DATE: October 10, 2007
Supervisors Present: Joan Fordham, Tommy Lee Bychinski, William F. Wenzel, Marty Krueger
Supervisors Excused: Thomas Kriegl
Others Present: Kathy Schauf, Kerry Beghin, Carol Herwig, Brad Viegut, Tim Stieve, Phil Raab, Lowell Haugen, Media
The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Bychinski at 8:30 AM. Certification of open meeting compliance was given.
Motion by Wenzel, second by Fordham to adopt the agenda. Motion carried.
Motion by Fordham, second by Wenzel to approve the minutes of the previous meetings. Motion carried.
Consider reallocation of Building Services budget for communications projects:
Tim Stieve explained plans have been to repair the damaged tower atop the Courthouse. Sauk County has the opportunity to purchase a 120 foot used tower which Stieve recommends placing on the West Baraboo Highway property. This would allow the County to remove the damaged tower from the Courthouse and improve wireless emergency communication coverage to the North Freedom area of the County. Stieve estimates the total cost for these projects would come to $55,000 which is already in the budget. The Committee discussed investigating placement of the tower in a location that will still make sense if the Highway shop should someday relocate, including talking to the City and other area organizations to see who else would benefit from this tower and whether or not they would be willing to partner on this project. Motion by Krueger, second by Fordham to reallocate $55,000 for the removal of the damaged tower from the courthouse building, the purchase of a 120' used tower, and the installation of that tower. The tentative location for the new tower is the current Highway shop, but the Committee encouraged placement to be studied carefully with a mind toward future use of that property. Motion carried
Discussion of preliminary financing plan for Continuum of Care funding:
Brad Viegut from Robert W. Baird & Company stated that interest rates remain low and we are in a good environment for borrowing money. Viegut discussed the goals to consider for this financing plan. The recommended structure is a three-phased financing starting with issuing $5 million of 10-year general obligation promissory notes before year-end. The second phase would include issuing bond anticipation notes in early 2008 for the remaining $10 million. The third phase would be to issue general obligation refunding bonds between October 2010 and April 2011. This will provide long-term financing of the bond anticipation notes. The Committee requested that Viegut appear at the October 16th County Board meeting to present this plan so that the Board can vote on it at the November meeting.
Discussion of 2006 Report on Federal and State Awards:
Beghin explained the report that was prepared by Virchow Krause. The report notes that Sauk County has some material weaknesses that relate to documentation of our system of internal controls and the fact that the auditors prepare the Report on Federal and State Awards. These weaknesses are in response to new auditing standards, and the weaknesses are common to the majority of governments. County staff will improve their documentation and attempt to prepare these reports in the hopes of eliminating this weakness in the future.
Update on financial performance of the Health Care Center:
Standard reports were reviewed. Discussed the rental income for the year. Board of Trustees has voted to hire Wipfli to prepare a report of the expected operational costs of running the new facility. Motion by Fordham, second by Wenzel to have the HCC update changed to a quarterly report. Motion carried.
Consideration of 2008 budget recommendation to the County Board:
Schauf explained the difficulty of approving a County budget while the State still has not finalized their budget. Administration has continuously asked the departments to consider the sustainability of their programs when budget requests are developed each year. Schauf discussed with the Committee of a variety of policy and program changes that need to be remembered as they consider the 2008 budget. The new cross-county reimbursements that will begin to happen between area libraries were discussed. The Committee agrees with the use of fund balance to handle the start up costs of the ADRC program. The Committee expressed concern over the continued use of forest management fund balance to supplement the park's department budget; that practice is not sustainable. The Committee agrees with centralization of copier purchasing to the MIS department. The Purchase of Development Rights program should be reviewed to draw upon the expertise gained by other governments. The Committee agrees that the funding of post employment benefits would be a beneficial move for the County. Schauf presented to the Committee suggested increases and decreases to the current budget numbers, many of which are corrections learned about subsequent to original budget drafting. The Committee discussed several items at length, including Surveyor compensation, new and reclassified position requests, and outlay purchases. The Committee agreed to remove funding for the Land Conservation vehicle replacement and the County Clerk's copier replacement, but agreed to add funding to reclassify an Emergency Management position to a Deputy Director. Motion by Krueger, second by Wenzel to approve the budget with a tax levy of $25,805,357, assuming the State's levy limit for Sauk County will be the increase in net new construction, or 4.044 percent. Motion carried.
Treasurer's Department Update:
Motion by Krueger, second by Fordham to approve the payment of the Treasurer's bills in the amount of $729.39. Motion carried.
Accounting Department Update:
Motion by Krueger, second by Fordham to approve the payment of Accounting invoices in the amount of $48,443.11. Motion carried. Motion by Krueger, second by Fordham to approve the payment of County invoices in the amount of $3,750,950.89. Motion carried.
Motion by Krueger, second by Wenzel to adjourn the meeting at 12:25 PM. Motion carried. The next meeting will be just prior to the County Board session on October 16 to approve payments. An intergovernmental meeting is scheduled for October 25. The next regular Finance committee meeting will be on November 6, 2007 at 8:30 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
William F. Wenzel
Finance Committee Secretary