MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
AUGUST 19, 2009
Chairperson Neuzil 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, Terrence Neuzil, Rod Sullivan, and Larry Meyers arrived at 9:04 a.m.; absent: Sally Stutsman.
Executive Assistant Andy Johnson said he thinks it is helpful for the Supervisors to keep their bigger goals in mind as they begin to discuss specific budgeting strategies. He thinks it is helpful to keep the mission statement in front of the Board while they are doing strategic planning. He does not know how long ago the mission statement was developed. Neuzil said it has been around for awhile, and they changed a couple of words several years ago. Human Resources Coordinator Lora Shramek said she thinks it is about nine years old. Neuzil agreed. Johnson said he has been doing reading and research regarding budgeting principles and guidelines. The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has four broad principles for budgeting. They include establishing goals, deciding how to reach the goals, developing a budget consistent with those strategies, and evaluating to see if goals are being reached and adjusting as necessary. Characteristics of the recommended budget process include: incorporating the long-term perspective, focusing on results and outcomes, communicating with stakeholders, and providing incentives to government management and employees to encourage them to work toward the goals.
Johnson reviewed goals of the Board of Supervisors from a meeting in late 2007. They included the jail facility, metro transportation plan, multi-year strategic plan, and hiring a criminal justice coordinator. He asked if there are other goals the Board members have identified in the meantime. Neuzil said the 2007 plan also included the pursuit of green initiatives, rural economic development, and a system to follow up on those goals. They were making progress until the flood occurred. They decided to focus on budget issues while there was a transition involving the position of Executive Assistant. The Board then started looking at the goals and decided they are on autopilot for some of the goals, including the metro transportation plan, the jail issue, and the green initiatives. Johnson said there may be some broader goals to identify within the course of budgeting. For example, there was interest expressed in building up reserves. It was identified as an approach to reaching the first goal by improving their position when bonding.
Neuzil said another budget approach agreed to by the Board is to pay off the debt associated with the new Health and Human Services Building. Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne said there is two million left on the note, and there is one million that can be appropriated far ahead of schedule. Johnson asked if there are other goals that have been identified. Neuzil said they have mentioned keeping tax increases to a minimum in the past. Sullivan said there is some reason to believe that taxes could not be increased significantly even if the Board wanted to increase them. Valuations are not expected to increase. Neuzil said there is room to increase, but they choose not to do so. The Board continued to cut taxes on the rural side of the budget for the past nine years.
Johnson said Scott County has a well developed strategic action plan. Their plan includes who will be responsible for each goal and when it will be accomplished. It holds people accountable and is reviewed by their Board on a regular basis. Johnson thinks a similar plan could be worked towards in Johnson County as specific strategies are identified. He said it is important not to get caught up in discussing specifics without tying strategies into the goal or mission. Establishing a timeline and person responsible are also important.
Neuzil asked the Board if these are still the goals they are interested in pursuing. He said the economy has changed and the atmosphere of the economy has changed since these goals were established in 2007. If other governments are doing certain things, it is likely that Johnson County will also need to do those things. Employee salaries, minimum tax increases, and image of infrastructure are examples. Johnson said his understanding of these sessions is to give some direction and to look at different perspectives. However, a session could be held later to specifically look at the broader goals. Sullivan said part of the reason the goals are heavily weighed toward the justice initiatives is that the ten elected officials participated in the identification of goals. Johnson said the Board could have its own goals, and sessions could be held to identify new goals. Neuzil said it was frustrating because investments were not made toward the identified goals. He questioned whether money should be put into major initiatives when there are operational freezes. He thinks that is why the Board ultimately decided to hold off on pursuing the goals. Johnson said by doing that, they have identified this as a higher priority. Neuzil said apparently they did, but he is not sure if that is still the case.
Johnson said he would be willing to plan a future session to consider broader goals if the Board thinks it would be helpful. Sullivan said he thinks it made sense to include the other elected officials. There is an Elected Officials Meeting scheduled for the near future, and maybe the agenda should include discussion regarding whether or not they would want to participate in another meeting regarding goals. He thinks it makes sense to have the elected officials be invested in the goals. Neuzil said he is in support of having it put on the agenda for the Elected Officials Meeting and suggested that they also review the previous goals. He thinks the goals are solid, but money is the issue. Johnson said he would put it on the agenda.
Claiborne said it is premature to make a projection. Equalization is not obtained until October, and it makes a significant difference. Rollbacks will be in November and utilities will be December. He encourages the Board to be conservative and to increase valuations from last year by about 2%. Normally, there is 4, 5, 6, or 7% growth. He would like to approach the FY11 budget similar to the approach for the FY10 budget. With the exception of steps and COLAs, there would be no personnel growth unless it is paid for. Gas prices have seemed to level out, and he is wondering if the Board wants to budget towards four dollars per gallon. Gas and postage were the only increases allowed last year, and he thinks it would be a good approach for the next year. Neuzil clarified that Claiborne is talking about last year’s approach, but potentially having a 1-2% increase for each department rather than an operational freeze. Claiborne said no. He is actually saying that the reserves should be built up by approaching the FY11 budget with flat operational freezes. The extra money would be added to reserves. Claiborne said the Health and Human Services Building could be paid off this year, depending on what the Board decides regarding whether or not to purchase the Press Citizen Building. Neuzil said the Board has not made any commitment towards putting the $1 million towards that. Neuzil said he is unsure what approach should be taken if there are going to be employee freezes again.
Claiborne said they are on a very early timeframe, and the budget will be distributed September 4, 2009. Neuzil said it is important to have a game plan and to give everyone notice. Sullivan said he agrees with Claiborne. There is a list of things to talk about and an opportunity to do some things. The State budget is not in nearly as good of a position as that of Johnson County, and they could potentially give unfunded mandates to the County. Neuzil questioned whether or not that should be part of their budget approach. Sullivan said it would be good to be prepared, knowing the State is going to be in bad shape financially. Neuzil said he would like that added to the list. Meyers asked if that would be related to adding to the reserves, since they don’t know specifically what things would be passed off to the County. Sullivan said yes. Neuzil said it gives them another reason to be cautious with the upcoming budget year. Sullivan said if it is not needed, it will be more money that has been built up in the reserves.
Neuzil cautioned that the population of Johnson County is growing, and there are very few patrol deputies. It gets back to goal setting and prioritizing. He said that adding deputies may depend on whether or not they receive stimulus money for that purpose. Another option may be to hold off on rehiring for positions in other departments to add patrol deputies. Sullivan agreed. Meyers said especially when the Iowa City Police, University Police, and the County Sheriff are entering into a cooperative agreement to increase patrol in southeast Iowa City. Normally, that would not be any of the County’s business. Neuzil said it kind of is the County’s business due to the mobile home court on the other side of Scott Boulevard that is in Johnson County.
Johnson said that Shramek is present for discussion regarding the list of cost saving considerations. Shramek suggested focusing on the items highlighted in yellow due to the Board expressing the most interest in those items. Sullivan said a couple of the items would have to be bargained, and the Board needs to decide whether or not they want Shramek to go into collective bargaining so she receives the right marching orders. Shramek said they would need to be on the initial proposal, which is just a couple of weeks away. Johnson clarified that the first three items do not involve collective bargaining. Shramek agreed. Neuzil said he thinks at least four out of the five Board members agree that each of the items on the list are top priorities.
Neuzil said he is still cautious of a hiring freeze in case something comes up. Sullivan said he would not term it a freeze, but he would not like to automatically replace positions without considering rearrangement. Perhaps they should create a priority list. If they can hire only three people, which three positions would they fill. Neuzil does not disagree that the message to department heads and elected officials is that they do not anticipate increasing operating expenses or staff. Neuzil said it all comes down to level of service, however. He does not know how to define that. Sullivan asked Shramek if she has language for that. Shramek said not right now, but she is wondering if the Board is aware of all approved, but unfilled, positions. She thinks that is one of the first things to identify. She asked if Information Technology has a program available for that. Neuzil said he does not know. He thinks they transition people into different jobs. Sullivan said Mental Health/Disability Services (MH/DS) used to have about seven and are now down to one. Shramek agreed.
Johnson said, from the perspective of department heads, they are doing the Board a favor by returning money to reserves. One person indicated that if that was taken away, they would have a different approach to budgeting. Communication and planning will be important. Sullivan said department heads and elected officials need to be able to trust the Board. They need to trust that the Board will not throw a fit if they go 1% over and need a budget amendment. If they think the Board will have a fit, they will pad their budgets by 2%, so they do not have to ask for an amendment. Neuzil said that gets into the provision of mandated versus non-mandated services. Department heads will want to know they are not going to be penalized if services are not provided as well as they used to be due to having had to make cuts. That is where trust is important. Johnson asked if nurturing trust with department heads is an additional goal or budget approach. Sullivan thinks it should be.
Shramek said maybe they could do some trending over a period of about five years. If a budget is continually 5% under, some issues could potentially be identified. Neuzil said right. Sullivan asked if inventorying unfilled positions is a budget goal or an action. Shramek replied an action. Johnson said the question is who will do that and when it will be done. Shramek asked Claiborne if unfilled positions are identified in the budget under personnel. Claiborne said yes. He said Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards handles the payroll side. Claiborne’s budgets are due from the department heads on October 2, 2009. He does not know when Edwards will get his back, but he identifies funded but not filled positions. Shramek said they could look at last year’s as an example. Claiborne said yes. Sullivan said he thinks that is a great step. Johnson asked if they could have that for next month’s meeting. Neuzil asked for another explanation of the goal. Johnson replied it would be to identify which and how many funded but unfilled positions there were last year. Claiborne said he can prepare that and email it to Shramek. The Board can see if there have been any changes since last year. Johnson clarified that it will be for next month’s meeting.
Sullivan asked if the Board is in enough agreement regarding the items that require collective bargaining to give Shramek direction to proceed with them. Neuzil said the majority of the Board supports the items ranked 20 and above on the handout. He said support lessens in the 18-19 range. Shramek suggested stopping at Medicare Carveout, which received a total rank of 20. It would not be a bargaining issue. Sullivan said it is expensive. Shramek agreed. She clarified that she is looking at the following items: no new or enhanced benefits, change vacation payouts to amount earned, contribute to single health care coverage, higher family contributions, reduced sick leave accrual, and decreased clothing allowance.
Johnson said there are several items on the back of the handout that were not ranked by all Board members. Sullivan said he does not understand the item labeled ‘Enforce contracts and policies’ because he hopes the County is doing that already. Shramek said the County does not. There are several areas she can identify where contracts and policies are not enforced and end up costing the County additional money. Sullivan supports enforcing those policies and contracts; however, one Board member gave the item the lowest ranking. Shramek said she considers those policies and contracts an easy target because they are already written out. Sullivan would like to hear from the Board member who though it was a bad idea. He asked Shramek for some specific information regarding the issue. Shramek replied individual items may involve only a few hundred dollars each but likely account for a few thousand dollars when totaled. Johnson said one example involves non-payment for purchase of personal computers following employee termination. He said it goes to the County Attorney for enforcement, and it may not be considered cost effective to pursue the money. Shramek said a demand letter for money owed was not even sent in the past and no efforts were made to repossess the computer.
Neuzil said a previous budget approach for goal setting was the line of enhanced revenues and diversified funding streams. In the past the Board has asked department heads to continue to identify ways to increase revenues. A good example is that the Ambulance Service in West Des Moines is teaming up with the State so that tax returns are garnished for non-payment of ambulance bills. Sullivan said a lot of time is spent on driveways with no fee, and it is paid out of taxes. Linn County charges a fee, and it would make sense for Johnson County to institute a fee. Neuzil wondered if there are more options for revenue increases for non-mandated services. A more radical example would involve giving people the option to pay extra money to have a service done faster. Sullivan can see that as a possibility for zoning. Neuzil added it could also involve building inspections. Sullivan said brainstorming is good.
Neuzil said he wants to ask department heads and elected officials where they would cut 3% or 5% of their budget if they had to make the cut. They will either cut the things with the least priority or they will cut some meat and tell the Board to deal with the public. He thinks a responsible person would identify and cut a non-mandated service within their department. That is what the City of Iowa City had to do three months ago, and they had to throw out some popular programming. Johnson asked if the Board wants to ask the question regarding cuts to department heads. Neuzil asked if they are to that point yet. Johnson said maybe not yet, but at some time during the process. Sullivan said a 5% cut is pretty heavy, but he would not mind asking what they would do for a 1% or 2% cut. He thinks priorities would be identified.
Johnson said he and Claiborne will be meeting with each department during the process. Sullivan said he likes the idea of asking the question. Neuzil said it should be asked which position or operating expense would go if they had to do this. If it does not happen this year, it could happen next year, especially depending on actions by the State. It would be tough. Shramek said it would be tough, but the information is valuable to the Board for determining priorities.
Harney said he disagrees. He thinks people will support cutting public safety, which will have the most impact on the public. Harney was expecting a lot of information to come from the job study. He thinks they have been waiting for that for a long time and is still expecting it to come to the Board. The Board keeps changing directions each time they meet. They previously planned to talk about discussing mandated versus discretionary funding and to review funding by line item. Harney thinks it is about being fiscally responsible, and that includes covering all of it, not just the pieces. They are looking at ways to raise more fees and taxes, and it gets passed onto the public every time they do. The public is getting fed up with it. Neuzil thinks the majority of the public wants all of the services and does not want to pay the taxes to fund them. If the County is going to continue to hold the line on taxes, which they are, then they cannot continue to provide the same level of service.
Harney said the Board has not stepped up and said no to anyone when they make requests throughout the year. Two of the previously identified main goals were rural economic development and the Justice Center. He thinks the County needs those to build on their own fiscal responsibility and to bring in business. Secondary Roads is one department that has suffered, and now there is discussion of cutting out bridge funding. Money needs to be obtained for Secondary Roads or some roads are going to be closed. Neuzil said $400,000 was cut out of the rural side of the budget the very last meeting before the budget ended. Sullivan said if people want bridges, they are going to have to pay for them. There was recently a vote on the sales tax issue, and rural residents decided they do not want tax increases or more money put towards roads.
Sullivan said if they look at where money is actually spent, it is on personnel. If they want to have a meaningful impact on the County budget, personnel is a significant component. Neuzil agreed with Harney regarding the importance of discussing mandated versus non-mandated services. Between economic development, block grants, and social services block grants, $1.5 million is spent on these non-mandated services. He asked if there should be a conversation regarding ways to reduce that amount due to having higher priorities. The Board needs to have this conversation because each Board member’s fiscal responsibility is different than that of the others. They will get closer to consensus by doing these things. Claiborne said the Board has been reminded for years that library agreements are paying a lot more than is necessary. In the meantime, Secondary Roads continues to use up their reserves. A possible tool would be to rewrite the library agreements and direct some of that money towards Secondary Roads. Sullivan said it is important to determine what rural people want. What he has heard from people in rural areas is that they just want their taxes lowered. If people want a service, they need to be willing to pay for it.
Neuzil said he knows Shramek has to leave the meeting early, and asked her if she has received some direction. He did not hear anyone disagree that the items in yellow, up to Medicare Carveout, were appropriate to pursue. He and Shramek will be meeting with a consultant tomorrow to prepare the game plan. Sullivan said he and Harney are meeting with them too. Sullivan is interested in the Medicare Carveout and wondered if the other Board members are interested in Shramek getting back to them with details. Neuzil said certainly. Any item that was ranked 20 or above is obviously something a majority of the Board wants to pursue as a priority.
Harney said he is surprised about the ranking the longevity bonus received because he thinks it is a waste of money. A long-term employee is not necessarily a good employee. Neuzil looks at it as part of their salary. Shramek said it is a cheaper way because there is not a roll up with the life insurance, long-term disability, etc. She agrees with Harney in principle, however. Sullivan said a lot of places are moving away from longevity bonuses, but it is very expensive to buy it out. Shramek said it usually has to be bought out dollar for dollar. Neuzil said it gives the image that employees are getting a significant salary increase, although it would be done to buy out the longevity bonus. Harney said it does not have to be all at once if they are looking at adding on to some of their other benefits. Neuzil said it may or may not be an option, but there may be a lot of community comparisons. Harney said most people would support it as an alternative to laying off employees. Sullivan said it depends on who is in the union; longer-term employees are not going to support it.
Neuzil said the County has been in very good shape for the last few years, considering where the reserves have been in the past. They continue to be able to pay off significant infrastructure debt. Another budget approach could be to not add any new major infrastructure projects. Claiborne said the drive behind wanting to build reserves is to obtain a better bond rating for the future Justice Center. He asked if the Justice Center is on the Board’s radar in the next 3, 5, or 10 years. He asked if it is worth building up the reserves to tackle that project. Sullivan said he does not think it is just for that project. He thinks best practices would dictate that the reserves be higher. Neuzil agreed, but he cautioned that the State of Iowa will look at County reserves if they consider taking drastic action. He is not necessarily in support of increasing reserves for the sole purpose of a better bond rating. Ultimately, the community will have to decide to pay for things. Harney said the reserve is there for more than just bonding. It is there in case of emergencies and disasters, and it is needed. Neuzil agreed.
Harney said he does not necessarily disagree with the transfer to Secondary Roads when the Prairie du Chien property was sold, but the Board had once talked about the money from the sale of several properties going to the reserves. It was the objective when they sold the properties, and he thinks the Board needs to look at that when they sell other properties. The Board should be looking at selling the old Health Building now. Harney said the only holdup is that it was part of the study for Ambulance. Sullivan said he thinks they have that done though. Neuzil said no, they have not started. Harney said people ask him all the time if the building is available. Neuzil agreed that a way to increase reserves is to identify assets that can be let go. Harney said there should be a million dollars for the Communications Center in July.
Neuzil said they should discuss the influx of money that is currently being used for dispatch services. A request has already been made to use the money to hire more patrol deputies. Those types of questions are going to be asked. Claiborne said County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek has a good argument, because it follows in their direction for FY10 of hiring no new personnel unless it is already absorbed. Harney said they were looking at allowing some of that to occur with government funding for law enforcement. Pulkrabek did not get the grant, but he thinks it will come up again in another year. Neuzil said the money from dispatch services could also be used to build up reserves. He asked if the Board is sure that the County will not need to fund any dispatch services in FY11. Harney said they should not have to, because the Joint Emergency Communications Center (JECC) is scheduled to open in July 2010. It could be a week or two into FY11 though. Sullivan said they may want to budget for a quarter for the services. Neuzil said that should give some direction to Claiborne, and it would be nice to know how much money is actually going to be freed up. He keeps hearing different numbers and would appreciate if the amount could be determined for the Board.
Harney said a discussion needs to occur with other entities regarding the cost of various departments to be on the same radio frequency as the JECC. The departments may include Secondary Roads, SEATS and the City of Iowa City’s Public Works. It needs to be determined how payment would occur, because it could bump a lot of money over a period of time. Sullivan asked why SEATS would need it. Harney said it would make sense to use the same radio system rather than have a separate one. Sullivan said he understands. Johnson asked who would make that decision. Harney said he does not know, and there may need to be a conversation with the JECC Policy Board and each entity. Neuzil said the JECC needs to determine whether or not they want to charge for it. He assumes the JECC Policy Board would have to determine a rate for what they plan to charge for non-emergency communication and provide the information to other entities to determine whether or not they want to buy in.
Neuzil said another goal may be for the JECC, Conservation, and Public Health to be consistent with the amount of money they request from year to year. He asked if there are other things the Board wants to give direction to Johnson and Claiborne about before the next Strategic Planning Meeting. He asked if they want to identify the non-mandated services and say they need to be cut by 3%, or should they just say they want a freeze again. Sullivan thinks it fits in with asking each department head how they would cut a specific percentage. Neuzil said he is just wondering if they should treat non-mandated services differently than mandated services within the departments. Sullivan said Planning and Zoning is not mandated. Neuzil said he means block grants. He asked if they want to do another operating freeze or if they want to make a goal to cut 3-5% from them. Sullivan said he does not want to go into it with the idea of cutting if they do not have to cut. However, he does think it makes sense for there to be plans in case the block grants do need to be cut.
Claiborne asked what percentage he should write on the budget forms that are sent out to department heads and elected officials regarding the question about how they will cut a specific percentage of their budgets if they have to do so. Johnson said he has not heard support of the question from at least three Board members. Claiborne asked the Board if he will be doing so. Neuzil said he would like to see it done because it will show priorities. If department heads or elected officials attempt to play games with their responses, he has no problem confronting them. Sullivan said he supports asking the question, and the answers will provide an indication of the current level of trust. Harney said one problem he has with the question is that a few department heads have already cut everything they can. If you ask them how they will cut an additional percentage, their only possible response may be something that will diminish services. Sullivan and Neuzil said that is what they want to find out from asking the question. Meyers said the Board is not actually saying they are going to make the cut, but they want to analyze the various responses. Neuzil said the exercise will help the Board look at expenditures in each individual department rather than doing an across the board cut.
Sullivan said the Board put money in the County Sheriff’s budget to provide security at the Courthouse, but he had to promise the money would be used for that purpose only. He thinks the Board could use the same strategy with other offices to ensure that money is used for specific purposes. Johnson asked if there is followup. Sullivan said the only followup with the Sheriff is seeing that security is at the Courthouse. Neuzil said it involves trust. If another elected official does something different with the money, the Board can choose to cut their budget the following year. The Board has been nice, but they have the authority and responsibility to make those decisions.
Johnson asked if Meyers is in support of asking the percentage question. Meyers replied yes and said he would be comfortable with asking about a 2% cut. Any year that the Board is asking them to stay where they were the previous year, it is a cut due to rising expenses. Sullivan said he is okay with 2%. Johnson said it follows with Claiborne’s recommendation of assuming an increase in valuations of 2%. It will provide a nice mirror image. Neuzil thinks it is a tough, but healthy, question to ask. Sullivan asked Neuzil if he is comfortable with 2%. Neuzil said he thinks 2% should be pretty easy for departments and 5% would get into the meat. Harney asked Claiborne if he knows what the cost of living increase is. Claiborne responded that he does not know yet. Neuzil said he last heard it is fairly even. Claiborne asked if everyone is happy with 2%. Harney said he is okay with that percentage if the question is going to be asked.
Johnson said he thought the Board could also discuss the handling of economic development or quality of life block grants. The Finance Committee had recommended the Economic Development Committee (EDC) take those over and develop criteria similar to those for Social Services block grants. He is seeking direction from the Board. Harney asked Johnson if he received a request for funding for a five year period from EDC. Neuzil said yes. He said one of his previous campaign promises from 2000 was that there should be an entity over every line item. He said they are close to having that, but they do not have it for seven or eight, including Senior Center, Fairgrounds, and Historical Society. Sullivan said he totally agrees and thinks it should be Johnson’s by default. Neuzil thinks the EDC could be given a specific budget for the remaining items. Claiborne would love to see a committee deal with it and ask for review from the Board at budget time. Sullivan asked who the committee would be. Neuzil thinks it would make sense to put it under the EDC. One of the questions the Finance Committee had was whether the Fair Board is economic development or quality of life. Sullivan thinks it would make sense to have the oversight committees give a report at least twice per year.
Sullivan said it sounds like the Board is in agreement that someone should oversee it, so the question is who should oversee it. Neuzil said He asked if the EDC should be called the Economic Development and Quality of Life Committee. Sullivan said he thinks it makes sense.
Johnson said Scott County has all entities they fund do presentations to the Board. Neuzil said they try to avoid that, because it is difficult to say no when people come before the Board. Sullivan said 13 positions were requested last year, and the Board said no to 11 of them. Neuzil said the point is that it is better to have oversight other than the Board because it is difficult for them to say no. Sullivan said the Board also needs a point of contact in terms of obtaining information. Neuzil thinks the Board should look at which line items are left, put them on a Key Issues agenda, and make decisions regarding who should oversee each. Sullivan said he has never been on the EDC, but he thinks it makes sense to have Johnson do it so that a single person prepares reports and makes recommendations a couple of times a year. Harney said annual reports are currently received. Neuzil said it comes down to whether or not they should have an EDC. The EDC could then look at available dollars and work towards goals. Neuzil thinks there is a need for it, and they would just have to determine which lines the EDC would be responsible for. Sullivan said he is okay with the committee having oversight over those items, but he thinks reports should be given to the Board more than just once per year. Johnson said it makes sense to him that it should be similar to the number of reports provided by other entities. Neuzil said it would be helpful if the naked line items are identified for the Key Issues Meeting scheduled for August 26, 2009. Harney said he thinks there should be a general discussion regarding committees at the Key Issues Meeting. Neuzil agreed. Johnson said he does have the Justice Center Committee on the agenda.
Recessed at 10:34 a.m.; reconvened at 10:44 a.m.
Neuzil said he thinks they had a good conversation today and wants to get some direction for the next meeting. It would be nice to develop an initial game plan for next year’s fiscal budget. He wrote down some ideas, including an operational freeze, no new employees unless budget neutral, and the percentage cut question. Claiborne asked if the Board is going to allow increases in gasoline and postage or if they are comfortable that gas prices have leveled off. Sullivan asked what they budgeted for gas last year. Claiborne said there were two amendments to increase it. Neuzil said he thinks it would be kept the same. Harney thinks gasoline should be kept at what the actual costs were because it may go back up. Sullivan said if it was budgeted at $4.00/gallon, it is going to be okay. Neuzil said they did not discuss vehicles and computers, and he does not know what they decided on last year. Harney said he does not think those are ever a huge item, other than for Secondary Roads. Neuzil said he is assuming the Board will tell departments to keep their schedules, although it does not mean they are not buying new vehicles.
Neuzil said looking at how much money there was to put towards debt the last few years, he thinks the County is still doing okay. A lot of it will depend on how much the unions bargain for salaries. Sullivan said he will almost guarantee that they will have one year agreements. Neuzil said it should be determined fairly early what to do with the influx of dollars from dispatch services. He asked if it will be put towards paying off debt and building reserves or if they want to commit some dollars to public safety. Neuzil said Harney also pointed out determining what to do with revenue from sales of additional property. Harney said if the County is going to sell the old Health Building, he would prefer it be sold before winter to avoid the cost of heating it for the season. Neuzil said the insurance would also be an expense. Sullivan agreed with Harney. Neuzil said the Ambulance study was supposed to be done by now, and he does not think it has commenced yet.
Harney asked if the percentage cut question is going to both department heads and elected officials. Sullivan said everyone. Neuzil said the Board has budget oversight for 25 entities, and he thinks the question should go to every one of them. Johnson said another issue was identifying funded, but unfilled, positions. Harney asked if Johnson means mandated. Johnson said no, any positions that are approved and funded but not filled. Neuzil asked if there are any other issues that Claiborne and Johnson need direction on before the budget process begins. Sullivan said their oversight question is going to be addressed at the Key Issues Meeting.
Johnson said next month they will follow up on these issues and continue the budget discussion. Neuzil said they will also discuss whether they want to put any funding towards the identified goals or put them on hold like they did last year. Johnson asked if the Board would like lists of mandated and non-mandated services to rank and prioritize. Neuzil said he does not know if the Board is ready for that yet. Sullivan said some of that will come from the responses to the percentage cut question from department heads and elected officials.
Harney asked if the Board is going to continue the obligation to libraries as they have been. He said many things are now done online. Neuzil said the question is whether or not to designate a particular library like most other counties are doing. People who do not want to use that particular library can buy a library card. Claiborne said people in Muscatine County were shocked when he mentioned how much money Johnson County contributes to libraries. If library agreements were rewritten, it could reduce the rural levy, and the money could be used for roads and infrastructure. Neuzil asked how that would be phased out. Sullivan said there is a question of whether or not people prefer the libraries over new roads. Harney said rural residents may have an issue with paying for roads when other people also use them. The money should be coming back from the Road Use Tax Fund, but the State is taking it all. Neuzil said the library issue comes back to the oversight on line items issue. It is a line item that does not currently have oversight. Sullivan agreed. Claiborne clarified there are just 28E agreements. Neuzil and Sullivan said yes. Neuzil said the Board previously expressed interest in reviewing those contracts. He asked if the Board should let the libraries know they are going to start the process of reviewing those contracts. Realistically, some of these things are going to involve baby steps rather than drastic measures.
Sullivan said he is pleased that the Board was more conservative than they had to be last year. He thinks they positioned themselves well for this year and can prevent having to take drastic measures by using the same strategies for next year. Neuzil asked if funding for non-mandated block grants should be distributed for only part of the year at a time and then reviewed before the next distribution. He said in 2003-2004 the State gave the County numerous, potential, new unfunded mandates after the budget was done. The County already had commitments toward non-mandated services, and it resulted in cuts to departmental budgets. The Board was not able to reduce their commitments for non-mandated services, because they had already said how much money each program was going to get for the year. It is a safety measure to consider when negotiating how many dollars will be provided for non-mandated services. Sullivan said it could involve putting specific language in a contract, agreement, or award letter. It is a language issue. Johnson said an agenda item would be needed quarterly or semiannually to say how much funding will be provided. Sullivan said it could be just to review the funding. Neuzil said he is concerned about actions that could be taken by the State, because their stimulus money will run out this coming year.
Adjourned at 11:00 a.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2009
By Angela Roemerman, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on September 1, 2009 at 10:30 a.m.