DATE: December 14, 2004
Members Present: W. Wenzel, A. Dippel, T. Bychinski, J. Fordham, T. Kriegl
Others Present: K. Beghin, C. Gasser, J. Crowley, P. Carignan, M. Koehler, Captain M. Hafemann, Deputy T. Gruber, B. Orth, B. Mielke, K. Schauf, L. Haugen, M. Koehler, G. Wiegand
Meeting called to order at 8:30 a.m. Certification of compliance with Open Meeting Law was met.
Adopt agenda: Motion by Bychinski, second by Fordham to adopt agenda. Motion carried.
Adopt minutes: Motion by Wenzel, second by Kriegl to approve minutes of last meetings. Motion carried.
Communications: Beghin briefly discussed reports prepared by Moody's Investors Services regarding investment practices and the bond rating of the State of Wisconsin.
Business Items: Orth discussed the Wagner Foundation donation offer. They would like to setup a fund at Walmart. The Wagner Foundation would cover the costs of preapproved items for low income households. This program must be operated through Human Services, and they would work closely with the school system. Motion by Fordham to approve a resolution authorizing the Department of Human Services to accept the donation of the Wagner Foundation, seconded by Kriegl. Motion carried.
Fordham moved to approve a resolution to eliminate one full time Jailer position and create one full time Jail Programs Administrator position for the Sauk County Sheriff's Department outside of the 2005 Budget Process, seconded by Wenzel. Koehler pointed out that this topic was already approved by a joint Personnel/Finance committee meeting. Resolution allows the Sheriff's Department to upgrade an existing position and increase pay to accommodate the increase in responsibilities. Kriegl asked about the assumption that population and length of stay has increased thereby creating additional workload. Topic was addressed by Hafemann. Motion by Kriegl to amend the resolution by striking the words "Whereas, there has been a marked increase in the average daily population and average length of stay thereby creating an additional workload on the existing staff" because he believes those words are misleading to the overall jail operations. He does not believe that the population is increasing as much as this paragraph implies, because actual inmate data from the Sheriff's department shows that the number of Sauk County inmates today is essentially the same as in November 2002. Seconded by Fordham to amend the resolution. Motion carried, with Bychinski opposed. The resolution as amended was then carried.
Bev Mielke discussed potential impacts from implementation of Statewide Voter Registration. The federally mandated Help America Vote Act requires a statewide list of voters. Responsibility lies with the municipalities to maintain this list. Municipal clerks say they don't have the staff or equipment to be able to do this and they want the County's help. The County can help the municipalities that do not have the ability to do it themselves and charge them for their effort. The County will do data entry as well as verification. Mielke is concerned about needing additional staff to get the job done with no money budgeted to cover these costs. Various committee members encouraged Mielke to use floaters or whatever necessary to get the job done.
Gene Wiegand discussed the resolution opposing further limitations on Sauk County's ability to levy necessary taxes and supporting the removal of existing limitations. Wiegand stressed the need for local government entities to focus on their own activities and make sure that we are running as efficiently as possible. Suggested that the words "whereas the State Legislature has helped lead the state of Wisconsin to one of its biggest budget deficits in history" be striken. Wenzel suggested adding the word "already" before the words extremely concerned in the second "whereas" statement. Resolution will be acted upon next month, by the Finance and Executive & Legislative Committees.
Treasurer's Department Update: Motion by Wenzel to approve the Treasurer's Department vouchers of $8,858.30, seconded by Bychinski. Motion carried.
Accounting Department Update: Beghin talked about the recent major upgrade to Munis and explained that it took up a lot of staff time. Training has been completed. Contracting with United Mailing Services was approved. This contract should save the County $9,500 per year. Carol Gasser has helped with several year end projects that needed to be addressed. We received the first Community Development Block Grant. There is a lot of paperwork involved with that program. Sheriff's department applied for a rate to house prisoners for the US Marshalls Service. Child support dollars were audited by a federal auditor. This was probably a once in a lifetime project that we probably won't need to do again. No problems were discovered. Motion by Fordham to approve the Accounting Department vouchers of $3,551.40, seconded by Kreigl. Motion carried Motion by Fordham to approve the County vouchers of $3,669,175.84, seconded by Bychinski. Motion carried. Beghin added that Lisa Buttonow is doing a great job of pursuing collections in new ways that will contribute to reducing the outstanding accounts receivable balance at the Health Care Center.
Next Meeting: Next meetings to be December 21st, at 4:45 pm, and January 11th, at 8:30 am.
Adjournment: Motion by Bychinski to adjourn, seconded by Wenzel. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Joan Fordham
Finance Committee Secretary