Notes -- July 2013 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
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 13^th, at 8:30 a.m.