MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
FEBRUARY 6, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Discussion: Veteran Affairs 40 Hour Work Week Requirements
Discussion: Fiscal Year 2010 County Budget
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:01 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan. Member absent was: Larry Meyers.
Neuzil said Social Services Coordinator Amy Correia and Veteran Affair’s Director Leo Baier were able to talk to State officials to find a solution to the Veteran Affair’s issue and asked what they found out. Correia said they need to have forty hour staff coverage either the Director or the administrator. The idea of having a clerk available for walk-ins when Baier is not working is not an acceptable solution. She and Harney both spoke with the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Legislative Liaison/Public Information Administrator Kent Hartwig. They are requiring forty hours of staff coverage either the Director, which is Baier, or an administrator, which would be someone who is accredited and trained. They talked about changing General Assistance Assistant Erin Good’s part-time position into a full-time position. Correia said Good would spend ten hours a week in the Veteran Affair’s Office downstairs. Sullivan asked if they had to physically be in the office.
Correia said they don’t have to be physically in the office; if Baier was at a meeting it would be okay. The State said that was fine, but they want forty hours of either a director or an administrator that is accredited covering the duties of the office. Harney said it has to be someone who can provide the services as Baier does. Sullivan said Good can stay at her own desk and there can be a sign when Baier is gone. Correia said no, Good would be at the Veteran Affair’s Office. Sullivan said that is where the forms are. Correia agreed and Good would have access to her computer, so she would be able to do some other work if there is no Veteran Affair’s work. Stutsman said she is upset, because it is an unfunded mandate and this will cost $15,000 more when the County had very excellent coverage. She had never heard a complaint from a veteran in Johnson County who did not receive services. She thinks they need to write to the State that it is ridiculous with the economic times. Baier agreed. He said he does not think there is a need.
Sullivan said they are lucky, because they have someone already hired that can go from part-time to full-time. In some counties this mandate is going to cost them $30,000. Harney said yes and no. If counties aren’t at 60,000 populations they spilt them and do half in one county and half in the other. Sullivan said there are counties that are almost as big as Johnson County that have 20 hours a week. Stutsman said they have always operated the same, even before Baier was hired. She said GA and Veteran Affair’s worked together before. Baier said they still do. She is fully supportive of veteran services. She said the issue is that the State is going overboard. Sullivan added they wouldn’t allow an exception for the three counties that have full VA Hospitals. Stutsman said she talked to Senator Bolkom about this and she thinks they should follow up with a letter to the State Legislature. They need to tell the Legislature that there needs to be some flexibility and a waiver. Baier said it needs to go the Legislature, because they are just doing what they are mandated. Harney reported that Hartwig said the State’s office is tied because it is the Legislature’s mandate.
Sullivan said last year when Baier said they should get an exception, but with an election year legislators weren’t going to vote against veterans. Stutsman said nobody wants to vote against veterans. Sullivan said if they did not increase service for all of the counties the vote would be misconstrued as a vote against the vets. Baier wonders if they will go after the five counties that do not have a VA office or director. Harney said they are required now to have 20 hours. Baier asked if they’ll do it. Stutsman said the law says they have to and they will have to comply with the law. She thinks they need to pursue this issue. Sullivan asked if Baier and Correia could collaborate on a letter the Board can sign and then send it off to all the Representatives, Senators, and Governor Culver. Baier and Correia said yes.
Stutsman said they should send the letter to everybody. She also thinks the representatives need to know this mandate costs an extra $15,000 on top of the $10,000 received for the extra hours. She thinks they thought $10,000 was generous and would cover all the expenses but its not. Baier said the money is not going to cover the extra person. Neuzil said the funding would come out of the General Fund and Correia’s budget will increase slightly. Correia said Baier’s budget would increase by $5,364.16 and the General Assistance budget would potentially increase by $20,072.00 with all the benefits. Sullivan said it’s a $25,000 increase in expense and $10,000 increase in revenue. In essence the County loses $15,000. Harney said that is for this year, because that money might just be a one year allocation. Correia said they are planning to give every county $10,000 and if they were to say there is a 6% decrease then they might create competitive grant that the County can apply for. She said they will watch for the grant. Neuzil said it is one of the many unfunded mandates.
Baier said he is glad the Board is also upset. He thinks they need to make their situation known. Stutsman said she understands that everyone wants to be supportive of veterans as the Board does, too. She said she understands gist of the legislation. She doesn’t think the State thought through the consequences of what this is going to mean locally. Sullivan said it may be that the Polk, Marion, and Johnson Counties are unique. He said it is fine if they are unique, but they should then be treated uniquely. Stutsman said they need to decide what works for them. Stutsman said they will have to add it into the budget right now to comply the law. Neuzil asked when Correia wanted that added. Correia said July 1, 2009. Harney said part of Good’s wage should come through Veteran Affair’s rather then through Correia’s office. Correia said she didn’t ask them about that type of detail. Sullivan said he doesn’t care what the State say’s about that. Stutsman said she would like to document how much time they are giving direct service to veterans during the extra hours.
Correia said Good will keep data, because she keeps GA case data. Neuzil said they need to find out what fund it comes out of, so it is tracked correctly. It can be amended as long as there is direction. He said if they get in a tight situation and tell departments to cut two percent it wouldn’t be fair. Stutsman said for the budget they can make the adjustments later to track it. Claiborne suggested the letter may have an impact. He said overall this isn’t a huge change and he would rather amend and fix it at a later time. He said the current budget is set up and the State form needs to be published next week. He said the mandate is a small change that they can address with an amendment later. He said they can fix it in the FY11 budget.
Stutsman said they should wait. Baier said they might freeze the budget with the 6.5% recommended cutback by Governor Culver. Stutsman said if that happened they would be responsible for the whole. Sullivan said the sooner a letter can be authored the better, because things are moving quickly. Stutsman agreed. Harney said they need to show the impact and bring to their attention all the services received at the VA Hospital. Stutsman said they are taking about the assumption that the State is going to fully fund the $10,000, but there is no guarantee. Harney said the individual will need to get State training, which is four and a half days in October. Stutsman said add that to the letter. Neuzil said they are also going to have to budget for training costs. Stutsman said the $10,000 was supposed to cover training, too. Neuzil said the most important thing is that they understand the change is necessary and the Board of Supervisors has an understanding of the need to make the adjustment. Baier said he and Correia will compose a letter and bring it to the Board.
Neuzil said the other follow up item needed from Correia for the FY10 budget was the Senior Livable Communities project. He said the Board had a discussion last week on the project. He asked for Correia's justification for recommending the project be reduced to $6,500. Correia said the recommendation was already at $6,500. She said the Board has a memo from the Policy Board regarding discussion at the Policy Board meeting. She was involved in that discussion and abstained from the vote on the recommendation. She said FY09 is a tight budget year. She said her initial recommendation for FY08 was to maintain at the current level for two years for the aging specialist. Things have changed in terms of finding sustainable funding for that position, which is no longer planned to be hired.
Sullivan said everyone received a letter from the Policy Board regarding budget. He said there is a line in the budget regarding coordinator/office support for $2,600. He said Correia thinks a lot of the work from that line item can be done by existing employees. A lot of the work is data entry and this part of the budget could be covered. Correia said there are a lot of unknowns about the initiative. She said it is not known yet which agency will do what, which people from the agencies will handle different tasks, how many volunteers. There is enough lack of detail on how much, for example, web management is going to cost. There is $6,500 that she recommended. She said there is a flex account in the Social Services Block Grant of $2,000. The Heritage application hasn’t been written yet and that request could be for more than $11,000. Any time they are asking for grant funds, they can ask for more and get less. There are in kind supports they haven’t put into the application in the past of clerical support at Social Services and potentially other professional support that can going into make it a viable application.
Stutsman said the Board made no guarantees when this was introduced two years ago that this would be picked up if State funding was no longer available. They said they supported it as long as the State funded it. She thinks Correia made a good argument why the $6,500 is appropriate at this time. It can be discussed additionally, but with the current budget situation it is responsible, and she supports the $6,500. Harney said he was told by Johnson County Taskforce on Aging Representative Bob Welsh more money was available than the amount coming back. He asked if that was something they can cover for another year. Correia said there will be unexpended funds from the current years allocation. Harney said that is more than what the asking is. Correia said potentially, but she doesn’t know.
Neuzil said they got a note that said there would be money coming back into the budget this year. Stutsman said she thought they already agreed that money would stay in the budget. Neuzil said no, they have not. Under normal protocol the unexpended funds go back into the General Fund. They discussed not taxing at all and keeping what is in the budget. Correia said they would have the line at zero and carry over. Neuzil said that might be an option to consider. Harney said if they do that, it is more than what the Policy Board is asking for. Neuzil said it is more than what they are asking for, but they don’t officially know how much they are going to be expending. The other option would be to return those dollars. Correia asked if they would put the line item at zero and do an amendment in the fall to carry over the unexpended. Claiborne said absolutely. Sullivan said the downside to zeroing out the line item is that Heritage tends to do a match. He worries if they don’t put any in, then Heritage might not give any matching funds to the County. Neuzil said if Heritage knew the intent of what the Board is doing, they would understand. Stutsman said she somewhat agreed with Sullivan. She said if she is more supportive of budgeting in the line item and have the money go back in the General Fund, which is usually done for any other department that doesn’t expend all their money at the end of the year.
Welsh said he talked with Public Health Director Doug Beardsley and estimated their carryover would be around $20,000. He said Correia is correct, the Taskforce does not know right now. Neuzil asked if $20,000 was Johnson County dollars. Welsh said yes. Neuzil said the Taskforce has been spending State money first and then County money. Welsh said he feels that if the Board wants them to carry over the money he would be foolish not to say it is a good alternative. He said carrying over the money would give the Taskforce more money than they are requesting. In terms of cleanness of operation it would be better to return unused funds. He said it would not increase their tax levy because of the carryover.
Welsh said Correia’s offer to utilize clerical support was a factor taken into account during discussions. The Policy Board minutes indicate Beardsley cautioned that it can be difficult to farm out office tasks and coordination. There was discussion about reducing the office amount in the budget. The actual motion was made by Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center Representative Linda Kopping and seconded by Larry Meister that $2,600 for the office-connected budget and to apply to supplies program and budget. He said that option would help make maximum use of those dollars. He wasn’t at the meeting and isn’t sure how everyone voted.
Correia is correct that all the details of the operation haven’t been worked out. The general feeling is that Elder Services be asked to coordinate services to the initiative for the coming fiscal year and replace Johnson County Public Health as the fiscal agent. Elder Services would submit the RFP to the Heritage Area Agency on Aging. The Board has approved the budget. The carryover could continue to show $13,000, but he thinks it would be better to return the unused funds. Welsh apologized for any lack of communication between himself, Correia, and the Policy Board. The Livable Community Policy Board Members that voted at the meeting were Beardsley, Kice Brown, Eve Casserly, Kopping, Meister, Suellen Novotny, Liz Selk, Richard Tibbetts, Mary Wiemann, and himself. Welsh said, as Casserly pointed out, Heritage would want to see this as a partnership and would like to see a figure. He said originally a suggestion was put together he and Casserly put the County in more than Heritage. He said he talked with Neuzil on whether volunteer time should be put into the budget. He said the Board indicated that was something they were not interested in. He thinks Heritage would be interested in volunteer time and office support. He said the number of volunteer and office support hours would inflate the budget. He hoped the Taskforce would receive $13,000 for FY10 from the County.
Sullivan said there is $6,500 in this budget. He said Claiborne spoke about the difficulty of amending. He suggested leaving the budget at $6,500 with the understanding that in six months there will be a better idea of how much is going to be spent. If at the six month point the $6,500 looks like it is going to be gone, they will put in another $6,500. If the $6,500 is holding up, they can differ until the end of the fiscal year. Neuzil said the Taskforce would then use the dollars they didn’t spend. Welsh said they could still list $13,000 from the County to Heritage. Claiborne said he can write a letter to Heritage addressing the internal issue. Correia said she doesn’t think they will need a letter. Sullivan said they will understand if the money is needed, it will be there, and if not, it stays in the General Fund. Stutsman said sounds like good compromise.
Neuzil said that is contingent on the Taskforce not spending down. Correia said the line item is for the Livable Community Taskforce, not for any particular agency. Welsh said the Policy Board specifically moved Elder Services to coordinate services to the initiative for the upcoming fiscal year and to replace Johnson County Public Health as the fiscal agent and to submit the RFP to Heritage for FY11. He said the motion passed with three abstentions. Sullivan said he doesn’t think that matters. Welsh said he thinks it does in terms of what Correia just said. He said this was a question he asked Sullivan when it became clear the Taskforce would not have the funding for an Aging Specialist. One alternative was for the County to take over the whole thing. Welsh said Sullivan indicated there was not the interest to do that. That is why they have turned to Elder Services. Sullivan said they are talking about bottom lines today and that doesn’t change this bottom line. Correia clarified this is not a Block Grant to any one particular agency. Welsh said it is to the initiative. Correia said the Fall Prevention Action Team has a request to the Policy Board for $1,000 for a conference and materials. That wouldn’t have to go through Elder Services, but could come directly as an invoice to Social Services against this line item in the County. Welsh said that is correct.
Sullivan said the County is not going to cut a check for $6,500 services and then dole it out. Welsh said one of the responsibilities of the Policy Board is to manage finances. Harney said he doesn’t mind doing the process as Sullivan suggested, but they run into problems with tracking the grant. Correia said she does tracking and there are other Social Services line items run like this. She said the line items are invoiced for services, then she will put a claim through and keep track of the County funding to the agency.
Casserly said she is Chair of the Heritage Budget and Planning Committee. She said the RFPs are due at Heritage on February 12, 2009, and Heritage staff reviews them. The Budget and Planning Committee will then look at every detail around mid-March. Casserly said from prior experience, the view from Heritage and of the people from the other six counties is that Heritage is not equipped to care more for a given county then the county itself. Translated into finances, Heritage is not going to provide funding for something the County is not going to support. As a member of the Livable Community Initiative and as secretary of that Policy Board, she said there have not been any discussions of the $6,500 recommendation coming from DHS. She is concerned about that. They have discussed the $13,000 but not the $6,500. Correia said there was discussion in the Executive Committee meeting. Casserly said she was at Executive Committee and there was no discussion of $6,500.
Correia said the process with Johnson County Social Services Department with the Block Grants is a joint funding process. She said when a request comes in from different entities, she reviews all the requests against the mandate from the Board, and them makes a recommendation to the Board on those line items. She doesn’t go back to all of the 17 organizations to let them know her recommendation because the recommendation is public record. There is a chance for discussion at the meeting and once the Board has made their final policy decision, she sends a letter to all of the organizations that have requested funding. This letter lets the organizations know what was adopted by the Board.
Neuzil said organizations then have to opportunity to approach either Correia or the Board of Supervisors with differing opinions. The only one that has taken place here is this one. He said the Board of Supervisors are compromising and agreeing to $6,500 to budget and carry over and allow for an additional $6,500, so budget needs can be met for this year. In the end it equals what the Policy Board had done by advocating. The process has been fair and has worked. Casserly says it puts the Heritage funding at risk. She is going to be asked about this and doesn’t know what she is going to say. Neuzil said she can tell them that Johnson County is committing $13,000. Stutsman said that is misleading. Neuzil said no, they are committing $6,500 and amending $6,500. Sullivan suggested keeping $6,500 in the budget and monitor it. There have been differences of opinion about how much it is going to cost. Sullivan said, if it is lower, they can leave the budget alone. He said if the cost is more than the County will dip into reserves to cover the rest of the cost. Stutsman said that is what she heard and there is no guarantee. She doesn’t want to leave the impression that the Board is going to definitely give $13,000.
Welsh said they have to submit by noon on February 12, 2009, a budget RFP, which they have asked Elder Services to submit. Elder Services needs to put in an item from the County. If the Board allocates $6,500 to that line item, then they have to have another Board meeting and budget discussion because this budget will not fly. Correia said the County submitted a budget to Heritage for the last two years indicating a level of support of $25,000. For the first year the County didn’t spend the money, but it was in there if they needed it. If there is a need for the $13,000, it will be there. Harney said he is hearing from Casserly, if the County does not have $13,000 in there the Taskforce is not going to get the money from Heritage they are going to need. Correia said they can put it in the budget, because the commitment of the Board is, if needed, it will be there.
Correia said the County hasn’t needed the $25,000 that has been in the Heritage budget for the last two years. There is a projection that they do need it, but down the road they might not. Sullivan said they can do it in good faith. Claiborne said he cannot see raising taxes and taxing for something when the money is already there, hence an amendment. The money is there and will be there for an amendment. For this budget he can’t see the Board wanting to tax for something they aren’t sure they are going to need to. He is going to have to cut someone else's budget to make the $6,500, when the $6,500 is going to be there with returned money. He said that is what amendments are for. This is a very fine line from a taxpayer's standpoint.
Welsh said in the budget they submit the Heritage there would be $13,000 from Johnson County and a request of $11,000 from Heritage. Neuzil said that is how he views it. Welsh said both Heritage and Johnson County funding is based on actually spending the money. Casserly said she will have to deal with the questions at that Budget and Planning Meeting. She said Selk also serves on this committee and she has been at all of these meetings at which $6,500 has not been discussed. casserly said Selk will want to know and she isn’t sure on how to deal with it. Sullivan said he can give her his cell phone number, and when she is talking to Selk, if it would reassure her he could speak to her. Correia said, if a letter of support was written, they could attach it.
Harney left at: 9:44 a.m. returned at: 9:50 a.m.
Neuzil said they are making an exception to money not spent and that makse this unique over anything else. That is why they can put the number they way it is. Casserly said they are returning more than they are asking for. Neuzil said that is good. Welsh said it did come as a shock at their Executive Committee Meeting that there wasn't going to be $25,000 from the County. The budget that was put together for FY10 showed a contribution from the County of $25,000 plus a carryover of $22,000. Correia said that budget was when there was an Aging Specialist. Stutsman said they can't tax taxpayers when they don’t have a clear picture of what this is going to do. She can't see putting $25,000 just so they have $25,000 to spend. Welsh said they aren’t asking for that. Stutsman said that is what he is saying. Welsh said he is giving them a historic account in response to Neuzil's statement about the exception. Last year funds were carried over. Neuzil said that was because it was unique in the sense of the two year commitment. It wasn’t guaranteed that there were going to be more dollars coming and that is why they go through the process. The reason they didn’t get that until the end of December or January was because the Board didn’t ask for those numbers until that time. Correia said it was in January they heard of the Aging Specialist resignation.
Neuzil said they have worked out a compromise. Welsh said they will proceed to submit a budget showing the County for $13,000. Neuzil said $6,500 plus a $6,500 exception of carrying over, if necessary. Welsh said the funding from Heritage would be if necessary and could be prorated. Sullivan asked Claiborne if they ever cleaned up the items from the list they had for Block Grant 20. Claiborne said Neuzil reviewed them. Neuzil said it has been reviewed and everything has been cleared up as far as the bottom line. The Red Cross is out and the Shelter House capital campaign was zero. Coralville Center for Performing Arts and Sand Lake were budgeted for $5,000; it's unclear if they will receive their CAT Grants. The Food Alliance and Community Foundation were zeroed out. Rural Economic Development was $5,000. Historical Society Capital Campaign is at $20,000. Sullivan asked about East Iowa Tourism. Neuzil said that is at $5,000.
Claiborne said the actual levy is down 10% county-wide for 2009. Sullivan asked if the County is going to spend $302,739 more in FY10 than in the current budget year. Claiborne said correct. Sullivan said their overall budget increase is 4/10 of 1%. Claiborne said it is .36%. Neuzil said it was 13% from FY08 and it is .36% from FY09. Neuzil said that increase includes the Conservation bond issue. Stutsman clarified it does include the $20 million. Claiborne said this is the entire budget. Sullivan said the $20 million is only one million. Stutsman said they are talking about that Conservation bond, not the building. Neuzil said that includes the vote on the bond issue.
Claiborne said General Supplemental number 22, Insurance, shows it is going up 60%, which is not correct. He had to put the principal and interest payment on the Joint Emergency Communication Center (JECC) building, which is being paid for out of the General Supplemental Fund, until a line item is created in the Auditor's Office. He said he picked a department to stick it in. Any of those would have been up. Stutsman asked what he put in. Claiborne said the principal and interest payment on the bond for the JECC for FY09. It shows it went up quite a bit. The actual insurance budget is the same. The entire increase is principal and interest, $533,138. That will be cleaned up for FY11, but it takes time to get the accounting caught up. Neuzil said it needed to be put in as General Supplemental Fund expenditure. Claiborne said right.
Claiborne said Block Grants under General Basic look's large because $11 million is the first year of a bond. He said the County received $11 million in bond proceeds and he has to transfer that to the JECC. He said that is a department 20 line item that the funds are released from. Of the $14.6 million budget, $11 million is transferring the bond proceeds. It shows a $9.3 million increase. Stutsman asked why REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection) increased so much; it went up 124%. Claiborne said that it is a department request he received from Conservation Department Director Harry Graves. Harney said that looks like a huge increase. Neuzil said Graves entire budget increases the 4%, which covers employees. He said Graves did not ask for any additional dollars. Claiborne said the revenues for REAP are increasing. Claiborne said maybe Graves is spending down the fund. Sullivan said Graves might have a grant that is coming in and going out. Stutsman said they need to check that, because she didn’t think REAP funding was going to increase that much. Neuzil said REAP revenue increases by 49% from the previous year.
Neuzil asked Claiborne to write questions from the Board and they can do final follow-up on February 9, 2009. Claiborne said February 9, 2009 will have to be informational. Neuzil said they will be alright, if there is an emergency. They can do follow-up questions. Stutsman said there will be questions from taxpayers about huge increases. Claiborne said the Board should make changes today, because he has to have the publication ready by February 11, 2009. He will come in on and do more on the State form, but it is hard to change things once it is completed. If there are any changes today there have to be big changes to make it worthwhile. The deadline is here and he has been working weekends to get this done.
Sullivan said the overall budget is only increasing .36%, but some of these percent changes seem too high. Claiborne said it is a combination of the assessor revaluation. Neuzil said they are looking at FY08 values for assessor revaluation. Next year they won't see any changes in the revaluation. That is why the assessors are warning that revaluations will not fluctuate starting in FY10. Whenever there is an assessor revaluation almost all of them are pluses. When there is a plus that means there are additional dollars generated, because the value of those places increase. Harney said combining Rural Agriculture and Rural Residential they are looking at an increase of $112 per 100,000. Neuzil said Claiborne will explain why the rural levy is increasing primarily.
Claiborne said Rural is a policy decision because rural is up. He said he doesn’t know if the Board would want to suspend a $500,000 capital improvement. Rural is driven by libraries, which have an increase that they are married to with the 28E agreements, and the $500,000 is set aside, $400,000 is for roads and $100,000 is for trails. This would be a worthwhile change, if the Board was uncomfortable with the rural levy, which is going up 25.5%. He said the Board can't undo the 28E with the libraries, but they can tell him to reduce the $500,000 to zero or $100, 000 or 200,000. Neuzil said currently the County has $400,000 that goes to gravel and dirt roads and $100,000 trails. Claiborne said County Engineer Greg Parker is going to come to the Board in the spring amendment to use some of the previous two years money set aside to help his deficit. Sullivan asked what the impact is of taking $200,000 out of that the levy. Stutsman asked what it would lower it to.
Claiborne said rural basic $3.9 million. Sullivan wanted to see what it would be at $3.7 million instead of $3.9 million. That would be taking out $240,000. Claiborne estimated that it would be a levy of about 2.65. Claiborne said he has to work it on the computer. Stutsman said they need to lower it as much as they can. Neuzil agreed and he is concerned that Parker is relying on taking last year’s and the year’s previous. Claiborne said that is already there. Neuzil asked if they are going to have to rely on the additional $400,000 to cover this coming year. Claiborne asked if they get the Federal Stimulus Package, does Secondary Roads receive funds from that? Harney said it would be for a specific project. Claiborne said Parker could dip into the previous two years. They could lower this year with the hope that President Obama's stimulus may trickle down.
Neuzil said they have to be cautious, if they need the extra $400,000 for FY10's budget to cover the increases of salt, sand, and gravel. Sullivan said gas going back up could also affect it. Neuzil said Parker has given the Board his FY10 budget and he should have calculated those into his request. Harney said Parker has, but there are many unknowns particularly with the stimulus package. The second portion of Oak Crest Hill Road was around $2 million. Stimulus at this point is only allocating $1.2 million. He said Parker is over $1 million short for that project and has to figure out how he will make it up. Sullivan said he thinks they don’t build it. Stutsman asked if they have to build it, if it's approved. Harney said they have six months to do build or they give the money back. Neuzil said Parker can apply for some of the additional funding. Sullivan said if they can't move money around to do the project, he doesn’t want to go in a deficit.
Neuzil said the policy question for the Board is they currently give $500,000 out of the Rural Fund for the CIP and the trails. Does the Board want to continue that allocation or at least put $100,000 in the trails and not money towards gravel and dirt roads. Stutsman thinks they need to suspend the $500,000 for one year. Neuzil said he would suggest suspending $400,000, then they could still be committed to the match on the trails from the General Fund. Stutsman said she understands the Boards interest and commitment in trails, but when she hears people complain about gravel roads they don’t understand the trail issue. City people understand but rural people do not. Neuzil said he thinks there are a lot of rural people that understand the trail issue. Sullivan said the important thing for all people to understand is this money is not for regular maintenance. This is money that was set aside, because there were a few gravel roads they wanted to chip seal. They also had a couple roads that were dirt they wanted to make gravel. They said they wouldn't make those improvements unless they budgeted for them. He said three years ago they started budgeting for road improvements. He said they can no longer budget for that due to the current circumstances.
Sullivan said it is important for all residents to understand the Board is not changing the level maintenance of currents roads. He said taking out this money will eliminate upgrades to existing dirt or gravel roads. Stutsman said Parker has said he can use additional dollars in his regular maintenance budget. Sullivan said it is important for constituents to understand they are not taking money away from road maintenance. Harney said Parker is asking to take money already set aside and utilize it for his gravel in FY10. Stutsman said inflation and additional costs have eaten away at the Secondary Roads budget. When the Board started it was going to be extra it is no longer extra.
Sullivan when they talk about cutting this budget back they are not cutting back the regular road maintenance. They are going to end up spending more to catch up. He said the Board is talking about cutting back money set aside to improve rural roads. Now those roads are not going to be improved. Neuzil said the new program idea was that $400,000 was going to be put towards each year. He asked if the Board should try to continue to fund the program for FY10 or should the program be suspended and eliminate the tax for it. He asked if the Board also wanted to cut $100,000 out of the trails. This will mean Claiborne will have to readjust the numbers. Harney said he agreed with Stutsman, but he isn’t sure about the $100,000, because some of the grant applications rely on that money as a match. Part of that is the stimulus trails project. Stutsman said they already have money set aside in capital projects.
Claiborne said in General Basic they have $100,000 budgeted for trails and a $100,000 in the Rural Fund. Neuzil said the Johnson County Trails Advisory Committee is anticipating having $600,000 in the bank to apply for grants. If it has some significant tax decrease for rural taxpayers, he suggested suspending the Capital Improvements Plan. Stutsman said they need to cut both. They should cut $50,000 out of trails and the full $400,000. She said they are not going to be able to do everything they wanted to. There isn’t going to be much room for anything but the basics. They talked about trails in the Conservation Bond. She said $1 million per year was going to be used for trails from the bond. She asked why the County would take on additional costs when the taxpayers are paying for trails out of the bond. Neuzil said they are going to put the bond towards trails initiatives.
Sullivan said if they cut $400,000 they will be cutting 10% of the Rural levy and if they cut $500,000 they'd be cutting 13%. Harney said looking at the overall picture in the Rural they are jumping $112, but in commercial they are looking at $93 on top of that. They would have $191 on industrial. Sullivan said that is the revaluation with Syngenta and Twin County Dairy because they put so much into their business. Harney said Syngenta is a tax delay, because the County gave them five or ten years. Stutsman asked if the increase for commercial means they are going to have to lay people off. Increasing taxes has a ripple effect. They need to be conscious of where they are in the economy. Input costs are out of sight for the rural community.
Neuzil said a policy decision by the Board is to suspend the CIP program and that program was the $400,000 for gravel and dirt road upgrades. He asked if that this point they are not going to tax for that. The Board agreed. Neuzil said they are going to reduce the Rural Fund by at least $400,000. He asked if they should reduce any funding towards trails out of the Rural Fund. Stutsman said they need to lower it. Rural taxpayers are going to argue the County cut maintenance on roads and didn’t do anything to trails. Sullivan said they are not cutting any maintenance on roads. Stutsman said they are because according to Parker he wanted to use some of the CIP money for his regular budget. Sullivan said yes, out of the FY09 budget and they are planning on amending that in. That should bring Parker back to status quo.
Claiborne said Parker has a $3.2 million reserve fund that was supposed to go for Mehaffey Bridge. Claiborne said Parker told him that $1.5 million was needed, because Parker's budget is short this year. Claiborne told Parker that $800,000 is available. Parker said and he is still going to get $700,000 into that Mehaffey Bridge Fund. The $800,000 isn't going to cover Secondary Roads totally. Neuzil said they need to talk to Parker about managing his budget. Stutsman said things have really changed with the Secondary Roads Fund, Road Use Tax Funds, and costs of construction since they started putting this money away. What they thought would be a windfall for new projects is keeping status quo in the Secondary Roads budget.
Neuzil asked if there were three members that want to reduce trails and asked Stutsman what her proposal is. Stutsman said it should be reduced; everyone should reduce part of their budget. She would support allocating $50,000 for trails instead of $100,000. Stutsman said there is still $100,000 set aside for trails in the General Basic Fund. Neuzil argued keeping in the full amount, because they had given direction to all departments to freeze operational expenses from the previous year. He said that would keep them at $100,000. Neuzil also argued that the $400,000 for the CIP program is completely off the table, because they are likely going to be spending the previous two year's. There is no point to put more money towards that.
Neuzil said they should continue to match the $100,000 allocation from the General Fund by allocating $100,000 from the Rural Fund. They have clear documentation that the Board of Supervisors is committed to the trail system from Iowa City to Cedar Rapids. Those costs are going to rise as well. Stutsman said Neuzil is saying to cut out the $400,000 for CIP and keep trails at 100% of what they have done in the past. She said that is not fair. Neuzil said he doesn’t think they are similar.
Sullivan said he can see both sides. He is concerned about the overall management of the Secondary Roads budget and they need to have a better handle on the decisions being made. If this budget is going to be this problematic, he wants to have more oversight. He thinks the Board needs to make a commitment, in either case, to take a better look at the budget. Harney said he thinks they need to look at Secondary Roads and other budgets. He is concerned about Conservation. Conservation was given money for their buildings and shops. Now Graves is asking for $95,000. He said $50,000 for upgrades at the park near Solon and $45,000 for geothermal upgrades in the buildings at Kent Park. Harney said it is not just Secondary Roads; they have concerns everywhere. Sullivan said maybe so, but people are appointed to oversee the Conservation budget. The Board has to oversee Secondary Roads budget. Harney said they put a certain amount of trust in the department head, and if they are not pleased, they need to talk to him. Sullivan said he is not pleased.
Neuzil asked should Claiborne keep trails at $100,000 or reduce it to $50,000. Sullivan said he would like to keep it at $100,000 with the understanding, if things get desperate, that is where they are going to have to look. Neuzil said if it doesn’t get expended. Stutsman said it won’t change the tax rating. She thinks the rural people are going to become unglued when they see this. She is going to have to tell them the Board reduced the CIP drastically but not trails. Neuzil said there was a .36% increase including the JECC and the Conservation bond referendum. Stutsman said it is not apples to oranges compared to the rural side of the budget. Neuzil said last year it was the city side of the budget.
Sullivan said the reduction will make FY10's budget lower than FY09. He said it will be $100,000 less. Claiborne said they are sitting at two members in favor of keeping $100,000 and one in favor of reducing it to $50,000. He said Harney is the tie breaker. Harney said he thinks they need to lower it some, either $50,000 or $75,000. Stutsman said they aren’t lowering the General Basic side.
Claiborne said the $400,000 is definitely coming off. Neuzil said Meyers' will have to be the ultimate decision. Claiborne asked if they want to break and he can call Meyers. Harney said if they need the $100,000 for a match fund, then they should leave it, otherwise it is appropriate to cut some of those funds. Neuzil asked if Harney wanted to lower the tax asking to $50,000 for trails, keep it at $100,000, or try to find a compromise in between. Harney said he would like a compromise at $75,000. Stutsman agreed to $75,000 because she thinks it sends a message to the taxpayer that everyone is taking a reduction. Sullivan and Neuzil agreed. Neuzil said they are going to reduce the allocation by $425,000. Sullivan said that puts FY10's budget $125,000 lower overall.
Claiborne said he would get the new worksheets to the Board by the afternoon. Neuzil asked Claiborne wanted to make the adjustment with Correia. Claiborne said no, because he couldn’t see taxing. He would have to reduce somewhere else. Neuzil said they saw an increase of 13% from FY08 to FY09. He said for FY10, including the JECC and the Conservation Bond, they have a reduction. Sullivan said it is less than a percent. Neuzil said it is a message they are reducing their overall budget, particularly after voters voted for $1 million every year for 20 years. Harney said they have the Communications Center coming online in October if it stays on schedule with final test in the spring. He said they have budgeted $800,000 that will go to the Sheriff's Office. He said he thinks that should come off. Sullivan said they cannot do that this year. Harney said he knows.
Neuzil said they need to have a conversation about the amount of money they will be using to pay down the debt from the new Health and Human Services Building. The dollars Harney is talking about are probably going to be transferred into a fund to assist the Board with carryover to be eligible for a better bond rating. Harney said as long as it is bringing the debt down. He said he doesn’t want to spend because they have it. Sullivan asked Claiborne where Capital Projects sits. Claiborne said with all the changes the Capital Projects budget it $4,347,393. Neuzil said that is the extra money that would be applied towards capital projects. Sullivan said the intent is to put that whole thing toward the Health and Human Services Building.
Claiborne said the County has a five year bank note they took out last year. It is not a tax increase but a borrowing against the General Basic Fund for $5,015,000. It is five year note, but the Board's goal was to pay it in three. Since they are being rated for bond rating, Johnson County Treasurer Tom Kriz would like to put $1 million into the General Basic Reserve, leaving $3.3 million they could apply on that loan. Stutsman agrees to put the $1 million in the reserve and the $3.3 towards the loan. Neuzil said if all goes well with the JECC and they transfer dispatch dollars out of the Sheriff's Office towards the bond rating fund, should they put the full million into that or just $600,000 assuming they will have the extra $400,000 and then apply the rest towards Capital Projects?
Sullivan asked if the interest they would pay by not paying off the note greater than the interest they would gain through the bonding. He asked, over the two year period, which is cheaper. Harney said they need to ask Kriz because he has told him several times they need to pay this off, because it is a higher rate. Sullivan said that is why he isn’t sure he wants to save anything. Claiborne said the shorter a debt is paid the better off they are. Neuzil said if they apply the $4,347,393 towards the debt, they would be about $800,000 away from having the new building paid off. The Board would then commit the additional dollars from dispatch to start the saving fund for the bond rating. Claiborne said from the Finance Committee he would recommend that. Sullivan said he would rather not put this million away and pay off as much as they can. Stutsman asked if Sullivan didn’t want to put any in reserve. Sullivan said yes just pay it off. Harney said he would defer to Kriz on this. Stutsman agreed. Neuzil suggested they take a break and see if Kriz could come to the meeting.
Recessed 10:30 a.m.; reconvened 10:38 a.m.
Neuzil said the money put into Capital Expenditures is $4,347,393 and the question was if they wanted to put it all in Capital Projects or start creating a reserve to assist in bond rating. Kriz said one glaring result from Moody's Bond Rating Agency is the County carries a very small cash reserve. He said some of the Capital Expenditure money needs to go into the cash reserve to start to build it up. He said the note taken on the Health and Human Services was for five years, because $1 million a year was put away towards that note all along. The anticipation was to pay the note off in two or three years. The interest rates stagger from year to year, but it is about 2.2% to 2.8%. The interest on the note is not terribly expensive, but it is still an expense. It would be beneficial blend the Capital Expenditure money and still pay that building off in two to three years, otherwise they will have to put $1 million aside for the next five years.
Sullivan said, if they put $4.3 million towards the building, they would pay if off in two years. If they put $3.3 million, then maybe it will be paid off in three years. He asked if the $1 million is going to be enough to get a higher rating for Moody’s as opposed to savings on the interest rate. Kriz said $1 million is probably not enough. He said the cost for each million is $25,000. Sullivan said, if they could put $5 million away, it would start making a difference. Since they can't, they would be better off paying the whole $4.3 million toward the building. Kriz said that would make sense. He said the Cash Reserves are about $2.7 million. He said the hope is to build Cash Reserves up to $5 million as soon as possible. He said $800,000 to a million would probably not make them AAA over AA.
Neuzil asked if it would be more advantageous to get rid of the bond note before they start the reserve. Stutsman clarified, would it be beneficial to apply the entire $4.3 toward the building and not put anything in reserve. Neuzil said they have $2.7 million for reserve in already. Harney said he thinks they can put some in reserves, because there should be money left over from rent at DHS and Human Services buildings plus the sale of a couple properties and the money from those changes should go into the reserve account. Kriz said they talked about that. He said initially talked about selling the Department of Public Health Building and bring funds back into the reserve. They will have rent savings from the DHS Governor Street property and the other various places. If some of that comes back in they could pay it off quicker.
Neuzil said the Board needs to decide if they should pay off the $5 million before focusing on the savings fund. Harney asked if they should put $ 1 million in reserve, pay $3.3 million towards the Health and Human Services building, and see what money comes back from rent and the selling of those properties. He said they could then put money received from the rent savings and sales towards the note or into the reserve. Sullivan said makes more sense to pay the whole $4.3 million toward the bank note because they are paying the interest. Kriz said for the $5 million they have $125, 000 in interest. Harney said it would draw that. He said he wanted to see the note paid off. Kriz agreed and said that makes the most sense.
Stutsman asked if they were going to put anything additional in reserve. Neuzil said they would put in half of the dispatch money. Kriz said, if they built that reserve, it shows their goal is to increase the cash reserve. Claiborne asked if the Health Building is for sale yet. Neuzil said no, there is discussion whether the Ambulance Department could move there and other possibilities. Kriz said there is a cost to debt and it is better to reduce it. Stutsman asked if they are going to put all $4.3 million towards the building. Sullivan said they should so they don’t have to pay interest. Stutsman said the interest is pretty low. Kriz agreed but there is still cost to it and he can't invest it in short term to get 2-2.5%. Sullivan said this is $25,000 per million in interest. Kriz said they borrowed $5,015,000 to start with. Neuzil said placing all of the money toward the Health and Human Services Building puts them in a good position for FY11, because they won't have that expense. Kriz said otherwise they have to put $1 million towards the note for the next few years.
Harney said he sees the County being able to put a substantial amount in reserve and pay off the building in FY11. Neuzil said they will be able to, if they stay disciplined with the budget. Sullivan said if times get worse they have bought the million dollars. Neuzil asked Kriz if he would object to the Board applying $4.3 million toward the building with the intent that once that is paid off, they need to not be spending additional amounts.
Kriz thinks Moody's will think it is favorable that they paid off the building, but will caution that a community this size need’s more than a couple million in reserve. Harney asked how putting all of the money toward the note would affect any emergencies or contingencies throughout the year as far as cash reserves. Claiborne said the County always has certificates of deposits and they could take out tax anticipation loans. He said there are always tools they can access. Kriz said the County does have funds that could be moved, like what they did with tax anticipation. He said many communities issue tax anticipation notes knowing the tax revenue will come in. If they got into a bind, they will probably have to take out a tax anticipation note, because a bulk of the tax funds come in during March and April, then September and October.
Kriz said the County also has the Reservoir Roads Trust Fund that has build up over the years. Claiborne said they have certificates of deposit that can be used as collateral. Stutsman said that money has been allocated. Kriz said he isn’t suggesting using that money. Sullivan said Kriz is mentioning cash flow. Neuzil said there may be cash flow issues with the State of Iowa. Kriz said they are watching the Department of Transportation to see if they will shift things. Right now the County receives 4% of registrations but the State could change that. Harney said 2/3 of the road dollars from the stimulus are being kept for State projects, leaving the counties with almost nothing. Kriz said they are going to issue tax statements and offer people a homestead tax credit. In years past the State has changed the percent they were going to give the County. He said carrying debt to put away money doesn’t make sense. Stutsman asked what is the final decision; how much will be put towards the building. Neuzil said the proposal is the full amount. Sullivan said whole thing. Harney said unless something changes.
Neuzil asked if someone could clarify what money they have bonded out. Claiborne said after FY09, two of the bonds will retire. He said the County will still have the SEATS, Voting Equipment, Conservation Headquarters, and Administration Building Remodel. The Conservation Bond will go on for 20 years and they do not know what amount will be requested. The JECC Bond will go on for 11 years.
Neuzil said the Health and Human Service bond wouldn’t retire, but it would be close to retirement. Kriz said it wouldn’t retire because they have $5,015,000 and accrued interest. It would take the bond down to one year. Sullivan said they should be able to pay the bond off in FY11, because it will be less than a million. Neuzil said that would help because valuations will be flat starting FY11. The County would still have dollars they can apply to the reserve. He said he would like to create a line item officially, so it is designated towards a purpose. Kriz said Moody’s, in April, will look at what was in the reserve. Neuzil said this is anticipating the Justice Center. Kriz said this allocation will help the County make progress, which is the only issue Moody's had.
Claiborne said the County is not issuing any bonds in FY10. They have existing bonds they are paying off. The new bonding is the JECC tower, JECC equipment, and Conservation. He said they are currently paying $3.9 million in payments and interest for FY09. After the two bonds retire this year, for FY11 barring any new bonding they will be at $1.2 million and saving $2.7 million. Stutsman asked what Claiborne meant by new bonding. Claiborne said Conservation bonds. Kriz said they don’t know the amount. Harney asked if the Board could decide it will be a million a year for 20 years and they can save a year if Conservation wants something more expensive. Claiborne told Graves that the Conservation Board will have to respect the Board of Supervisor’s $10 million cap. Stutsman said they need to have a joint meeting with the Conservation Board. Kriz said it would help a lot.
Sullivan said the Conservation Board committed to holding public meetings to discuss what is out there and what they are interested in. He said that plays into this issue and the Board should be a part of that process. Kriz said the Conservation Board has the $20 million bond. He said, because of the JECC, the bonds sold by the County are not bank rated. It would make sense if Conservation is going to borrow $1 million to do that in January at the new calendar year. Then there is a break in the spread and they will come out better. It might be better to borrow $2 million one year and nothing the current year. He said the Board needs some idea of what the Conservation Board is thinking. Stutsman said they need to work together.
Kriz said the bond was passed at $20 million to be drawn as Conservation sees fit. He doesn’t think there is a way to prohibit the use or set a limit. It would be a sizeable hit if all $20 million came at once. Sullivan said Claiborne attended the Conservation Board meeting and learned about the $10 million cap. He said Conservation Board members pay taxes, too, and they don’t want to break the bank. Kriz said it makes sense because there was no special levy for the new building. The quicker they retire the bond the more funding is freed. Neuzil said if the dispatch dollars get divided, as they should during FY10, there would be a return to the General Fund they could apply towards to paying off this debt further or starting the fund. He said they need to pay to pay off the building and then start a reserve for bond rating.
Harney said the Board talked about bonding for the demolition of the National Guard Armory, as well as the purchase of the houses from the City of Iowa City. Claiborne said the houses will be in FY09. Neuzil said the demolitions are also in FY09. Claiborne talked to Facilities Manager Dave Kempf about his capital expenditure and unexpended monies. Claiborne said he and Kempf are comfortable enough to proceed forward with existing money they have already taxed for. They didn’t see a need to bond. Kriz said there is a cost for bonding beyond the interest rate. It costs about $5,000. Harney said getting into the TIF area for public purpose spreads the cost for the average taxpayer. Neuzil said the County doesn’t have anything coming for future expenditures other than potentially additional houses across from the Jail. There doesn’t seem to be a need to do any more bonding for a while.
Kriz said people who have asked for facilities have received that, except for Ambulance. Harney said the Justice Center is the big issue and they can work with Ambulance. Claiborne said they talked about Kempf’s spring amendment for the Administration Building renovation, if the reserves are available. Kriz said it would come out the FY09 budget. Claiborne said that will come later and there may be additional spending in FY09. There will be another amendment with Secondary Roads. Neuzil said instead of taxing in FY10 they will use existing FY09 dollars for the amendment.
Neuzil said they had very little discussion about impact on the Rural Block Grants (Block Grants 23). He said rural dollars are being spent primarily on the Rural Road Fund and Block Grants 23. Neuzil reported the libraries came in and the Block Grant for the City of Iowa City increased by $20,816 for FY10. That would mean Iowa City would receive $383,010 of rural tax dollars. Coralville’s budget increases by just under $18,000. Coralville went from $55,000 to over $73,000 for FY10. Oxford stays the same and is the only one still under a block grant form. Solon Library increases $17,689. Solon still is the second highest receiver. Stutsman asked what the total was. Neuzil said $113,032 for Solon. Stutsman asked what is the overall increase is for all the libraries. Neuzil said they are requesting an additional $60,476 for FY10. He said the Rural Fund, which includes soil conservation and landfill solid waste management, will be reduced, because they reduced the County’s Trail Plan/CIP. He said roughly $600,000 will go towards libraries for rural residents from Block Grant 23.
Stutsman asked what the mandated for libraries are. Claiborne said he looked at it a while ago and it is significant. Neuzil said last he knew it was around $84,000. Stutsman thought it was more. Sullivan said the County has contracts with the libraries. Stutsman said the Iowa Code requires a certain amount and the County has gone way above the requirement. Sullivan said when they get a new Executive Assistant, that person will have to negotiate with the libraries. Neuzil said that is part of the strategic planning meeting February 18, 2009. He said they will start to identify funds that need to be looked at. He asked where the contract on animals comes out of. Claiborne said it comes out of Department 18 (Central Services). Neuzil said they hadn’t decided if it would come out of Rural or General and right now it still comes out of General. Stutsman said she could argue that 90% of the dogs that are brought in are from the cities.
Neuzil said they asked the libraries to keep operating expenses the same and they are requesting an addition $60,476. Stutsman said it is a contract. Sullivan said that is based on usage. Neuzil said that is an area to look at. He said the County cut $425,000. Stutsman agreed, but said library usage is up. Sullivan said he isn’t suggesting drastic cuts, but they need to look at the contracts to see if they can put in protections. Neuzil said they don’t want to look at drastic cuts, but they have to be realistic. Harney said all of the small communities are adding libraries. Neuzil asked Claiborne to forward the Board members Block Grants 23. Stutsman said if they are going to make changes, they need to give the libraries a heads-up for their budgets. She said 2/3 of the Solon Library budget is County funded. Sullivan said 75% of the people that use the Solon Library don’t live in the City. Neuzil said most counties designate one library to give dollars to. If rural people want to use it, then they buy a library card. Sullivan said they should have a meeting with the members of the different library boards. Neuzil said they have representatives that sit on the library boards.
Neuzil asked Claiborne if they would be able to get an updated draft showing some of the tax impact. Claiborne said yes. Neuzil said they will plan to meet February 9, 2009. Stutsman asked about equalization, because it is at zero. Claiborne said there is not equalization every year. Sullivan said they are still planning on meeting on February 9, 2009, but they don’t know how much they will have to discuss. Neuzil said the main thing he wants to discuss is the final draft. It would also be nice to know how they want to divide the budget presentation. Harney asked if Claiborne would put that together like he did last time. Claiborne asked to talk about the presentation later, because he has to have the State form ready. He knows they want to change the format. Harney said the form is due on February 11, 2009. Neuzil said they will have the public hearing on March 2, 2009, and the official vote on March 12, 2009.
Claiborne said on February 12, 2009, the Board will authorize the Auditor’s Office to publish the State Form. The reason it is so early is that the small papers only publish one day a week. They are on schedule for the public hearing on March 2, 2009 and they will adopt it on March 12, 2009. He will issue it to the State on March 13, 2009. Neuzil asked if Claiborne followed up with Auditor’s Office for the language on the agenda. Claiborne said he will check, but that should be done already. Claiborne said the State Form is due to the State on March 15, 2009, but he is going to send it a few days early. Neuzil said the County has to publish numbers on February 12, 2009, so they can have the public hearing.
Neuzil said it would be nice to have updated numbers as soon as possible. Claiborne said now is the time for changes, otherwise it will be too late. He asked if there were any other changes the Board wanted to make before he finalizes everything. Sullivan said no. Neuzil said no. Stutsman asked why they are going to meet again. Claiborne said to go over the final numbers. Neuzil said it may be a quick meeting. Sullivan said it is important they understand the numbers, so they are all on the same page. Neuzil said the Auditor’s Office has reviewed the budget and will not change it after the public hearing. He said told Claiborne to send a copy of the new figures to the Auditor's Office when he sends them to the Board. Claiborne said he got Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards’ approval. Sullivan said he thinks they should do a press release about the budget. Neuzil said they can do that at the next meeting.
Adjourned at 11:13 a.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2009
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on August 27, 2009.