HomeMy WebLinkAboutNovember 4 2002 Briefing MinutesIREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
BRIEFING MINUTES
NOVEMBER 4, 2002
The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in Briefing Session on Monday,
November 4, 2002, beginning at 4:00 p.m., in the Iredell County Government Center, 200
South Center Street, Statesville, NC.
Present: Chairman Sara Haire Tice
Vice Chairman Karen B. Ray
Tommy E. Bowles
Steve D. Johnson
R. Godfrey Williams
-----------------------------------------------4:00 P.M -------------------------------------------------
PRESENTATION REGARDING THE REFINANCING OF THE SERIES 1992
TERM CERTIFICATES IN THE AMOUNT OF $6,720,000 (current interest rate of
6.125%) AND POSSIBLY THE SERIES 2000 INSTALLMENT PAYMENT
REVENUE BONDS (current interest rate of 5.66%)
Staff Present: County Manager Joel Mashburn, Finance Director Susan
Blumenstein, and Clerk to the Board Jean Moore.
Guests: Banc of America Securities representatives Robert Hobson and Edward
Boyles along with Gene Cahalan with Efficient Capital Corporation. (Cahalen is a
financial advisor.)
Mrs. Blumenstein said the Series 1992 refunding could be done using a traditional
method, and the savings could be substantial. She said, however, a refinancing of the
Series 2000 bonds would be more complicated, and she could not at the present time
encourage the county to proceed. Blumenstein said this was partly due to the county's
bond counsel in New York not being able to obtain an opinion from the tax attorney to go
forward on the project. Mrs. Blumenstein said the Series 2000 refinancing would require
what was known as a "synthetic refunding." She said that due to additional information
being needed about the refunding, the meeting would be considered for informational
purposes rather than about a specific deal. She also said no county resources had been
committed to the refunding.
Hobson shared the following chart that compared the two types of refinancing
methods for the Series 2000 bonds.
Mr. Hobson continued by saying a synthetic refunding would require the county
to enter into a contract with the Bank of America and exchange a fixed rate payment in
return for a floating rate. He said the transaction could be risky if the floating rate did not
correlate to the actual rate being paid to the bondholders. Hobson said that if this
happened, the county could lose money, but it was not likely. He said his optimism was
based on the past 10-15 year history on the interest rates.
Commissioner Ray asked if there was a cap on the floating rate.
Boyles said there was not.
Series 2000 Traditional
Series 2000 "Synthetic"
Old Par
$17,440,000
$17,440,000
Old Interest Rates
5.125% - 6.00%
5.125% - 6.00%
Average Old Rate
5.66%
5.66%
New Par
$20,085,000
$20,260,000
New Interest Rates
1.72% - 4.92%
3.45% (Swap Rate)
Average New Rate
4.56%
3.84 (Swap Rate plus Annual
Fees)
Annual Savings
($31,000)
$62,000
Net Present Value Savings-$
$368,046)
$819,072
Net Present Value Savings-%
(2.11%)
4.69%
Mr. Hobson continued by saying a synthetic refunding would require the county
to enter into a contract with the Bank of America and exchange a fixed rate payment in
return for a floating rate. He said the transaction could be risky if the floating rate did not
correlate to the actual rate being paid to the bondholders. Hobson said that if this
happened, the county could lose money, but it was not likely. He said his optimism was
based on the past 10-15 year history on the interest rates.
Commissioner Ray asked if there was a cap on the floating rate.
Boyles said there was not.
Commissioner Bowles asked the representatives if they felt the county could lose
money with a synthetic refunding.
Both Hobson and Boyles said no. Mr. Boyles said many corporations and
governmental entities had been through synthetic refundings in the past eight to nine
months. He said a worse -case scenario might happen if a "flat -tax," or an unusual tax
law were passed. Boyles continued by saying the bank's economists were predicting the
economy "would turn around next year."
Blumenstein said a financial advisor would be required if the county pursued the
transaction. She said this person's duties would be to give an independent financial
opinion -- to advise on an opportune time to proceed and the interest rate offered by the
bank.
P.M. AGENDA BRIEFING -----------------------------
Staff Present: County Manager Joel Mashburn, Finance Director Susan
Blumenstein, Cooperative Extension Service Director Ken Vaughn, Register of Deeds
Brenda Bell, Chief Deputy Rick Dowdle with the Sheriffs Department, Social Services
Director Don Wall, County Assessor Brent Weisner, Human Resources Director Carolyn
Harris, Inspections/Planning Director Lynn Niblock, Planning Supervisor Ron Smith, and
Clerk to the Board Jean Moore.
REQUEST FOR A DISCUSSION/DECISION REGARDING COUNTY
PARTICIPATION IN STATE -GRANTED BONUS LEAVE (THIS APPLIES TO
ONLY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE EMPLOYEES): Vaughn said that
in the 1980s, the county and State signed a Memorandum of Understanding stipulating
they would split the salary costs for the Cooperative Extension employees. He said the
agreement stated the State would take the lead on the establishment of the salaries, and
the extension office would observe the county holidays and office hours. Vaughn said
that in year 2000, the State approved a lump salary increase of $600 per employee, with
the costs to be equally shared between the State ($300) and county ($300). He said this
year; however, the State approved 80 hours of leave time in lieu of a salary increase. Mr.
Vaughn said he was requesting for the county to approve the leave time and to absorb the
40 hours (one-half of the State's approved 80 hours) for each employee. In addition,
Vaughn said the State was asking if the county would accept leave hours from employees
transferring from other State agencies. He said the bonus hours were a one-time method
of recognition for the employees, and the hours could be "banked" for future use.
County Manager Mashburn said he was in favor of sharing the costs for the bonus
hours; however, he could not recommend approval for the transfer of "banked" time for
new hires. He said this was due to the possibility of the county paying twice for the
hours. (Example would be: An employee was paid bonus hours and later retired. Then, a
new hire transferred into that person's position and brought "banked" hours from another
governmental unit. The county would be paying bonus hours twice. The same scenario
might occur with deaths or resignations.)
Vaughn said the employees would be encouraged to take the leave time rather
than "banking" it.
Human Resources Director Carolyn Harris said the county's present policy
allowed up to 40 hours of accumulated vacation leave, in excess of 240, to be converted
into sick leave on the last day of the year. She said anything more than this would be lost
so that only 240 hours were carried on January 1. Mrs. Harris said the county also had a
policy stipulating that only 240 hours would be paid to employees either retiring or
resigning. She said; however, the State's bonus time would not be subject to the 240
maximum limitation as of December 31.
Vaughn again said he would encourage his employees to take the leave time
rather than "banking" it. He said this would eliminate having dual time sheets.
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REQUEST FROM THE SOCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT FOR
PERMISSION TO CONDUCT A SCHOLARSHIP FUND RAISER FOR THE
NORTH CAROLINA CHILD SUPPORT COUNCIL (NCCSC): Social Services
Director Wall said the State had challenged each county child support department to raise
$100 for the North Carolina Child Support Council Scholarship. He said the local child
support office proposed to do this by a yard sale and bake sale. Wall said the employees
would set up prior to 8:00 a.m., and use their lunch times for the sale.
PRESENTATION OF THE MARKET VALUE SCHEDULE OF VALUES,
THE PRESENT USE VALUE SCHEDULE OF VALUES AND A REQUEST FOR
A PUBLIC HEARING TO BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 19, 2002 FOR PUBLIC
COMMENTS REGARDING THE SCHEDULES: County Assessor Brent Weisner
gave the following timeline for the 2003 Revaluation.
November 4, 2002:
Distribution of the Schedules to the Commissioners
November 10, 2002:
Notice in newspaper regarding the public hearing on the schedules
November 19, 2002:
Public hearing
December 3, 2002:
Adoption of Schedules
December 5, 2002:
First Notice of Adoption in newspaper
December 11, 2002:
Second Notice
December 18, 2002:
Third Notice
December 24, 2002:
Final Notice
January 3, 2003:
Final date for an Appeal to the Property Tax Commission
regarding the Schedules
Weisner briefly described the contents of the two documents, and said there was a
two-month adoption process for them. He said all of North Carolina's counties had to
adopt a schedule, but if they preferred, they could devise their own.
REQUEST FROM THE REGISTER OF DEEDS FOR
RECONSIDERATION OF AN FY 2002-03 BUDGET REQUEST FOR
ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES (TWO DEPUTY I REGISTER OF DEEDS AND
ONE ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARY): Register of Deeds Brenda Bell requested
the addition of three new employees for her department. She said one deputy position
would be placed in the real estate section and the other would be in the Vital Records
Section. Bell said the secretary would order supplies, pay invoices, and assist in the other
areas when needed. Mrs. Bell said her department's revenues would probably exceed the
budget by $100,400.00, which would pay the costs for the new employees.
REQUEST FROM THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT FOR THE
RECLASSIFICATION OF A JAILER II POSITION: Chief Deputy Rick Dowdle
said the sheriff was requesting the reclassification of a Jailer II that served as an office
receptionist. He said the front desk officer had many responsibilities and assisted each
sheriffs division as well as the general public. Dowdle said the "sworn" position was
often needed to supply supervision in the records division. Mr. Dowdle said the request
was to reclassify the position from a Jailer II (Grade 63) to a Jail Sergeant (Grade 67).
ADJOURNMENT: Chairman Tice adjourned the briefing at 6:35 p.m.
Approved:
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Clerk to the Board