Chairperson Lehman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:07 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Mike Lehman, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Carol Thompson.

Budget Coordinator Jeff Horne referred to a report he prepared for the Board summarizing what had been done up to this day. Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek reported on spending for merit employees and where the proposed merit plan stands. She said with an increase of half a percent in the 8 step pay plan, they would still be able to operate on the $40,000 that would be the same as the current budget. She redid the 8 step pay plan matrix, increasing it by 4% as directed by the Board. She said with the half a percent increase in merit, it changes what individual ratings will receive, it will be a slightly higher percentage increase. Using a current payroll listing and applying the proposed increases, she came up with $49,594.89. This is considered annual for all the salaries, which will work because the increases will not begin at the beginning of the fiscal but are based on service anniversaries with the County for the years in the position. She said some people don’t receive the increase because they are paid above their current range. She said both of these will off-set the steps anticipated for the new hires. Shramek stated $40,000 should be adequate. She said she could now figure out the exact figures for the departments. Thompson asked if they should put that on a formal agenda to vote on it. Lehman and Stutsman didn’t think they needed to do that. Shramek said they would change the pay scale later on. She said any new positions that have been added throughout the year, such as the GIS Coordinator and Budget Coordinator, will have a listing of all job titles and pay grades along with the new pay matrix. She said that would be put on the informal and then a formal agenda prior to July 1.

Lehman referred to the department summaries and asked if there were any questions. Horne wanted to revisit Conservation again. He said when he calculated the formula out, he checked it again and they are allowed to subtract the revenues out for them to get the REAP funds. He said it could be $38,000 less than what has been approved so far. Stutsman wondered if they had taken those revenues out in the past. Horne said they have to to get the REAP formula they do, and last year they approved an amount above the REAP value. He said if they took out the funding currently, it would be $749,000 and last year it was $752,000. He stated the necessary level for REAP funding was $749,722. He said the Board had approved $787,887. He confirmed that is the REAP amount plus revenues. Stutsman said this would be a policy decision by the Board, whether to spend the revenues in Conservation or place them in the General Fund. Neuzil said Conservation is different from other County departments because they are a separate board by Code as far as what they can and can’t do. Stutsman said that’s a good point, because Planning and Zoning will generate revenues for their building department, but the revenues will pay for the department, and then what do they do with extra revenues. Thompson said they had talked about setting the fee, so it came out even most years. She said with Conservation, if they always give them back the fees, they might start charging fees for everything to increase revenue. Lehman wondered if Conservation would receive revenue from renting out the house. Horne said that would be office space. Stutsman said she was generally confused on this budget, but it’s too late to have them come in again. Thompson said the budget should include the amount it has in it, then they could set policies. Neuzil said this is different than an actual County department, because they are like the Department of Public Health, being separate by Code. Thompson clarified that it hasn’t been their policy to give them the revenues, it had been the practice. Neuzil said it has varied by year. He asked, if they receive just the REAP level, that means a decrease in their funding of $30,000. Horne said that would be taking the revenues out. Thompson said they would still spend it, if they allowed them to. Lehman reminded them that the revenues might not materialize. Thompson said they could give them last year’s revenues. Horne said they budget lower than the actual number, because revenues for FY99 were $67,000 and for FY00 it was $49,000. He said FY99 included a state grant for disaster services for the 1998 storm. He said they probably receive something in the 40s or near 50. He said the biggest revenue is general camping fees and beach fees. Neuzil asked if their request was $779,984 and Horne said the request was over 800. Neuzil asked, if they kept them at $788,787, what their levy would be? Horne said if they subtract the revenues back out it is $749,722 for a $38,165 difference. Thompson said their budget would stay the same if they let them spend the amount and the revenues would only show the taxable levy. Neuzil wondered how it was handled in years past. Stutsman said it’s just been a policy decision as to whether people have been supportive of the Conservation Department or if they treat the funding like other County departments. Lehman thought the tentative budget for FY02 included $53,000 for revenues, citing page three. Horne stated he was right, because the department was expecting a big increase in camping fees and must have raised the rates. Neuzil said they were still anticipating a revenue increase of $426,450. Lehman said in expenditures, their requested amount is less than the tentative budget. He said they were asking for $779,000 and they were going to give them $787,000. Horne said that is factoring in some payroll changes. Deputy Auditor Joe Elder stated $787,000 is the tentative budget. Neuzil said it was higher than they requested because it has $8,000 more for the trees. Horne said the $804,000 request include $25,000 for trees. Neuzil asked if they generate more revenue than they anticipate, would it go to the General Fund. Horne replied it would be the General Fund. Stutsman said they had decided on $787,000 to meet the REAP level. Horne said they could take out the $53,000 and get $734,832, and they would still reach the REAP fund. Thompson said if they didn’t give them the authority to spend the revenues, it didn’t make sense to count it towards the REAP. Horne said that is how it’s calculated, the taxable value, and then 22 cents per thousand to get one number, and then subtract the revenues off for the REAP level. Stutsman said they decided yesterday to give them the money they needed to access all the REAP dollars. Horne said it was the REAP level plus revenues. He didn’t know at what level they had funded in the past, but last year’s was more than what the levy was. Lehman said they gave them credit for some revenue last year. Neuzil said this could solve the tree problem by leaving it at $787,000. Stutsman and Thompson agreed with that. Stutsman said they were probably better off giving them that amount this year with a new director and a period of transition. Thompson said they were setting a precedent by giving them not more than their levy plus the revenues, so they won’t perhaps ask for future increases. Horne said he was meeting with Conservation Director Harry Graves on Thursday to explain the Board’s rationale. Thompson said to keep it clear that while they were giving him the revenues, that it won’t necessarily be done in the future. Neuzil said they weren’t too far off from their original request of $804,000. Horne said they basically gave him part of the tree money.

Thompson mentioned space needs and some handouts she and Horne had made. Horne said they should have minutes from the last meeting of the Space Needs Committee, a current spreadsheet of projects, and a spreadsheet for 2002. Thompson said the Space Needs Committee had recommended the Board put in the two requests from Ambulance and the Department of Human Services, the set fees they have been paying every year of $10,000 toward the architect when he does appraisals, the payment on Mall Drive which is $160,000, a Courthouse project, a Jail project, and the remainder to land acquisition. She said the Courthouse project includes things discussed at the Space Needs Committee, but the Jail project has other things, because Architect Dwight Dobberstein and the engineer weren’t finished looking at the jail when the Space Needs Committee met.

Thompson said if they look at the second page, they could start with the Courthouse. She said the repairs they have done in the past have been more in maintenance of a historic building and they haven’t put money into things that further it’s purposes for use as a court. She said they thought they should hold off to see if they would use it as a Courthouse in the future. She mentioned the retaining wall at the less expensive price using material like Oakland Cemetery, which was not historically accurate. She said this was stronger and had drainage in it. She mentioned replacing the slate steps was $75,000. Neuzil said he didn’t think the steps were too bad. Thompson said these were a concern of the County’s insurance agent and the steps have been turned over once. Stutsman said both the steps and the retaining wall have been on the agenda for years, and she didn’t think the steps were that high of a priority. Thompson said the steps to the lower level would be part of a request in a future year. Thompson noted the third floor lobby ceiling, taking out the false ceiling, which is the last public area that has a false ceiling in it. She said as they stand in the stairwell, it’s the false ceiling right above your head. She mentioned concealing the third floor wiring where they have installed computers and put the wiring on the wall and looks terrible. She noted the carpeting, with an itemization for that in the next section of the handout. Thompson stated remodeling Courtroom 3B was the largest item; it was $240,000 for the front courtroom on the north by the stairs. She said the remodeling done in the 70’s was done with revenue sharing money and they ran out, so those two north courtrooms weren’t repaired. She said this courtroom has awful walnut siding on the walls and has a tower office, which requires the judge using it to walk through another judge’s courtroom to get to it, disrupting the courtroom. She said they could make a hallway to the chambers that has a desk in it for a court attendant and then change the configuration of the courtroom so the judge is on the other side of the room, closer to the chambers. She said this would be safer for the judge. Thompson stated that to do this project, they would have to coordinate with the Court, because they have to provide furniture, and putting the old furniture back into a new room would be awful. Neuzil asked if that was one of the rooms that is not quite accessible. Thompson said that the jury bench in there is raised up a step, so any juror in a wheelchair would have to sit on the floor, lower than the other jurors. She said they can get into the room because there is an elevator, but it makes the one juror look different than the others. She said a redesign would take care of that. Harney said he thought the plan is the first level being on the floor level and then up from there. Thompson agreed. Thompson said the other two things are expenses that County Attorney Pat White will want to do this year. The first is to improve the lighting on the second floor, and the other is to change the bulletin boards. She said it is $2,500 with revenues from the Courthouse Renovation Fund, number 61. She said it was on Dobberstein’s list when he sent it over so she included it. Neuzil said that was a Centennial fund, number 61. Thompson said it was White’s intent to use donations for that, but he had $10,000 in expenses and so far only $2,000 worth of revenues. Thompson said it’s possible people would donate at the time of the Centennial. Horne stated they were on the agenda the next day for this issue. Lehman asked about a grant because of the historical value. Thompson said she had heard of a grant to do with landscaping for $600. She said White had mentioned that in his budget. She thought they could get a grant from the Historical Foundation to have a historically accurate celebration. Thompson said the item for carpeting would finish that project and includes the library, which is not in that bad of shape. They could alter the square footage.

Stutsman said they have a half a million dollars on the table to put into the Courthouse and she wondered what the long-term plan was for the building. She said they just got an invitation from Hancock County and their county restoration project on their Courthouse. She stated if Hancock County can upgrade their Courthouse, why doesn’t Johnson County do it. She said she then thought about the level of traffic using the Courthouse in Johnson County and sooner or later they are going to have to replace the Courthouse, because it can’t physically handle it. Thompson pointed out that only the courtroom remodel is a thing that is required to use it for a courtroom, and the rest is upkeep on an old building. Stutsman said they still continue to skirt the long-term use issue. Harney said the Courthouse is really inefficient, but is really a part of the history. He thought the way the situation was in Johnson County, they would probably need to continue using the Courthouse for a long time to come. He said they have a lot of needs at hand and the Courthouse is probably not the priority at this time. Stutsman wondered if they should have been looking at a judicial complex that includes a jail and a court facility. Thompson stated that Pat White would like to put that next to the present building to continue to use it anyway. She thought the steps and retaining wall and carpeting are things that are part of using the building right now, because they probably wouldn’t be moving out until the next carpeting is worn out. Thompson said the wall project also includes fixing the sidewalk, which the City has ordered them to do. She said there are seven sections of sidewalk that need to be replaced. Neuzil said they are not in a position because of the other high priority projects, particularly the Jail, to think about a new Courthouse. Lehman reiterated Stutsman’s idea of having to figure out what the future use is for the building. Neuzil said they are 10 to 20 years away from being able to think about a new Courthouse. Harney said the long-term combination jail, courthouse facility would be the goal, but he didn’t see that in the near future. Stutsman said they have a terrific load the Courthouse and they are supposed to get more judges, but there is no place to put them. She wondered if they would continue to offer poor service to the court systems because they continue to insist on having a building that no longer meets the needs of a growing county. She said they can’t put it off indefinitely. Thompson said the optional item is remodeling the courtroom, because it would be specifically for a court and no other purpose. Neuzil said it would be adequate for the next 10 or 20 years. Thompson said it will be the same as it is now, inaccessible and inconvenient, but still a room with a bench where you can have court. She said that room would be a better space as it is now for a museum. Thompson stated it was in the original plans in the remodeling to do both the north courtrooms and bathrooms. She said they were now doing the bathrooms and White wants to do one project a year. Neuzil said that $240,000 is a pretty good chunk of change and they could probably save over a couple of years. Thompson said the bathrooms cost around $150,000. Stutsman asked why they continue to put County tax dollars into a building that has served it’s useful purpose. Neuzil said the question is if it’s functional and he and Pat White think it is. He said the question is if court services can be put in another facility near the Courthouse. Stutsman said she was supportive of the retaining wall, but not the steps. Thompson said she saw the steps as a safety issue and she would put them in. Lehman asked if you can only turn them twice and not rotate them front to back. Neuzil, Lehman, and Stutsman said no on the steps. Thompson said yes. Lehman thought they could do it in three years. Neuzil agreed, recommending $25,000 towards doing it in three years. Lehman didn’t think the third floor lobby ceiling was a must. Thompson said the ceiling is over the stairs, and it is very ugly. She said the molding and old architecture is above it. Neuzil said he thought that was a safety thing. Thompson said that was under the stained glass window. Lehman thought they should hold off on it, and Stutsman agreed. Lehman thought they should set aside money for land acquisition. Thompson said the cuts in requests they’ve made could go toward land acquisition. Neuzil wondered if concealing the third floor wiring was a safety issue. Thompson said no, it was one more step towards making the building look like it should. Lehman said he’d go one third on that so something could be done in three years. Thompson said this has been on the Space Needs Committee for two years. Stutsman said it hasn’t been on the Board agenda in past years. Neuzil said they could go for two years on that because it wasn’t a huge expense. Three Board members indicated they want to take the wiring out completely. Lehman said the carpeting can dress a place up. Harney said in the one room the carpet wouldn’t need to match. Thompson said they could leave out the library then, but didn’t know how much that would decrease it by. She said it was $6,000 for the west chambers and the library included. She said they could put it down $2,000 or so to $35,500. Stutsman asked if Human Services put in to redo the carpeting in their building. Thompson said they were doing that this winter, and also the Health Department. A majority of the Board approved carpeting at $35,500. Thompson asked how the Board felt about the courtroom. Stutsman said she wasn’t willing to do that until she saw a long-term plan. Harney asked about the ceiling. Thompson said the ceiling repair was in the large courtroom and would be paid by insurance because it had been water damaged. Neuzil proposed a five-year commitment towards remodeling the courtroom. Thompson said that would mean 10 years to do both courtrooms because the other would be about the same cost. Lehman said he agreed with putting $50,000 away, but he would still want to re-evaluate long-term plans. A majority agreed. Lehman said the second floor lighting would hopefully come out of donations. Thompson said they’d have to pay for it up-front. Horne said they would be coming in Thursday to discuss it. Thompson asked if this was OK and it was approved. She said the lights on the second floor would need fixtures replaced with more authentic ones and better light. Thompson said she had $80,000 for the retaining wall, $25,000 to save for the slate steps, zero for the lobby ceiling, zero for the wiring, $35,000 for the carpeting, $50,000 to save toward the courtrooms, $1,500 for the lighting, and $1,000 for the displays. The Board agreed with that. Horne stated that was $192,500. Neuzil said that keeps them close with what they did the last year. Thompson said that leaves $265,500 to put back towards land acquisition. Stutsman asked why they were budgeting in next years budget for the lighting in the Centennial, when it should be done this year. Horne said they were going to come and ask for it now. Stuntman said they should just do a budget amendment and take it out. Horne said they were asking it to be paid out of Central Services this year. He said it was at $190,000 then. Neuzil said that brings up a good question for strategic planning as far as where are they heading with the Courthouse. Stutsman said some people have a very vested interest in the Courthouse and that’s OK, but the Board needs to get a committee together from the community, from the court, and from historical preservation to get a plan. Thompson said they now had $260,000 more for land acquisition in the recommended plan. Neuzil wondered if some of the steps could be done for the $25,000 and get a section done at a time. Stutsman said they could also put off the remodeling for the courtroom and just pay for the steps. Thompson and Harney said they would be in favor of that. Neuzil said he wouldn’t be in favor of that, but whatever the Board decided was fine. The total would remain $190,000, shifting $50,000 from the Courtroom remodeling to the steps.

Thompson stated they just set aside $250,000 to do the Jail roof, remove the solar panels, fix the plumbing from the kitchen to the middle of the building and do repair on the locks. She said additional mechanical projects come to $300,000. She said some would need to be done at the same time as the roof project. Neuzil said the question comes back again, it looks like they’ll be using the current jail for awhile. Stutsman said she could justify this because it seems like maintenance for a building rather than aesthetics. Thompson said all of the mechanical items are things that have to do with the building, not necessarily with its purpose of being a jail. She said they would put air handlers on the roof for circulation inside the building. She said jail standards require that you provide fresh air for people. She stated the cooling tower was built inside the building because of lack of footprint space, and didn’t want to give up parking lots. She said it gives off moist air, which causes everything in the room to rust and the ventilation doesn’t work. She said they were going to move it to the roof and screening it from the street so it doesn’t look so ugly. Thompson thought it might generate more space because one of the items was to remove the old one, which is expensive, and also they would be taking out one of the holding tanks. Neuzil said the space in the crowded Jail is something to investigate. Thompson said it includes exhausting the shower rooms because it’s so moist in there the air is bad and it’s causing the windows to rust. She stated they would replace some of the heat pumps because in the downstairs area there is a generator that is all right, but every time it goes on, it sucks so much air that it causes the water heater pilots to go out. She said that would vent the area near there so that doesn’t happen, and they would replace the louver on the generator. She stated it is a lot of money, but it would make it a more useable building. Stutsman said they have a responsibility to provide a safe facility for the Jail employees and inmates. The Board agreed on the $300,000. Thompson said the next item was the room north of the kitchen that was used as an exercise room. She said when they took out the library, they moved the exercise equipment into the old library and this space could be divided into a holding room to solve some of the Saturday night crowding. She said the sewer is right there for the kitchen, so they could hook onto that. Neuzil said if they decide to keep that facility, they could knock that wall out and it would be additional kitchen. Thompson said the plumbing would still be useable for something. She said the next item is to replace the damaged ceiling tiles where the roof has leaked. She said this would be done after the roof was redone. Thompson said the inside of the cell blocks were painted with an epoxy paint and there has been a problem with trying to repaint them with latex paint, which can be peeled off the wall and formed into balls to be used for weapons. She said there is no way to repaint them, and the prisoners write on them and they get dirty and needs to be cleaned up. She said this assumes that an outside company does the stripping, but County staff does the painting, which would require the prisoners to be out of the cell blocks for a few days. Stutsman wondered if they could afford to do it this year. Neuzil said they should put that off until next year because they are already at $300,000. There was no disagreement. Thompson said the next item is remodeling the padded cell. She said if they removed the wall, it would give them three holding cells instead of two which would really help them out. She said there would be $6,000 to repair the leaking windows. She said they asked for an evaluation of the kitchen facility, but Dobberstein said he can have his staff do that within the $10,000 budget. She said they didn’t get a charge for that. Neuzil said when they take the boiler out of there, they would need more room for the laundry facility. He said it was amazing how small the laundry room was. Thompson thought there was space at one time, but they had to move it to the closet. Lehman said he hears agreement that the mechanical has to be done as a package and the other repairs should be made, dropping the $75,000 item.

Thompson said the Courthouse project becomes $190,000, and the Jail project becomes $332,000, and the land acquisition becomes $343,000. She said that would give a total of a little more than half a million dollars in the land acquisition fund. Neuzil wondered if there was any discussion in regard to remodeling the storage facility. Thompson said there is $40,000 in the budget now to do that. Stutsman wondered what the balance was in the land acquisition. Thompson said there was $174,913.36. Stutsman said they were now adding $343,000. Thompson said this would be more in the line of purchasing something outright, rather than on contract like Mall Drive. Horne said there was a million dollars in the Capital Projects budget carryover. Neuzil said that could be used for land acquisition then. Stutsman said that means not doing some other projects. Thompson said the SEATS building didn’t get discussed at the Committee because SEATS Director Lisa Dewey wasn’t there, but she said that was on the budget request. The Board thought they had eliminated that from the budget. Thompson said she put $5,000 for the Courthouse roof, but that was covered by insurance. She said some shingles have broken and they do have the shingles to repair the damage.

Thompson stated they had budgeted a million dollars and they need to reallocate the money they had budgeted for jail bond expense that they didn’t spend, the $17,000 set aside to fix the solar arrays that they don’t need to spend and the interest from last year. Stutsman asked if they could just reallocate that to land acquisition. Thompson said they could. Thompson asked if they do that now or at a separate time. Elder stated they would do that now. On the Capital Projects worksheet, he had $43,098 being saved from the jail financial consultant, $17,000 saved from the Jail solar arrays, and $5,434 in interest. He said that works to reduce the amount of taxes they need to raise in that fund. Stutsman said they could either reduce that or re-allocate. Thompson said that County Auditor Tom Slockett wants them to re-designate it for something and she suggested land acquisition. Elder thought that would be fine. Stutsman said there may be other projects they couldn’t fund to use the $65,000 for. Thompson said they could fund further savings towards the jail or the DHS building. Harney said the land acquisition could be part of DHS. Stutsman agreed with that. Lehman said it looked like they had a consensus for putting the $65,532 in land acquisition. Thompson said they had $343,000 all together. She said the total in the top section was $1,065,532.00. Neuzil asked what the total was in the land acquisition fund including this coming year. Thompson said it was $517,913.36. She said if you take the $174,000 that they have and add the $343,000, the total is $517,913. Lehman thanked Thompson for her research on the issue.

Thompson said they still have budgeted for the remodeling of the Administration Building, the $40,000 for the Capital Street storage building, and there will be a few dollars for the SEATS relocation to save for the next project. She said they may be able to reallocate some money next year from the Health Department because the lump in the floor turned out to be nothing. Neuzil asked about Public Health parking lot. Horne said that was in Capital Expenditures. Thompson said they still have $3,000 in the Space Needs budget for the Ambulance Department, but next year they will be in Capital Improvements. Horne said he had $347,782 left over in the land acquisition when he adds up all the approved amounts, he gets the different remainder for land acquisition. Thompson said he was right. Stutsman said she thought the $75,000 for the epoxy paint at the Jail was just not funded. Lehman said they were still going to move it to land acquisition. Thompson said they were still budgeting the $1,000,000 for space needs. Stutsman said she thought they just weren’t going to tax for that this year. The majority of the Board thought they were just going to transfer it to land acquisition. Neuzil said he still saw the $343,000. Horne said he was adding up the Ambulance location, DHS, architect fees, payment on Mall Drive, $190,000 for the Courthouse project, and $332,000 for the Jail. He said he was subtracting that total from $1,065,532 for a difference of $347,782. Thompson said he was right, because she didn’t add in the $4,700. Horne said the total land acquisition was then $522,695 going forward. Lehman said there would be no change in taxation, just everything that was cut out goes to land acquisition. Neuzil said the total 2002 recommendation for Capital Projects equals what they have.

Thompson said they should look at the tax page to see if they’re satisfied with it. Stutsman said there were no changes from what they did that morning. Elder said they changed Capital Projects. Thompson said the $65,000 was already in the budget, and they were just reallocating money. Lehman said, on page 11 the changes in taxation have not had any changes made to affect it. Thompson asked that it includes altering the transfers to Secondary Roads by $100,000 each way. Elder said it does. Neuzil asked where farm homes were in the budget. Lehman said it was ag dwelling. Thompson said it was rural ag. Lehman said if they asked for rezoning, it would be residential rural. Neuzil said either way they are still under the rollback. Lehman said Thompson was trying to move it over and back next year because there will be an equalization order and will be tough on the rural areas. He said they were trying to bring it in a little more consistent, so people don’t complain about a big spike next year. He said they would move that $100,000 back out of rural taxation and expect them to help carry the load this year. He said they would have quite an up and down spike. He said, if they moved the $100,000 over that would save them quite a bit of money, but next year they’d complain. So they’ll move it over this year, and the savings won’t be there for the ag people. He said next year they’d move it back over to take the height out of the spike due to equalization. Harney clarified it would still go up but not as drastically. Lehman said they would make an adjustment the other way. He said if they kept the taxes the same way, the rural ag would have a 15% spike. Stutsman mentioned page 12 and said, if they decrease the budget by $200,000, she likes the figures a lot better than page 11. She thought they could come up with $200,000 in cuts. Thompson wondered if that was the new percent or if it was from the percent on page 11. Elder said it was the new percent. Neuzil said they would have to cut another $200,000. Thompson thought they could take out the money they set aside for jail alternatives at $100,000. Stutsman said it was $50,000 in the Sheriff’s budget and $100,000 elsewhere. Thompson said she’d take out that $100,000 from Central Services. Stutsman said they could get the other $100,000 from land acquisition. Horne said they carried over $175,000 from land acquisition. Elder said the $200,000 column is under the heading of rural tax, so they’d have to take down the rural budget. Stutsman said they would have to cut out $200,000 on the rural side of the budget. Thompson said to get to 4.9 in rural ag, they have to decrease $100,000. Neuzil said it was at 5.2 right now. Thompson asked what rural ag was last year and Lehman said it was 11% last year. Neuzil they have it at 5.2 now. Thompson said this year is more flat and last year’s went from 2.68 to 12.01. She said the spread is more even this year, because it goes from 1.8 to .83. Lehman said he’d like to see at least the $100,000 out of there, if not more. Thompson said she’d agree with $100,000. Stutsman said they would be there just by taking out jail alternatives. Harney agreed with that. Thompson said if they took more out of land acquisition, that would put the set aside for space below what they had last year and they try to raise it. Stutsman said they could take out across-the-board from every department. Neuzil said there are lots of places to get the money. Thompson said if they did it from department operating budgets, they’d be taking out .2 percent. Horne said they could get $50,000 from the new financial system. Stutsman said the easiest one would be land acquisition. Thompson said last year they set aside $950,000 for space needs and this year they upped it to a million. She said if they take it back to $900,000 they are losing ground and asked if they would want to go to $950,000. Harney said he’d like to leave it up there. Neuzil said they could eliminate the jail alternatives until they know what those alternatives are with transportation and everything else. Lehman said they were all in agreement about the $100,000 from jail alternatives. Horne said there was still $50,000 in alternatives in the Sheriff’s budget. Lehman said, with remodeling, he could probably use it. Harney said space has opened up in Linn County and a couple other places closer so the Sheriff wouldn’t be traveling to Missouri. Lehman said he would still use the $50,000. Harney said they could always take half and do an amendment later. Stutsman said last year there was no increase in rural ag land and this year there is a $100,000 increase. Thompson said last year was an 11.13 increase on page 11. Stutsman said she was talking county-wide. Thompson said last year was 11.13 for ag land and this year is 5.2, but it would be 4.9. Lehman said that doesn’t mean the drop is 5% from last year, but increasing another 5% on top of the 11 from last year. Thompson said that it only applies to the percentage of the taxes that are our taxes, and the school tax will still be on there. She said the number 8.50795 is the levy on $100,000 of taxable valuation.

Recessed at 10:43 a.m., reconvened at 11:09 a.m.

(Continued in Part 2)