MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
MARCH 2, 2011
Chairperson Harney 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.
Unless otherwise noted, all actions were taken unanimously.
Harney acknowledged Budget Coordinator Rich Claiborne, Auditor Tom Slockett and the Auditor's Office staff, Treasurer Tom Kriz and the Treasurer's Office staff, and all the department heads for the input they gave and for working hard to set a flat line budget.
Harney said a special feature in this year's budget is an additional payroll cycle; therefore, most department expenses will be artificially inflated. Every so often there is an extra week in the fiscal year.
Harney presented each department’s proposed budget as follows:
The budget for Ambulance is $3,404,313, or 4.4% of the County budget. The addition of an inventory/scheduling system improvements program will cost $19,790.
The Attorney's Office budget is $2,988,512, or 3.9% of the County budget. The addition of an Assistant County Attorney will cost $83,861, and is expected to increase revenues by $51,000.
The Auditor's Office budget is $1,226,735, or 1.6% of the County budget. The addition of an Account Clerk II will cost $29,014, and is expected to reduce personnel costs by $8,170, a reduction in overtime pay.
The Block Grants budget, which includes the Joint Emergency Communications Center (JECC), is $4,326,717, or 5.7% of the County budget.
The Board of Supervisors' budget is $702,726, or 0.9% of the County budget. A few notable projects include a Fleet Study ($10,000), hiring a grant writer/responder ($35,000), and efforts to improve mobile home safety and health ($20,000).
Conservation's budget is $1,557,504, or 2% of the County budget. No money was requested on the $20 million bond issue approved a few years ago.
Social Services' budget is $1,687,357, or 2.2% of the County budget.
Human Resources' budget is $325,837, or 0.4% of the County budget.
Information Technology's budget is $1,197,440, or 1.5% of the County budget.
The Medical Examiner's budget is $711,725, or 0.9% of the County budget. The addition of a Medical Examiner Investigator will cost $68,723, and is expected to reduce personnel costs by $9,273, a reduction in overtime pay.
Mental Health/Disability Services' budget is $13,676,625, or 17.8% of the County budget. MH/DS had an extremely challenging year and will have to cut about $2.3 million or $2.5 million from the budget if the State leaves the budget as is.
Planning and Zoning's budget is $906,859, or 1.1% of the County budget. The addition of the AmeriCorps program will cost $17,000, but it is not certain if this funding will be available from the Federal government.
Physical Plant's budget is $1,092,978, or 1.4% of the County budget.
Public Health's budget is $3,320,701, or 4.3% of the County budget.
The Recorder's Office budget is $689,881, or 0.9% of the County budget.
SEATS' budget is $2,331,713, or 3% of the County budget. The expected addition of an employee van pool (a Green Initiative) will cost $14,454.
Secondary Roads' budget is $9,202,582, or 12% of the County budget.
The Sheriff's Office budget is $10,782,852, or 14% of the County budget. The transportation budget was increased by $350,000 for FY12, so the total transportation costs budgeted is $1,650,000. The addition of one patrol deputy will cost $65,000.
The Treasurer's Office budget is $1,154,560, or 1.5% of the County budget.
Veterans Affairs' budget is $139,505, or 0.1% of the County budget.
Harney said the subtotal of these department budgets is $61,463,122.
Stutsman said the General Basic Fund levy is capped at $3.50 per $1,000 of valuation. Everyone in the county pays into this fund. Some expenses not already mentioned include: $3,000 to the County Farm, $109,400 to Institutional Accounts, and $242,500 to Juvenile Crime Prevention. Including other programming, total General Basic expenses for other County services and funds are $1,178,587.
Stutsman said the General Supplemental Fund is allowed to tax for certain things, and there is no limit on this fund. The biggest expense is $1,035,870 for insurance, which does not include health insurance. The County's health insurance rates increased again this year by 8%. Elections' expenses are $791,199. Juvenile Justice's expenses are $732,736. The JECC building bond expense is $478,128. Including all other expenses in the General Supplemental Fund, total expenses are $3,227,683.
Stutsman said the Rural Basic Fund provides services to people in the unincorporated area. Some expenses include: $643,343 for libraries, $30,000 for solid waste, and $47,487 for soil conservation. Including all other expenses in the Rural Basic Fund, total expenses are $773,929.
Stutsman said special revenue funds include: $200,000 from Law Enforcement Proceeds, $57,574 from REAP, $392,000 from the Conservation Trust Fund, and $30,000 from the Recorder's Records Management Fund. Including revenues from all other fund sources in this category, the total is $688,074.
Stutsman said capital projects funds include: $780,002 for the Technology Fund which includes the replacement of PCs, contracts to operate PCs, and new software, $1,524,334 for the Capital Expenditures Fund, of which about $170,000 is for trails, and $4,123,443 for the Capital Projects Fund, which may include land purchase for the proposed justice center, and an ambulance satellite facility. The total expenses in the capital projects funds are $6,427,779.
Stutsman said the Debt Service Fund is $2,894,175, which includes principal and interest for existing bonds. The County has no new bonding this year.
Stutsman said total County expenditures are $76,653,349.
Stutsman said tax askings are total expenses less revenues. This reduces some of the overall cost to the taxpayers. Total revenues, not including taxes levied, are $26,916,825, which reduces the tax level required for the County to operate. The largest revenue stream is MH/DS funding, which is almost $9 million. These are monies received from the State for the delivery of mental health assistance services.
Sullivan said the JECC serves all Johnson County residents and was created through a 28E Agreement between Johnson County, the cities of Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty, and the JECC Board. JECC provides 911 services to the entire county. Although JECC is operated by the separate 28E JECC Board, the operational, building, and equipment costs are funded by Johnson County through the Debt Service Fund and the General Supplemental Fund. The Debt Service Levy is important because the County has a large amount of taxable value in Tax Increment Financing districts; this becomes very beneficial to the County to use the Debt Service Levy because all the property is paying into the fund.
Sullivan said the JECC operational expenses of $2,662,570 include general operations and salaries, and are levied through the General Supplemental Fund. The cost to the taxpayer is $0.47 per $1,000 of valuation. The building expense is $4.1 million, financed with a 10-year bond using the General Supplemental Fund, and the cost is about $0.085 per $1,000 of valuation. This cost is spread equally across all property owners in the county. Equipment expenses are financed through an 11-year, $11 million bond utilizing the Debt Service Fund. The cost is almost $0.19 per $1,000 of valuation. The total levy for the JECC is $0.74 per $1,000 of valuation. Sullivan said this amount is included in the County taxes portion on the tax bill, and it is broken out just in this presentation to allow the public to see what they are paying. This amount is not set by the Board of Supervisors but rather determined by the 28E Agreement Board.
Rettig said Johnson County proposes no new debt for FY12. However, the principal and interest payments on existing bonding are proposed at $2,582,256. This will result in a levy of $0.47397 per $1,000 of valuation. That debt levy is down $0.12136 from FY11. The County's overall levy, which does not include the rural levy, dropped $0.23409 to $6.99 per $1,000 of valuation.
Rettig said the General Basic Levy supports most of the County services and is capped by State law at $3.50 per $1,000 of valuation. The only growth in monies available is through increased assessments, which in FY11 provided $744,080 additional monies over the FY11 General Basic revenues. The General Supplemental Levy has no cap, but State law is very specific in stating how it can be used. The MH/DS Levy varies by community growth, but the revenues are fixed by the State Legislature in the 1996 cap. For Johnson County, this amount is $3,138,395. As the valuation increases and demand for services increases, levies drop but revenues remain the same.
Rettig said the Debt Service Levy has limits, but the County is very much below the caps which would be placed upon it. The levy allows the County to access property valuations that are in TIF districts. Johnson County loses just under $4 million to TIF districts from taxes it would otherwise collect at the current levy rate. With debt, the valuations in the TIF districts can be utilized, so the tax burden is spread over another $759,438,713 in valuations. Of the $0.473 levied per $1,000 of valuation, the County's share is $0.285 from already issued bonds, including the Conservation headquarters, shop, and garages.
Rettig said the proposed total countywide levy is $6.99764 per $1,000 of valuation, which is down $0.23 from FY11. The County's actual share of this is $6.25, and the remainder is utilized for the JECC.
Rettig said the Rural Basic Levy for FY12 will be $3.08 per $1,000 of valuation, which is down $0.08 from FY11. An additional $500,000 will be added to the road maintenance budget to provide an increased level of service.
Rettig said 89% of the total proposed County levy goes to Johnson County for services and programming and 11% goes to the JECC. The total proposed County levy will be $6.99, and that is what all Johnson County taxpayers will pay per $1,000 of valuation. The Rural Basic Levy will be $3.08; that is what rural residents and property owners will pay for a total rural levy of $10.08. This is down from $10.40 in FY11. Rettig said rural residents do not pay city property taxes.
Rettig said the General Basic Levy is $3.50, representing 50% of the total levy. The General Supplemental Levy is $2.46620, representing 35% of the total levy. The Mental Health/Disability Services Levy is $0.55746, representing 8% of the total levy. The Debt Service Levy is $0.47397, representing 7% of the total levy.
Claiborne said total FY12 expenditures are $76,653,349 million. This incorporates all the initiatives including the Strategic Plan and the JECC, future justice center, an ambulance satellite facility, enhanced level of services, Green Initiatives, and personnel.
Claiborne said the rollback on residential properties this year is 48.5299%, which means that residents are not taxed on 51.47% of the valuation of their home. Other rollbacks include the Ag rollback of 69.0152%, and Commercial, Industrial, Railroad, and Utility each do not have a rollback and are taxed at 100%.
Claiborne presented a spreadsheet of what a person would pay in taxes per $100,000 of valuation for all the different tax classifications. Claiborne said for the Iowa City residential taxpayer, the dollar change increase from the FY11 Budget to the FY12 Budget is $5.96, or a 1.8% percent increase. The other cities' residential taxpayers will pay $15.22, or a 4.7% increase from FY11. A large portion of that is attributed to the assessor revaluation of 4.58%. Rural residential taxpayers will pay $8.64, or a 1.8% increase from FY11. Ag dwelling rural taxpayers will have an increase from FY11 of 2.3%, and Ag dwelling other cities' rural taxpayers will have a decrease from FY11 of 8.2%.
Neuzil said Johnson County is responsible to bill taxpayers. However, not all tax dollars go to the County. For example, when an Iowa City resident pays their tax bill, $0.17, or 17%, of each dollar goes to county government. What this means for FY12 is that there will be an increase of $5.96 on an assessed value of a $100,000 home which means for every $100,000 of assessed value, taxes will be $5.96 more than last year.
Neuzil said taxes are determined by a number of different sources including elected officials. Another factor which determines taxes is the valuation of property by the City and County Assessors. The City of Iowa City saw an assessor revaluation of roughly a 1.6% increase in this fiscal year. So the value of a taxpayer's home or land went up 1.6% and that has an impact on the tax bill. If the assessed value increases, taxes will likely increase also.
Neuzil said another area impacting taxes is the rollback which is controlled by the State of Iowa. The rollback increased, assessments increased, and so taxes went up even though Johnson County government's portion was lowered; taxes still go up slightly due to the revaluation and the rollback.
Neuzil said Coralville taxpayers will pay Johnson County 18% of their tax bill. The City of Coralville will receive 36%, the school district will receive 42%, and 4% will go to Kirkwood Community College and other entities in the category of "Other". Again, $0.18 of every Coralville taxpayer's dollar goes to Johnson County.
Neuzil said this year there was an increase from the County Assessor in the valuation of residential property in cities outside Iowa City. There was a fairly significant increase of 4.6% in the value of a person's home or land, and with the increase in the rollback, even though Johnson County reduced the tax levy, there will be a tax increase of 4.7%, or roughly $15.22.
Neuzil said that number will remain the same for the Solon taxpayers. Nineteen percent of a Solon taxpayer's bill goes to Johnson County. The largest portion goes to the school district at 47%, and the City of Solon receives 29% of the tax bill.
Neuzil said Tiffin taxpayers will pay Johnson County around 20% of their tax bill, the City of Tiffin will get 30%, and the Clear Creek-Amana School District will receive 45% of the tax bill.
Neuzil said roughly 38% of a Penn Township taxpayer's bill will go to Johnson County because County services for rural residents are higher particularly in law enforcement and roads. The school district receives 55%. This year, the County Assessor revalued properties in rural townships, and in Penn Township land and home taxes increased 1.8%, plus the rollback increased; so again, even though the County portion of the tax bill went down, there is an $8.64, or 1.8% increase.
Neuzil said he hopes people will realize that even though the tax bill is collected by the County Treasurer's Office, a large portion of tax dollars are paid to school districts and city governments.
Convened Public Hearing on the Johnson County Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 at 6:43 p.m.
Penn Township Resident Steve Faga said he has talked to other County residents and learned that budgets are stretched very thin. Fuel costs are increasing greatly. He said a recent Des Moines Register newspaper article reported personal income has decreased, household income has decreased, poverty rates have increased, and the number of people using Food Stamps has increased. Faga said many people are having job troubles and are searching for new employment, but they are not finding jobs at their previous income levels. Many Johnson County residents are common people and wonder how they will make ends meet. Faga said some residents can afford tax increases, and others cannot. He asked how the Board responds to this.
Sullivan said the County has fairly limited sources of revenue. There are many pass-through dollars and a small amount of fees and fines, but property taxes are the biggest source of the County’s revenue stream, and these dollars are somewhat regressive. The County does not have any other options. If the Board had other possible legal options, they probably would pursue them, but they do not.
Stutsman thanked Faga for sharing his concerns. She worries about people, especially those on fixed incomes, when property taxes increase and recognizes this is a hardship for many. The Board tries to prepare a budget to meet the needs of the community while still understanding there are limits for taxpayers. Stutsman thinks about this during each budget cycle. She said the Board did not fund everything presented to them; they carefully considered each request and postponed what they could. When preparing the budget, the Board tries to balance the services they are mandated to provide and services the public wants.
Harney thanked Faga for speaking to the Board tonight. He said the Board tries to be very responsible with taxpayer dollars. The cost of operating County government has increased in the areas of Jail transportation, facilities, and some road issues. The Board needs to try harder to keep these costs down while meeting people’s expectations. He has many concerns about people on fixed incomes and Social Security who are struggling financially. Increasing taxes for those individuals puts them in a difficult situation.
Faga said national and local inflation rates are increasing, but Social Security checks are not. He understands the Board controls only a certain percentage of the total budget, and the school districts also need to control their expenses. Faga asked how the national debt will be reduced without reducing spending and increasing savings.
Public Hearing closed at 6:52 p.m.
Neuzil said preparing the budget is a collaborative process with Supervisors, other Elected Officials, and Department Heads who represent Johnson County government. These individuals share the responsibility to provide mandated services and to meet the needs of the entire population. Neuzil said Johnson County is the best county in the State because of the team approach to preparing the budget. Johnson County laid out the priorities of public safety and emergency response for this year. While other communities are decreasing their law enforcement, Johnson County is increasing theirs. The Board continues to identify and fund everything possible for Mental Health/Disability Services and for Social Services, keeps up with Block Grants, and has even put forth some innovation ideas for rural mobile homes which are in this budget. There is continued demand for road maintenance, but the State is giving the County less funding so the Board decided to increase road maintenance through the Rural Fund.
Neuzil said the Board's new Strategic Plan identifies a number of priorities which will receive funding, such as rural economic development innovation. The Board is also paying down any current debt. Neuzil said he supports this budget and is proud of it; they have dealt with the increased rollback, increased assessments, and the fact that the JECC Policy Board now controls 11% of the County budget. Since the Board does not control all the budgeted items, it cut the County’s budget for FY12 in order to keep taxes down. Neuzil asked if Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, and the other communities benefiting from Emergency Response are cutting their budgets. He said he is not aware of that happening, but Johnson County did cut its budget again.
Rettig said the Board met with every department head and elected official to review each budget line by line. The economy is tight and property valuations are still increasing so the Board approached this budget by addressing the minimum budget requirements of inmate transportation, negotiated contractual obligations for personnel, an 8.5% increase in health insurance, and a 29% increase in the JECC operating budget.
Rettig said the Board focused on public safety and other positions that would save the County money, pay for themselves, or garner new revenues. The Board budgeted for additional staff to determine how to control skyrocketing electricity costs and to write grants, and still lowered the levy. Rettig said the Board back-filled with some reserves; she does not think any Supervisor is entirely comfortable with that. They could have raised taxes much more but instead decided to use reserves to level out the FY12 budget and keep taxes as low as possible.
Rettig said 55% of the tax bill goes to the school district. County department heads were asked to tighten budgets, not request more money in budget amendments, and return money on June 30, 2012. She is comfortable with this proposed budget but she wishes taxes were even lower. The Board is funding road maintenance with $500,000 of new money, but this is drop in the bucket when redeveloping a single mile of road costs $1 million.
Sullivan said the Board sets the budget for 135,000 County residents, and people have many different wants and needs. He thinks residents get a tremendous value for their tax dollars, and much of that is due to the efforts of department heads and elected officials. He is proud of the County's work and this budget reflects that. Sullivan said he thinks he will vote in favor of this budget next week.
Stutsman said she thinks the County will be dealing with some of the same budget issues affecting national and state governments. She wonders about the impact of certain cuts on the Board's FY13 budget process.
Harney said he agrees with almost everything said. In previous years, the Board never bonded for anything. However, when the cities utilize Tax Increment Financing districts, that takes a lot of money away from the Counties. County government began bonding because that allows for taxing into the TIF areas which lightens the load on the taxpayer; everyone pays their fair share.
Harney said the Health and Human Services Building will be paid off before July 1, 2011. The County cannot control the jail costs; $1,650,000 for transportation is a lot of money. He said the Jail Alternatives program is necessary to keep people out of jail. The Health and Human Services budget will not be able to afford this program, so the Board will need to find ways to continue Jail Alternatives. The Board has conducted a thoughtful budget process and Harney will be supporting this budget next week.
Adjourned at 7:06 p.m.
/s/Pat Harney, Chair, Board of Supervisors
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary
These minutes were sent for formal approval and publication on March 10, 2011.