Chairperson Jordahl called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:43 a.m. Members present were: Chairperson Jonathan Jordahl, Charles Duffy, Mike Lehman, and Sally Stutsman. Also present were Deputy Administrative Assistant Deana Pillard, and Deputy Auditor Kit Wong and Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards.

Jordahl called the budget work session to order. Jordahl questioned whether the 27th pay period, which was taxed for half the amount in 1999, was rolled forward as part of a zero base for the Fiscal Year 2000 budget. Jordahl expressed concern that the figure calculated for remaining funds within allowable growth, $197,382 had been calculated incorrectly by not taking the 27th pay period rolled into the FY 2000 budget. Jordahl was also concerned that $586,000 excess ending balance from the general supplemental fund, would be consumed by changes to the County employees' health care plan and cost of living adjustment. Jordahl said the cost of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield addition to the health care plan and the cost of living adjustment which diminished the $586,000 to $197,000 seemed incorrect. Deputy Administrative Assistant Deana Pillard said she believed this figure was correct. Jordahl said the 27th pay period should not be subtracted from the allowable growth dollars since that pay period had already been taxed. Pillard and Deputy Auditor Kit Wong said that the 27th pay period was not subtracted from the allowable growth dollars. Jordahl said the 27th pay period did not subtract from the excess ending balance of the general supplemental fund either.

Jordahl stated that technology requests were split up by individual departments in the FY 99 budget but technology requests were not in the departments for FY 2000, meaning departmental technology requests needed to be added to the central technology department request. Pillard said that had been calculated and was in the updated budget information the Supervisors had at hand. Jordahl reiterated his concern that something had been subtracted twice from the remaining allowable growth figure. Pillard, Wong and Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards said they were confident that the remaining allowable growth figure was correct. Edwards said that the remaining allowable growth figure was different at the last budget meeting, over $1,000,000, and that the change in departmental technology requests moving to the central technology department from FY 99 to FY 2000 had been subtracted. Jordahl then said the earlier remaining allowable growth figure of approximately $1,000,000 was new growth dollars, and the $200,000-$300,000 in departmental technology requests should not be subtracted from that number. Edwards said that the projected budget amount at the end of FY 99 was $1.6 million and the projected budget amount at the end of FY 2000 would be $1.9 million.

Jordahl and Duffy asked why the Board would need to budget to come up with $300,000 more in funds. Edwards said the Auditor's Office had analyzed the amount of money Johnson County needed over July and August each year, which had been going up slightly each year. Jordahl said that $300,000 increase had consumed a portion of the remaining allowable growth figure (roughly $1,000,000 according to the older data). Edwards said this was true. Jordahl continued by saying $315,000 for the cost of living adjustment, and the additional Blue Cross premium of $350,000 was subtracted from remaining allowable growth. Jordahl was satisfied that the reduction of the remaining allowable growth from $1 million to roughly $200,000 had been calculated correctly.

The Board then discussed what their priorities were in creating the budget for FY 2000. Stutsman said the Space Needs Committee had been discussing moving a division of the Department of Human Services and expanding the Jail. She said her priorities were space needs and support staff with the Human Resources Department. Jordahl said he agreed that those 2 were priorities. Stutsman said that requests for additional personnel could be tied in with space needs requests, since office space was needed for additional personnel. Duffy said he would like to protect the status quo of each department and that he would scrutinize requests for additional personnel because the FY 2000 budget would be difficult. Lehman said none of the budget adjustments had been added in. Jordahl said that if the top priorities required too many funds then funds needed to be saved from somewhere or taxes would need to be raised. Jordahl agreed with Duffy's point that most departments were asking for personnel increases but did not think of where the funds would come from. Jordahl said he agreed with Stutsman that capital projects for space needs was the top priority. Jordahl said the Board had not been saving for the needs of the growing county population, such as the jail. Duffy agreed that space needs such as the jail was a top priority with the increased incidence of hard drugs and stricter laws.

Jordahl said capital projects/space needs were his first priority. Jordahl felt that he could not classify GIS as a top priority. He said the Board did not have enough understanding of GIS, that the Board should commit to investigating and understanding GIS to a greater degree by funding the needs analysis study which was his second priority. He said a needs analysis study of GIS could cost anywhere from 10 to $25,000. Jordahl said personnel was his third priority. He stated that within the personnel category, the Human Resources was first, the Ambulance Department was second, Planning and Zoning was third and the Sheriff's department as fourth in order of importance. Jordahl said he also liked the idea of studying the budget process, such as a performance based budgeting consulting, strategic planning county wide and a grants writer. Jordahl also said he supported Duffy's idea of being aware that cuts might be possible in some departments. Duffy said if the space needs and personnel requests sapped too much of the budget dollars, it might be possible to ask each department to decrease their overall budget by 1% which would maintain the status quo.

Jordahl left the meeting at 10:15 a.m. and returned at 10:16 a.m.

Stutsman suggested going through each department's budget line item by line item at some point during the year, to look for possible future cuts or ways to improve efficiency. Lehman agreed that requests for personnel were tied to space needs and said he supported the idea of a grant writer. Stutsman said the Space Needs Committee recommended adding $500,000 to $1,000,000 to the capital fund for space needs yearly. Duffy said they don't know how the Local Option Sales Tax will come out. Lehman asked if the cost of moving a portion of the Department of Human Services to Eastdale Mall had been included in the budget. Stutsman said that had been included in that departments budget, and more funds would by needed for that project for FY 2000. Jordahl and Stutsman discussed using capital project funds for the Eastdale Mall move. Stutsman said the Space Needs Committee which met that day did not discuss a possible bond issue but did discuss hiring a consultant for jail expansion.

Recessed at 10:22 a.m.; reconvened at 10:39 a.m.

Jordahl suggested creating a preliminary budget using funds that would not require a tax increase. Jordahl said that the $1,000,000 from the remaining allowable growth had been reduced to nothing due to allocation of $315,000 for Cost of Living Adjustments, $350 for employee health care, $300,000 as a recommendation from the Auditor's Office as an additional ending balance to carry over Johnson County from the end of the Fiscal Year and $40,000 for an increase in merit pay. He continued by saying anything discussed in addition to that was a tax increase. Stutsman and Pillard said the newest calculation of funds remaining within allowable growth, $197,382, was available to allocate. Stutsman suggested that after going through the budget the Board revisit the 3% raise in mid-management salaries, once information was available about last year's salary survey increases. Jordahl said not increasing salaries would widen the gap with union salaries. Stutsman said that funds might be used elsewhere since a large amount was allocated for revisions in the employee health plan. Duffy agreed with Stutsman, saying he was concerned that the health plan changes was not an ongoing cost. Jordahl said that the 4% in elected officials pay covered both the cost of living along with the salary survey, which elected officials were not covered by, as well as their lack of longevity. Pillard said that according to the Compensation Board that Johnson County's elected officials were paid comparably to other counties. Duffy mentioned that by State law Supervisor's travel while working within the state can be compensated, which the elected officials never did and Duffy reiterated his dislike for the 4% increase. Jordahl talked of how deputies of elected officials were not covered by the previous years salary survey and without the 4% increase the deputies would not earn anything comparable to the rest of the management employees in Johnson County have received.

Stutsman suggested looking at each department's budget. Jordahl suggested subtracted $500,000 as recommended from the Space Needs Committee for capital projects, which the Board had agreed was the top priority. This figure subtracted the $197,000 (the remaining allowable growth figure) put the County at roughly $303,000 they needed to come up with.

Recessed at 10:48 a.m.; reconvened at 10:55 a.m.

The Board discussed allocating funds to hire support staff for the Human Resources Department. Pillard said Human Resources requested an HR assistant and an intern along with office equipment for these 2 additional personnel which would cost $52,916. Duffy said Human Resources Director Lora Shramek now had too many meetings to attend. Stutsman pointed out that Human Resources has a function in every County department. Pillard said the $52,916 requested dollars did not include moneys to create more office space for the 2 new personnel. Lehman said the Human Resources Department was a new one so it probably hasn't had the needed funds. Pillard recommended allocating $55,000 which would include the cost of a computer for the new HR Assistant. The Board agreed to $55,000. Jordahl said space needs for the Human Resources Department would be ignored for now or assumed the moneys would come from the Capital Projects fund.

The Board discussed computerization. Jordahl and Pillard said the lump sum in each department's budget was not allocated to buy a particular item, which was the Board's job to decide. Jordahl said a good strategy for the Board would be to divide the technology budget into 2 parts, and to focus on networking costs first. Jordahl said his priority was to proceed with implementing the 5-Year Computerization Plan. Jordahl noted that the technology totals for FY 2000 was $203,185. Stutsman asked Jordahl if he was recommending the $270,000 recommended for GIS. Jordahl said he would like to budget $15,000 to GIS instead of the requested $35,000, and put the remaining $250,000 into the Central Technology Fund. The Board agreed. Pillard said there was approximately $144,000 from FY 99's technology budget, so the $270,000 in technology requests for FY 2000 would be lessened by this. Pillard calculated with the money already allocated to GIS, the total technology requests for FY 2000 was $106,000. Stutsman said Jordahl said the $106,000 figure should be rounded to $110,000.

Jordahl said the Board needed to do something in a budget line related to the budget process. Stutsman said she was hesitant to do so because other departments might get angry with the Board for adding line items into departmental budgets. Stutsman recommended focusing on the departments.

The Board discussed department personnel requests. Jordahl said a new ambulance unit had been created but was not yet staffed. Pillard said the Ambulance Department anticipated needing 1,460 unit hours in 2000, which would provide 2 ambulances 24 hours a day and a third ambulance 12 hours a day every day. Pillard noted that the Ambulance Department decreased line items to lessen the cost of a requested 2% budget increase. Pillard said 2% was the Ambulance Department's minimum needs. Jordahl said to initially give the Ambulance Department the requested 2% increase. Stutsman said she would support adding the Ambulance personnel. Jordahl agreed. Duffy said he wanted to revisit that department's budget later.

The Board discussed Planning and Zoning's personnel requests. Pillard said this department was requesting that hours be increased to 80 hours bi-weekly for 2 full-time employees, meaning 2 employees who worked 37 hours a week would begin to work 40 hours a week. Pillard said the cost of FICA and IPERS were not included in the staffing increase. Planning and Zoning also requested a Junior Planner and a full-time secretary Jordahl said this department already had a half-time secretary, so this position would become full-time instead of asking for a full-time secretary in addition to the part-time one. Stutsman said the labor pool for part-time employees was very competitive, and a stronger job candidate would apply for a full-time position. Stutsman said she wanted more justification of how additional staff would be used, rather than it was needed because a department was busy, and that the Board should be more pro-active in asking for a job description, looking at reorganization within the departments and the possibility of the work load decreasing in the future. Jordahl said the workload would continue to be heavy in Planning and Zoning with the Land Use Plan. Jordahl noted that money from capital funds would need to be used to create more office space for the Planning and Zoning Department. Duffy was against adding more personnel to Planning and Zoning. The Board agreed to return to the issue once more information about the Junior Planner's duties was received. Pillard asked if the Board was going to allocate funds for the hours increase to 80 bi-weekly and the Board agreed to do this.

The Board then discussed personnel requests from the County Attorney's Office. Pillard said $28,450 was requested for Attorney promotions, which did not include FICA and IPERS, and that figure included $5,450 in office supplies. Pillard said this office also was requesting a full-time attorney, a part-time secretary 1 becoming a full-time secretary 1, a part-time secretary 2 becoming a full-time secretary 2 as well as a full-time deputy sheriff at the Courthouse. Pillard said the cost of another full-time attorney with FICA, IPERS, benefits and health would be $44,593.07. Jordahl noted that the Attorney promotions with FICA and IPERS would cost $22,460. Pillard said the total cost of making the 2 part-time secretaries, full-time was $35,399.25. Stutsman asked if the $15,000 for attorney promotions went outside the salary survey. Pillard said she was unable to give an informed answer to Stutsman's question.

The Board the discussed personnel requests from the Auditor's Office. The 1% increases was for transferring a First Deputy from Elections to Accounting, reclassification of the Map Delineators from Grade 8 to Grade 11, and the increasing costs of official publication, which cost a total of $5,000. Jordahl asked if there was a difference between the County Attorney promoting his Attorneys and the Auditor promoting his Map Delineators. Pillard said she thought the County Attorney was attempting to spread out the wages of several attorneys who were close to each other in pay, so those with the most years worked at that office earn the most, within the salary survey. Stutsman and Jordahl said they wanted to wait on the Map Delineators' change in pay grade until more information was available. Pillard asked the Board if there were items in the budget which they were not considering, since this would simplify the information used at the next budget work session. The Board agreed that the request for an additional Deputy Auditor and Map Delineator for GIS implementation would not receive funds. Jordahl and Stutsman supported increasing the wages of part-time temporary workers from $7.28 to $8.00 an hour, since the Map Delineators pay grade was not budgeted to be increased. The Board discussed what the implication of a pay raise for temporary part-time workers would be for other departments that used part-time temporary workers at the lower pay grade. Stutsman said the Auditor's Office made a strong argument that it is difficult to get qualified competent workers if wages weren't competitive. Jordahl agreed and said there were different duties in each different department. Jordahl supported reclassifying a .4-time Map Delineator from temporary to permanent. Lehman asked if this reclassification raised the same question about circumventing the salary survey. Jordahl said the reclassify provided benefits for the employee. Stutsman said it was also important to get strong employees.

Jordahl said the Board needed to be aware to technology requirements tied with granting personnel requests. Stutsman said an additional attorney in the County Attorney's Office would require a computer but none of the requests budgeted for the Auditor's Office mean additional technology purchases.

The Board then discussed the Public Health Department's personnel requests. Jordahl noted that this department only asked to increase a part-time Clerk 2 to full-time and adding 1.5 Environmental Health Specialist in accord with the doubling of the State requirement for Health Inspectors. Duffy and Stutsman said they had a problem with the request. Stutsman and Jordahl questioned the amount of inspections required by this department since inspections outside of Johnson County had decreased. The Board discussed lobbying the State legislature for more funds to meet the doubling of health inspectors, saying it was an unfunded mandate. Stutsman said more justification was needed in this case before staff could be added. Lehman agreed saying numbers needed to be provided which showed how the number of inspections have or were expected to increase. Jordahl said figures were provided which showed the number of inspections. Duffy said he was hesitant to add full-time employees, since their wages would be included in future budgets. The Board was confused in what portion of the $141,673 requested from Public Health was for increasing the clerk to full-time and how much was for 1.5 Environmental Health Specialists. Stutsman, Jordahl and Lehman agreed to provide $40,000 for one more health inspector and to wait for clarification before any other funds for personnel would be granted.

The Board then discussed their own budget requests. They requested a 1% increase ($3,480) for increases in staff transportation, staff meals and lodgings, Board meals and lodging, phone, staff registration fees and dues. The Board allocated the requested funds.

Recessed at 12:13 p.m.; reconvened at 1:14 p.m.

Stutsman spoke about a program called "County a Day" through ISAC where representatives from Counties are sent to the State Legislature to lobby. Stutsman learned of some dates when individuals would be sent to the capitol and asked if any of the Supervisors would be interested in taking part. The Supervisors tentatively scheduled to travel to Des Moines on March 8th for this program.

Stutsman asked if the County Attorney's request for $15,000 to be used for attorney promotions went outside the salary survey. Human Resources Director Lora Shramek said the County had been paying all Assistant County Attorney's at the same pay level, but this was difficult because new law school graduates were getting paid the same as attorneys with many years of experience. Shramek said clear levels were devised ranging from Assistant County Attorney 1 up to level 5. Shramek went on to say attorneys would move up levels through experience or by promotion from merit.

Duffy left at 1:30 p.m.; returned at 1:35.

Jordahl asked Shramek if this new pay scale conflicted with the salary survey. He expressed concern because the salary survey's purpose was to place County employees at the appropriate pay level and the proposed funds for merit pay insinuates the salary survey didn't work. Shramek said this was not outside the position, that the new pay level would ensure attorneys stayed at the County Attorney's Office longer. Stutsman asked if this would be an annual request. Lehman read a statement from the County Attorney that provided some explanation which stated that 2 promotions every few years should be expected and a more concise timetable for promotions would be available for the next budget. Lehman asked how the County Attorney's request to fund promotions was different than the County Auditor's request to move pay grades for Map Delineators. Shramek said the Auditor's Office is under a collective bargaining agreement unlike the County Attorney's Office so the Auditor was budgeting funds to promote if needed. Jordahl asked if the County Attorney's new pay matrix meant more accelerated promotions than other County departments. Shramek answered by saying before the salary survey new attorneys were paid about $5,000 less than the competition. She continued by saying the salary survey helped remedy this but clear specified criteria based promotions were needed to prevent attorneys from leaving after a short time. Stutsman pointed out that experience was very important for County attorneys, that it was easier to find an attorney who could competently try OWI charges than one with enough experience and competency to try a murder case. Shramek said the County Attorney's proposed pay matrix would prevent attorneys who didn't have the skills to have their staff position raised through promotion to at least get wage increases.

Jordahl asked about the Auditor's reclassification of Map Delineators. Shramek replied by saying they were currently in negotiations and the pay grade reclassification would be used as a bargaining tool. She also said the pay scale was created before computer programs such as AutoCAD were being used extensively, so the job now requires more skilled individuals, which has made it difficult for the Auditor's Office to retain Map Delineators. Stutsman said she was against the reclassification since it was possible that it would not be needed.

Shramek said 12 employees had requested grade reclassifications. She said 6 of these people's salaries would increase and 6 would decrease which would be included in the $40,000 allocated for merit pay. Jordahl said each department would be allowed 1% for merit pay but would not be allowed 2%. Shramek said she thought merit pay would be allocated to each department so the average would be 1%. Shramek also said the County Conservation Board had not adopted the merit pay plan but wanted funds set aside in case they did adopt it. Jordahl said he would not budget merit pay with enough flexibility to ensure a maximum amount of 2% and the maximum amount would be 1%.

The Board then discussed the request for attorney promotions from the County Attorney's Office. Stutsman said she was uncomfortable that there wasn't a specific figure for attorney promotions, only around $15,000. Jordahl said that County Attorney's in Johnson County made less than other County Attorneys and the County Attorney's Office had always been spare with budget requests which Duffy agreed with. The Board allocated $80,000 to the County Attorney's office which met all their requests except for attorney promotions and office supplies. The Board decided not to allocate funds for attorney promotions until the County Attorney could meet with the Board and more clearly explain his requests.

The Board then discussed Information Services' request for funds. Pillard said that $4,520 for the Community Service Bureau was essential for the Johnson County Community Network according to the Director of Information Services. Jordahl suggested they also give the requested money for advertising and staff training and development. The Board allocated $7,500 for Information Services.

The Board then discussed the Sheriff's Department's request for funds. Lehman said that North Liberty recently received a grant for law enforcement which would alleviate some of the Sheriff's personnel problems. Stutsman said that hiring a full-time Control Center Operator was needed, which was a 3% increase or $111,000. The Board decided to allocate a 3% increase to the Sheriff's department.

Jordahl left at 1:57 p.m.; returned at 2:00 p.m.

The Board then discussed the Recorder's Office's request for funds. Stutsman said she supported allocating $9,000 to expand office hours in the department to 40 per week. The Board agreed.

The Board then discussed the SEATS' Department's request for funds. Pillard said a request for $15,000 for a Taxi Contract was essential since last year's budget was not amended for that amount. Stutsman and Lehman supported $15,000 for the taxi contract. Stutsman had reservations about the request to increase the part-time Training Maintenance Coordinator to full-time. The Board agreed to allocate $15,000 and decided to keep the Training Maintenance Coordinator to. Duffy said increasing an office's hours to 40 hours per week did little good for citizens of the county who had to work until 5:00 and it would be a better idea to stay open until 6:00 once a week or at 6:00, 5 days a week. Stutsman said that 40 hours would give departments flexibility with their hours.

The Board then discussed the Treasurer's Office's request for funds. Pillard said that the Treasurer requested 2 new deputies but one would be reclassifying a clerk 3 to deputy, meaning only one deputy would truly be added. Stutsman said she did not support this, that it was possible deputies were not truly needed and the request was basically a promotion. The Board talked about the Treasurer explaining to them that he wanted to create a junior or sub-deputy position to become trained by his current deputy in case she retires. The Board decided not to allocate funds.

The Board then discussed the Physical Plant's request for personnel funds. Pillard said Physical Plant Director Pat Langenburg moved $7,000 from capital to other items he would have needed increases on, so there were no requested increases.

The Board then discussed the Central Services budget. Central Services requested funds for the new Blue Cross premium, $40,000 for non-bargaining merit pay, $8,000 for the Employee Assistance Program, $5,736 for publication of the external newsletter, a decrease of $860 from the FY 2000 base for audio-visual supplies/general management, $300 for supplies for employee recognition, $250 for county government week supplies/equipment, $1,400 for telephone/miscellaneous general services, $1,004 for videotaping the Board meetings, $500 for labor relations/general county management, $643 for office equipment service/phone system, $1,228 for dues for ISAC and NACO, $13,500 for Housing Needs Assessment expenditures and $100 for an audio sound equipment purchase. Stutsman questioned the Housing Needs Assessment expenditure because she thought it had already been paid. Jordahl agreed with Stutsman that the project had been finished and if a budget amendment was needed to pay for it, it would not be in the FY 2000 budget.

The Board then discussed Block Grants. Stutsman asked if Block Grants were increases in Human Services funding. Pillard said this was true, but other items were also included in that category. Pillard reviewed the Block Grant saying there was an increase of $303 for Red Cross, a reduction in Joint Disaster Services and VNA, $4,000 for the free medical clinic, $4,750 for the Historical Society along with $2,500 for Historic Preservation, $2,610 for the food bank, $845 for HACAP, $1,000 for emergency housing, $5,000 for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, $10,016 for United Action for Youth, $200 for Youth Homes, $1,000 for Mayor's Youth Employment, $10,243 for the Domestic Violence Program, $11,988 for the Senior Center, $2,202 for the Elderly Service Agency, $13,523 for the Neighborhood Center, $1,359 for the JCCOG Grant, $500 for RVAP, $4,082 for the Crisis Center, $14,517 for Mecca Treatment and $8,166 for Mecca Prevention. Pillard said the total amount of requested funds increase for Block Grants was $93,504. The Board approved the funding requests from Block Grants.

The Board then discussed the Conservation Department's request for funds. Pillard pointed out that capital expenditures (approximately $50,000) had not been removed from Conservation's budget. It was discovered that a Block Grant increase had not been included in the Block Grant budget which was an amount of $10,750. Pillard pointed out that Conservation's request of $20,569 for a one ton truck and $14,465 for a payment on a construction equipment crawler were within that department's operating budget. Stutsman said it was unfair that the Conservation Department allocated some of their operating budget for 2 capital expenditure requests, though the Board of Supervisors had instructed the departments not to do this. Pillard said that within the Conservation Board's 0% increases they planned to hire an additional staff person. Jordahl and Stutsman objected to this, since new staff was permanent. Jordahl said Reverend Bob Welsh had warned of departments adding new staff without asking for it. Stutsman said that any department with enough budget flexibility to add staff without needing an increase in funding needed to budget more tightly. Stutsman said that making one-time purchases, such as a trucks, from operating budget funds rolls over to the next year's operating budget. Jordahl suggested funding some of Conservation's requests at a partial amount to encourage them to begin saving for it. The Board instructed Pillard to move the Conservation Department's request for a truck and crawler from their operating budget to the capital expenditure requests budget, as well as the new staff person from the operating budget to personnel requests. Jordahl questioned moving Conservation's personnel request from their operating budget since it might drop that department's funding below the minimum needed for REAP reimbursement. Jordahl asked Wong to find out the minimum needed in the Conservation Department to qualify for REAP funding. Jordahl also asked Wong to find out if funds within the capital expenditure budget which were earmarked to buy items for the Conservation Department could be used to qualify for REAP funding.

The Board then discussed the Juvenile Justice Administration. Stutsman said she had a meeting with Juvenile Justice Administration and said she had discussed these requests with other administration members. Stutsman said a contract with Juvenile Detention decreased the cost to house juveniles by $26 a day. Duffy said he was concerned about Juvenile Justice Administration's request, that it would cost too much. Jordahl said the Board shouldn't punish Johnson County residents by sending them to a detention center because the State legislature had not provided enough funding for treatment center beds. Stutsman said 2 members of the Juvenile Justice Administration had argued that more treatment center beds in Johnson County would be damaging in the long term due to the probable influx of problem juveniles to the County. Lehman said it was not guaranteed that the State would increase funding for juvenile treatment facilities. The Board allocated the requested amount of $338,025.

The Board then discussed the Court Services' request for funding. Pillard reviewed these requests saying $8,500 was asked to be used on increased audio visual and photo for criminal, and a court recorder for prosecutions. Stutsman suggested $4,000 for photography in criminal and a court reporter for prosecution. The Board agreed.

The Board then discussed Special Resource Enhancement-Conservation's request for funding. There was some confusion among Board members if money allocated to this department would help meet the REAP minimum. Jordahl said this request involved direct funding for land purchases for Conservation along with State dollars. The Board decided to pass over this request until more information was available concerning REAP funding and its relationship to Special Resource Enhancement-Conservation.

The Board then discussed the County Auditor/Elections' request for funding. Stutsman suggested increasing pollworkers wages to $8.00 an hour since temporary workers in that office had wages increased to that amount. The Board agreed to allocate $8,286 to raise pollworkers' wages. Pillard asked if the Board was considering disbursing funds for a full-time Elections Account Clerk. Jordahl and Stutsman said they were not considering it at that time. The Board discussed the request for $2,000 to add a lift to one of Elections' vans. Jordahl said allocating funds for a van which would be replaced by a new van the next year wouldn't be reasonable. Lehman suggested buying a van on loan and budget in the future to make payments since interest rates were so low. Jordahl suggested giving Elections money to negotiate a good price on a used van with a lift, since $4,700 had already been saved for a new van purchase the following year, rather than allocating funds to repair an old, damaged van which had only a projected life-span of one more year. Jordahl recommended giving $6,100, which was the requested amount to install a lift and repair a damaged van, along with $4,600, which was equal to 2 annual disbursements into capital expenditures to save for a new van. That would allocate $10,700 to capital expenditures to purchase a used van one year ahead of its projected time. The Board agreed.

Recessed at 3:10 p.m.; reconvened at 3:25 p.m.

The Board then discussed the Human Services Department's request for personnel funds. Stutsman said she supported the 1% increase to increase a part-time Social Worker 2 to a full-time one. She said this would help Human Services deal with the increase in foster care cases. Stutsman explained that the request for an increase in foster care home support meant fencing in yards or buying beds for foster care families which helped recruit. The Board decided to disburse $14,000 to increase a social worker to full-time and provide a $3,000 increase in Primary Treatment.

The Board discussed the personnel requests of MH/MR/DD/BI. Stutsman said this was a capped budget so little could be done with it other than cuts. Pillard said one social worker/case manager and one intake worker would be added in MH/DD. Jordahl said MH/DD was paying for the personnel additions from the surplus in their base budget. Some of the Board members did not like the fact that MH/DD was using their base budget surplus to spend on personnel rather than relying on personnel funds dispersed by the Board. The Board discussed creating a policy which stipulated that allocated personnel funds could only be used on or creating a regulation which stated that 97 or 98% of departmental personnel funds be spent on personnel. Pillard argued that such a regulation could hurt some departments. Jordahl said thousands of extra dollars would be available for the Board to allocate if leftover personnel funds went back to the Board. The Board asked Pillard to find out the amount of unspent personnel disbursements for FY 98. The Board agreed that the 2 additional staff positions in MH/DD be removed until MH/DD could justify them to the Board. However, Jordahl said removing the 2 positions would be cutting base funds from MH/DD. The Board decided to leave MH/DD's budget the way it was and requested that a representative of MH/DD meet with the Board.

The Board then discussed the Secondary Roads' Department's request for personnel funds. Pillard reviewed Secondary Roads' operating budget which included 2 pickup trucks at $30,000 each, 3 dump-trucks at $66,667, one tractor for $20,000, 2 passenger vehicles at $30,000 each, a trailer at $25,000 and a shop service truck at $45,000. Lehman suggested amending the budget to add an outside engineering position if the Local Option Sales Tax passes. The Board discussed cutting funding to Secondary Roads since it appeared that $30,000 on a truck with a trade-in was too expensive. Stutsman said she supported allocating $30,000 for outside engineering. The Board agreed but said no funds for new construction would not be dispersed until someone from Secondary Roads could attend a Board meeting and explain it in more detail.

The Board then discussed Veterans Affairs' request for funds. Pillard said this department shifted line items in order to meet some of their budget needs. The Board did not grant an increase in funds.

The Board then discussed Nutrition's request for funds. The Board made no changes to this budget.

The Board discussed the Conservation Trust's request for funds. Stutsman suggested delaying budget requests from this department until more information was known about REAP. The Board agreed.

The Board then discussed the Recorder's Records Management's request for funds. Pillard said that this department requested $8,000 to increase GIS and $7,000 for computer software. Jordahl said the Board had no control over this budget, it was the County Recorder's decision to decide and it was more of a courtesy to show the Board this budget.

The Board then discussed the SIH Consortium Trust's request for funds. The Board was unsure of what this department did. Jordahl said that since it was a trust that revenues would be expended, not funds from taxes.

Pillard then went over the departments which had budgets that stayed the same. Jordahl suggested cutting the funds from Weed Eradication, which had a budget of $247,000. Pillard said Weed Eradication came from the Rural Basic Fund which was taxed differently. Jordahl said cuts there could ease rural residents' tax burden.

The Board discussed Capital Project requests. Pillard said the Ambulance Department requested funds be saved for a Morton Building in Coralville to house the second ambulance. Jordahl said that Tiffin wanted Johnson County's Secondary Roads building in Tiffin but Tiffin owned the land a Morton Building sat on. The Board agreed to investigate this option further. Jordahl said that County Engineer Mike Gardner was going to look into it. Duffy suggested that a reduction in funds for weed eradication go to the library since they were both funded by the same rural block grant. Pillard said the Ambulance Department also asked that $2,500 be saved to re-carpet their building and $4,000 for storage cabinets in their classroom. Pillard said the County Attorney requested money to remodel the 1st and 2nd floor bathrooms of the courthouse. Stutsman reiterated her belief that a policy be enacted that allowed the Board to redistribute unspent money from a department's capital projects fund. Pillard said the Health Department requested new carpet in their building at a cost of $7,400 and wanted to start a savings account to pave their parking lot. Pillard continued by saying funds were requested for building construction from the Board of Supervisors but an amount was not specified. Jordahl said the $250,000 allocated for capital projects in FY 99 had generated $13,000 in interest. Jordahl recommended using the $13,000 for space development of Human Resource Offices or Planning and Zoning Offices if needed. Pillard noted that $24,000 had been saved for Jail space needs. Pillard said that the director of the Physical Plant felt the Sheriff's Office's solar arrays needed to be addressed. Pillard continued by saying the Physical Plant also requested $115,000 for courthouse space needs and construction. Jordahl said that space needs called for more systematic prioritization, such as concentrating more funds on the jail. Stutsman suggested removing the $122,782 saved for courthouse construction and moving it to jail space needs and construction saying she believed the courthouse projects that these funds were allocated for had been finished.

Duffy left at 4:32 p.m.; returned at 4:33 p.m.

Jordahl recommended zeroing out the $115,000 requested for courthouse space needs and construction for FY 2000. Pillard said included in that amount was a courthouse retaining wall at $60,000, courthouse steps at $45,000 and 3 security cameras at the courthouse. Stutsman recommended zeroing out the $115,000 but leave $1,000 in funds for security cameras. The Board agreed.

Jordahl left at 4:38 p.m.; returned at 4:39 p.m.

Adjourned at 4:40 p.m.

________________________________________________________________________

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Casie Parkins, Mark Kistler and Todd Schanbacher, Recording Secretaries