MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
MARCH 3, 2010
Chairperson Stutsman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 6:00 p.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil, Janelle Rettig, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Convened Public Hearing and presentation of the Johnson County proposed budget for FY11 at 6:00 p.m.
Stutsman said the Board will present a PowerPoint presentation on the proposed FY11 budget. The Board will not vote on the budget until March 11, 2010. The budget will then be sent to the State for certification. Stutsman read from the "Overview" slide that they will be discussing County services and their cost, the Joint Emergency Communications Center (JECC) budget and cost, and a breakdown of tax levies and how these items are paid for. Stutsman said the Board received a number of budget requests for personnel this year and the Board seriously considered all these requests. Stutsman said that they know they are a growing County and with that comes a demand for more services, but they are also conscious of the impact on the taxpayers. Any personnel requests granted this year were positions the Board felt were necessary to keep services to taxpayers. Stutsman applauded department heads for keeping budgets as flat as possible. Increases are primarily due to personnel, wage increases, or insurance costs.
Stutsman, reading from the "County Services to Residents" slides, said the Ambulance Department, which is 4% of the total County budget, requested two new full-time paramedics. These positions will be added in order for the County to fully staff a fourth ambulance. As call volumes continue to increase, the Board recognizes the need for four full-time ambulances. This is a direct reflection of increased County growth. Budgeted expenditures for Ambulance are $3,092,567. Budgeted expenditures funding Block Grants including various Human Services Agencies, the JECC, Agricultural Association, The Fair Board, Historic Preservation, County match for Local Vision Iowa Projects, Iowa City Area Development Group, Tourism Association, plus several other projects the County funds, are $3,984,403, which is 5.2% of the County budget. Stutsman said that the Board agreed to fund a half-time office support person for Conservation. Conservation has not had any new staff for a number of years and they currently have only one FTE. With the additional projects, and growth in the Conservation lands, this part-time addition was necessary. Stutsman said that they have reclassified an hourly position in the Medical Examiner's Office to a salaried position to reduce departmental overtime costs.
Stutsman, reading from the "County Services" slide said that Mental Health/Disability Services continues to see a great deal of growth in the demand for their services. The decision was made to add one case manager position mid-year of this year and to add another person next year. This is fully in anticipation of the needs of this department. One caveat to this is that the Board receives Federal reimbursement for case managers, so it’s not as big of a burden on the budget as it would seem.
Stutsman, still reading from the "County Services" slide, said for the Sheriff’s Office they did agree to add two patrol officers this year. The Sheriff’s Office, as she stated earlier, with a growing County has definitely increased needs. They have not added a Patrol Deputy for a number of years and the Board thought it was time, with the growth in the unincorporated area, and the needs of the Sheriff’s Office to add these two individuals. The national standards call for one deputy per thousand residents and Johnson County is far below that. The Board and the Sheriff felt it was time to address this public safety issue. Also, what plays into this, is Stutsman thinks they’re all aware of the State budget cuts and what that means to the Iowa State Patrol and their ability to respond locally. The Board took that into consideration and knows that the Sheriff’s Office will be called on more to take care of emergencies on Interstate 80 as well as other things that have been covered by the Iowa State Patrol.
Sullivan read from the slide "Tax Askings" and stated when people think of the budget, they think of taxes. Actually, the budget is more complex than that. There are several things the Board considers revenue. The biggest one is property taxes, but there are also fines, fees, and things people pay to County government for various services. A really big part is revenues from other governments. They have a lot of Federal money that comes into Secondary Roads, MH/DS, and other departments and a lot of State money, too. So, revenues are not just tax dollars. When the Board talks about the budget, they’re talking about all of the money that comes in and goes out of County government. Sullivan said tax askings are expenses less revenues. This reduces the overall cost to Johnson County taxpayers.
Sullivan then showed a PowerPoint pie chart showing revenues. He said that this can be a little misleading, because when they talk about revenues Secondary Roads is very high in revenues and so is MH/DS, but what that really means is they have Federal and State money coming into those programs and flowing back out. They’re not really selling a service, per se, they’re sort of a middle man for that money. Sullivan said they do have departments like the Ambulance Department, where they are getting insurance reimbursements, so they’re generating a lot of revenue. In the Recorder’s Office, when business is transacted there, a fee is actually being paid to County government for that.
Sullivan, reading from the "Other County Services/Funds" slide, said some of the other County services that aren’t necessarily department related in the General Basic Fund, have the costs of maintaining the County Farm, which is pretty minimal. They have their institutional accounts and some of their juvenile crime prevention, with a total of $1,131,227. In the General Supplemental Fund they have insurance costs, the cost of elections, which is under the Auditor’s Office, and other juvenile justice money. The General Supplemental Fund is fairly limited in terms of what can be included in it. It’s all laid out in the Iowa Code, so these are some of the allowed expenses. The total is $3,458,639.
Sullivan said in the Rural Basic Fund they have libraries, landfill costs for rural residents, and soil conversation. The total is $739,739. In the Special Revenue Funds are some miscellaneous things, such as law enforcement proceeds, when they have forfeitures and things of that nature, the Conservation Trust Fund, and Recorder’s Records Management. The total is $374,462.
Sullivan said some other County services and funds include capital projects. There they have their ongoing capital expenditures as well as technology expenditures. That is budgeted at $6,437,616. The Debt Service Fund is $4,164,650. The total County expenditures this year, including everything, are $73,927,597.
Harney said he will be presenting the slide on the Joint Emergency Communications Center (JECC). This is consolidated emergency services, which benefits all communities in the County, including all law enforcement, all township fire departments, and any emergency calls that come in on 911. This exists per the Code of Iowa and they have a 28E agreement with Johnson County and the JECC Board, which includes the services from the police departments from North Liberty, Iowa City, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, and Coralville. Those departments form the base of the agreement. He said everyone pays towards that, but those are the ones who have law enforcement and work with that.
Harney said the facility also includes the Emergency Management Offices. That’s where the Emergency Operation Center works out of during emergencies such as tornados and floods. There is a classroom there that seats 65 individuals. The classroom is also used for training purposes for emergency management, law enforcement, fire, and all of the County’s emergency services. He stated Emergency Management moved into that facility on October 1, 2009. They’ve held 65 classes in there providing training to law enforcement and emergency services, including Ambulance, Fire, Police, and Sheriff. Homeland Security has also provided Johnson County with some classes at the JECC, too.
Harney stated the JECC will open July 1, 2010. It will have 25 full-time dispatchers and four part-time dispatchers. The part-time dispatchers will fill in for the full-time dispatchers during vacations, sick leave, and various times when there is a need for additional dispatchers. It will have three professional staff members, including the director and two in the technology area. It will be running three shifts 24 hours a day seven days a week. Harney said it also has an emergency backup site, which has the equipment that’s necessary in case something happens at the main facility. The emergency backup site is located at the University of Iowa Police Headquarters. They are working in unison with the JECC as a backup center. Harney said the JECC has built four radio towers in order to cover the entire County. There were some dead spots in areas where radio communication could not be made, so they had to build these towers to cover all of those areas. There are two co-located towers in the County and one antenna on one of the University of Iowa facilities. Harney stated that the staff at the JECC will also log in all of the warrants that are issued through the court system. They will take those in files and enter them into the computer for the National Information Center for all law enforcement and anyone out of state. He said they have more duties than just the JECC.
Harney, reading from the slide "JECC Budget", said the operational expenses are paid through the General Supplemental Fund of the County. The construction of the building and communications equipment was funded using the County’s Debt Levy and General Supplemental Fund. He said the bonding on that took place because the Board is able to tax in the (Tax Increment Financing) TIF areas, where they normally couldn’t, which spreads the cost of that facility and equipment out among all of the taxpayers rather than just those that are outside the TIF areas. Harney said that the operational expenses of $2,283,364 are levied through the General Supplemental Fund at a cost of $0.42 per $1,000 of valuation. A $4,100,000 bond for the building was financed for 10 years utilizing the General Supplemental Fund at a cost of $0.088 per $1,000 of valuation. An $11,000,000 bond is for the equipment financed for 11 years utilizing the Debt Levy at a cost of $0.1960 per $1,000 of valuation. The total levy for the JECC is $0.70 per $1,000 of valuation.
Neuzil, reading from the slide "How is all of this paid for?", said in an effort to reduce the tax impact on Johnson County property owners, and to gain consensus from the Board, the Board this past week actually lowered their published budget. They lowered that $0.0755 per $1,000 of valuation. Part of that is in regards to the County’s bonding capabilities. Through their Debt Service and bonding capabilities the Board identified $1,000,000 that will be used for future justice center land and possibly for at least the start of an ambulance facility. He said that may come out of capital projects. The Board identified a new project, and that’s $2.3 million for a three year bond for an improvement of 120th Street, which is a road that goes through the community of Shueyville. That is $0.1356 per $1,000 of valuation. The County has also reduced its expenses by $16,136,221, for a total budget of $73,927,597. He said the reason they’re seeing a significant decrease of over $16 million is, in part, because of pass through dollars this past year for the JECC.
Neuzil stated that he needs to talk about the five funds that County government uses for its budgeting, which he will be doing through the slide entitled "Levy Utilization". They include General Basic, General Supplemental, Mental Health and Disability Services, Debt Service, and the Rural Basic Levy Fund. He said the General Basic Levy supports most of the County services and is capped at $3.50 per $1,000 of valuation. The only growth in monies available is through increased assessments. This provided $863,208 of additional revenue over the FY10 General Basic Levy Fund.
Neuzil said the General Basic Levy Fund draws from all rural and urban property, except for land that’s protected in a TIF. It’s also a capped fund, and is most flexible for County governments for providing most of the County services. It’s money that’s only available in increased assessment or growth. Johnson County does reach it’s full capacity for the General Basic Fund. The County does so, in part, because that makes them eligible to use the General Supplemental Fund. The General Supplemental Levy has no cap, but is very specific by State law in its uses. Some of those uses include elections, insurance, the JECC, FICA, IPERS, Substance Abuse, if they choose to do so, and Emergency Management.
Neuzil stated the MH/DS Levy is interesting because this is a fund that is used by County government, but it’s a fund that’s frozen per dollar amount. The dollar amount that the County uses in Johnson County is $3,138,395. It should be noted that in 1996 and 1997 that cap was set at $3,138,395, and every year since, the amount is $3,138,395. The idea was that the Iowa Legislature and the Governor, which approved this back in 1996 and 1997, would then be able to supplement additional dollars, thus freezing the levy or the dollar amount for each county. The State of Iowa promised county governments that it would then supplement or fund additional dollars necessarily. Unfortunately, the Legislature and the Governor have not lived up to that. As times become leaner, Neuzil said they’re certainly concerned about that for this budget year and the next as the Iowa Legislature continues to look at ways to cut.
Neuzil said it should be noted that the Debt Levy has limits, but the County is much below the caps for their ability to levy. This levy utilizes the TIF districts, which spreads the burden over another $732,608,745 in valuations. Of the $0.595 levy per $1,000 of valuation, the County’s share is $0.302. He said these are complicated numbers and he knows everyone can turn to Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne and to the Auditor’s Office whenever they have questions. It should be noted for the County's Debt Levy, $1,000,000 additional dollars are being put towards the projects for land purchasing for houses across from the existing Jail for the justice center project, and also for the project on 120th Street in Shueyville. Some of the other areas that the County has used the Debt Levy include the Conservation Headquarters and Maintenance Facility. The total countywide levy is $7.23173 per $1,000 of valuation, down $0.16 from FY10. He said one of the things they’ll note in Johnson County government, and likely in most governments across the State, is they’ll see that they should all be in a fairly good position to lower the amount of tax levy for their residents as times become leaner.
Neuzil said the levy utilization for the Rural Basic Levy is $3.16 per $1,000 of valuation, which is up $0.59 from FY10. This is, in part, because the Board identified additional projects that they would like to see for use of the Rural Levy, mostly for road maintenance for the Secondary Roads Department.
Neuzil said that his final slide from the PowerPoint presentation is a pie chart titled "Total County Levy" which is $7.23173. This is of interest so that people understand that the JECC is now 10% of entire County budget.
Rettig said that she will review the slide titled "Total Budget and Levies". Rettig said the total countywide levy is $7.23 per $1,000 of assessed valuation which is what all Johnson County taxpayers will pay. The Rural Basic Levy is $3.16, so the rural residents will pay that in addition to the $7.23 because they do not pay City property tax. The total Rural Levy is $10.40.
Rettig presented a pie chart titled "Total Budget and Levies". She explained that in the $10.40 total countywide levy, the General Basic Levy is $3.50, or 33%. The Rural Basic Levy is $3.16, which is 30% of the total. The General Supplemental, includes insurance and elections, is $2.557 which is 25% of the total. The Debt Service Levy is $.595 which is 6% of the total countywide levy, and MH/DS Levy is $.579, or 6% of the total countywide levy.
Rettig presented a chart showing the total County budget and a list of services provided which will explain how the total County budget is $73,927,597. This includes Capital Projects planned for FY11, including the future Justice Center possible land purchase, planning for an Ambulance/Medical Examiner facility, bonding for rebuilding 120th Street, additional personnel, and the needs of the JECC.
Rettig said that the slide titled "The Total County Budget" is a summarization of everything the Board has gone over so far. She then reviewed the pie chart titled "Total County Budget $73,927,597". Of the total budget of $73,927,597, the General Basic budget is $37,137,718, which is 50% of the budget. MH/DS budget is at 18%, or $13,266,037. Secondary Roads is $8,549,052, or 11% of the budget. Capital Projects is $6,437,616, or 9%. The Debt Service Levy makes up $4,164,650, or 6% of the County budget. Rettig said the General Supplemental budget is $3,258,323, or 4%. The Special Revenue budget is $374,462, which is 1% of the budget. The Rural Basic budget is $739,739, or 1%, for a total County budget of $73,927,597.
Claiborne presented the slide titled "The bottom line…" He said the rollback this year is 46.9094%; a resident is not taxed on 53.1% of the valuation of their home. Other rollbacks include the Ag rollback of 66.2715%, and Commercial, Industrial, Railroad, and Utility each do not have a rollback and are taxed at 100%.
Claiborne then presented a spreadsheet of what a person would pay in taxes per $100,000 of valuation for all the different tax classifications. Claiborne said the chart may be too difficult to read so he created another chart that just includes the property classification and the estimated percent and dollar change to a tax bill for a property estimated to be $100,000 in value. Showing the shorter version of the chart, Claiborne said that for the Iowa City residential taxpayer, the dollar change increase from the FY10 Budget to the FY11 Budget is $5.93 or a 1.8% percent increase. The Rural residential taxpayer dollar change from FY10 to FY11 is $33.29 or a 7.3% increase. Other cities' residential taxpayers will pay $2.10 or a 0.6% increase. He said that this data will be available on the Johnson County website, including any changes or additions.
Claiborne said the total FY10 Budget was $90,063,818 and the total FY11 Budget is $73,927,597, roughly a $16 million decrease.
Greg Pickett said he has a question about the Rural Basic Fund. He said Neuzil had said that the majority of the increase in the Rural Basic Fund was for money for Secondary Roads. He said that when going through the budget the Secondary Roads budget was $8.5 million, and currently Secondary Roads has a little over $3 million in reserves. He asked why the reserve money isn't being used. Neuzil replied that the Rural Basic Levy Fund funds four areas for the County: roads, libraries, garbage programming, and a part of social services. Of the extra dollars raised by the Rural Levy, the Board recognized some additional charges for the garbage programming up to $30,000, they identified additional charges for social services programs up to $12,000, and some minimal increases in library funding. He said that the County identified a little over $300,000 for Secondary Roads road maintenance. He said that the reserve of $3 million in Secondary Roads has been identified for the Mehaffey Bridge project, which is why a significant amount of money has been set aside.
Pickett said that there is a set aside of $3 million for the Mehaffey Bridge. He asked if the $3 million that Neuzil is speaking about is in addition to that money. Neuzil said correct. Pickett asked Neuzil to clarify if there are two set asides, $3 million for Mehaffey Bridge and over $3 million in reserve. Neuzil said that Pickett is correct. He said that part of the reasoning for the additional reserve is because the County is going to need more than $3 million for the Mehaffey Bridge project. He explained that the money that has been identified by County Engineer Greg Parker is flexible. Neuzil acknowledged that Parker has already been communicating with Pickett about this money in emails. He said that the money that is generated and expended is in limbo right now, because the money is used to apply towards the projects that the County has yet to pay for.
Sullivan stated that one way Parker could explain this is to understand that Secondary Roads has two separate budgets, construction and maintenance. He said that the Board increased the budget for Secondary Roads for maintenance, which is where they feel like they've fallen behind. Pickett replied that he already understands that but was just wondering why none of the reserve is being used.
Parker said that Pickett is correct that there are separate funds set aside for the Mehaffey Bridge project. When the reservoir fund was separated, it did not allow continuity of County roads. He said that the Mehaffey Bridge replacement project is in the Five Year Road Construction Program. He said that they are still short for funds for this project. He said that the estimated cost for the project is over $4 million, but Secondary Roads only has $3 million. Therefore, Secondary Roads is seeking additional fund sources to cover the construction costs. He said that Pickett is also correct that Secondary Roads has a rainy day fund source that Secondary Roads has been tapping into for the past couple of years. He said that since he has been with the County he has been very diligent to keep that fund source over the $2 million mark. He said that it is probably a little less than $3 million because they have been utilizing it for budget overages that have taken place over the last couple of years
Parker explained that the fund source they are speaking of is for one time expenditures, not recurring expenses. The Rural Tax Levy that they've been discussing this evening is to cover budget shortfalls that would be a recurring expense for maintenance. He said that an example of one time expenditures that they could use would be replacement of an existing facility in order to combine the Swisher shed and Solon shed together as one. He said that this one time expenditure is not going to be recurring. He said that the reserve could cover any budget overages due to unusual events such as flooding, high winds, tornados, or ice storms. Parker said that these are expenses that Secondary Roads does not typically budget for during the course of an average year. He said it is difficult to predict what will happen over a 12 month period, because they are looking 18 months into the future with each budget cycle. He said that the rainy day fund is to cover those overages.
Stutsman said that historically the Board has always tried to maintain a balance of $2 million in the Secondary Roads fund. Parker said it is always good to maintain a $2 million reserve to cover the cost of replacing a collapsed bridge, the cost to repair roads that have been destroyed, or the cost of recovery from a natural disaster.
Public Hearing closed at 6:36 p.m.
Stutsman said that the Board will not take formal action on the FY11 Budget until the Formal Meeting of March 11, 2010. She said the public is free to make comments to the Board between now and March 11, 2010. She explained that, at this point, the Board can only lower the budget and cannot increase the budget. She said unless the Board hears more comments, the FY11 Budget will probably be approved as presented tonight. Neuzil encouraged the public to visit www.johnson-county.com to view the proposed FY11 Budget.
Harney thanked the department heads and citizens of Johnson County for attending the hearing and giving input. Neuzil agreed. Harney added that he would also like to thank the elected officials that are present at the hearing as well.
Adjourned at 6:38 p.m.
/s/Sally Stutsman, Chair, Board of Supervisors
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary
These minutes were sent for publication and formal approval on March 11, 2010.