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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-01-17 Commissioner Minutes WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2024 The Franklin County Commissioners met Wednesday, January 17, 2024, with the following members present: Dean A. Horst, John T. Flannery and Robert G. Ziobrowski. Chairman Horst 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. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved to adopt the agenda. There was no public comment. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved all bills presented and ordered paid. The minutes of the January 10, 2024 meeting were reviewed. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the minutes. The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. Carrie Gray, County Administrator, wanted to clarify that with the different solicitor agreements the costs are purely general funds. The only excep item #2, that has the potential for future reimbursement. The Board reviewed Aging Office matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the real estate lease agreement between the County of Franklin and Brake Concrete, Inc. for rental of space at 6444 Lincoln Way West, St. Thomas, PA for the Fort Loudon Senior Activity Center at a monthly cost of $1,900.00 for the years 2024 through 2028 and for each 5 year renewal that is accepted there would be an increase of 1.9% per year adjusted at each 5-year term. This is a new location for this center. The period is January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2028 with the option to renew for four additional five-year renewal periods. This will be paid with PA Department of Aging Block Grant Funds. The Board reviewed Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the 2024 extension of the solicitor engagement agreement (dated January 28, 2020) between the County of Franklin and Black and Davison to provide legal services. This extension is to extend the term of the agreement by one year to December 31, 2024 and to adjust the monthly compensation by an amount of $195.70 or 2% to $9,980.70. All other terms and conditions of the original agreement will remain in full force and effect. This will be paid using General Funds with a potential for future reimbursement. The Board reviewed additional Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the Change Order #015 from Lobar, Inc. for the Franklin County Courthouse Annex Renovation Project general construction to add steel beams and c-channels at the roof for an increased amount of $6,050.41. This will be paid from bond funds. The Board reviewed additional Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the Change Order #002 from MidState Mechanical & Electrical, LLC for the Franklin County Courthouse Annex Renovation Project electrical construction to replace elevator lobby lights (21) type DC1 fixtures with (21) DD1 type fixtures for an increased amount of $5,124.00. This will be paid from bond funds. Continued on page 2 The Board reviewed Coroner matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the solicitor agreement between the County of Franklin and Jerrold Sulcove, Esquire, to provide legal services as requested by the Coroner at a cost of $145.01 per hour with no more than 100 hours billed without consent and approval by the Coroner and the Board of Commissioners. This is an increase of $6.24 per hour or 4.5%. This agreement is for the period of January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024. This will be paid using General Funds. The Board reviewed District Attorney matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the yearly maintenance contract Victim Information and Notification system that provides 24/7 operation service, support and monitoring of hardware and software, 24 hour troubleshooting for system alarms and incoming and outgoing telephone calls and communication costs. There is no cost to the county. The Board Children & Youth matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the report to the Commonwealth of PA, Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF) for the first quarter fiscal year 2023-2024 Children and Youth quarterly income and expenditure report. Expenditures for the first quarter totaled $3,464,730 resulting in a required County local share totaling $654,055. The Board reviewed Planning matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the contract between the County of Franklin and Department of Environmental Protection for the Mosquito and Tick Borne Disease grant for Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, and Bedford Counties in the 2024 year for a grant amount of $169,373.00. The grant funds the program staff as well as equipment and other operations that are required to do the work. The Board reviewed additional Planning matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the 2024 Certification of County Funds for the Franklin County Agriculture Preservation Program in the amount of $217,063. The purpose of providing the county funds is for the purchasing of agriculture conservation easements pursuant to the authority contained in the Act of June 30, 1981 (P.L. 128, No. 43) known as the Agricultural Area Security Law, as amended. The Board reviewed Property Management matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the amendment to the maintenance agreement (dated January 18, 2023) between the County of Franklin and Ehrlich Pest Control to include pest management maintenance at the Coroner's Building located at 679 Franklin Farm Lane to monthly rather than bi-monthly at a cost of $55.00 per treatment. All other terms and conditions of the original agreement will remain in full force and effect. This will be paid using General Funds. The Board reviewed additional Property Management matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the quote from Timothy Goetz to provide snow and ice removal at the Greencastle Senior Activity Center at a cost of $115.00 per hour for the period of January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024. This will be paid using PA Department of Aging Block Grant Funds. The Board reviewed Register and Recorder matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the solicitor agreement between the County of Franklin and Lawrence R. Rife IV, Esquire, to provide legal services pertaining to the Deeds Division, as requested, to the Franklin County Register and Recorder for an amount of $3,116.09 for the period of January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024. This is an increase of $134.19 or 4.5%. This will be paid using General Funds. Continued on page 3 The Board reviewed additional Register and Recorder matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the solicitor agreement between the County of Franklin and Lawrence R. Rife IV, Esquire to provide legal services pertaining to the Wills & ProbateDivision, as requested, to the Franklin County Register and Recorder for an amount of $3,116.09 for the period of January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024. This is an increase of $134.19 or 4.5%.This will be paid using General Funds. The Board reviewed Sheriff Office matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the solicitor agreement between the County of Franklin and Clinton T. Barkdoll, Esquire, to provide legal services as requested by the Franklin County Sheriff at a cost of $18,784.99 for the period of January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024. This is an increase of $808.92 or 4.5%. This will be paid using General Funds. Teresa Beckner, Chief Financial Officer, and Janelle Friese, Fiscal Director, provided a and made a part of these minutes. Ms. Friese explained that today she will be reviewing the 2023 budget performance through November and that these are preliminary numbers since they are currently working on December invoices and finalizing revenues for December. Ms. Friese reviewed the General Fund (GF) revenues and expenses county wide. For General Fund revenues we are at $55.9M with year to date at $51.3M which is 91.8%. She continued that last The $2.4M/5% increase is made up primarily of two sources with nearly $1M that relates to increased tax revenues. The Cou those increased tax revenues. We are also anticipating about $1,000,000 in increased interest earnings compared to 2022. This relates to initiatives taken to improve rates the County is earning on deposits. She provided a chart that shows General Fund revenue by revenue type. About 70% of our GF revenue budget is from Taxes. Ms. Friese continued that about 15% of pect charges to be at around 83% of budget and we are at about 79%, so we are just short of where we should be. We are on target compared to last year and a little low based on budget. She provided a table that shows departments with significant charges. One area of note is Recorder of Deeds which is only about 66% of budgeted revenue. This is the impact of fewer transactions due to low inventory and rising interest rates. We saw higher revenue 2021 & 2022 and budgeted accordingly but have seen decreased fees in 2023. They did adjust this accordingly in the 2024 budget. Commissioner Ziobrowski commented that in Register & Recorder revenue is down because refinances are going nowhere due to the interest rates being higher. Commissioner Ziobrowski said that the short fall is showing $4M+ and asked if that is a concern with one month to go. Janelle explained that we have two months from this point to go on that so there is more time. Ms. Beckner explained that part of that revenue budget is use of ARPA money so at this point it looks like we are not going to use all that. Janelle said real estate transactions will happen through January also. Ms. Beckner provided more information. Chairman Horst said previous presentations showed us being under budget, is there anything else we should be aware of? Janelle said when she goes over the expenditures she will explain more since this is just revenues. Ms. Friese explained that Adult Probation revenue is also lower than budgeted at 65% through November; we have seen a decrease in fees related to house arrest programs 2023. She said to keep in mind that we are looking at both GF and Debt service millage here. About the debt service fund. We expected to collect $45.2M this year. So far we collected $44.7M or 99% and will still have some collections in January so they will make that 45 number. Again, this relates to our tax base which grew about 2.2% from 2022 to 2023, so collections have grown proportionally with the tax base growth. Moving on to General Fund expenses, to keep in mind that through November, we expect expenses to be around 92%, if we assume we spend our budget evenly across the year. The 2023 budget is at $58.8M with expenditures year to date at $51.5M or 87.6%. She provided more information on expenses by function. Ms. Friese provided a graph showing the same expenditures from a different perspective, by type of Continued on page 4 expenditure instead of function. Ms. Friese provided a table that shows TRANSFERS which is General Fund support to operations outside of the general fund (also called County Share). All transfers are under the 92% mark except for Children and Youth; Transfers as a whole are at 87%. The all services budget excluding pension and retiree health funds are at $151.2M with year-to-date revenues at $135.7M or 89.7%. Revenues prior year-to-date were $121.6M. The other largest contributor to revenue increase from taxes and interest is debt proceeds from the 2023 debt issuance that occurred in September for the Court Facility Improvement project. This represents about $10M that we would not have had in 2022. Ms. Friese reported there are no significant variances with the revenue by type. The all services expenditures are at $159.9M with year to date at $123.2M or 80.0%. Being below the benchmark overall is due to the timing of capital projects and various grant programs. Compared to last year the expenditures prior year to date is $115.6M. Most of this increase is due to the IMPACT! Grants which have paid out $6.2M through November. Additionally, we have spent $7M on the Court Facility Improvement project compared to $1.5M during this same period in 2023. Ms. Friese provided a graph that shows those same expenditures by the following expenditure type: Personnel, Operating, and Capital. She stated that again all areas are below what is expected when we compare to the benchmark. The table to the right shows significant budgets outside the general fund: Children and Youth at 90% and 911 operations are at 89% tracking below our expectation. Internal services, which includes IT, HR and Fiscal operations, show expenditures of 96%. This is due to various capital upgrades which will be capitalized and adjusted. With these adjustments, we are expecting internal services to be within budget. The Board thanked Ms. Beckner and Ms. Friese fortheir presentation. The meeting was adjourned at 10:43 a.m. with a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski; seconded by John T. Flannery. Carrie E. Gray County Administrator/Chief Clerk FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ____________________________________ Dean A. Horst, Chairman ____________________________________ John T. Flannery ___________________________________ Robert G. Ziobrowski