Notes -- February 2012 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
2/14/2012
Present: All Council Members present.
The council approved the minutes of the November joint meeting, the December special meeting and the January regular meeting.

Judge Rebecca McClure updated the council on the status of the Chamorro trial. Mr. Chamorro has entered a guilty plea, which, if sentencing goes as expected, will mean that the case will not go forward as a death penalty trial. Judge McClure was originally scheduled to discuss the county’s obligation in funding such a trial, which would have been extensive – likely in the range of $1.5M-$2M. Judge McClure expects the current plea to be approved, though several factors could undo the agreement. Even without unexpected changes, the cost of the sentencing hearings will still be unusually large. As it is still technically a death penalty case until finally resolved, some reimbursement from the state will be forthcoming.

RE-APPROPRIATIONS: NONE

ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS:
Auditor (Melody Price):
Requested $1100 for consulting to contract Umbaugh to prepare the county’s debt report for the Gateway program. The office has been unable to compile all the data required by the state for Gateway. Approved.

Sheriff (Ken Campbell):
Requested roughly $600 in reimbursements from the general fund from inmate, medical, postage and sheriff’s sale fees. Approved.

Prosecutor (Todd Meyer):
Requested $12,500 for witness and deposition to clear a problem with conflicting fund numbers (1000 lines are now reserved only for salaries; this money had previously been budgeted there, but are no longer allowed, so this new request is to fill a 3000 line). Mr. Thompson pointed out that previous years had been significantly lower, and asked if $8000 would suffice. Meyer responded that he was actually expecting to need another $5000 later for expenses related to the Chamorro case, some of which would come from the Trial Expense line or a specially created fund for the capital trial expenses. Approved at $8000.

Commissioners (Marc Applegate):
Requested nearly $1800 for Rail to Trail reimbursement from the state. Approved.

Soil and Water (Kathy Clawson):
Requested $6400 to correct a transcription error in the budget. Approved.

Courthouse Maintenance (Mike Miller):
Requested $5000 to boost a part-time line. Last year the council had denied a request to replace a full-time employee, and asked Mr. Miller to utilize a part-time position instead. That position was originally funded at 30 hours/week. Miller’s request will move that funding up to the maximum part-time level of 34 hours/week. The council applauded Mr. Miller’s efforts to make do with a part-time employee and thus save the county benefits costs. Approved.

Community Corrections (Kari Ragsdale):
Requested $30,000 for a juvenile corrections field officer. This had been discussed at last month’s meeting. The salary will be drawn entirely from project income. Approved.

Sheriff’s Vehicles (Ken Campbell):
Requested $137,300 from Cum Cap Dev. This was approved at last summer’s budget hearings, but with changes made in other funding choices, not enough was advertised to cover all the expenses. This will bring the funds into line with the approved budget. Approved.

NEW BUSINESS:
County Treasurer Deanna Willhoite presented the annual County Investment Fund update. The amount invested in interest-bearing accounts has dropped as the county has used its reserves, and interest rates have dropped as well, so the amount of annual income from interest has dropped nearly $250,000 over the past three years.

Brian Colton and Gary Malone of Umbaugh & Associates presented a summary, at council’s request, of the options available for implementing Local Option Income Taxes beyond the current 1% County Option Income Tax (COIT). County COIT Councils – made up of representatives of all the county’s taxing units based upon population – can adopt EITHER a “Levy Growth” income tax OR a “Property Tax Replacement” income tax. Neither would actually increase revenue in a meaningful way, as both can only be used in place of property tax revenue. Some increase in revenue might be realized due to freeing up space under the property tax caps. The Public Safety LOIT can ONLY be imposed if one of the other options has already been implemented. Public Safety LOIT revenue can be used for a wide variety of expenses, including: police/law enforcement systems, firefighting & prevention systems, emergency ambulance and medical services, emergency actions, probation programs, community corrections programs, county jail, community corrections programs, communications systems, inmate medical and health care expenses, and public safety personnel pensions. As of 2010, 19 of 92 counties had adopted the Public Safety LOIT (and thus also one of the other LOITs). At that time, only 10 counties had a lower total income tax rate than Boone. No action was taken.

Auditor Melody Price presented a very brief overview of the financial report without a written presentation. Ms. Price reviewed some of the highlights of the monthly financial statement. Two key staff payroll positions have turned over in that office since our last meeting. Price also advised the council that she is seeking to replace those two employees while working through the payroll issues.

Ms. Price also asked for and received formal approval of the county’s salary ordinance, which simply breaks down the approved budget for the year.

OLD BUSINESS:
I had asked for input and discussion on possible “bonuses” for employees. Several factors in the past month kept any meaningful discussions from occurring or further information being gathered. I suggested that the issue be dropped until the summer budget hearings, at which time I pledged to devote serious effort to increasing employee salaries. The board agreed.

The board re-appointed Tracy Hammel to the Mapleview Board.

The Council discussed the ongoing debate over Bridge #220, the Ford Road Bridge. Representatives of the county council, county commissioners, Zionsville Town Council and county attorney Bob Clutter will be meeting for further discussion. INDOT recently sent a letter to the county listing various concerns over the design of the bridge and curve project. The Zionsville Town Council passed a resolution at their last meeting and forwarded it to the county asking for changes to the project. It appears (to me) that some progress on working together between the Zionsville council and the county commissioners has finally been prompted by those two events. The mood of the discussion was much more optimistic than previous discussions on the topic. A proposal was floated to de-fund the project, which would require an advertised “negative additional,” but no motion was made this month. Commissioner Marc Applegate asked that such a motion be held for now so as not to inflame emotions as meetings move forward. Sheriff Ken Campbell and Zionsville Town Council member Candace Ulmer both addressed the council as well. The one point of agreement among all parties was that the bridge was in need of replacement in the near future.

PUBLIC COMMENT:
Kari Ragsdale, Director of Probation, addressed an issue of a shortfall in her grant payment in January. While the issue has now been resolved, the root problem of a misfiling in the auditor’s office could jeopardize the grant program.

Gene Thompson gave an update from the AIC (Association of Indiana Counties) annual legislative meeting last week on issues such as 911 funding and nepotism legislation. Lebanon Mayor Huck Lewis stated that Senator Brandt Hershman has been asked by various organizations to wait until 2014 to make proposed changes in the 911 funding, awaiting more information on the impact of the proposals. Sheriff Campbell also addressed the 911 funding issue.

I again raised the issue of scheduling a joint commissioners-council meeting. Jacob noted that he and Commissioners president Applegate had recently discussed that timing, and hoped to have a date soon. I suggested that a schedule for the year would be greatly appreciated.


Meeting adjourned at roughly 11:00
Next regularly-scheduled council meeting will be Tuesday, March 13th, 2012.