Lehman said they would look at Central Services, Department 18. Horne said that they would be adjusting a little bit for the phone system. Horne said that Administrative Assistant Carol Peters had let him know on Friday that they were going to have to put $6,500 into the phone system. Thompson asked if this was due to increased operating costs, and Horne said yes, plus some problems they have had. Stutsman asked if this was budget was where they had merit increases? Thompson said yes, it was at the top of their sheet, called "non-bargaining merit." Thompson told Stutsman that Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek had said that they could get at least one gradual increase in their merit pay out of the $40,000 because they hadn’t spent it all last year. Thompson asked if they should leave it at $40,000 and let her get what she could out of it. Stutsman said she thought they should give Shramek some direction as to what the Board wanted. Thompson said that Shramek was going to come up with a memo that asked for it, so the Board could put it on an agenda and vote on it. Thompson said that although there were no numbers on their budget sheet concerning this issue, Shramek could probably get 1/2% on the merit package, and in another year they could do another 1/2% until they got it where they wanted it to be. Neuzil asked what she had requested last year. Thompson said that it was $40,000 plus $17,000 for the County Attorney’s office to upgrade some positions. She said that all of that money gets moved into the departments’ personnel line-items, so they don’t have any history. Thompson said that Shramek said that she didn’t spend all of the $40,000, because that amount is budgeted in case everybody gets a 5 on their evaluation and gets the maximum merit increase. Harney asked Thompson if Shramek had said what was left out of that $40,000, and Thompson said no. Thompson said that Shramek had said that she had enough to upgrade them by 1/2%. Neuzil said that if she got another $40,000 next year, that should cover it, and Thompson concurred, saying that it would cover the current expenses plus increasing it a little bit. Thompson said that they couldn’t do that forever, but said that maybe in another 2 years they could probably get it out of the $40,000. Thompson said that if they left the $40,000 alone, they could get her on the agenda any time before July.

Horne showed the Board where the $6,500 for the phone system was, listed on the 2nd page, "Office Equipment Phone System-Board." Stutsman asked if they had a choice on that. Horne said that Peters was not here today, and said he didn’t know, because she had been working with this. Thompson asked Horne if it was a $1,500 increase, and he said it could be. Lehman said that wasn’t so bad; he was thinking it was going to be a $6,500 increase. Horne said they had re-estimated that it wasn’t going to be spent at all this year, so maybe it wasn’t spent this year, and it was going to be next year, and it was going to be a little more. The Board agreed to increase this amount by $1,500, allocating a total of $6,500.

Horne said they still had to talk about the grant-writer funds, which he understood have not been utilized this year. Horne asked where that amount came from. Thompson said that they compromised on $6,000. She said that if they haven’t spent the $6,000, maybe they should spend the same $6,000 next year. Stutsman said that she thought the reason it hadn’t been spent this year was because there had been general confusion among the department heads as to what this money is. She said that they hadn’t done a very good job educating people about it. The Board agreed to carry the $6,000 over and not allocate any more money to it until this was spent. Horne said it should be announced at the next department head meeting. Thompson said that they were going to spend some of it for having a person come in and do training, but that won’t be $6,000.

Thompson said that this department was about $7,000 less than last year’s budgeted amount. Thompson said they had talked about animal control; the Sheriff would get some backup when someone in the county calls up about a mean dog. She said that what they do now is they shoot the dog, and she said the Board had talked about writing a contract that would allow them to have a certain number of dogs per year picked up and taken to the animal shelter. She said that she was getting emails from the Sheriff because they kept getting stuck out there in the country with people saying, "don’t shoot our pet." Stutsman asked Thompson if she was talking about increasing that. Thompson said yes, she thought it would increase if they got a contract to cover picking up some dogs. Thompson said this was the same contract they had last year, that they currently have. She explained the County Attorney has not written the new contract. Horne asked if this was the reimbursement from other government/animal control. Thompson said yes, and said they had spent $41,000 in 1999, $28,000 last year, and the budget is $35,000. Horne asked what the fee was for that is listed on their sheet as animal control. Stutsman said that’s when they pick them up, and if they have to do something with it like rabies shots. Horne asked if they have to euthanize an animal, do they pass the costs back to the County? Thompson said she thought it was rolled into their contract with them. Stutsman said that this was an area that the Board needs to spend some time on, because she said that they were on track to get some things straightened out with that, and they have lost focus. She suggested that they leave it the way it is, and maybe realize that it might have to be a budget amendment. Thompson said this was all right with her. Lehman wondered if this was something they should ask Pat White to have Andy Chappell investigate. He said it was something he would like to know a little more about. Stutsman said yes, that it was something the vets needed to get involved in, and people would bring the strays into the vet’s office and they would get stuck with them. She said that they needed to clean that up, and put it on the list to look at after the Board gets through the budget process. Lehman noted that there was a considerable drop from 1999 to 2000, from $41,000 down to about $29,000. Thompson said that she thought they were paying per call, and then when they wrote the contract it said that they would do it for a certain amount. She said there were limits on what they would do; one of the things is that they won’t pick up any animals. Thompson said that as the North Corridor got more urbanized, people expect more protection from animals. Stutsman noted that the current law was that if a dog was bothering you, go out and shoot it. She wondered if the Board wanted to get involved with every call that was made about a dog that was bothering someone, to have someone go out and pick it up. She said there were a lot of dogs out there. The Board agreed to leave this money where it was for now, until they had a clearer idea as to where they were going with it.

Thompson said she wanted to look at the employee computer purchase. She said the Board had talked earlier about putting the money they had gotten in revenues back into this account to pay for more purchases. Lehman said Schultz had headed that up, for the Computer Committee. He explained that they had taken $100,000 and had a lottery with the employees, and said that the only thing they had lost out on was interest on the $100,000. He said they got paid back, and said it had been almost 2 years now, so the majority of that money has been paid back, because it was over a 3-year lending period. Thompson said that they got $51,000 last year, and they budgeted $41,000 this year, and $18,000 for next year. She said by the end of this year they will have collected $90,000, and asked if they should put it back in. Lehman said they might not need it all, because it might be diminishing requests. Stutsman said that there is interest in offering this program again, so she suggested that they do the program again. Thompson asked if they should do it every 2nd or 3rd year, and Stutsman agreed, that every other year would be good, to have a revolving fund. Lehman said that maybe it would get down to where they only needed $20,000 or $25,000 each year. Thompson said they had budgeted $115,000 for this program, and they had spent $111,000. Thompson asked if they should put in $100,000, and Lehman said that he didn’t think they’d need the $100,000. He said there weren’t that many employees that weren’t able to take advantage of it because of sheer numbers, though there has been some employee turnover. Stutsman said it was too bad they hadn’t just decided to do this every other year, so the revenues that came in could be put into a separate account so they could turn it right back into the program. Lehman asked Horne if it were possible to track it that way, and Horne said they could certainly set it up so it worked as Stutsman suggested. Stutsman said that this would be good if the Board was committed to doing this every 2 years. She noted that at the time they set this up, they were waiting to see how this would play out, and if there would be enough interest. Neuzil asked who administers the program, and Thompson said Schultz. Neuzil asked if she was prepared for another influx of requests. Thompson said that she had rules, guidelines, and a committee, and it worked well. Stutsman said she did a lot of work setting it up. Lehman noted that the cost of computers has come down, so the dollars will go a little further. Stutsman noted the work by the Auditor’s Office to help set up this program. The Board agreed to allocate $50,000 for this item.

Thompson asked to look at revenue and whether the current real estate taxes include the estimated growth. Elder replied yes. Thompson said it was only $500,000. Elder said that the first few lines of the spreadsheet have not been updated. Thompson asked if there would then be a little more money in there, and Elder replied yes, he thought so. Lehman asked when those figures would be available. Elder said he was not sure, that he would have to talk to the Real Estate person, but he guessed pretty soon. Thompson also spoke about the number, $581,000 for the Fiscal Year 01 budget, General Interest. She said that Treasurer Tom Kriz tends to be real conservative in estimating interest. She said that if you look at the history, they got $612,000 in 1999, $874,000 in 2000, but they only budgeted $580,000 for this year. She said that the trend would probably be down this year, though. She said that he actually increased it by $200,000 to $780,000, which is still significantly less than what he actually got last year. Stutsman asked if this would show up in the revenue-expense adjustment. Horne said it wouldn’t be broken out. Lehman explained that departments underestimate their revenues and overestimate their expenses. Lehman noted that this was a larger revenue-generating department. Thompson said this would be a good number to be accurate with. Horne asked if this was Tom Kriz’s number, and Lehman and Thompson said yes. Horne said that it was possible he could have a couple of CDs in the higher rate that are coming up. Stutsman asked Thompson if she was suggesting that they lower this number, and Thompson replied she was only suggesting that they talk about it. Thompson said that the $780,000 is significantly lower than this year, so if interest rates go down, and the short-term rates diminish, that could be right on. Harney said he would rather be conservative than be over, and Thompson added that she thought Kriz thought that too. Horne said he didn’t just throw the number out there, and Lehman said he was sure Kriz had done some research to come up with and justify that number, and said he wouldn’t question him. Thompson said that this budget should come out about even, then, once they added the new revenue, it would still be slightly to the good from last year. Horne said that they were showing a 2% increase in revenues, which did not count any increase in real estate taxes or utility taxes. Horne said it would probably be more like 4%. Thompson asked Elder when they would have the new number, and he said he would check over lunch, and said he might already have it. If not, Elder said, they could put it together pretty quickly, this afternoon, perhaps. Thompson asked about personal property tax replacement. She said it must be something that the State gives them, because it is a credit. She said that she didn’t think Iowa had personal property tax, which was listed on the budget at $360,000. She said it was probably not something they could change. Thompson said they had added $50,000 to the expenses and Elder was going to get them a new revenue number.

Stutsman said that the Board needed to decide how much money to allocate to the computer purchase program. Lehman and Thompson said they had decided on $50,000. Stutsman explained the program, where the computers were paid for up front, and then people pay back the County through payroll deductions. Thompson said they were putting in half of what they had last year, $50,000 versus $100,000. She suggested that they take half of last year’s actual revenues, $25,000, and add that to the revenues. The Board agreed to this. Thompson suggested that they use $20,000, to be sure that they don’t increase it too much. The Board agreed to increase the revenue by $20,000, so the amount of revenue on the bottom line of the budget worksheet would be $38,566. Harney asked what the expense would be, and Thompson said it would be $50,000. Lehman said that Horne should still check with Schultz on that.

Lehman said the next department was Capital Expenditures, Department 44. Thompson said they don’t have the numbers they need yet. Horne said they met with the Medical Examiner on Friday, and said that he had included these numbers. Horne said there was an item for a vehicle for the site investigators. Lehman said that the car would be housed at the University, but whoever was on call with the Medical Examiner’s Department would have that car. Horne said no, this one was different. He said that this was the one for the investigators, not the one for the Medical Examiner to use himself, when needed. Thompson asked if they had come up with any changes to the budget that would make the investigators look more attractive. Horne said yes, but not up front; it would be more expensive up front. Lehman said that they were looking at the startup costs with the investigators being about $9,000 a year more for about 5 years. Lehman said that year 6 they would probably need to update the car, and if you had people leave in the meantime, there would be another $1,400 of training. He said that if everybody stayed in place, and the car held up, then for 5 years the startup costs of $9,000 per year would take care of all that. Thompson said she thought they were better off to just pay the doctors. She said that she knew they cost more. Lehman said they would like to come in and re-present their case to the whole Board, if possible. Harney asked if they were talking about 2 vehicles instead of one, now. Horne said that they are talking about one County vehicle for these investigators, a County vehicle. The vehicle that they propose for use by the Medical Examiner, is a University vehicle lease. Harney asked if the County pays the lease, and Horne said yes, and that the lease price covers the gasoline. Lehman said that with insurance the vehicle cost about $4,500 per year. Horne said that they wanted $35,000 for the site investigators, a modified pickup truck. Stutsman exclaimed that this was a lot of money. Harney said that this was a vehicle they would use for transport. He said that they were being charged about $300 a person by the funeral homes now. Harney said that this was a vehicle that they could take anywhere, on any scene, and also do the transports with, instead of hiring someone else to do it. He said that it kind of balances out in the long run. Thompson said that you could transfer 116 people for $35,000. Horne said that it was specialized to carry, as they put it, "decomposed and/or dismembered bodies." Lehman said that it was the chassis and the specialized box on the back of the vehicle. Stutsman asked what they did before, and Horne replied that the funeral homes have been doing it. Harney confirmed this, charging $200-$300 per person, per call, plus staff. Stutsman asked if Ambulance could do it. Horne said when they can, they’ve been doing it for a little over $100 per. Stutsman asked about Southeast Ambulance, whether they could contract with them. Horne said they could look into it. Harney said that one of the issues was that someone that’s been out there for quite some time, they don’t want to put in ambulances. Thompson said that was what they pay the $300 for. She asked how many of those are there? Thompson suggested they could transfer some of them in their own ambulances, and pay the $300 for the ones the County ambulances don’t want to transport. Stutsman agreed with this. Harney said they wanted to come in and give a presentation to the entire Board, which would be the best thing for all of them. Thompson asked Harney if he was convinced that the investigator idea was going to work, and satisfy the Iowa City Police Department? Harney replied that he thought it would work, but that he thought the problem was that they were looking at a lot of dollars. He said that was why he wanted to see that presentation to the entire Board. Thompson asked if they could go with the regular, basic plan, what the doctor is doing for this year, and let them work into the investigators the following year. She said that she would feel a lot more comfortable with that. Horne hesitated, and said they were working on a contract with Pat White, that was going to spell out everything. Lehman reported that White didn’t think they needed a contract, but that the University said they had to have a contract. Harney reported that there is an Ambulance the County has right now, one of the 5, that is not as well-equipped, that probably could be used for some of this. Thompson said she thought so too, and reported that Ambulance Director Mike Sullivan had said he didn’t know enough of the details to give an answer off the top of his head. Harney said that right now he didn’t think the Board was in a position to make a decision on this, without the entire Board hearing the presentation and weighing out the facts. Lehman said they had said they would call them back in for a work session. Thompson asked if they were going to be way too upset if the Board doesn’t buy the investigators the first year. Lehman said they were a department, and they have to spend what the Board gives them. He said that they set the policy for them, and they would have to come in for a budget amendment if it goes over. Lehman said that they need a chance to explain themselves, but the Board needs to send the message to them that this is what the Board feels justified in giving you. In return, Lehman said, will the Board be happy with what they’re going to be able to give them with those dollars. The Board agreed that they should come in on a work session. Thompson asked how they would know what to put in the budget? Harney said that the State is also adding in some factors, that they want more autopsies done, more work done on certain instances, and that’s reflecting the budget somewhat. Harney said that they claim they’ll hold those to a minimum for us, here. He said that the presentation they would give would cover most all of that. Neuzil said they have an ambulance that isn’t used as much, because it’s not equipped to be used for certain things. He noted that you don’t need to have it equipped if you’re picking up somebody that’s already deceased. Harney said that it depends where you’re going to do that, if it’s clear out in the sticks, or out in a field, or wherever. Neuzil said that an ambulance should be able to get there. Lehman said that an all ambulances can’t get out into a field. He said that the Ambulance Department had asked last year about leasing a vehicle so they could get out to certain hard-to-reach spots, and transport an individual back to a roadway where they could put them in an ambulance. Lehman said he thought that an ambulance is only 2-wheel drive. Neuzil said that if they have 2 departments that need that, maybe that’s something that could be shared. Thompson said that for this year’s budget, they should delete the vehicle. Stutsman agreed. Lehman said that he really felt they had to come in. Stutsman said that she understood how everyone thought they needed their own vehicle, so it was there when they needed it, and could have their logo on it, but she said that sometimes they just couldn’t afford all this stuff. She said that this was one of those cases; they have a full-fledged ambulance service and some private contractors in the community, and she thought there might be some other alternatives to purchasing another vehicle. Lehman said that there were other items they wanted to discuss. He said that they are going to save the County some money over the previous arrangement, for example with the cremation certificates. He said there were quite a few other things that they showed how they weren’t being very efficient with their dollars. Lehman said that, in turn, they were going to ask for money in different areas that they’re going to be able to get the County certain things the County Attorney felt very comfortable with, during prosecution and crime scenes.

Lehman said a presentation would be beneficial to the Board. Stutsman stated she knew the State Medical Examiner wanted more autopsies but the State should come up with the dollars. Thompson stated it would be a $303,000 increase in the FY01 budget and the request is for $403,000. She said they just deleted $35,000 from the $100,000 they need. Horne stated in the Medical Examiner’s budget, the increase is from $110,000 to $155,000 which doesn’t include the car or the start up cost, only operational budget. He said $14,000 was for the return of the certificates. Lehman stated that the County attorney has been spending time on death certificate notices from other counties and he noticed he wouldn’t have to do that anymore with this arrangement. Harney said it is a duplication of services and they could do away with that now. Lehman said when someone from another county comes here and passes away, our Medical Examiner does the examination or autopsy and charges the other county. He said his budget now reflects the time spent doing that. Lehman stated there is efficiency with the new system, with the Medical Examiner being able to go out to the scenes. He said it might not justify a new vehicle, but the whole program needs to be explained to the Board. Stutsman said there are just a lot of startup costs with the program and they need to look at that. Lehman said it would just be good to hear about the program. Harney said that if they furnished their own vehicle, it would be 40 cents a mile, which was high. Lehman asked Horne to check into the mileage costs. Horne said it usually comes to around $2,000. Thompson said $2,000 is a lot less than $35,000. She said that changing from T.T. Bozek is a huge thing for the County. She said if they just made the change and put the new system in place and they came in next year and said the assistants are the way to go, that would be the time to look at the expense for it. Horne stated the Sheriff’s staff were at the meeting regarding this department and the County Attorney would talk to the police chiefs. Thompson said the police chiefs need to go along with it. Harney said they need to have Duane Lewis in it. Lehman asked if they should make a change in the vehicle now. Thompson said she could handle the $155,000 instead of the $211,000. Harney said they need to leave it until they hear the whole presentation. Lehman said the mileage would be the thing to look at, he said there would be a line item for mileage and there wouldn’t be a new vehicle in year six. The Board decided to leave the car in until they have a work session with the Medical Examiner. Horne said he could get them in on Thursday. Thompson didn’t see how they could finish the budget this week and still have a two-hour work session. Neuzil said they could give the presentation on Thursday during the meeting. He said they’d have to re-visit the budget on the 6th. Thompson said the Auditors Office needs the budget by the first. Thompson said they could still talk about the Capital Projects budget after they give the numbers to the Auditor. Lehman asked if everybody was free Thursday afternoon, because he and White have 911 at 4:00. Stutsman was not going to be present Thursday or Friday. Neuzil stated they should come in Wednesday. The Board agreed with that.

Thompson asked if the budget includes a 2% raise for personnel line items. For the Board of Supervisors budget (Dept. 05) Horne said he didn’t change anything in the non-personnel line items. Thompson said he took out $1,000 for office equipment purchase. Neuzil said some of the line items need to be changed as far as the initials. He said SL would still be Steve Lacina. Horne said the amounts are the same. Thompson said she’s been JB for two years. Stutsman stated they had talked about increasing mileage County-wide. Horne agreed and said he had the amount of mileage that was totally paid as an object last year and every penny the Board would change the reimbursement is about $1,500. Thompson said they were at $2,400, and they could go to $2,800. Neuzil said an increase of the $0.24 rate to $0.28 would be a $6,000 increase for the County budget. Horne said it could be underreported. Thompson said they aren’t paying mileage if people don’t drive their own cars. Horne said this included food and meals also, and they just recently started breaking mileage out separately. Thompson said they should go to 28 cents. Stutsman said she couldn’t remember ever increasing it. Horne stated 32 cents is the Federal rate and 28 cents is the State rate. The Board thought they should be consistent with the State. Neuzil wondered how it worked for each Supervisor. He said each of them is to spend $400 for trips. Stutsman said they have a certain amount and some Supervisors use their total amount and some don’t. She said if one is going over, then you work it out with another Supervisor to use their money. Thompson said it was $675 a piece for lodging and schools. Neuzil stated no one went to NACO the past year. Stutsman said she went last about five years ago. Neuzil said he would like to go and it’s in July, and he would use some of NACO’s money to go to D.C. Stutsman said they should decide if they want to put more money into state or national meetings. She said at ISAC other counties’ Supervisors indicated participation in out-of-state meetings, but Johnson County has traditionally not funded this sort of travel, for other departments as well as Supervisors. She stated they need to decide if it’s time well spent to fund out-of-state travel. She said she didn’t think NACO was worth the money and they need to decide if they want to take a more active role on the national level. Thompson said they would have $3,000 available for the trip. She said that is their national association. Stutsman said she thought they could do more locally and statewide than they could on a national level. Thompson said she thought one of the reasons the State had its ban on out of state transportation for so long is it’s difficult to explain to voters. She said nobody could question why a Supervisor would go to their national meeting though. Neuzil said it’s all how you justify it. He said that was a good amount to have in there and there weren’t that many national things going on. He cited NACO and the D.C. trip. He said HACAP might be sending a national delegation but they pay for themselves. Lehman said they are looking at a 2/10’s of a percent reduction of office equipment purchases. Thompson said they should leave it as it is. Neuzil agreed and Horne said he has enough in his continuing education also, and he didn’t think he’d go to the Government Finance Officers Association meeting in Philadelphia. Stutsman said she thought that would be a better use of their dollars, to spend on something specific to what their jobs are. Horne said he would go if the Board thought he should, but he thought that was a big trip. Stutsman said NACO should be something the Chair goes to. She said the Board gave her $1,500 and it costs at least $2,000 if not more. She said Washington D.C. is very expensive and that wasn’t doing anything. She said $3,000 would send one person and it would be better to send everybody instead of one person because there is more visibility. Thompson said with what they’ve saved since Stutsman went, they could send everybody. Stutsman said the one in March is more of a legislative one. She thought they should go to the regional meetings that are closer to home and focus on specific issues like land use. She said they should leave it at $3,000. She wanted to be sure there was enough money for staff to go to meetings also. Horne said there was a staff registration fees line and they use that. Thompson said there was also money for staff to go to schools. Lehman said the Chamber of Commerce have an annual meeting with a $35 fee and wondered where they should draw the line on committee meetings with charges. Stutsman said they should have reimbursement for that. She stated it might not be for everyone, but they should have money in for the Chair and the Vice Chair. She said the Civil Rights breakfast is another good thing, which she paid for out of her own pocket. She also cited the Goodwill annual dinner, the ARC annual dinner. Thompson said there is a line labeled non-personnel sub-total to spend on things like this. She said they’ve spent $13,000 in 1999, $12,000 last year, and they have $26,000 budgeted. She stated they aren’t spending anywhere near that. Stutsman said they’ve always been conservative and they should start submitting those things. Neuzil said he sees the Board encouraging more outreach and being out there more. He said there are certain things they should be at. Thompson said they could lower it to be in line with what they’ve actually spent, to leave it like it is and assume they might change their practice, or to increase it. She thought they should leave it as it is. Neuzil agreed and said they should start using it. Stutsman agreed. Lehman asked what line the forums for the Jail came from. Thompson said it was Capital Projects.

Neuzil asked when they started talking about salaries. Thompson said that this budget has built in a 2% increase and what they’ve already got in union contracts. She said the variables are what they’re going to give in the new union contracts and what they’re going to give to the other department employees not covered by union contracts. She said they don’t discuss that until after the union contracts. Thompson said 1% for elected officials and deputies was the $31,000. She said the $64,000 was for the bargaining and non-management. She stated the compensation committee recommended 6% for elected officials and that would be $126,948. Lehman stated they were done with the Board of Supervisors budget and wondered if they should take a break and come back. Thompson thought they should start talking about FY01 and what decision packages they wanted to include.

Recessed at 12:12 p.m.; reconvened at 1:30 p.m.

(Continued in Part 3)