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HomeMy WebLinkAbout061209ssmHarnett County Board of Commissioners Minutes of Special Budget Session June 12, 2009 The Harnett County Board of Commissioners met in special session on Friday, June 12, 2009, in the Commissioners Meeting Room, County Administrative Building, 102 East Front Street, Lillington, North Carolina. Members present: Staff present: Timothy B. McNeill, Chairman Beatrice B. Hill, Vice- Chainuan Dan B. Andrews, Commissioner Gary House, Commissioner Jim Burgin, Commissioner Scott Sauer, County Manager Wm. A. (Tony) Wilder, Assistant County Manager Dwight W. Snow, County Attorney Sylvia Blinson, Finance Officer Kimberly Honeycutt, Deputy Finance Officer Jennifer Slusser, Staff Attorney Trinity Faucett, Human Resources Director Gina Daniel, Acting Clerk Chairman McNeill called the meeting to order at 9:00 am. Commissioners scheduled special budget sessions at 3:00 pm on Monday, June 15, 2009, and 9:00 am on Tuesday, June 16, 2009. Mr. Sauer reported that he and Chairman McNeill had met with the Chairman of the Lee County Board of Commissioners, Lee County Manager and head of the Lee County Workforce Development Board regarding the four county consortium. Mr. Sauer said they are very close to finalizing the agreement. Mr. Sauer noted one piece that the Workforce Development Board is insisting on is that the County recognize their recommendations, review and analysis of the workforce program for the next year which included basically shutting down our local office; leaving the youth component, but moving the adults and dislocated workers to the Employment Security Office. Mr. Sauer noted citizens would be a longer travel time to the Client Services Center in Dunn verses being centrally located in Lillington. Mr. Sauer said staff would need to be discussed as one position would remain. He said he had initiated discussions with the Department of Social Services about possibly absorbing the Workforce Development Program as they administer the Work First Program which is a state -wide initiative. Charlotte Leach would continue to run the youth program. Chairman McNeill asked if the Employment Security Commission could possibly operate a satellite office at the old Joblink Center. June 12, 2009 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 1 of 4 Mrs. Faucett asked if the Board would consider granting early retirement to one of the Joblink employees who was planning on retiring in November when she would be eligible for health insurance benefits with 15 years' service. Mrs. Faucett noted if the staff was allowed early retirement it would save the County $18,000. It was the consensus of the Board to allow Mrs. Faucett to offer early retirement with health benefits and longevity pay to the employee. Mr. Sauer, on behalf of Jerry Blanchard and the Solid Waste Program, shared a proposed schedule for closing some facilities at different times as a cost saving measure. Staff proposed closing the landfill and transfer station facilities at noon on Wednesdays, closing the convenient center at Johnsonville and Mamers on Wednesdays and closing the convenient sites at Buckhorn and Bunnlevel on Thursdays. Prior to this proposal, Mr. Blanchard studied volume and traffic counts for these facilities. Commissioner Andrews moved to adopt the proposed schedule. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Burgin and passed unanimously. Mr. Sauer reported on behalf of the Tax Department that notices for appeals were mailed out on June 11, 2009, which gave citizens 15 days to appeal to the E & R Board. The Board of E & R extended their adjournment until July 2, 2009. Discussions regarding this process continued and Mr. Wilder was asked to bring information back to the Board. Regarding Fire Districts, Commissioner Burgin said if we could go with the revenue neutral rates to take care of that component. It was clarified that they also get a portion of sales tax based on ad valorem which is their assessed value and that the County doesn't contribute any additional moneys to their budget. Commissioner Burgin said he understands there are some overlapping areas and the coverage area doesn't match the tax districts. Mrs. Slusser confirmed that the insurance districts were recently adjusted to 6 miles but the tax district was not adjusted. Commissioner Burgin moved to set revenue neutral rates for fire departments. Commissioner House seconded the motion which failed 3 to 2. Chairman McNeill questioned how they would make up the $8 Million that the school system would lose in low wealth funding if they go with a revenue neutral rate for taxes and are below the state wide average for property taxes. The state wide average for low wealth supplemental funding is $0.6322 cents. Mr. Sauer noted the County's continued interest in serving the Town of Lillington for Planning and Inspection Services. Commissioner Burgin spoke about the need for good relationships with municipalities and for government to do what it is supposed to do. Mr. Wilder said the Town of June 12, 2009 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 2 of 4 Lillington contracted with the Town of Holly Springs for inspections because of minimum housing code enforcement. Harnett County does not have a minimum housing code. Chairman McNeill said a study needs to be done on how a minimum housing code would impact the citizens. Commissioner Andrews asked if the County could help the Town of Angier with the $150,000 they need for the library. Mr. Sauer said he was surprised when he found out that the towns support the libraries as the libraries are usually a county responsibility. Commissioners discussed a request from Mr. James D. Horton for a resolution supporting alternative method of recognition veteran's status to merchant marine seamen of WW II. Mr. Sauer reported that our Veteran Services Council recommended that the commissioners take no action. It was the consensus of the commissioners to take no action on this request. Mrs. Slusser noted staff had earlier distributed quotes for Liability Workers Comp Insurance from the NC Association of County Commissioners and Snipes Insurance. Commissioner Burgin moved to stay with Snipes Insurance stating there is more coverage, the 90% co- insurance is not issue, the deductible on auto liability is better, there is not the question about the accessibility and it keeps it in the county as well as the tail coverage because he believes two years isn't enough time. Commissioner House seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Mrs. Faucett mentioned the cost of this coverage went down $100,000 by taking quotes. Mr. Sauer reported with debt services increasing, the sales tax dropping and the ADM funding being removed that commissioners will have a $9.5 Million issue to deal with. Commissioner Burgin said he thinks they should ask each department to cut 5% from their budget. He said he is not proposing to lay people off. Commissioners Andrews and House said they would support this approach. Mr. Sauer said proposing a 60 day interim budget would also allow them to look at each department in detail. Chairman McNeill noted that so many things at play right now including an amendment to a Senate bill for counties to take over secondary roads without full funding and cutting payment for state prisoners in our county jail. Mr. Sauer said if you cut 5% of local dollars in the Department of Social Services (DSS) you would lose a huge chunk of revenue because of the impact the reduction would have. Mr. Sauer reported that the County did not realize the savings they had hoped when Medicaid was eliminated. Commissioner Burgin asked when the state or federal government cuts the money going to DSS if the County automatically cuts their matching funds. The Board discussed the fact that when state funding is cut it becomes the County's decision to cut services or make up the difference. June 12, 2009 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 3 of 4 Commissioner Burgin asked if the County has to provide all of the programs in Social Services. He asked if there are programs they could charge for. Mr. Sauer said most programs are mandated by state or federal and only passed through our department. Vice Chairman Hill questioned why the money for Partnership for Children could not be used for something else as they received more money than they asked for. It was noted that the Health Department is mostly local funds and is more self - supported with less federal and state funds flowing in. In the current fiscal year the County funded DSS at $5.5 Million and the Health Department at $2.1 Million. Mr. Sauer requested a production conversation with DSS Director Pat Cameron and his fiscal staff to talk about the impact of reducing $500,000 of county monies. Commissioner Burgin noted 5% would be $279,000. Chairman McNeill suggested having each department head come before the Board to see how a 5% reduction would impact each department. Commissioner Burgin asked how much 5% of the total budget is verses 5% of non - employee budget of FY 2008/2009. Commissioner Burgin suggested projecting 12 months of actual spending for the current year and asking department heads to cut 5% of that amount. Commissioner Burgin also asked how many cars and trucks does Harnett County have on the road. Chairman McNeill said he has asked before for a policy on the usage of County vehicles as he believes a lot more vehicles could be parked at the end of the day. Mrs. Blinson mentioned there being other items that need to be addressed for example needing to run extra meeting pay through payroll so taxes are paid as it is wage. Commissioner Burgin discussed the special meeting pay policy for commissioners. He said a memo provided to him by the Clerk states commissioners are only suppose to charge for extra called meetings not ribbon cuttings, luncheons, etc. Mrs. Blinson said Finance staff screens credit card charges when they come in and ask for reimbursement for any questionable charges. Hotel receipts are also screened as well as county credit cards having limits and blocks placed on them. The County reimburses employees the federal rate for miles driven in their personal vehicle. Commissioner Burgin again requested the total number of county employees. At 10:42 am the meeting was recessed until 3 00PiWorifIVIonday, June 15, 2009. igir AC" McNeill, Chaiiuian et Regina] eeler, Clerk June 12, 2009 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 4 of 4