DATE: Tuesday, November 7, 2006
PLACE:
Room 213
West Square Building, Baraboo
Members present: Marty Krueger,
Joan Fordham, Tommy Lee Bychinski, Tom Kriegl, Bill Wenzel
Others present: Kerry Beghin, Kathy Schauf, Pat Carignan, Skip
Krueger, media
Chairman Bychinski called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Certification
of the open meeting requirement was met. Motion by Fordham, second by Wenzel
to adopt the agenda. Motion carried. Motion by Fordham, second by Kriegl
to approve the minutes from previous meetings with aditions.
Motion carried.
Mr. Krueger described that AIM Network LLC is a firm that examines invoices for errors and attempts to recover overpayments.
None.
The Public Health Department has received a $5,757.92 donation from the St. Clare Foundation to help fund acute health care needs for Sauk County's uninsured or under insured. Motion by Fordham, second by Kriegl to approve this resolution accepting the donation and amending the Public Health budget to appropriate these funds. Motion carried.
The Committee discussed the reduction of $3,344 in levy allowed by the State since budget presentation at the October County Board session. The Committee also discussed amending the budget proposal to use contingency fund dollars to fund operational audits in order to gain efficiencies. So long as it can be shown through other counties' experiences that dollars and efforts can be saved, reviews by functional areas could prove to be beneficial. The amount of contingency above the historical base available for this would be $115,483, and it was the consensus of the Committee to ask that this amount be transferred from contingency to the Administrative Coordinator's budget. It was reiterated that the proposed levy is the maximum amount allowable by the State and would keep the County well-positioned for future years. Finally, the Solid Waste Manager has resigned effective December 31, so there will likely be changes to the budget proposal related to this department. Motion by Kriegl to reallocate $500,000 from Health Care Center levy to the contingency fund in the 2007 County budget. Motion failed for lack of a second. Motion by Fordham, second by Wenzel to adopt the original ordinance. Motion carried, with Kriegl opposed.
Action on these updates to address various investment risks will be forthcoming in December.
Beghin updated the Committee on ongoing financial operations. Implementation of Medicare Advantage continues to pose additional challenges. The vast majority of billings and collections continue to be made on a timely basis.
Carignan updated the Committee on departmental activities. She will be purchasing a currency counter and counterfeit checker within her department's existing budgeted funds. Also, in a money-saving effort, Carignan would like to begin sending receipts for tax payments only to people who provide a pre-addressed stamped envelope. Record of payment can also be found on-line in real time. Motion by Fordham, second by Kriegl, to approve payment of the Treasurer's invoices in the amount of $5,320.11. Motion carried.
Beghin updated the Committee on activities of the department
for the past month. Projects have included investigating
the proposed Health Care Center Board of Trustees, the MUNIS
conference, and hiring of a Management Analyst. The Property and Insurance
Committee has determined that the 3rd Avenue rental property is becoming
more costly to maintain than it is worth. That Committee is exploring demolition
of the building. Motion by Wenzel, second by Fordham to approve payment
of Accounting invoices in the amount of $22,607.56 and county invoices
in the amount of $3,784,394.74.
Motion carried.
Motion by Wenzel, second by Fordham to adjourn.
Motion carried.
The next meeting will be just prior to the County Board session on November 14 to approve payments, and the next regular Finance Committee meeting will be December 12, 2006.
Respectfully Submitted: William F. Wenzel, Secretary