HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93010_1060IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
BRIEFING MINUTES
MARCH 18, 2003
The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in Briefing Session on
Tuesday, March 18, 2003, at 5:00 p.m., in the Iredell County Government Center
(South Wing Conference Room), 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC.
Present were:
Chairman Steve D. Johnson
Vice Chairman Godfrey Williams
Doug Madison
Marvin Norman
Sara Haire Tice
StaffpresenV County Manager Joel Mashburn, Finance Director Susan
Blumenstein, Interim County Assessor Bob Miller, Chief Deputy Rick Dowdle,
Support Services Director Jim Vernon, Code Enforcement and Planning Director Lynn
Niblock, Emergency Services Director Tracy Jackson, Emergency Medical Services
Director Lee Darnell, Assistant Fire Marshal Tim Warren, Planning Supervisor Ron
Smith, and Clerk to the Board Jean Moore.
Call to order by Chairman Johnson.
Request for Approval of the January & February Refunds and Releases:
Interim County Assessor Bob Miller presented the January and February 2003 refunds
and releases and requested their approval. He said the refund/release listings did not
include any properties owned by the commissioners.
Request from the Town of Troutman Regarding a Correction to the Iredell
County Code: Section 5-28 (Fire Code Enforcement): Donald Duncan, the
Administrator for the Town of Troutman, said one of the county's fire marshals had
recently reviewed the county code and discovered a section that was inaccurate. Mr.
Duncan said the county had been providing fire inspections for Troutman for many
years; however, the code's language indicated the Town had its own Fire Prevention
Code. He said the code could be corrected by the omission of the Town of Troutman in
the last sentence of Section 5-28.
Request from the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Department for
Approval of a"Write-Off Procedure for Accounts Involving the Homeless,
Indigent, and Transient Parties" after Four Months: Tracy Jackson and Lee
Darnell requested approval of a new policy that would allow the "write off' of EMS
debts that were incurred by homeless, indigent and transient individuals after four
months. Jackson said the current practice was to invoice patients once per month for
four months, and then, the accounts were submitted to a collection agency. He said
delinquent accounts remained `on the books" for three years. Mr. Jackson said $1.8
million was currently owed, and he felt it would be more beneficial for the staff to
pursue the accounts or individuals that might pay. He said there were two office
workers in EMS, and one did collections and the other performed invoicing tasks.
EMS Director Darnell said the accounts involved in the request averaged about
$1,000 a month, or $12,000 a year.
Commissioner Madison stressed the importance of someone in the EMS
department checking the county tax records to deten nine if a debtor owned property, or
vehicles, before the accounts were written off.
Jackson said liens had not been pursued in the past, but credit-reporting
companies were notified about delinquent accounts.
Finance Director Blumenstein said the Debt Setoff Program allowed counties to
submit delinquent accounts to a Department of Revenue clearinghouse. She said that if