Reconvened on January 28th, 1999 at 11:10 a.m.

The Board discussed their upcoming meeting with Director of the Department of Mental Health Deborah Conger.

Deputy County Auditor Chris Edwards distributed information on the amount of money needed to be spent on the Conservation Department to remain eligible for REAP funding. Edwards said the operating expenditure that are made in the Conservation Department are added to the amount transferred from the general basic fund to the conservation trust fund, an amount which is usually equal to the revenues generated by the Conservation Department, revenues which stemmed from swimming, campgrounds, etc. Edwards said revenues from the Conservation Department are initially put into the general basic fund then transferred into the conservation trust fund the next fiscal year. Edwards clarified for Stutsman that the Board was not obligated to transfer revenue from the Conservation Department from the general fund into the conservation trust fund. Edwards said the total amount of Conservation's operating budget and the amount transferred into the conservation trust fund was the figure used to determine REAP eligibility. Edwards also recommended providing a bit more funds than needed to maintain REAP eligibility since these figures were estimates. Jordahl noted that the amount the Conservation Department would receive from REAP was $26,000. Duffy and Edwards noted that revenues from the Conservation Department were down due to storm damage to campgrounds the previous year. Jordahl noted that $714,547 needed to be spent on the Conservation Department with a 22% tax levy to be eligible for REAP. Pillard pointed out that the base budget for the Conservation Department for FY 99 was $722,458. Edwards said the Conservation Department did take funds out of the conservation trust fund for capital expenditures. Pillard said that once money was given to the Conservation Department and the Board of Health, they could ultimately allocate money without the Board's approval. Jordahl asked if eligibility for REAP could be maintained if capital expenditure money in the conservation trust fund was put into the overall capital expenditure fund. Jordahl also talked about enacting a policy which would prevent departments from expending money except what it was initially specified for or creating a special account within the conservation trust fund which could only be expended on personnel.

Stutsman asked how the Conservation Department's budget could be organized like other departmental budgets without jeopardizing REAP funding. Wong said it wasn't a good idea to put capital expenditures for Conservation into the general capital expenditure fund. Wong recommended putting the Conservation Department's capital project needs into the conservation trust fund which would help maintain REAP eligibility but allow the Board to better track where Conservation Department funds were being spent. Jordahl, Stutsman and Lehman agreed to move capital expenditure funds for the Conservation Department from the general capital expenditure fund to a Conservation capital expenditure fund within the capital trust fund but without specifying any particular dollar amounts until capital expenditures for Conservation had been decided.

The Board then discussed that department's capital expenditure requests. Pillard noted that the cost of living adjustment for the Conservation Department's current personnel was $39,542. Pillard said the cost of the additional staff this department wanted to hire, including benefits and health, was close to $39,542. Pillard recommended hiring the additional staff person if the Board didn't spend $35,000 on Conservation's capital expenditures request, which would help to maintain REAP eligibility. Jordahl noted that $9,225 requested for a mower was outside of the Conservation Department's operating budget. Duffy said only funds for capital improvements and land acquisition could be taken from the conservation trust fund. Stutsman said she believed those restrictions were for REAP funds. Jordahl recommended $35,000 for the capital expenditure request of a crawler and truck into the conservation trust fund specified as a line item identifying them and reduce the operating budget for FY 2000 by $35,000. Duffy said it was against regulations to use the conservation trust fund in that manner, and Stutsman said to wait on that action until more information was known. Jordahl recommended telling the Conservation Department that it's new policy was operational budget dollars couldn't be spent on personnel. Jordahl recommended putting land acquisition money into the conservation trust fund instead of department 32, which is Special Resource Enhancement-Conservation. Stutsman said she was not ready to put land acquisition money in to meet REAP requirements. Pillard recommended talking to Conservation Department Director Rod Dunlap to better understand regulations regarding REAP eligibility and the conservation trust fund. The Board continued to discuss ways to prevent departments such as Conservation and Public Health from spending operation budget dollars on personnel. Stutsman argued against making a special, separate fund within the conservation trust fund for personnel or capital expenditures because it would encourage other departments to do the same thing.

Duffy left at 11:55 a.m.

Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore arrived and distributed information to the Board which outlined the duties of an additional staff member his department had requested.

Recessed at 12:00 p.m.; reconvened at 1:17 p.m. with Duffy absent.

Pillard spoke about scheduling for future budget work sessions. Jordahl expressed concern that Duffy wouldn't be present until later in the work session. He said it would have been more appropriate to question a department head about their budget, as was originally scheduled, but was apprehensive about actually making budget decisions without him. Stutsman agreed.

Lehman, Jordahl and Stutsman left at 1:18 p.m. They returned at 1:19 p.m.

The Board suggested that Pillard call Director of Planning and Zoning Rick Dvorak to discuss their department's budget requests. Dvorak said the job description his department created pulled ideas from Iowa City, Linn County and various other areas. Dvorak said he tried to avoid making the job description to narrow. Dvorak talked of contracting out building inspectors from Johnson County to small towns that request it. Jordahl asked about the Planning and Zoning Department's request for software. Dvorak spoke about how Arcview software could be used to instantly show where a building permit is at, where it sits on it's property, when it was zoned and platted. Dvorak said the additional staff member he requested could be described as an AutoCAD specialist/zoning aid. Lehman asked if an assistant planner was added if one of the 2 interns in Planning and Zoning would be eliminated. Dvorak said he would like to keep both interns but would eliminate one if needed. Jordahl said eliminating an intern probably wouldn't be needed since they don't receive benefits. Jordahl asked if Dvorak would have space needs if an additional staff member was hired. Dvorak said he could fit another staff person into the office if interns work shifts continued to be staggered.

The Board discussed the building code which a study committee was going to positively recommend that the Board implement. Jordahl talked about finding or creating office space that would be needed to house a building department that would be created if a building code was adopted. Pillard said construction like this probably won't take place until after FY 2000. Jordahl talked about the revenue generated from inspecting buildings to see if they met code which would help cover staff costs and other departmental costs. Dvorak agreed, saying revenues from Linn County's building department helped fund a good portion of their operating budget. Dvorak said the estimated revenue from a buildings department would be 1% of the total number of dollars in building permits, which meant approximately $220,000-$240,000 would be generated.

Adjourned at 2:00 p.m.

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Casie Parkins, Darby Cole and Todd Schanbacher, Recording Secretaries