Finance Committee

FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES    

Room 213, West Square Building, 505 Broadway, Baraboo WI                                         Friday, September 28, 2018

Members present:        John Dietz, Tom Kriegl, Kevin Lins and Bill Wenzel

Excused Absent:          Kristen White Eagle

Others present:             Brent Bailey, Regina Baldwin, Kerry Beghin, Alene Bolin, Ian Crammond, Pat Dederich, Becky Evert, Kelly Felton, Pat Gavinski, Liz Geoghegan, Jeff Hoffman, Lynn Horkan, Sue Ann Kucher, Daniel Olson, Steve Pate, Michelle Posewitz, Jessica Steinhorst, Matt Stieve, Peter Vedro, David Wernecke, Lisa Wilson

 

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Dietz at 8:30 AM.  Certification of open meeting compliance was given.  Motion by Lins, second by Kriegl to adopt the agenda.  Motion carried. 

 

Motion by Wenzel, second by Lins to move the Land Resources department to 11:00 AM.  Motion carried. 

 

Public Comment:  None

 

Discussion and consideration of the 2019 County Budget.

 

Public Works – Highway:

Gavinski noted budget major changes are labor costs, projected fuel and salt cost increase.  Special assessment bridge aids are up over last year, no levy effect.  Discussed trending cost increases and potential decrease in road maintenance.  Gavinski noted Highway fund balance has increased over last few years due to billing for construction of the Great Sauk State Trail (GSST).  Highway has significant facility needs, main shop is aging and needs multiple updates to keep it running.  Discussed state aids for transportation.  The flood response and repair was discussed. 

 

Administrative / General Government departments

Bolin commented on the mission of the group.  They meet regularly and look at processes.  She reviewed areas they are working on for consistency and streamlining.  Work to ensure the county is running well and all departments are supported. 

 

Accounting: 

Beghin recapped increasing trends in complexity of the audit.  2018 new position is working on grant process has added great value to department.  Budget includes $15,000 use of General Fund balance for review of financial policies. 

 

Administrative Coordinator: 

Bolin noted changes to budget and work with Economic Development Committee.  She reviewed the placemaking initiative and community liaison position.  The community liaison is funded through General Fund balance through next year.  Budget includes new programs approved by the Economic Development Committee:  community development grants, young professionals program and tourism grant program.  She highlighted staff changes in Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC).  Commitment to placemaking and economic development was discussed. 

 

Building Services: 

Crammond reviewed all responsible facilities, mail, construction projects, landfill, fiber/communications network and staffing.   County has space issues due to many departments’ growth.  Security awareness and improvements are a priority.  Parking expansion was discussed.  Bolin noted a parking study has been done and there are other options to free up space for additional parking.  Working with the city, plan is to work through those options before expansion of parking.  The Committee discussed the projects and use of fund balance.

 

Corporation Counsel:

Olson highlighted duties and contract relationships with Child Support and Human Services.  He noted the intent to share a full-time employee with CJCC.  Overall budget is driven by labor costs and modest office costs.  Looking to increase technology use in office, transitioning to electronic records for more efficiency and ease of use.  Discussed prioritization for requests coming to the office. 

 

County Clerk: 

Evert noted department is statute driven.  Budget is driven by number of elections in a year.  2018 had four elections; 2019 will only have two.  2019 includes use of General Fund balance for one-time election equipment upgrade. 

 

Criminal Justice Coordinating: 

Bolin noted programs continue to evolve.  2019 includes a pre-trial diversion program.  The department intends to share a full-time staff person with Corporation Council.  Requesting position reclassifications due to the evolving programs and looking for consistency and flexibility with all case management staff.  The operating after revocation (OAR) program is expecting to end since the District Attorney plans to decriminalize OAR. 

Dog License:

Evert noted the revenue for dog licenses is declining.  Licensing needs to be enforced at the local level.

 

Insurance:

Beghin noted the fund is a separate fund with $500,000 set aside. Pays for liability and other insurances for catastrophic occurrences. 

 

Landfill Remediation:

Crammond reviewed the compliance of and maintenance of the closed landfills. 

 

Management Information Systems (MIS):

Pate reviewed support of all technology throughout the county, direct ongoing maintenance of systems, the phone system and the 911 system.  The scope and duties of the department continually increase and technology rises in department activities.  Seek to chargeback services back to departments as much as possible.  Discussed departmental chargebacks and the complexity of the process due to centralized systems.  The net levy request is increased, driven by centralization of costs and planning for a significant phone upgrade. 

 

Personnel:

Posewitz reviewed the centralized human resource services provided.  She highlighted the health insurance increase, staff training and increased staff time spent in safety risk area.  Personnel Committee requested to begin to explore the self-insurance option for health insurance.  The wellness program was discussed. 

 

Treasurer:

Geoghegan reviewed department activities and budget.  The budget has changed in basically two areas: 2019 has no known significant real estate chargebacks, and the interest revenue has increased due to rising rates on investments.  Interest revenues were looked at in light of spending down fund balance. 

 

Workers Compensation:

Beghin reviewed that the County is self-insured for workers compensation.  Fund collects revenues by charging departments.  The fund pays for workers compensation losses/expenses.

 

At 10:45 AM motion to recess until 11AM by Lins, second by Vedro.  Motion carried.

At 11:00 AM motion to resume by Lins, second by Wenzel.  Motion carried.

 

Land Resources departments.

 

Arts, Humanities & Historic Preservation (AHHP):  

Bolin noted oversight of AHHP is now with Administrative Coordinator.  Budget has no big changes, receiving an additional $600 funding and requesting additional $5,000 to purchase art for buildings. Budget includes $20,000 for Wormfarm as an outside agency request. 

 

Conservation, Planning & Zoning (CPZ):

Wilson reviewed the departmental budget.  Budget includes requested staff reclassifications and an increase in the intern pay rate. MIS expenses are increased so that program requirements can be met.  An addition to the current requested budget, state revenues and expenses should be added for the Wisconsin Septic program that are available, no levy effect.  There is no outlay planned for 2019.

 

Land Records Modernization (LRM):

Pate and Felton described LRM activities and goals.  Primary funding is use of the LRM fund.  The fund is supported by retained fees of recorded documents.  The levy funding component is for labor in the department to support the County parcel maps.  2019 budget is a slight increase for labor, other spending categories are mostly down. 

 

Parks:

Stieve reviewed the budget.  Also increasing intern pay rate to gain more applicants.  Reviewed master plan effort for guidance and development in park activities and offerings.  Parks Building will be completed by 2019 and will have some rental revenue.  GSST continuing to expand and additional dollars added for maintenance.  Dam major repair funds have accumulated and limited additional dollars are budgeted in 2019.  He reviewed the snowmobile bridge that will be funded through the state and will be able to be moved.  The old office building will be salvaged and a roof put on the foundation 2020.  He reviewed the outlay plans for 2019.   

 

Register of Deeds:

Bailey noted the budget is relatively the same budget as last year.  Operations remain consistent, office activity is stable. 

 

UW Extension:

Hoffman reviewed UW Extension budget.  He highlighted the co-invested positions, staff in partnership with the county, funded by state and county.  He reviewed the staffing changes and positions that will be shared between Sauk and other counties.  The UW System reorganization changes were discussed.  Bolin noted the change in practice has been that the county is covering an additional educator day without any funding from the state. 

 

At 11:55 AM motion to recess until 1:00 PM by Lins, second by Wenzel.  Motion carried.

At 1:00 PM motion to resume by Lins, second by Kriegl.  Motion carried.

 

Libraries: 

Kucher reviewed the library request and the funding calculations involved.  The request represents 100% funding for all participating libraries.  She reviewed the community libraries and the number of visitors, items checked out and activities provided.  She noted the costs, staffing, hours and circulation materials differ between the many libraries. Wernecke highlighted the resource and benefits the library brings to a community.  Discussed the future and options of the Rock Springs library location. 

 

Surveyor:

Dederich reviewed his budget request and explained the change between monumentation maintenance and preservation. 

 

The noted changes over past two days were discussed and reviewed through a summary distributed by Beghin.  Public Health has potential savings after next week’s special meeting.  Committee discussed the inmate housing rental revenue. 

 

Committee consensus to wait for Public Health, the Wormfarm and have the joint Personnel / Finance meeting before taking any action.   

 

Public Comment:  None

 

Motion by Lins, second by Wenzel to adjourn the meeting.  Motion carried.

 

Respectfully submitted,  

 

 

 

 

 

John Dietz

Finance Committee Chair