MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
DECEMBER 18, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Deputy Auditor Dana Aschenbrenner and Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards: Approve and Authorize the County Auditor to Send Request for Proposals for the Implementation of GASB 45......................................... 1
Workplace Learning Connection Director Mary Lou Erlacher: Progress Report/Update of Workplace Learning Connection Activities.......................................................................................................................... 2
Johnson County Historical Society President Shaner Magalhaes: Johnson County Historical Society FY2010 Budget Request........................................................................................................................... 4
County Engineer Greg Parker: 28E Project Agreement Between Iowa Department of Transportation and Johnson County, to Allow IDOT to Purchase Right-of-Way for Road Relocations or Reconstruction for IDOT Project(s) STPN-1-5(85)—2J-52/HES-1-5(78)—2H-52 on Highway #1 from Iowa City to Solon....................... 6
Integrated Roadside Vegetation Manager Chris Henze: Weed Commissioner Annual Report....... 6
County Engineer Greg Parker: Letter Dated December 9, 2008 from the Oak Ridge Lake Estates Homeowners Association Regarding 140th Street off Highway 965.......................................................... 9
Board of Supervisors: County’s Role Regarding Payment of Additional Withholding on Dependent Health and Dental Coverage....................................................................................................................... 13
Board of Supervisors: Appointment to the Livable Community for Successful Aging Policy Board 15
Reports and Inquiries from the Board of Supervisors............................................................... 15
Executive Session: Collective Bargaining Strategy for Public Professional and Maintenance Employees (PPME) Secondary Roads Unit, Administrative Unit, and Sheriff’s Unit........................................................... 16
Executive Session: Pending Litigation in Michael Dooley, et al., vs. Johnson County Board of Supervisors, et al., Appellate No. 8-583/08-0195.......................................................................................................... 16
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:02 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Deputy Auditor Dana Aschenbrenner said Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) set the standards of financial reporting for governments. Aschenbrenner said GASB 45 is a statement issued by GASB that requires all governments to recognize the liability associated with other post employment benefits offered to early retirees. When someone retires prior to being eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, the County is required to allow them to purchase into the County's health insurance program. There is a subsidy that they pay the standard rate for all active employees. Aschenbrenner said the intuition there is that if employees had to go out into the market and purchase comparable insurance, they would pay a higher rate. The County must recognize that liability going forward and the potential cost if a large number of employees decide to retire early. He said this is how the County has to recognize it on financial statements and report it publicly. R. Sullivan asked why they are using an RFP (Request for Proposals). Aschenbrenner said it is for Actuarial Services, with an estimated cost of $7,000 to $20,000 for the services. He believes this is required every other year, so it will be recurring, and the Auditor's Office is putting it out now in order to get some proposals. Aschenbrenner said several firms have approached them prior to this time, so several are likely to submit proposals to the County.
Stutsman said the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) had two preferred vendors, but there are others who might be interested. Aschenbrenner said he has included the ISAC recommendations on the distribution list and then some other firms that have contacted them independently prior to this time. Stutsman asked Aschenbrenner when they are required to have this completed. Aschenbrenner answered it must be completed by the end of the current fiscal year. He said the actuarial estimate will be retrospective to June 30, 2008. They will use data from the prior fiscal year to do their estimates. Stutsman asked about the liability, but then said that can be discussed at another time. Aschenbrenner said the RFPs will be recognized for the report for the current fiscal year, so they will be recognized in the financial statement for that year. Harney asked if this is an annual requirement. Aschenbrenner replied it is required every other year.
R. Sullivan said they have a deadline of June 30, 2009. He said by getting the RFP out now, he is assuming they are confident they can meet that deadline. Aschenbrenner said he believes so. One of the firms estimates it takes approximately three months to complete. They are prepared, upon the Board's approval, to distribute the RFPs on December 18, 2008 and hopefully have all the proposals collected within one month. Meyers asked if they have done this before. Aschenbrenner replied they have not. This is a new statement issued in Phase II Government, with Fiscal Year 2008 being the first year they have to estimate it. Meyers asked if when they get this done, it will give the Board some idea of how much money to set aside. Aschenbrenner said technically yes. A lot of governments don't set aside money for the liability, and he guesses the firm will consult with the Board about that. Stutsman said there are a lot of different ways to do so, such as putting it in a trust. She said she is ready to move ahead.
Recessed at 9:08 a.m.; reconvened at 9:15 a.m.
Workplace Learning Connection Director Mary Lou Erlacher said the County's schools and employers have been most generous with the Workplace Learning Connection by allowing students to leave for career exploration activities and allowing employers to host students. Erlacher said they feel when the community is involved in showcasing opportunities that match students' interest, there is a synergy that is economic development for the region. The students realize they can have the career and lifestyle they want in the area, whether they stay here right after high school or come back after having left the region. The employers are able to showcase what they have and ultimately that helps with recruiting and training costs. Almost half the students have told them that because of these experiences, they feel they can have the kind of lifestyle and career they want in this area, and would like to remain in Iowa.
Erlacher said the chart in the center shows the school districts. The chart clearly shows the number of career speakers, tours, job shadows, internships, and other kinds of career events that are requested by each school district. She said there are 732 employers in Johnson County alone that participate in the program. From those employers, almost 1,500 employees participate. Erlacher said Johnson County schools are the only ones that fully fund them at the level they request. She said it is $5.00 for every high school student and $3.00 for every middle school student. Erlacher said they do have participation from all 33 school districts in their region. She said some of them only pay for high school, and a couple of them still pay for fees for services rather than a fee per student. She said Johnson County does meet that goal, and Regina High School also participates. R. Sullivan asked if the region is the Grant Wood Region. Erlacher said Grant Wood, Kirkwood, and the RWeb Region are all concurrent. Erlacher said Johnson County employers contributed $21,000 to them last year. She said the funds from the University of Iowa Community Credit Union are not coming directly to them, but to a project that they are sponsoring in 2008.
For the last several years Erlacher has been working with University of Iowa Community Credit Union Public Relations Head Jean Knepper and CEO Jeff Disterhoft. Concerned about financial literacy, they have wanted something at the middle school level to help children with financial literacy issues. The State has added a new section called 21st Century Skills to its model core curriculum. One of those skills is financial literacy. Erlacher said they searched the Internet for information on such programs and found the National Credit Union Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire has a financial literacy program for middle school students. They presented the information to the UICCU, who hence set aside $5,000 to buy the curriculum. Erlacher said five middle schools will pilot that program. She said it consists of a math and or social studies curriculum which teachers can use as additions to their current curriculum. These new materials can be used to make learning more exciting. A financial literacy fair is scheduled for March 2009 at the Children's Museum at Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville. She expects 500 children and 30 businesses to participate. Erlacher said the kids come in with a career and an allotted salary. The kids then have to construct a budget. They will be given a family profile, so if they have children in their profile, they will have to buy insurance. The employers' roles will be to sell them items such as a car, insurance, and transportation. The event will feature a wheel of destiny which includes life events such a losing a job, getting a raise, or being involved in a car accident. At the end of the day the students will receive feedback from a financial counselor. They are excited about this event and feel it will be very useful in understanding family financial processes. She said she will make sure the Board gets an invitation.
Erlacher thanked the Board for paying them at the $.04 per capita rate. She said Jones County is still a hold out, but she keeps thinking they will come around. The rest of the packet includes newspaper articles from 2008. The Workplace Learning Connection celebrated their ten year anniversary in June, 2008. They also have a new logo. There is some data on the back of the brochure that lists feedback from high school students. Stutsman asked if the County pays $4,400 for Johnson County students. Erlacher said that is correct, and it is based on the population at the time of the 2000 census.
Harney said these are excellent programs and he thinks the one at the Credit Union is going to be interesting. He said they are very appreciative of the Credit Union for taking on the project and providing lunch for the participants. R. Sullivan said he and Neuzil have had students from the Workplace Learning Connection. Neuzil said he will be hosting another student the week of December 22, 2008. Erlacher said there is a calendar of events on their website. She said they are asking their advisory council to attend a portion of one of their group job shadow days. She also requests that the Board again consider them in the budget for 2009. Erlacher said she knows there are lots of other opportunities due to the floods, but if the Board can consider her request, she would appreciate it.
Johnson County Historical Society President Shaner Magalhaes thanked the Board for their past and present fiscal support which has allowed the Historical Society to continue to grow as an organization and meet the needs of the community. Magalhaes said he is impressed by the number of people that value the history and the work the Society is doing to protect the County's history for the future. Every day, he receive calls or visits from people with suggestions for a new display, or oral history programs, or educational programs. They would love to do all of them, but it takes money.
Johnson County Historical Society Board Chairman Steve Weeber thanked the Board for their financial support which has been essential to balancing their budget. Weeber said he knows that in addition to supporting their budget, many of them helped in their efforts to raise more money in a Capital campaign. He said the Weeber family gave $300,000 and they are trying to figure out a way to double that. They have exceeded that goal and raised about half the money. He said the Board's support for the organization has been very helpful. One of Weeber's highlights of the year was the County Fair. They had a booth for kids. He set up some items for children, and the biggest problem is they were overrun with kids. Their programs touch everyone in the County and he is at the meeting to thank the Board for their support. R. Sullivan said he certainly recognizes that Weeber has given a tremendous amount to the Historical Society and thanked him as well.
Magalhaes said the handout he is giving the Board presents a specific program that would not have happened without their support. The mission is to preserve Johnson County's history. Weeber said with the additional funds received from the County in 2008, they leveraged the money toward a grant with the Department of Cultural Affairs to create the Community Stories project. They hired a full time staff person under the grant to research and develop a permanent exhibit for the museum in Coralville. A traveling component of that exhibit will be available. Magalhaes said Weeber is working in the Sharon Center area to prepare an exhibit there and this will probably be the first one to be done. This program has been incredibly popular. His staff is meeting with people in Cosgrove and Union Township, and many other areas in the County. People are delighted with this opportunity because it says to them that their history is important and will be represented in the museum.
Magalhaes reminded the Board he worked on a five year action plan for the Poor Farm and Asylum with Neuzil. He said he believes the Board approved the plan of action and he now wants to put it into a proclamation form. Magalhaes said he presented this for the Board's future consideration and action. The Poor Farm is an incredibly important resource to this community. It has been very apparent since the paranormal investigation happened. He said since that occurred early in 2008, requests for tours and general inquiries have increased five times what they usually are. That shows him there is great interest in that story from Johnson County's past. He said they have begun discussions with the University of Iowa Geology Department about collaborating. The Geology Department has high tech radar equipment to conduct studies at the cemetery site and they will work together on verifying it is a cemetery. Also he expects to collaborate with the County Master Gardener's to create a Heritage Garden. Magalhaes said one of the functions of the Poor Farm is to raise crops.
Magalhaes said they want to plan a couple open houses next summer for people to see first hand what it is all about. For this fiscal year they need to do general cleaning at the Poor Farm. They want to make the environment more appealing to the public. They will be applying for a grant to the Silos and Smoke Stacks National Heritage Area to fund historic interpretation signage outside. He said that ties into their Fiscal Year 2010 budget request. They are respectfully requesting an increase of 5% to their base funding. He said they are certainly hopeful that the commitment by the Board of Supervisors for the Capital Campaign at $20,000 a year for five years can continue. They recognize that the County as well as everyone else will have a real challenge with the budget. The request for a 5%, or $2,400, increase to their base funding simply represents the inflationary cost of doing business. He said it will be earmarked as match money for the Silos and Smokestacks Grant. Magalhaes thanked the Board again for their support and said the County is their number two donor after Weeber. This sends a very strong message to the community and has leveraged a number of individual donors. R. Sullivan said it is remarkable to him the number of County residents who always mention how long their family has been in their location. He said they are also very specific of when their family moved onto the land. Magalhaes said there is an incredible sense of roots in Johnson County. R. Sullivan said it does run very deep.
County Engineer Greg Parker said they have a one page standard agreement from the Department of Transportation (DOT) that is requesting the DOT, on the County's behalf, purchase any right-of-way needed to complete the Highway #1 from Iowa City to Solon project. Parker said initially it was a super two design project but it has been scaled back to only one due to safety activities for the road. One of the locations that will definitely be one of the larger impacts will be the realignment activities for Rapid Creek Road. Parker said the DOT will purchase the right-of-way on the County's behalf, and once the project is completed it will revert back to County maintenance activities. R. Sullivan asked if this is standard operating procedure when the DOT is doing a project. Parker said yes. R. Sullivan asked Parker to confirm that there are going to be three intersections that will be improved there. Parker said it is an in-depth project, widening the bridge by Rapid Creek Road, and re-aligning the Rapid Creek intersection. He said they are going to put some safety stops on the opposite side where they have T-Intersections of County roads to State roads. They are also going to widen and pave a widening shoulder on the existing paving, so there won't be gravel on the edge of the pavement. R. Sullivan asked if Morse Road and Rapid Creek Road will be getting turning lanes. Parker said he hasn't seen the plan in awhile, but if there is a need to purchase right-of-way to widen those intersections, the DOT would then take care of that. He said that is what the agreement covers. Meyers said he thinks they have a pretty wide right-of-way there now because the old highway makes a bit of a sweep there. Parker said the recommendation from staff is scheduled on the formal agenda for December 23, 2008.
Integrated Roadside Vegetation Manager Chris Henze said weed commissioner activities were greatly impacted by the flood this growing season. Henze had served three weed notices on private property, contacted all three of them personally, and they did not enter any private property to control noxious weeds this year. They did have other weed infested properties but they did not contact all landowners because staff was busy with flood activities. He said when roads are going under water, some things have to go by the way side and they get as much done as they can. Henze said the flood will have a future impact on infestations because of the lack of management on private property, and also because of flood waters carrying and moving around invasive species and noxious weed seed.
Henze said his department is trying to develop a Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping database. They have been working with Information Services, trying to build base maps of infestations in the right-of-way and on private property. For a couple years they have been working to develop the Hawkeye Cooperative Weed Management Area. He said this is an agreement for cooperation among various counties, State, and Federal natural resource management entities. He recently met with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Corps of Engineers in Linn and Louisa Counties. He said they are all agreeing to work together on invasive species and noxious weeds. Henze said he will address this in greater detail the next time he speaks to the Board.
Henze said overall the noxious weed situation is unchanged or has become slightly worse, mainly because of floods. This is because they couldn't complete as many management activities as they would have liked to during the growing season. Henze said hopefully that will change next year as Iowa won't have another winter like 2007-2008, and that Iowa should not have another flood like the summer of 2008 for another 500 years.
Stutsman said they had someone question the use of spraying in County road ditches and asked if the County is moving towards broadcast spraying again. She pointed out they have always had a policy of spot spraying where needed. Henze said that is part of the Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management Program (IRVM). The herbicides are used in conjunction with spot spraying and mechanical clearing of trees, brush, noxious weeds, whether it is mowing or hand cutting, and they also used some prescribed fire. The cornerstone of the program is the planting of native grasses and wildflower species. Henze said herbicide applications are all part of the grand scheme of things. They may use herbicides as a tool to reclaim a particular area to manage the invasive vegetation. Their goal is to provide follow-up maintenance on those areas either with mowing, burning, or planting some of the more competitive species. For the last 11 years they received grant funding for transportation enhancement seed and in 2008, they got approximately $10,000 of native grass seed and some grants to the Living Roadway Trust Fund with the Iowa DOT for roadside management equipment. Henze said they have been trying to target more invasive species and noxious weeds using herbicide application. They don't broadcast spray and are still making targeted applications. They do keep very careful records required by the Department of Land and Agricultural Stewardship.
R. Sullivan noted that a lot of people are not realizing they have the ability on the right-of-way next to their own property, to request that Henze and his department not do any spraying. He added that the County will honor that as long as the property owner works with Henze's department to keep the weeds down. Henze said correct, and added they have a fairly active and growing roadside maintenance agreement program. If citizens sign the agreement and the County signs off on the agreement, Henze's department then provides do-not-spray signs, and the citizens are then in charge of managing roadside vegetation. They can do that however they choose. R. Sullivan asked if this agreement between the property owner and the County would guarantee no herbicide application as long as the citizens are willing to assist. Henze said absolutely. He added they drafted that agreement document with the Technical Advisory Committee over the course of several years, and considered various viewpoints and perspectives and really tried to give people some alternatives to manage roadsides.
Harney asked Henze to elaborate on how they decide where to plant native species and the process for individual property owners who wish to participate. Henze said that either engineers or IRVM staff members talk to landowners to find out who is interested in the County planting native species in the right-of-way. Henze said they also follow-up on their maintenance projects, whether that is ditch clean outs, brush removal projects or culvert replacements. They plant native species in a lot of those areas but not everywhere, because they don't have the seed or enough money to put towards that.
Henze said they get many requests from land owners that would like to put native vegetation into the right-of-way in front of their house. They do allow that but they do not provide the seed. Henze said it is fairly low maintenance and fairly low cost once it is established, but until it gets established it takes a lot of work. Their department provides free technical advice and free information on where to get species and how to establish them. However, they do not provide that full service for land owners.
R. Sullivan asked what authority the County has to eliminate species known as invasive and fast spreading but not listed as noxious weeds. For example, if people don't cooperate with eliminating Canadian Thistle, the County has authority to take care of that, but Sullivan asked about Autumn Olive. Henze replied that if it isn't listed on the County noxious weed list or the State noxious weed list, the County has no authority to force someone to manage that species on private property. He said if someone is having problems within the right-of-way the County can try to manage those. He said until something is formally and legally listed on the noxious weed list, there is not a lot the County can do. He can work with them to develop a species management plan, and his department will gladly work with people to show them how to manage these species. Most of the time if the species are on one side of the fence it will spread to the other. Unfortunately some of the species that are not on the noxious weed list are the most problematic. He said the Iowa Weed Commissioners Association has been trying to get the noxious weed law changed for several years. Henze said it hasn't happened yet but it is a slow process to get a law like that changed at the State level. They would like to see some of the invasive species put on the noxious weed list, and potentially some species that are on the noxious weed list removed, as they don't seem to be a problem anymore. R. Sullivan said that Henze's presentation is very informative and the annual report will be on the formal meeting agenda on December 23, 2008.
County Engineer Greg Parker said the letter they received indicates that 140th Street is a dead end road that connects off of Highway 965 and then goes east, dead-ending at Interstate 380. Parker said it is south of 120th Street. Parker said they have several agreements in effect to maintain the seal coating as it is, but in terms of the year he is at a loss. Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak said the Development was approved in 1979. Part of the approval included a stipulation that the Homeowners Association and the County had entered into agreement for the maintenance of the road. Dvorak said it outlines some cost detail. If the Board wants him to review it further, he can work with Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell to find out if there is a time frame involved. Dvorak said it was part of the subdivider's agreement that they assist in the cost of maintenance on that road since 1979. He said, in other developments residents have participated in the cost of that as part of their subdivider's agreement.
Parker said correct, and they have several agreements that reference that residents shall pay for the maintenance of the seal coat surface. Historically, they have sent an invoice or bill to one individual and that resident collects the money from all residents and sends the department one payment. In this instance all the seal coats were damaged more than they have been in the past, but the work that was completed amounted to $5,436. Referencing a spreadsheet dating back to 1995, Parker said the billings have ranged from just under $3,000 in 1995 to $4,700 in 1998. They didn't do repairs every year as the road conditions did not require repairs. He said for 2005, 2006, and 2007 the road required no work. In 2004, they spend $1,200 dollars, and then they skipped a year, so it isn't an annual occurrence. He said Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Hackathorn does all the review for the seal coats in the County. In the past the homeowners requested they not be required to pay the monies to maintain the surface. Parker said the Oak Ridge Lake Estates Homeowners Association sent his department a letter requesting they not be required to pay those dues. Parker said there is an RV storage activity, as well as a daycare. He asked Dvorak if the daycare requires a permit, and he recalls Dvorak said it must have a minimal amount of kids enrolled there. R. Sullivan said permits are required if the daycare keeps more than six or seven kids. Parker said the daycare and the activity with the new subdivisions on the south side generate traffic. Stutsman asked if the other subdivisions have entered into the agreements. Dvorak responded his recollection is yes. Parker said there have been other agreements, and they have all been requested to cover and help out with expenses. The issue has been that they send the letter to one person, which makes it easier for his staff instead of going to six or seven activities. They then collect the money but they are having trouble getting expenses covered, and it does take time to do so.
Stutsman said that is why the Board is not doing it. She said the Board has always wanted to minimize administrative cost in doing something like the aforementioned. This is something the homeowners want and this has been the policy of the Board in the past. Stutsman said it is interesting that the Board sets up a policy to allow this to happen and then a group comes to the Board to say they don't want that anymore and they want the County to take over. She asked what the road count on the road is. Under the current policy, it wouldn't be eligible for the County to take over the maintenance based on road count. Parker said 80 vehicles a day is what the road count is. He said he doesn't know where and why the Board determined that they would take over some seal coats. He doesn't have the history on whether it was a traffic based thing. At this level of traffic, he recommends that the County not have an interest in maintaining a seal coat. Stutsman said if the Board does it for this group they set a precedent. Stutsman wondered how many other roads are out there where people will say they have a higher traffic count than 80. If the homeowners don't want to pay for the maintenance anymore, then 140th Street becomes gravel again. Parker said it is good that Stutsman mentioned that. He said he has several years of correspondence referencing that fact where a second letter has been sent requesting payment for the seal coat repairs. He said they did reference the fact that if the residents don't pay the fee the road will be reverted back to gravel. Not that it will be a favorable thing to do, as maintenance of roads does cost dollars, and they do have agreements out there. Parker said a prior agreement with the Oak Ridge Lake Estates Homeowners Association expired on September 16, 1998. Since then, they have continued to pay all the bills the County has sent.
R. Sullivan asked if they are up to date on payments. Parker said yes, except for the most recent application for 2008. To his knowledge, his department has received payments for everything since 1995. Neuzil said the irony that has been pointed out is that they are encouraging more developments to consider buying into upgrading the surface in front of their homes. He said in the stipulation with the new policy they will have within the next few weeks, if the homeowners choose to upgrade the surface, and then later decide not to do so, the road will go back to gravel. Neuzil said they haven't even changed that philosophy at all and it is an opportunity for residents to improve their quality of life.
Dvorak said there is another policy they were going to look at, regarding more of what they envision, where the County may take over a road. He said that will be on surfaces where the traffic count warrants it, and also where additional development may occur. Dvorak said the roads themselves will need to be engineered, and they would have to be a different form of surface, in other words, in preparation for paving. Dvorak said in theory 140th Street will have to be regraded, the County would require additional right-of-way, and then at some point the Board would be obligated to pick up the cost of maintenance. He said that wouldn't occur on a gravel road with dust alleviation.
Neuzil said that is correct, there is some funding currently being allocated towards that goal, but they aren't even there with that policy yet. Stutsman said 140th Street is a dead end road, not a through road providing traffic to other locations. This is basically a road to the developments, and there isn't anything else really that is accessing the road unless they choose to go. R. Sullivan said when the Board identified the roads that Neuzil is talking about, those roads have been identified specifically because they take a lot of people from Point A to Point B and they are through roads with very high traffic counts. R. Sullivan said those are the roads he thinks Dvorak is talking about. Stutsman said she can't see any justification to change what they have in place. They are offering County residents an opportunity to enter into these types of agreements so it doesn't make a lot of sense to abolish one and pick up that when they are opening it up to additional residents.
Oakridge Lake Estate resident Ken Franholtz said he has been asked to plead their case for the folks at Oakridge Lake and the other people who live on the road who are outside the Association. He said he thinks there was an error on the letter that was sent to the Board, and he thinks there is another business that operates on the road. Franholtz said Pennabaker, a cement contractor business, resides on the road. Franholtz said there are actually three commercial industries that operate on 140th Street. He said the Association appreciates the upgrade they have received from the County, and they appreciate that the County stated they paid their bills every year. Part of the expense, or fun of doing that has been trying to collect from the other residents on that road even though they have absolutely no control over how they get money from them. He said before, those residents have said thank you very much but they don't wish to participate. Franholtz said that since the amount of homes has increased significantly, the tax base for that geographical area has also significantly increased. The fairest way to distribute the cost is with a tax increase. Again, it is impossible for them to ask the other residents to participate since they have absolutely no authority requiring them to pay.
R. Sullivan asked Franholtz how many houses are in the subdivision. Franholtz replied around 34 houses. R. Sullivan asked if there are additional houses beyond the subdivision. Franholtz replied yes. R. Sullivan said that would lead him to believe that the count of 80 cars per day is probably wrong. He said it sounds like there are 80 houses, let alone 80 car trips. R. Sullivan asked Parker to ask the Department of Transportation (DOT) to recheck those figures. Sometimes the DOT counts are off. Parker said his department may have done a more recent count, and that he just didn't bring that data with him. He said these were 2006 numbers that were received in 2007. R. Sullivan said they may want to double check that so they know what the facts are, because that doesn't sound possible to him that there will be only 80 cars.
Neuzil asked Franholtz if it is just their subdivision that has made the agreement with the County. Franholtz replied that is correct. Neuzil said he thinks there is another subdivision that also made that agreement with the County. He asked Dvorak to further explain that because if that is the case, then there ought to be a little cost sharing. Dvorak said he can't remember the name of the subdivision, but said he believes that the subdividers agreement says they were supposed to cost share. He thinks there have also been a couple others in the past and Parker had a list of people living along the road that were paying towards it also. R. Sullivan asked if they were obligated to pay. Dvorak said he can do more research for the Board to determine who was obligated by going through all the subdivision documents. He said there were a lot of small subdivisions, but he thought they encouraged them all to put that agreement in those documents. Neuzil said it seems like that would be appropriate, particularly as they have one point person that maybe can help the residents out by saying that if there is an agreement, that another housing division out there is signed off and said they will help to pay for this too, it seems only reasonable that they would be helping those folks who are in the agreement.
Parker said there was another agreement that was signed in 2000 by the Melard Fifth Homeowner's Association. Dvorak said that is the other one he was pretty sure he had. Parker said the agreement references that the Melards shall continue to pay one share until all lots in the subdivision are sold. Upon the sale of all of the lots in said subdivision, the Melards shall no longer be responsible for any share of maintenance or dust control, and the Melard Fifth Homeowner's Association shall be responsible for their portion of the share. Parker said they do send one invoice to the residents. He said it is a good thing if they get the payment, and if they don't get the payment then they have problems and they have to have a conversation. Parker said until now it hasn't really been an issue.
Stutsman said she is very sympathetic with their plight. She said it would drive her nuts to think that she is investing in everything, while others who could share the cost are benefiting and just saying thank you. She said the concern she has is the County opening itself to every subdivision in the County, and she isn't sure how the County could pay for all that. Stutsman said major projects just aren't going to get done because of chip sealing all the roads. Neuzil said not only that, but all the new roads that are going to be starting in the spring are also a consideration. R. Sullivan said one advantage to the new program is that it requires an annual application, and he thinks that will help prevent this kind of problem. He said it seems everyone has forgotten the Melard subdivision, and under the rules they are proposing, this wouldn't happen because they will have to apply annually, even if nothing is done. Parker said this in itself is a little different discussion because it was tied to a subdivision that was requesting to be platted out there and the seal coat was required. He said they were catching subdivisions as they came on that roadway. It is a little different issue due to the traffic that is generated from the subdivision, and it is certainly a safety issue.
Harney said there are other places that want to do the same thing with the chip seal shared policy on their roads. He asked if the concrete business is running their equipment and storing their equipment back there. Franholtz said he lives in the development, and this takes place on 140th Street. He thinks that business was purchased from Florence Randall, just because he knows her as a longtime area resident, and also she and her husband Jerry Randall ran a welding business there, Jerry's Welding. When Randall and her husband left that business, he thinks they sold it to the particular organization. Harney said if they are damaging the road, he thinks there would be some regulations on that. Dvorak said he thinks if it is located as closed property, that is all zoned commercial, and they would be able to operate that other than in embargo periods. Parker said he has an invoice dated August 22, 1994, from Jerry's Welding Road showing that they did pay for seal coat repairs on that roadway. He said it does look like in the past the Randalls did pay but now they don't. Again, they are outside the area so he doesn't have control over whether they do or don't. Meyers asked if the road can be embargoed in the spring. Stutsman replied yes. Meyers commented that they would then not be allowed to drive their truck on the road.
Hackathorn replied they embargoed it last spring, and it was the last one they took off. A few years ago on the private oil roads they paid for all the costs, including the blade patch and everything. Hackathorn said the Board decided a few years ago that the County pay for the blade patch and they put in 93 tons of blade patch in that road this spring. He said it was $78.00 a ton, not including the labor and the equipment costs. They are participating a little in that. Stutsman asked how many tons were put in. Hackathorn said 93 tons, and they don't bill the residents for it. Parker said that is about $6,500 not including labor and equipment.
R. Sullivan said they have heard a recommendation from Parker, and asked if the Board wants to pursue anything or stay status quo. Harney said they have to honor the Association's agreements. He said the Board can work with the Planning and Zoning Commission to see if there are agreements with the other subdivisions that should be participating. If they should be participating and they agree to do so, the Board can certainly ask them to do that. If they don't, the County's only alternative is to let the road go back to gravel. R. Sullivan said he agrees with Harney in that if there are old agreements, the Board needs to know what they are to ensure they are followed. Other than that, he isn't interested in the County taking over the whole responsibility.
County Auditor Tom Slockett said this is a discussion about the benefits received and supplied by the County to adult children up to their 25th birthday, and the responsibility of the County to tax those benefits if they are not qualified dependants. Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards said they became aware of the additional tax liability for some of their employees late in 2008. Essentially, if an employee has a son or daughter on the County's health or dental plan, and that child does not qualify as a dependant on their Federal tax return, the value of the insurance that they are receiving is a taxable benefit. They are then required to put the value of that benefit on the employee's W-2 for the year. They must also withhold FICA taxes on that benefit during the year. Edwards reiterated the department had not become aware of this until late in 2008, so this year all the withholding for the 2008 benefit is occurring on the current paycheck. Going forward, since they are aware of it now, the withholding will occur twice a month throughout the year, starting in 2009, so it won't be withheld all at once.
Stutsman asked when the County became aware of the issue. Edwards said the new State legislation passed July 1, 2008, which expanded coverage to more dependants up to age 25, even if they are not a student. He said the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules were already in affect before that, but the new law is what started making people aware of the potential tax liability, not only for the new dependants who were eligible because of the law but to existing covered dependants who didn't qualify. Stutsman asked if the County sent emails to inform employees. Edwards replied yes. He said Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek sent out several communications that said there would be potential tax implications. At that time, they weren't really aware of exactly who it would apply to or what all the ramifications would be. Then they took some time to research the issue and discuss it with the County's external audit firm. They sent a questionnaire to employees to determine exactly who it would affect and the amount of the benefit they would receive.
Neuzil asked if the recommendation is to take that out of their paychecks, move forward and not have the County reimburse. R. Sullivan said the County is obligated and has no choice but to withhold the tax. Edwards agreed. R. Sullivan said that has to be done by the end of 2008. He said there is no option but to withhold it. Meyers asked if it is just FICA. Edwards said that is all they are withholding. He said the employees will be liable for income taxes when they file their tax returns, but they aren't withholding. Meyers said along with withholding their portion of the FICA, the Board will also have to come up with the County's portion. Edwards agreed. R. Sullivan asked what the options are since the County has to withhold this.
Slockett said earlier he had suggested it would be possible for the County to do something along the lines of the computer purchase program. This would be where they can define a public purpose and reimburse the employees for the amount withheld, because it wouldn't normally all be taken out of one paycheck. Also, this is coming at a terrible time of year. Employees can be allowed to pay the County back over a year's time. When he mentioned that to Deputy State Auditor Andy Nielson, he was adamantly opposed to it, and pointed out the Iowa Code section that he thought precluded them from doing so. Slockett said he isn't recommending this, but if the Board decided to look into it, the first step would be to ask for a formal County Attorney opinion before going down that path. He said he feels very bad about it, for the employees, and wishes there is a way to soften the decision, although he doesn't think there are any options available to them.
Harney said he was very supportive of doing the process Slockett speaks of, basically because it is a bad time of year and taking $700 out of a paycheck for some people is going to put a hardship on them. He said $200 and $300 is going to make an impact for some, especially with the current economic times but when he hears the State Auditor recommends against it, Harney isn't sure the Board wants to go against them. He isn't sure what alternatives employees have besides getting a personal loan.
R. Sullivan said he knows the largest amount anyone would have to pay is in the neighborhood of $750. Edwards said $720. Slockett said there are two adults that would have to pay $720. R. Sullivan asked how many people have been negatively impacted. Slockett said 25 people are impacted. Stutsman clarified if it is 25 total people because she understands that some people got things squared away early on. Edwards said the average additional withholding was around $260. Harney said that is a total of about $3,599 on about 25 employees. R. Sullivan said some people did start tax planning for this situation in the early fall, while other workers are just now dealing with this, whether they got bad tax advice or no tax advice. Stutsman said she thinks it is interesting, when Erlacher was in earlier discussing financial workshops. She thinks they need to be required all through high school, as so much of this comes up in the real world and people have to be on top of it to process it and understand what the ramifications of things are. Stutsman said people are busy with families and other things, and it is not always on the top of their list. She said, however, she feels the County has done what they could do to inform people. Stutsman said she knows Human Resources tries hard to stay on top of these things and inform employees. She said this is not the County's error. It is an unfortunate set of circumstances, and these are the consequences.
R. Sullivan said he agrees with Stutsman. He has heard a handful of employees say Human Resources screwed up while others say the Auditor's Office screwed up, and, frankly, he thinks both of those are misrepresentations. He doesn't see a screw up here. The biggest issue is that employees need to understand that with their dependants, they have to review that every year when they have their enrollment process for health insurance and flex benefits. R. Sullivan said they will discuss this more at their next Department Head Meeting. It is up to the employee to carefully review their coverage. Meyers said it is not within Human Resource's capabilities to guess what peoples' situations are. Stutsman agreed.
R. Sullivan said the question before them is the County's role in the issue and if there is anything they can do. Neuzil said that the County's role is to follow the law, and that is what they are doing. He said they are going to continue to follow the law and employees are obviously going to need to follow the law also. R. Sullivan said it is an unfortunate situation.
R. Sullivan said they have a resignation from Director of Elder Services David Purdy from the Livable Community for Successful Aging Policy Board, who left his employment in that job. The new application is from the new Elder Services Executive Director and the recommendation is to appoint her at the December 22, 2008 Formal Meeting.
Harney said at the JCCOG meeting on December 17, 2008, they announced that another $900,000 was awarded to the Joint Communications Centers on a grant.
Recessed at 10:29 a.m.; reconvened at 10:35 a.m.
Motion by Neuzil, second by Meyers, to enter Executive Session at 10:35 a.m. to discuss collective bargaining strategy for the Public Professional and Maintenance Employees (PPME) Secondary Roads Unit, Administrative Unit, and Sheriff's Unit under section 20.17(3), Code of Iowa: “negotiating sessions, strategy meetings of public employees… shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter 21 (Official Meetings Open to the Public).” Roll call: aye: Harney, Stutsman, Sullivan, Neuzil, Meyers.
Motion by Neuzil, second by Meyers, to leave Executive Session at 10:58 a.m. Roll call: aye: Harney, Stutsman, Sullivan, Neuzil, Meyers.
Motion by Neuzil, second by Stutsman, to enter into Executive Session at 10:59 a.m. to discuss “Michael Dooley, et al vs. Johnson County” under section 21.5(1.c), Code of Iowa, “to discuss strategy with counsel in matters that are presently in litigation or where litigation is imminent where its disclosure would be likely to prejudice or disadvantage the position of the governmental body in that litigation.” Roll call: aye: Harney, Stutsman, Sullivan, Neuzil, Meyers.
Motion by Harney, second by Stutsman, to leave Executive Session at 11:20 a.m. Roll call: aye: Harney, Stutsman, Sullivan, Neuzil; absent: Meyers.
Adjourned at 11:20 a.m.
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary