HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-10-18 Commissioner Minutes
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023
The Franklin County Commissioners met Wednesday, October 18, 2023, with the
following members present: David S. Keller and Robert G. Ziobrowski. Chairman Keller
presided and after calling the meeting to order, a Moment of Silence, and the Pledge of
Allegiance, proceeded with the business of the day.
The meeting was live streamed.
Chairman Keller announced that Commissioner Flannery is not able to attend today.
Commissioner Robert G. Ziobrowski motioned to approve the agenda which was seconded by
David S. Keller; unanimously approved to adopt the agenda. Carrie Gray, County
Administrator, asked for a modification to the agenda to omit board action item #2, agreement
with Carbyne. This agreement is through a collaboration with a number of other counties and
one of them, Adams County, has questions related to the procurement piece of the contract.
She will bring the agreement back in the next week or two and approve it after all the counties
are comfortable with the agreement. The Commissioners accepted the revision and unanimously
approved to adopt the agenda with those modifications.
talk about Fulton County concerning actions of two of their commissioners and read an article
from CNN concerning Fulton County. She said that Fulton County went overwhelmingly for
Donald Trump in November of 2020, same as here in Franklin County, but no further steps were
taken on Franklin Coun
She wanted to thank them for having the presence of mind for not doing what two of the Fulton
County Commissioners did. It appears that the Fulton County taxpayers are going to pay dearly
for their short sightedness now.
On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by David S. Keller; unanimously
approved all bills presented and ordered paid.
The minutes of the October 11, 2023 meeting were reviewed. On a motion by Robert G.
Ziobrowski, seconded by David S. Keller; unanimously approved the minutes.
The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. Chairman Keller said that it
was mentioned that the pending agreement with Carbyne Inc. includes our friends in Dauphin,
Adams and Cumberland County for some enhancement of our emergency radio network and he
asked our friends from DES who are here today to educate them more on the project. Bryan
Stevenson, 911 Coordinator for Emergency Services, explained this project is our shared phone
initiative. It includes the 911 equipment that they answer the 911 calls with, trunk wirelines,
wireless and they have some non-emergency lines that come in on that system. Along with the
other counties we are due a refresh with that so they are looking at refreshing that system and
found this to be a perfect opportunity to share with our radio system partners, which is Adams
and Dauphin. Cumberland wanted to be involved in this process also. Chairman Keller asked
r counties, what was consolidated at that point with
aspects of that system, and is this adding an additional
Stevenson said yes and we entered into an agreement with Adams and Dauphin counties for a
radio system that includes sharing of equipment, training, maintenance, and fees for that
project. They found it to be very cooperatively done and they work well together. He gave an
example where he helped out Dauphin County yesterday. As they have progressed over the
years with the radio system then they looked towards a recorder project that we just completed
and that included Cumberland County as well as the other two counties. That records all the
calls that come in. Now they are looking at the call handling equipment so this would be the
same thing as that. Mr. Stevenson continued that they have gotten some interest from Perry
and Juniata counties that are looking to join us on the radio side so there is interest out there.
This is something the Commonwealth is asking counties to consider consolidating where they
Continued on page 2
can. Chairman Keller asked if there were any savings with this agreement. Mr. Stevenson
responded that yes, otherwise we would be doing it by ourselves. We have the opportunity to
share and disperse some of those costs to all four counties and these fees are split so that if
Adams is a smaller county then they pay a lower cost but a bigger county like Cumberland and
Dauphin they pay a higher costthey get the opportunity to work
with these folks and share the equipment. Chairman Keller stated that it looks like the statewide
interconnectivity grant is referenced and is picking up a large portion of the costs. He takes it
the Commonwealth is encouraging projects like this consolidation. Mr. Stevenson said yes they
are and are looking at over $2M of state money that can be applied to this project and he sees
more funds in 2025. Commissioner Ziobrowski asked what it meant to share radio. Mr.
Stevenson responded that reliability and redundancy along with the cost savings. We are
operating our radio system with core equipment with Dauphin and Adams counties. We have no
core equipment in our server room. However, with the redundant process and how the
microwave system and the task force system emergency communications network works we
have better reliability and redundancy now with this method then we would have if that core in
our back room. Obviously to have a core in your back room for each county would be a huge
cost. Chairman Keller stated that we are answering calls in Franklin County but the hardware
and software that is processing those calls in the back end are in Adams or Dauphin.
Commissioner Ziobrowski asked if Cumberland was formally teamed up with Fulton County.
Mr. Stevenson said years ago Cumberland dispatched with Fulton County but once that contract
expired they went to Bedford County and there were issues with Bedford County so Fulton is
dispatching their own now. Commissioner Ziobrowski asked what Cumberland was doing
before and why they decided to come with the three counties. Mr. Stevenson said that
Cumberland is still using a proprietary radio system and that company is no longer in service
anymore so they are looking at moving to a Motorola Project 25 system as we have now since
2009. He cannot answer the question why they chose not to go with us on the radio side.
not worked with Carbyne and that they are a newer company and they felt after performing
tests, tasks and demonstrations with them, the technology was moving much further than what
our Motorola Vesta project was and when the four counties took a vote it was unanimous with
this vendor. They are looking to do things differently while the Vesta project was stagnant. The
items will be decided upon in the afternoon session.
Teresa Beckner, Chief Financial Officer, and Janelle Friese, Fiscal Director, presented
the 2024 prelim
Budget
cess so
today she and Janelle are going to present to them the preliminary budget that represents the
picture of the total cost of all department and operation requests, along with some assumptions
made along the way. Along with requests for normal and on
requests for capital items and personnel, both additional personnel and reclassifications of
existing staff. Ms. Friese explained the all service budget is separated into two distinct areas
due to how the various areas are operated and managed. She continued that the fiduciary-type
-funded health insurance funds. The
preliminary budget has a $14.8 million surplus, driven primarily by a budgeted surplus in the
Retirement fund. County Operations includes: Elected Officials; Human Services; Courts and
related operations; Jail; Emergency Services and 911; Property Management; internal county
services; debt service; and capital activities that include the Courthouse Annex project, Bridge
Projects (Liquid Fuels) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). Ms. Friese
continued that Revenues are $48.1 million which are taxes or property taxes (debt service and
general purpose), and hotel taxes. There is $1.6 million that is investment Income and
intergovernmental revenues are from both the state and federal government. These are
budgeted at $42.1 million. She continued that Fees and Charges are budgeted at $16.1 million
which is assessed by elected officials for various services, internal charges within the County.
Miscellaneous revenues budgeted are at $6.8 million which are contributions, rents,
reimbursements and other revenues not classified elsewhere. A large portion of the budget is
Continued on page 3
from assuming the issuance debt for the completion of the Court Facility Improvement Project.
Transfers IN are internal transactions, from one fund from another. If a fund gets county share it
is budgeted at $9.6 million. Ms. Friese continued that expenses include personnel and benefits
million. Operating costs are budgeted at $68.1 million which includes supplies and equipment,
training and travel, maintenance and repairs, vehicle operation, contracted services which
includes human service providers, rent, utilities and Debt service. Transfers OUT between
various funds are budgeted at $9.7 million. The majority of this represents General Fund (GF)
support to other operations and they will review that further when they talk about the general
fund. Capital is projects currently in process or planned are budgeted at $13.6 million which
includes the Court Facility Improvement Project as well as bridge projects. Expansion requests
represent the requests for capital purchases, new projects and personnel outside of existing
operations which is at $9.4 million. The total request for personnel expansions were $1.1 million
(4 FT or 1 PT and various reclassifications). Capital is at $8.3 million which includes enhanced
technology, public safety equipment, vehicles and computers and other replacement equipment.
Ms. Friese said that the total County Operations budget is $151.7 million which includes about
$27.5 million in reserve spending. Reserve spending outside of the general fund comes from
the spending of: Prior year bond proceeds for the Court Facility Improvement Project; liquid
fuels reserves for bridge projects; and debt services reserves. When combined with fiduciary
funds, the preliminary all services budget is $170.3 million.
Ms. Beckner provided the projections for 2023 shown beside the requests for 2024.
Revenue classifications are the same as All Services. Property taxes are general purpose
(operating) only and exclude hotel tax and debt service. They remain relatively flat, estimated
here at a 1.7% increase and they will have a more accurate/timely number for the proposed
budget in a few weeks. The biggest change is in Transfers In. For 2024, this preliminary
same for the GF as Janelle presented for countywide operations. Personnel, based on 2023
staff levels only, are at $33.4 million. Operating costs are department requests which equals
$19.5 million. Transfers to other county operations from GF total just over $7 million which is an
increase from projected 2023 of about $1.1 million, or 18.4%. Commissioner Ziobrowski said
increase. He asked how we got to the 10% increase in personnel costs. Ms. Beckner
responded that they looked at where we are this year and what we project 2023 to end at and
considered a general overall increase in staff salaries of approximately 4% and also where we
are estimating benefit costs to be. More detail on the transfers to other county operations
includes the following: Human Services equals $5.4 million of the $7 million total; largest piece
under Human Services is Children & Youth Services (CYS). At $3.6 million, the contribution to
11 includes the potential impact of
requests for personnel adjustments and capital projects; and capital and personnel expansion
requests for GF operations is just over $5.9 million. Ms. Friese said of this $5.9 million,
personnel makes up $700,000 which includes reclassifications and requests for the addition of 3
full-time and 1 part-time. Capital requests total cost $5.2 million. The largest share is related to
the Jail with requests of around $3 million which include: $2 million of is for an upgraded
security system; $600,000 relates to facility repairs and improvements; and the rest is for
various equipment replacements.
Ms. Beckner said in summary, with the exception of transfers in, total revenue remains
flat, expense growth is at almost $10 million (17.6%), overall GF revenue is at $52.7 million and
$65.9 million in expenses, and a gap of $13.2 million needed from reserves to balance the
budget and the $14.6 million in unrestricted reserves. Ms. Beckner said that we started 2023
with $14.6 m
Projecting how the 2023 budget year will end, it appears that we will use $2.2 million of the
$14.6 million beginning reserve balance. We will end the year at $12.4 million in unrestricted
balances, which are defined as 60-90 days of General Fund operating expenses. This is also
considered a best practice by the Government Finance Offi
Continued on page 4
Independent Auditors. The 60 days equals $8.9 million and 90 days equals $13.3 million.
Approving all requests as presented here would use all projected general fund reserves and
result in a negativ
shown them today is total revenues and expenses, as well as personnel expansion and
adjustments and capital requests that were submitted by all County departments and
operations.
be needed if the Board would grant all the requests as submitted. She continued that over the
next several weeks, Fiscal staff will work with County Administration to fine-tune budget lines
priorities and recommendations to develop a 2024 budget.
Commissioner Ziobrowski wanted to clarify that when they talk about transfers county
share he often tells people that we act as a subcontractor to the Commonwealth of PA for these
services and they pay us part of the money for it but they never pay us 100%. To make it very
clear this is the amount of County General Fund money that we put in for the services that the
state mandates. In Children & Youth we are putting $3.5 million or 10% of our entire budget to
run a program that the state mandates and has expanded significantly in the last few years. Ms.
Beckner responded that 2 mills are what we charge our taxpayers just for Children & Youth
services. Commissioner Ziobrowski said those are important services but they are state
Accounting Professionals recommend 60-90 days and how does that work for us practically
speaking. Ms. Beckner said it works very well for us when we come into the beginning of the
calendar year and our tax revenues flow starting in April. So during the course of the year after
April, May, June collections when we are cash rich we use those over the course of the year. So
coming into the beginning of the year our cash is at one of its lowest points and continues to
decline. If our reserves were less we would need to borrow money and take that even further
when the state has run into an issue with not passing their budget. It compounded that even
-90 days. Chairman
used to the extent that it could be put into a CD or some other government backed security to
that f
themselves through the first part of the year so we do tap into those funds as needed so that we
ith everything
pass their budget until January and other counties were delaying payments to vendors for
Human Services and taking out loans, we were in a position to not have to do that. That put us
in a much better position. He agrees with him that having those funds available and being able
to invest them appropriately it's money well saved so to speak. Ms. Becker said another reason
for having a healthy reserve
we do need to borrow. Commissioner Ziobrowski said we have the best credit rating you can
have as a county, is that correct? Ms. Beckner said we are one notch below the best and we
cannot get to the best because we are committed to our culture here and our Ag. Preservation
continued that it would make sense that Cumberland County has a higher rate than we do
because they have more commercial growth. Ours is healthy and we have a significant amount
of land and property that we are preserving and protecting, rather than commercializing it.
Chairman Keller asked where healthcare benefits for employees show up in this. Ms. Friese
article that health insurance premiums for the family option are going up next year about 7%.
He asked Carrie what we are looking at. Ms. Gray said we are looking at no increase and
primarily due to the fact that the Commissioners decided to self-fund the program almost three
years ago. We are able to achieve savings and be competitive in the marketplace. Our
insurance carrier has agreed to keep our rate the same.
Continued on page 5
Chairman Keller said they are looking for guidance on how to proceed. He said that
much we are willing to spend on personnel and capital expansion before all managers put the
not just this year but going forward. Some needs are maybe low, medium, or high priority and
Carrie and the team advise them of what the different priorities are. The all request number is
manageable level and taking advantage of whatever revenue streams are available to us and
making sure the General Fund is the payer of last resort and pushing for efficiencies and
savings where we can get it and tapping into, on a limited basis, our cash reserves and we also
still have benefits of having 12M dollars of ARPA funds for various capital needs. You can
expect this to come back with guidance similar to what we have in the past. The
Commissioners will take the next week or two to review this as well as other information that
staff can provide to them and they will come back with an open discussion of where we all are
Commissioner Ziobrowski asked about timeframes. Teresa said their plan is to present the
nd
proposed budget on Wednesday, November, 22 and it would be out for public review and
th
comment until December 13 and they are hoping the Commissioners will approve the budget
on that date.
The Board recessed and will reconvene at 2:00 p.m. for final approval of the items that
were reviewed.
The Board reconvened at 2:00 p.m.
During public comment, Christopher Mckissick, a Regional Strategic Sales Manager for
Carbyne located in NY, provided a general overview of the company and expressed his
enthusiasm on partnering with the County on the new regional shared call handling system
proposed for the 911 call center.
The Board reviewed Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by Robert G.
Ziobrowski, seconded by David S. Keller; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board
to execute the agreement between the County of Franklin and The Zigmund, Co. for The
Zigmund, Co. to act as an advisor regarding insurance related matters including reviewing
renewal applications, audits, insurance proposals and loss run reports. This proposal is at a
cost of $5,000.00 for the period of November 1, 2023 through October 31, 2024.
The Board reviewed Department of Emergency Services matters. On a motion by
Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by David S. Keller; unanimously approved Resolution 2023-19
to adopt the 2023 Franklin County Hazard Mitigation Plan.
The Board reviewed Fiscal matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by
th
David S. Keller; unanimously approved 4 Quarter Fiscal Report to the Commonwealth of PA,
Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF) for the Children and Youth quarterly income and
expenditure report for fiscal year 2022-2023. Expenditures for the 4th quarter totaled
$3,684,288.00 resulting in a required county share totaling $713,902.
The Board reviewed Grants/CJAB matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski,
seconded by David S. Keller; unanimously approved the amendment No. 1 to the contract
(dated October 1, 2022) between the County of Franklin and Acadia Healthcare White Deer
Run, LLC for the Good Wolf Treatment Court (GWTC) program for substance use disorder
treatment services. This amendment is to extend the contract for another year through
9/30/2024 and increase the encumbrance for the contract to $15,000.00 for Substance Use
Disorder treatment services. All other terms and conditions of the original agreement will
remain in full force and effect.
Continued on page 6
The Board reviewed additional Grants/CJAB matters. On a motion by Robert G.
Ziobrowski, seconded by David S. Keller; unanimously approved the amendment No. 1 to the
contract (dated October 1, 2022) between the County of Franklin and Noah's House/Gracie's
Place for the Good Wolf Treatment Court (GWTC) Program for substance use disorder recovery
housing services. This amendment is to increase the daily rate to $26.50 per hour, increase the
contract amount to $25,350.00 and extend the contract through September 30, 2024. All other
terms and conditions of the original agreement will remain in full force and effect.
The Board reviewed additional Grants/CJAB matters. On a motion by Robert G.
Ziobrowski, seconded by David S. Keller; unanimously approved the grant application to
Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) requesting a grant in the amount
of $500,000.00 to provide funds to the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use
Program (COSSUP) for individuals on supervision that is focused on creating stable living
conditions enhanced by case management and various treatment support groups. The grant
period is October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2025.
The Board reviewed additional Grants/CJAB matters. On a motion by Robert G.
Ziobrowski, seconded by David S. Keller; unanimously approved the grant application to
Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) requesting a grant in the amount
of $32,910.00 for the Franklin County Jail to use the funds to purchase COVID cleaning
supplies (Clorox wipes, garbage bags, soap dispenser refill bags), a personal property bag
sealer, and 9 inmate shower units. The grant period is August 1, 2022 through July 31, 2024.
The Board reviewed Jail matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by
David S. Keller; unanimously approved the amendment to the agreement (dated April 1, 2019)
between the County of Franklin and Summit Food Service for inmate meals to increase by 6.5%
effective April 2, 2023 through December 31, 2024. This adjustment is based upon the Bureau
of Labor Statistics Consumer CPI, US City Average Food Away from Home Table.
The Board reviewed Planning matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded
by David S. Keller; unanimously approved Resolution #2013-18 to approve and authorize the
submittal of modifications listed on the resolution for the Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG) program for Fiscal Year 2019.
The Board met with Tiffany Bloyer, Human Resources Director and the Controller Harold
Wissinger for Salary Board matters. Also in attendance were President Judge Shawn Meyers
and Court Administrator Mark Singer.
The Board reviewed Personnel matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski,
seconded by David S. Keller; unanimously approved the revised job description for the
Courtroom Technician position
The meeting was adjourned at 2:46 p.m. with a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
seconded by David S. Keller.
Carrie E. Gray
County Administrator/Chief Clerk
FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
____________________________________
David S. Keller, Chairman
___________________________________
Robert G. Ziobrowski
2024 Preliminary Budget All Requests–
ALL SERVICES, ALL FUNDS
GENERAL FUND
TRANSFERS (COUNTY SHARE)