Note January 2010 Council Meeting

Note: These are my personal notes from the council meeting. They are NOT the official minutes, nor should they be construed as an official record of any kind.

Boone County Council
1/12/2010
Present: All Council Members, Secretary Heather Barton, Auditor Melody Price, Attorney Bob Clutter.

The council approved the minutes of the December meeting.

This being the first meeting of the new year, the council elected officers for the year. Steve Jacob and Marcia Wilhoite were unanimously chosen to serve as president and vice president, respectively.

RE-APPROPRIATIONS:
Assessor:
Requested creation of a new line and transfer of $237 to cover a maintenance agreement for a copier inherited from the Eagle Township Assessor’s office. Approved.

Prosecutor (Tonya Thayer):
Asked to transfer $7500 from one deputy prosecutor line to two others at $3750 each because of transfer of duties away from one deputy, and to increase the salary of two other deputies. The board had many concerns about adjusting a recently-adopted salary ordinance and in essence giving raises to two employees. The board asked that the request be tabled pending further information.

ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS:
NONE

NEW BUSINESS:
Probation Coordinator Kari Ragsdale presented information regarding replacement of a recently-retired probation officer. Ragsdale has begun accepting applications, but does not have a final choice. The board approved filling the position.

Witham Hospital CEO Ray Ingham, with a large crowd present in support including the Hospital Board, Hospital Association Board and Advisory Board, presented information regarding the hospital’s plan to issue bonds to refinance current construction bonds, as well as to purchase building and land at the Anson ER. Consultant Ed Abel summarized the situation and the hospital’s request for county backing of the new bonds to secure better interest rates through tax-exempt financing, which would result in a savings of roughly $1M per year, plus a significant savings related to ownership of the building. Consultant Jacob McClellan discussed the details of the bond issue, in an amount “not to exceed” $40M, though the hospital expects to borrow just $35M. The hospital also hopes to secure backing through the State Bond Bank to get an even better rating and therefore interest rate.
Council members asked several questions about the prospects with the State Bond Bank, the timing of the land purchase, Witham revenues to debt service ($100M to $2.5M). Commissioner Charles Eaton and County Attorney Bob Clutter presented their support for the agreement and answered additional questions. A taxpayer agreement will be in place to protect the county as much as possible in the extremely unlikely event that the hospital would be unable to meet its obligations, including a sinking fund of money set aside by the hospital up front. The annual lease obligation for the county in a worst-case scenario would be a maximum of $3.5M per year.
The hospital’s current long-term debt is already $35M, so this bond issue would essentially double its long-term debt while eliminating (by refinancing) the short-term debt of $15M currently involved in construction loans.
The council approved a resolution to support the bond issue.

The council made several appointments and reappointments to various boards as follows: Bob Miller re-appointed to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission; Carol Nist and Charles Ewing to the PTBOA; Debby Shubert to the Convention and Visitors Bureau; Greg Slipher and Marcia Wilhoite to the Redevelopment Commission; Marcia Wilhoite to the Solid Waste District Board.

OLD BUSINESS:
Auditor Melody Price and Treasurer Deanna Wilhoite presented a summary of the 2009 tax sale, as well as the pertinent Indiana Code regarding tax sales. Council member Gene Thompson asked several questions regarding the fees charged – by state statute – to taxpayers to redeem their taxes, which essentially allows investors who purchase the property at tax sale to recoup an additional 10% on their investment when the original owners redeem the property.
Gene Thompson also asked questions to clarify the status of the balance of roughly $90,000 in the tax sale surplus fund, which consists of money collected from previous sales which has not been redeemed. Taxpayers have three years to redeem their property before the surplus money can revert to the county general fund. Since the last county tax sale was in 2006, any money in that fund must have been there for at least three years by now. President Jacob asked for clarification on the county’s obligation to notify property owners about the surplus funds the county holds. Greg Jordan of GUTS, who coordinated the 2009 tax sale, also answered questions regarding the county’s obligation for notifying taxpayers. Both Jacob and Thompson expressed concerns that the county may not have made adequate efforts to notify the original delinquent taxpayers that money they have claim to is being held. Treasurer Wilhoite, Mr.Jordan and Auditor Price confirmed that multiple notices would have been sent throughout the tax sale process, and that another notice would be filed if the tax sale purchaser should ever file a deed on the property. The council decided to continue to delay transferring the money to the general fund for now.

PUBLIC COMMENT:
None.

Meeting Adjourned at 10:00

January 2010 Council Agenda

BOONE COUNTY COUNCIL
BUSINESS AGENDA FOR JANUARY 12, 2010
LOCATION: CONNIE LAMAR MEETING ROOM, ROOM 105
116 W Washington St
Lebanon, IN 46052
Amended


Call meeting to order – 8:30 a.m.

Approval of December 2009 minutes

Re-Appropriation Requests:
Assessor, Prosecutor

Additional Requests: None

New Business:
Kari Ragsdale, Probation – New Employee
Witham Health Services – Ray Ingham, CEO; George Pogas, CFO; Ed Abel, Consultant; Jacob McClellan, Consultant; Jerimi Ullom, Consultant

Old Business:

Public Comment

Document Signing:
Re-Appropriations, December 2009 Council Minutes

Adjournment

This agenda is subject to change.