ISLAND COUNTY COMMISSIONERS -
MINUTES OF MEETING
SPECIAL
SESSION - SEPTEMBER 10, 2003
SPECIAL SESSION - Budget
Workshops
The Board met in Special Session on September 10,
2003 beginning at 9:30 a.m. for the purpose of conducting Budget Workshops on
the preliminary 2004 budget with the individual Elected Officials and Appointed
Department heads. The special session
was held in the Courthouse Administration Building, Conference Room #116, 1 NE 7th Street, Coupeville,
Wa. Island County 2004 Budget Workshop
Notebook provided to each Board member by the Budget Director for use
during budget workshops.
Commissioners Wm. L. McDowell, Chairman; William J.
Byrd, Member; and Mike Shelton, Member, attended. Elaine Marlow, Budget Director, also attended the session.
CORONER Page 52
Presentation by: Robert Bishop
Staff: Valarie Freer
Computer presentation covering
services provided by and core
responsibilities of the Coroner. No
increase in budget is requested; it is a hold-the-line budget.
The 1995 Coroner’s Budget
was $145,000 and in 2003 increased to $178,000, averaging over the period
1995-2003 equals $153,000/year. The budget represents 88% wages and
professional services; 12% maintenance and operation. While M&O increased about
8% the number of cases increased by about 18%.
Revenue received from State
representing reimbursement for autopsy costs was $15,000, predicted
the same for 2004. At the 7th month point in 2003, fairly
close on autopsy cost, but it is hard to predict the number of autopsies per
year, though he saw no drastic changes forthcoming. Quality of investigations has increased dramatically, yet the cost of each case has actually decreased
by about $25.
COUNTY CLERK Page 38
Presentation by: Sharon Franzen
Hand-out: Budget
Letter
Clerk proposes for 2004
a hold-the-line approach for
M&O. Confident she will continue to
see an increase in revenue to finish
2003 with more revenue than originally projected. The major concern is that the half-time vault clerk be restored to a full
time position in 2004.
Two major undertakings that
are looming: (1) the office now will be
responsible for collection activities historically that had been handled by the
State Department of Corrections; and (2) a significant class-action lawsuit
which encompasses more than 120 court files that soon will go to trial.
CENTRAL
SERVICES Page 27
Presentation by: Cathy Caryl
Central Services: hold-the-line budget
proposed. Working towards streamlining
processes and making best use of technology available. Funding categories proposed to be shuffled a
bit, from Capital Outlay to Small Tools line item, but the bottom dollar amount
remains the same. Supplemental request is submitted to bring the current
6-month temporary programmer position to a full time position.
Telecommunications: holding its own; might be
able to save some money next year on maintenance costs.
Office Equipment: same as last year,
$50,000. The office equipment budget
this year was used basically to purchase copiers and FTR Gold recording systems
in the Law & Justice facility.
There are about 10 computers that need to be replaced. Working now with
the Courthouse Annex project as far as determining the type of digital
recording system and PA system, setup and wiring. The Commissioners agreed that Cathy check into the possibility of
making available [surplus] to the Town of Coupeville the old Lanier recording
system.
General Services
Administration
Presentation by: Betty Kemp
Staff: Lee
McFarland
Page 71. GSA. No supplemental
request. Revenue is down somewhat
because the County no longer receives income from rental of Johnson
Building. GSA revenue summary as far as
campground fees really is the total of rentals short term and campground
fees.
Page 74 Property Management. Operating rentals and leases shows a $33,600 reduction based on the fact that County-occupied spaces
in the Christiansen Building will be vacated, and also based on the County
being allowed out of the additional two-year lease on one portion of that
building. Awaiting response from lessor
at this time; should hear something fairly soon.
Page 160 Public Defense. Revenue: (1) beginning
of the year transferred collections to
Juvenile; and (2) did not take promissory notes unless requested by the
Judge. As far as proposing a person
for two and three-tier conflict contracts, not recommended at this time. Work is being spread out among all the
attorneys who are willing to take these cases.
For 2003, there is a possibility of running over the budgeted amount a
little; hard to predict that close for conflict cases.
Page 242 Four Springs Lake Preserve.
Proposed for 2004 significantly more rental income if open the first of
the year. Opening is based on getting
construction done - just now getting
cost estimates, concerned about the dollar amount; the cost for civil work
appears to be more than anticipated. If
open the first of the year will meet or exceed revenue estimate. Propose hiring events coordinator on a
contract percentage basis, at about a wage grade level 7.
Page 244 Insurance Reserve. Held the line on operating costs. Premiums are out of staff control.
Page 254 Motor Pool. Sheriff’s vehicles same as last year. In Current Expense, plan
to replace 6 vehicles this year, including one for the Health Department.
Page 217 Cornet Bay Dock. No change in the budget.
Dock structural survey being performed and is due on the 17th. After receipt of that report, staff and Board will have the basis on which to make an informed
decision as far as what to do with the dock.
Page 66 Dog Control. CASA asking for increase and may be interested in talking about
combining animal control with the shelter [Camano Island]. One of the issues is that CASA is receiving
an increased number of cats left at the facility. County has not received any complaints on the animal control side
and see no reason to change; the system is working now; propose not return to combining CASA with the shelter.
Page 267 Veterans
Assistance. Reviewing whether or
not it will be necessary for the County
to make the statutory
levy. The Auditor has provided the
Assessor with the dollar amount cash
balance, less any out-standing
warrants. When property tax rolls are
closed the Assessor will do
a calculation to see if we have to levy or not [usually sometime
in October]. Budget Director
has programmed a
levy in there just in case [$88,000 – 90,000]; no
other changes proposed.
Attending from the Fair: Jim Eakin; Mary Ann Davis; Judy Roccia
Others: Suzanne Sinclair, Island County Auditor
Hand-out: Two-page “Things to do At the Fair”
2003-2004 Improvements Needed
Discussed list of
improvements. Fair requests $15,000 from the County to go towards the
top priorities on the list: Chicken
House; the barn in most in need of repair; and
fencing the Fiddle Faddle farm area.
Hope to get additional volunteer help.
A major problem is drainage from the Fairground property to the
school. Last bid for repair came to
$2,800. It is an unbudgeted item at
this time, but a problem that will once again surface when the rains come. Initially the City of Langley had agreed to
pay up to 15% of the cost at that time but did not know if the school would pay
a portion.
Mr. Eakin thought some dollars should still be encumbered on the roof job for the Pole Building, since it has not passed inspection. Some amount of the contract was held back until the contractor takes care of completing paperwork, the building is inspected, and takes care of anything outstanding as far as confirming payment of prevailing wages in accordance with State law.
$25,000 additional is proposed for the budget over last year. Revenue this year looks surprisingly good in light of what happened this year. Food venders were down only by $2,000 from last year; gates down about 8-10%. Carnival proceeds were way down from last year but not nearly as bad as initially thought.
Ms. Sinclair asked about the
visit the Fair had from the State Auditor’s office who expressed concerns about
cash management and recommended that all vendors have a cash register next
year. She asked whether the Fair
anticipated as a means of accommodating State Auditor concerns.
Ms. Roccia noted that a cash
register had been used at the ticket booth for the first time. Service booths are run by service
organizations with people who are not normally familiar with operation of a
cash register so that would be a problem.
She was sure there were other methods besides cash registers but nothing
was presented to her thus far. She was
audited as far as cash handling in the Fair office and the State Auditors
seemed happy with the way that was being handled.
With regard to vendors at
the Fair, Commissioner Shelton heard it said that the State auditor seemed to
think that once dollars come across the counter for a purchase that became
“public money”. Ms. Sinclair supposed
that was their viewpoint; the Fair Board is an agent under the cap of the
County.
Commissioner Shelton
encouraged quickly that a meeting be held between the Fair Board and County
Commissioners. Good will is not created
in the community by not allowing people to speak at Fair meetings. The case law quoted by the Prosecutor’s
Office indicates that while the Fair Board
and Fair
Association are 501 3C’s, that does not
relieve the County of its responsibilities because under the law the
County could run the Fair and there are some responsibilities there. One thing that has to be reconciled is how
to deal with difficult public issues. Clearly there are some changes that have to be made.
Mary Ann Davis suggested
help from the County in terms of some clerical work during the Fair
and asked about money in the
County’s park budget to help the Fair.
Commissioner Shelton
realized that many county fairs were run as departments of the County. For
that kind of a fair in terms
of expenses he thought became greater since ticket prices usually go up in
price to accommodate that. A lot of work is now done by volunteers and
common sense says if you have county employees doing that work or part of that
work the dollars have to come from somewhere.
Follow-up:
§
Budget Director
check/verify to see if REET Funds are available [$15,000].
§
Commissioners agreed
that Island County, City of Langley and the School District should each
pay
1/3 of the cost of the
needed drainage work, total estimated at $2 800.
§
Request for County help
staff-wise is something to be considered:
Staff: Ellen Meyer; Jan
Ford
Page 45 Commissioners
Presented a hold-the-line
budget. Page 46, line item 143.40.160
showing an additional $150 is an error -
computer glitch which will be corrected. There may need to be some shifting of dollars within the various
M&O categories related to travel and communications based on current trend
as of September 4, 2003, but the total bottom dollar amount for M&O will
remain the same.
Anticipate beginning 2004
using 8-1/2x11” paper for original minutes, to be housed in acid free folders
and storage cases instead of the expensive bound volumes with 8.2x14 “
paper. No special paper required since the standard 8-1/2x11” paper
used now meets archival requirements [at least 20 lb. rag bond, acid free].
Budget Director has
programmed a 23% increase on retirees premiums; actual rate for Group
Health not known at this
time for these individuals; it is an estimate right now. Some consideration
being given for that group
to be covered under Zenith. One retiree right now is under Zenith.
Medical claims for LEOFF
retirees are running pretty even right now.
Presentation by: Gene Parmalee, Chairman, Civil Service
Commission
Staff: Marie
Taylor
Small increase though basically is a hold the line
budget. Reviewed with the Board how the
Sheriff’s Office Civil Service Commission fits into the County umbrella. Covering all employees
within the Sheriff’s
Department except administrative staff.
Current hire lists are maintained for Correction officers, Deputy
Sheriffs, and a perpetual list for laterals.
Page 165 SHERIFF/JAIL
Presentation by: Mike Hawley
Staff: Jan
Smith, Russ Linder, Mike Beech
Hand-outs: 1. Island County Sheriff’s Office–Calls for
Service 1993–2002
2.
Typical 24-hour period
3.
Demographic Analysis of Persons Booked into Is. Co.
Jail 2002
Hand-out #1. E-911 calls for service flat-lined over the
last three years. Trend this year is
exactly the same and does not expect more than a 1% change one way or the
other. Nature of complaints is
changing. For example, an unintended
consequence of the burn ban is a cost to the County of about $10,000 in dispatch fees for burn complaints
[not counting deputies' time]. Also see
an increase in illegal dumping. For the
most part normal crimes have been holding or going down.
Hand-out #2. Average response time to E-911 calls is 10
minutes 49 seconds. The hand out shows
a random day print out over a 24-hour period in real time for the type of calls
received, typical of the variety of complaints a deputy will handle throughout
a 24 hour period. Average time out on each call is 27 minutes once the deputy
arrives.
Hand-out #3. Statistics for 2002 showing 2,207 booked
through the jail. The analysis goes
through various demographic factors including gender, age, marital status,
citizenship.
Close to having all deputy positions filled. One deputy is on the way back from the
mid-East; another open slot is in process of being filled.
Budget revenue and expenditures – changes to be
reflected in 2004 budget:
§
I-COM
dispatch fee will be less in 2004 and line item 151 should reflect $533,485
instead of what is shown. More grant
money for I-COM came in which helped; also the number of calls held steady for
the County while it went up for other member agencies of I-COM.
§
Jail
medical fees – additional $20,000 to Health Department for medical fees for
inmates.
§
Page
176 – typo Jail Revenue – line 34280 showing $12,000 should actually be
reflected on the line above. Bottom
line revenue remains the same.
Other Funds:
Anti-profiteering Fund
To
be discussed during the budget workshop with the Prosecutor on October 6th
.
§
Include
within the Current Expense Revenue Summary
the $64,000 +/- received as a result of Rural County award by the
Legislature
§
Contact
Executive Director of EDC with regard
to other issues concerning the Rural
County Designation
There being no further business to come before the Board, the special
session adjourned at 2:30 p.m. The
next regular meeting of the Board will be held on September 15, 2003, beginning
at 9:30 a.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ISLAND COUNTY, WASHINGTON
______________________________
Wm. L.
McDowell, Chairman
_____________________________
William J. Byrd,
Member
_____________________________
ATTEST: Mike
Shelton, Member
_______________________
Elaine Marlow, Clerk of the Board