MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
JANUARY 22, 2001
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Discussion: Fiscal Year 2002 Budget
General Basic Block Grants (20)
Discussion: Fiscal Year 2002 Budget
Physical Plant: Fiscal Year 2002 Budget
SEATS Director Lisa Dewey: Fiscal Year 2002 Budget
Discussion: Fiscal Year 2002 Budget
Chairperson Lehman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 1:10 p.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Mike Lehman, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Carol Thompson.
DISCUSSION: FISCAL YEAR 2002 BUDGET
General Basic Block Grants (20)
Budget Coordinator Jeff Horne stated they would start with the General Basic Block Grants, Department 20. He said there should be a new front page for the expenses in that department. Thompson explained when they use the word block grant, it doesn’t mean they are getting one, but they are giving block grants to agencies. She said they could make it as much or as little as they want. Stutsman said the amount appropriated was at their discretion. She asked about the figures and if they were what Horne and JCCOG Human Services Coordinator Linda Severson and Board Administrative Assistant Carol Peters came up with. Horne said it was what he got from United Way and from the assessment. Horne said, for the FY02 budget, he didn’t make it a decision package because he didn’t think they were really decision packages. He said he just put it in the FY02 column. Stutsman summarized that it was a 2.3 increase overall, $23,000. Lehman said that Severson had given them a breakdown from the United Way. Stutsman asked if there was anything they should be aware of, looking at the Human Services funding. Thompson said they didn’t recommend that ARC be a new agency because they get a large amount of contract money from the MH/DD Department. Severson said they were also concerned about setting precedents for other agencies that could come in the future. Stutsman wondered if they were for advocacy functions. Severson said it was for advocacy and community education, but there is not really a fund to access for that. Thompson said it was pretty much a 4 or 5% increase for everyone with the exception of Domestic Violence. She said for several years they have been getting comments from the community and not hearing them. She said this year they talk as if they hear the comments, but they aren’t seeing the performance yet. She said they would wait another year with them and they got the same as last year. Thompson said it was a similar situation with HACAP, Mayor’s Youth, and Youth Homes. Stutsman asked what happened with Lutheran. Thompson said they didn’t request anything.
Thompson said that Severson also remembered that Pathways was originally intended to be a self-supporting agency and that the Board was just tiding them over. She said they pointed out that they hadn’t asked for an increase for several years and that they do use the money to subsidize 7 different participants in their program who might not be able to come up with the private money to cover themselves, if the County didn’t do it. She said they talked about working out a deal where the money for their future programming would go into Department of Human Service’s budget so that it would be reviewed by somebody so they knew the people had eligibility. Stutsman said there would be a contract, also. Thompson said it would be with a client. Stutsman said at one time they had talked about using the dollars to supplement those people before they became eligible for Title XIX. She said she didn’t have a problem with that either, but she wanted to make sure that’s what the money was going for. Thompson said that most Title XIX goes back to the day they apply, so even though it might be 3 months before the money is received, they would be able to pay. Stutsman said they were also talking about the cash flow. Thompson said it would be like a revolving fund and they wouldn’t have to keep refunding it. She said these are actually people that go there with no insurance or any other funding that they help subsidize. Stutsman said that nobody was checking that. Thompson agreed and said it could be selecting because of somebody’s friendship and there is no even-handedness that the County can see. She said right now this is the only adult day program in town, so obviously all the clients will go there. She wondered what they would do if another agency wanted to do adult daycare and would they give them $50,000? She said they need the $50,000 in a place where the clients are. Stutsman said there should be an assurance that the money is going to services to clients that have no other recourse for payment. Severson said when she talked to the Pathways staff about the reduction they talked about how the money was used. She said there were 7 to 8 full-time, with about 20 people attending different days. She said she asked if they could profile an individual who used the County funds and they profiled a 51-year old man with a severe stroke who attends 3 days a week which allows his wife to work and also enables him to other health insurance benefits and that family pays $10 a day and the County dollars supplement. She said they also work with the adult worker at DHS in terms of finding out if people are eligible for Title XIX or any State funding. She said from what they shared they make an attempt to look at all of their resources and there are some folks that either because they are above the guidelines for the Elderly Waiver or like the 51-year old man who doesn’t fit in with any funding for which he needs and to help the family function. Pathways told her that if the Board was more comfortable in a fee for service or if they want to report in terms of client number 87, this is a diagnosis, and this is where they are accessing funds and how they are using the County funds; if the County wanted to look at a fee for services, they would comply. Stutsman said that for $40,000 that is the route they need to take. Severson said she would relay what the Board wants to Pathways and they would get the information. Thompson said they could be recommending to take it down $10,000 this year and keep doing that until they get another arrangement. Stutsman said that was still $40,000. Thompson said it would be an incentive for them to work towards. Lehman said some kind of administrative checks and balances should be in place. Stutsman said she is concerned because they have asked for that for several years now, some kind of arrangement. She said this was to be something to get them started until all their services kicked in, but they have not heard anything. She said they could give them the benefit of the doubt because they haven’t made it very clear, but now is the time for the County to have them in the same boat as all the other agencies, requesting contracts and fee for services, some accountability. She said they don’t do block grants for anyone else and not ask for some kind of accounting. Stutsman said she liked Thompson’s idea of putting it under Department of Human Services Area Administrator Cheryl Whitney’s budget. She said it would be similar to what they have done with Decat funding where they have a contract and it’s signed and there are reports. Severson said Pathways would be willing to submit anything the Board requests. She said they talked about the contracts in terms of Human Service agencies and she said they were still stuck. Stutsman said that was another issue. She said she would like to go to a fee for service and asked if anybody else wanted to do that. She said they have done that with all the agencies with the mental health funding. Thompson said they have a fee and what they are doing is charging the same fee to the 8 clients and then the County pays part of it. She asked if they were paying it all for any clients. Severson said she didn’t know but could check. Harney wondered what the alternatives were for giving it to Whitney to manage. Stutsman said Whitney would have it under her budget (45). She said Whitney would then be responsible for allocating those dollars and making sure they are given to the clients with no other means. She said it would only be issued when there was a client that needed it. She said otherwise they had just been giving the $40,000 to the agency and they take the money and use it as they see fit. She said they could run short or over, but there are no strings attached. Stutsman said they haven’t made any specifications that it be for low income clients and they could use it for anything. Severson asked if the Board would like a report going back to July 1st. Stutsman agreed to that. Lehman asked if Whitney would oppose that. Stutsman said they should ask. Thompson said that if they lowered the amount for next year, that would get Pathways attention and they would be motivated to work with them and use the year to work with Whitney. She said they have talked about it every year, but usually after they set the budget, their director has left and they start over with a new director and they go back to square one. She said it looked like this arrangement is going to work out longer. She said it is a shared director between here and Cedar Rapids. Lehman said he was hearing a consensus to look at that, but they need to talk to Whitney. Severson asked if the money would be coming from the Human Services budget or if they would transfer the money to that budget. Thompson said they would transfer the money. Harney asked if it was just Whitney or if there was somebody else that could handle that as appropriately as Whitney would. Stutsman said it makes sense that it be under Whitney’s budget. Thompson said they would establish eligibility and they would be in a position to say the person is eligible for Social Security or there is some sort of a waiver. Stutsman said they have a system in place for monitoring block grants to agencies. She said it wouldn’t make any sense to try and duplicate that. Horne asked if it was similar to the ones that run under the Department of Health. Thompson said the client would go to DHS and get their eligibility established. She said DHS would refer them to Pathways for the service. Horne said it would be going to a bunch of line items and it’s more than just changing the grant to the DHS budget. Thompson said it would be a new line item in Whitney’s budget called Adult Daycare. Stutsman said it would be like a line item under child care. She said Whitney would be responsible for those dollars and would determine how they are spent. Neuzil asked if $40,000 would be enough for them, because they had $50,000 last year. Thompson said Whitney would be able to come back and say they need money. Thompson said it was unusual for a person to continue the whole year, so if they took $10,000 out of their budget, they could probably have enough attrition to get through at least the 7 clients to the end of the year. Severson said it’s a number of individuals, but they figure the County dollars can fund between 7 and 8 full time slots, but up to 18 and 20 individuals. Thompson said it was important that none of the 18 or 20 have a sudden loss of service. Stutsman said they would have to give Whitney some direction on what they want and who is eligible. Severson asked if she should talk to her. Stutsman said that would be good for her to get started and involve a couple of the Board members in the discussion. The Board agreed they were comfortable at leaving the number at $40,000.
Thompson said, for the three determined by the Health Department, they put in what they asked for because they didn’t know what to put in. Severson said she had checked with Public Health Department Director Graham Dameron on Friday and they did recommend the full request for each of those agencies. Lehman said that was the Free Medical Clinic, ICARE, and Visiting Nurses. Thompson asked why ICARE was shaded. Severson said that was because those funds come out of the Department of Health and she’s not sure if it’s Department of Public Health funds or pass through money from the State. She said that is not included in the totals. Thompson said they were pretty frugal because it’s a 2.3% increase. Stutsman said she was very comfortable with the way they appropriated it. Neuzil asked how they determined how someone got an increase or what the percentage was. Thompson said they looked at things like the amount they asked for and also the amount Johnson County contributes to their total budget. Stutsman said that Thompson and Lehman went to all the hearings where they heard all of the budget presentations. Lehman said they need to look at a combination because sometimes they may have a large part of the budget, but maybe it isn’t a lot of dollars and still large to them. He said a lot was based on what they heard, how organized they felt they were, what their purpose was, and accountability. Stutsman said when she has served on the joint funding hearings they look at how they are directing their dollars, if it is what the County feels is appropriate. She said, some years, services did not do enough outreach in the rural areas. Lehman said some were looking at raising funds from other sources, and they need to look at how well they did that or if they would really just wait for the Board to help out. Thompson said that United Way has committees visit the agencies before the hearings and the committees give reports and also report concerns back to the agencies. She said they look at how well the agencies take that into account. Stutsman said it is a good process and looks at a variety of issues with the agencies. Severson said it gives a whole picture of the agency and how the funding works. Lehman said it is not just the Board’s recommendation, but there is a citizen review and they listen to comments and fund accordingly. Severson said they could schedule site visits for the Board to visit the agencies. Lehman said he got an idea as to who the people are behind the organizations at the hearings.
Stutsman asked what the increase was for HazMat. Horne said it wasn’t really an increase. He said that was caught up to the amended budget with Johnson County’s share per year. He clarified they had paid 2 years last year. Neuzil said under number 20 in the general block grants, one agency is no longer Mayor’s Youth Employment, but Maximize Your Employment Potential. Thompson said that Sibship was still in the budget at the same amount as last year. Thompson reported they had a request for $1,800 from the people that print the Tell Me Where to Turn book that has received good press. She said that is not the whole cost of the book, because they get money from other sources. Severson said they submitted a cover sheet and a fact sheet to the Board. She said it’s been published since 1988 and it talks about resources for people experiencing mental health problems. She said there is a mental health task force that is a group of providers that get together once a month as a sub-committee. She said there are representatives from Community Mental Health, Hillcrest Family Services, Johnson County MH/DD, and the representative for Alliance for the Mentally Ill within JCCOG. She said they gather and make sure the information is accurate and their only cost is for printing. She said 2 years ago they printed 6,000 copies and ran out in October. She said they would like to run 8,000 and the estimate is $3,800. Severson said they approached United Way through the Alliance for the Mentally Ill and Thompson suggested they submit a request to the County. The request would only be every other year. Thompson said it’s a very good resource for people. Severson said that the Community Mental Health Center clubhouse program stores the brochures and handles the distributing. She said they make it available to law enforcement, libraries, and anyone who requests it. Thompson said the cost to the Board would be $1,800. Stutsman asked if cities were helping with the cost. Severson said they had not approached them, but they have asked MH/DD and MH/MR/DD/BI Coordinator Elaine Sweet didn’t feel it was appropriate. Thompson said they were trying to keep that for client money. Stutsman said she had no problem with it, but she worries about setting a precedent because they haven’t done anything like this before. Neuzil said he felt uncomfortable making those kinds of expenditures before other options were considered. He said they didn’t request it the last time. Severson said they struggle to raise the money and thought if the County would support it in part, they could use that fact in their fund-raising activities. She said when they did the 6,000 copies, it was only $2,600 or $2,700 and they were looking for a 25% increase in the number of copies available. She said it is a challenge for them to raise that much money. She said they go through Hospers Brothers and they donate the typesetting and the total will be between $3,700 and $3,800 for 8,000 copies. Horne said that would be a new line item if approved. Stutsman suggested leaving it on the table as they consider requests. Severson said they would be pleased with anything. Harney said it is a very useful book and well used in the law enforcement field, but thought other entities would be in line to assist in paying for it. Severson said that the Community Health Project, Mercy, Coralville United Methodist, First United Methodist, a memorial in terms of a spouse, Hospers Brothers, United Church for Christ, and the Alliance for the Mentally Ill have contributed in the past. They also talked to the Council for Religious Communities to approach the individual religious communities.
Thompson said she needed historical help because she noticed they give $125 to the Council of Elders. Stutsman said it was just for last year. She said it was probably for payment of the Johnson County Fair booth for the Senior Center. She thought it was out of there, because they don’t do that for anybody else and it should not be in there. Thompson then asked about the block grant- First Capital Development. Horne said that was ICAD. Stutsman wondered if they were getting $20,000 worth of service. She noted an article in the paper, and the County was not listed as one of the funders when they mentioned all of the cities. Lehman said he didn’t think they were getting their money’s worth in the past, but they need to make use of their services with an economic development plan. Neuzil said the expenditure is high. He said he is excited about economic development, but they are not getting $20,000 worth of service. Lehman said it was for their administrative costs. He said they need to think what they want to have done in the future and the price tag that goes with that. Neuzil thought it could be reduced and it will send a message that they will continue to reduce unless they get something back in return. He said that means help with the economic development plan and some real rural initiatives, which will probably happen, but it’s discouraging as far as the article in the newspaper. Stutsman said she wanted the County to be included and this isn’t the first time it’s happened. Neuzil said they should reduce it by $5,000. Lehman said that would get their attention but they need to go to them and say this is what the Board needs their help with and follow through with that. Stutsman said it’s similar to the Pathways situation where the Board hasn’t done a good job at communicating. Lehman said it isn’t like a fee for service, and they need to be a partner with it. Harney said $10,000 would be a lot for planning, unless they’re going to do something specific where they will need more money. Neuzil said he wouldn’t have any objection to that. Lehman said ICAD President Joe Raso has been working with Planning and Zoning Assistant Planner Dan Swartzendruber and they should ask Swartzendruber exactly what he’s been doing. The Board agreed to go to $10,000. Neuzil said if they saw real results, it could be included again.
Thompson said the Senior Center was in at the same amount as last year and asked if there was a letter. Stutsman said there should be a contract. Horne said it should be set then. Thompson said they are supposed to tell the Board what their budget is. Stutsman said that is non-negotiable. Thompson said it was due at the end of January. Stutsman said it was a percentage of their operating budget. Thompson said they know that number will go up. Horne had a question about the Johnson County Agricultural Association. Stutsman said that is what they give to the Fairgrounds and it’s a levy amount. Horne asked if that would change. Stutsman didn’t think it would and he should check with the Auditors Office because it’s a levy. She said it was for the Fairgrounds and the Fair and the whole facility. Horne asked if it was paid once a year. Stutsman said it’s probably paid at the beginning of the year.
Thompson asked what the Rural Enterprise Fund Grant was. Horne asked why a rural grant would be in the basic block grants and not the rural block grants. Lehman suggested he check on that. Stutsman said they have flexibility in the amount for the Johnson County Ag Association, but the County has always been supportive of the activities there. Thompson said it was easily worth that.
Lehman asked if the Neighborhood Centers was for North Liberty and Hills. Thompson said those are the Neighborhood Centers in the Human Services budget. Stutsman said it goes through Decat. Thompson said that that doesn’t need an increase. Lehman asked where the rest of the increase comes from because the Board gives them 2,500 and it’s 1,100. Thompson said they asked for 1,100, and the Board gave them 2,500.
Neuzil asked what the Iowa Tourism Association was for. Lehman said that was the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Neuzil wondered if the Board gets any return on that, or mention in their brochure. He said it would be nice to have a section of their tourism book they provide. Thompson said they gave them more before and they must have cut it last year. Stutsman said she didn’t have a problem with the $500. Neuzil said he would call over there to make sure they get mentioned.
Thompson said they had the new amount for JCCOG. Horne said that is based on a formula that covers the human services, travel and planning. Stutsman thought they got their money’s worth. Thompson asked about MECCA’s ISDA reimbursement and if that was something they get every year. Severson said that was State dollars that are passed through the County. Stutsman said they probably got it one time but no longer do. Thompson said they didn’t get it last year. Severson asked if it was $10,000. They determined it probably stood for Iowa State Drug and Alcohol. Stutsman said it was probably just a grant that MECCA gets and they probably get income from that and this is the expense line. She said they might not get funding this year, but at least it’s in for a possible pass through. Thompson asked Horne what the Historic Preservation $10,000 was for. Horne said that was the Devonion Fossil Gorge. He said that was just for one year. Thompson said they still asked for the $2,500 this year. Horne said he would make the changes needed and would get the revised packet back to the Board.
General Supplemental Block Grants (21)
Horne said there was not much to discuss in the Supplemental Block Grants. Thompson said it was all zeroes. Horne said they do have things in the revenue side. Thompson said it shows 3 million dollars worth of revenue where the taxes come in. Lehman said there was nothing on the expenditure side. Harney said it was all estimates on the revenue and wondered how accurate they were. He said they were probably as close as they could get. Horne said they were for the time being.
Stutsman said the rural libraries were done by formulas also. Lehman thought just Iowa City was. Stutsman said they do them all by contracts. Lehman said he got individual budget requests from some of them. Stutsman said they are based on the same contract they gave to Iowa City. She said there is not a lot of room for negotiation. Thompson said the 01 and 02 budgets were the same. Stutsman said some of them were. Horne said Iowa City would be a formula, and he hasn’t seen anything from them. Stutsman said they should give the Board numbers based on their usage. She said there wasn’t a change with that this year. Horne said he does get a bill that reflects the usage every month. Thompson said they pay per book. Stutsman said that was based on rural usage, and they don’t pay for any capital improvements. Horne said he’d check on Iowa City and the others have turned in their budgets. Neuzil said he was surprised Solon didn’t request more. Stutsman said they are not in their new building yet. Harney said they probably anticipate more usage with a new building. Stutsman said they do it based on what their actual usage is, not their projection so next year they’ll probably see an increase. Thompson said a big increase will sometimes reflect a better record keeping system. Lehman said they were actually paying a year behind. Horne said he would check into the landfill also to be sure that’s the right amount.
Lehman said they have some expenses at the County Farm with weed eradication. Horne said he had talked with County Farm Manager Bruce Ahrens and he would like to continue with the same budget. Stutsman said they rent out the land at the County Farm and they have a land manager that handles it. Harney said a couple people had asked him to see if it was put up for bids. Lehman said he refers those requests to Ahrens. Stutsman said there hasn’t been a lot of thought about changing. Lehman said it’s not the best ground and there are not a lot of acres tilled.
Horne said there is nothing left in the CORDLAP fund. He said it was something to do with the Neighborhood Centers, and it’s no longer in use. Thompson said it would drop out after 3 years of zeroes. Horne said it will appear next year for the last time.
Horne said he had spoken to Historic Preservation Chairperson Kathy Penningroth about this budget and she asked to maintain their 2 line items. Thompson said they would get $5,000 again next year. Stutsman thought that was supposed to be a one time thing. Horne said he’d look into that. Stutsman said they were applying for a grant and this was matching funds for that. Thompson said it shows $2,500 in revenue.
Horne said there are no expenditures in the Reservoir Roads Trust, just a revenue line item. Lehman said this is called the Coralville Dock Fund and in the past, they just spend the interest off the fund. He said it’s money that was given to them for the roads that were altered when the Reservoir was put in place. Horne said that County Treasurer Tom Kriz thought they’d have a better year with that. Thompson wondered if he had that locked in if interest rates go down. Horne said that’s the number he gave him. Harney asked if this was for the flooding of roads. Stutsman said it was, but it didn’t reflect what actually is in that. Horne said it is about 2.5 million dollars. Stutsman said they just transfer the dollars to Secondary Roads and they use the interest dollars for dust alleviation or gravel. Horne said that was right. Stutsman said she would like to look at that fund after the budget process to see how much it’s grown. Lehman said they don’t spend all the interest on it. Thompson asked if it’s not spent if it goes back into the fund. Stutsman said she wanted to find that out. She said they’ve always had a lot of discussion about that fund. She said she didn’t mind having the principle there and having interest to pay for the roads, but it shouldn’t just keep growing and growing without spending it down. Harney said they might decide there is a purpose that it’s better spent for. Thompson said it is 6.5% interest so they anticipate spending all the interest this year. Horne said that is why they get so much variation, depending on what CD’s come through when. Stutsman said that’s why they should talk to Secondary Roads, because they sometimes get in trouble having a lot in there. She said the Legislature looks at that and could put on a property tax freeze. Harney said it’s sitting with Secondary Roads because there might be an area they could spend it, like Anchorage Road. Stutsman said it’s a good idea to re-evaluate those with new Board members. Thompson said there was no requirement that they spend the interest. Stutsman said the County chose not to spend that money, when they could have chosen to put in bridges, or surface all those roads. Harney said that everybody is worried about it being gone and if they hold it there, there is a chance to use it on something.
Horne said he needed to call Chatham Oaks because they didn’t make a request. He said the limited purchasing in this trust is done by Chatham Oaks. He said they did a couple of purchases last year. Lehman said the situation there is they take care of the larger maintenance items and buildings out there. He said that Chatham Oaks would pay for the building that needed to be torn down, but they wanted to make sure it was OK with the County so if they didn’t use the building another department could use it. He said Chatham Oaks would be coming in soon to give a report on that. Thompson said the Leinfelder Trust was left by a family to be used for specific purposes at the County Care Center. She asked if they use the interest or the principle. Horne said it was just interest. Thompson said it doesn’t show any spending, just interest.
Thompson said the Board still doesn’t have a budget because Neumann Monson Project Architect Dwight Dobberstein was doing some research. She said they could talk about whether they want to continue funding that at $950,000. Stutsman asked if they should have a review of what is in Capital Projects. Stutsman asked if the Space Needs Committee made a recommendation. Thompson said they recommended the same amount. Horne said the balance was about 1.2 coming in and he has a projected balance of about 1.3 but it will probably be higher because there are projects that won’t be done by the end of the fiscal year. Stutsman said she was comfortable putting 950 in right now and they could always lower it later. Harney said they discussed at the Space Needs Committee the fact that everything is put into one pot instead of being broken down like it should be. He said the roof at the Jail should be put into capital improvements, and not the Space Needs fund. He said that should be split up and be spent for what it’s being earmarked for. Lehman said if it’s serious enough to be a line item, it shouldn’t be reflected in 2 years. Thompson said there should be a standard line item with so much per year to pay for those expenses. Stutsman said part of the reason for putting it in Capital Projects was because some people had surplus money that was absorbed into their own budgets. Harney said it should go into the repair for buildings. He said there should be funds for new buildings in a separate funds from repairs for existing buildings. Harney said it was easy to spend the money set aside for something else. Neuzil said that $950,000 should be the base and they should be disciplined about that because there were good things to use that money for.
Thompson said the Space Needs recommended a project at the Courthouse including the wall, and the slate steps. Lehman said that County Attorney Pat White asked for one courthouse project a year. Harney said they need to set priorities because the insurance agent said the steps were dangerous. Stutsman said those projects have been on since she’s been on the Board. She said the Board needs to sit down and decide what the long term plans are for the Courthouse and how much money they should put into it. She said it’s a beautiful historical building, but they need to make a decision as to whether it meets the needs of the County. Thompson said she had told Dobberstein to look at things that would preserve the building versus things that will make it more useful for the Court to use it. Neuzil asked about the retaining wall. Thompson said they could do it historically accurate like when it was new, or they could use what they did at the Oakland Cemetery, which wouldn’t be very much cheaper. Lehman said it was a poured wall with creases in the design. He said the big problem right now is the water pressure on the side hill pushing things out which would need to be addressed. Harney said he only brought it up so that it could be put into separate budget items to it’s separated. Thompson asked if this definition would satisfy that. Neuzil said that there are some expenditures that seem to be much less than $50,000. Thompson said those are old and they can re-do the budget. She said there is interest that goes into it so they reallocate the budget so the line items are cleaned up. Neuzil asked if they would put a million back from the Jail. Lehman said it would just roll over. Stutsman said she was comfortable with the definition because the $50,000 was a good threshold. She said it needs then to be considered more of a capital project instead of repair or maintenance. Thompson said that Horne pointed out they should say the roof has a life of so many years and in that many years they would have to save money to replace it. Horne said they need to earmark those dollars. Harney said that would force them to do that and look at things as they’re done. Lehman said that was the whole point of GASB 34, so governments can do more infrastructure. Stutsman said she supports that, but somebody needs to tell the Legislature that’s what is in those funds so they don’t think the counties are sitting with a lot of money. Thompson asked if there was an ability to label funds as restricted so they don’t count. Neuzil said funds like MH/DD aren’t looked at, and special revenue funds. Stutsman said the problem is that everybody just looks at the big picture and no detail. Lehman asked if they were comfortable with the $950,000 increase. Horne said they have only spent $75,000 out of the fund through December. Thompson said they had some expenses like the big payment on Mall Drive and $100,000 of SEATS money that wasn’t changed over. Horne said they had things earmarked like the Administration Building that hasn’t started. Lehman said those are things they need to know when they present the budget.
Adult Day Program Facilities Trust (86)
Lehman moved onto the Adult Day Program Facilities Trust, Department 86. Horne said there is not a whole lot to it. He said they just get a little trickle of revenue left over at about $80. Thompson said that somebody who died left the County money to pay for the Adult Day Program and asked if they should pursue giving that money to the Adult Day Program. The Board said if that was what it was for. Horne said they could then close that department down. Lehman agreed, but said there was still homework to do. Thompson said it was maybe 1,200 or 1,300 that gets $80 in interest a year. Lehman said Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell could pursue that. Thompson said it was probably left to Johnson County for Adult Daycare and at the time it was a different daycare which has now been sold to someone else. Lehman said it would still be a separate program. Thompson said the will might state they have to keep it. She said it’s costing them more to keep it than they are getting out of it. Neuzil said with the $1,300 they could potentially reduce $1,300 in someone’s budget. Stutsman said it could be allocations to Pathways too. Thompson said that in the amount of time they have spent talking about it they have used up $80.
Recessed at 2:25 p.m.; reconvened at 2:35 p.m.