that if they do not get the line of credit going they may be in the position that they cannot move forward. Chappell said that the levy spreads things evenly and is not capped. He noted that the Iowa Legislature understands that public safety is very important and that communities need to make the decisions locally.
Harney is concerned about the tax increase to the general public. He said that the Board and the public decided a long time ago that they wanted a combined Communications Center. Harney added that the levy is stronger than he had anticipated. He is hopeful that they will be able to offset part of the cost by combining tower sites or by obtaining grants. Harney said that some County projects could be offset for a year. Harney asked County Treasurer Tom Kriz to comment on when the tax levy goes into place and when they would start collecting it to pay back the bonds.
Kriz said if the levy is set during this budget cycle they would start collecting the funds in September. He noted that this will be a sizable increase in taxes and recommended having some explanation included with the tax statements. Kriz estimated the tax impact to be $60-$75 per $100,000 assessed value for both residential and commercial. Kriz said the Special Levy will not collect any TIF funds. Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne said the tax impact would be 61.85 cents per $100,000 assessed value. Harney said the County can do a one time levy of $1.2 million for public purpose that would reach the TIF areas. Kriz agreed. R. Sullivan said that only the County could use the money. Chappell said that the levy will not capture money from the Syngenta Project in Lone Tree that will be seeking industrial tax exemption. He noted that the industrial tax exemption works like a TIF district because it lowers the value of the property.
Kriz said that the people answering the phones and on the front line of the Treasurer's Office will be the ones taking the brunt of this. He said that they must clearly explain the project to the public. Kriz said that the burden on a person with a $200,000 house will be $125. Harney asked who gets the insert notice when the property owner has their payment combined with the bank. Kriz said that every homeowner receives a statement regardless of whether their taxes are paid by someone else or not. Stutsman said she did not think they could have enough public meetings or inserts to explain why they are doing this. She said that the Board should have a regular agenda item once a month with a report from the Communications Center Board because the public needs to know how their dollars are being spent.
Kriz said that in the past the County has had little or no debt. He noted that currently the County has about $3 million in bonds that are adding up to $9 million for the new Health and Human Service Building and another $4 million from the items budgeted for FY09. Kriz said that if all the projects are approved the County would be $15 million in debt. Meyers added that is the reason the Board is going through the turmoil of how many burdens they can add in one year. Kriz said that some debt will be short term, but some will stretch out for eight to ten years. Harney said the Iowa Legislature might make some changes in how commercial properties are taxed which may have a big impact on the County.
Stutsman is supportive of the Communications Center and making it work. She said that this is the direction they need to be going. She is concerned about the immediate effects of the levy. Neuzil does not want the County to stop doing what they strategically wanted to accomplish because of this new project. Stutsman said that the Board knew this project was coming. Harney said this project has been in the makings for years and some things that were not anticipated got pushed in.
R. Sullivan said that sometimes doing what is best for the taxpayers is spending money and not always having the lowest possible bill. The places people have the lowest tax bills are not the places people are rushing to live in. He said that taxes provide good services. R. Sullivan said that the Iowa Legislature would not change the commercial rates in an election year. He said that as changes occur the County will have to deal with them.
Meyers asked if County taxes go up substantially, if the City would consider that when setting up their budget for any potential tax increases. Bailey said that for the past two years Iowa City has kept the tax levies flat. They are looking at increasing this year because of the citizen's interest and demand for additional public safety with firefighters and police officers. She feels that public safety is core and the citizens are willing to pay for it and the Communications Center project provides for that. Bailey said that not having a Communications Center would impact the residents in the unincorporated areas before it will impact Iowa City residents. Bailey noted that the cost of getting consistent communication throughout the entire County is high. She added that the Subcommittee decided that if everyone in the County is paying for the Communications Center they are all entitled to the same quality of service. This meant more towers and additional expenses. Bailey said that communicating with residents about this is absolutely critical. She added that they could provide town hall meetings to describe the details of the project
Harney said that if they receive grants, the amount of the levy can be lowered. He asked who would monitor the operating costs. He did not want to see a huge amount of extra funds build up while the taxes are increased. Davidson said that the Human Relations, Accounting, and Legal advice would presumably come from the County or Iowa City, but the Executive Director will need to determine that. Davidson said that the County, Iowa City, and Coralville have all offered their assistance with this joint entity.
Davidson said that the budget oversight will be very similar to that of any city or county department with the ultimate authority being the Policy Board. He emphasized that the cost projections are getting more accurate. Davidson said that only at the end of FY10 would they know the actual cost to operate and build the Communications Center. Davidson said that the Subcommittee is making worse case scenario estimates. He said that they increased the number of tower sites to get consistent coverage and that substantially raised the cost. The Subcommittee is hopeful that the consultant can work out an arrangement to co-locate the antennas on existing tower sites which would substantially reduce the expense. He noted that the savings would amount to several hundred thousand dollars per tower site and could total between $1 and $2 million dollars. Davidson said that there are ongoing discussions between the political entities to find a way to come up with cash to defray the amount for which they have to sell bonds.
R. Sullivan asked if the current emergency management money is invested. Kriz said yes. Kriz said there are communities that do not grant the installation of towers unless communications can be affixed for no cost. Kriz said that this is something new and a possibility that the County should consider. Davidson said that one of the first questions the consultant had was if the County had such an ordinance. As a representative of the Board of Adjustment, Chappell did not recall having any recent tower applications. He said that the towers need to be tall enough and have sufficient room to allow for co-location in order to be approved. Chappell said that the Board of Adjustment has always required the applicant demonstrate that they cannot co-locate on one of the existing towers. Chappell said that there may be opportunities for co-location because the existing towers should have free space.
Chappell reminded the Board that the Policy Board will be a 28E governmental entity subject to all Chapter 21 and 22 requirements and all of the new reporting requirements added after the Des Moines scandal. He said that all their meetings will be public and the minutes will need to be published. Chappell said that the Executive Director will serve on the Policy Board. Davidson said there is new legislation requiring Johnson County Council of Government’s (JCCOG) 28E entity to publish all official actions and billing.
Harney asked if the tower co-location was done at no cost for the entities. Davidson said that would be decided in the creation of the ordinance. He said that some counties have required it to be free of charge. Meyers asked if the 77 cents may fluctuate from year to year. Davidson said yes. He said that is the project cost of operation once the system is up and running.
Davidson said that based on the decisions made about the design of the system and increasing the coverage throughout the county the annual cost increased from $2.6 to $3.7 million. He explained that the capital expenses went up, but the operating costs did not change. Harney said that Scott County did a similar project and took a considerable hit. Claiborne said that the impact on Scott County taxpayers was about 60 cents per $100,000 property value. Wilson corrected it was actually 68 cents. Wilson added that Scott County is doing a public/private partnership with RayCon Communication and will not own the system.
Neuzil said that he does not want to stop this project because it is something the community wants, but added that he did not want it to be at the expense of what the County has set out to accomplish. He said that the Communications Center should remain a separate project. Neuzil noted that the County's strategic planning will be hurt if it is done any other way. Stutsman said that sometimes the Board needs to make adjustments as things come along and noted that this is one of those times. She supports strategic planning and noted that the Board must be fiscally responsible.
Meyers said that it would be helpful if the levy for the Communications Center would show up as a separate line item on the property tax bill. Wilson said that they could include a note to explain the increase in taxes. Harney asked if the Communications Center could be listed separately on the tax bill. Kriz did not think it could be listed separately and said that they could include a yearly insert. Harney said that there are some categories listed on the tax bill, but they do not explain where they tax dollars are going. Kriz said that everything is categorized together on the tax bill. Stutsman asked if the different levies could be explained on the website. Kriz said yes. Meyers said that felt it would be more effective to have the explanation on the tax bill. Kriz agreed.
Harney is concerned about the impact on the taxpayers. He said the $200-$300 tax increase would make a huge difference on the elderly, those with restricted incomes, and the poor. Harney felt the Board needed to adjust their budget and what they were going to spend. R. Sullivan said that one of the line items in the budget is General Assistance. He noted that the poorest people in the county get assistance from the County. R. Sullivan said that by increasing taxes the County could add services. He felt the citizens decided on a level of service, not a cost and the only decision the Board could make is whether to provide that level of service or not.
Neuzil said that all of the other communities within the county will not stop doing what they had set out to do because of the Communications Center and wondered why the Board should have to stop what they have planned. Stutsman answered that they need to limit the projects in order to reduce the taxes. Neuzil said that all of the other communities continue to move forward with all of their strategic planning except for the County. He noted that was wrong. Harney said they were going to continue doing these projects, but they may be delayed by a year.
Davidson said the JCCOG Subcommittee went through a very extensive site evaluation process that included 13 or 14 sites. The preferred site was the Iowa City Water Treatment Plant site. They began the planning process accordingly prior to the consultant being hired. Davidson noted that one of the first things brought up by the consultant was the issue of interference with the KXIC AM radio station located adjacent to the Water Treatment site. JCCOG had formalized with the City a $1 per year lease agreement for the two to three acre site that was to be used for the Communications Center. Davidson said that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had quit granting AM radio station licenses and the existing licenses have an increased value. Davidson said that the FCC rules and regulations are set up to protect the AM stations from interference. He noted that the Communications Center would also be affected by interference because of its location adjacent to the AM radio station. Davidson said that they could mitigate the interference issues, through a very extensive yet not impossible process. He said that they kept the site in the mix for additional evaluation and also looked at three new sites all under public ownership.
After careful consideration of the four sites, they are now pursuing the Johnson County Poor Farm site as the preferred location for the Communications Center. The consultant initially advised that the site on the corner of Slothower Road and Melrose Avenue would be the preferred site for the Communications Center. However, Davidson said, the consultant was not aware of the adopted Johnson County Poor Farm planning study. Davidson brought it to their attention and informed them that it was very important to the Johnson County Historical Society that the Poor Farm site be preserved. Davidson said that there were several areas that the Board added for future public use. One of the sites directly to the east has been made used for housing for persons with mental illnesses. Davidson proposed an area directly to the south of that housing as a suitable site for the Communications Center. Davidson said that here would be buffering put in place so the Communications Center would not be visible from the new housing site. He said that this site would require little preparation for the new building.
R. Sullivan said that since this was the first time that this proposal has been brought before the Board, they would need to put this item on an informal agenda so that the public could come in and provide input. Assuming that it would go forward from there, they would put this item on a formal agenda and vote to approve the use. The Board would also need to work with the County Attorney's Office throughout the process. Davidson said they could not begin the design process until they know the site location. He asked the Board to let him know if there was a big problem with the site selection so that they could go back for further review. Harney explained that Davidson was asking if there was enough Board support to plan on moving forward with the discussion. Neuzil said that Chatham Oaks is directly impacted and should be part of the discussion. He wanted more information about the buffering. Neuzil was glad that they are not proposing to locate the Communications Center on the original Poor Farm. He said that this would set a precedent for government buildings to be located on the County Poor Farm. He would like to hear more arguments as to why the other sites were not chosen. Davidson would provide site evaluations. Neuzil felt that some other sites could still be considered. Davidson and Bailey would be happy to discuss other alternatives.
Stutsman asked if there would be towers at the proposed location. Davidson said that there would be one tower. Harney said there would be a big, ladder style tower that would stand 60 or 90 feet. He noted that the tower would be self-standing with no cable bracing. R. Sullivan asked what size of a footprint the Communications Center would have. Davidson responded three acres maximum. R. Sullivan asked if that would include the parking. Davidson said that the parking would be about 10% of the footprint. Facilities Manager David Kempf said the consultant required a 300-foot tall zone for the tower, which would accommodate a 90-100 foot tower. Davidson said he would have the consultant produce an aerial view with the projected site on it.
As far as the other sites, Harney said that the Camp Cardinal location had costly water, sewer, and grading issues. Neuzil wondered if in 50 years they would want government buildings located on the County Poor Farm. Harney said another issue would be placing the Communications Center in a residential area. Davidson asked if the Board would consider going forward with a work session on the proposed site. R. Sullivan said they would put this on a regular informal meeting agenda. The Board concurred that they would explore the option. Meyers asked what arrangements were made with the City in regard to the Water Treatment site. Davidson said that they were looking at a 99-year lease at a cost of $1 a year. The City would retain ownership of the property.
Claiborne said that the Emergency Management budget had gone up about $78,000 to $100,000 and Wilson wanted to explain the challenges that lead to the increase. Wilson noted that based on the current FY08 expenditures he had asked for an upward adjustment of about $21,000 in the Emergency Management Levy for FY09. The increase is due to the Homeland Security Grant cuts for rural areas. He noted that the Homeland Security Grant funding has been re-focused solely to the large metro areas in the Urban Area of Security Initiatives (UASI). Wilson said that in the next few years Federal Grants will total about $350,000 for the entire State and will be awarded through a competitive process. Wilson will be applying for those grants in the future. Wilson said that grant money cannot be used to fund the ongoing administrative expenses. Wilson noted that the proposed increase is necessary to cover the ongoing administrative expenses. He explained that the additional money would not be used for new projects, but for the County Rescue Service, the 901 Generator at East Overlook, ten boats, and other projects.
Stutsman asked why the County had ten boats. Wilson said that about every department in the County has a boat because of drowning, the reservoir, the propensity for flooding, and the high number of rescues with the roller dams. He said that the boats are owned by Emergency Management, but distributed and operated by the local Fire Departments. Neuzil asked if the issues about the Cedar County coverage have been resolved. Wilson said that Cedar County has advertised for a full-time Emergency Management Coordinator. In March or April of 2008 the grant contract and shared expenses with Scott County will be terminated. Neuzil asked if losing the $28,000 meant that they would be doing $28,000 less work. Wilson said no. Neuzil said that it is odd when money amounts get rounded to $100,000. Wilson said he could have easily rounded it upwards to match his exact loss but was trying to make it easier on the Board knowing that they are going forward with the Communications Center. Wilson said that when they move to the new Communications Center some of the small expenses should go away.
Stutsman said that this is the second request received from for the Board to make up for Federal funding shortfalls. She noted that the Federal Government starts a program, cuts the funding, and then asks County taxpayers to pick it up. Wilson said that the increase in annual expenses and not the Federal shortfalls have caused the problem. He noted that there have been a number of factors that decreased the revenue generated by the department, and yet the daily expenses have increased. Wilson said that most of the money coming from the Federal Government is pass-through money.
R. Sullivan asked Wilson what part of the $100,000 would make up salaries and benefits. Wilson said salaries and benefits make up just over $100,000 for the two positions in the EM. Harney said that Cedar County had picked up half of the cost for the second full-time position. Wilson said that there was never accurate billing done and they have not collected the full amount. The agreement was that Johnson County was to pick up 50% of revenues and salaries and benefits for that position, but that did not occur.
Neuzil said that Federal Grants in general continue to dry up and the County has had to make up the difference for several departments because the programs are good and worth keeping. Wilson said one of Emergency Management's major functions is recouping money for the County. Wilson said that they would collect between $300,000-$400,000 in 2008 from the ice storm that hit. He is also trying to recoup money for Secondary Roads and County Conservation and any other department that has claims. Wilson said that Emergency Management will not receive any of the recouped money. He said that many of the day-to-day Homeland Security Grants are gone and noted that the money request does not include any new projects. The Board unanimously agreed maintaining the $100,000 request.
Recessed at 10:25 a.m; reconvened at 10:31 a.m.
Ambulance Training Supervisor:
Claiborne said that Ambulance Director Steve Spenler has submitted an explanation on how their increase in fees would make the Ambulance Training Supervisor position budget neutral. Claiborne said that Spenler would adjust the fees even if the new position were not approved.
Spenler said they have traditionally billed below average compared to other services. Spenler said that after becoming Ambulance Director he did a presentation to the Board and raised the fees 10% in one year and 5% the next and then yearly based on cost of living increases. Spenler said a recent survey showed that they are charging about 33% below the average for the basic rate, 27% below for the advanced rate and 12% below for advanced II rate. Spenler said that if they increase the fees 10% they would still be below the average. He said that they could increase the fees as to have the entire department budget neutral and function without any subsidy. Spenler said they currently charge $374 for Basic Life Support (BLS). Stutsman asked if the charge is billed to insurance companies. Spenler said that quite often the bill goes to insurance companies. He said the reimbursement from Medicare or Medicaid would stay the same even if they would increase fees. R. Sullivan asked if the insurance companies would pay higher rates if the fees would be raised. Spenler said that with a 10% increase in fees, he would expect full reimbursement from most insurance companies.
Spenler said that a 10% increase in fees would create $220,000 of additional billings. He noted that they collect about 63%-70% of that so there would be around $140,000 in additional revenues. Neuzil asked what the need for the position is. Spenler said the position would not create revenues. He said that the position would take them to a higher level in training and education provided to staff and therefore, a higher quality of care for people served. Spenler said they currently do not have the time to dedicate to training and education at the level at which it should be done. Spenler said there are a lot of Ambulance services that have an Education Quality Assurance Coordinator. Spenler noted that the Iowa City Fire Department has an Education Coordinator.
Stutsman asked if instead of hiring a separate trainer they could work out a training sharing agreement with Iowa City. Spenler said they have such an agreement with Iowa City. Spenler said that EMS is just a small portion of the Iowa City training. Spenler said they also train with Coralville. He said that this position would allow someone to work daily with the employees making sure they are properly trained and educated. Neuzil said the Ambulance Department is extremely good without the proposed position. Spenler said the department is doing a good job, but the staff wants a higher caliber of in-house education. He said that they provide decent education but it is not consistent and it would be beneficial to move to a new level.
R. Sullivan said that Public Health is highly based on grants and has hired people on contingencies, letting them know up front that if the grant money goes away the position may also go away. R. Sullivan said that having contingencies makes the hiring process harder. He noted that Public Health has managed to have the positions filled. R. Sullivan asked if Spenler would consider a similar situation. Spenler said the position is for someone well established in EMS and it would be really hard to attract candidates for a contingent position. R. Sullivan asked if this position would be a step above the Field Supervisors. Spenler said that is correct.
Harney asked who is currently doing the training. Spenler said they all do. Harney asked if there would be a request for pay upgrades if the department reaches a higher level of education and service. Spenler said the skills of practice increase continually and the increase in pay rate is always something that the employees could negotiate. Neuzil asked if they would consider a part-time position. Spenler said he would not find anyone with high credentials that would be willing to work in a part-time position. He noted that they could move forward with that and see if there is any interest. Claiborne said that the Ambulance Training Supervisor would also handle calls and asked if that would ease up some of the other hours the Board has approved for the Ambulance. Spenler said that is correct. Harney asked if there is training available through hospitals to supplement what they are trying to accomplish. Spenler said they use the University of Iowa Educational Institution for some training and have already tapped into the expertise of the Emergency Department at both Mercy and University of Iowa Hospitals.
Neuzil said the request for $35,000 that was approved for part time positions could be taken out in exchange for the proposed position. Neuzil said that the additional hours are for weekend nights. Spenler said that is true, and said that they are using those hours for peak-level service time. Spenler said the proposed position would save money by avoiding over-time pay. Meyers said the overtime accounts for $6,000-$8,000 a year, and the in-house training would save about $9,000 a year. Meyers said the savings account for 20%-25% of the cost of the position. Stutsman commented that she is not supportive of the new position. She said that there are new changes in Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASP) fees and the County assumes $100,000 liability for each employee. Stutsman said that the Board should be careful in approving new positions for the County because they would incur costs beyond salaries and benefits. Stutsman said she has not heard a convincing argument why this position should be added to the County payroll at this time.
Harney asked if they are anticipating cost increases when moving into the new fire station. Spenler said they have not yet discussed that. Spenler said they currently pay a user fee. Spenler does not expect a high cost increase associated with the move. Neuzil is against the proposal. Meyers is supportive contingent on significant increase in fees that would offset the cost of the position. Spenler said the amount of money they would bring in from the fee increases would be double what the position would cost. Stutsman said the County still subsidizes the Ambulance and the increase in fees should go towards lowering the tax bill to the taxpayers instead of hiring more people. Stutsman said that when she started on the Board there was a very clear understanding that revenues did not always go back to the department. Stutsman said that earning more money does not necessarily mean spending more money. She said the revenues go into the General Fund and the Board decides how they would be allocated. Spenler said he always had that understanding. He feels really strongly about the position and wanted to make a last plea before the Board turns it down.
Harney said that the Ambulance currently has a high level of service and education and would like to wait for another year before funding the proposed position. Neuzil said that they should discuss the fee increase. Spenler said they have already increased revenues for next year based on historically high call volumes. R. Sullivan said they are looking at increasing the fees. Harney asked what percentage would be non-collectible if the fees were increased. Spenler said that they generally collect about 60% - 70% of the total billed. Spenler said that Medicare and Medicaid reimburse them a certain amount no matter what the fees are. Harney asked if Medicare and Medicaid covered the yearly changes in fees due to increase living cost. Spenler said Medicaid has not increased the reimbursement amount in a couple of years, and Medicare is going up 2.7%.
R. Sullivan said they should have the discussion about fees increase as soon as possible. Stutsman said the increase should be included in the FY09 budget. Spenler said the fee increases are generally effective July 1 of each year. Harney asked when the the last fee increase was. Spenler said the last fee increase was on July 2007. Spenler said the cost per transport comes up to an average of $522. He said they came up with the 10% increase based on the averages of service. Spenler noted that the 10% increase would not make the Ambulance subsidy free. The Board agreed on a 10% increase in fees to be used for budget purposes until the formal vote. Neuzil said that it would be helpful to track the amount of time and cost associated with training the employees and how that would be offset with an additional employee. Stutsman would like to see more exploration of contracting or sharing training officers.
Sheriff Detective Sergeant (Drug Task Force).
County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek presented an article from the Des Moines Register, which provides more information about the Burn Jag Grant. Pulkrabek said the Sheriff of Cerro Gordo County is quoted in the article to the fact that if the funding is suspended their task force would cease to exist. Stutsman said there were a lot of comments in the article about the effectiveness of the program. Pulkrabek said that based on statistics the Task Force is effective. Pulkrabek said that there is a resurgence of meth production in Iowa. He noted they have not seen that locally yet. Pulkrabek said that the unscrupulous scientists are looking to discover new ways to manufacture meth. Pulkrabek said the Pseudo Ephedrine Law is very effective.
Pulkrabek said the theft of anhydrous has been diminished through the enactment of the Nurse Tank Locks Law. Pulkrabek said there are farmers that do not replace the lock when moving or taking deliveries on their tank, which makes them vulnerable. There is a nation and statewide initiative to get an electronic logging of pseudo ephedrine sales. Currently individuals could go to different cities and buy pseudo ephedrine. Pulkrabek said that if they would use electronic logging they would be able to track pseudo ephedrine purchases.
Pulkrabek said the Sheriff Detective Sergeant position is currently funded through grant money. He noted that if they stop receiving the funds the position wil go away. Pulkrabek said that they would not add a new position, but are requesting funding to continue the existing position when the grant money drys up.
R. Sullivan would prefer to have another patrol on streets. Pulkrabek said this position has a very specific need. Pulkrabek said he would like to have a central training officer to oversee all training, but that is a luxury that can not be afforded because there are too many other needs and demands. Pulkrabeck said training is very important and they currently have two dispatchers in training in Des Moines. He said the training is organized by a multitude of people. Harney said that people do not realize that most arrests made by the Drug Officers go straight to the Federal Court. He added that there are no big newspaper articles about these arrests because they go directly to the Federal Court. Harney said funding for the position is money well spend to help protect the society. He noted that the drug problem has not gone away and they need to keep their sight set on this particular issue. Pulkrabek said the U.S. Attorney's Office sent a press release announcing the name, the charge, and length of sentence for several individuals. He noted that the press release talked about a Johnson County case, but it was not published in the local paper. He said the media does not always pick-up on that. Pulkrabek said that not being part of the Drug Task Force would increase the vulnerability of rural areas of the county.
R. Sullivan is concerned that the Drug Task Force focuses mostly on marijuana. He noted that Pulkrabek tried to change the focus of the task force towards methamphetamine, cocaine, and crack cocaine. Pulkrabek said they are currently conducting a huge heroin investigation. They would like to focus on the hard drugs, but marijuana users sometimes get in the way and they cannot turn a blind eye to that. Pulkrabek said they are using the small marijuana users as a stepping stone to get to the dealers who are not dealing just marijuana, but also cocaine. Pulkrabek said there is a huge resurgence of cocaine and crack cocaine in the county and they are working on that. There were several heroin-related deaths in the county that were ruled as accidental drug deaths. Pulkrabek said that somebody was selling pure or too pure heroin to people and it killed them.
Neuzil said the legislature noted that there might be some funding available at the State level to supplement the Federal program. Pulkrabek said they are aware of that. Stutsman said that she is not supportive of funding the position. She appreciates the arguments, but is torn with the attitude that the Board will pick up every Federal and State program that comes along. Stutsman said the article concerned her because there were questions about the effectiveness of the program and would like to see how it goes for a year without this in place.
Meyers asked if they would have representation in the Task Force without the proposed position. Pulkrabek said the department has 64 sworn employees, but currently one is in Iraq, one is in Egypt, and two young deputies are in the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. Pulkrabek would consider moving someone from another division to be part of the Task Force. Harney said that this is not creating a new position because the position is already in place. Neuzil asked if the other communities would continue to be part of the Task Force. Pulkrabek said that Coralville and Iowa City are committed to the Task Force. Pulkrabek said the University of Iowa Police are also member of the Task Force. The University of Iowa Police do not have a full time person assigned to the Task Force and are trying to obtain internal funding for that.
Neuzil asked if they would keep 75% of the position in the revenues line. Neuzil asked if the 75% is included in the Sheriff's budget submission. Pulkrabek said that is correct. Neuzil said they should not have that in the revenues if they are unsure whether it will be there. Neuzil and R. Sullivan are in favor of the position. Meyers asked if any seizures, cash, and vehicles end up with the County. Pulkrabek said the seizures go into an account, but there are Federal guidelines that do not allow them to be used to supplement the regular budget. He said they use that for equipment and drug education.
Case Expediter at County Attorney:
R. Sullivan is in favor of not funding the position because the Board does not know exactly what the person would do. Stutsman agreed. Neuzil said there would be benefits to this type of position, but they should do more research on what the individual would do. R. Sullivan added that they should see how the position would help save money. Pulkrabek said the position is part of the Jail Alternatives. He said the position would need to be in the Attorney's Office because they already have access to the system. Scott County funds a similar position and claims that it is very successful. Pulkrabek said this would be a valuable position. Neuzil said it would be helpful to bring someone in from Scott County to show why the position is working and what the results are. Neuzil said this should be tabled until more information is received. Neuzil would like to see how some of the money would be recovered. Stutsman said that the Courts are not on board with this. Pulkrabek said the Public Offender is the only one opposed. Harney said the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CJCC) would be the best place to talk about the position. Pulkrabek said there should be a joint meeting with CJCC so that the Board could hear their arguments. The Board did not yet approve the request for the Case Expediter position.
Recessed at 11:28 a.m.; reconvened at 11:32 a.m.
Claiborne said that if the Board would approve everything shown on the agenda they would be at 31.6 cents. Stutsman asked if that is just the Debt Levy. Claiborne said that is correct. Claiborne said that as they pay the principal the payments would decrease. Claiborne said in 2010 there would be a drop and another one in 2012. He said that by 2015 or 2016 all the bonds would be paid. Meyers said they could pay this off early if funds become available. Neuzil said that is true, but it would be drawn from the General Fund. Claiborne added that if money were drawn from the General Fund some people would be taxed twice. Claiborne said they could decide to retire bonds earlier, but that would be beneficial to the TIF people.
Stutsman asked if they could stretch the projects out so that there are no huge hits in the first two years. Claiborne said the Conservation bond would have an eight-year payback and the voting machines and the SEATS/Secondary Roads Facility would have a four-year payback. Neuzil asked if the Conservation bond could have a 10 years payback, and what would the impact of that be. Claiborne said the change would be from about six cents to four cents. Harney asked if the voting machines fall under public purpose and if they could draw funds from the TIF areas. Claiborne said that is for public purpose. Neuzil said that Congress and State legislatures are saying that the new machines would not be a cost put on the local taxpayers. Stutsman said they should take that item out. Neuzil said they would need to get it funded and would be reimbursed. Stutsman asked if they could use funds from the reserves. Neuzil said that is true, but because it is a TIF eligible expenditure they could draw from the TIFs. Neuzil said the advantage would be that if they would get reimbursed for that they would have capitalized from TIFs and therefore they would have the same debt, but there would be a bigger pot paying that debt.
Stutsman said this would be one part of the levy and asked what the other levies are. Stutsman asked what would be the total levy tax billed to residents. Claiborne said the General Supplemental would be $3.02. Neuzil asked what the tax would be if they would keep the proposed bonds in, but take off the two positions that were not approved. Stutsman asked if the $3.02 tax would be for FY08 or FY09. Claiborne said it would be for FY09. R. Sullivan said the funds for the two positions are so small in the overall budget that it would not affect anything. Neuzil said the two positions are adding about $120,000 and increasing Ambulance fees by 10% would get to a total of about $300,000 in revenues. Neuzil said the Board would need to deal with how much of a burden this would be on the taxpayers. Claiborne said the two positions and the increase in revenue would not affect the impact on taxpayers. Neuzil said this number would actually increase to cover the additional $700,000 approved for the Communications Center. Claiborne said that is true and added that the debt levy would not change. Claiborne said the Debt Levy would still be $31.65 on a $100,000 house.
Stutsman asked what the tax increase would be for a $100,000 house. Neuzil said there would be an increase of about $6 for the Communications Center. Claiborne said it would go up 15 cents in the General Supplemental. R. Sullivan said the tax would be about $77 for a $100,000 property. Neuzil said the extra $700,000 added $15 more. Meyers said the Communications Center should not affect what is being done for the County because the Board has no control over the amount taxed. Neuzil said that is true. Harney said the overall cost increase is significant. Neuzil said that is true and added they are paying for the operations of the two entities and are bonding for the Communications Center. Neuzil added that there ought to be a discussion about that next year. R. Sullivan said they need to get through this year's budget and would deal with that next year.
Harney said that Coralville is sending out a letter of commitment that they would give some TIF money for the Communications Center. Harney said he does not know any additional details. Stutsman said they need to have that for tax relief. Neuzil asked if once the operations are void out they would create tax relief or invest the money back in the Communications Center. Stutsman said that she feels personally responsible to the taxpayers. She said the County keeps saying they would save money, but taxpayers do not see that on the tax bill. Stutsman said that TIF was supposed to create additional income and people do not see any relief on their tax bill. She added that down the road the Communications Center should save the County money, but the residents would not see that on their tax bill. R. Sullivan said that Iowa City had residents and businesses in the north-east side demand a fourth fire station and they would do that. R. Sullivan said the Board did not have any specific requests.
Harney said that moving the Conservation bond for one year would change the impact on taxpayers. Neuzil said they could also do that with the Communications Center. Neuzil said they could have budgeted $500,000 to start the project and start the funding in FY09. Neuzil said they could still do that and reduce the impact. Stutsman said the Communications Center has been in discussion for several years and the Board has been committed to this for a long time. Neuzil said the Communications Center would still move forward if the Board chooses to wait one more year. Harney said they have to do it. Neuzil said the Board currently sets the levy to get the project started.
Harney asked what the impact of the bonds would be. Kriz said that once they pass $10 million the structure changes. He noted that interest rates would be higher because the County would no longer be bank qualified. Kriz said the bank-qualified program is meant to give a break to smaller communities to be able to do projects. He said that as they pass $10 million the cost would go up interest-wise and the fees from bond attorneys would go up proportionally. Claiborne asked if the $10 million is calculated per calendar year. Kriz said that is true. R. Sullivan asked if they were talking about a bank loan or Debt Services Levy. Kriz said it would be a Debt Services Levy.
Claiborne asked if $10 million is for the overall debt. Kriz said that is true. Stutsman asked if the County would get to that point. Kriz said that a lot depends on what the County would borrow for the Communications Center. R. Sullivan said the Debt Levy is $5.6 million. R. Sullivan said they have not yet barrowed for the Communications Center. R. Sullivan said they could be under $10 million. Neuzil said the Board is interested in taking any excess General Fund funding and putting it towards that to avoid borrowing more money. R. Sullivan said they could get close to $10 million, but would not hit that. Kriz said that could be true.
Stutsman asked what they would do if there were some unexpected expenses. Kriz said he was a little perplexed when he saw that the Conservation Building, which was never discussed at any meeting he attended, was included in the Space Needs study yet the Ambulance Building was moved back. Stutsman said the remodeling of the Administration Building is not included in the $9.1 million. Harney said the $500,000 fund savings would be used to address the problems with the Administration Building.
Meyers asked Kempf about expenses to furnish the new Health and Human Services Building. Kempf said that they would need to cash flow about $400,000 for the SEATS/Secondary Roads project. He added that there is a contract to have that facility delivered at a certain cost and have they have built in a $140,000 contingency in to take care of any unforeseen expenses. Furnishing the Health and Human Services Building was originally anticipated at $800,000 to $1 million but has been decreased to about $500,000. Kempf said that replacing the boilers in the Administration Building would cost $50,000-$60,000 and redoing the entire HVAC system would cost $200,000-$300,000. Stutsman said they should redo the entire system. Kempf agreed. Kempf said that they would need $400,000 for the SEATS/Secondary Roads Facility, $500,000 for furnishing the Health and Human Services Building and $1 million for the Administration Building, that totals about $1.9 million.
Claiborne recommended to keep $3.2 million open. Neuzil would like to pay down the project. R. Sullivan said they could issue a bond for furnishings, but said it would make sense to pay the bank note first. Kriz said they could do that, but even a small issue involves cost. Claiborne said if it would be better to add one more issue in the FY09 budget called furnishings. He added that they could put the $3.2 towards the Health and Human Services Building and structure payments to not hit $10 million. Harney suggested bonding for public purpose to absorb some TIF funds. Kriz said that would be the same debt, but it would be spread out.
Harney preferred to wait a year on the Conservation bond. Stutsman said it did not go through the process like the others. Neuzil said they have had at least three years of conversation about the Conservation Building. Neuzil was looking at whether taxpayers could afford six more dollars for this project. He noted that six dollars is worth it to get the project started. Graves said they have discussed the need for the building for the six years that he has worked for the County. He has brought this to the Board's attention every time they took a tour. Harney agreed that Graves had kept them informed. Harney was surprised that the new facility was included in the budget. Claiborne said he was instructed in a prior meeting to include this in the budget and the Board was to decide whether it was to be done or not.
Stutsman asked if Graves would look for bonds to generate more money to buy more land. Graves said that would be a ballot referendum that would need to be brought before the voters. Stutsman asked if the transfer of land to the Conservation Board would be a donation. Graves said it that if the transfer takes place it will be a donation.
Neuzil said the Conservation project has an impact of six dollars on a $100,000 house and it is worth starting. Harney disagreed and said they do not know if it would cost more or less next year. Harney added that if the Board goes over the $10 million the interest rates will be higher and the long-term cost would increase. Harney said that it makes more sense to approach the issue project by project and spread them out. R. Sullivan said that people know they will get a big hit and the six additional dollars would not make a big difference. R. Sullivan is in favor of moving forward. He said there is a financial benefit of getting the process started and getting it done as opposed to waiting and spreading it out.
Meyers is also in favor of moving forward. He said that six dollars is an insignificant amount of money. Meyers does not see any project going away next year to make the holding of the Conservation project worthwhile. Harney said the Health and Human Services Building will be paid off if the Board puts the money towards it. Stutsman said that would be nice. Neuzil said that would not be the case. Claiborne said these are two different issues regarding the General Fund and Debt Services. Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan said the Health and Human Services Building will cost $12 million. He said that $5.5 million would be paid in FY08, and there will be $6.5 million left. M. Sullivan said the Board does not have sufficient funds to finish paying the Health and Human Services Building in FY09. M. Sullivan said that they would need at least three years to pay that off. Harney asked if personnel costs are included. Claiborne said everything is in there.
Claiborne asked if the Board was interested in going forward with both bonds. Stutsman said they are not moving forward with the bond for the voting machines. M. Sullivan said the Board has not yet decided on that. R. Sullivan asked if there are three supervisors that would like to move forward with the Conservation bond. Neuzil and Meyers would like to move forward. R. Sullivan said the voting machines and capital improvements are two different things, but one issue. Neuzil asked Claiborne for clarification on the numbers presented. Claiborne said that $360,000 would be for voting machines and that there would be expenses associated with Courthouse and Administration Building repairs. Neuzil said that the County needs to pay for the voting machines and hopefully they would get reimbursed. Neuzil said that last time they received 80% reimbursement.
Stutsman said she has been on the Board for 14 years and have never seen a Board that does not say no to anything. Neuzil said the Board did not approve two new employees during this meeting. R. Sullivan said there was too much no over time and that is why there are built up needs. Stutsman said the previous Boards lived within their means and did not approve everything. R. Sullivan said this is within the Board’s means.
Stutsman said the Board has unlimited resources by increasing taxes. Stutsman said they keep bonding and taxing until the Board could do everything that is proposed and that is exactly what the Board is currently doing. Harney is comfortable in spreading the project out over a long period of time because he is unsure what the legislators will do with the tax base. Neuzil is supportive and would defend the investment.
Claiborne said the Debt Levy is based on valuation and if the legislators cut the commercial tax base that would hurt the General Basic and General Supplemental Funds and not the Debt Levy. Neuzil said the legislators are talking about bringing the rollback up at least 50%, and that would make up for the commercial loss. Kriz said the legislators are looking at increasing the rollback to where it does not exist. Harney said that he is nervous about it. Kriz said the Board has the ability to bond for any amount, but would need to get it structured so that it is most advantageous and costs the taxpayers the least.
Neuzil and R. Sullivan said they were in favor of the levy for capital improvements and voting machines. R. Sullivan hopes the Federal Government will reimburse the County for the cost of the voting machines. Meyers said that he was in favor of capital improvements and against the voting machines. The Board was in favor of capital improvement items. R. Sullivan and Neuzil said they were in favor of voting machines. Stutsman, Harney, and Meyers said they were against the voting machines. Harney said they could put the money in as needed. R. Sullivan said the Board could not come back to the issue and needed to determine if it will be done or not.
Neuzil said that the question in regards to the voting machines is whether they tax for it and get it out of the Debt Services or not. Harney said that he is not convinced the County needs new voting machines. Harney asked what the machines do. Neuzil said the new machines produce a paper report and would replace the electronic machines that print out on a roller tape. Neuzil said that if the County gets audited someone would go through the tape and it would take a long time to do that. Neuzil said that the audit would be much faster if they would have the new paper recording machines. Neuzil said it will be determined if the current machines are illegal or not because of their vulnerability. Neuzil said a magnet could be used to erase everything on the electronic machines.
R. Sullivan said they bought the electronic machines for $1 million and received $800,000 back. Neuzil asked what the amount requested for the voting machines is. Claiborne said the request is for $350,000. Harney said the project is spread over a period of time. Neuzil said the Auditor has given a significant amount of information in regard to the need for these voting machines and the Board needs to determine if the machines should be ordered or not. Neuzil noted that the Board should prepare for significant problems on Election Day if the machines are not ordered. Neuzil said that to avoid problems they would need to make this expenditure. Harney said no other counties have committed to this. R. Sullivan said he does not know what other counties are doing. Harney thought this was just an upgrade of the current machines. Neuzil said that is not true. Harney said they would have a bunch of new machines to throw away. Neuzil said that the State paid for 80% of the current machines. Harney said that if the State would reimburse for the machines he would have no problem voting in favor. Harney said they should bond for it. Reiter asked if the optical scanning machines would stay and only those using the computer would be replaced. Neuzil said the machines for those with disabilities are the ones that need to be changed. The Board approved the bond for both capital improvements and voting machines.
Claiborne asked if the Board wanted to make another bond for $1.2 million for remodeling and furniture. Stutsman and M. Sullivan agreed. Stutsman said they have been talking about that for years and is time to get it off the list. Claiborne asked if they were looking at an eight-year timeline. M. Sullivan said the current HVAC system is beyond its life expectancy. R. Sullivan said the amount left over in capital improvements is $3,183. R. Sullivan asked if the Board would like to keep that in capital projects with the understanding that they would put as much of that as possible towards paying for the Health and Human Services Building. The Board decided that is how they would like to proceed.
Claiborne asked if the Board would like to allocate $20,000 for the Historical Society Capital Campaign. Stutsman agreed. R. Sullivan asked if everybody received the letter from Historical Society Executive Director Shaner Magalhaes. M. Sullivan said he has not talked about anything with Magalhaes and this is just a proposal. Neuzil said that if the County would decide to invest in the Capital Campaign they would request that the Historical Society help with upkeep of the County Farm. M. Sullivan said the Board has not made any commitments. M. Sullivan recommended that if the County commits money to the Capital Improvements Campaign, the Historical Society should come up with a plan to help with the maintenance of the Poor Farm. M. Sullivan said the Historical Society has never formalized a plan identifying the things they would do. Harney asked what they are looking to tear down. M. Sullivan said the Historical Society wants to tear down the non-historical building between the Poor Farm and the road that currently houses an old pick-up that belongs to Chatham Oaks and equipment for Secondary Roads. M. Sullivan said that if the Historical Society would make the Poor Farm a destination they would need to tear down the non-historical structures. Harney asked for clarification. M. Sullivan said the Historical Society is looking at making the Poor Harm a historical marker. He added that there would be tours and activities scheduled there. M. Sullivan said they have not made any commitments to that.
R. Sullivan said there is no agreement with the Historical Society and this is just a proposal. Stutsman said this is a Capital Campaign. R. Sullivan said the County does not have an actual agreement that if they contribute the Historical Society would do something in return. Harney said that before giving out the money they should create an agreement. R. Sullivan said they would budget the money, but would not give the money to the Historical Society until there is an agreement. The Board agreed to budget the money, but not allocate the money until an agreement is in place. Claiborne asked who would pursue the agreement. Harney said that Chappell and Kempf should be involved. Stutsman said they should ask Chappell to put together the agreement. Chappell would need to work with Neuzil or someone else. Neuzil said any Supervisor could help if needed. Neuzil would ask Magalhaes to get on the Board’s agenda so that everyone knows what would be expected out of the agreement.
Neuzil said that all Supervisors should go through the budget and make sure there are no anomalies. Stutsman asked if the $40,000 would go towards capital projects instead of just not taxing for that. Neuzil said it would go in the General Fund. He said that everything in the General Fund has to max out so anything extra goes to the project. Claiborne said that if the money were in the General Supplemental Fund they could reduce expenses. Stutsman said the banks are not required to drop their rates. Kriz said that is true and in some cases the rates have moved higher on quality credits because they are trying to recoup loses. Stutsman said it is similar to the price of beef not going down in stores. Kriz said the rates are still extremely good, but there would not be big reductions for quality borrowers. Stutsman said they are penalized for being a quality borrower.
Claiborne said the budget wrap-up would be on February 1, 2008. Claiborne said he would provide the Board with copies of the big packet with all of the information, start the state forms, and get the publication ready. Claiborne has contacted Acting Deputy Casie Kadlec for dates for publishing, hearing, and adoption. Harney asked who would draft an informational flyer about the Communications Center to go with the tax bills. R. Sullivan said that Davidson has offered to do it. Neuzil asked when the tax bills go out. Kriz said that taxes are sent out in late July or middle August.
Reiter asked if the Board is talking about creating new TIF districts. Stutsman said that is not true. R. Sullivan explained that by using the Debt Services Levy they are able to tax into the TIF districts, which could not be done with the General Fund. Stutsman said they would get revenues from the TIF districts. Reiter said they would be able to get something from Coral Ridge Mall. Harney and Stutsman said that is true. Harney said that the bond has to be for a public purpose. Neuzil said this is the only way for the Board to draw in on the $800 million currently protected in TIF districts. Harney said they can do that once per project. Meyers said they can do it once for $1.2 million, but it could not be done for the entire project. R. Sullivan said they can only get revenues for public purpose projects. Meyers said the Communications Center Levy does not get in the TIF districts. Claiborne said that if there were no TIF districts, the County would have $2,620,000 more to work with.
M. Sullivan will not be released to work until mid-February. Secretary II Jo Hogarty has a cruise scheduled. Claiborne said he would be at work. R. Sullivan said Stutsman and Meyers would be gone for a while during that period. R. Sullivan said they could run into a situation when Claiborne would be the only one in the office. Claiborne said he plans on being at work if there are no unpredictable weather conditions or illnesses. Claiborne said they could use a temporary agency for a week. R. Sullivan said there are three possibilities. R. Sullivan said they could do nothing and if Claiborne cannot work the doors would need to be locked a couple of times during that ten day period. R. Sullivan said they could also try to recruit staff from other departments. He said that no departments would disagree with the Board’s request, but they all have their things they need to do. R. Sullivan said the third option would be hiring a temporary worker for the ten days. He noted that Human Resources Coordinator Vanessa Wierman got some quotes and it would cost between $13.50 and $13.70 per hour to hire a temporary employee. Harney said that temporary employees do not have a feel of what is going on unless they have been around. Claiborne said there is no reason he would not be in for work unless there are unpredictable events.
Stutsman asked Claiborne if he could readjust his hours to come later in the morning and stay until 4:30pm. Claiborne said he could do that. R. Sullivan said they could also send a message to Department Heads to give them a heads-up about the 10 days shortage in the office. Stutsman said it would be important to keep the office open as much as possible. R. Sullivan said that covering the meetings on January 31, 2008 and February 1, 2008 was the biggest issues. Stutsman said that in the past when a Supervisor was gone for a meeting they tried not to put too much heavy stuff on the agenda.
Claiborne is looking at setting up the public hearing on February 7 or 14, 2008. Neuzil said Claiborne has originally noted that the public hearing would be on March 6, 2008. Neuzil said he would be gone the week before for National Association of Counties Meeting.
Adjourned at 12:51 p.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2008
By John Deeth, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on May 13, 2008 at 4:30.