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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 10&14, 2018 Budget Work Sessions 1 May 10 & 14, 2018 IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES – Budget Work Sessions May 10 & 14, 2018 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met on Thursday, May 10 and Monday, May 14, 2018, in the South Wing Conference Room, Government Center, 200 South Center Street Statesville Thursday, May 10, 2018, 11:00 AM Board Members Present Chairman James B. Mallory III Vice Chairman Tommy Bowles Gene Houpe Jeff McNeely Marvin Norman Staff present: Interim County Manager Beth Jones, Assistant County Manager Susan Robertson, Finance Director Deb Alford, Assistant Finance Director Susan Cornell, Budget Analysist Caroline Taylor, and Clerk to the Board Retha Gaither. CALL TO ORDER: Chairman James Mallory called the meeting to order. Mitchell Community College: President Dr. Tim Brewer gave a brief overview of how the Allied Health Building idea was born. The building was designed for 40,000 square feet and an estimated $12 million in cost. Iredell citizens voted for the $12 million bond in 2014. Further plans for the building began with the realization of changes in costs. During that time the old Davis Hospital was demolished and property cleared. Bids for the building were advertised and received. Originally there were nine pre-qualified bidders and seven bids were received. Before bids were advertised, staff cut many items from the design due to concerns of increased cost. The ultimate goal was a building including the completion of the second floor for nursing. Upon opening bids, all were astonished with the estimates. The winning bid was $6,610,000 on what was presented to state construction. However, that is because of all the items that were removed but now since the bids are under budget they would like to add these things back. One item is heating. To save money electric heat was chosen but they would prefer gas. Funding for parking lots were also not included in the bid process. Another item not included were “head walls” which are part of the hospital simulation. Vice Chairman Bowles asked to clarified what was included in the bid advertisement. Brewer said they went to bid with the garden level, the floor that faces West End with hopes of the first floor completed and work through the remaining. Even with everything that is planned there is room for growth which was intentional. Alford feels the LGC must be made aware of this because the bids are for $6 million. It was projected to the LGC there will be a building ready to move into but the bids only substantiate $6.6 million. This information with the estimates will be sent to them immediately following this 2 May 10 & 14, 2018 meeting. If these items are required to bid, it will delay the project. The bonds are supposed to be sold in ten days. Gerald Hyde, Chief Finance Officer, said the total project has a base bid with alternates that could be accepted which takes the actual project to $7,031,200. Alford said it must be shown to the LGC that bids were taken for $7 million and ask if the LGC will still issue the full $12 million with only estimates to go on. Upon the realization that the bids did not include the full project, the LGC was informed. The LGC is just waiting on the final information. Commissioner McNeely asked to clarify that the entire project will not be re-bid, just the extra items that have been added back in. Hyde said that once the general contractor has been chosen, the Architect has a furniture designer within their firm and that person put together the estimates. A mechanical engineer was questioned about converting from electric to gas and gave estimates. That will be worked out with the general contractor as a change order. Commissioner McNeely feels the architect let them down and did not do his job. Robertson feels the LGC will be concern that what was not bid is about 37% of the base bid. It costs a lot more to add something. If these are done as change orders the fear is if the end product is the true value. Commissioner Houpe asked about a timeframe to re-bid. Robertson said the LGC sets the bond sale calendar far in advance. This would not be put back on the calendar again until fall. Chairman Mallory feels if the LGC approves, then the project can more forward, but if not, then it will just have to be delayed and re-bid. All of things on the list were in the original concept. Vice Chairman Bowles asked to share an idea. Bowles asked if it would behoove the County to have an engineer/building type department. If the schools need a building then the County team takes the list of needs, designs the building, goes through the bid process, and then builds the structure. As an example, South Iredell Fire Department spent $90,000 on architectural fees that were useless. As a county, on the whole, would it beneficial and cost effective? If the County is responsible for providing schools shouldn’t the County build it? Wouldn’t it be better to centralize the bidding process? Couldn’t there be a cost savings as well? Chairman Mallory suggested that the larger counties may be doing this and it should be researched. Budget Schedules: Finance Director Deb Alford, Assistant County Manager Susan Robertson, and Interim County Manager Beth Jones explained each of the schedules and graphs of the General Fund. Alford said the unassigned fund balance on June 30, 2017 was $39,703,563. Appropriations during FY18 = $42,199,684; Estimated revenue for June 30, 2018 = $198,796,824; Estimated expenditures for June 30, 2018 = 194,289,395; Assignments of fund balance = 3 May 10 & 14, 2018 $7,493,531; Estimated unassigned fund balance for June 30, 2018 = $37,888,582; the recommended budget for FY19 = $204,998,368 which is a fund balance of 18.48%. Chairman Mallory asked the time frame of the initial operating capability at the new jail. Alford said the plan was January 2019. Jones said it will not be open by January. There have been some delays. The steel cell timing issue was a nine-week delay. It could be April 2019. The plan is that everything will be done and open by the end of the fiscal year. A change order was signed for weather days but additional days have not been allowed. Chairman Mallory would like a comparison report between the initial operating cost when they start and the current out-of-pocket costs of pump/haul, Sheriff’s gas to other counties, and housing in other counties. Alford said the estimated savings has been calculated at $925,000. Depending on the month they come into service, Alford will work with the Sheriff’s office and only use the amount of fund balance needed for operations. Jones said Sheriff Campbell is not delaying the hiring of staff because of the necessary and extensive training in advance. Alford said the unassigned fund balance as of June 30 is $37,888,582. The recommended budget is $204,998,368 which puts the fund balance percentage at 18.48%. New Position Recommendations (Schedule B): Jones said 28 positions are to staff the jail that were already known. There are 11 positions requested in the enterprise fund departments of ICATS and Solid Waste. Other positions recommended are: 1 – Tax Assessor Department; 2 – Information Technology; 1 – Facility Services (Day Porter at Gov. South); 7 – Sheriff’s Department; 1 – Animal Services; 5 – ECOM; 4 – EMS; 1 – Central Permitting; 2 – DSS (75% State funds); 1 – Veterans Services. For enterprise departments 10 – ICATS (one position is contingent upon grant funding); 1 – Solid Waste. Jones said a part-time position is being added to Facility Services for Courier (mail) Service for 30 hours per week. However, this person will have other various duties as well within the scheduled hours. Capital Outlay Request (Schedule C): Jones said there were several vehicles requested including a dump truck and LTV for Parks/Rec. It is recommended to lump all the vehicles together and finance that purchase over five years. This frees additional funds needed elsewhere. Jones explained in detail each of the capital requests. Commissioner McNeely questioned the usage of the dump truck. Jones said it is used quite often, and the dump truck was set as a priority over a new position. Commissioner McNeely questioned bus stop shelters. Robertson said they are covered by grants but it has to show in the budget. Commissioner McNeely had to leave to attend a CRTPO meeting in Charlotte. 4 May 10 & 14, 2018 General Fund Expenditures (Schedule D): Alford said this chart takes the expenditures by function and shows what was adopted in FY18 and what is recommended for FY19. Schedule E shows the Net County Funds. Vice Chairman Bowles stated this Board should create a five and ten-year plan for delivering emergency services. All emergency services need to be reviewed and prioritized. Alford continued to explain that pie Chart 1 shows the funding of expenditures for 1¢ ad valorem tax. Chart 2 is a visual of net county funds by functions. Schedule F is a visual of percentages of changes in different areas of expenditures. Chairman Mallory suggested, in the future, to compare apples to apples and have more consistency between the two pie charts. Alford explained the largest increase in Schedule F is debt service which rose by 113% because this is the first year paying on the Public Safety Complex. Chairman Mallory asked where the $2 million 911 grant was placed. Alford said it is in the 911 Fund and will not show in the General Fund at all. Jones said 911 Funds are required to be kept separate. The Board took a 10-minute break. Alford said Schedule D shows the changes in property valuation. Schedule H is the county tax rates and valuations. The next listing is the 2018-19 Revenue Projections which has not changed since the Winter Retreat. Vice Chairman Bowles asked about financing of vehicles and the comfort level of financing for five years. Jones said this is the last year for the two-year ambulance project. The ambulances purchased now can be remounted. The older non-remountable units are kept in the fleet for spares. Commissioner Norman asked when the DSS building will be paid off. Cornell said 2020. Alford explained the updated report is due to an increase in ad valorem taxes which means it is capital money and not current expense. There is a 2% increase in current expense. Chairman Mallory asked the percentage increase for the schools. Jones said ISS is 2.51%, MGSD is 4.1%, and MCC is 2.46%. Alford said the school gate guards expense was calculated and pulled out into a separate line and paid through the County. Vice Chairman Bowles said he has no problem paying that now but wants to be careful and not start going into departments to pay items for them. Commissioner Norman agrees but money is given to them (schools) and they don’t use it to pay for guards, then the public complains the Board of Commissioners is not doing their part. 5 May 10 & 14, 2018 Commissioner Houpe said some of the Board of Ed members requested the County pay for it because if it went to the schools it may be used for something different. This was told in the task force meeting. Vice Chairman Bowles said the general public needs to know we are facing this issue because they are deciding this for themselves as to who is responsible. Commissioner Houpe stated that is the reason the task force requested this Board to consider it because a Board of Education member said if it went into their (schools) general fund it may be spent on something else. Chairman Mallory said this expenditure is a combination of education and public safety. Every bit of expense of the Sheriff’s Department and the municipal police departments, in terms of gas, time, drive-bys, etc. is being born in the public safety arena but it is for the benefit of the schools. This is not broken out in the Sheriff’s budget at all. If a matrix could be applied it would show more of what is being dedicated to school safety. Resource officers come out of the school. Jones said some of them do, but some are provided by the Sheriff’s office. Commissioner Norman said he did not know the school had cut the gate guards until a teacher called him at home to complain. Some people think this Board took the funding away but it was not taken away, the school spent it where they wanted. Vice Chairman Bowles said this Board has worked very hard and made it a priority in the last three years to keep people in Iredell County safe. Other boards should not be taking this lightly. Someone should be there to control the access to the high schools. Commissioner Norman said the teacher also talked about the outside doors being unlocked. He (Norman) went to investigate at West Iredell High School. There were five outside doors that anyone could just walk in without being noticed. Jones and Robertson explained expenditures for the various departments. Commissioner Houpe said there needs to be some type of trigger through HR that if a department has more than 8% turnover it will alarm Administration to check for problems within that department. Also, internal and external complaints should be considered. The employee surveys were not specific enough. There needs to be some way to identify potential problems in a specific department. Chairman Mallory feels the surveys were beneficial in general. There could be some type of objective mechanism to measure specific things using data that is already known. This could indicate if it is a trend or issue or just a confluence of events such as retirees. But issues need to be surfaced. Jones said all employees have an annual performance evaluation and mid-year check-ins began last year. Departments Directors cover their own employees and Jones and Robertson cover the directors. Commissioner Houpe said that if an employee was sub-par they should be told immediately and not wait until mid-year or the annual evaluation. Those issues need to be identified and documented. There needs to be feedback both ways from the top down but also from the bottom up. Employees need to give feedback on their supervisors. 6 May 10 & 14, 2018 Department budget explanations continued. Robertson said it is recommended to approve 2 positions in the IT Department. Chairman Mallory asked where they would be placed. Robertson said there is a plan that when Parks/Rec moves to East Lyons Club and renovations are complete in the basement of the Government Center, then files will be moved to the basement which will free some space. Human Resources and IT will share the current Parks/Rec area. Register of Deeds Ron Wyatt expressed appreciation to the Finance Department for their extensive help with the budget. Wyatt gave a brief explanation of the Register of Deeds’ budget and said Iredell County is the only Register of Deeds in the State with two full services offices open to the public. Currently the Clerk of Court is using space in the Register of Deeds for paper files. This may change in the future due to needing more space for the Register of Deeds. Jones continued explaining budgets of other departments including buildings and facilities upgrades. Chairman Mallory asked about the additional bailiff that was added for inmate reduction. Jones said the bailiff has been added to the Sheriff’s budget and the ADA that the County pays for has been added to the Courts’ budget. Chairman Mallory spoke with Judge Crosswhite who reported the District Attorney’s office has started to have criminal cases available during civil terms. Civil terms are typically settled out of court and the Superior Court Judge is just waiting. Commissioner Houpe asked about the County Attorney becoming a permanent position and not contracted. Jones said it has not been discussed and it is in the budget to continue as contracted. Robertson continued explaining Economic Development. There is no new money for project development but money will be carried over which will include the Business Liaison position and the Edge Factor. Commissioner Houpe stated the Airport Commission is working on some changes. Houpe is hoping to invite Steve Johnson and John Ferguson to make an overview report to this Board in the near future. Robertson continued with explaining General Governmental and Special Appropriations. Coming in September, the Wellness Clinic will open to retirees and children, three and under, that are covered by the County’s health insurance. ICATS will make trips on holidays for dialysis patients, except for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The drivers will be given a floating holiday. Chairman Mallory asked about the research into possible private medical transport. Robertson said that Donna Rufty at DSS has contacted several companies and asked for a formal proposal. To date Rufty has interviewed only one company who actually responded. 7 May 10 & 14, 2018 Robertson continued explaining the budgets for development departments. Commissioner Houpe asked who would supervise the Economic Development liaison. Jones said that part-time person would be under Russ Rogerson, who has considered the position possibly being full-time with other duties incorporated. Commissioner Houpe disagreed with full-time because he doesn’t want this person’s priorities to be other than what this Board intends. Houpe would like this person to submit reports showing the number of businesses they have assisted and followed through. Chairman Mallory said that needs to be a discussion with Rogerson. If the phone is not ringing, then they could certainly be doing other things. Jones doesn’t know the specific plan for this position. Rogerson has met with the HR Director for a job description. Commissioner Houpe asked if there should be a meeting with himself, Jones, McNeely, and Rogerson to ensure the Board’s expectations are clear for this position. Jones said that could be arranged. Jones reported that Dr. Mauney, from Mooresville Graded Schools, called to give information on an issue with the Performing Arts building. The finishing touches were being applied when they discovered the site line was not appropriate for the seating. The floor was not installed correctly. Attorneys are involved and went to Raleigh. A letter is being sent to the contractor instructing the floor be torn out and re-installed. This will take several months. MGSD has stopped payment to the architect and the contractor, plus they are keeping the retainage. There will be a delay which could be nine months. As a side note, their architect is the same architect for the jail and there are some issues there as well. Chairman Mallory asked about the issues with the jail. Jones said there has been some communication issues between Mosely Architects and Hickory Construction. There was a nine-week lag time with the steel cells. The contract says it should only be two weeks. Change orders have been signed for weather days but no other change orders for delays or extensions have been signed or approved. Commissioner Houpe asked about the penalty. Jones said there is a liquidated damage clause which depends on the nature of the problem. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if Moseley should meet with this board to ensure no further problems. Jones met with Moseley and the architect on site. It was a difficult meeting but things have improved. Commissioner Houpe wants to be kept up to date with these issues. Chairman Mallory suggested to research other counties that may have created a department that oversees critical projects. 8 May 10 & 14, 2018 Jones said Project Manager David Saleeby has been a great asset and has been constantly “bird-dogging” the contractors. Vice Chairman Bowles believes Iredell County tax payers should know the cost of each portion of the performing arts buildings. ADJOURNMENT: The Board recessed at 3:00 PM until Monday, May 14 at 8:00 AM. Monday, May 14, 2018, 8:00 AM Board Members Present Chairman James B. Mallory III Vice Chairman Tommy Bowles (arrived at 8:15 AM) Gene Houpe Jeff McNeely Marvin Norman Staff present: Interim County Manager Beth Jones, Assistant County Manager Susan Robertson, Finance Director Deb Alford, Assistant Finance Director Susan Cornell, Budget Analysist Caroline Taylor, and Clerk to the Board Retha Gaither. Chairman Mallory called the meeting to order. Robertson began the meeting with explaining the budgets for the human services departments. Currently there is no backlog with Environmental Health. Partners Behavioral has not had an increase since 2012. ABC’s 5¢ a bottle contributes to the $50,000 per year. Vice Chairman Bowles said there is also 7% of net profit that goes to the municipalities’ local boards and some was donated to DACI (Drug & Alcohol Coalition of Iredell). However, not all alcohol money goes to DACI. Robertson continued with Social Services’ budget. Because of some of the State changes, Iredell County will be financially liable, through DSS, if an Income Maintenance Worker makes a mistake. Daily audits of these cases are extremely important. DSS Director Yvette Smith has taken extra precautions with supervision and same day audits to ensure quality control. Smith reported that DSS staff does an awesome job detecting fraud and actually prosecute. Iredell County is the top county in the State to prosecute fraud. Chairman Mallory said they are looking for perfection basically. The real rationale is to be able to pull away from the counties the responsibility and the ability to service their own population. Instead the State wants to regionalize or privatize that. All social service agencies had to sign a contract, which was a “take it or leave it.” It is totally a one-sided contract. Many counties have significant challenges but not Iredell. Commissioner Houpe asked about any recent talks about regionalizations. Smith said there is a third party entity researching information. They are looking at how to determine options for counties who would like to regionalize. The first phase is to regionalize the Department of Health and Human Services offices across the State. They have looked at five to seven regions. The second phase is to help counties with a criteria, if they so choose to regionalize, what that would look like. 9 May 10 & 14, 2018 Commissioner Houpe reported that legislators have said they would be less likely to take counties that have merged the two departments because then they would be under the control of the elected boards. Houpe suggested to keep this board informed if Smith feels such a move would give a layer of protection. Chairman Mallory said that move has not proven to be effective. The State has already addressed it. Robertson continued with Veterans Services Department. Another position is recommended but currently it is not to expand services in Mooresville but to beef up services in Statesville. Commissioner McNeely asked if, in the future, there could be some type of computer hook- up, similar to Skype, in the Mooresville area to cut the drive time. Robertson said that is a good idea and certainly something to think about. Vice Chairman Bowles said some type of video conference might work. Jones turned the attention to the budgets of the public safety departments. Sheriff Darren Campbell explained that one large request is for a print station that is mandated by the Department of Public Safety. Back in 2015 the drug lab was closed but those costs are recouped from lab fees and court costs. The turn-around on drug cases is about 15-30 days versus one to one and a half years with the State Bureau of Investigation. Campbell continued to explain other areas of the department’s budget. Commissioner McNeely asked if the lake patrol deputy could work with the ICE unit in the off seasons. Campbell said they are not trained enough to be effective but they are utilized in schools and COPS (Community Oriented Policing Service) area. Chairman Mallory asked how the department is reaching out to the community with information about the dangers of the lake. Campbell said Lake Watch began a couple of years ago. Also, education with boater safety classes, enforcement of equipment checks and just presence on the lake. Commissioner Norman asked for a report of daily activity of the Resource Officers in middle and high schools. Campbell said there is a different set of standards for the way schools report crimes and the way law enforcement reports crimes. There will be a stark difference. Commissioner Norman said the report can be general without naming a particular school or person. Campbell said that over the last few years they have returned about $3.6 million into the Jail Fund. Revenues from the Sheriff was about $4.5 million which totals over $8 million that offset tax payer dollars. The budget message stated the basic jail operational fund will be eliminated when the jail opens. Campbell would like to take a closer look at that. There seems to be no incentive to save money but the Sheriff’s Department has returned funds through 10 May 10 & 14, 2018 restructuring, lapsed salaries, etc. to save money for the jail and it was the best thing. This practice needs to continue because of future needs. It will not be a slush fund and will not be used for personnel. It will be for catastrophic needs such as hurricanes, flooding, etc. Vice Chairman Bowles suggested that the leadership team research the pros and cons of such a program. Robertson suggested to promote such a program in every department. Chairman Mallory said all departments have been returning unspent funds which is atypical of government bureaucracy. Most of those funds have been returned to the General Fund. Maybe Administration should research if the funds could be departmentalized and possibly encourage more savings. Vice Chairman Bowles asked about the huge discussion in Mecklenburg County about Bill 287G. Campbell said Iredell County operates under Senate Bill 229 and not under 287G. Basically everyone that comes into the jail is checked and fingerprinted regardless. Jones reiterated that the inmate reduction budget has been pushed to the respective departments. The Bailiff is in the Sheriff’s Department budget and the ADA is in the Courts budget. Jones explained budgets for Animal Services and ECOM. Commissioner McNeely mentioned that there seems to be a lot of money spent on Animal Services. Jones said several things were required to meet state standards. However, Animal Services has done a great job with restructuring in order to allow employees to help each other. The volunteer program is phenomenal. Commissioner Norman asked about safety and employee training. Jones said that has been addressed. Facility Services is expediting the installation of more door locks. Jones continued with ECOM and said the 911 MSAG Specialist works with 911 addressing to ensure addresses match the individuals. Cell phone companies have worked to make sure 911 calls are routed to the correct dispatch centers. Vice Chairman Bowles asked about the CAD. Jones said some things are still in process. CAD is up and operational but there are still some things with AVL (auto vehicle locators) that not operating yet. The funds are there but it just takes time to make sure each level is working correctly before adding another piece. Vice Chairman Bowles said there is a public expectation and there are many phone calls asking for a timeline. Chairman Mallory suggested a status report to the public to manage those expectations. 11 May 10 & 14, 2018 Jones said that once the EMD codes went out some departments said they wanted to go to everything, they don’t want to follow the EMD. The CAD was originally built on a set of responses for the EMD codes. The CAD will have to be re-configured and re-build that portion of the CAD because some departments want to respond to every call in their district. It is easier to be consistent with the configuration. There will be an expense because it is a re-build and that expense has not been budgeted. Those departments have been asked to cost share and Mooresville has agreed. The estimate is around $9,300. Commissioner Houpe suggested the County pay that expense because these departments have worked with the County through several issues. Houpe feels it would be a good faith gesture. Vice Chairman Bowles said he could agree but who makes the call on who responds. The County contracts with entities to cover the districts. At this particular point, the County signed a contract with those departments and the County is the customer. The customer gives specifics. Commissioner Houpe said many departments have part-time personnel during the day. It needs to be in the next contracts, to put specific expectations for what is being paid for. Vice Chairman Bowles said it would be nice if everyone could respond for coverage but it is not feasible. Jones said one department in the north end wanted to go to every call. That department didn’t have a lot of calls and after some research it only resulted in two additional calls. Therefore, it wasn’t worth the expense for two additional calls. The southern end has many more calls and Mooresville has someone around the clock that could go and they felt very strongly about being notified of all calls. Plus, they are willing to share in the cost. Commissioner Houpe said it is understandable for cost sharing if it is a chosen change. But rumors are that the program glitches are something that the County caused or the County put out before it was ready. Jones said that was fixed at the County’s expense. Commissioner McNeely said that is creating a slippery slope. The next time they will remember that the County paid for it. This could be an open end in the future if they want to continue to make changes in the CAD. McNeely feels cost sharing is a good idea. Chairman Mallory said $9,300 is not a large sum but the County does not want to set a precedence. Commissioner McNeely feels there needs to be some clarity because of the wear and tear of the equipment going to scenes where they are not needed. The Board took a 10-minute break at 9:30 AM. Jones continued with the 911 Fund which is where the 911 Grant is deposited. The 911 Grant stated funding for nine employees which means the existing positions plus two . Strezinski has asked for an appeal on the position count. Once ECOM moves to the new center there will be more than nine. These funds can only be used to receive calls in. It cannot be used to dispatch calls out. The 911 funds must be budgeted and expenses have to be tracked. 12 May 10 & 14, 2018 Alford said the 911 Board requires finance staff to attend a grant workshop to learn the specific rules of the grant funding. Jones continued with the EMS budget. The request was for eight additional staff but four were cut. The request for a community paramedic position was cut but EMS Director Blair Richey is researching grants. Commissioner McNeely asked if there will be any requirements to ensure the exercise equipment is used. Jones said all the public safety departments had budgeted for furniture. However, when the 911 Grant was awarded all of the furniture was removed from individual budgets and placed in the project budget. EMS has an annual physical fitness ability test that is required. It is part of the annual review. Commissioner Houpe asked if those individuals could be given some sort of incentive or pay increase each year to reach or maintain certain goals. Jones said that is done for all county employees. Commissioner Houpe said all county employees don’t do the same work as EMTs. There are situations that will produce back injuries and worker’s comp. Jones said having the equipment room available is an incentive. The ability test is part of their job duties. Commissioner McNeely suggested there be some sort of log in to track when they used the gym. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if there is any data showing the cost effectiveness of an internal gym versus YMCA membership. Jones said they are needed to be on site for when they receive calls. Jones said the ambulances are included in the CIP not in this budget. Included in this budget is a web -based software to maintain records/training of first responders. All first responders are under the Medical Director. MCC is working with EMS to maintain their training. MCC will be added to the phone alert system to inform first responders if classes are cancelled. Chairman Mallory asked if the software will hold the instructor accountable to grading the exam and posting the results. Currently there is a problem with extended delays. If not, it needs to be added. All these guys need training and if a class is cancelled then they have lo st a day. These classes can be taught internally if necessary and really can’t afford to have classes cancelled. This needs to be tracked as well. Vice Chairman Bowles suggested that exercise equipment be in the project budget for future budgets. This does not need to be a departmental budget. Jones said it was supposed to be but while being cognizant of costs it was placed in various departments until the 911 Grant was awarded. Jones continued with EMS Specialty Services which is self-supporting. They also contribute $250,000 per year toward the Public Safety building. 13 May 10 & 14, 2018 Commissioner McNeely believes the $250,000 should be labeled specifically as to where it is going. Alford said it is going to help pay for the new complex at the moment but in future years it could be labeled. Robertson said the original intent was to eventually help support the general fund in purchasing new vehicles. Once the building is built it can be used to support the purchase of ambulances again. Vice Chairman Bowles said that new revaluation money needs to be marked to take care of the 65 and older generation. Jones continued with the budget for the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management. Jones continued with budgets for Cultural and Recreational. Chairman Mallory asked about the air quality issue at the Library and if it has impacted their budget. Jones said it has not had an impact at this time and any expenses incurred prior to partnering with the State will show in the facilities budget. Commissioner Houpe suggested to encourage all department directors to utilize the grant software at the Library to research potential grants for their particular department. Chairman Mallory asked for a total, on an annual basis, of grants received for each participating department. Commissioner McNeely would like this list of awarded grants and give to the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners at the annual meeting in Hickory. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if there was any data to show efficiency of individual departments researching grants versus a full-time grant writer. Jones said United Way has a great grant writer who is willing to help in any way. Jones continued with the budget for Parks/Rec. This department requested a Turf Management Specialist that was not approved in this upcoming year. Commissioner McNeely feels a consulting agronomist can be hired much cheaper than hiring one full time. They could probably do a quarterly inspection which is probably all that may be needed. Also, the Ag Extension Office has staff that could do it. Jones continued explaining budgets for capital improvement. The parking at Government Center South will be done in two phases as part of the lease agreement with DENR. Commissioner Houpe asked if the Day Porter could police the parking lot. Jones continued with Central Permitting and Vehicles Services. Commissioner McNeely said the vehicle fleet should be in good shape by 2022. Commissioner Houpe asked if this year would put the fleet back on a steady rotation. 14 May 10 & 14, 2018 Jones said yes. Jones continued with the Justice Quadrant Master Plan. Chairman Mallory feels the Justice Quadrant planning should be deferred at this time. The court system needs to work on a process improvement plan to ensure effective and efficient utilization of all resources. They need the entire system updated to the 21st century. Commissioner McNeely would like this Board to meet with all participants – district attorney, Clerk of Court and judges. Iredell County has probably the largest back-log in the State. During the month of April to the first part of May, the most time spent in court on any one day was on a Wednesday with 4 hours and 31 minutes. That was the most. Six hours of court time in one day is not asking too much. They need to be helping themselves before the County moves any more dirt. Commissioner Norman said the last report received showed over 13,000 cases behind. Chairman Mallory said the system, how they do business, is not in this Board’s control even though the County has the responsibility of providing buildings for them. However, it is not unreasonable to request they address the process and utilize the space as a pre-condition. Also, there are not many counties that hold court in two places which creates some inefficiencies when clerks have to travel as well as the Sheriff transporting inmates. They need to review cases and determine what cases are appropriate to be heard in Mooresville. Jones said this will be removed and continued with the budget for Government Center South and the fairground building repairs. The fairground building repairs are scheduled to be done after the large horseshow in November. Commissioner McNeely reminded the Board that this is not a permanent home for the fair and feels the repairs should be only what is absolutely necessary for safety. Part of the building in question may get by with just a shelter without side walls. Jones said the Fairgrounds Board feels the building should be enclosed due to the current uses. Commissioner McNeely said it needs to be stressed to the Fairgrounds Board that the County is not looking at a long term building or long term expense. Vice Chairman Bowles would like to cut at least another $1 million from the budget and not take it from fund balance in order to balance the budget. Chairman Mallory said repairs will only cost more later. Staff has cut and has stayed in the requested 18% range. Commissioner Norman feels staff has done a great job with the budget and with the cuts they’ve made already. Commissioner Houpe doesn’t feel there are any more possible cuts. Vice Chairman Bowles said there are two places to cut to get the best bang for the buck and that is in capital improvement and full time employees. However, the improvements will be needed either this year or next year. At this time, with two huge projects (jail and public safety), is the parking lot at Government Center South that high on the priorities list? 15 May 10 & 14, 2018 Jones said the parking lot is tied to the renegotiation of the lease with DENR. The lease states they will have their own parking area that will be sectioned and gated with reserved spaces. Students from a nearby school are using the parking lot which is part of the problem. DENR will have designated spaces and the County can reclaim some spaces for DSS and the Sheriff. Chairman Mallory suggested using the fence from the old Davis Hospital site to make the lot more secure. Commissioner Houpe suggested a sticker or some type of tag showing permission to park. Commissioner McNeely suggested the possibility of the County doing their own paving which might save money in the long run. Chairman Mallory said this could be another avenue to research for a potential engineering department. Commissioner McNeely asked the Board’s permission to research the possibility, cost of equipment, and staff to do the paving in-house. Vice Chairman Bowles volunteered to head that project and operate that equipment for the next two years at the same Commissioner pay. It may not save $1 million but it could save a lot. Commissioner Houpe feels it wouldn’t hurt to gather numbers. Commissioner Norman feels it is not the time for this discussion because this work is already scheduled. Chairman Mallory suggested to leave the money in the budget but not dedicate it to a contract yet. After the research then more specific plans can be made. Vice Chairman Bowles agrees to leave the money in the budget but move forward with researching other options. Alford explained the budgets for debt service and transfers. This is the first year of principal and interest on the Public Safety Complex and payment of DSS building which will be final in 2020. Chairman Mallory asked to clarify which fiscal year the DSS will be paid off. Alford said the last payment will be in FY2019-2020. Alford continued explaining that it includes the first of a five-year installment on the SANS and the last payment on Iredell Rescue. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if this will make Iredell Rescue debt free. Robertson said the County refinanced for Iredell Rescue about 15 years ago because they do not qualify for tax exempt financing. If they transferred ownership over to the County, then it could be financed with tax exempt rates. Stand-alone rescue squads are not tax exempt. If a fire department and rescue are one entity, then they are tax exempt. Vice Chairman Bowles asked about the title to the building. Robertson said it was conveyed to the County and the County agreed that once the debt is retired to convey it back to them. 16 May 10 & 14, 2018 Commissioner McNeely feels that subject should be discussed further over the next year. Alford continued with an explanation of the transfers. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if all SSD proceeds could totally be dedicated to the debt of the public service building. Jones said it could be done but then equipment and supplies for SSD will have to come from the General Fund. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if SSD has enough revenue to make the principal payment instead of interest. Jones said there is not enough for that. Alford said they are paying the interest money and they are also paying indirect costs back to the General Fund to reinvest against the Admin cost, finance cost, etc. EMS Director Blair Richey has a capital plan that is forecasting the replacement of equipment, etc. At the moment Richey does not feel comfortable going any lower in her fund balance. Chairman Mallory feels that is an incentive to be as profitable as possible. Budget Analyst Caroline Taylor continued with explaining the County-wide Fire Tax. This year was different in that fire departments were allowed to send in budget requests. The tax rates remain the same. Vice Chairman Bowles asked the total of fund balance for Troutman Fire. Taylor said it is estimated to be $432,000 by June 30, 2018. Vice Chairman Bowles said that is money that has been collected in that district but has not been paid to that fire department yet. Bowles asked if that amount would cover their building project. Taylor said no. Troutman Fire is estimating $1.7 million and the fund balance will be used to bring down the loan amount. Jones said there is a separate funding agreement for Lake Norman Fire Department. Several years ago there was a separate agreement and there was a suggestion of doing a grace contract extension for one year with the understanding the County needs to do a complete overall at reviewing funding arrangements, how things are moving forward, how things are funded and ensure there is a sustainable funding going forward. The five-year contract that was in place states $178,000 each year for the first three years and then $250,000 each year for two years. This current year is the last year for the $250,000. The contract states they would come to the County if an extension is needed but it may have fallen off their radar. Vice Chairman Bowles said it was mentioned in the meeting with them and they seemed surprised. The terms of the old contract stated they were to return to this Board to renegotiate which they had not done. The Fire Tax Board considered extended them grace for one more year and then do a complete overall of how emergency services is done, across the board, within the next 12 months. That may include merging departments and many different things. 17 May 10 & 14, 2018 Jones said the $250,000 is in the budget but no one has talked with the fire department until the Board approves. Vice Chairman Bowles said this is the only community where there has been open dialog about delivering emergency services to. Emergency service tax dollars are distributed by risk and need. The Fire Tax Board thought this would be a good idea to continue until a permanent fix could be determined. Therefore, this grace period is not an obligation. It is desired for Lake Norman to remain in the County-wide fire tax district. It is known that the biggest request for most departments is personnel and departments are saying the biggest growth in calls is medical. Jones said Kent Greene took the old contract and made some revisions but the County Attorney should review it before the Board actually takes a vote. Vice Chairman Bowles feels there should be statement that this is a one-year payment and it will be referred to as the “grace” contract. This is the last year. Commissioner Norman asked the length of time before all fire departments will be full time. Vice Chairman Bowles said it will depend on the direction of EMS. If the County decides to grow EMS larger and ask fire departments to stop running those calls, then fire departments can continue with the employee model they have now. Moving forward there may be a hybrid funding model that provides base services and may see individual districts that will determine how much it needs to grow...which is just one concept. Bowles would like to see an expert in this area help design the model and research other counties for models that are already working well. Robertson continued with transportation revenues and expenditures. The request for eight positions will not be filled until the ridership numbers requires it. Commissioner McNeely asked if surplus ICATS vehicles could be used by Recreation. Robertson said it might be possible but ICATS vans are purchased with state funds which will not be received until 2019. Recreation may need their van sooner. The County receives the proceeds when surplus vehicles are sold following state schedule. The sale price has to be reinvested in local transportation. These vehicles are very high mileage. Vice Chairman Bowles reminded the group that should there be a catastrophic event, the County Manager has the authority to commandeer Recreation vehicles to use. Commissioner Norman feels safety should be priority. Some surplus ICATS vehicles are pretty worn out. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if the County Manager and/or Chairman would have the authority to use school buses if there was a disaster. Chairman Mallory believes it would be determined by the Board of Education. Robertson said they would probably allow the use of activity buses because they are purchased with local funds. Chairman Mallory feels there should be a pre-existing agreement. 18 May 10 & 14, 2018 Vice Chairman Bowles agrees there needs to be a MOU for the activity buses in an emergency. Jones feels there may be something already written in the Emergency Management Plan. There is an existing partnership with the schools for shelters. Alford explained the JCPC funding. Robertson continued with the budget for Solid Waste. Solid Waste Director has applied for a grant to fund a permanent facility to take hazardous waste. Equipment requests are covered entirely by Solid Waste revenues. Changes at the Mooresville transfer station are still being researched. Jones continued with the budgets for insurance funds. The changes in insurance broker, carrier, and other benefits have all been positive. Commissioner Houpe asked for those things to be included in the Friday reports. Vice Chairman Bowles said this Board has been proactive only because previous boards were insightful, saving and prepared the way. Jones said one item will be a little different this year. The employee health incentive is given when employees meet certain benchmarks. Currently employees must meet three o f four criteria for $250 and if they meet the recommended waist circumference then they would receive another $250. Many employees benefited. This year it is requested to raise the bar. Employees who meet four of the five recommendations will receive $250 and if they meet all five they will receive another $250. Commissioner Houpe feels an additional step should be considered for EMS employees. Jones said part of the job they have chosen is being able to perform those duties. The annual physical test is part of their job requirement and is tied to performance and merit increases. Commissioner Norman said it is up to the individual to stay in shape to perform the job they chose. Chairman Mallory asked if the physical requirements are specific to specific jobs. Jones said yes. The physical requirements are for paramedics. Chairman Mallory said the volunteer firemen that are responding to calls don’t meet those requirements. Alford continued with budgets for property liability and worker’s comp. Chairman Mallory wants to reach out to Iredell Museum one more time. Alford reported that the LGC has approved moving forward with the sale of the bonds for MCC. Adjournment: Chairman Mallory thanked staff for all the work to produce a balanced budget and adjourned the meeting at 12:10 PM. 19 May 10 & 14, 2018 __________________________________ ___________________________________ Date Approved Retha C. Gaither, Clerk