HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-11-17 Commissioner Minutes TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015
The Franklin County Commissioners met Tuesday, November 17, 2015, with the
following members present: David S. Keller, Robert L. Thomas 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.
On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski; seconded by Robert L. Thomas;
unanimously approved to adopt the agenda.
There was no public comment.
The minutes of the November 10, 2015 and November 12, 2015 meetings were
reviewed. These will be approved Thursday, November 19, 2015.
The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. Chairman Keller
asked Carrie Gray, Assistant County Administrator, to provide an overview of board
action item #1, contract with BI, Inc. to clarify for the Board which of the intermediate
punishment equipment it relates to. Ms. Gray explained there are two types of electronic
monitoring that Adult Probation utilizes through this contract. The first is the Radio
Frequency (RF) monitoring which is basic house arrest. The second one is GPS
monitoring to track a offender whereabouts in real time and includes inclusion and
exclusion zones. She said this is a continuation of a contract and the rates are
decreasing slightly. Commissioner Thomas asked Bryan Stevenson who is present
today to explain board action item #3, proposal from Motorola. Mr. Stevenson said this
proposal is to upgrade one of two NICE recorders, which record radio and voice
communications with 911. He explained that the present recorder has been serving 911
for many years and technology has evolved over the years. He said when they
upgraded the radio system six years ago a recorder came with that system so they have
been running two machines. With this proposal, they will upgrade the one machine and
the older machine will be placed out of service. The new recorder will record radio,
voice and text communications, and is capable of recording images and video.
The following item was approved today while the remaining items will be
approved Thursday, November 19, 2015.
The Board reviewed Emergency Services matters. On a motion by Robert G.
Ziobrowski; seconded by Robert L. Thomas; unanimously approved the proposal from
Motorola to upgrade the NICE recording system at the 911 Center. This will coincide
with the radio upgrades and upgrade the recorder which will integrate the radios and
phone system to allow for one recorder at a cost of$81,705.50.
The Board held a discussion on the 2016 Budget. Chairman Keller stated the
Board has been asked to provide guidance to staff so they can finalize the budget based
on the all requests budget presentation from last Tuesday. Carrie Gray, Assistant
County Administrator, said that she and Ms. Beckner are here to receive guidance from
the Board. She said the all request budget puts the county at$6 million deficit which is
separate from $2.2 million deficit budget from 2015. Staff is reviewing capital and
personnel requests as well as departments that are requesting a large increase
compared to last year. The goal is to maintain a healthy fund balance and to preserve
our double A bond rating. Chairman Keller responded that as Ms. Gray stated, we need
to maintain a healthy fund balance which ensures we have a good bond rating.
Commissioner Ziobrowski asked for more clarification on the $6 million deficit and
additional $2.2 million Ms. Gray mentioned. Ms. Gray responded that the $6 million
would be for 2016 alone and the additional $2.2 million is anticipated carrying over from
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2015. Commissioner Ziobrowski said that if they don't want to deplete the reserves,
then they would have to make up the $2.2 million to still have a 90 day fund balance.
With 911 funding, we anticipate getting $1.1 million more in funds. Ms. Gray responded
that staff anticipates $1 million. Ms. Beckner responded that staff is still refining what
our revenue is going to be since there are multiple factors to consider. In addition, the
formula may change mid-year so they are trying to be conservative at this time so staff
doesn't have to come back mid-year to adjust funding. Commissioner Ziobrowski said
that they need to separate income and expense. He asked how much additional funding
is anticipated for 2016. Ms. Beckner responded that her numbers last week included
$800,000 in additional revenue. She explained that the additional revenue is not coming
back dollar for dollar because 911 expenses have gone up this year. There was more
discussion on the $6 million deficit. Ms. Beckner said the county will finish 2015 with
$11 million in reserve funds and that a 90 day operating reserve equals $10.9 million.
Commissioner Ziobrowski said he would be cautious about anymore deficit spending
since it's apparent to him that they will not be able to trim all $6 million out. He said we
can expect more money from 911, maybe only 10% more, so he is hoping operationally
we can cut$800,000 and cut$1 million from the all-request budget. This would leave us
$3.6 million or 2.5 mills shy. He doesn't want to see us going into further deficit
spending. Commissioner Thomas said we haven't even begun to say no yet, before he
talks about further detail he would like to know what is necessary and not short our
community. He does not want to curb public safety or cause us to do certain things to
make recidivism higher than what it is. He said we need to have a successful reentry
program and there are a number of initiatives that they need to do. Ms. Gray responded
that she understands that historically staff have received two things from the board at
this point: priorities and budget limit. These are important data points for staff to move
forward. Commissioner Ziobrowski said he didn't see anything frivolous in the all
requests budget. We do make cuts but it comes from Commissioners telling staff what
the public can bear. It starts to cost us more money if we don't replace items that need
replaced. Chairman Keller said he reviewed all the capital requests and personnel
expansion requests and staff has a difficult job to do unless they receive guidance from
the Board. He can pick out a couple things that are not essential but the vast majority of
the items can be justified for public safety and well-being of our residents, including
Children and Youth, Jail, Drug and Alcohol initiatives, and criminal justice initiatives, to
name a few. This is a growing county and as a result, demand for services continues to
grow. We have reduced the size of our government significantly, improved technology
and hired highly qualified individuals, and we need to continue to do so. We need to
give staff some sense of what the residents of the county will support as far as deficit
spending and/or additional revenue. Commissioner Ziobrowski said according to his
calculations a 25% cut in the all-requests budget would come up shy of$3.1 million. He
recommends staff to come in at 25 mills. Chairman Keller said estimates in 911 funding
have been reasonable but he is hoping it will be a little better but the general approach is
to be conservative. He thinks revenue from legislation will be a big shot in the arm but
will not get us all the way there. He continued that they have seen value in trying to end
the year with a healthy general fund balance at the 90 day figure. His preference would
be to direct staff to continue to scrutinize requests as much as possible to get this
budget on the table next week. He is willing to tolerate an increase in the millage of no
more than 2 mills but coming in under that would be preferred. We have finished the
year with Y2 million to 1 million under budget. This will get us pretty close to where we
want to be with the 90 day general fund balance. Commissioner Ziobrowski concurs
with Chairman Keller's statement. Chairman Keller said the Board relies on staff to
scrutinize all requests. His preference would be to be no more than 2 mills in new
revenue and 1 million in deficit spending. Commissioner Thomas responded that he is
not sure he agrees with everything that has been said here yet but if they do an increase
like that, he would not like to see any deficit spending. They need to make challenging
and tough decisions on spending. Ms. Beckner asked Commissioner Thomas if he
could give her direction on what spending is or his own priorities and what areas staff
needs to reduce. Chairman Keller said technology is a priority, 911 center needs to stay
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up to date and adequately staffed and compensated. He said Children and Youth is
under more directives and their caseloads have expanded considerably since calls are
up 50% over the past year, so Children and Youth has to be a priority. Commissioner
Thomas said that one thing to point out with 911 funding that Ms. Beckner mentioned
concerning the mid-way change in the formula, is there is a temporary formula in place.
There is also a committee in place that is to look at the formula and his hope is that they
will be fair to counties like Franklin County. He continued that CCAP is lobbying very
hard that there is a formula in place that will be prolonged through December so
counties can budget next year. He said it's bad business to tell a number today and
change it in six months. He wants to see as much as we can do to make this lean and
maintain reserves at a safe level since the state might not have a budget again next
year. Chairman Keller said to clarify that there is expectation that some new revenue
will be required and he will not be surprised if staff comes back next week and needs
additional revenue to make this budget work. He said the board is sincere in not wanting
to make any decisions that will compromise public safety. It is challenging to review all
requests made and decide which ones don't rise to that level. Staff has the Board's
support to come back with a budget consistent with what they have done in the past with
expansion in capital and personnel, recognizing that they held the line in the last several
years until the economy improved and recognizing that the County is continuing to grow
and our services grow with it. Franklin County needs to provide adequate resources and
he is hoping the picture improves. At this point he needs to say no more than 2 mills
and if staff can come under that, it would be wonderful. If some usage of reserves is
needed to balance the budget, that would be acceptable as well. The board prefers to
try to end 2016 with 90 day reserves in the general fund. Ms. Gray acknowledged the
board's guidance and said staff would Have a preliminary budget for the board's
consideration next Tuesday.
Phil Tarquino, Planning Director, was present to ask the Board to consider an
amendment to the Solid Waste Plan. Mr. Tarquino explained that the County has to
show we have sufficient solid waste disposals in the county and currently there are
eleven facilities in Franklin County. York County Solid Waste Authority is requesting to
be added as an additional facility. A request was submitted to PA Department of
Environmental Protection. He said it was presented to Counsel for Government and
Franklin County Planning Commission. There was an ad in the paper to accept any
public comments today. Two representatives from Chambersburg Waste Paper were
present. They commented in support of adding the York County facility because they
incinerate the waste and recycle the metal products. They also generate electricity at
their facility. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski; seconded by Robert L. Thomas;
unanimously approved the amendment and to sign the agreement to include York
County Solid Waste Authority into the County's Solid Waste Plan.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m. with a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
seconded by Robert L. Thomas.
FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS