MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
JANUARY 21, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Chairperson Neuzil 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.
Neuzil said that at the last Key Issues Meeting and the previous Strategic Planning Meetings, the Board focused on tabling some issues. Some of the issues, such as Green Initiatives and the Jail, are currently in autopilot mode. The goal of the meeting is to create a list of issues for the Board to focus on, and assign responsibilities once the list is created.
Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan asked if the list should focus on the budget for FY11. Neuzil said yes. Sally Stutsman asked for clarification on the definition of a Strategic Plan. She asked if the Board had decided that the Strategic Plan was going to focus on the budget. R. Sullivan said his understanding is the elements in the Strategic Plan are still priorities, but do not identify a clear direction on how to achieve each goal. Meyers said that is what he thought also. He added that some of the issues from the original list of five items included in the Strategic Plan keep re-occurring. Secondary Roads issues keep coming up in the Five-Year Road Plan, and the Green Initiatives are addressed by the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) certification for all new buildings. He said the budget should be considered part of the Strategic Plan. Harney said the Board has laid out a Strategic Plan for the past four to five years but has never followed it. He said many of the items on the list are premature because there is no budget in place.
M. Sullivan read the first and second items on the potential budget strategies list: 1) Freeze all County operational expenses at FY09 levels with limited exceptions for fuel, postage, utilities and emergency expenditures. Limit tax increases. 2) Pay down existing debt, such as bank notes, and complete all existing planned building infrastructure projects. Determine the level of cash reserve/rainy day fund. Monitor assessment trends as determined by the County/City Assessor. He said those two items are helping to establish the budget now. He next referred to the following item on the list: 4) Review mandated vs. non-mandated projects. Identify a system of oversight for tracking all block grants. Identify all funding commitments/contracts and determine strategies for reducing funding (i.e. libraries/animal control). Also review process of budget amendments. M. Sullivan said this 4th item should be done regardless of the current state of the economy. He said the libraries and animal control are two tough issues to deal with regarding funding. His opinion is that these issues should be addressed in a phased plan.
Stutsman said the Board has talked about the fleet management for years. M. Sullivan mentioned spending priorities is another issue. The difficulty in creating a strategic plan is defining the actions necessary to achieve the mission. He said it is difficult when things from the vision statement require fiscal responsibility. The words- fiscal responsibility- encompass a lot of things such as tax increases, revenue, expenses, operation, and provision of services. Fiscal responsibility has a large scope and it makes one look back at the past planning sessions to realize if strategic planning was accomplished, or if it was more throwing around ideas.
M. Sullivan said people get frustrated because there is a difference between strategic planning and making plans. Stutsman agreed. M. Sullivan said certain services provided by the County leave no choice but to react to instead of plan for. He said an example is Mental Health/Disability Services. Harney said this is happening now with Mental Health/Disability Services Director Kris Artley; she has to make more changes right now due to changes made at the State level. He asked how anyone can prepare a budget when things from the State change three or four times. Neuzil said the Board first should decide if it is going to table Strategic Planning. M. Sullivan said he is not suggesting getting rid of Strategic Planning. Harney said he does not think the Board needs to table the Strategic Plan, because they still have to address many needs including road issues and the justice center. He said the Board can not just sit back and do nothing; however, financially there will be limitations on what the Board can address.
R. Sullivan said that after the Strategic Planning meeting in December 2008, the Board sent a letter to the department heads and elected officials regarding the Board's decision to halt actions until the Board has a clear idea of the county’s financial situation. M. Sullivan asked if the Board has received any ideas from the suggestion boxes distributed throughout employee units. R. Sullivan said he had not checked any of the boxes. M. Sullivan said at the last Strategic Planning meeting there was discussion of developing a contingency plan for potential problems. Some of the potential problems could be negative results from evaluations, or confusion on dealing with mandated and non-mandated projects. Neuzil said many of the items on the Budget Strategies list are issues the Finance Committee has started to work on. He said, maybe some of the items on the list are premature, such as reviewing public office hours, identifying potential waiting lists for services, and service delivery cutbacks.
R. Sullivan said he would like to begin a series of meetings with Human Resources. Countywide, 80% of expenses are invested in people. He said he would like to have a discussion about the County’s real strategic priorities in terms of the next five to ten hires or what departments need the most focus. He would also like to address transferring of funds for one benefit to another. He asked, for example, is there a way to allocate the salary from an employee who has just retired into a salary for an employee within another department? He said he would like the Board to consider attrition and new hires together. Stutsman said there is a need for the Board to perform a personnel management study. This study would give the Board information on whether there is cross-training, or possibilities for employees to work for two departments. R. Sullivan said now is a perfect time to conduct a personnel survey, because the salary survey is underway. Stutsman said another issue, that is unpopular, is whether there are some jobs the County should be contracting out instead of hiring new people. She said it is common knowledge that once a person is hired they most likely become permanent.
M. Sullivan said the Board has never developed a policy to address these issues. Stutsman said there was not even a policy on attrition nor a hiring freeze. R. Sullivan said that it might not be a bad idea to have a back-up plan. M. Sullivan agreed and said at the budget meeting later today, the Board will receive a list of decision packages from Budget Coordinator Richard Claiborne. M. Sullivan said that nine of the ten items on that list are personnel requests. He said a plan is needed to help the Board decide how to better allocate resources to maximize benefits. Harney agreed, and he said the Board does need to review staffing, but the Board is unable to review all departments.
Neuzil said the Board does not have to allow new hiring for elected officials. Stutsman agreed. She said the Board does have authority over the budget, so it has to make those decisions. R. Sullivan said the Board could also reward people if there is cooperation between departments. M. Sullivan said exactly, there are more to rewards than just merit. Stutsman asked if a strategic goal should be to do a comprehensive review of personnel hiring management procedures. R. Sullivan said he thought completing the review would take at least three or four meetings. Neuzil clarified the Board’s goals to remain focused on the following item from the list: 3) Continue to meet the needs of County employees and agreements made in collective bargaining. Create a contingent plan for possible implementation of a freeze on hiring new employees, unless the position is cost neutral. Review procedures for employee sharing, early retirement, layoffs or furloughs along with attrition, merit cuts and contract hiring vs. new employees. Also, determine a strategy for anticipated salary survey results.
Stutsman said, if someone comes in with a personal request today, there are now procedures in place for departments to follow. R. Sullivan said the Board needs to work with the assumption that if money was not an object, the County would employ more people. He said given that assumption, the Board can acknowledge department head requests and respond based on the limited resources available to the Board. Stutsman said the only problem with prioritizing is the Board could be restricted. R. Sullivan said he would like to see the hiring process expanded. Neuzil said, being realistic, number three on the list (as described above) will take a lot of work. He said number four will also take time. Strategically, the Board should split responsibilities to work on number three and four before the end of August or September 2009.
Harney asked M. Sullivan if any action has been taken regarding tracking block grants. M Sullivan said, right now, he and Claiborne are tracking. He said Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia can not take on everything, because they are not Human Services grants. Correia has enough work negotiating the Human Service grants. He said they will develop a system to track the non-Human Services block grants in Department 20. Meyers said he does not understand why this is such a big deal. All that really needs be accomplished is that when the Board approves something, the information should be added to their list. He said once the list is started, it will be easy to track changes by fiscal year. M. Sullivan said the software is capable of doing that. Harney agreed. He said there has been confusion in the past. M. Sullivan agreed, and added it is an information sharing problem. Neuzil said that once something is added to the list, one person should be appointed to monitor the item. He said, likely, this person would be the Board’s Budget Coordinator. Stutsman clarified that the first goal is tracking and monitoring. She said the next goal would be to start the assessment process for all of the block grants including the libraries, Fair Grounds, Human Services, ICAD, and more, and then assessing how those fit in with the Board's goals. Stutsman added, a major issue is the libraries, especially if Swisher develops a new one. In the past there has been an unspoken policy of funding accredited libraries.
M. Sullivan said his impression of the issue with the libraries is that some time ago, a contract was written establishing user criteria for the Iowa City library, and from that time forward, the same contract has been used for everybody else. He said the problem is there are no usage reports for the libraries. Harney said he remembered why that was established. There was contention because rural residents were not allowed to use the Iowa City Library. Stutsman asked if the county is at the point where that policy can not be sustained. She said she does not think there is a county in the state that pays as much mandated funds for libraries as Johnson County. M. Sullivan said most of the counties follow the State Code, which applies an appropriation based formula. Stutsman said, if the Board decides to go that route, it is going to take a lot of political will. R. Sullivan said people may not want to cut library funding. He said he is not interested in cutting a program supported by 80% of the people, if the people want to pay for it.
Meyers said the Fair Board ought to be evaluated also; it's a great event and admission is free. Perhaps they should charge a nominal entrance fee to offset some of the costs. After all, he added, many fair guests are not from Johnson County.
Neuzil said that phasing cuts over a five, seven, or ten year period would be a lot easier on departmental operations. Neuzil said, when the Board reviewed the library contract in 2003, a number of libraries threatened that they would then not provide any services for any rural residents. The libraries argued they are losing money because of the Board, and that there is a perceptible imbalance between the funds the libraries receive and the cost to provide service. R. Sullivan said the Solon Library reports that 70% of their patrons are rural residents. Stutsman said there was a time, as a rural resident, she had to pay to use the library. She suggested the County fund one library which would allow rural residents free usage, and rural residents would pay to use any other libraries. R. Sullivan said there could be a materials exchange system between libraries. Neuzil said these ideas need to be studied and it is hard to say which services are going to be cut. He said from the Budget Strategies List in consideration today, the Board is addressing [the above mentioned] number one and two and perhaps the Board should focus on tackling number three and four. Subcommittees can probably be created to address these issues. He feels the Economic Development Committee, consisting of Stutsman and Harney, can look at the Block Grant list and focus on the ones that are economically driven. The Board decided Correia was going to cover the Senior Center.
M. Sullivan said all but one of the decision packages this year are requests for personnel. Neuzil said that is what happens when operational expenses are frozen. Stutsman said she thinks it was remiss for the Board not to include personnel. Meyers agreed. M. Sullivan said it is okay for the Board to decline the requests because the budget is tight. R. Sullivan said he thinks it is okay for the departments to make the Board aware of their needs. M. Sullivan agreed. Meyers said Ambulance Director Steve Spenler has requested one new position every year for years and he still has not received approval for it. Neuzil pointed out that Spenler did not request the position this year. Stutsman said it would be ideal to have the extra person, but another philosophical question she raises is, do the Board and county residents want Johnson County to not only be first in the State, but the nation also. M. Sullivan said the County is a service-driven operation and if service demands are being met, the Board should keep that in mind during the decision making process.
Neuzil said, as the Board further discusses this list, it would be appropriate to focus on [the above mentioned] items three and four. M. Sullivan said number three is going to keep the Board particularly busy. Stutsman said she would feel more comfortable meeting with M. Sullivan and re-formatting the list to create an action plan. Neuzil said next month the Board can divide up the responsibilities. R. Sullivan asked if the Board could review list again to make sure there is consensus. He said he agrees with Neuzil that number one and two are done and require no follow-up. Harney added that number eight is also done: 8) Ask the Joint Emergency Communication Center Board to stay at or below its FY09 tax levy for funding of the Joint Communications Center, radio towers and employee expenses; ask other boards and commissions (i.e. Conservation/Public Health) that receive County dollars to also live within their FY09 budgets levels.
R. Sullivan said number five is loaded with many different questions addressing the status of additional new projects, monitoring new and existing programs, and whether to appropriate new funds towards planning for a justice center. He asked if these are areas to cut. He said Information Services Director Jean Schultz has already cut back on technology, but that is an area the Board will need guidance from Schultz for further cuts. He said number six seems like a desperate measure now and he would rather wait on that: 6) Review public office hours, identify potential waiting list for services and service delivery cutbacks, determine contingent plans if further cuts are necessary. Review fees, enhance revenues and diversify funding streams.
Harney said the Board must have a conversation about the Communication Center. He asked how staffing and benefits will be funded. Stutsman asked how the Center is going to hire now. Harney said the staff will be paid under the operational budget, but he does not know how health benefits will be addressed. He said they could either be the responsibility of Johnson County or the City of Iowa City. It would be advantageous for the County to take this responsibility. R. Sullivan said that will be a hard sell to Iowa City. Stutsman said, if the Board decides that the County should provide health benefits, then Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek will need to be part of the discussion. Stutsman said adding those people to the County health insurance pool could affect current premiums. She said the Board would also have to decide to take on labor negotiations and disability coverage. R. Sullivan said that Iowa City's representatives have been completely thankless in terms of the County's role in this; as far as he is concerned, they [Iowa City] can handle all the insurance issues. Harney said he is not sure what R. Sullivan is referring to, because he thinks Iowa City has been pretty cooperative; the overall picture looks pretty good. Stutsman asked, who would pay the employees health insurance if someone is hired tomorrow? Harney said the County and the City agreed they would pay, but the Board must make a decision as to how this will be administered. Neuzil said a special meeting should be scheduled with the JECC group to discuss this issue. Harney added that Shramek should be included in this meeting and Neuzil added to include the Auditor's Office and the County Attorney.
Stutsman asked how many employees would be included in the insurance plan. Harney said Johnson County has seven or eight, and M. Sullivan said overall there will be less than 30 employees. Neuzil restated that a joint meeting must be scheduled to address these issues further and that he would like to remain focused on the current agenda.
Neuzil said number five is a catch-all. He said the Board needs to think about a cap for the budget. Neuzil said the issue is whether the Board should budget for items or is it acceptable to just say the money is there if it is needed. Stutsman said, usually that money is taken from the Reserve Funds, and she does not think the Board will have flexibility with those funds. She said, if the Board's goal is to increase the Reserve Fund, then it will never be able to tap that fund. M. Sullivan reminded the Board that if Reserve Funds are not available, the bond ratings may change. This is a policy decision the Board must address.
Neuzil asked, if one of the houses across the street from the Jail goes on the market, does the Board want to budget for that? It would be hard to say no to that. Harney said this is a good instance where there should be reserve money available. Neuzil said the money could be added to the rainy day fund. He said the Board should have a policy for creating a rainy day fund along with criteria for spending that money. R. Sullivan said CAT Grants from cities are impossible to budget for. Neuzil said, normally, once those grants are approved, they are okay with the Board giving them money, beginning with the next fiscal year. Stutsman said maybe the Board needs to communicate with the other entities to see what they have planned.
Neuzil said the Finance Committee can talk more about the finance amendments. Stutsman said County Engineer Greg Parker is considering a $1 million amendment to his budget this spring. M. Sullivan said that road departments all over the state are going to be requesting more money, including the State Department of Transportation. Stutsman asked how many reserve funds the County has. M. Sullivan said Secondary Roads is required by law to have one. He said for cash flow there is one fund, the General Basic. R. Sullivan said there are no separate accounts and the money is in the General Basic Fund and the Board appropriates it accordingly. Stutsman said there should be a list detailing where the reserves are and how much is available. R. Sullivan said there are only two reserves, one in the General Fund and one in the Rural Fund. R. Sullivan said one of the budget meetings should be used to address the rural rainy day fund. Stutsman said she would like to see what type of impact the Conservation Bond will have on the rural side.
Neuzil summarized that Stutsman and M. Sullivan are going to work on items number three and four of the Budget Strategies List before them today. M. Sullivan said he and Stutsman will create an action plan. Neuzil said the Board is going to hold a work session with the JECC to address item number eight. Item nine is currently in action, item six is tabled and item seven will be addressed by Facilities Planning and Planning and Zoning. Neuzil said the next Strategic Planning meeting is scheduled for February 18, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.
Adjourned at 10:03 a.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2009
By Jess Hulen, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on July 22, 2009 at 4:30 p.m.