Joint Council & Commissioners Meeting -- June 2011

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 and Commissioners Joint Meeting
6/22/2011
Present: All Council Members except President Steve Jacob, All Commissioners, Council Secretary Heather Barton.

Commissioners President Jeff Wolfe and Council Vice-President Marcia Wilhoite called the respective boards’ meetings to order. (Council president Jacob is stuck in Colorado with a disabled motor home.) Wolfe led the boards and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Wolfe asked the elected officials in the audience to stand and introduce themselves. Several county officials, as well town board members from Thorntown and Zionsville were present.

Commissioner Wolfe adjusted the schedule to address a proposed inter-local agreement between the County and the City of Lebanon to cooperate in APC inspections. The assisting inspector would be paid $25 per inspection, with both entities anticipating the cumulative total to be roughly even. The Commissioners adopted the agreement unanimously. Several council members asked questions about the financing and oversight of the inspections. APC Director Rachel Whittington addressed the group to answer questions. The Council also approved unanimously.

Brent Wheat (and I) presented the recommendations of the Personnel Committee he chaired, including eight related to personnel costs, and three others in unrelated areas seeking efficiencies. (See below. Other members were Commissioner Charles Eaton and Auditor Melody Price, with much assistance from county HR Specialist Dennis Dunlap.) Much discussion followed. Marcia Wilhoite asked about health insurance for council and commissioners. Gene Thompson asked about a timeline for implementation. Jeff Wolfe asked for a breakdown of the part-time and over-time budget lines. Others asked about the expansion of employee hours and whether that would incur additional cost. Butch Smith stated that much of the fault for the crisis lies with the state. Marc Applegate suggested that the commissioners and council members take a pay cut themselves as a show of good faith. Marcia Wilhoite commented that asking employees to continue at the same pay level (even without a rate cut with expanded hours) would result in the county losing good employees to the private sector. Applegate suggested creating a pay system which would include incentives for performance and efficiency. Much further discussion followed. Wolfe asked for comments from the audience. County Assessor Lisa Garoffolo asked for clarification on the implementation of an expanded work week, particularly her concern that it might impair employees from working second jobs. Aaron Smith thanked the board for their efforts and expressed his confidence that these boards could make the hard decisions to address the crisis. (Wow! Thanks, Aaron!) Josh Morris (? – sorry, I got behind in my typing) commended the boards for having an evening meeting so citizens could attend, suggested that any savings accrued through a hiring freeze be put into a pool for merit pay uses, and also suggested that the county look to revenue-side solutions. Cindy Poore, Health Department Director, commended the suggestions for efficiencies, but also stated concerns in relation to health insurance costs both for her department’s budget and for individual employees. Tom Kouns, County Highway Superintendent, suggested a couple tactics implemented in Ohio County, including paying employees with insurance options through their spouses to take those options, still with a net savings to the county. Council member Gene Thompson asked for input from municipal officials regarding performance-based pay. Steve Mundy, Zionsville Town Council, stated that Zionsville is moving toward that system for future increases beginning next year. The one action taken at this meeting was to put the hiring freeze on both boards' agendas for their next monthly meeting.

Wolfe asked Attorney Clutter to explain the agenda item of the Cum Bridge Fund Levy. In 2006, the county council approved an annual appropriation of $500,000 for five years from the fund to the Boone County Fair Board to support construction of new buildings, including the Witham Health Services Pavilion. That commitment will end next year. Changes to state law since 2006 now require both the council and commissioners to advertise the fund levy in order to maintain it at its current rate after the 4-H commitment expires. This process needs to start this August to be in place in time to prevent a disruption in the levy. The rate did not increase in 2006, and will not increase through this process, but the income from the levy will return to the cum bridge fund. Both council and commissioners approved resolutions directing Clutter to draft the resolutions to begin the process.

Wolfe asked me to address the agenda item of the Courthouse Centennial. Next July 4, 2012, will be the centennial of the dedication of our county courthouse, and I would like the county to partner with the Historical Society and perhaps the Lebanon Fourth of July Committee to recognize that anniversary. I proposed creating a committee to coordinate the activities and ask for volunteers. The council moved to create such a committee and named me chair (surprise!), with Brent Wheat volunteering to serve also. Charles Eaton will represent the Commissioners. Anyone in the community interested in helping should contact one of us (drodgers@ilines.net, bwheat@cityoflebanon.org, ceaton@co.boone.in.us ).

Wolfe asked for Other Business from the boards. Gene Thompson asked for clarification on the re-assessment contract which was discussed at the last monthly meetings of the two boards. He expressed concern that the funds coming into the fund designated for the next assessment cycle may not be sufficient to cover the anticipated costs. One of the concerns is that the commissioners approve contracts while the council is charged with funding them, so communication is an issue. Wolfe explained to the audience that the county has pushed the state legislature to move to “rolling reassessment” to make assessment more efficient and less costly, and encouraged anyone interested to contact their legislators.

Public comment was solicited but no one spoke.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:00.


While no date has been set, it is the expectation of the boards that another joint evening meeting will be held in September, possibly in either Thorntown or Zionsville to accommodate citizens attending from other parts of the county. Any input from the public on the advisability/feasibility to doing this would be welcome. Please contact the council or commissioners members with your thoughts!


Personnel Committee Recommendations for Joint Commissioners/Council Meeting
1. Eliminate council/commissioners insurance package. ($90,000/year)
2. Eliminate part-time and over-time. ($200,000/year)
3. Expand work week to 37.5 hours/week.
4. Electronic time keeping.
5. Hard hiring freeze with corresponding reduction in allocation. Dept. heads must request and advertise additional appropriation before extending employment offer to fill positions.
6. Direct deposit for all employees.
7. Review medical insurance:
a. Eligibility (“regular” full-time employees, dependents, employer options)
b. Level of coverage
c. County portion of payment
8. Council ask department heads to adjust budget requests according to percentage of last year’s
budget based on 2012 projections.
9. Any other suggestions from council or commissioners?

Other suggestions
1. Move vendor payments to electronic funds transfer.
2. Move settlements to electronic funds transfer.
3. Ask department heads/elected officials to seek efficiencies.
4. Solicit employee ideas for efficiencies.