Finance Committee

09/27/12 Minutes (44 KB)

Members present: Tommy Lee Bychinski, Joan Fordham, Jason Lane, Andrea Lombard and William F. Wenzel

Others present: Brent Bailey, Pat Barrett, Kerry Beghin, Ann Burton, Brian Cunningham, Jim Daniels, Ruth Dawson, Pat Dederich, Jenny Erickson, Tom Fandry, Leo Grill, Greg Hahn, Lynn Horkan, Steve Koenig, Marty Krueger, Vicki Meister, Brentt Michalek, Sue Nagelkerk, Henry Netzinger, Yvonne Neumann, Steve Pate, and Kathy Schauf.

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Bychinski at 8:00 AM. Certification of open meeting compliance was given. Motion by Fordham, second by Lane to adopt the agenda. Motion carried. Motion by Wenzel, second by Lombard to allow supervisors to comment for 3 minutes after departmental presentations. Motion carried.

Public Comment:
None

Discussion and consideration of the 2013 County Budget.

Justice & Public Safety Departments
Vicki Meister reviewed the functional group mission and goals. Meister gave examples of difficulty with going paperless and implementing efficiencies due to state requirements.

Child Support:
Fandry commented the budget is relatively the same as previous. Anticipate revenues to remain the same and the match to remain at 66%.

Circuit Courts:
(previously presented 9/11/12)

Clerk of Courts:
Meister commented statutes have changed the interest rate on past due fines causing a decrease in revenues. Discussed decrease in appointed counsel due to public defender eligibility. Collections are going well with appropriate processes in place. Looking to enhance website information in to alleviate office calls.

Coroner:
Hahn highlighted vehicle replacement for 2013 and increase in professional services. Autopsies and blood testing have increased, budget is assuming 27 autopsies. Replacement vehicle need was discussed. Have started process to enable charging cremation permit fees; currently Sauk is the only county not charging cremation fees.

Court Commissioner / Family Court Counseling Service:
Grill noted budget request is fairly the same as previous, changes are to labor expenses. Case numbers remain static and he does not see them decreasing.

District Attorney / Victim Witness:
Barrett reviewed a request to the state to increase attorney time due to caseload. Other counties have made similar requests. Sauk is seeing significant increases in adult felony caseload due to operating while intoxicated (OWI) statute change and an increase in drug cases. She noted staff allocation adjustments between programs. Budget includes filling a victim witness staff vacancy that was not budgeted since 2011. Position needs to be filled to meet workload requirements. Lack of attorney time and the hard decisions around what to prosecute was discussed.

Register in Probate:
Daniels noted caseload has remained constant except for increase in juvenile caseload. Discussed the revenues and current trends for department.

Drug Seizures:
(4:00 pm, Wednesday, September 26)

Jail Assessment:
(4:00 pm, Wednesday, September 26)

Sheriff:
(4:00 pm, Wednesday, September 26)

Recess at 9:05 until 10:00 AM.
Resumed at 10:00 AM

Land Resources Departments
Pate reviewed the land records activities and collaborations with multiple departments.

Arts, Humanities & Historic Preservation:
(9:00 am, Friday, September 28)

Conservation, Planning & Zoning (CPZ):
Michalek reviewed the departmental merger to current departmental structure. They are continuing to shape and evolve the combined department. Anticipated state funding, programs and service levels were discussed. Monitoring responsibilities for Baraboo Range easements and potential issues for enforcement were discussed. Michalek reviewed the budget narrative detailing department activities and direction.

Land Records Modernization (LRM):
Pate reviewed the background and activities of LRM. Pate noted the GIS coordinator position is in the MIS department and time spent on LRM projects is charged back into the LRM fund. Intent is to accurately represent and document the time spent. Also adding a project position to scan and index survey records. End goal to have a consolidated system for all land related documents. The fees and fund balance covers the costs of the activities.

Parks:
Koenig highlighted increase in fuel and energy for 2013 requested budget. Issues on the horizon and future dam reviews and maintenance were reviewed. The potential and issues for the 80 acres in Dellona were discussed.

Register of Deeds:
Budget similar to last year. Bailey highlighted the outcome and key measures and the current trends. Moving to credit card purchases for online documents. All fee revenues seem to be slightly up except for transfer fees.

Surveyor:
Dederich commented on the scanning project. The budget increase reflects the increase in the hourly billable rate, number of hours remains the same. Overall budget was balanced through decreased monumentation field expenses. Dederich highlighted the new ordinance and the surveyor’s responsibilities.

UW-Extension:
Erickson reviewed the department mission. She highlighted the agent contract changes and decrease in overtime for the county fair.

Motion by Lombard, second by Lane to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. 2013 Budget presentations will begin at 8:30 AM on Friday, September 28, 2012.

Respectfully submitted,

Joan Fordham
Finance Committee Secretary