HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-10-24 Commissioner Minutes TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017
The Franklin County Commissioners met Tuesday, October 24, 2017, 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.
Kim Wertz provided public comment and asked if work release inmates are given
the task of snow removal instead of contracting out this service, referring to board action
item #6, contract with RA Hill General Contractor. She asked if the County has pick-up
trucks with plows on that could do the parking lots, driveways and sidewalks to save
money. Chairman Keller responded that we do handle some of the work in-house but
will provide more information during board action discussions.
The minutes of the October 17, 2017 and October 19, 2017 meetings were
reviewed. These will be decided upon on Thursday, October 26, 2017.
The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. Commissioner
Thomas asked when the review of the Co-Responder program is starting, since the
contracts show a start date in September. Carrie Gray, County Administrator, said they
have started and are in the process now. John Hart, Chief Clerk, responded to the
question during public comment concerning using inmates for snow removal. He said
we do use work release inmates at the Jail but when it's a heavy snow, there is a
challenge to transport inmates from one site to another site. He explained that this
contract is for the removal of piles of snow when there is an excess amount of snow and
it needs hauled out, since piles of snow take up a substantial amount of parking.
Coroner Jeff Conner was present to explain that his action to purchase a vehicle will cost
the county budget $49,008 and another$10,000 will come from his escrow funds. The
items will be approved Thursday, October 26, 2017.
The Board reviewed personnel matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
seconded by Robert L. Thomas; unanimously approved the revised Accounts Payable
Specialist position description in the Controller's Office.
Chairman Keller said that the Board had the All-Request budget presented last
week. So they marked today to provide guidance to staff on how to balance the budget.
He will offer some recommendations but he will give the opportunity for Ms. Gray and
Mr. Hart to add anything to the information and to see if anything changed from last
week. Mr. Hart said staff is in the process of looking at capital and personnel
expansion, Teresa Beckner and her staff are reviewing every line item amounts entered
for accuracy. He said they started the review process regarding what should or should
not be considered in the budget. Staff is waiting for board priorities and will make
changes based on your recommendations and desires. Chairman Keller said that he
went over capital requests, positions and performance of 2017 budget and how the 2017
budget is performing with John, Carrie and Teresa last week. He has some suggestions
and recommendations on how to proceed. He said the budget is performing well this
year as was mentioned last week with an anticipated $1-1.2 million in savings in
unexpended funds that were budgeted for this year. There were many successes with
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grant dollars for Human Services and Criminal Justice projects. He said limited deficit
spending would be appropriate going forward. He said he sees no need for a tax
increase at this time, and his suggestion is to roll-over projected savings from 2017 to
help balance the budget for 2018. It would be appropriate to utilize reserves from this
year's budget to help balance the 2018 budget. He is always cognizant of the advice
from professionals both inside and outside the county to preserve 60-90 days of cash
on-hand to sustain operations while waiting for revenue to come in. He wants to shoot
for a 2018 budget that includes 60-90 days of reserve at the end of the year. He is
looking to staff to take a fresh look at capital expansion and personal expansion,
perhaps utilizing some reserves. Chairman Keller wanted to mention two in particular.
The Board recently had a visit from the Sheriff who requested increases for deputies in
his office. Chairman Keller said there is merit to his request so they need to consider
this. He said Commissioner Thomas has mentioned expanding the Co-
Responder/Community Liaison project in the county. He would support putting these
costs in contingency and looking at how the program can be expanded. He continued
that once staff has what they feel is credible data to review, they can look further at
expanding that program. If there is justification for expanding, his preference would be
to continue working with the vendor rather than hiring an employee but we can discuss
this in the future. Chairman Keller said the county has utilized Fund 41 for equipment
like vehicles, software and hardware in the past. He will look to staff for guidance on
how much of these funds to utilize. This is his recommendation. Commissioner
Ziobrowski said he has nothing to add to Chairman Keller's comments. Commissioner
Thomas said that he agrees with Chairman Keller's comments. He further said that no
budget is easy and there is no way to make everyone happy. But with John, Carrie,
Teresa and Steve, we have a wealth of experience, so Franklin County is well
positioned. He has no issues in using some of the reserves from this year in next year's
budget. Commissioner Thomas said his biggest hope would be a reduction in the jail
population and budget. Regarding the Mental Health Co-Responder, he said there is a
direct relationship to providing services in the community to the jail population. The
number of incarcerations is down in southern Franklin County where we have had a co-
responder since May. He has spoken with CPD and PSP and they are interested in
expanding the Co-Responder program. He said sometimes people who come into
contact with law enforcement just need help as many are not connected to services like
Aging, Mental Health and VA.. He will support what Chairman Keller said in his
recommendations. Chairman Keller said the use of contingency funding for managing
the budget has worked well in the past and recommends the continued use of that
mechanism. Mr. Hart thanked Commissioner Thomas for compliments to the staff. He
said that developing a budget is difficult and support from the Board is very welcome.
He said if there are any additional directions please let staff and him know. We are in
the hole with all the All-Request budget, so management will be making tough decisions
going forward. He said there will be no mill increase and the budget will be modified to
meet this goal. Chairman Keller said several initiatives have been ongoing like improving
customer service, efficiency and effectiveness through information technology-related
improvements, including document scanning and improved document access for the
public. This continues to be a priority for the board and he wants to continue moving
these initiatives forward. Commissioner Ziobrowski said he supports what
Commissioners Thomas and Keller said. However, if further research by staff indicates
there is physical maintenance that should take place, it would be penny wise and pound
foolish to defer it. In such a case, he could support a small increase in the millage rate.
Ms. Gray said that staff will work on getting a budget together based on direction
provided by the Board today. The preliminary budget will be presented on November
21, 2017.
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The meeting was adjourned at 10:14 a.m. with a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
seconded by Robert L. Thomas.
FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS