MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
JANUARY 14, 2003
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chairperson Harney called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:10 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Mike Lehman, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Carol Thompson.
COUNTY TREASURER TOM KRIZ: FISCAL YEAR 2004 BUDGET
County Treasurer Tom Kriz told the Board that he appreciates the opportunity to discuss the budget. This year, Kriz explained, will be the 4th year in a row where the Treasurer’s Office cut their operating budget while increasing revenues. He said motor vehicle registrations in Johnson County now exceed 110,000; that number doesn’t include students whose vehicles are registered in their home counties. Thompson said there are 110,000 vehicles registered for a population of 111,000. Kriz said the number of registrations includes cars, trucks, motor cycles, and trailers. Neuzil asked if the 4th year of budget cuts includes the proposed budget before the Board, which Kriz affirmed. Kriz said the cut this year was marginal, because 4% of last year’s budget cut came late in the year. He said his office set a goal to be more efficient, and cut expenses. Stutsman asked if his office saw any trends in vehicles registered in-person versus by mail. Kriz replied that they saw very little differences in trends because the office still has 70% of registrations completed by mail, but 90% of title transfers are completed in person.
Kriz explained that his office also handles the investment of all County funds, which has been challenging because the amount of interest earned on investments decreased by 36%. He said that interest rates in that category have fallen by 70%. He said the factors that enter into that are a few long-term investments that haven’t matured that have interest in the 7% bracket. He added that the County received interest on the bond money that was advanced. He said his department’s goal again is to maximize efficiency. He said his office now has a policy that any money or checks received are banked the same day they are received. He said it will be tough again this year. Harney asked for clarification on the 36% decrease in interest earnings. Kriz explained that from 7/1/00 to 6/30/01 the County had investment income of $1,281,000. Between 7/1/01 to 6/30/02, it decreased to $821,000, which is a 36% decrease. He said it would have been 41% without the interest earned on the bond proceeds. Kriz said there is still a vast difference between interest rates and how his office is able to invest. He added that there are banks that have cut interest rates to .25% now. He said that was unknown to savings with what has happened with interest rates. He said the local banks and credit unions have been very supportive of Johnson County and they’ve negotiated rates that have been far above national averages. He said he hoped that it’s been a good relationship for both the financial institutions and the County. Stutsman said that was terrific.
Lehman asked about property tax delinquency. Kriz said the economy in Johnson County has stayed reasonably stable. He said they just sent out delinquent notes for people that haven’t paid all or a portion of their September property tax installment, which included a little over 2,000 parcels and mobile homes and is down about 100 from the year before. Lehman said that is money Kriz’s office doesn’t get to invest, but if they are able to collect it then they do get interest. Kriz said that at last year’s mandatory tax sale, the County had the smallest amount of parcels ever and it was in an economy that was still struggling. Kriz said Johnson County is in a bit of a fishbowl, because it’s not always like that in other places. Lehman asked Kriz how delinquent taxes are counted in the carry-over. Kriz replied that he wasn’t really sure how that worked, but his department can’t count an IOU. Budget Coordinator Jeff Horne said the balance sheet shows the delinquent taxes as a receivable, but they obviously can’t be banked and in GASB 34 it will show as an asset. Lehman said it could be plus or minus depending on the situation.
Thompson asked if the delinquent taxes are recorded the year they are collected. Kriz explained that all taxes are collected the year they’re due because the tax sale is held the 3rd Monday of June. He said at the tax sale the Treasurer’s Department sells all the tax bills, with the exception of a few mobile home bills, to investors who pay the taxes. Lehman said it could be the difference between having funds to give out or just having an accrual. Thompson asked what the interest rate for unpaid taxes is. Kriz replied that the interest rates in Iowa are 1.5% per month or 18% annually. He said once an investor buys it, the Iowa Code requires 2% per month or 24% interest, which is outrageous. He said the County doesn’t receive that interest because the tax bills are paid by the investor at that time, which is why the tax sale day carries incredible interest. He said when the taxes are purchased at the tax sale the County receives the taxes plus the interest accrued at that time. He said from that time on the investor gets the accrued interest. Stutsman asked if the bills have to go to tax sale or if the County could buy the bills back. Kriz said that has been in the County Attorney’s hands for a couple of years because he has asked for clarification. He said in most cases by Code things have to be sold at tax sale. Stutsman said it has to be sold, but asked if it could be sold to the County instead of a private investor. Kriz said it doesn’t specify it in the Code who they are sold too, so they’ve talked at length about whether or not the County would want to assume them. He said they get the bills that nobody wants like the 30 year old mobile homes that have no value, but each and every parcel now is sold to investors from all over the country. He said an investment broker is looking for clients to maximize their return. Stutsman asked if other counties purchased their tax bills, and Kriz replied no. Kriz added that a lot of the smaller counties wouldn’t have the resources. Thompson said the County was so glad to get out from under it when they changed it, that probably no other counties had thought about it yet. Kriz said there is a possibility because he’s brought it up at 2 Treasurer’s meetings, but it’s been classified as just Johnson County. He said that his office sent out 10/99s to people this last year on interest that was received on tax sale redemptions for $325,000. He said that isn’t a cost to the County, but it is a cost to the customers and taxpayers.
Harney asked about sending bills directly to the Treasurer’s Office to pay taxes and collect the interest until the rest of the year. He asked if that would be feasible before the County changes computer systems. Kriz said if they change computer systems it will complicate the process because he doesn’t have a good handle of what the vendors provide. He said it will help taxpayers whose taxes aren’t escrowed and the County can use the funds to pay it down. He said to change the system in a year or so might be questionable as to how things translate, but there’s definitely a need for it. He said based on his discussions with Information Services Director Jean Schultz, the main problem is identifying the money. He said a person can say ‘I’m Tom Kriz and I want my bank to transfer $250 each month for taxes’. He said that’s fine, but for people with 9 parcels, each has to be identified. He said there is no question his department will implement a system, but when it will happen is not definite. Harney said he wants to make sure it is still at the top of the list. Kriz said that it will not be lost in the shuffle. Thompson asked if Kriz would be comfortable waiting until the new computer system is in place. Kriz said he is as long as his department continues the leg work in-between for the things they have to do to prepare. He said for the financial institutions it isn’t difficult, but his department has to be able to get back proper information to credit the money. Thompson asked if the County could make people register each parcel one at a time. Kriz said they could, but the banks would like it less. He said it helps both the cash flow of the County and also the customers. Harney asked if there is anybody else in the State using this system. Kriz replied that there are a few, but they are doing it by hand, which wouldn’t be ideal in a larger County. He said another factor is that the County never knows what taxes are and they should start 6 months ahead to make monthly payments in order to have enough money for the September payment. He said when taxes aren’t certified until the 1st of July and by the time the Auditor has finished it’s the first part of August, people would have to be accruing tax money for the first 6 months to make the payment. He said there are a lot of aspects that go into it. He added that people can’t say that their taxes this year were $3,000 so I’m going to assume it will be the same amount next year. Thompson commented that they would be close if they saved the $3,000. He said that is true, but people need the mindset that they must start saving 6 months ahead.
Stutsman said she likes his stationary, which lists all the deputies. Kriz said that he’s always done that because he believes the most important part of the office is the people. He said one factor in the Central Services budget, is the remainder of the funds from the property on South Van Buren Street. He said there will be a new line item for it. He said there was $18,000 left after the sale that was put into a line item to continue to acquire older properties. He said those are costs for various legal fees, abstracting costs, notification, advertisement, and publication. He said that was something new this year that doesn’t fall within the Treasurer’s budget, but falls within Central Services. He said they have identified a number of properties that were not purchased at tax sales that the County has assumed the taxes on over the years. He said his department is working with Chappell to go after some of those properties. He said the money for the first sale, approximately $800 to $1,000, came out of both the County Attorney and Treasurer’s budget because there were no funds for the initial sale. Stutsman clarified that for future sales the costs will come out of this line item. Horne said there will be a corresponding revenue line item in Central Services. Stutsman asked if the line item goes back into the General Fund at the end of the year. Kriz said they will have to know where it is to keep the money. He said the County will start addressing these old properties now, because they were old issues that had been around for a long time, but nobody had wanted to address. He said that Thompson helped him get help initially from the County Attorney’s Office to get it started. He said it’s been a difficult process because they’ve never done it before, but added that they will get them cleaned up. Thompson asked how many properties are left. Kriz replied that there are probably 50 properties not counting mobile homes, but some are 2-foot strips of land that are 180 foot long, next to a railroad right-of-way, which don’t have much value, which is why people chose not to pay. He said there are 8 to 10 properties that are sizeable and must be paid or the County will take deed to the property.
Harney congratulated Kriz on the number of staff he has. Kriz commented that although it is a bold statement, he said they are one of the most efficient departments in the County, which can be seen through increase in revenues and decreases in cost. He said a key issue is cross training although it isn’t an easy thing for employees to get used to, but it works well. He said 90% of his staff is now cross trained to work in any portion of the department and the employees are happier because they feel they have a better handle on their jobs. Lehman said Kriz doesn’t have control over interest rates, but does have control over the office. Kriz said that some people have moved on that didn’t want to, but he has no problem attracting personnel to his office. He said that he likes to think that the work atmosphere is OK and the pay is very good. He said an average Clerk II with benefits once they reach the 5-year point will make a little over $20 an hour. He said if his department provides a good atmosphere along with benefits and salary, it’s an attractive job. Thompson asked what a similar position in private business would be paid. Stutsman said not $20 per hour. Kriz said that in his experience in the banking industry, he would estimate $2 to $3 per hour over other institutions without the benefits included. He said he had 5 employees that are working 4 days per week, although there was a lot of grumbling when they went to longer days. He said those people wouldn’t trade it for anything. Stutsman said it is a voluntary. Kriz said the union took issue with it, but it was found to fall within the contract. He said it was the main way they were able to go from an 8 to 4 schedule to a 7:45 to 5:30. Stutsman pointed out there Kriz has decreased his staff but increased the department’s hours and amount of service. Kriz said it’s two-fold by finding ways to do it and getting the right mix of good hard working people. He commented that he has outstanding employees and they are the ones that have to deal with the public. He said that his department has cut 4 full-time and 3 part-time positions. He added that they no longer have any overtime or comp-time or part-time employees. He said that 95% of the department’s work gets done the same day it comes in. He said the savings the County will see from a reduction of 4 people in his office amount to about $177,000 per year. He said the only trade-off he’s asked in that over the 4 year’s he’s been in office was the $18,000 built into Schultz’s budget for imaging, but that leaves a net in $160,000 in salary and benefits.
Kriz said everything is pretty much straight forward. He commented that the Treasurer’s Office sets goals each year even though the goals are fairly modest. He said they don’t want people waiting in line and getting people taken care of the first time. He said most of the time the lines don’t get very long very often and when they do they’re dissipated pretty quickly. He said now that everyone’s cross-trained, they can have 10 people at the front counter. He said they’re fairly modest goals, but they continue to look for new ways to do things. He said not everything works, but for the most part change has been good for his office. He said that revenues grow just because of the increased volume, but the State won’t increase what they pay for vehicle registration, but they’ve come to about a break-even point instead of a loss like in the past. Neuzil asked about a past decrease in funding from the State for motor vehicles. Kriz said there hadn’t been a decrease, only the Auditor had miscategorized how they categorized vehicles, but finally this year it has been taken care of. He said the majority of his department’s funds come from revenue from the motor vehicles side, not from Road Use Tax as it was miscategorized for a number of years. Stutsman asked why there are so many decreases in registrations, officer transportation for schools and things. Kriz replied that transportation had been put into a different line item so there is a $400 decrease but there will be an office mileage reimbursement. He said he is not limiting that part of the budget, because he has been very involved in the Treasurer’s Association and has made many trips to Des Moines as they put together the Treasurer’s Network. Stutsman asked if the County had been asked to reduce the number of line items by the Auditors. Horne said the County can zero out a line item, but it stays for a few years to show history. Horne said in the new software, they’ll be able to make those kinds of adjustments.
Kriz said that some counties are being told by the State that they must take over driver’s license administration. He said he has been opposed to it up until this point. He said that right now the driver license division through DOT will stay out of Eastdale. He said that counties are doing driver licenses and loosing money, so taxpayers are paying for it in 2 ways. He said for Johnson County, the Administration Building doesn’t have adequate parking now, let alone if they are to do driver’s licenses. He said other things that come with it as well are motor cycle tests, and over the road truck tests. He said it would be ludicrous to try to do anything in this area with the parking situation. He said the problem in a County this size is the need to run a remote location and then having 2 sets of employees, union contracts, schedules and pay rates. He said morale would be difficult for reasons like that. Stutsman asked if he thought that change would take place this year with the State’s budget shortfall. Kriz said he didn’t think so because the State needs some of their superstation DOT offices. He said it would not be his recommendation to jump into it, especially if it’s going to be something where the County will only break even. He said he absolutely refuses to look at something unless he’s forced to if it’s not a win for the State and a win for the County as well. He said the DOT is very aware of his negative feelings towards the idea for many reasons. He said eventually the day may come. He said the Clerk of Courts Office, was County and then became State and might become County again. He said there’s many different ways to cut funds and pass a burden onto someone else. He said he didn’t think it was as close as he thought it was a year or 2 ago, but about 65% of counties are now doing drivers licenses. He said some have wanted to do it. From a consumer standpoint, people are ready because they would rather deal with people they know from the County rather then people from the State that travel through. He said it takes a lot of work and manpower and what is paid from the State doesn’t come close to covering the cost. Lehman asked if it is mostly the larger or smaller counties that have gone to their own driver’s licenses. Kriz replied that Black Hawk County has partnered with the State in a remote office, but it still causes problems. He said if it is a benefit and can be revenue neutral he would be willing to look at it, but he isn’t if there’s a great cost to the County.
Kriz said he is starting to see some signs that due to increased talk of problems with North Korea and troop build-up in Iraq, it’s very likely the economy will see a backturn over the next 6 months or so. He said they’re starting to see domestic balances getting out of wack, interest rates being pushed lower and lower. He said his department is seeing a trend with less new cars being sold. Kriz said one reads in the paper that the economy is starting to move, but he would caution the Board to base it on interest rates. He said that historically conflicts cause the economy to step backward, which is something to keep in mind while trying to budget. He said he doesn’t think the economy is over the hump yet. He said in the automobile industry, with the rebates and low interest rates, it changes from the normal X amount of people that will buy new cars, so that there is a huge bubble that will go through the system and not purchase regularly in the future. He predicted tough times for that industry. He said that was something the County could look at locally. He said conflict and uncertainty is always tough on the economy. He said he thought the economy has turned, but it’s certainly not running and until the interest rates start to step up the County must be conservative. He said that comes from a conservative Treasurer, so the Board must take it for what it’s worth. He said that there were huge companies that are floundering, which will keep the economy at a snail’s pace, but fortunately this is Johnson County. He estimated that the investment interest income will drop another $100,000 this coming year.
Harney asked Kriz about the copier line item. Kriz replied that the copy money was already budgeted in prior years and now is just being spent. He said they had used their old one as long as they could and finally replaced it now. He said they are not asking for any large equipment replacements and the replacements they do are through line item budgeting. Stutsman clarified that they don’t have any large technology projects. Kriz said imaging was not part of his budget, but $18,000 in Information Services is for his office. He said the system is working excellent. Stutsman asked if they were doing day forward now. Kriz replied they were and the possibility exists to save more as they do more imaging with that. He said the imaging has made his office more efficient because they can now pull data up instead of having to go through microfiche or file cabinet to pull things out. He said that they continue to be more efficient because the number of people coming to the office is not less. Harney commented that very rarely there is a line at the Treasurer’s Office. Kriz reiterated that cross-training is the key because 10 people in line is a line, but 10 people waiting on 10 people is not. He said that they still get people who are upset, but most of those people are upset because of the laws. Stutsman commented that people get upset when they aren’t allowed to get their car licensed because they have back child support payments.
Kriz said their budget should be an easy one because they’re not asking for more employees. He said they are asking for good ideas from everybody, which includes the Board. He said that things like the ACH payments that Harney mentioned are all things they want to look at, even if they can’t be accomplished over night. He said the software package once it’s in place will be phenomenal because they still hand-write a lot of things. Thompson said they had come a long way since he started. Kriz complimented his deputies who put in as much time as anybody in this building especially. He said they believe in what’s happening because most of them were there to see what they didn’t like before. He said his deputies have bought into a system that keeps them happy and makes them good County employees. He said they’re paid well for what they do and they’re willing to put in the time to do it.
Neuzil asked if the County had thought about what to do if the interest revenue drops another $100,000. Kriz said that Horne had thought about it and they will discuss it again. He said this year the interest revenue will not improve because some of the interest rates they had negotiated ended in December and dropped a full percent, although they are still above market. Neuzil said the big story is that they’re going to loose another $100,000. Horne added that Secondary Roads is going to get less revenue from the Reservoir Roads Trust. Neuzil said that last year when the County took the major hit, they thought it was going to be the worst. Kriz said that interest rates declined in the last quarter and will probably decline again in the first quarter. Neuzil asked what the rate is now on home mortgages. Kriz replied it’s a 5.8% depending on the size of the house. Lehman asked how the Reservoir Fund was being invested. Kriz replied that he put it in short-term investments because they’ve been able to negotiate higher rates. He said right now the County has no CDs for probably the first time ever because rates are too low to tie up the money. He said the County needs to keep the money liquid in case rates start to rise, especially if they can keep the same rate daily. Harney asked if the Board will be able to file for a rebate on TIF money this year again. Kriz said he thought they would look at the general obligation bonding. He said that topic is more in Horne’s court than his though. Horne said they will be looking at it again. Neuzil asked if the County was getting audited for the general obligation bonding. Stutsman said the County is. Neuzil said he thought from the latest email that is no longer the case. Horne said he is hesitant until the County has a definitive answer. Neuzil said the problem is the timing to the inquiry. Horne said if they get a better answer the Board can move forward with the bonding. Kriz said Bonding Attorney Bob Josten is one of the best people to work with on that. He said they will certainly look at that possibility. Horne added that they don’t have as many items to bond with as the previous year. Neuzil asked if the timing will work with the restrictions placed on time limits. Horne said they haven’t actually paid it, but once they do that they’ll fit within the time limits. Kriz asked if there were any other questions. He said he hoped his budget is one of the easier ones the Board will have to face. He encouraged the Board to walk through his office periodically to get to know the people and see what happens in the office. He said his employees appreciate knowing that beyond himself, others appreciate what’s going on in the office.
Recessed at 10:00 a.m.; reconvened at 10:10 a.m.
COUNTY AUDITOR TOM SLOCKETT: FISCAL YEAR 2004 BUDGET
County Auditor Tom Slockett said that the Auditor’s Office has departmental numbers that aren’t included and asked the Board what they wanted him to cover. Horne replied that today’s presentation is to discuss Departments 3 and 33. Slockett said the approach they take in the Auditor’s Office is to tell the Board what the Auditor’s Office honestly needs and not to try to guess ahead of time what the Board wants to hear. He said then as the Board goes through the budget, they’ll have to compare their needs to what they are able to do. Slockett said the Auditor’s Office is the major financial center for the County as well as the elections office for the County, which has plusses and minuses. The plusses are for the taxpayers because there’s no way the staff in elections could put on a gubernatorial or a presidential election, so when those times come, they rely heavily on the people in the accounting area of the office. The Auditor’s Office, at those times has their financial people working to balance the record number of absentee ballots on a daily basis so that they come out correctly and they’re all accounted for properly. They also help with satellite voting, early voting at the office, and processing registration records, which this County has an inordinate amount of because of the University of Iowa.
Slockett said there are major work efforts that the accounting office has to contribute to such as this last year’s record gubernatorial turnout. Slockett said that traditionally in general election years his department has not had their budgets in on time. In the past this has never been a problem because even though his department is late in getting the budget in, the Board of Supervisors Office was always later. This year the Board had theirs in on time and Slockett heard quite a bit of grousing about the Auditor’s Office not having theirs in on time. Slockett apologized and said the excuses are 2 fold; one that he didn’t know that the rules had changed because they had always been given a pass in big election years and secondly, the Board could help his department solve the problem the same way the Board solved their budget problems, by hiring a budget coordinator and an administrative assistant. Slockett said it would take additional resources for his office as well if the accounting division of the Auditor’s Office is going to be expected to perform exactly the same in an election year as it does in a non-election year, then it will take additional resources.
Slockett said his performance indicators have been pretty good, but he reminded the Board this was for last fiscal year which was before the large budget cut of Fiscal Year 04, so next year’s numbers won’t be as good as they are this year. Slockett said that the Auditor’s budget is 94% personnel and the Elections budget is 83% personnel, so when the Board makes cuts, there’s no place to cut other than personnel. Slockett said they attributed the cuts to the part-time temporary help lines. Those lines are the lowest paid and arguably cost effective hours because when you have good people working at those rates without any benefits, it’s efficient in terms of dollars per hour. Harney asked if it is efficient dollar-wise. Slockett directed the Board to look at the part-time temporary minute takers who listen to tapes of the Board’s meetings and do the minutes. He commented that although Administrative Secretary Casie Parkins is sitting in the meeting, she isn’t typing because somebody does that later. Slockett said that Parkins’ time is taken up by reviewing minutes, making corrections and making sure they accurately reflect the meetings. Slockett said with that type of work, after awhile a person needs a break, so having people that can come in and work a few hours and then leave isn’t bad. Harney said he could understand the minute takers, but he was thinking of other areas.
Thompson asked if Slockett would recommend that less minutes being transcribed. Slockett said he wouldn’t because although it would seem to be more costly to transcribe, it’s more difficult to summarize like a reporter because one must understand the context of the meeting in order to write it well. He said that it takes a lot longer to write summary minutes than it does to do transcript style minutes. Thompson asked if the County uses the minutes enough to pay for the expense and suggested the Board talk about this. Stutsman said for herself it’s valuable to have verbatim minutes. Slockett said the tape is serial information that starts at the beginning so it’s very difficult to find what one is looking for in the middle of the tape. Stutsman said there are also volume problems. She said if it would save money it would be a decision, but she said she would caution the Board.
Slockett said when he became Auditor there had been huge fights between the previous Auditor and the Board of Supervisors on the minutes misrepresenting what people said. Slockett said when a county employee misrepresents things in the minutes it causes a lot of anger and there’s a suspicion it’s been done intentionally. Slockett said when a person summarizes what someone has said they are making judgments and sometimes they’re wrong. Slockett said a former minute taker had a Ph.D. in English and is now a national award winning writer and there were many arguments about the minutes he wrote and summarized, but there has been nobody that could do a better job at minutes as far as he is concerned. Slockett said what they had found when they called around was that everyone understood the problem and they had 2 solutions. He said the most popular one was not to write any minutes, except the motions and actions. Slockett said in Johnson County that would not go over. The other solution was to write transcript style minutes, which was done first by the City of Iowa City. Slockett said Iowa City City Clerk Marian Karr told him when he asked about the length of the minutes is that she would never change it because before there were complaints and now the only complaint is the length. Although people don’t always read the minutes, Slockett said, they’re an insurance policy because the Board knows they’re there and can be looked at. He isn’t aware of a single argument about the minutes since doing transcripts except how long they are. Slockett said if the Board wishes to change how the minutes are done, he will oblige, although he cautioned them that they might regret it.
Slockett said his office is hard pressed because 94% of his budget is personnel, so when the Board makes cuts it has a serious impact. The Auditor’s Office attributed last year’s cut to the part-time temporary employees because they’re the only ones that his office could really cut back. Collective bargaining and long years of experience protect the other employees. They decided that if they had turnover, they would try to retain the part-time people and not rehire the open positions in order to make up the cost, but it has been at a great cost to the office. Slockett passed out information on office turnover for the Board and explained the challenges his office has been presented with. This year the Auditor’s Office is implementing GASB 34, which has been described as the most significant change in the history of public accounting. He added that his office is also implementing HIPAA and purchasing new financial software. After the Florida debacle in elections, there were a lot of legislation changes, and new procedures and requirements for voting equipment that his department is also dealing with.
Slockett said this year is a critical time period for the Auditor’s Office, so it is not a time for budget cuts. If the Board wants to make changes in the operation or cutback, he recommended that it would be better to get through this period first. The Auditor’s Office is also looking at new real estate software, which his department has never actually purchased before. In the past the software was created in-house. Slockett said if the Board talked to anyone in Information Services or anyone in his office, they will say that the software is a mess. The Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) system is not well integrated with the rest of the real estate system. Slockett said if the Board could find the funds, that change will also take place in the next couple of years. He would argue that his office is the only one that requires professional accountants. Because of changes in the Code, the County is required to follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principals (GAAP), which affects the way the County writes financial statements, general ledger and accounting practices in his office. Other offices, such as the Treasurer’s Office, are on a cash oriented basis, so it doesn’t affect them to the same degree, he explained.
Slockett said that in his office he hires clerks with 4-year accounting degrees whenever possible. Almost all of the people in his office have 4-year degrees in accounting, so they are able to move in the market place due to their professional qualifications. After a few years of employment in other offices, people who don’t have degrees and professional qualifications are at such a point of high pay where if they left, they would have to take a big cut because they don’t have the qualifications that are required to move into new positions. This isn’t true of Auditor’s Office employees, where the people are underpaid and often can improve their financial situation by taking a new job. Slockett said this is why his department has employees move to the City of Iowa City and people who have left for good jobs. Slockett said his employees are also working very hard due to elections pressures and shortages of people in the office. He said people are doing a tremendous job for the County, but sometimes they look around for something to improve their situation that will be easier for themselves and their families. Since October of 2000, 2 out of 5 deputies have left and 7 out of 12 clerks. Slockett said there have been new employees comprised of 2 out of 5 deputies and one out of 12 clerks since December 1st 2001. Due to collective bargaining contracts employees at the same level in his office can bid to transfer to an open position, so they automatically get that position unless the department head vetoes it. Because of this, not only has there been a great deal of turnover, but many employees have transferred into different positions which requires retraining as well. He said his deputies have been very busy. Slockett said that with new employees and so many people doing new jobs it’s very tough on the office. Harney asked if some of the positions had repeat turnover. Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards said they were separate, but some of the positions have turned over twice. Slockett said he hired a Real Estate Deputy who within a year was hired by the City of Iowa City. Slockett said his office is currently in the midst of rehiring the open positions and hopefully will be back to full employment for the rest of this year, but it will depend on what the Board sets his budget at for next year.
Slockett described decision package one as the restoration of part-time temporary wages and other critical office needs. The first section addresses a part-time temporary wage increase that will require $1,904 to increase wages from $9 to $9.50. Slockett said this is well deserved and a bargain considering the effort his department receives from these employees. Slockett asked the Board to keep in mind that these employees are paid no benefits whatsoever, so it is a low cost hourly wage for the County. Stutsman asked if the Board had increased these wages last year. Deputy Auditor Mark Kistler said no. Thompson said they increased them 2 years ago.
Slockett asked for additional over-time and part-time wages to implement new financial software. He said that every financial software vendor the County has spoken to, particularly on the site visits, stressed that when the County has the financial software consultants come in, the departments need to have people following them around to take notes and watch what they do. Slockett said all of the information they’ve gathered indicates that implementation will take a lot of extra time and effort and the people who will be doing the jobs need to be spending as much time on that as possible. He said Edwards estimates that the department will need $12,212 for over-time and part-time wages to implement the new financial software.
Slockett said the Auditor’s Office needs $500 for office furniture and equipment for 2 work stations. He said last year the Board approved 2 computers for public work stations, but the furniture didn’t get approved, so he’s asking again this year. Stutsman asked how the office is using the 2 public workstations if the Board didn’t provide them furniture in last year’s budget. Kistler replied that they don’t have the computers yet because they’re on order. He said the public will have to use stations consisting of printer tables and cast-off chairs until the office can get decent furniture. Kistler explained that these stations will be for the public to use to search for GIS information. Stutsman asked where they are going to put the stations. Kistler said they will move furniture out of the real estate area to make room.
Slockett said the staff registration fees of $1,000 is to increase training for the CPAs in the office. He is also asking for document preservation funds in the amount of $2,860. Slockett reminded the Board of the old historic documents that are falling apart that these funds could preserve. Lehman asked if document preservation will come out of the Technology Fund. Horne said no because it is physical protection of old books. Edwards said the money to microfilm came out of document management funds.
Slockett asked for funds to replace the office’s copier. He said the copier had 733,100 copies as of December 18th, which is several times greater then any other copier in the building. He said his department still wants to stay with the original plan to keep it for 10 years, but they would like to have the money available in case it fails, which is a distinct possibility. He is asking the Board to make up for the money that was not saved last year by adding money to be saved this year by asking for it both in the elections and accounting budgets. He said if his department gets the money early they will still try to keep the machine for 10 years, but they feel uneasy about the machine being able to last for 10 years at this point. Slockett said the fax machine was purchased 13 years ago. He said the department would also like to replace it and it would be cost effective because the old machine operates at 9.6 kilobytes per second and the newer ones operate at 33.6 kilobytes. He said at the extent the fax machine is used for long distance calls, it can save money because faxes can be sent faster. He said the fax machine is on it’s last leg. He added that the machine is used a lot because although there are newer ways to send documents, many offices still use fax machines. Harney asked if Slockett’s office charges the public for use of the copier and fax machine. Slockett replied that they do. Kistler said the real estate department uses it a great deal because flood companies need plats, which the department charges $3.25 for. Harney said that it should pay for itself eventually then.
Slockett asked for $30,102 to pay for 40 hours of part-time temporary recording secretary help that the department has maintained by not hiring positions that were vacated. He said these are good people and one is a single mother with a young child. He said just because they’re being paid a low wage, doesn’t mean they don’t do good work or need the money. He said the reason to do it isn’t for the people, although they are people just like all our other employees. The reason is because the department really needs to help and it will cost a lot more to do the same thing another way, but he added again that it is the Board’s decision. Stutsman clarified that he is asking for the $30,000 that was taken out of last year’s budget. Slockett said out of a budget that is 94% personnel, there is no other place to get the $30,000. Stutsman asked if the 94% is overall or just in elections. Slockett said the 94% is in the accounting department while the elections is 83%.
Slockett asked Kistler to discuss the real estate requests because they have some real concerns. Kistler commented that if the Board didn’t reinstate the part-time temporary hours, the option is to cut back on service, but he added that he couldn’t think of functions in real estate that aren’t mandated by Code. Currently the department has part-time positions that help with platting and transferring as well as the public because there is a constant stream of people coming to the counter or calling with real estate related items. The part-time help with the public helps the full-time staff concentrate on their other duties. He said as an example when he was preparing to send out valuation reports, he reviewed parcels that are in TIFs. He said before the full-time map delineator left, she had produced maps showing what parcels are in the TIFs. They found errors due to the GIS. He said that it didn’t save them work, it was something that they didn’t have available before, but by having that function he was able to have the part-time people produce additional maps for the rest of the cities with TIFs. He said they were then able to clean up the files and make sure that every parcel that should be allocated to a TIF project was properly allocated. He said the part-time employees helped him with that project by producing simple maps using the GIS system.
Kistler said having part-time people in real estate to fall back on is very helpful to take some of the routine tasks away from the full-time staff who need to help with quality control and the GIS maintenance. He pointed out his concern of the status of the department’s maintenance. He clarified that the department only kept the part-time recording secretaries through the first part of the fiscal year by keeping the part-time and part-time map delineator positions open. Kistler said that has really hurt the department, although they have managed to keep up with the day to day processing of deeds and contracts, but the map maintenance has stagnated during that period. He said he is very concerned. He directed the Board to the paragraph that speaks to the backlog the department had in early December, which hasn’t gotten better in the last month. He said there are 54 subdivision plats that need to be drawn into the GIS system, 29 plats of surveys, 5 zero lot line surveys, computer tracement surveys, 5 condominiums and 49 right-of-way plats and easements. He said these things take a lot of manhours of work. Thompson asked how many weeks worth it is. Kistler replied that it is months worth of high level work. He directed the Board to speak to GIS Coordinator Rick Havel about the nature of the work because he could give them a good idea of what the Auditor’s Office has ahead of them. Kistler said they are going to get the new map delineator in and get them trained and get as much of it caught up by May when the tax deadline is. He said he is concerned that the department will have parcels that will not be split out that the County will send bills to the prior owner rather than the new owner. Kistler is also concerned about errors because when people are so hard-pressed to get the work done, it is hard to focus on quality control. He said these are mandated functions that they are trying to do.
Harney asked about the backlog of GIS maintenance and split work. Kistler replied that there are 2 parts to it. He explained that the department has 2 map delineators plus the part-time map delineators and 2 full-time accounting clerks. He said one of the main focuses of the map delineators is to maintain the GIS system and the links to the HP database. He said they also create the database records for new parcels, so on the HP they have to fill in new parcels with information such as ownership. He said the split process is not just simply drawing maps, but creating whole new database records, which has a quality control aspect. He said the quality control is something the account clerks are supposed to help him with, but there is so much work with the day to day platting and transferring of deeds and contracts that the quality control help hasn’t been available as it should be. He explained that it is because they haven’t had a full-staff. A lot of the work Kistler ends up doing at night or on weekends because it is a constant thing. He said this kind of stress level isn’t going to work for the staff. Slockett added that one of the department’s long time map delineators is having health problems due to stress. Kistler said a map delineator can make a lot more money looking elsewhere. He said they had 2 delineators move out of state for much better paying jobs because it is a skill that’s in great demand. Lehman commented that they had earlier mentioned that the accounting people help during elections. He asked if there is any practicality of some of the elections people being cross-trained in real estate. Slockett said there are long-time employees in elections, like Elections Clerk Harry Rueber, who helps out in real estate especially if they’re the only people available, but with elections there’s always something else coming up. He said that elections has all these changes, new equipment, new procedures that are required. He said right now elections has a possible record turnout bond issue, but they do try to help out as much as possible so it does go both ways.
Slockett moved on to decision package 2 which is a GIS Deputy. He said his department has asked for this for the past 3 year because they really need someone who is an expert in computer graphics and GIS to supervise the GIS people in the office. Kistler said with his position there are different sets of skills needed because it oversees accounting functions of real estate and GIS. He said the previous real estate deputy was a CPA and the person before that was a GIS expert, but he was spending all his time on the accounting functions. Kistler said the department has been trying unsuccessfully to split the position and separate the functions, which are very different and time consuming. Slockett summarized that they’ve tried to have one person do both things. He said at first they hired someone with GIS credentials, but he couldn’t handle the accounting side of real estate, the $6 billion of valuation that needs to be processed. Then the department hired a CPA who handled the accounting functions, but felt totally out of the water on GIS and would have taken years to train. He said the way this project grew under Kistler was he started and implemented AutoCAD drawing of real estate properties as the Real Estate Clerk many years ago. Slockett said Kistler has the unique ability to have knowledge in both areas, but the problem is he is also finding he doesn’t have the time to manage both areas of the office. He said it’s just not working out. Slockett said the GIS Deputy would be a great help to Havel and it’s something that the department needs in order to keep the records in good shape.
Slockett next discussed decision package number 3 which is funding for the Auditor’s Office to take committee minutes. He said the committee process has become an important part of the decision making process in Johnson County. Slockett explained that they have really high paid people taking minutes and it’s sometimes hard to find people to take them. He said after taking minutes, it’s easy to understand how much time it takes. Slockett said the minutes also aren’t the best for committee meetings. The Auditor’s Office thinks it would be a good idea to have them take charge of creating the minutes by using the current part-time temporary people and an additional half-time clerk. He requested $26,729 for this purpose. Slockett said it is something that needs to be done even if it isn’t done currently. There would be $9 or $9.50 an hour people doing the job when now people making 2 to 3 times that much are and not doing as good of a job because they’re not used to doing that type of work.
COUNTY SHERIFF BOB CARPENTER: FISCAL YEAR 2004 BUDGET
County Sheriff Bob Carpenter said there isn’t a lot of parts to their budget where they are looking at an increase. He said everything but the decision packages are pretty much the same as last year. In the first decision package the department is looking at an increase for maintenance contracts that are already in place, which total $8,653 this year. He said these contracts are service contracts, which are expensive. He said if the department doesn’t take the contracts they will pay more out through the year to make sure equipment is up to date.
Carpenter said jail alternatives is a guessing game, because they’re assuming $130,000 will be enough, but they hope they won’t need it. He said his department had based the figure on the first 4 months of this year, from July to the first of November and then made their best guess from those figures. He said November and December had gone way down compared to the year before, but they had gone back up in January. He said he wanted to caution the Board because the numbers might not be the same as they have been in previous years. He said that if there is the possibility of an amendment to next year’s budget, then maybe the number doesn’t have to be as high as they’ve requested. He said he just didn’t want to get caught at the end of the year with no money to pay for it. He said jail alternatives scare him because his department can be caught easily without the funds. He said if they don’t at least earmark the funds to pay for it, then he worries about what could happen because Linn County won’t want to house prisoners for nothing. Carpenter said when they don’t have the funds to do it, the prisoners will have to stay in the Johnson County jail, which will cause problems. Neuzil asked Carpenter to breakdown the cost and if that is only the fee for Linn County or if that includes other costs as well. Carpenter said the State of Iowa sets the rate at $70 a day. He said $60 is for the housing and then $10 is what the State says to figure for the extra. Neuzil said he doesn’t understand how $10 would cover that cost with gas, transportation and employees. Carpenter said if the Board adds the $130,000 then there is a total of $500,000 for next year. Carpenter said this year they are hoping that they will come close to what they budgeted, but he said he thought they would go over it. He said he could very easily go way over it, which is why the Board amended the budget the other night. He said he doesn’t want to guess, but he doesn’t think they are out of the ballpark with the $130,000. Neuzil said he would anticipate that FY 03 will be near $460,000. Carpenter says it depends on the committee that’s meeting. He said it might have sounded like he didn’t think it is working the other day, but there are some things that he’s heard that they’re going to try to work with. He said there are some ideas that his department wants to try, but he didn’t know if they would solve the problem. Neuzil said the definition of alternatives here are different then what the Taskforce is discussing. Carpenter replied that jail alternatives for the budget is transporting prisoners to Linn County. He added that he thought alternatives are the cheapest solution currently, but there will be a day when that is no longer the case.
Neuzil asked if transporting prisoners is having an affect on personnel factors such as overtime. Carpenter said right now as long as Linn County takes the amount of prisoners Johnson has to offer, then they will be alright next year. Carpenter said he knew the Board is trying to cut the budget anywhere possible. He said he doesn’t know if the $130,000 figure is accurate or not. He said his department won’t have a full year end to be able to estimate until July 1. Neuzil asked if for FY 02, the budgeted amount of $361,000 was for a full 12 months. Carpenter said the Board had cut that figure down from $425,000 per year to about $370,000. He said that he was very concerned about the cut, but now that the Board’s approved an amendment he’s less concerned. He said he hopes the Board gets back the $90,000 that the amendment is for. Neuzil said FY 02 wasn’t a full 12 months. Carpenter replied that FY 01 wasn’t a full 12 months, but FY 02 was, so that’s why his department won’t have a full 2 years to compare until July. Lehman said that the $130,000 increase will cover 5 prisoners a day more than currently budgeted for, although Carpenter has no way of knowing. Neuzil said that the Board is committed to the mandate that the State Jail Inspector has given, which is that there can’t be that many people in the jail. Carpenter said he really appreciates the Board’s approval of the amendment because then they take the responsibility because his responsibility is to see that those people are housed. Neuzil said if the Board gives the increase this year then they will spend $460,000, plus $361,000, plus $10,000, which is close to the million dollars mark that the Board could have had going towards a new jail. Carpenter said that was why is wouldn’t be too many years before shipping prisoners to Linn County will no longer be the cheapest alternative.
Carpenter said vehicle replacement will stay the same as last year. He said technology is something that is already accounted for and out of his hands. He said he read in the paper where University Heights is going to go with Iowa City, which is and isn’t a surprise. He said this year the amount that they contributed to the revenue is around $20,000. He said they have been subsidizing University Heights for many years and as the Board had discussed, this coming year it is time to start making people pay for the services they receive. He said they put University Heights in line with North Liberty and Coralville’s rates. He said although his department has not heard officially, the paper is reporting that they’re going with Iowa City. Lehman clarified that instead of loosing $20,000 in revenue the number was actually less because the expenses weren’t offsetting. Carpenter said it was quite obvious that his department spent more than $20,000 a year in University Heights. He said on the revenue page it will be about $30,000 less because they had added the increase for the coming year. He said the revenues will be closer to $50,000 because their increase would have gone up to about $50,000 this year. Lehman said his department could take those hours and redistribute them through the County, but it doesn’t mean they can contract more with other entities.
Carpenter said the County raised the hourly rates for the other small towns as well. Stutsman asked if they had agreed to those increases. Carpenter said they have started to come back and he hadn’t heard any negative responses. Neuzil asked what line item they were discussing. Horne replied that the figures are under radio services. Carpenter said to keep in mind that North Liberty contracts not only for radio services, but for patrol hours as well. He explained that University Heights is a situation where the County had never contracted with them for radio services in the past due to the fact they didn’t have their own police department. He said that they didn’t have full-time service and the County was basically their police department. He said now they have full-time service, so under State Law, the County no longer has any obligation to them. He said as of July 1st, the contract will run out. He said he assumes that University Heights will notify the County, but if not, then he will come to the Board to ask to send a letter of termination of the contract. He said he hadn’t received a letter from their attorney yet to indicate that this will be the last year. He said based on the newspaper, University Heights going with Iowa City is a done deal. Neuzil asked if Iowa City’s price was probably a little better. Carpenter said his department’s contract with University Heights up until now included all investigations, radio services, taking calls from the public and dispatching their officers, and response to calls when their officers weren’t working. He said the County has done that for a number of years at less than $20,000. He said he assumes that Iowa City will be fulfilling those services, but he doesn’t know. He said those services are worth more than the $40,000 some that they are paying. He commented that the radio frequencies they have are the County’s frequencies, so they will not be able to utilize them. Neuzil asked why the State law enforcement contract revenue line item went down this year. Sheriff’s Captain Keith Slaughter explained that University Heights only paid the minimum for radio, so most of the decreases come under the patrol line item. Neuzil asked if it is already factored in then. Carpenter replied that they had factored in the fact that his office will not be doing patrol. Neuzil clarified that radio services still includes the increase for University Heights. Carpenter said that it does. He said the majority of North Liberty’s contract is for radio services because for every officer they gain and they’re up to 4 now, it increases radio services to their department. He said they are on the same rate as Coralville, which is strictly radio services.
Stutsman asked what percentage of the Sheriff’s budget is personnel, to which Carpenter replied 70%. Stutsman asked if he had ever looked into outsourcing meals for the jail. Carpenter said they looked into it 4 or 5 years ago, but the costs were way out of line. Thompson asked about the Federal reimbursement the County receives; $57,000 two years ago and $88,000 last year and asked if the Sheriff is looking into the reimbursement for next year. Carpenter said he hasn’t been able to find out if they are going to be able to offer it yet. He said they didn’t show it because he didn’t know if they are going to have the program. Thompson commented that it wasn’t shown as an expense either. Carpenter said the Federal money is one where the department pays up front and then he asks the Board to pay the Department because of the expense. Lehman said he didn’t show it last year either. Thompson clarified that the County pays 10 or 20% to get the $88,000. Neuzil said it’s around $8,000. Thompson asked if Maximus will provide the service if the other company won’t. Carpenter said he didn’t know. Thompson commented that it sounds like a good thing. Carpenter said it’s a good thing to get paid for actually housing the prisoners. He said that they also do the paperwork, so all the Department has to do is submit a list of names and information, which is already computerized. He said the company that is providing the service is the company that told the County about the reimbursement to begin with.
Horne said they had spoken with the County Attorney the other day about prisoner medical costs. He asked what Carpenter’s view is. Carpenter said his department sends some of the bills to the County Attorney, but he doesn’t know what they are doing with them. Neuzil said he is holding them. Carpenter said that is what he is worried about. He said the University has indicated that it’s not their responsibility and he doesn’t know whether they’re going to continue to take the County’s prisoners. Carpenter said he knows that somebody is going to have to pay for them. He said it’s almost like jail alternatives, because it’s hard to figure a number. Neuzil said there is a $50,000 bill sitting on White’s desk. Carpenter replied that everyone waits until they go to jail to get their surgeries done and their teeth fixed. He said in the past they’ve worked with Human Services to try to get those qualified for State aid. He said he would imagine that the University has been eating a lot of the bills as well. He said what’s happened is the University is getting short of funds too, so they’re sending the bills back to the County. Carpenter said that White feels that the bills aren’t the County’s. Neuzil said White is waiting for litigation to determine the issue. Thompson worried that the bills bills will accrue until it’s a large amount of money. Carpenter said his problem is that White’s the County’s legal advisor and he needs to tell the Sheriff’s Department what to do. He said he doesn’t know what else to do other then keep submitting them to the County Attorney’s Office. Neuzil said White has the philosophy that these bills are not an expense to be paid for by the County. Carpenter said the Sheriff’s Office is responsible for the medical care of those individuals while they are incarcerated.
Neuzil asked if Carpenter has factored into the budget any possible changes in Iowa law such as the .08 alcohol limit or going to 2 years of holding prisoners instead of one. Carpenter said he didn’t think those changes will make much difference because prisoners will be in and out just like they are now, but they may have to deal with more people. He said if police departments can find anybody at all to come in and sign for responsibility of the prisoners, they then leave. Neuzil asked about the increase from one to 2 years of holding prisoners. Carpenter said that could be a major problem for the County, because he couldn’t figure out how to do it without just doubling the expenses. Neuzil asked if the Sheriff’s State Committees are going to rally against that. Carpenter replied that they will and they have already. He said it will be a hard sell for the legislature. He said his department has a situation where a prisoner was sentenced from another county and the original charge was in another County, but they have transferred him here because the probation office is here. He said those are the things that they see a lot of and are partially responsible for the overcrowding. He said about 35% of the prisoners are State prisoners in on probation violations and even after they are there for 25 or 40 days the State will say they just wanted to shock them and let them out. Neuzil asked if the County can get reimbursed for that. Carpenter replied that the County does get reimbursed to some extent, but either way, that is what causes the overcrowding. He added that the State is very stingy on what they pay and they get behind on their payments as well.
Carpenter said this is a decent proposal for a budget and added that they tried their best to come in as close to last year’s budget as they could. Stutsman asked Horne if he will put together a new revenue page with the lowered revenues. Horne said he would. Harney asked if that is official and said that if it isn’t official yet, they can’t take it out of the budget. Carpenter said he would think that if they are talking about it publicly, then it would be for real. Harney said there are things that are printed that aren’t necessarily true. Stutsman said that the decrease will be significant and it must be reflected. Carpenter said that they budget light on the revenue side, but without the reflected changes, it will really put a strain on the Department.
Harney said it is interesting that a Dade County police officer is on trial for assisting in a homicide because he had signed a friend out for drunk driving who later killed someone in an accident. Carpenter said he took a phone call from the Woodbury County Chief Deputy who said they were having a discussion with their Board of Supervisors and wanted to know how many square miles the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department covers, how many sworn officers and how many civilian staff people are working for the Department. He said they called back a second time because they couldn’t believe that the numbers were right because they couldn’t understand how the Sheriff’s Department could serve the number of square miles with the number of officers in the Department. He said he thought the Department is doing OK. He added that he would like to see a comparison similar to one done a few years ago where the Board did a comparison with some of the other counties similar in size to see how his Department fairs against others in the State budget-wise. Lehman suggested that he put something like that together. Carpenter said he didn’t do the study, the Board did. Lehman said that Conservation Director Harry Graves is comparing other counties funding. He said it would be interesting for the Sheriff’s Department to do a similar study. Carpenter agreed.
Carpenter said it’s recently come to his attention that he has a couple of officers that are getting ready to retire, so a payoff is something his Department will have to start looking at. He added that unfortunately a lot of times the County doesn’t get a year to figure that out. He said right now he has 2 people that could very well retire this coming year that will require a payoff of $37,000. He said he didn’t know if the Board wants him to go back and add that into the budget as well. He said the particular case this year, he will have to leave the position vacant in order to account for it. Lehman asked if since is an accrued expense if it will show anywhere. Horne said that they have talked about total liability because it won’t all come up in one year, so it is hard to tell. Lehman asked with the new software if they will be able to keep a line item for it. Horne said it wouldn’t be a line item, it would be something they could track on the side. Thompson clarified it shows in the accruals, but there isn’t any real money attached to it. Horne explained that there is a cost, but the County doesn’t know it until it’s realized. Lehman said his point is that it can be like saving for computers, so that some money is set aside, but then they could have a problem with a carry-over balance. Horne said they can factor every year for it. Carpenter said if his 2 employees were to retire today, one would receive $9,000 and the other $28,000. Stutsman asked where the $28,000 comes from. Carpenter said that it’s accrued sick leave, vacation, overtime. He said this person is at the max on everything. He said that there’s nothing his department can do about it. He said when he transferred to Sheriff, he lost the sick leave and vacation that he had accrued. Carpenter asked if the Board wanted him to put the retirement payoffs in his budget for the next year. Stutsman said she thought it should be in another budget like merit pay. She said she hates to keep putting it into people’s budget it they don’t retire. Lehman suggested putting it in Central Services. Horne said they could do something similar to merit in Central Service and then amend the funds into the department when people retiring. Carpenter added that if people retire early in the year, then the department can make it up in their budget, but if they wait until May or June then there’s problem. Stutsman said she hates to have departments put off hiring to make up for it, especially if it’s a pivotal position in the department.
Recessed at 11:31 a.m.; reconvened at 12:20 p.m.