February 15, 2017
NOT APPROVED
Committee Members Present: C. Crandall, K. LaForge, P. Curran, D.
Healy, D. Root (Absent: D. Fanton)
Others Present:
L. Ballengee, B.
Budinger, D. Decker (arrived
at 11:15 a.m.), S.
Decker, K. Graves, K. Hollis, R. Hollis, J. Hopkins, T. Miner, B. Riehle, T.
Ross
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 11:08
a.m. by Budget Committee Chairman Curt Crandall.
Approval
of Minutes
A motion was made by Legislator Curran,
seconded by Legislator Root, and carried to approve the Budget Committee
minutes of January 18, 2017.
Sales Tax Report
County Treasurer Terri Ross distributed the 2017 Allegany
County Sales Tax Report reflecting receipts through February 13, 2017, totaling
$2,026,432.98. The year-to-date figures show a decrease of $10,844.59 or .532 percent
compared to last year at this time. Ms. Ross stated that things look pretty
good. At least we are leveling off. We are doing better than we were last year at
this time.
Old Business
Ms. Ross distributed a departmental budget reporting
schedule. This is a schedule showing
when the departments need to come in to the Budget Committee with a one-page
report for their departmental budget.
Chairman Crandall stated that the group had talked about adding some
items to the reports. One item they
would like to see added is personnel costs.
We don’t want them to expand beyond one page, but it would be nice to
have some history. Ms. Ross stated that
she could add something on the bottom requiring them to show what was budgeted
and what has been spent on payroll. Ms.
Ross suggested that they split it out based on full-time, part-time, and
seasonal employees. The committee
members agreed that the departments should add these costs to their one-page
report. It was suggested that overtime
be listed as a separate item on the report.
Legislator Healy asked about other potential savings in
the overall Budget. Ms. Ross asked if
there were particular areas he was interested in looking at. She said that she could break things down in
many different ways. It was suggested
that the group look at some of the revenues that come in. Some of these things that are in and out are
more difficult to see. Ms. Ross stated
that some of the revenues, and the claims associated with them, are difficult
to look at during the year because of the timing of when things are booked. It doesn’t always give you a good picture.
The subject of mandates and how they affect the Budget
was brought up. Chairman Crandall
suggested that it would be a good idea to look at how some of the “Big 8”
mandates are being reimbursed and whether the cost of those programs has
increased. Legislator Root noted that
it’s been said that 60 cents out of every dollar of our County tax dollars goes
to fund these “Big 8” mandates. She
wonders about some of the other smaller mandates and how much they cost. She suggested that it would be nice to know
the exact percentage of our tax dollars that go to pay for all mandates. She also remarked that it would be nice to
put it in a graphic diagram so it’s easier for taxpayers to see how much is
going to mandates and what is left for the County to use for other local
programs. Ms. Ross suggested that the
best way to come up with that figure is to pull out all of the non-mandated
expenses and work backwards in order to come up with that total. Legislator Graves stated that he hated to
play devil’s advocate, but he wondered what they were going to do with the
numbers. He asked if they had a plan of
attack to throw it back at Albany.
Chairman Crandall replied that having this information would be a great
way to respond to the Governor’s consolidation plan for counties and
towns. Legislator Graves asked if the
figures were going to be available to the public. Chairman Crandall stated that they will be
available. Comparisons will be able to
be made from year-to-year as well.
Legislator Decker asked if revenues are marked to identify
what they are for. Ms. Ross stated that
they do track the revenues to know what they are for. Ms. Ross noted that the booking of revenues
is somewhat tricky because it sometimes takes months to actually receive the
money. Legislator Decker asked for
further clarification. Ms. Ross
explained that she keeps track of what the County currently has available for
cash. Chairman Crandall reminded the
group that they were in a predicament back in 2004 because the bills that
needed to be paid exceeded cash flow.
There was a lag in billing and receipts of cash. There is still a lag, but the cycles are good. Ms. Ross noted that when the State passes the
Budget on time, the County doesn’t see the delay as much. She stated that the beginning of the year is
tough because first quarter claims won’t be received until April. She remarked that there will always be a lag;
that’s why the County uses a modified accrual system of accounting.
Ms. Ross pointed out that they would need to talk about
how to fund the replacement of voting machines.
It might be possible to do something similar to what was done with the
Landfill. She suggested waiting until
they’ve closed the books for 2016.
On the topic of year-end procedures, Ms. Ross stated that
they have received everything from departments.
They have “soft-closed” the books, and now they need to reconcile
accounts. They will probably need
another month before they will have final numbers.
Legislator Root asked how far back Ms. Ross had sales tax
figures for. Ms. Ross stated that she
has been keeping a spreadsheet of those figures for a long time. The last report she had distributed included
figures back to the 1990s.
New
Business
Funding
Request – Heroin & Opioid Ad Hoc Committee
Legislator LaForge requested funding for the Heroin &
Opioid Ad Hoc Committee. He stated that
Ardent Solutions has been doing a great deal of work on a voluntary basis, but
they can only go so much further without some kind of compensation. He suggested $25,000. He stated that he would apply for grant money
as it becomes available, but he hasn’t been able to find any currently. He noted that the problem of drug use in the
County is not diminishing. The group
discussed how this funding would be arranged.
It was suggested a contractual agreement for services would have to be
drawn up by the County Attorney. County
Attorney Tom Miner stated that the contract would be fairly simple, but that it
would have to be for services going forward.
A motion was made by Legislator Healy, seconded by Legislator Curran,
and carried to direct the County Administrator and County Treasurer to put
together a plan for financing this. Refer
to County Administrator and County Treasurer
County Treasurer Ross asked when the Allegany County
Broadband Corporation would be asking for additional funding. Legislator Curran stated that it would be
soon.
Legislator Healy asked how County cell phones are paid
for. Ms. Ross stated that County-owned
cell phones are paid for monthly through the Information Technology
department. She noted that there are
some department heads who do not have County-owned cell phones, but that do
receive a reimbursement for cell phone expense.
Since the mid-2000s, the County has paid for the data package on
department heads’ cell phones. All
County-owned cell phones are billed through IT and charged back to individual
departments. Some get reimbursed through
State Aid.
Adjournment
There
being no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting was
adjourned at 12:03 p.m. following a motion by Legislator Root, seconded by
Legislator Curran, and carried.
Respectfully
submitted,
Sarah
M. Decker, Journal Clerk/Deputy Clerk of the Board
Allegany
County Board of Legislators
