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
7/9/2013
7/9/2013
Present: All Council members present, Secretary Chelsea Young.
The council reviewed and approved meeting minutes from
its June meetings with minor corrections.
RE-APPROPRIATIONS:
Prosecutor
(Lori Schein):
Requested
redistribution of $15,000 from one deputy prosecutor salary line into three
other lines for deputy prosecutors who will be picking up duties being vacated
by the first deputy. Approved.
ADDITIONAL
APPROPRIATIONS:
Sherriff
(Ken Campbell):
Requested
transfer of $25,000 from the General Fund into the Communications Center fund
to support the Interact/CAD project.
These monies come from ATT as a reimbursement from the past 800mHz
rebanding program, which led to discussion as to whether there was a need for
this money to be moved from the General Fund.
After discussion, no action was taken.
Requested
$3000 for safe keeping. Approved.
Requested
roughly $800 for reimbursement of inmate postage and medical funds. Approved.
Requested
$104,000 to fund three additional special deputies for courthouse security,
upon the recommendation of a security committee appointed by the county
commissioners, as part of a broader courthouse security plan. Sherriff Campbell
introduced Judge Matthew Kincaid, chair of that committee, to address the
council regarding security issues at the courthouse. Judge Kincaid presented
the council copies of the buildings security strategic plan, which covers
various aspects of security being implemented over the next five years. During further
discussion and questions from the council, Campbell noted that the requested
amount would be for the entire year’s salary for three deputies, though he
would only need half that amount to cover the rest of the year. There was some
discussion of whether the amount was accurate or would be sufficient; the
distributed plan notes an annual cost of nearly $69,000 per special deputy,
rather than the $34,000 being used as the basis for this additional
request. The $69,000 would include
uniforms, equipment, training, pension, FICA and insurance at their maximum
levels for a new special deputy. Taxpayer
Aaron Smith spoke against the request, suggesting that the council look further
into the proposal at its budget hearings later this year. Judge Rebecca McClure (whose courtroom was
referenced by Judge Kincaid due to an incident there which sparked the
formation of this committee) answered questions and spoke about the changes she
has seen in her decades of service at the courthouse, supporting the increased
security needs. Judge Jeff Edens and
Major Mike Nielsen also answered questions and spoke in support of the request.
Judge Edens shared an anecdote from the previous day regarding a request by an
officer of the court to be escorted out of the building due to a perceived
threat from an upset hearing participant.
In providing the escort, the courthouse officer’s post was temporarily
unattended. Several council members
spoke with questions or comments about the appropriate timing of the request.
Commissioner Marc Applegate, who served on the committee, spoke in support of
moving ahead. County Treasurer Debbie
Ottinger also spoke in favor moving forward today, as did Clerk Penny Bogan, Auditor
Deanna Willhoite and Jon McDonald of the Boone County Bar Association. Eventually,
a motion was made to adopt and, in a roll call vote, the council voted 2-4
against the motion at this time. (Butch Smith,
a former merit deputy who may in future be used as a special courthouse deputy,
recused himself.)
Auditor
(Deanna Willhoite):
Requested
$26,000 to cover increased unemployment payments for the remainder of the year,
due primarily to increased turnover in the courthouse. Approved.
Commissioners
(Jeff Wolfe):
Requested
$163 for two change of venue charges from the courts. Approved.
Requested
a total of roughly $2,700 of reimbursements into the Telephone line from
payments various departments. Approved.
EMA
(Rachel Hansen):
Requested
$462 for reimbursements from grant money for equipment purchases.
Drug
Free Boone County (Penny Rader):
Requested
budgeting of $20,000 into a grant funding line in order to fund grant requests
for the remainder of the year. Ms. Rader
gave some examples of the grants that have been funded thus far this year. Approved.
Highway/Cum
Bridge/CCD (Rick Carney):
Requested
$80,000 from Cum Bridge to complete the contractor payments for work on Bridge
312 (Grant St. in Lebanon). Approved.
Requested
$1500 from CCD to Building Repair to cover electrical work for moving an
asphalt plant to a new location. Approved.
Health
Dept. (Cindy Murphy):
Requested
$13,700 to Food Safety Inspector and Social Security line to fully fund that
line for the year from grant money. An
apparent clerical error resulted in the line being under-funded. Approved.
**PUBLIC
HEARING – CUMULATIVE CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND RATE**
President
Jacob opened the public hearing regarding the possible increase to the CCD fund
rate. County Attorney Bob Clutter introduced Paige Sansone of Umbaugh &
Associates, CPA, who presented information regarding the fund’s history and
uses, as well as the history of the rate establishment. She explained that the “re-establishment” of
the fund’s rate is a fairly routine procedure across the state due to the
statutes regarding the state role in the rate.
The rate was originally set at its statutory maximum of .0333 per $100
of Assessed Valuation, but as the county’s total AV increases, the state
Department of Local Government Finance adjusts the rate down each year in order
to maintain the annual income from the levy at a fairly stable rate. Over time, as Boone County’s AV has grown,
the CCD rate has fallen to .0127 per $100AV.
Ms. Sansone also addressed the impact a rate increase would have on owners
of various values of property in different taxing districts across the county,
in particular regarding the impact of constitutional property tax caps both on
the CCD fund and on the various other taxing units. As most of Boone County’s taxing districts
are currently at property tax rates below 2.0, this increase would have little
if any impact related to the caps in those districts. However, the impact would be felt most in
Zionsville and Lebanon, where more properties are closer to the caps currently. Other council discussion centered on the fact
that the balance of the CCD has continued to fall for the past several years,
as the council has used it to fund more and more purchases, including most of
the upcoming expenses related to the purchase of the new building on Washington
Street.
Lebanon
resident Aaron Smith spoke extensively in opposition the reestablishment of the
rate, presenting several pages of information regarding the county’s finances
and his view of the impact of any increase on various groups of Boone County
residents.
After
lengthy discussion, a motion to re-set the rate at .0230 (approximately halfway
to the maximum increase) died for lack of a second. A second motion, to increase the rate the
full amount, to .0333, failed 3-4. Ms.
Sansone pointed out that the budget hearings in September will determine the
actual rate, and that a vote here would merely allow the council the
flexibility to set the rate higher. A third motion, to establish the rate at
.0330, passed 4-3.
NEW
BUSINESS:
Commissioner
Jeff Wolfe presented a proposal from the commissioners to re-organize the
facilities maintenance and management staff and responsibilities. The new proposal would combine management of
the county jail with the other buildings under a single Facilities Manager,
with no additional employees. With a
slight raise for that overall manager’s position, the re-adjustment of
positions and salaries would still include a savings of about $3000 per
year. The proposal also includes a possible
future addition of a part-time administrative assistant, but that would be
addressed at budget hearing time.
Eventually a motion to approve the changes was adopted.
OLD
BUSINESS:
Councilor
Wilhoite reminded council members that while meeting with their assigned departments
for budget planning they should clarify part-time vs. full-time employees and
compile any information for the council’s hearings in September. Wilhoite also
reminded that some situations will require advertising budget proposals from
multiple sources.
PUBLIC
COMMENT:
Cindy
Murphy of the Health Department followed up on an email she had sent regarding
filling a vacant position.
DOCUMENT
SIGNING
The
meeting adjourned at approximately 11:55.
Next
regularly-scheduled council meeting will be Tuesday, August 13th, at
8:30 a.m.
