Chairperson Stutsman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:31 a.m. Members present were: Charles Duffy, Jonathan Jordahl, Mike Lehman, Sally Stutsman, and Carol Thompson.

Stutsman asked Deputy Administrative Assistant Deana Pillard to bring the Board up to date on where they are at with the Fiscal Year 2001 budget process. The Board of Supervisors discussed their meetings schedule, deadlines for publication of the budget and public hearings for the budget. Stutsman said she has been considering some different formats for the budget public hearing this year. Thompson asked if somebody could write up a summary about the goals of this budget and how they were met. Stutsman said those are things they need to do for the public hearing to make it more interesting, relevant, and user friendly so that people can go away really understanding the budget. Jordahl said the Board of Supervisors should give a presentation on the budget at the public hearing. Stutsman agreed, and said it should include how the Board came to making the decisions they did, and what was involved in the process. Jordahl suggested he and Thompson work on a presentation. Stutsman said that if any Board members have ideas, they should pass them on to Jordahl, Thompson, and Pillard. Stutsman said in the past the Auditor’s Office has put together a presentation, which has been excellent, but the Board could add to it. Stutsman said information needs to come from the Auditor’s Office, but the Board needs to have an active role. Duffy said the Auditor’s Office has always done a good job, and questioned why they would want to change that. Jordahl said what Slockett does is shows the numbers and what the Board does is shows why the numbers are put in there that way. Jordahl said the Board needs to make a statement like that regarding the budget process.

Pillard said the January 21st and January 26th budget meetings have been cancelled. Pillard reminded the Board that on Wednesday the Board of Supervisors will hear from the Health Department again, Senior Dining and Planning and Zoning. She said on Thursday, Ambulance and Lora Shramek will talk about the Employee Health Fund. Pillard said it should go from 9:00 to noon on Wednesday the 5th and beginning at 1:30 on Thursday. She said on Friday they are scheduled from 9:00 to noon and at 9:30 Document Management will come in. Stutsman said on Thursday morning there will be a planning session for Human Resources and Senior Dining evaluations. Stutsman said the interviews for Facilities Manager are this afternoon at 2:00. Thompson said the other interviews are January 7th at 1:00.

Pillard said that Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards is putting numbers into the budget spreadsheet that are a continuation of what has been budgeted in Fiscal Year 2000. She said no new numbers are being put in yet. Thompson asked if they had agreed to put the $1.5 million on the table for space needs. Pillard said there is a difference between being on the table and being in the spreadsheet. Stutsman said she thinks the items that are on the table shouldn’t be in the spreadsheet, but they do need a list of what is being considered. Jordahl said it makes sense to him to put space needs down as a request, because it is something that is needed by the whole county is a product of an interdepartmental committee’s work. Thompson said she would like to see the 1.5 million request for space needs in the spreadsheet also. Thompson said if every request is put in the spreadsheet then the next process is to compare that to the money they have, and then deduct. Pillard said there are 2 columns, what is in the budget, and the highest request column. She said the highest request column is just to give a figure, but it’s not calculated in the spreadsheet. Stutsman and Thompson said they both like the format showing the highest request. Stutsman asked if that could be done for capital projects, too. Pillard said it probably could.

Jordahl said it isn’t useful for him to have percentages in the budget spreadsheet, and if they were taken out it would free up more room for other items. Thompson said the percentages are in the spreadsheet so they can see how budget performance is going for Fiscal Year 2000. Jordahl asked why they need those figures for FY 98 and FY 99. Thompson said it is so they can see departmental trends. Jordahl said a department’s highest request could be higher than what may be realistic to give that department. Stutsman said this won’t be clear to her if it is included in the budget request because she needs it separate to decide what they will put in and what they won’t. Jordahl said he thinks the capital expenditure amounts are important to have in the materials they receive because he thinks they are legitimate and other departments have looked at them. Stutsman said they will be doing that. Jordahl said that, regarding the percentages and different requests, if it makes any sense to have said Decision Package I, II and III, then they should be able to see it. Thompson said the Decision Packages are figured in there and if there are 3 separate ones then they show up in the right column. Pillard said if the Board would like to see what each department is requesting then they have to refer back to the other information that they have, which would be the printouts and the items that the departments handed out. She said they are not able to put everything all in one place. Jordahl said if some of the percentages weren’t there then they could have DPI, II and III and total. Pillard said that would be a continuation of work that the Board already has access to and that’s not really going to add anything to the numbers that are already in the spreadsheet. She said the purpose of this spreadsheet is for them to see how what the Board approves for the budget trickles down through the tax askings and increases. Thompson said it gives the numbers of performances that Jordahl wanted that they couldn’t get on those other pages.

Duffy asked if when they start stockpiling money if that contributes to their ending fund balance. Pillard said yes. Stutsman said the new staff requests from different departments were missing on their sheets and asked if other Board members were interested in having that information. Thompson said yes. Pillard said she’ll work on it. Thompson asked Pillard when the Board will know what money is available. Pillard said Edwards and Deputy Auditor Dan Stolze were working on that.

Pillard asked if the match for the Senior Center skywalk is the highest. Thompson said yes, that if they do that skywalk and the City puts in money, they will ask the County for 20% because of the 28E Agreement. Thompson asked if they should assume that they will have to pay for the skywalk and put money in, or try to budget it later. Duffy said he isn’t going to assume anything and this is something he would have a real question with. Jordahl said the cost of this is due in part to the fact that they designed the ramp right next to the Senior Center without putting any floors of the ramp on the same level as any floors at the Senior Center. He asked if 20% of the County’s cost would be making up for that was really the City’s problem. Thompson said it is $350,000, and they are trying to raise half of it so that it would be $175,000 and the County’s share would be $34,000. Jordahl said they should put it in there because the ramp does need to exist but it was unfortunate that it wasn’t thought of in the first place.

Pillard said the another item was the Living Wage for $35,000. Thompson said that will be less because there are some raises already included in department’s budgets. She said that $35,000 would be the outside number. Stutsman said she is uncomfortable budgeting for that because they haven’t had a public discussion on that issue. Stutsman said if they approve the Living Wage, she would rather that it came out of the ending year balance than include it in the budget. Jordahl asked if they could schedule a discussion before the budget is approved. Thompson said the Living Wage people are coming in February so it would be too late to add it to the budget, but they could amend the budget, because they do that from time to time. Stutsman said that would be her preference rather than have it considered now. Lehman said they are still talking about phasing it in. He said they could think about stair-stepping it in over 3 years or so. Thompson said the Living Wage people have talked about coming up with a lower figure than originally asked for, and if they do that, and approve some of the requests that are in the budget, then the difference will be less. Jordahl asked if these people were aware of the timetable. Thompson said they know, but they needed time to do the work that they had to do. Stutsman said the schedule for January is so full that there is no time to give them the discussion that it needs.

Pillard said the North Liberty Resource Center is requesting $15,000, and the Board talked about putting some of that money into DHS. Thompson asked about putting in $25,000 and leaving the remainder for Hills and other communities. Jordahl said there has been talk about taking up the slack in the Juvenile Crime Prevention Grant and he thinks this money could be construed as part of that. Thompson asked if Juvenile Crime is at $200,000. Pillard said yes and it is a decrease in state revenues and Juvenile Crime Prevention is a part of the General Fund and the decrease in revenues means that the County is contributing. She said the General Fund covers the difference, which is $200,000 plus, and it is actually in the budget. Jordahl said he thinks existing funds that are being centrally utilized in Iowa City should be distributed more broadly across the County for these community centers rather than come up with a whole bunch of new money. Thompson said the only money the County is putting into it right now is in the Block Grants they give to neighborhood centers. Thompson said she thinks the Family Resource Center can be rolled into both. She said that’s $200,000 that used to come from the state, so it’s new money for the County. Stutsman asked Pillard to explain the Juvenile Justice dollars. Pillard said that on the revenue side of it, they were no longer granted. She said it is her understanding that the State will not be providing the $200,000. She said the grant money, which is part of the General Fund, will not be coming in. She said she thinks that $54,000 is the Juvenile Crime Prevention’s part. She said this means that the revenues will go down, while the expenditures, which will remain where they are. She said this means the General Fund will pick up the $200,000. Jordahl asked what the Juvenile Crime Prevention grant is being spent on now and is there a way to take money from that and put it in another place. Thompson said she thinks it can be worked out. She said there is $8,000 for the resource center in the Juvenile Crime money and if they are given the $15,000 then they don’t need the $8,000. Stutsman said the suggestion is putting the resource money into DHS’s budget and have it be part of DECAT so they can set up contracts. Stutsman asked how much to put aside for additional resources. Jordahl said there is money in this area and perhaps it can be spread around the County a little more equitably to achieve something that is very useful. Thompson said she is OK with leaving the $200,000 in and jockeying that around. Jordahl asked what to do with the $15,000. Stutsman said that is included in the $200,000 Juvenile Justice. Jordahl said it would not be part of the highest request, but it would just be in Juvenile Justice and not count as a request. Thompson said they need to work up a proposal to the Board and discuss it. Duffy asked why the State does not keep supporting Juvenile Crime Prevention, and they need to talk to the legislature about it. Stutsman agreed. She said that when this grant first started, the legislature made it clear that it was seed money that they would not continue funding for, and every year they have been funding for it.

Jordahl said the GIS Needs Assessment is going to come back with a dollar figure at some point. Pillard said that is in the highest request for Technology for $200,000. Duffy asked if the Board has decided whether they are going to do GIS or not. Jordahl said that is what the Needs Assessment is about.

Jordahl asked about the priorities for construction in space needs and asked if that’s what the upcoming Space Needs meeting is about. He said there is discussion on what Space Needs to take care of first. He said if they want to spend money from capital projects this year, it ought to be made part of the budget process. Thompson asked if the Board would feel comfortable with the Space Needs Committee making a recommendation. She said that at a previous meeting it felt like each member of the Committee was arguing for their own thing, and the Committee has not been able to come to a conclusion. Jordahl said it falls on the Board to decide because the Space Needs Committee can’t. Stutsman said part of the purpose of the informational meeting was to bring to the Board of Supervisors where the Space Needs Committee is at, and for the Board to use that discussion in the budget process to say what they are going to allocate. Jordahl said he is asking what else they are going to have in the budget because they have a decision to make about if they are going to build something this year. Stutsman said they can say they are only going to allocate $900,000 and turn it back to the Committee for them to decide what to do with the $900,000. Lehman asked if they can come up with some type of consensus or at least prioritize. Thompson said the 2 contenders seem to be the Human Services Building and the Administration building for first priority. She said that when saving up for something, the most economical way to do it is least expensive to most expensive order. Jordahl said it isn’t a question of least expensive, but a question of most important and the Board of Supervisors should sit down and prioritize these things. Stutsman said that’s what they will do when they decide how much money they can put into Space Needs.

Jordahl said that if they put aside $1.5 million a year they can do all of the other Space Needs projects, but they can’t do the Jail. He said they need to put aside $2 million for the Jail. He said if they can agree that they have to do $2 million for the Jail and also do the rest of the projects, they can prioritize the other project and realize that the Jail is number one and so is something else. Stutsman said the Board will come to a priority list based on what the Board feels they can put into Space Needs for the next few years. Stutsman said they will be making critical space needs decisions during the budget process. Thompson said to build a new jail at $2 million dollars a year, they have to save up for 7 years, but by then the Jail will cost more, and they will have to save up for more years. Jordahl said that maybe they won’t be saving up but maybe they will be paying off a bond at that rate. Pillard said the Board needs to decide if they can do both at the same time or not do anything else until the Jail issue is decided.

Stutsman said that there are going to be fixed costs with that Jail whether it is built or not. She said that $700,000 will have to be set aside to deal with the Jail overcrowding. Thompson said they could budget $1.5 million this year, $1.7 next year, $2 million the following year and then in the 4th year the $2 million would go towards the Jail bond. She said the only money that is available for other kinds of building is in the first 3 years. She said that would give them the chance to creep up on their contribution because it’s hard to come up with $2 million all in one year. Jordahl said if the State were to come in and didn’t think money was being set aside for the jail, they could force the County to do something about the overcrowding immediately. He said that the $700,000 grows as the prison population grows just for housing prisoners elsewhere and this impacts the entire budget. He said that they need to take a good look at the Jail, ignore saving for it, and be ready to pay for the transport of prisoners by putting $700,000 in for that and then $1.5 million in for building needs. Jordahl said there won’t be $700,000 in the ending balance to pull in for transporting prisoners if it turns out to be a reality. He said they should put that in the budget and if it turns up that they don’t need it for transporting prisoners, then they can save it for building the Jail. Thompson said the transporting will not begin until at least a year from now, which is halfway through next year’s budget. She said there will be at least another year of construction and there will not be payments on the bond issue until the 3rd year. Jordahl said that if they want to keep taxation down to a realistic level, and they don’t do anything for transporting prisoners, but they put in figures for $300-350,000 next year, that there is still the problem of trying to put an extra $600,000 into Space Needs. He said this is a big pinch if you look at it as coming out of the existing budget.

Jordahl said there is the Space Needs project and the GIS potential for $200,000. He said that everything in the budget is tremendously impacted by the desire to deal with Space Needs and possibly GIS. Duffy said they need to fund the basics first, such as wages, and then see where they are at. Duffy said if the County stockpiles too much money the thought will be that Johnson County has too much money and doesn’t need any grants. Lehman said that they can put some money aside for the new Jail and for transportation, then the State can see that the County is preparing and it will buy the County more time. Jordahl said he thinks some time may have been bought with the Jail Study Committee. He said it isn’t a bad idea to at least put money aside for transporting prisoners, even if it isn’t the full $700,000. Stutsman asked if they have to be specific about where money is going. Pillard said the Auditor’s Office prefers that. Jordahl said it can go into capital projects for the Jail and if they had to transport prisoners before getting to use the money for the new Jail, then an amendment can be done to use it for the transport. Pillard said it does, in some ways, go against their policy of not taking money from capital expenditures. Stutsman said it also goes against being straight forward with the taxpayers about what is being done with the money. Jordahl said he understands, but that in this case they would be paying for exactly the same thing. Lehman asked where the money would come from if they were told they had to start transporting prisoners. Stutsman said the Board has been very consistent with department heads telling them that once money is in capital projects, it isn’t going to be taken out if they are short elsewhere.

Thompson asked if they could say the most they want to tax for in a given year is $2 million, and then start with $1.5 million in FY 01. She said there is already a balance of $1.5 million, with the $900,000 they put in this year, so the 2 $1.5’s make $3 million that will be available in the next budget year. Pillard reminded the Board that the $900,000 isn’t completely in capital projects because some of that was spent this year. Thompson said that next year they could say they will put aside $1.7 million, and $1 million will go towards the building fund and the $.7 million will be saved for either Jail transportation or to put towards the construction costs of it. She said the whole amount they will save will be $2 million and it will all go towards paying off the Jail bond issue. Jordahl said he thinks the planning aspect of this needs to be that the Jail is a reality and it can’t be avoided. He said there are other projects that are also realities, yet the Jail is overwhelmingly expensive by comparison. He said both have to be thought of. Jordahl said the Board should figure out how they are dealing with the Jail and then deal with the other Space Needs. Thompson said at the Informational Meeting, the Board said the Jail is the first priority and it’s track is being designed by the Jail Study Committee. Jordahl said that at some point they are going to have these ongoing building needs with a 5 year plan laid out, and they will run into the Jail which will be 3.5 million. Thompson said that prior to running into the Jail, there is money that they can spend for the other space needs. Jordahl said they could not spend it on these other things and instead buy down the price of the Jail.

Duffy said he was glad to hear that the Jail was top priority. Stutsman said that these are decisions they will have to make and $1.5 might be too ambitious in view of all the other budget requests. Stutsman said there is a variety of Space Needs that need to be addressed and they need to look at how to do them. Stutsman said that these will evolve with part of the budget process. Jordahl suggested a work session. He said that they need to discuss the priorities because they do not know the priorities other than the Jail. Thompson asked if the Board agrees with what is on the table for Space Needs. Jordahl said yes, but they need to be prioritized. Stutsman said she thinks they will probably prioritize them during the budget process and deciding how much money to put into that will do that.

Adjourned at 10:32 a.m.

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Casie Parkins, Recording Secretary