Finance Committee


Members present: Marty Krueger, Joan Fordham, Tommy Lee Bychinski, Tom Kriegl, Bill Wenzel

Others present: Kerry Beghin, Kathy Schauf, Pat Carignan, Corene Ederer-Sklar, Lowell Haugen, Todd Liebman, Darlene Hill, Jeanne Leeck, Lisa Buttonow, Jim Daniels, Paul Endres, media

Vice-Chairman Kriegl called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Certification that the open meeting requirement was met. Motion by Bychinski, second by Fordham to adopt the agenda. Motion carried. Motion by Fordham, second by Wenzel to approve the minutes from previous meetings.
Motion carried, with Krueger abstaining since he was not yet a member of the committee.

Public Comment

None.

Communications

Letter regarding payment processing. The County has followed long-standing payment approval processes.

Business Items

Elect Chairperson - Motion by Wenzel, second by Fordham to nominate Bychinski for Chairperson. Motion by Fordham, second by Wenzel to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot.
Motion carried.

Vice-Chairperson - Motion by Krueger, second by Fordham to nominate Kriegl for Vice-Chairperson. Motion by Krueger, second by Fordham to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot.
Motion carried.

Secretary - Motion by Krueger, second by Fordham to nominate Wenzel for Secretary. Motion by Krueger, second by Fordham to close nominations and cast a unanimous ballot.
Motion carried.

Consideration of a resolution rescinding 149-05, and allowing multiple options for supervisory pay.

Supervisor Haugen felt it is a violation of his rights to be required to have direct deposit. Commission on Aging Committee member Darlene Hill noted that she did not want direct deposit for her County payments. Fordham felt the County Board should not be more restricted than County departments. The Committee emphasized that the focus is on consistent treatment of all payroll payments between County Board members and departments; it is not a matter of allowing dissent to compromise the will of the Board. Motion by Krueger, second by Kriegl to forward a resolution in June to the County Board rescinding the resolution making direct deposit mandatory.
Motion carried.

Consideration of a resolution revising financial policy 5-94, Fund Balance/Retained Earnings.

Motion by Fordham, second by Kriegl to forward the resolution to the County Board.
Motion carried.

Discussion of 2007 budget and timeline.

Departments' mission, vision, goals and objectives have been drafted and had a technical review by administration to encourage that good information is being given to the County Board to make decisions. Sales tax for 2006 is above projections, and it is being monitored carefully. For September, the time allotted for reviewing department budgets will be reviewed. The public budget forum is scheduled for Tuesday, June 6 at 6:00 p.m. A taxpayer protection amendment was adopted by the legislature with state limits, but further restrictions on local governments were not adopted in this session.

Presentation of quarterly accounts receivable reports.

The Health Care Center (HCC) has prepared a report of receivable balances. The HCC software is not the best available, but work-arounds have been developed. The Solid Waste facility has also summarized the remainder of the accounts receivable from the closure of the facility. Amounts were written off in 2005 and represent receivables going back to the mid-1990's.

Consideration of resolution

Authorizing Transfer of Funds From the Contingency Fund to Overdrawn Appropriations from the 2005 Budget

The Committee discussed the reasons for departments that exceeded their 2005 budgets. Motion by Krueger, second by Kriegl to transfer funds from the Child Support to the Court Commissioner budget to cover that overage.
Motion carried.

Motion by Krueger, second by Wenzel to approve the resolution with the remaining overdrawn departments funded by a transfer from the contingency fund.
Motion carried.

Discuss possible financial policy detailing procedures for expenditures anticipated to exceed a given threshold - referred from the Executive & Legislative Committee.

Schauf and Beghin queried other counties to see if others have policies or procedures in place to address this, and none reported that they have these type of policies in place other than capital improvement programs. General guidelines for handling of major issues or purchases outside the normal course of business will be drafted for Finance and Executive & Legislative Committee review.

Treasurer's Report

Carignan updated the Committee on departmental activities, including sending 101 letters on tax delinquent properties. Motion by Fordham, second by Kriegl, to approve the payment of the Treasurer's invoices in the amount of $565.09.
Motion carried.

Beghin and Carignan discussed elimination of many of the thirteen petty cash accounts throughout the County and creation of one central account in the Treasurer's office. It was the consensus of the Committee that the Treasurer's mission, vision, goals and objectives were acceptable.

Accounting Department Report

Beghin updated the Committee on activities of the department for the past month, including upcoming projects and issues. Audit is completed and went very well overall. Motion by Fordham, second by Kriegl to approve the payment of Accounting invoices in the amount of $145.09 and county invoices in the amount of $2,329,470.45.
Motion carried.

It was the consensus of the Committee that the Accounting Department's mission, vision, goals and objectives were acceptable.

Motion by Bychinski, second by Wenzel to adjourn.
Motion carried.

The next regular Finance Committee meeting will be June 13.

Respectfully Submitted: William F Wenzel, Secretary