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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay_22_2012_Budget_Session_MinutesIREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET SESSION MINUTES MAY 22, 2012 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met for a Fiscal Year 2012-2013 budget review session on Tuesday, May 22, 2012, at 5:30 P.M., in the Iredell County Government Center, (South Wing Conference Room), 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. Board Members Present Chairman Steve Johnson Vice Chairman Marvin Norman Renee Griffith Frank Mitchell Ken Robertson Staff present: County Manager Ron Smith, Deputy County Manager Tracy Jackson, Finance Director Susan Blumenstein, Assistant Finance Director Deb Alford, and Clerk to the Board Jean Moore. Call to Order by Chairman Johnson. House Bill 989: Chairman Johnson said Union Grove VFD Chief Nolan Shumaker had notified him about proposed House Bill 989 which would eliminate permanent registration plate eligibility for some agencies (fire departments, rescue squads, and nonprofits). Johnson said the bill allowed permanent plates for vehicles owned by (1) the state (2) counties, cities, or towns (3) boards of education and (4) community colleges. He said even though the county was covered, it didn't mean the legislation would remain the same through the committees. Mr. Johnson suggested writing a letter to the county's legislative delegation indicating opposition, especially since many agencies funded by the county would be impacted. OTIO by Chairman Johnson to instruct the clerk to draft a letter advising that the proposed legislation would negatively impact some of the agencies funded by the county and cause an unnecessary expense to them. VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0. (Chairman Johnson said the letter should be sent to all members of the county's legislative delegation.) School Budgets Opening Remarks: County Manager Ron Smith discussed his rationale for the FY 13 school funding. He said the Iredell-Statesville Schools requested a ten percent increase over last year, and the per pupil requested amount was $1,440. Smith said a three percent increase for per pupil was recommended, and this would be $1,378 (amount for FY 12 was $1,338). Pertaining to the Mooresville Graded School District, Smith said the same per pupil rate was recommended ($1,378) and this was more than what was requested. He said the overall increase was $1.2 million over FY 12 or a 10.34% increase. Smith said lottery funds were budgeted to cover Mooresville Graded School System's debt. In regards to Mitchell Community College, Smith said the recommended funding was $100,000 less than the board of trustee's request; however, the college would be receiving a funding increase for FY 13. Smith said the college's capital outlay was formula based, but he was recommending that $100,000 be taken out of current expense and shifted to capital outlay for the larger projects. The following charts show the requested FY 13 budget requests from the school systems and the manager's recommended funding. Tl. amc aaw; Education FY 2012-13 2 Mooresville Graded School District: Joining the board to discuss the Mooresville Schools were Board of Education Chairman Karen Hart, Finance Director Terry Haas, and Supt. Dr. Mark Edwards. Mrs. Hart said the John Locke Foundation visited the school system and was complimentary about the way tax dollars were being spent. Dr. Edwards said the commissioners were receiving a good return on their educational investment. He said many people were moving into the school district because of its excellent reputation, and Fox News would be airing a segment with a working title of, "What's Right with Public Education" in August 2012. Commissioner Mitchell asked about student enrollment. Edwards said 5,684 students were expected for FY 13, and last year at this time, the enrollment was 5,500. Commissioner Griffith asked about the school system's capacity. Edwards said room was available with the exception of the elementary schools. He said a new elementary school would be the next need. Commissioner Robertson asked how many more students could attend the system. Edwards said the system would max out at 8,200 students. He said a new elementary school might be needed in two or three years. Robertson asked how teacher retention was holding up and about quantity and quality of new teachers just graduating. Edwards said three teachers were recently lost for financial reasons. He said one of these was offered another job in a church related field with a $6,000 to $8,000 pay increase. Another teacher was recruited by an educational company, and the third one left due to a spousal relocation. Edwards said the North Carolina Senate had proposed legislation that might impact recruitment such as one-year contracts. He said it would be difficult to imagine anyone moving from another state for a one year job contract. Commissioner Robertson said he had a ten minute work contract. Commissioner Mitchell asked how many applications were received for a teaching position. Edwards said a generic elementary position might have 30 applicants. Chairman Johnson asked what the system was hearing out of Raleigh. Edwards said some of the proposals were "daunting" with little money and specific guidelines. 3 Mrs. Hart said it was hoped the state would offer salary increases for the teachers because it had been four years since these were provided. Iredell-Statesville Schools: Joining the commissioners to discuss the needs of Iredell- Statesville were Board of Education Chairman Dr. David Cash, Board Members Bryan Shoemaker and Keith Williams, Supt. Brady Johnson, Director of Facilities Dr. Kenny Miller, Finance Director Melissa Wike, and Director of Student Support Services Dr. Ron Hargrave. Dr. Cash said the working relationship with the board of commissioners was appreciated, and it was hoped the system's progress continued. Supt. Johnson said the system was still dealing with a $5 million loss with most of this from the federal government (Jobs Bill and ARRA funds totaling $3.9 million) and the state (reversion of $l million). He said there was speculation the state might assist with the reversion, but the budget was created to compensate for all of the losses. Johnson said 79¢ out of every $1.00 was used for employee salaries, and when the budget was cut, this affected personnel. He said originally, when the budget was presented to the board of education in March, there was a proposal to alter the assistant principals' months of employment and by abolishing one position, plus bookkeepers and data managers were to be cut one month of employment, and several facilitators were to be cut. Continuing, he said (1) the Student Assistance Program was going to be totally eliminated (2) there were central office cuts (3) middle school resource officers were going to be cut (4) two social workers positions were going to be cut, and (5) gate guards were going to be eliminated. Supt. Johnson said the board of education then instructed the staff to revise the budget. He said another proposal was submitted to save the positions by using $1.5 million of fund balance. Johnson said that in North Carolina public school systems were not required to maintain a fund balance, but Iredell-Statesville did, and the current amount was $7.7 million. He said that for the next two years, there was a proposal to fund the mentioned positions out of fund balance. Johnson said fund balance was not designed for use on recurring expenses, but it was the only way to retain the positions. He mentioned cuts that had already occurred in the past couple of years with examples being the elimination of (1) summer school, (2) the universal breakfast program, and (3) some bus stops. Johnson said no past cuts were being re -funded, and it was realized that using fund balance was a temporary solution. Commissioner Mitchell asked the next capital project. Dr. Miller said task force recommendations would soon be presented to the commissioners. He said the capital area was suffering somewhat and $1.594 was estimated for next year which was about $700,000 less than last year. Miller distributed a historical data sheet dating back to 1998-1999. He said for that time period 27¢ per sq. ft. was used, and this had now dropped. Miller said these were the funds for upkeep, not to build new buildings. He said that for next year a projection of about 12¢ per sq. ft. was being used for repair parts and maintenance was being "pushed out." He said eventually big item costs would have to be addressed. Miller said options to address the needs had been discussed with the county manager. Commissioner Robertson said there were many older buildings in 1998-1999. He said every school that wasn't built was renovated. Miller said Lake Norman High School was ten years old, and it would soon have needs, plus many of the older buildings throughout the county would require mechanical repairs. Dr. Miller said adding to the problem was the growth potential, plus mobile units would have to return due to overcrowding. He said Mt. Mourne would have a mega unit next year, and due to IB programs, a similar unit would go to South Iredell High in two years. Supt. Johnson said two units were already at Lake Norman High School, but no others could be added due to watershed restrictions. Dr. Miller said the units would impact the capital money. He said funding for this was based on a formula and when sales tax revenues were up then capital funds existed. He said the staff was trying to leverage some of the funds the system already had to start the projects. Dr. Miller said two elementary schools had been modified for IB programs, but at some point a middle school would be needed. 4 Robertson asked why. Supt. Johnson said Northview was built as a K-2 school with water fountains and bathroom commodes being installed for this size of a student. He said additionally, that middle school students had athletic programs and there was not a gym, plus the facility lacked lockers and rooms to change clothing. Supt. Johnson said the students went to the YMCA for physical education. He said the system was at capacity at both Mt. Mourne and Northview. Miller said North Iredell Middle was also at capacity. He said classrooms could be added but the cafeteria would have to be expanded. Commissioner Mitchell asked if Lake Norman High School could be vertically expanded. Miller said retention ponds had been added and another wing might be added. He said the high school already had a large student population and some consideration would have to be given as to how large was too large. He said the population was at 2,000. Commissioner Griffith asked about the state's criteria for a school day or year. Supt. Johnson said the system was required to have 180 days with 1,080 hours of instruction. He said the individual systems could determine when the day began and ended. Supt. Johnson said to save money, buses were shared and elementary school pickups began at 6 a.m. (school starts at 7:15 a.m.). He said the same buses then picked up middle and high school students. Johnson said if this didn't occur the transportation budget would double. Miller said teachers were rotated to maximize the classrooms. Griffith asked the estimated enrollment for FY 13. Supt. Johnson said the system had been enlarging by 200 students a year since the recession, but before, the growth was around 900 students. He said the increase had slowed due to people not buying or building houses and moving to the county. Johnson said the system was growing a building wing now compared to a new school a year before the recession. Commissioner Robertson asked the maximum school size. Supt. Johnson said Cloverleaf, one of the newest schools, had 900 students. He said there were many complaints about the school being too large. He said the culture and climate in a school setting changed once an elementary school expanded over 700 students. Johnson said it was difficult for some school personnel, such as one guidance counselor, to develop a relationship with all the students. He said an optimum size was 650 to 700. Johnson said West Middle was the largest middle school, and again, the culture/climate changed with larger enrollment. Dr. Cash said Iredell-Statesville had been trying to keep enrollments for middle schools around 800 students and high schools around 1200. Supt. Johnson said South Iredell had 250 students added for the IB program giving it an enrollment of 1,400 which was out of capacity. He said West Iredell High had 900 students, Statesville High had 1,300, and there were 1,100 at North. Chairman Johnson congratulated the school system on the favorable remarks rendered by the John Locke Foundation. Commissioner Mitchell asked the cost for a school bus. Miller said $90,000. Mitchell asked how many would be needed for FY 13. Miller said Dr. Hargrave had asked for five, but he (Miller) was proposing two. k, Supt. Johnson said the school system would like to have a similar technology program as the one used in Mooresville. He said by year 2014 the state had a mandate for all testing to occur electronically. Johnson said less textbooks, maps and globes would be needed with on-line or electronic classrooms. Robertson asked how much it would cost. Supt. Johnson said the 1-1 Initiative for Mooresville was about $200 per child. He said for Iredell-Statesville this would be millions of dollars. Robertson said Mooresville's school tax wasn't equivalent to $200 a child. Supt. Johnson said funds had been redirected, but the school tax helped. He said this year Iredell-Statesville would try to make all classrooms wireless. Chairman Johnson said the school system's fund balance had accrued due to savings achieved from some of the construction projects. He said some of the projects came under budget. Supt. Johnson said this would be the first year in three where no people had been laid off, and it was due to the use of fund balance. He noted that during the recession many systems in the state had closed schools while Iredell-Statesville had actually opened three new schools (2 IB Schools and the Career Tech Center). Johnson said all three schools had exceeded the community's expectations, and IB programs were highly rigorous. Commissioner Robertson asked the school system's strategy if the economy didn't improve in two or three years. He asked if the school system might not need to start looking at potential cuts and perhaps use the fund balance for the 1-1 Initiative. Supt. Johnson said there was the $5 million cut, and local fund balance was being used for the offset. He said the system had talked about doing this for the next two years, and the fund balance then would be $5.2 million. Johnson said the system had made a determination that fund balance should not go below $3.5 million. He said the system would not deplete the fund balance and tough decisions would be made, if necessary. Johnson said the problem was at the state level, and unfortunately, it had been passed to the local level. Mitchell Community College: Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Ralph Bentley, College President Dr. Tim Brewer, and Vice President for Finance and Administration Dick Lefevre attended the meeting to discuss the budget for the community college. Dr. Bentley said the state community college system had designated Mitchell as one of the ten best community colleges in the state. Chairman Johnson said money from the college's capital fund had previously been used for utility costs. He asked the status. Lefevre said that with the additional money nothing else should be needed for 2012-13. Johnson said that in regards to the maintenance budget, there had been a discussion about a formula for square footage. He asked where the staff was on the funding for this. Dr. Brewer said a meeting had occurred with the county manager and $7 a sq. ft. had been submitted. He said a state model was used. Commissioner Robertson asked about the student population count. Dr. Brewer said enrollment had hit a plateau and growth was around 2% with about 3,600 to 3,700 students. He said projected enrollment numbers, however, were about 7,000 students by 2020. market. Commissioner Robertson asked the college's stance on educational programs and the job 6 Brewer said four strategic initiatives had been instigated and these were (1) programming (2) partnerships (3) technology and (4) sustainability. He said a greater emphasis would be given in working with industries and business leaders. Brewer said every technology trend couldn't be addressed, but the college was constantly trying to determine what was best. Robertson asked if the college received feedback on how education was bettering the lives of the graduates. Brewer said employer surveys were used. In regards to long-range planning, Dr. Brewer said the plans were in a digitized format. He said there was not a timeline, but the college's future plans were outlined. Brewer said this would be shared with the county manager. Chairman Johnson said it was known that if the college expanded property would have to be purchased. He said a cost estimate would be helpful. Lefevre said for both campuses future acquisitions were estimated to cost $3.1 million. Commissioner Griffith asked if being in a historical district affected the college's expansion or construction plans. Dr. Bentley said yes. Brewer said many of the buildings (homes) owned by the college and adjacent to the Statesville campus were in the Mitchell Historic District and some were on the National Registry. Chairman Johnson said that only a cost estimate was needed by him about the acquisitions. Social Services — 630: DSS Director Yvette Smith, Social Services Board Member Alice Stewart, Business Manager Janet Barker and IT staff members Angie Wood and Sheila Cook attended the meeting to discuss the social services budget. Mrs. Smith said there had been an increase in the public assistance programs, for example, work first increased 16%, food and nutrition services went up 11%, Adult Medicaid increased 7%, Family and Children's Medicaid increased by 5%, and child support services had increased by 5%. She said there had also been an increase in child protective services. Mrs. Smith said during the month of March 2012 that 30 children were placed in DSS custody and this number was unprecedented. She said contributing to the problem was that the state had cut funding for the child welfare staff, the domestic violence program, as well as child care administration money. Continuing, Mrs. Smith said the staff was stressed. She said there had been several retirements and resignations, plus there were two dismissals. Smith said also that one employee had passed away due to cancer. She said even though the staff was overworked, no new positions were being requested. Smith said, however, additional money for overtime was included in the budget. Board Member Alice Stewart said this year had been difficult, especially in finding foster parents. She said the average age for the children taken into DSS custody in March was five, and extra car seats had to be purchased. Mrs. Stewart said the social services staff had done a tremendous job, and the community should be proud of them. Commissioner Mitchell asked if charges were placed against the children's parents. Mrs. Smith said a petition was filed, and the courts took care of the procedures. She added that unfortunately during this same year, one child died due to physical abuse and another died in an automobile accident from not being in a car seat. Mitchell asked if public assistance benefits were curtailed if the parents had been receiving these prior to the children being placed in DSS custody. VA Mrs. Smith said yes. Vice Chairman Norman asked how social services planned to handle the budget cuts. Mrs. Smith said a reorganization and restructuring had occurred. Commissioner Griffith asked if it wouldn't be more productive to hire two new people rather than spend $150,000 in overtime pay. Mrs. Smith said it was more cost efficient to use overtime. Chairman Johnson said the actual security project had been pulled from Social Services and added to Facilities Improvements ($56,000). He asked if the security project could be divided up over two years. Mrs. Smith said yes, the security aspect ($32,000) could be delayed. She said, initially, only the door work (Scope 2) would occur at a cost of $20,000. Mrs. Stewart said the door security updates needed to occur. MOTION by Chairman Johnson to reduce the security measure to $20,000 for the door segment. (He said the $36,000 could be placed in the capital reserve fund.) Finance Director Blumenstein said the entire $56,000 had been removed from the DSS budget and placed in Facilities Improvements. Chairman Johnson revised his motion by cutting Facilities Improvements by $36,000 and adding the same amount to the capital reserve fund. Blumenstein noted that nothing was currently budgeted in the general fund for the $56,000 so there would be nothing to add back to the capital funds. She said it had been deleted from the social services budget, and the expenses would be paid out of existing capital funds from the savings realized from other projects. Chairman Johnson said this would be out of the $1.6 million. Blumenstein said yes. She said the staff would only be authorized to perform $20,000 worth of security work for DSS for FY 13. Chairman Johnson said this would be his motion. VOTING: Ayes — 5; Nays — 0. Pertaining to Crisis Intervention Funding, Blumenstein said $227,630 was adopted in the FY 1 1-12 original budget, and the amount was received by social services. She said during this fiscal year additional funding was received for a total of $876,460 and it was also expended. Blumenstein noted there would be a smaller amount in state funding next year. Mrs. Smith said an estimate was provided each budget year, but then additional money was received with budget amendments being approved by the commissioners. Commissioner Robertson asked about line item 487700 Medicaid Repayments. Mrs. Smith said this was revenue where fraud cases were taken to court. She said repayments were made back to the county. Robertson asked the number of fraud investigators. Smith said there were three full-time investigators. She said there would probably be a need for more investigators when the Affordable Healthcare Act was implemented in 2014. 8 Smith said one goal for FY 13 would be to maximize the collections in this program as well as in child support. Commissioner Mitchell mentioned that sheriff's department detectives would be glad to assist the fraud investigators. Health — 600: Joining the commissioners to discuss the health budget were Health Director Donna Campbell, Business Officer Bill Griffith, Nursing Director Susan Johnson, Environmental Health Supervisor David Hinson, and Public Health Administrator I Norma Rife. Health Director Campbell reviewed the budget. No changes were made by the commissioners. The board members thanked Mrs. Campbell, who plans on retiring in June, for her services to the county. Mental Health - 615: County Manager Smith said the Crossroads Director had requested $605,290.00, but only $565,873.00 was recommended for FY 13. Veteran Services — 635: No changes to the budget. County Manager Smith noted the budget was actually lower than FY 12 due to an employee's retirement. EMS — 542: Smith said the biggest change in this department was the transition to 12 - hour shifts at the Statesville base. In addition, he noted additions for the following: AVL Software - $55,000 (allows for better routing and ability to work tickets in the field) Ambutrak Software — $15,783 (tracks inventory, essential to allocate costs to Specialty Services.) Three Ambulance Remounts - $285,259 Two Quick Response Vehicles - $100,000 (these are replacements) Chairman Johnson asked for an update on Specialty Services. Smith said that for the most part everything was going as expected. He said there was a delay with some reimbursements from Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS). Assistant County Manager Tracy Jackson said BCBS had a contract with Iredell Rescue, and BCBS was mistakenly paying the county at the same rate as the rescue squad with payments being lower than the correct charges. He said the county's billing company was working with BCBS to have the money refunded. Smith said the EMS Director understood that revenue projections needed to be met. Blumenstein said $8,377 was budgeted for EMS Specialty Services contingency funds. Communications — 536: No changes Sheriff's Department — Gas to Propane Conversion: Assistant Finance Director Deb Alford said the staff had pulled the invoices for fuel costs. She said the invoices went back a year prior to when the propane conversion program started. Alford said an analysis had occurred where April and May 2012 where estimated to obtain a 12 -month comparison. She said the total number of gallons used this year was 38,815 and the cost was $97,600. Mrs. Alford said the prior year revealed a usage of 27,138 gallons with a cost of $69,195. She said currently there was an increase of 11,676 in gallons, plus $28,404 more had been spent, and this was for the same number of vehicles. Alford said the analysis revealed a cost increase of 25% and the fuel (gallons) went up 43%. She said the same amount of miles should be obtained with both fuel types, and there were two fueling stations with one in Troutman and the other on Hwy. 21. Vice Chairman Norman said it appeared that the propane conversions were costing more. 9 Mrs. Alford said the program would continually be tracked. She said the officers had a choice of running either fuel type. She said the intent of giving the officers the discretion was due to the possibility of them running low on fuel and not being near a propane distributor. Commissioner Robertson said the following questions needed to be answered: 1. When running propane, what are the miles per gallon which could then be converted to the dollar per mile? 2. When running gasoline, what are the miles per gallon which could then be converted to the dollar per mile? Chairman Johnson said the analysis revealed that more gasoline was being used, plus there was propane usage. Vice Chairman Norman said the program was supposed to save money. Commissioner Griffith asked if an analysis could be created on the funding for the sheriff's office. Smith said it could be done, if needed. Commissioner Robertson said the sheriff's office could be questioned about the propane conversion program on June 5 when the FY 13 budget was discussed. Sewer at Highway 21 Jail Site: County Manager Smith referenced the City of Statesville letter and agreement about the proposed sewer extension to the former prison site. Chairman Johnson voiced concerns about the agreement (loaning money to the city for the sewer extension) and spending $5 million on property (former prison site) not owned by the county. He suggested that for a short-term solution the county might need to move mega units behind the Bondurant property to house the inmates. Commissioner Mitchell asked what type of lease had been obtained from the state for the old prison site. Johnson said it was $1 a year. Smith said he was told that if the prison were upfitted for 88 beds ($5 million) that two medium sized jails would be in existence, and due to operational costs this would be expensive. Johnson said the other alternative would be to ship the inmates out of the county. Blumenstein said this would cost $40 per day, plus transportation and inmate uniforms. Mitchell asked if anyone had tried to pursue the purchase of the prison property. Chairman Johnson suggested that he and the manager meet with the sheriff's department to discuss the mega units. County Contingency Robertson asked the county's FY 13 contingency amount. Blumenstein said $250,000 was for regular contingency and $150,000 had been budgeted for fuel. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 9:20 P.M. (Next Meeting: Tuesday, June 5, 2012, 7:00 P.M., at the Iredell County Government Center (Commissioners Meeting Room), 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. Approval: Clerk to the Board 10