Reconvened at 1:16 p.m.
County Engineer Mike Gardener was present to answer questions about the Secondary Roads Department's request for funds. Jordahl noted that replacing passenger vehicles 1 and 2, which are sport utility vehicles, with a trade in was $30,000 each. Gardener said that was an error in his budget, that those figures did not include trade in because one would be kept as a spare vehicle and he was uncertain if they would be traded or auctioned off. Gardener said if the vehicles were auctioned off the money from that would become a revenue, not reduced expenditure. Jordahl said he needed an estimate of what the trade in or auction price would be in order to asses the needed tax levy. Gardener said 2 of the County's 4-wheel drive pickups were auctioned off in October 1997 which brought in $3,000-$3,500. Gardener said the auctioned vehicles' years were 1977 and 1978. Jordahl said the vehicle Secondary Roads planned to trade in didn't have much of a trade in value. Jordahl said Secondary Roads was budgeting $10,000 in excess for each new vehicle, saying a Jeep Cherokee could be purchased for $20,000 instead of $30,000 for a Ford Explorer or Chevy Blazer. Gardener said he had no problem if the Board allocated $20,000 for each vehicle replacement, but said the requested funds for vehicles were their best estimate at the time the budget was created, citing he underestimated the cost of dump-trucks by nearly $20,000 each. Maintenance Supervisor Hackathorn said enough funds needed to be spent to purchase a vehicle which could be used for 10 to 12 years rather than 3 to 4. Jordahl suggested allocating $22,000 for each vehicle. Jordahl said the budget line for replacement vehicles was in excess, and asked Gardener if there were other budget lines which were too large. Hackathorn said the expectations for a truck used in the Secondary Roads department were more demanding than what the average person needed.
The Board then discussed Secondary Roads' request for additional personnel. Jordahl said this department requested 2 additional maintenance personnel. Stutsman said the Board supported funding outside engineering at a cost of $30,000. Gardener said most of the employees in Secondary Roads had worked there a long time, which meant they were eligible for a good deal of vacation time. Gardener also said that workers in his department were now allowed to take compensation time instead of overtime work up to 36 hours per year, which meant an additional week off from work for each employee. He said last year 4 employees were absent on average per day. Gardner said because of this, sometimes they had to consolidate crews just to have one full crew working on a job. Stutsman asked if vehicles or personnel were more important. Gardener said additional personnel was his departments greatest need but additional personnel needed vehicles to drive.
Next the Board of Supervisors discussed weed eradication budgeting. Pillard said weed eradication fell under the rural basic fund. Jordahl questioned if all the weed eradication funds were being used on weed eradication or if some of the funds were used on gravel roads. Jordahl also questioned that $110,000 of the weed eradication budget was used on equipment rental. Gardener said the moneys for equipment rental rolled forward each fiscal year and weed eradication money was used only on weed eradication. Gardener said money from the Secondary Roads budget used on weed eradication was reimbursed from the weed eradication budget. Jordahl questioned why weed eradication money wasn't in Secondary Roads' operating budget. Stutsman said it was so dollars being spent on weed eradication could be tracked. Jordahl again questioned whether all of the weed eradication funds were used on weed eradication. Gardener said line items from his budget such as brush clearing, spraying and mowing were reimbursed from the weed eradication fund. Pillard said that many items in the County's budget were not always necessarily comprised of line items which was not within that budget's category. Lehman agreed with Jordahl that many departmental budgets should be broken down to a greater degree so the Board could understand where allocated funds went. Hackathorn said the $110,000 for equipment rental probably stemmed from buying equipment instead of leasing or renting equipment. Jordahl said he wanted to make changes in these 2 budgets. Stutsman agreed with Jordahl but said it was too late to fix the weed eradication and Secondary Roads Budget for FY 2000, but that the Board should instruct departments in the future to make their budgets clearer. Gardener pointed out that the requested $240,000 for new construction would come from a carried over balance so a tax increase could be avoided. Gardener told the Board that his department was required to use 75% of the maximum tax levy on local uses or State road use tax moneys could be denied.
Next, the Board met with the Director of Public Health Graham Dameron and County Wellness Program Director Sher Hawn to discuss the County Wellness Program and the Public Health Department. Dameron said the County Wellness Program's expenditures had been under the Board of Public Health since 1982. In 1996 the Board of Health decided the County Wellness Program was an employee benefit program which meant the program was the Board of Supervisors' responsibility to fund while Public Health administered it. Dameron continued by saying an arrangement was made to take $50,000 annually from block grant 20 and issue the Public Health Department a check to show revenues. Dameron said funds from the block grant required unnecessary paperwork and trouble and asked that money no longer be allocated from the block grant to Public Health. Jordahl asked if it made more sense to put the County Wellness Program under the Human Resources Department rather than Public Health. Dameron said there wasn't much of an advantage to transfer County Wellness to Human Resources since his department already worked closely with Human Resources. Hawn said she had unpaid university students in nursing and public health who work for the County Wellness Program for college credit and this staff would be lost if the program was moved into the Human Resources Department.
The Board then discussed the Food Inspection Program. Disease Prevention Manager Kot Flora said 2.6 full-time employees worked on the food program during the 1998 calendar year. Flora said food program employees had to be trained, and attend Health Department staff meetings. Flora cited a labor distribution report and said 0.5 full-time employees were needed to conduct the food program in Iowa and Muscatine Counties. Flora continued by saying during the 1998 calendar year 2.1 full-time employees staffed Johnson County's food program. She said the number of food inspections was going to double in the next year due to the new food code and State contract and the complexity of food inspections were expected to increase. Flora said that a total of 4.2 full-time employees would be needed in the next year, minus the 1.6 present food program employees, meaning funds for 1.5 additional full-time personnel were requested. Jordahl said some elements of the food program would not double as the number of inspections doubled. Flora agreed that it was difficult to finely calculate what doubling the number of inspections would do to the workload due to variables such as traveling to Iowa and Muscatine County and the demanding nature of many food distributors. Dameron mentioned that food inspectors were required at Kinnick Stadium and at the Coral Ridge Mall. Flora said the food code had not been recently changed for the first time in 20 years, which also adjusted the cost of food licenses. She continued by saying the cost of service was outweighing revenues brought into the food program. Flora spoke of the time needed to inspect large supermarkets and the rising incidence of different diseases such as hepatitis. Dameron said the basis for average workload was 2 for each site. Flora said the old food code required on-site inspections every other year for some establishments, but this had been increased by State mandate. Lehman asked about the number of inspections per year. Flora answered by saying the food program had to perform follow up inspections when food distributor's were classified as a risk, sometimes multiple follow up inspections. She pointed out that food inspection could be done more cheaply but the quality would decline.
Dameron said the Department of Public Health's proposed budget amendment could be decreased by $3,158 to make the request $47,390. Dameron also said he requested $25,000 in capital expenditures for one car, but $30,000 would provide 2 cars, one a road car and a replacement for another car.
Recessed at 2:50; reconvened at 3:08 p.m.
County Attorney Pat White was present to answer questions about his FY 2000 budget. White explained his request for $15,000 for attorney promotions. White said the salary survey's intended effect upon employee wages in his department was mediocre. He explained by saying levels of promotions for attorney salaries ranged from $2,000 to $4,500 which made it impossible to create a pay plan that worked with the salary survey step system since attorney salaries didn't fit into the salary survey pay ranges. White said he and Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek spread out the attorneys over 5 different pay ranges. White provided an illustration of the salary survey problem, saying if an entry level lawyer was hired in the Assistant County Attorney 1 position at $31,000, it would take that individual 15 years to earn $34,433. White continued by saying he and Shramek calculated a relative point to promote attorneys because the informal step system for entry to 3 years of service in the department no longer worked. White said he had 3 attorneys on staff who were classified at Assistant Attorney 1 who had upcoming anniversary dates in the next fiscal year that required promotion. He continued by saying he requested funds for 5 attorney promotions but 3 were absolutely necessary.
White said the average length of employment at the County Attorney's office for entry-level attorneys was 18 months in the early 1980's. White said the average length of employment was extended to 3 years in the early 1990's but there is now a high rate of attorneys leaving the department after 3 or 4 years. The County Attorney said the high turnover rate was difficult for his department because of the heavy caseload, that it takes one or 2 years for a new attorney to become proficient. White also said he did not have an Assistant County Attorney and some individuals in his office were ready for that level of responsibility, which would also be a factor in how he allocated funds for promotions. Jordahl noted that White had requested an additional full-time attorney. White said he had a plan to have the new attorney assist in juvenile, criminal and civil court cases. White said he tempered his budget request because he knew a good deal about the whole county's budget, especially space needs. White added he did need an additional support staff member more than an additional attorney.
White said if it was a question of where public safety dollars would best be spent, it would be on a uniformed officer with a car. He continued by saying Courthouse security was needed, and the Sheriff's Department was too understaffed to provide it regularly. White mentioned that contracting was discussed by the Sheriff's department to free up personnel. Jordahl asked White if he was requesting that the Board create a deputy sheriff to be provide security at the Courthouse. White replied that he was requesting that, but he didn't want the funds to be taken from the County Attorney's budget. The Board then discussed their schedule of upcoming budget work sessions.
Recessed at 3:54 p.m.; reconvened on January 28th, 1999 at 11:10 a.m.