Notes -- October 2011 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
10/11/2011
Present: All Council Members present, Secretary Heather Barton.
The council approved the minutes of the September meeting with several corrections.

RE-APPROPRIATIONS: All approved
Circuit Court(no one present):
Requested $2100 from Juvenile Counseling to Library.

CCD/Courthouse Maintenance (Mike Miller):
Requested $2140 from Equipment to Courthouse/Annex. This is simply moving the funds allocated last month for the new generator and fence into the appropriate line.

ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS:
Sheriff (Mike Nielsen):
Requested $23000 to the Part-Time line to cover jailer and communications officer positions (full-time) which have been empty and not yet filled. Most of the full-time positions were/are being paid out of the Rainy Day Fund, so that money, while still available in that fund, cannot be used to pay from this general fund part-time line. We’ll actually be spending less money than originally budgeted, but less from Rainy Day and more from the General Fund. (As council president Steve Jacob said, “Gotta love government accounting!”) Approved.
Also requested $168 to Part-Time to cover employee work on sheriff’s sales. Approved.

Requested roughly $900 in various transfers for Inmate Medical, Postage and Supplies for inmate reimbursements. Approved.

Commissioners/Trails (no one present):
Requested reimbursement of nearly $3000 for rail-to-trail grant money. Approved.

Jail Maintenance/Vehicle (Mike Martin):
Requested $1000 for fuel costs for the jail truck, as that line has been depleted. Approved.

Jail Building/CCD (Mike Martin):
Requested $15,000 for building maintenance costs. Approved.

Community Corrections (Kari Ragsdale):
Requested $30,000 for GPS tracking to pay a vendor for increased monitoring, including increased juvenile offender monitoring. This will be paid through offender fees. Approved.

Highway (Rick Carney):
Requested $15000 for tires and tubes to cover that line’s expected expense for the remainder of the year. This is Highway Fund money, not general fund. Approved.

NEW BUSINESS:
Tonya Thayer from the Prosecutor’s Office requested an amendment of the salary ordinance to reflect personnel shuffles in the Chief Deputy Prosecutor position, an additional deputy prosecutor position and the CAC Director. Much confusing discussion followed, and in the end a motion to make the change carried 4-3.

Major Nielsen and County Attorney Bob Clutter presented a series of amendments to the sheriff’s retirement fund required by new IRS regulations on recent legislative changes. Clutter stated the amendments were all technical in nature and would make no substantive changes in our current retirement plan. The council voted to authorize the changes.

Dax Norton, Executive Director of the Boone County Economic Development Corporation, updated the council on a busy couple of months. One major project has placed a Boone County location in its final three site list and will likely decide soon. Two companies in the Lebanon Business Park are in discussions regarding expansion, both in space and in employees. The EDC continues to work on its “gardening” project of finding small companies in the incubator stage and help them to grow while staying in Boone County. The EDC will be hosting a “Boone EDC 101” in Lebanon on November 4th, as well as a development summit workshop in Advance at a TBD date.

Auditor Melody Price presented the monthly financial update, as well updates on the upcoming tax sale and surplus funds. Price also asked the Council to consider purchase of a software package called CYMA, which her office and the Treasurer have been evaluating with GUTS, the county attorney and the commissioners. Our current provider will cost just under $50,000 next year between needed upgrades and annual maintenance ($26,000). This new software will be about $47,000 for the first year, then $12,000 annual maintenance.

OLD BUSINESS:
None.

PUBLIC COMMENT:
Marcia Wilhoite noted that issues regarding the 911 upgrade, as well as addressing radio issues with the sheriff’s and highway departments, will be discussed at the November meeting.

Gene Thompson took the podium to update the council on an award presented to the county and the town of Zionsville from the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns commending the county’s cooperation with the town in regards to the Zionsville/Eagle/Union consolidation.

Clarification was made that our next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 9th, as the regular Tuesday meeting date will be election day.

Discussion also followed regarding the agenda for the joint council/commissioners meeting November 16th. Among the items which may be on the agenda will be the software contract discussed above, the outcome of the budget process and its ongoing issues, the RDC update on the I-65 TIF bond, drainage issues on 865 and the Ford Road bridge.

Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:40.

Following a brief recess, the council reconvened its hearing on the 2012 budget. Following the cuts made in our regular hearings in August, the council asked department heads and elected officials to make an additional 5% in cuts to their general fund budgets to move us closer to a balanced budget. After extensive work by most of the departments and council members Gene Thompson and Marcia Wilhoite in particular, a new set of numbers amounting to a total budget of $14,316,762 from the general fund (with projected revenue of $12,528,888) was presented and adopted. The difference of just under $1.8M will be drawn from the county’s General Fund operating balance, unlike last year, when we drew $1.85M from the Rainy Day Fund. Several other fund budgets and levy rates were also approved to finalize the overall budget. One point of discussion was the county park levy, which was reduced slightly last year after much discussion, with the understanding (at least on my part) that it would be gradually phased out. No notice of a reduction was given to the towns who rely on that revenue, however. In the end, the council opted to leave it where it is, but with plans to eliminate the levy altogether for 2013.

Next regularly-scheduled council meeting will be 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, November 9th, in the Courthouse Annex, Lebanon. The following week, Wednesday, November 16th, the council and commissioners will conduct their “quarterly” joint meeting at the Zionsville Town Hall.