MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
DECEMBER 19, 2001
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chairperson Lehman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:05 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Mike Lehman, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Carol Thompson.
INFORMATION SERVICES DIRECTOR JEAN SCHULTZ: FISCAL YEAR 2003 BUDGET
Information Services Director Jean Schultz said one major change in her department in the past year was hiring the GIS Coordinator, and converting some existing data into GIS format. Also, she said, they moved the County website to a server hosted by Information Services. Schultz reported a number of Information Services’ other accomplishments: they’ve added a new County calendar online, online counters and statistics, an online tax look-up feature, redesigned the Recorder’s pages, added several pages to the Secondary Roads website on noxious weeds, enhanced software training for County employees, installed wireless communication between the Health building and the ICARE building, worked on the RFP for the Financial Software, completed a health/restaurant inspection system for the Health Department, worked with the County Assessor in updating their appraisal software, conducted training on a variety of software and web topics, and continued the 5-year computer replacement program.
For the rest of this fiscal year, Schultz said there is a lot to do: continue to work with GIS and converting old data to GIS format, work with E-911 map planning, print plat books, complete the conversion of the Sheriff’s computer system to a PC and Network system, continue one-on-one and group training, work with HR, Conservation, and the Treasurer in updating their web pages, expand document management to Treasurer, Auditor, Ambulance, and Health, assist Ambulance in a software update, and continue to work on the County financial software system.
Schultz said that several challenges face her department in the next fiscal year: enhancing GIS, allow public access to GIS maps and databases online, implement a County financial software system, and work with MH/DD on a needed computer system. Some of the changes requested in next year’s budget, Schultz said, include funds for the new financial software system. Also, in a decision package, Information Services is asking to purchase a mini cargo van; right now, equipment moving is a problem for her department. She said they sometimes use a vehicle from Zoning, or from the Physical Plant, but usually her staff uses their own personal vehicles. Stutsman asked if they get mileage for using their own vehicles; Schultz replied yes, but said many times they do request reimbursement. Schultz said she also included the employee PC purchase plan so the Supervisors could discuss it this year, even though it was not offered last year.
Schultz said one issue has arisen since she wrote the budget; the minicomputer owned by Information Services is an HP 3000, and HP is going to stop manufacturing that series of computer in 2003, and will stop supporting existing systems in January 2007. Schultz said they need to start planning for this move. Schultz said the Recorder’s data, the real-estate data, the tax collection system, the County Attorney’s system, and the Wellness system are all currently housed on this machine. Thompson clarified that by 2007, the County needs to be network-based for everything; Schultz confirmed this. Schultz said they are currently looking at which systems could be converted in-house, so they can get started on those. Lehman asked Schultz if her department is at full staff currently. Schultz said they have one position that is currently open. Schultz said she has not made any major changes in the budget. They have overspent in the last 2 years on paper, so she increased that line item, and they have underspent on books and periodicals, so she decreased that item. On many items, she decreased some line items while increasing others, to make them more in line with what they’ve been spending. Schultz said the increases in the GIS area are due to the fact that GIS Coordinator Rick Havel is now a part of the Information Services staff.
Stutsman said she wanted to talk about vehicles, and asked Budget Coordinator Jeff Horne if there was an accounting of all the vehicles the County owns? He said yes; the Auditor is required to maintain an inventory. Stutsman said it seems like the County is getting a large fleet of vehicles and wondered if they are being used efficiently. Harney thought they could purchase 3 vehicles to have in a pool, where they could be checked out and used on certain days. Stutsman thought Schultz’s vehicle needs were pretty spontaneous; Schultz said yes, and explained that Network Support Technician Fred Brown is out of the office more than he’s in the office, at various departments, and Network Administrator Bill Horning is often out of the office, too. Schultz said they would be using the vehicle nearly every day. Neuzil said he liked it when departments save for vehicles for 2-3 years, because then the expense isn’t so bad. Neuzil said the Auditor’s Office has a van that isn’t used 99% of the time, except during elections, and the Planning and Zoning staff isn’t out as much as they used to be. Stutsman said she doesn’t have any experience with fleet maintenance or management, but said she’s hesitant to keep buying vehicles for every department. She said she isn’t picking on Schultz, and said she thought Information Services needs a vehicle, because the County does not intend for employees to use their own vehicles in transporting County equipment. Schultz said they do sometimes use Planning and Zoning’s vehicle, but they can’t depend on it to be available. Schultz said they could consider a used vehicle or some type of a vehicle pool. Thompson said the pool might be the only answer; Stutsman wondered if they are to the point where they need a pool? Stutsman said she doesn’t know where the break-even point is, where a pool is worth doing; Thompson heard it was somewhere over 40 vehicles, and the break-off is between people using their own cars and buying a County vehicle is 13,000 miles of mileage payments. Harney said they could have a pool aside from the department vehicles needed by individual departments, perhaps 3 small cars that could be checked out at any time. There was some discussion about County vehicles that could possibly be used by other departments, including vehicles at Secondary Roads and the Auditor’s Office. Lehman asked who pays for fuel; do individual departments pay for their own trips? Horne and Stutsman answered yes. Lehman brought up the point that shared vehicles can result in problems with fuel consumption, when one department uses a vehicle but doesn’t refill it when finished. Stutsman said that sooner or later, the Board has to make a policy decision on the vehicle issue. Stutsman said the Board has at least 2 car requests so far in the budget process, and there may be others. Neuzil said there’s also a problem with where to put them, and Stutsman and Horne agreed. Thompson didn’t think having a motor pool would really save anything, because the person running the pool would always be asking for more cars, based on the number of requests they weren’t able to fill during the year. On the other hand, Lehman said, what if Brown and Horning didn’t have their own vehicle, or didn’t wish to use their personal vehicle? Thompson said they’d have to scrounge around and find a vehicle in the building, from the Auditor, or Planning and Zoning, etc. Stutsman said it is going to take coordination; for example, there couldn’t be any use of the Auditor’s van during elections, when the Auditor uses the van regularly. Neuzil asked if there is a plan for vehicle replacement. Horne said there is no centralized plan, but Thompson noted that departments are supposed to show the Board a plan for their fleet during their budget request.
Thompson asked Schultz if the Board is funding document management at the right amount? Schultz said this year, they are adding the Health Department, Ambulance, Treasurer’s Office, and the Auditor’s Office. Another company is going to be scanning the data, but it will not be finished this year. Stutsman said she sits on the Document Management Committee, and she got the sense that nobody is being held back a lot by what the Board is contributing, dollar-wise. Schultz said she hasn’t heard any complaints. Stutsman said one concern with the Treasurer is that they adequately fund the day-by-day data entry, because County Treasurer Tom Kriz eliminated a staff position by doing that. Schultz said there were $120,000 in requests, and the Document Management Committee prioritized them for the Board. She said the highest priority was continuing the projects already started in the past, the next priority was finishing the 2nd half of the projects started this fiscal year, and the 3rd priority was new projects.
Neuzil asked if technology is saving the County money by becoming more efficient? Schultz said she hoped so. Neuzil said it seems like everything is still going up, and thought the whole idea was technology made entities more efficient. Neuzil said this is an issue that Supervisors are asked about, by constituents, who want to know why the County spends so much money on technology. Schultz said the Central Technology budget request for next year is actually going down, from $472,000 to $440,000 (independent of GIS). The group agreed that technology does result in higher efficiencies, and gave examples of the Assessor’s Offices, Health Department, the Treasurer’s Office, and GIS technology. Harney said time, efficiency, and better service are gained, but not necessarily a decrease in staff. Stutsman said better service as a result of technology is hard to quantify. Neuzil asked if Schultz is asking for a new employee, and Schultz clarified that she was asking for a reclassification of one employee, but not a new position. Thompson asked if the person will have to reapply for their own job when it’s reclassified. Schultz wasn’t sure how this would work, but said Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek is aware of the reclassification request. Stutsman stated that Schultz’s budget has gone up because of the addition of the GIS Coordinator and reminded the Supervisors that they had considered creating a new department for the GIS Coordinator, before ultimately deciding to house GIS within the already extant Information Services department.
Harney asked how Schultz’s staff is doing, and whether her staff is adequate to keep departments technologically up-to-date. Schultz said she hasn’t heard any complaints, and so far her department is able to keep up. Harney asked if they MH/DD is going to be able to use the mental health computer system that is already in place, and Schultz said she wasn’t sure, because that system is owned by the State. Stutsman reported that Department of Human Services Area Administrator Whitney had said because the State is so busy with restructuring issues, they probably won’t notice if the County doesn’t ask. Lehman said Schultz’s staff seems to be self-starters who provide prompt service, and said he likes that image. Schultz said she has good staff, and her department tries hard.
Recessed at 9:35 a.m.; reconvened at 9:45 a.m.
Public Health Department Director Ralph Wilmoth said his expenditures for FY 03 are $2.3 million, and revenues are $1.3 million. The tax levy askings are $991,000. He broke down these numbers, and said they can be confusing because there are several funding sources. In comparison to FY 02, the expenditures are 4% lower, and the revenues are 12% lower. Wilmoth said this was caused by factors out of his control, including State budget cuts. The tax levy is an 11% increase, because of the revenue shortfall. Wilmoth said the largest cost is personnel, and these costs are negotiated by contract, and cannot be largely affected. Stutsman asked if the majority of the increase is due to personnel, and not the addition of new programs? Wilmoth said they have not added any new programs that have added costs; his department has a lot of personnel, and they are responsible for the increase.
Wilmoth said the 2 largest areas of revenue change are the reduction of State money, and a reduction of Federal, Medicaid money. Wilmoth said the $29,000 of Medicaid money they received last fiscal year was a one-time revenue, and they won’t get it again. Stutsman asked if losing the State dollars meant losing the personnel that accompanies those dollars, and Wilmoth answered that they haven’t yet had that impact. Most of the State dollars lost were pass-through dollars to other agencies, but it did also impact his department directly; they had to shift some money within the budget to make up for some small shortfalls. Neuzil said it would be helpful if Wilmoth could provide the Supervisors with some specific details of the State impact on the Health Department’s budget, so the Supervisors could get that information to the public, explaining why taxes will potentially go up. Wilmoth said he would get the Supervisors information on what’s happened up to this point, and keep them updated on future developments.
Wilmoth next explained the budgets of each division of the department, and said the impacts were notably different from division to division. He said the Administrative Division is negatively affected because of $30,000 in additional costs in insurance, and the absence of the $29,000 in Medicaid money they received last year. The remainder is spread out through other program areas and personnel-related costs. The Disease Prevention Division has been able to keep their budget close to last year’s with a less than a 1% increase. The Health/Promotion Division is similar, with a less than 1% increase. In both of these divisions, Wilmoth pointed out a clear relationship between revenues and expenditures; each dollar coming in is going to provide a new service to the taxpayers or County employees.
Wilmoth said the Maternal and Child Health Division had an appreciable change of $13,000, but the majority of that change is related to moving the Empowerment Board expenses out of this division. Wilmoth said he and Horne have been working on this project. The rest of it will be moved in the Administrative Division, because in the last year, the oversight of the Empowerment Board moved to this division. Wilmoth said the changing of the Empowerment budget accounts for over $10,000 of the difference in this division’s budget. Thompson asked if the decrease in expenditures is also related to Empowerment, or to having one less clinic? Wilmoth said a good proportion of it is because of Empowerment; $119,000 was shifted out of the Health Department, and an additional $10,000-$11,000 was moved to the Administrative Division. WIC/MCH Manager Nadine Fisher said the only difference they might see is because they will be doing less direct service, they might be able to bring in more revenue, without staff reductions.
In the Personnel area, Wilmoth showed $121,000 in additional costs, from last fiscal year to this fiscal year. He said increases in insurance, salary, and other related costs accounted for this total. Other expenses, in the same time frame, are decreasing by over $200,000. Wilmoth said they are cutting expenses and services. Wilmoth showed the total number of FTEs within each division in FY 02 and FY 03, which included a 1.4 FTE increase. He said these are part-time position changes that have already been brought to the Board of Supervisors. He noted that these are not new positions, but increasing time in existing positions. Wilmoth showed the percentage of FTEs per division paid by various funding sources; the positions in Maternal and Child Health are almost entirely funded by grant dollars. Lehman said one of the Board’s concerns is the continuation of positions funded by grant dollars after the grant runs out, or is not renewed. He said the Board always reminded former Public Health Department Director Graham Dameron that people should be told, when hired, that their position might not be permanent, depending on the source of their funding. Wilmoth said that the offer letters they send to people applying for grant-funded positions state this fact in writing: "The continuation of this position is based on grant funding." Wilmoth said his department has been successful in identifying new grant funds as grants come to their natural end. Wilmoth said that part of the Director’s salary has previously been partially funded from grants, where now it is wholly funded out of County dollars. He said the distribution of the Director’s salary was in place when he took the position of Director, and he wants to keep it the way it is, paid out of the County’s tax dollars. He noted that almost every grant disallows the supplanting of local dollars. Wilmoth said if the Director’s position is fully funded from County tax dollars, the grant dollars can’t be used for part of the salary. Wilmoth said usually there’s enough attrition so that this does not become a problem.
Thompson asked Wilmoth to tell the Board where the County’s Wellness program fits into the whole picture of health promotion. Wilmoth said this program is funded by County tax dollars. Thompson didn’t think that the 3 employees in the Health Promotion Division work totally on the County’s Wellness program; Wilmoth agreed. Thompson asked what proportion is the County’s program in comparison to whatever else they do? Health Promotion Manager Sher Hawn answered that one of those 3 people is a support person. Hawn said they work with other grants: the Breast/Cervical/Early Infection Grant, a CDC Tobacco Grant, a Cardiovascular Grant; Hawn thought he probably spends about 40% of his time with these grants, and support services. Hawn said another employee spends a third of her time with the County Wellness, and also with the Cardiovascular Grant and the Community Needs Assessment Data. Hawn said about 30%-40% of her time was spent on Wellness, as well, and she is also responsible for the Community Needs Assessment and also works with the other grants mentioned above. All in all, she said, they spend only a percentage of their time on Wellness, and other activities related to community health promotion and grants. Wilmoth summarized that Hawn’s estimates total a little more than one full-time staff member.
Wilmoth showed the Board a breakdown of his department’s revenue, by source. He pointed out that they are heavily funded by State grant dollars, and also receive Empowerment money, donations, tax revenues, and some revenue from fees and permits. He said all the federal Entitlement money is in with Maternal and Child Health Care. The donations are spread in various areas, and the fees and permits are primarily in the area of Disease Prevention. Wilmoth also showed the Board the revenue sources broken down into divisions. He pointed out that the County dollars are used heavily in Disease Prevention and Administration. Wilmoth also showed the various programs for which the department gets State and Federal dollars, and where and how those dollars are spent. Wilmoth pointed out that a relatively new program, the TB Consortium, is a great benefit to Johnson County; it funds physical examinations for people suspected of having tuberculosis.
Lehman asked Wilmoth if he is reimbursed for monies spent outside of Johnson County, and Wilmoth answered that other than HIV Consortium dollars, involving the southeast corner of the State of Iowa, almost all of his funds are spent in Johnson County. Harney asked if there has been a budgetary change in regards to HIV, and Wilmoth said it goes up pretty much every year, in substantial proportions. Wilmoth said he expects this trend to continue, because of interest in HIV at the national level. He said the tuberculosis funding is existent to attempt to eliminate domestic cases of tuberculosis in Iowa. More dollars are shifted into rural states because of a change in philosophy at the national level; formerly, most of the funding went to states that had more cases of tuberculosis. Stutsman asked if all of his budget numbers are based on formula, or population? Wilmoth said they are not based on either, but on a variety of factors. He said each of the HIV and AIDS dollars have to do with the State Health Department, and they allocate it out to various counties. Wilmoth said they are all competitively bid, and applying for money does not mean you get it. He said in some program areas, not all counties apply because of time and staffing limitations. Wilmoth said Johnson County is particularly well-prepared because of the good staff, great environment, and available and outstanding health care and social services, making the county more competitive.
Wilmoth continued the explanation of where State and Federal monies are used in his department. He noted that the majority of Health Promotion dollars are tobacco prevention dollars. Harney asked how long the tobacco dollars are going to be available from the tobacco settlement, and Wilmoth answered he has no good way to predict the answer to that question. He said he’s been told that they won’t see any new cuts for this year, and perhaps not for awhile. Stutsman commented that with all the State budget cuts, there’s been a pretty solid commitment that the tobacco settlement should stay for health needs. She applauded this move. Wilmoth said State departments were required to cut 4.3% across the board, giving department heads the flexibility to cut in areas they felt were most appropriate. The State Health Department decided not to cut the tobacco funds. Wilmoth said they have high hopes that they are not going to hear about any more cuts in this area. In Maternal and Child Health, Wilmoth pointed out a number of funding sources. Most are through the State Health Department, though there is some Empowerment Board money as well. The Title XIX programs are Federal dollars. Fisher noted that the WIC dollars should also appear here, in the amount of $270,000.
The Administration Division receives only a few fees for minor items such as copying and jury duty. In Disease Prevention, fees and permits are a substantial source of revenue: Food and Food Service, $85,000; Swimming Pool and Spa inspections, $14,000; and Onsite Wastewater Program, $18,000. Stutsman asked which of the fees is set by the State. Wilmoth answered that Food and Food Services, Hotel/Motel, Swimming Pool and Spa, and Tanning and Funeral Home, were all set by the State, and said he wasn’t sure about the rest of them. There is an ongoing effort to raise the Food and Food Service fees that has so far been unsuccessful. Health Promotion generates $1,500 in fees for Wellness Programs. Maternal and Child Health do charge minimal fees, on a sliding scale, but there aren’t a lot of people who are required to pay. Wilmoth noted that his department does get a lot of State dollars, but a good proportion of them go to subcontractors. He showed a listing of the subcontractors, and said VNA is the largest, with $226,000. Wilmoth said the total pass-through dollars is $437,000, which is a significant portion of his overall annual budget.
Thompson asked about the amount of money passed through to the Free Medical Clinic. Wilmoth said the Free Medical Clinic also gets United Way dollars from the block grant, which doesn’t show in his budget. Stutsman complimented Wilmoth on his presentation, and thanked him for clearing up a lot of confusion regarding his budget. Wilmoth said each of his division managers spent time working on the presentation and information. Wilmoth said for next year’s budget he wanted to collapse a number of the line items which appear with zeros, categories that have no meaning. Thompson said they come off automatically if they aren’t used for 3 years, and added the new financial software would simplify this process.
Neuzil asked about the pass through dollars for the Free Medical Clinic, ICARE, Visiting Nurse, Elderly Services, and MECCA, and what that means? Wilmoth said his department contracts with them for specific services in each of these agencies’ area of expertise. Neuzil said the Board was trying to better track where County dollars given to the Health Department and the United Way are going. Stutsman noted, and Wilmoth agreed, that the funds to which Neuzil is referring are not County tax dollars, but pass-through dollars. Thompson said the Block Grants are County dollars, approved by the Board of Health and run through the United Way Block Grants. Wilmoth noted that with each of the above-listed agencies, his department has a contract with the agency, which includes requirements and identifies objectives, and the agencies then report back to the Health Department about progress. Neuzil said this is the kind of accountability he liked to see. Wilmoth said each of the agencies he works with would not be surprised if the Board asked for goals and progress updates; the agencies already do that for the Health Department. The group discussed that the Visiting Nurses, for example, got a $100,000 Block Grant, from Department 20, which is approved by the Health Department Board first, who sends the amount to United Way. Neuzil said the County donates $97,000 to the Visiting Nurse Association with virtually no strings attached. Thompson noted that the Board of Health oversaw this donation. Stutsman said that MECCA gets many more County dollars. Neuzil said he is looking for oversight, and said it might be possible that, in the future, the Board of Supervisors will come back to the Board of Health and be sure that someone is really watching over the County’s donations. Stutsman thought the contracts helped with accountability. Neuzil said he would be much more comfortable if the Department of Public Health made the request for the money, and monitoring the tax dollars, rather than the Board giving it to a United Way agency. He said it is a fairness issue; if the Board funds United Way and not another agency, how is that fair? Neuzil thought it would be easier if County departments would request the money, and assist in its administration. Thompson said it was her hunch that it would be like adding GIS to the Information Services department, creating a huge, one-year leap in the budget of the Board of Health. Thompson thought because of this, department heads are probably reluctant to propose moves of this kind. Harney wondered if this move would cause administrative problems. Stutsman said the Board also has to be aware of whether or not the move would be a good fit for the department. Wilmoth said adding it to his budget would not affect the way it would be handled; it would still be a contract with an agency, who would provide service. Wilmoth thought the agencies might appreciate making only one budget presentation, also; currently they give 2, one to the Board of Health and one to United Way.
Thompson asked Wilmoth to discuss how he and the Board of Health sets priorities? Do they identify certain core public health things they want to do, no matter what, and then prioritize the others? Wilmoth said 2 things were in place when he got to Johnson County: a Strategic Planning process guided by Tim Shields, and Hawn’s responsibility of a Community Health Needs Assessment and Health Improvement Plan. Those 2 activities intended to identify priorities for Johnson County and the Board of Health. Wilmoth gave examples of how his department is trying to follow the goals and adhere to the priorities set out in those 2 documents.
Wilmoth said there are 3 decision packages included in his budget. Decision Package 1 has to do with a half-time Clerk position for Disease Prevention, to help with the administrative needs of the Environmental Health Program. Wilmoth said this program has expanded, over time, and reminded the Board that for the public to get more service, it takes more staff, except in cases when technology can reduce the need for staff. Currently, Wilmoth said, professional staff is doing too much filing and retrieving documents, which is inefficient and not a good way to use tax dollars.
Thompson said that Wilmoth’s re-estimated expenses for the current year totaled $86,158, and his re-estimated revenue was $70,870. She asked if Wilmoth is going to need a $16,000 budget amendment at the end of this year? Wilmoth said that he and Horne have had conversations about a possible budget amendment. The reason, Wilmoth explained, is that $23,000 of startup WIC money given to counties by the State several years ago was suddenly recalled earlier in the fiscal year. He said a number of counties are like Johnson County, in that they chose not to repay the money, in hopes it would be forgiven. Obviously, it was not. Wilmoth said this is an issue in his budget that needs to be addressed, and said Horne had told him to try to squeeze this money out of his budget before asking for a budget amendment.
Wilmoth said that Decision Package 2 requests 2 departmental vehicles. Wilmoth said these are replacement vehicles, not new additions to the fleet. He said his department has 9 cars, but stressed that 7 are permanently assigned to staff that have responsibilities that require them to be out working in the community on a daily basis, doing inspections. He said these 7 people could not do their job without transportation. The other 2 vehicles are used in the "fleet loan" idea, as discussed with Schultz earlier in the meeting. Wilmoth said his employees share these vehicles, including some that are required to travel to other counties to provide service. Wilmoth said there is also an administrative vehicle which is also shared across the department. Wilmoth said that the policy of his department is that if a County vehicle is available, it must be used, or employees bear the cost themselves. Only if a County vehicle is unavailable is mileage paid. Wilmoth said that his insurance agent suggested that, for an all-day trip, renting a car is more economical.
Thompson asked if all of Wilmoth’s departmental vehicles are driven 13,000 a year? He said he didn’t know the answer to that question, but would check on it. Relatively, speaking, Wilmoth said, his fleet had low miles, and called the group’s attention to a Plan Replacement Schedule in the back of his budget request, as Horne and the Supervisors requested. Wilmoth said his department works on about a 6-year replacement schedule, but said he suspects that not all the vehicles are driven 13,000 miles per year. Thompson said the plan must be to replace 2 cars every other year, and one car on the off-years; Wilmoth said that was the basic strategy. Wilmoth noted the vehicle he’s most interested in replacing is an Escort Stationwagon used for the WIC program, often transporting 4 adults. Neuzil said this was a pretty sweet ride; Wilmoth said it is a very close ride. Wilmoth said they and he are uncomfortable with the safety of the vehicle, particularly on the Interstate. He said he would like to get a minivan for that purpose, and stated the dollar amounts included were for well-maintained, used vehicles, which would be adequate. Harney agreed that a used car would be sufficient. Wilmoth said the 2 vehicles in the decision package would be used to replace the 2 oldest vehicles in the fleet, both 1992 models. Lehman asked if individuals commonly used their own vehicles in his department? Wilmoth said most of his employees take short trips in their own vehicles, at no County expense; some even take longer trips because they prefer driving their own car.
Decision Package 3, Wilmoth explained, is for the remainder of the dollars for the document management project in his department. He said a portion of this amount was approved in the FY 02 budget; the decision package would complete the project and purchase a laptop computer that would be shared by Administration and Wellness. He said the computer would save the Wellness staff some time, because they could enter data away from the office. Wilmoth said Information Services is going to work with his department on a more efficient way to capture Wellness data. Stutsman asked how many laptops the Health Department currently has; Wilmoth and his staff answered 5 total: 3 for WIC, which are unavailable for other uses, and 2 others.
Lehman asked about parking lot improvements, which appeared under Capital Expenditures. Wilmoth said he had taken those out, because of the uncertainty of what is going to happen to that building. Lehman thanked Wilmoth for a good presentation; Wilmoth thanked his staff for their hard work.
Wilmoth said his understanding of this department is that the Health Department was given some money to use for HIV and AIDS education. This donation does not come through his budget so that the funds could be dispersed very quickly and flexibly, if necessary. The trust fund allows a check to be written that very day, instead of going through the voucher process. Wilmoth said the dollars in the trust are contributed dollars, and any expenditure is based on the need as it comes up. Disease Prevention Manager Kot Flora said they received $1,200-$1,300 in a fundraiser that occurred this past fall that has been added to this fund. Last year, Flora said they didn’t receive any contributions for this fund. Thompson asked Wilmoth if he’s had adequate resources to meet the needs that arise, and he said it has been adequate. Wilmoth said this is an emergency fund; for most things, they can work out a way to accomplish a task through existing structures.
Recessed at 10:50 a.m.; reconvened at 11:00 a.m.