MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
DECEMBER 8, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Discussion: Fiscal Year 2010 Department Budgets................................................................... 1
Planning and Zoning (19)............................................................................................. 1
Public Health (04)....................................................................................................... 2
SEATS (12)............................................................................................................... 5
County Recorder (11)............................................................................................... 11
Recorder’s Record Management (87)........................................................................ 13
Veteran's Affairs (50)............................................................................................... 13
County Treasurer (14)............................................................................................... 15
Discussion: Fiscal Year 2010 County Budget.......................................................................... 17
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.
Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak said they did not change much and tried to maintain a baseline to their proposed budget. They moved some lines around to reflect actual expenditures. Because of Assistant Planner Josh Busard's involvement with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), he created a few new line items. No additional money was requested, but rather it was done to keep track of the money Busard spends on going to school and conferences. Busard is also required to get certification and have a certain number of professional education hours every two years so there will be additional costs to keep that up to date. Dvorak requested an additional $2,000 to reimburse the City of Iowa City for the contract the County has entered into with them. They spent $1,800 last year on this contract, which is considerably less than the cost to fund a staff position. Planning and Zoning is planning to purchase an additional vehicle this year. They normally ask for $15,000 to $18,000 every year but he has reduced it to a two year rotation instead of every year which compensated for the additional $2,000. They bought a laptop and projector this fiscal year so the item was removed from the budget. He is still asking for an ongoing $3,000 per year to purchase a new copy machine in 2011 which will cost $14,000 to $16,000.
Harney asked Dvorak how long the contract with the City of Iowa City for inspections is and wondered if the fees would be raised. Dvorak said the contract is indefinite and is automatically renewed. They had one major job last year with Syngenta. The contract is only for commercial-industrial electrical inspections. Stutsman said their revenues are down quite a bit and asked if it was a reflection of fewer building inspections. Dvorak said yes. Stutsman said they did not lower them a lot from last year because it looks like they are the same. Dvorak said in 2008 it was $279,000 and $72,000 was from Syngenta. They are leaving it around $200,000 per building. Stutsman said it does not show it is going down less. Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne said from the re-estimate it is coming down $225,000 to $200,000. R. Sullivan said revenues are down, and expenses are up $2,000. Dvorak said it is offset with a minimal request for vehicles. Stutsman asked if they are going to replace vehicles every three instead of two years. Dvorak clarified that they have been replacing old vehicles every year but now he will replace them every two years. R. Sullivan said it makes sense now since they have a better fleet than a couple of years ago. Dvorak said they have not had any problems with the newer vehicles and the van is in great shape. Stutsman asked how many miles the van has. Busard said there are 104,000 miles on the van they are trading off this year. Dvorak said the others are all within less than 50,000 miles and the new van has around 25,000.
Public Health Director Doug Beardsley said in the overall budget they made a wage adjustment of 3.5%. There were some minor adjustments for fuel and postage. After wage and benefit increases they held the line on everything else. Stutsman asked why the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) grant for HIV consortium is zeroed out. Beardsley said if there is a grant not coming through any more they will not ask the County to continue with the program. The HIV Consortium grant was a pass through fund for regional and Deputy Public Health Director Tricia Kitzmann will explain it in more in detail. Kitzmann said the Ryan White Consortium Funds provide case management services. Approximately five years ago, Johnson County was approached to hold the money because smaller agencies were not capable of managing the funds. The County stepped up then because they were already part of the consortium. They did not provide any direct services but were a pass through agency. This past year the State has been going around talking to agencies about direct contracts with agencies providing case management services. This program has never been supported by County dollars, it was strictly pass through, but they did receive some money for administrative costs. Based on feedback from five contractors and the State Health Department, March 30, 2009 will be the last of Public Health's grant year for that funding source. Stutsman clarified the services will still be provided but will work directly with agencies. Kitzmann agreed.
R. Sullivan said in keeping with the revenues it looks like things wax and wane and asked if it is simply because some items are pass through grants. Beardsley said this is true of public health everywhere, grants come and go quite often. The amounts are adjusted accordingly and they make internal adjustments to hold the County harmless. Stutsman said fees for food inspection have increased. Beardsley said the environmental division is making projections about the number of establishments out there. The fees have not increased and are set by the State. The increase in revenues is from additional activity. Business Manager Becky Mills said they did receive more revenue last year and that was estimated for FY10 which accounts for the increase in that section.
Beardsley said there are some changes from internal reorganization, but the department is trying to adhere to the guidelines given by the Board for the overall budget. Field costs have also increased. There are several items not in the budget like the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) grant because it went to another department this year. A decrease in revenue offsets the decrease in expenditures for that line item. Again the decrease in revenue is mostly due to not having the HIV Consortium funds. R. Sullivan said he appreciates Public Health sticking to the guidelines and keeping things flat. Neuzil said Public Health does a good job of understanding that if a grant is available they are not going to start a brand new program and spend lots of money when it is done. Beardsley said they do not try to sneak things in under the wire.
Beardsley said the decision package is for additional clerical support in administrative and community health. There are 11 professional staff and only one clerk in the Environmental Health Division. The clerk does a lot of the preparation for septic, well, and food permits. Additional support is requested in the administration division for assistance with vouchering and other activities. Beardsley said they have professional staff doing clerical work which is not an efficient use of their time. An additional staff person would probably make billing more efficient and may help find other ways of increasing revenues. There is no promise the position will pay for itself but there is potential. R. Sullivan said it looks like a quarter of the position could be paid for with a grant. Beardsley said yes. Stutsman asked if temporary employees could contract to do the work. Beardsley said the type of work does not lend itself to temporary hires. R. Sullivan said it is the only personnel decision to be made in the decision package.
Beardsley said the other decision package is for replacement of a vehicle. Originally they asked for two vehicles. They have two 1999 vehicles, one with over 71,000 miles and the other with only 34,000 miles. Even though they were both 1999 vehicles, he did not feel justified in asking for a replacement of the vehicle with 34,000 miles. They are asking to replace the one with 72,000 miles. The department now has a fleet that is up to date and they could space out replacements more. If they postpone the replacements too often, then they will need to request three or four in one year. Next year they will need to replace the Windstar. They have $4,000 in Department 44, the vehicle fund. They are asking the County for $10,320 because they think they can make up the difference on the trade in. Stutsman said they have $4,000 and asked if they wanted $6,000 more. Beardsley said they are asking for $10,000 because they estimate a vehicle will cost $16,000. The Tracer they are asking to replace has developed some electrical problems. Stutsman said frankly the County vehicles have fewer miles than her own car. From a taxpayer's point of view, she said it might be hard to understand why the County would trade a low maintenance car with 71,000 miles. Mills said their staff has been stranded several times without lights and the car has required more frequent repairs. Stutsman asked if the car has been in for a complete check on the electrical problem. Mills said she has the cars checked out twice a year in the spring and fall. Stutsman said she hopes $16,000 is high estimate for a replacement vehicle. Beardsley said they have not shopped around yet. They would price other vehicles and then report back to the Board with their findings. R. Sullivan said even if they decided this could wait, it would make sense to have something budgeted because there should be something in the budget towards replacement whether they buy a vehicle or not. Beardsley said the concept of having a regular replacement schedule makes sense from a budgeting standpoint in order to spread the costs out in a predictable manner. Harney said this is the method he prefers. R. Sullivan said this is what Planning and Zoning does.
Kitzmann said when they set the amount for the vehicle they did so with the intent to purchase a larger vehicle than they have now. The Ford Ranger they own now is not able to pull the preparedness trailer. Stutsman asked what type of vehicle they want to purchase. Beardsley said they just need a larger truck with a bigger transmission and a better towing package, the Ford Ranger is too lightweight. R. Sullivan said it would be quite a change to the fleet. He noted they are not towing frequently and wondered if that is a move the Board would want to make. If Public Health needed a truck for an event they could swap with the Sheriff's Office or another department. Mills said the environmental staff uses the Ford Ranger now when they go to job sites. The division would be happy to have another truck instead of a car. R. Sullivan said County Assessor Bill Greazel gets fairly compact Jeep Liberty’s at a pretty good price.
Stutsman asked if every department fills out what the Health Department has for vehicles. Claiborne said he does not have a schedule of vehicles. Stutsman said they need to get a schedule of vehicles. They need to know how many vehicles have good towing packages and which vehicles are available for special projects. The Board has talked for years about doing something with fleet management and they keep putting it off. Information pertaining to mileage and replacement costs is good to have. Neuzil said they have been waiting to compile a list because the departments have been scattered all around town and now they are all going to be under one roof. It was part of FY02 strategic planning but never gelled because everyone was scattered. Beardsley said it makes sense if there is something available and they have access, they can use it. They also need to meet the needs of their environmental employees. Harney said the City of Iowa City has three or four vehicles which can be utilized by departments. City departments still have their own vehicles for specific needs, but they share the others. Stutsman said Information Services Director Jean Schultz is developing a program to coordinate vehicles going to conferences and coordinate rides. She thinks it could be expanded to include heavier, all purpose vehicles. R. Sullivan said it might be handy to be able to coordinate the vehicles. Beardsley said there are some limits to that because Environmental Health has equipment loaded in their cars. Harney said fleet management tracks vehicle mileage and replacement schedules and the County needs to find someone to do this job. Beardsley said he thinks this is a good idea as long as they still have the vehicles with the proper equipment in them for employees.
Harney asked if the proposed clerk position would be funded on an ongoing basis or if it is a one time grant. Beardsley said it has been ongoing, it is the Emergency Preparedness Grant and he hopes it continues into the future but there are no guarantees. Harney asked how the position would be funded if the grant was not renewed. Beardsley said there will always be a need for the position. The current funds they have for quarter time will be made available as long as they have them. Kitzmann said they would hire it like they do with other grants. The job advertisement would state the grant funds may run out and they would work to find other funding if necessary.
Stutsman asked if there were any big changes in the budget. SEATS Director Tom Brase said there are a couple changes due to inflation. He said last year $150,000 was spent on fuel and they are hoping to get that down with dead head miles once they start fueling at Secondary Roads on January 1, 2009. Brase said the estimate is just to keep it in the ball park. Neuzil said fuel prices are good right now. Brase said their department budgets for rent which really goes towards the bonding. Claiborne said they are waiting to move into the new facilities. He had mentioned to the Board this is an opportunity for them to decide if they still want departments to budget rent, and if they want that put back on the bonding or as additional revenue and expenditures in the General Basic Fund. Claiborne said the only thing to remember is if they put it back on the bonding, in essence General Basic people are paying twice. General Basic people are already paying the Debt Service and the TIFs, and now they are going to be paying the Debt Service, General Basic, TIF, and General Basic again. In essence, it is a double hit to the General Basic people that rewards the TIF districts. He suggested the Board either return the $80,000 as General Basic, or keep it in the budget and put it towards something else. He said it is a tool the Board can use.
Neuzil said the Board wanted Brase to track the amount of rent, partly because they are generating revenue from the contracts and those contracts will not be going down because of the brand new building. Neuzil asked if Brase has added the County's portion into the expenses. Neuzil asked if what the County had paid for rent is part of that $80,000. Brase replied it is all inclusive. He said he can take that portion out. Stutsman said she needs to think this through, and the Board needs to reflect this for contract purposes for other cities. She doesn't want to double tax for it. Brase said SEATS is five years away from the contract renewal, they have a five-year agreement. They can document all this just like they keep track of vehicle replacement. Brase explained they are on a separate line item with capital expenditures. R. Sullivan said there is almost a $45,000 increase, however there is $80,000 rent included that the County is not paying. It is actually a $35,000 decrease. Brase said he is trying to keep it as flat as possible. He said gas and electric are now broken out from the rent whereas before, they were included. Brase said that includes custodial service also with a budget increase of $2,000. Stutsman asked Claiborne how other buildings receive custodial services. Claiborne said they are looking at FY11. Until they get a full year in there, he and Facilities Manager Dave Kempf were talking about paying all utilities out of Department 17. Brase said in negotiations that will have to be included.
Neuzil said part of the issue is SEATS will have to share with the Rural Secondary Roads Fund and track that, and that's all under FY11. He understands why they are listing this as an expense but it is strange. Claiborne said they talked about this last year and it is up to the Board what they want to do. R. Sullivan said the real question is do they want to tax for it. They can tax for it and use it, or they can just not tax. He said the County can easily spend $35,000, but the question is if they want to do this. Neuzil said if they choose to internally track it for contract purposes, rent is still involved. He said they aren't taxing for it any longer, and that is the same difference. Brase said as long as the principle is there. Neuzil said if they tax, then it should go towards the Debt Services Levy. That's not what the Board has been doing. Any additional dollars go into the General Fund, and then the Board determines how much General Fund will go into Debt Service.
Stutsman said perhaps they need to see where they are at the end, as that may force a decision. They may want to limit how much taxes increase and this may be an opportunity to reduce that somewhat. Neuzil said he believes as long as everything can be internally tracked, they all know the contracts aren't changing and it seems a little strange to put this in here. Stutsman said the costs to run the SEATS office includes utilities, custodial, rent, and other things that may not be separate line items in the budget but the Board still needs to come up with those expenses. R. Sullivan asked if Beardsley included rent in Public Health's budget. Beardsley said he rents the building, and he took the rent for the HIV clinic out. Neuzil said he believes it needs to be removed as they are not paying rent. Stutsman and R. Sullivan agreed. Neuzil said line items reflect actual expenditures and if it isn't an actual expenditure, it should be taken out. Neuzil said it will make the bottom line look a lot better. R. Sullivan said it isn't honest budgeting to have SEATS tuck away a budget for rent while the Board knows there is extra money they can move. Stutsman agreed. Neuzil said eliminating $80,000 in rent expenditures is one of the advantages of having a new facility. Stutsman said taxpayers are expecting those numbers to go down. Harney said they sold it on eliminating the rent budgets. Claiborne said the actual amount is $93,000.
Stutsman asked how custodial services will be handled, and wondered if Kempf will handle that. Brase said Facilities Management has taken over. Stutsman said that should be removed too. Brase said Kempf has the contract with Midwest Janitorial. R. Sullivan said the question is if it will be in Facilities Management's budget or SEATS' budget. Brase said Kempf will know about that.
Stutsman asked about snow removal. Brase said his department has not been charged for snow removal. Neuzil said they will need to ask Secondary Roads about snow removal. Brase said Secondary Roads is not doing anything for free. R. Sullivan said Secondary Roads will remove snow, and SEATS will need to pay them back for SEATS part of the lot. Stutsman said she just doesn't want to be taxing for something they aren't paying for. R. Sullivan said rent and custodial services can be removed from the SEATS budget and asked Brase to check with Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Hackathorn about snow removal. Stutsman said there is some code language they need to be careful about. Neuzil said they may need to pay back the Rural Fund, or they may not even track it for their own parking lot. Meyers said they have to clean the place anyway for their own operations. Neuzil said it may just be a wash. Brase said they need to make sure everything checks out. R. Sullivan said if SEATS has 20% of the parking spaces, then perhaps 20% of the time they spend on that lot can be charged to SEATS.
Harney asked Brase to clarify the office equipment rental line item that was eliminated. Brase said they have had that line item for years and it included office equipment repair, maintenance, and rental. When Brase first started, they rented a copier but have since purchased one. He said money was budgeted for repairs. Stutsman asked why line item 84 dealing with dues and association fees is zeroed out. Brase replied he will check on that, as there should be dues and association fees of $300 plus for Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA). Stutsman said she doesn't want them not to pay those dues. Brase said they still want to remain members of CTAA.
Harney said he is aware Brase has had trouble with computer equipment and tracking and wondered if there is anything in the budget to deal with that. Brase said there is a maintenance fee and a software fee to maintain and upgrade. He said the hardware for the GPS will be $8,000 and the software is about $8,000 a year to upgrade. Brase said the first year he is planning on keeping it, to make sure they have everything going smoothly. He said they eventually went away from the hardware once business radio got familiar with the Radio Satellite Integrators (RSI) and Geographic Information System (GIS) mobile data communicators. Brase said they may end up using those eventually, but the first year with the rangers and mentors he doesn't know how familiar business radio is with them yet. Harney asked if there is anything else on the Geographic Positioning System (GPS) that is wiped out, and if anything is on-going. Brase said not at the current time.
R. Sullivan said it doesn't look like there is a lot of change in revenues. Brase said they are hoping for about $63,000 in revenue increases. R. Sullivan asked Brase why the contracts go up for the City of Iowa City, Coralville, and Lone Tree, down for Solon, and University Heights stays the same. Brase explained that Solon's contract is based on the number of trips. They pay $1.00 a trip to cover the $1.50 fare. The fares donation went down and he strongly urges the Board raise the fares for the rural area to about $2.00 just to cover the gas mileage. Brase said that is what they do in Linn County. Neuzil asked if the fare increase is reflected in the document. Brase said it isn't. Neuzil asked if it is a recommendation. Brase said it is. Neuzil said they have been asking department heads to do some justification. Stutsman asked how long it has been since they have raised fares. Brase said the last time they raised fares was when Iowa City raised it's fare from $.50 to $.75 cents. Brase said they just keep things constant within the County, which other places do not do. R. Sullivan asked if they are at $1.50. Brase said they are and they need to keep it the same according to the American Disabilities Act (ADA) in the ADA areas. They just must collect the contract difference if it increases. Stutsman asked if they are talking about Iowa City and Coralville. Brase said yes, it will stay at $1.50 in those areas, but for rural trips to Lone Tree or Solon, he recommends going up $.50 for a one-way trip. Stutsman asked if it would be from $1.50 to $2.00. Brase said yes.
R. Sullivan asked Brase if he worries about losing riders if prices are increased. Brase said with previous fare increases, Solon subsidized the difference and kept theirs at $.50, so he would have to talk to the cities. Generally rural ridership is dropping anyway because people do not realize how cheap it is to ride. Brase said if they ever extended their hours for rural riders similarly to provisions in town of five days a week, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., then their ridership would greatly increase, and they could coordinate better trips. Neuzil said a typical ride is close to $17.00 for a rural trip and they are talking about a $.50 raise. Neuzil said they are talking about increasing the fare from $1.50 to $2.00 per trip, so they are still subsidizing with County tax dollars. Brase said with rural trips they can deny trips, and if they have already done them for a transit purpose, loading the bus up, the costs would go down. Neuzil said it will still be more than $2.00. Brase said it would.
Harney asked how many trips they are actually making in the rural zones. Brase said about 10,000. Stutsman said she would like Brase to bring a proposal to the Board about increasing the fees, spelling out what an increase in additional revenues it would be. She said they need to talk to Lone Tree and Solon too. R. Sullivan said he agrees with Stutsman, and would like to look at changing the hours of operation. If it is possible to change the hours and still bring in enough revenue to make it worth while, then they should do so. R. Sullivan said if the Board changes it and they can't cover it in revenue, then they probably don't want to change. Neuzil said he'd like to re-evaluate every year or two. He said he would like to see a situation where they are gradually increasing to help pay for the actual costs. Neuzil added he would like to see a chart to show the results. Brase said he will get the information, especially for the Washington minibus in Iowa County. They are a break-even situation and they charge $45 for a one way trip from Washington, Iowa to Iowa City. R. Sullivan asked how quickly Brase could gather this information. Brase said he is in the middle of a move, and he is without a building supervisor. He said he could probably have a report done in January 2009. R. Sullivan said January 2009 would still give the Board time to change things. Neuzil said to keep the price at a $1.50 until the Board chooses to make a policy change. Brase said that sounds good.
Harney asked if they have a way of tracking people who can't afford a fare increase and wondered if there is some way of supplementing that. Brase said they sent out a survey, but they did not include the cost and similar items. He said that is what the rural is for, medical doctors, appointments, and other things. Harney said it is for people on limited incomes. Harney said that can become an issue. Neuzil asked if the increase will be $.50. Brase said he can look into it more, although the people who are taking the rural right now are appreciating the $1.50.
Brase said they requested $20,000 for vehicle replacement but they can adjust that too, as it depends on how many vehicles are replaced. He said Coralville had two replaced, Iowa City had four, and East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) replaced four all in one year. They gradually put some funds in to hopefully change that cycle and not have it all at one time. This year there are replacing vehicles 192, 228, and 229 and he will send the Board information on the odometers. He said the ones they are replacing have well over 200,000 miles. Brase said after four to five years, they are spending as much as it would cost for a matching grant from the government for those vehicles. Stutsman asked if those grants will still be available. Brase said they will, and whenever a vehicle is replaced, they get an 83/17% match on the ADA vehicle. He said they pay 17%, which comes to around $10,000 per vehicle being replaced. Harney asked if the vehicles are the ones received from other counties. Brase said no, those are to add to the fleet. He explained those vehicles cost around $100 each. Brase said 192 is one they got from another county. He said it was a minivan which has already been bought by Dubuque County.
Brase said a statewide survey was conducted on how fuel has affected the budget and how it continues to increase the percentage. Close to 90% of their budget used to be benefits and payroll. Brase said maintenance and fuel are causing their budget to grow immensely. Neuzil asked about the training. Brase they would like to add an employee as a mechanic under the SEATS department. He said the spreadsheet shows the percentage of vehicle maintenance cost, total budget, and percentage of maintenance, and labor and loan investments over the last couple years. Labor has gone up the last fiscal year from $55 an hour to $75 out of house cost. Brase said the last two years, including year to date, this fiscal year labor is at over $26,000 out of cost labor alone. The other sheets show maintenance breakdown. The cost to change a headlight bulb was $22.50. For doing an alternator or switching something out it was $600 for maintenance and labor alone. Brase said for the employee opening they are filling right now, it would be $25 per hour of labor. He said there would be plenty of work for them to do. Stutsman said it is always a real dilemma for her, sorting through the role of government in providing these services. On one hand, they expect people and businesses to pay property taxes. Stutsman said the only way they stay in business is by providing services. If the County continues to take over the services, then businesses don’t generate money and thus can’t pay taxes. She said it is a balancing act for her. They can provide a lot of their own services much cheaper, but then how do the local businesses stay in business if one of their biggest customers doesn't buy from them anymore.
Brase said they will still take their vehicles out for alignments and wheel balances because they can't do that in house. However, it is strongly recommended to save in the area of preventive maintenance. He said there are only two places to get lift repairs, one in Waterloo and one at Iowa City transit. He said they don't have a trained mechanic in house to do general maintenance on the lifts so they aren’t getting it done as quickly as they'd like. The Department of Transportation (DOT) had a class on in house maintenance in November, 2008. The class, at the Coralville Marriott, emphasized how cost savings from in house mechanical work helps the local government. Harney asked if the mechanics have to be certified to work on the lifts. Brase said yes. Harney asked if they are doing it just for SEATS or shared space with Secondary Roads. Brase said that does bring up a concern for what type of work Secondary Roads would do, and what his department does. Brase said he would like to have his own spot because they have the space in the garage and they have equipment purchased with an earmarked grant for those types of things. There is plenty of work for employees to do. There would also be no inter-departmental controversy on what the mechanics are working on and what the priorities are. Brase said they could have a mechanic who could go out to service breakdowns. Another large cost savings will be in towing fees. Now, it costs $150 to be towed back to a garage. If SEATS had their own mechanic, that person could service the vehicle on site, and would also know when to drive those vehicles without damaging them further.
Neuzil said the Board has been asking for in house mechanics for a while now and he was always challenged with not knowing if there was enough work to justify the training. When they start thinking about fleet management, they notice how every one of their departments needs some preventative maintenance and oil changes. This could be another way to save money. Brase said it will be one-third the cost of what they are paying now. Harney asked what SEATS currently pays. Brase said $75 an hour. In FY08 they paid $46,162 in labor alone. Stutsman said that doesn't even come close to covering the cost of a mechanic. Brase said it would come to right around that amount, especially when savings on parts is added in. Right now they are paying $170 per tire, and they can get the tires for about $110. They can save on costs when they buy in-house, otherwise, they are paying a $60 markup charge. Stutsman said that is how businesses make money. She said she really fusses with it, in terms of what is the best thing to do. R. Sullivan said it is definitely a dilemma. They have discussed this with rent and there are some landlords who wish government was still renting. It is tough for those specific individuals. Stutsman said what is tough is taking business away while taxes keep going up. Somehow, they have to generate revenues to pay for additional taxes. R. Sullivan said he is feeling good about holding the line. There is then a better argument to take back to the taxpayers. Nothing could be worse than losing a lot of income from government, and then also seeing taxes go way up. He said if the Board can say they will lose the income but the taxes won’t go up, at least it will ease the pain.
Brase said there is no way they will be doing transmission work or alignments in house right now. He said there is also no way they can afford a $50,000 unit to do air conditioning maintenance either. Brase said they will buy parts locally to support local businesses. Harney asked what the overall cost to the County will be once wages and benefits are included. He asked how that compares to what they are paying out now in parts, service, and maintenance. Brase said it will be well under. He said the salary with benefits would be below $40,000. Harney said Brase should also add in the cost to purchase the lifts and for start up equipment to open the shop. Brase said that is already purchased with the $100,000 money earmarked for equipment. No further equipment will need to be purchased, other than oil itself. He said instead of paying $4.00 per quart oil will cost them $1.50 or $2.00 per quart. Stutsman asked how much in salary and benefits has been allocated for the training maintenance coordinator. Brase said it is already under their personnel budget and it will be starting at $17.71 per hour. Stutsman asked what the total package is for this position. Brase said Human Resources told him it is $23.41 per hour. Stutsman said she needs to know how much the maintenance supervisor package will be. R. Sullivan said the total will be $48,000, taking $24.00 times 2,010 hours. Brase said it might be $22.00, but he will check. He said it has been $17.71 starting July 1, 2009. Harney asked if there is enough to keep an employee busy. Brase said yes, and the DOT, the National Data Transit Association, and others they contract are asking for specific records. The individual will need to record data such as vehicle mileage and how much required maintenance is being done and then fill out reports. He said the maintenance trainer position requested and approved years ago was for a trainer.
Harney asked if they are still going to buy the fuel from outside or from Secondary Roads. Brase said from Secondary Roads it's a penny a gallon for administrative use fees. Brase said they will also save about $20.00 a month for billing. R. Sullivan asked Brase to send the Board a cost sheet detailing this discussion reflecting the revenue and expenses associated with this new position. Brase replied he will. Neuzil asked if the SEATS employees will also service Secondary Roads' vehicles. Brase said SEATS employees must meet the Federal Transitive Administration’s guidelines for drugs and alcohol which is different from the Secondary Roads' union agreement. Neuzil asked if SEATS could provide Secondary Roads services. Brase said yes, for some minor work. Neuzil asked if eventually they could service Public Health Department or Conservation vehicles for things such as an oil changes. Brase said yes.
Recessed at 10:17 a.m.; reconvened at 10:25 a.m..
County Recorder Kim Painter said they are status quo budget for 2010. There is an open position and with the real estate market and overall economy the way it is, she is leaving the position unfilled until the local real estate economy bursts back onto the scene full force and they really need that person again. Painter said it also gives her leeway if the bottom falls out from under everything and people end up having to cut. Stutsman asked if that is a retiree who just hasn't been replaced. Painter said yes. That position is on hold, on a reserve basis, on the payroll. She said the Auditor has that information. Painter said those are the expenditures for Department 11. For revenues, she did estimate them down considerably. It has been estimated for FY09, as well as FY10. She said what she is seeing so far looks to be about $20,000 less in recording revenues per quarter at this point. Stutsman asked if it is consistent with 2008’s budget. Painter said she lowered it a little further and explained revenues are dependant on so many factors, including whether the incoming administration’s mortgage relief plan is going to stimulate a lot of refinances. If it does, then it will take care of any local short fall. They are in an odd situation, and the revenues for them are pretty solidly tied to how many real estate transactions they are processing. Painter said she has estimated that down about $70,000 for the year and down about $74,500 for 2010. They can see recovery faster, or they could see tremendous growth this spring with a big pickup in their revenues. She said she is playing it safe and conservative right now, saying they will see some short fall and downturn next year.
Stutsman asked for a clarification. Painter said she is holding the decrease about the same. The first change is in Fiscal Year 2009, taking it down as far as it will probably go. Stutsman said it should then just be another $4,000 down. Painter said it doesn’t carry that over into the column for 2010. She said if they make an adjustment for 2009, they still have to make the adjustment for 2010. She said she will hope for the best and hope she overestimated in terms of a decrease.
Neuzil said Painter is hitting exactly the reality of what is happening with the economy. These are the same kind of things they are hearing from the Assessors, particularly that new growth is going to slow down. He said when the new growth slows down it means they don’t get as much revenue. Painter said that is correct, and there are times when difficulties create revenues for them too. As some large malls change hands, the Recorder's Office gets those documents and gets the high value of the real estate transactions reflected in fees to the County and the State. Painter said while those kinds of things are not necessarily pleasant they do bump up revenues. Transactions in the commercial arena can also help their bottom line.
R. Sullivan asked if Painter thinks there would be an impact on morale in not filling that vacant position for the moment. He asked if people still feel like they can handle the work load. Painter said they are feeling pretty good at the moment, even with snow mobile season. It is going well and the office is staffed perfectly for the dramatic decrease in real estate. She said they have had some falling off and they are okay with that slot for the moment. Painter said it will get harder, but everyone is going to have a hard time during 2009. She said it will get harder during the high volume vacation times and they will have to look at some of those things differently. Painter said the service standard will remain high and she will be watching that carefully.
Meyers asked if Painter is anticipating an increase in marriage applications. Painter said marriage applications have been going up, but maybe they will start to go down too.
Painter said the capital technology doesn’t have a carry forward, and she isn’t sure why. She said it is about $3,000 higher than last year. She anticipates some percentage increase on their software vendor. She said if it doesn’t happen, that money will stay in Central Technology. Painter said she wants to put something in there so she doesn’t have too little money for Schultz on that particular budget item. Harney asked if she just estimates an increase but not purchasing anything new. Painter said that is correct. She added there is a licensing increase every so often. There is a new product coming out that is going to help with some goals, possibly in terms of parcel identification numbers and getting the recorder’s documents more solidly integrated with all the other real estate documents. Painter said that is a high priority, and their vendor now has a web based real estate product that will be added to what they have now.
Painter said Recorder's Record Management is a fund based on the $1.00 fee people pay to record documents by Code. She said it is tied in to updates to office technology. Painter said any unused balance carries forward in the account for future use within the Recorder’s Office. Painter said she adjusted it back down for 2010 from some document restoration projects they have underway this year. She will move that down to a more typical range for what they see in terms of departmental expenditures. She took some of the money from records conversion and made a few other decreases to get to the amount she wanted.
Painter said she did decrease revenues. She said it is hard to predict exactly how many documents they will get. The number of documents is less tied to the amount of fees they take in now than when she was first hired. The documents are larger, they get more money for the documents, and the dollar values can be high so that bumps up their fees all the more. Painter said with the slowdown, she anticipates there will be some decrease. Stutsman asked what they do with the documents. Painter said they do not take any money from Central Technology for their computers, scanners, and printers. She said it comes out of those funds. Whatever is left can be allocated toward restoration of older, frail, and brittle documents. Painter said she is very dedicated to maintaining the very oldest documents because they do have a tremendous amount of sentimental value. To some degree, Painter feels a responsibility to maintain those, as well as increase their technology and eliminate as many costs as she can from old processes.
Harney said he doesn’t want to cut corners in electronic storage and maintenance of records because of storage space. He asked if they have anything included for that. Painter said they have done the vast majority of what they are going to do. The issue she is facing right now involves their biggest bank of real estate records which date back to 1983. There is interest within the community in having the records go back further but the cost to convert those records is very high. Painter said the other issue involves the 1983 period and before when a lot of the very sensitive identifying numbers were placed on documents. They are in the middle of a very big situation with that currently. She doesn’t have document images enabled on her public web site because from a period from 1983 to roughly 2000-2001, financial institutions found it useful to use social security numbers, account numbers, and other sensitive numbers on some of the real estate documents. They can't address those documents until they get some guidance from the State on how they want those numbers redacted. This will be another big document management cost in the year 2009. She said that is another thing which makes her reluctant to move backwards quickly, because she knows that cost will be in there too. Painter said she will move a little more slowly than she had hoped on posting records prior to 1983. She mentioned it would be nice to be able to go back to 1975. They have all their old plats electronically scanned and backed-up.
Veteran's Affairs Director Leo Baier said they aren’t asking for much this year and assumed the Board would be happy about that. Baier said he'd like to go to 100% of poverty for their income guidelines, and he thinks this is overdue. He said they discussed this a few years ago, and currently those amounts are pretty close to what they are using now: $867 for one and $1,167 for two, and for each additional family member, $300. Baier said the Veteran’s Affairs Commissioners and he feel it is long overdue. The second thing he is asking for is to bump up Commissioner's compensation from $25 to $30. Baier said he had considered asking for other things, but in view of the economy he thought these two requests would be reasonable and hoped the Board would agree. Baier said other than those two requests, they really aren’t asking for anything and intend to live with what they have. Baier said State grants are on a fiscal calendar year with the County, July 1-June 30, but FEMA is on a calendar year. 52.5% of Veteran's Affairs total budget goes out for housing assistance. Baier said the County is number one for cost of housing.
Stutsman said Baier talks about going to 100% of poverty. Baier said that is established by the Department of Human Services (DHS) each year. Stutsman asked if Veteran's Affairs is doing that now. Baier said no. They are 800 for one, 1,000 for two, and 100 for each extra. He said last time they talked, R. Sullivan echoed that he thought it would be reasonable. R. Sullivan said it makes sense. Stutsman said she doesn't have a problem with that, but she doesn't see where the increase is reflected. Baier said it won't make much of a difference. In fact, he doesn't think anything they are asking for will impact the budget. He said last year there was $200 they did not use. He said even though there are three commissioners, they don't always make every meeting. Baier said Chapter 35 B governs them and clearly states the Board has the right to increase the stipend at their convenience. Baier read from Chapter 35: "A member of the commission shall receive $25 or a greater amount as established by the Board of Supervisors for each month during which the member attends one or more commission meetings. They shall be reimbursed for mileage the same as a member of the Board of Supervisors." Baier said it is clearly indicated the Board has the right to do so. He said he was going to ask for a bump of about $15, but in view of the economy the way it is they will be happy with this $5 bump. Baier said they are very supportive and helpful to him, and they do a great job. Stutsman said she doesn't question that, it is just that she doesn't see where the $5 increase is reflected in budget. Baier said he has indicated a $180 increase. He said it reflects the $180 for the whole year. Baier said that is the only increase they will see. Stutsman said she wants to make sure the increase is in the report. R. Sullivan said it is under transportation.
R. Sullivan said Baier is absolutely right about coming back every year with poverty. He asked if the Board made a policy change. R. Sullivan said Baier could think about talking to the Board about making an ongoing policy change to be adopted as the poverty rate is calculated on an annual basis. Baier said DHS establishes poverty figures. Harney said what R. Sullivan means is that he is asking Baier to bring it in and have the Board adopt it, so every time that changes it automatically changes. Baier asked if they would like a copy from DHS. R. Sullivan said such a proposal should be on the Board's informal agenda for a future meeting. They should tie it to poverty on an annual basis so they don't have to do so every time and it could just be a given. Baier asked if they would like the current one so they can put it aside now. Stutsman said they should put it on the agenda and then adopt it. Harney said then each year, Baier will check what the poverty level is and then include it in the budget. Baier said the process is usually done in October of every year, and he checked a month ago to make sure the figures were correct, and they haven't changed from 2008. Baier said the poverty figures are usually determined by October 1st. R. Sullivan asked if Baier anticipates seeing more people as a result of the number. Baier said they are at 50% for five months. They are gradually seeing an increase. He said they will have more returning veterans coming in. Right now, they are okay and intend to live within their budget for FY10.
Stutsman asked if the State passed legislation saying they will give additional dollars to Veteran's Affairs. Baier said in September 2008 he send a letter to State Executive Director Patrick Palmersheim requesting that anyone having over 60,001 population is supposed to have 40 hours paid for. He asked Palmersheim to grant them an exemption. Baier said he and the Commission signed the request, but he has not received a reply to date. He said he contacted Palmersheim again in October 2008 but still has no reply. R. Sullivan said their argument is that they have the VA Hospital that people are taking advantage of. Baier said there are two full-time commissioners and one part-time commissioner. He said they are getting a pretty cheap date because he does more than 25 hours. Baier said he will be willing to do up to six hours, but not beyond. Baier said he hopes the Board feels he is making a contribution and if there are any complaints he hopes to hear them. Baier said right now there are five counties that have no office. His hope is that the state office goes after those people, as every County needs a Veteran's Affairs office, because even though there is a low Veteran population in some counties, if there was an office, there would be activity. He hopes they go after those counties and leave the rest of them alone. R. Sullivan said, at some point in the spring, perhaps the Board will need a good update from Baier.
County Treasurer Tom Kriz said the Treasurer's report is pretty basic and simple this year. One commitment they made in 1999 involved cutting operation expenses every year for ten years. Kriz said for the last two years it has been a struggle, but they have achieved that. It is only down about $350 but they have found ways to stay within the budget. The amount he is asking for is slightly down from last year on the operating part less salaries. To give an idea, in 1999 their operating costs were $89,695 and ten years later they are $79,755. He credited his department for doing a great job with keeping it in line and finding unique ways to cut operation costs. Kriz said some of that has been done through bulk purchasing with other smaller counties. They purchase envelopes and other office items they use in enormous quantities. He negotiated with the Department of Transportation and now the DOT buys all the copy paper so the Treasurer’s Office has eliminated that expense. They have been able to cut down on phone costs since it has become cheaper for long distance and faxing. On the expense side, there hasn't been a lot of change except for an increase in postage expenses.
R. Sullivan asked if the Treasurer's Association talked about allowing people to opt in for tax statements where they can actually get tax statements via email. Kriz said they have talked about that option at length. Many of the smaller counties don't have the ability to do so, but he believes it is something Johnson County could do. Kriz said they would like to have it so customers can print copies of statements online. They do send electronic statements to about 25 individuals who have requested. He said it is a little cumbersome but there are ways to transmit statements electronically. Another efficiency they have gained over time with technology is the ability to pay over the internet so customers can use an e-check to pay and the cost is only $.40. Customers can pay from their home, it is automatic, and it cuts down on staff time. He said they are always looking at ways to be more efficient with what they get. Kriz said they know they are operating efficiently when they ask for $10,000 less than 10 years ago while costs continue to grow.
Kriz said salaries vary with the bargaining contracts. In the last 10 years they have gone from 23 full-time equivalents (FTEs) and 3 part-time employees down to 14 FTEs. Over 10 years, that savings is just under $3,000,000. Kriz said theirs is fairly constant and they are reasonably able to predict what will happen and what they will need. With limited revenue sources, revenues are up about $1,600. If there is a concern for 2009, it is what the economy does. They are starting to see a slowdown in automobile sales in the County, so it is a little hard to predict fee income. However, with new legislation starting in January 2009, the percentage received from renewal fees that will be increasing so he thinks they will be able to maintain that or slightly increase it. Kriz said it is a good market for late model used car sales. It is a fairly slow market for new vehicles, other than expensive new vehicles. The $80,000 Mercedes and BMWs are still selling and they are still seeing them come through. He said there are fewer dealer titles. Kriz said that will mean slightly less revenue from one time sales tax, which used to be called a road use tax. Participation in the annual tax sale and registration fee can skew their revenue up or down. Kriz said they have had as few as 150 people and as many as 450, and $100 per person, that can skew things quite a bit.
Kriz said it will be a tough year to figure out with new rates and new fees going in through the DOT and seeing what the economy does to slow the car industry. Kriz said the County's reimbursement from the State is one of their big income items. He said it is not that it is income, it costs them. No one in motor vehicle for the State makes money, but it has always been a goal to at least break even. Kriz said they have pretty well achieved that or are slightly ahead. He said they have always been a quarter of a million dollars behind eight to 10 years ago. R. Sullivan asked how the $100 tax sale registration fee compares to what Polk, Blackhawk, or Linn County do. Kriz said they are right in the ballpark with the bigger counties. He said, with tax sales, they can only charge what the tax sale costs them by law. He said last year the cost was higher because they had to run the ad twice. The tax sale ad itself is almost $5,000. Kriz said they can only charge what it costs to conduct the sale, and throughout the year what it costs for tax sale. In 1999 they charged $10 and were losing a fortune. They raised it to $100 in 2000, and a lot of the bigger counties looked at what it really cost them throughout the year. Kriz said too many people had been looking at that day, but with all the 1099s they have to send out, the County was starting to say they have been losing money. As a result, many counties went to $100. Kriz said he thinks Polk County charges $125 now. He said they also have to rent a facility, which Johnson County doesn't have to do. Kriz said all treasurers have to know what it costs because that is how they determine the entry fee.
Harney asked if people are coming in and paying off those tax sales bills. Kriz replied maybe slightly slower, but not too much difference. They usually sell about 400 parcels every June, with about 100 redeemed the first week once the reality hits that it does get sold at the tax sale. Kriz said for 2008 there were about 88 or 89, so maybe it was down 10. Tax collection in general is ahead. Once again, people can use credit cards. He said in a tight economy sometimes that is the only way to pay. More people than ever are making monthly installments so they don't have a huge sum due at the last minute. Kriz said there is nothing on capitol technology. Half of his office is DOT equipment. Kriz said they are making good use of an old copy machine and it is sufficient because they don't need all the functions. Harney asked if Kriz has listed the changes they will make under facilities. Kriz said he has been working with Facilities Manager Dave Kempf. He said it is a strange partnership to have a Medical Examiner and a Treasurer in one office, but it works well, everyone gets along, and they have the space.
Claiborne said Trails Maintenance is under capital expenditures. He said Neuzil had suggested setting $3,000 aside annually to accrue. The Attorney had a legal assistant personnel request. R. Sullivan said Ambulance Director Steve Spenler had another personnel request, a part time employee at $15,000 that was separate. R. Sullivan said Spenler requested 2.3 full time employees. He recommended doing it as a separate package because that is how it was presented. Neuzil said he didn't think the legal assistant would be revenue neutral. Neuzil said he knew there would be revenue generated. R. Sullivan said County Attorney Janet Lyness said there would be savings from the Jail and a little bit of collections revenue but not all of that. Neuzil said the way it reads sounds like it's a wash. Meyers said any money saved is going to be hard to quantify. R. Sullivan said the collections will be able to be quantified, but the question is how much. Meyers said he was talking about any inefficiency in the Jail operation. Harney said $250,000 for the Armory demolition may not cover all the costs. Neuzil said that was Kempf's prediction. Harney said the National Guard had bids that were considerably higher. Neuzil said they need to follow up with Kempf. He said he thought Kempf was going to get some bids and do some follow up. M. Sullivan said he doesn't think Kempf is soliciting bids, although he may get some quotes or something. R. Sullivan asked Claiborne if he is keeping total track. He said he was trying to but he got lost himself. R. Sullivan said he was taking the bottom line of each department, up $2,000 from last year, down $16,000, to gage where they are at so far. He asked if Claiborne could prepare a chart to show the changes from last year. Claiborne said it will show operational costs only because personnel costs are calculated differently.
Neuzil said the Board requested departments stay in line with their operating expenses from FY09 to FY10 budget. He said they know there are some exceptions such as fuel, postage and a service contract with the software vendor. R. Sullivan said in having the bottom line the Board would know where they are at in terms of where they were a year ago. Neuzil asked if all vehicles fall under capital. Neuzil specifically mentioned the Medical Examiner's truck. Claiborne said that is additional. He said the savings in Ambulance, SEATS, and the Sheriff's budgets are assumed. Claiborne said they are showing new capital on the tally. Neuzil asked if Planning and Zoning's or Public Health's request fall under this. Claiborne replied Public Health will, as they don't save every year. R. Sullivan said Planning and Zoning's is the same as last year. Neuzil asked if Ambulance is asking for the same as last year. Claiborne said he will need to look at that. R. Sullivan asked Neuzil if he means for vehicles. Neuzil said it is different every year. R. Sullivan said it is consistent in that it is the replacement schedule. Neuzil said they want both an ambulance and a new truck for the department. R. Sullivan said the running tally sheet is very important, and they want to make sure it is as accurate as it can be.
Harney asked if anything is built into the budget to allow for asbestos removal and the DNR permits and lead removal. R. Sullivan said he doesn't know if there was a reference to the Fisher building, but they talked about lead and asbestos in terms of the Armory. M. Sullivan said that has already been removed. R. Sullivan said the Board has not budgeted to tear down the three houses but to purchase them. Neuzil said if GSA is an absolute no, then there is no reason to tear the houses down. Claiborne said it does not say demolition, just three houses on Capitol Street. Harney said the comma and the way it was written kind of threw him off. R. Sullivan said he doesn't know about the Fisher building, or if he talked about those things in relation to Fisher or not. Meyers said he didn't think there would be that kind of thing over there. Harney said with older homes one never knows what they are going to find. Neuzil said they may need to keep the building up if they can't afford demolition. He said he isn't saying it will be occupied, just that it will stay.
R. Sullivan asked if Claiborne will have the tally sheet updated from Monday, December 8, 2008 for Wednesday, December 10, 2008. Stutsman asked Claiborne to work on the list of the vehicles with each department. Neuzil said it will be nice to have a list of vehicles, employee requests, capital, and technology. In addition, R. Sullivan had requested the bottom line of operational expenses for FY10. Claiborne said Wednesday, December 10, 2008 looks light. Neuzil asked if they could add departments to the lighter agenda meetings so they could eliminate one meeting time. R. Sullivan asked about Monday, December 15, 2008. Meyers said they have Board of Supervisors and Human Resources. Neuzil asked if they can put the Board of Supervisors and Human Resources on the Wednesday, December 10, 2008 agenda so they don't have to meet on a Monday or a Wednesday. Claiborne said he could send a mass email to department heads requesting a list of vehicles. He said they could cancel December 10, 2008 and move that agenda to December 15, 2008. Stutsman said she prefers that. Neuzil said that is fine with him too. R. Sullivan said it can all be put on Monday, December 15, 2008. Neuzil said as long as the meetings will stay within three hours. Claiborne said Information Services and Technology will go on December 15, 2008. Claiborne said he will contact Information Services Director Jean Schultz to make sure she can actually be at the meeting before they actually cancel.
Adjourned at 11:15 a.m.
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary