BUDGET COMMITTEE
 December 17, 2008

** NOT APPROVED **

Committee Members Present

T. Hopkins, D. Fanton, W. Dibble, W. Hall, T. O’Grady, C. Crandall

 

Others Present

J. Margeson, B. Reynolds, B. Riehle, T. Ross

 

Approval of Minutes

            The November 19, 2008 Budget Committee minutes were approved on a motion by Legislator Hall, seconded by Legislator O’Grady and carried.

 

Public Safety and Training Facility Debt Reserve Fund

            On June 14, 2004, the Board of Legislators adopted Resolution No. 118-04 establishing the Public Safety and Training Facility Debt Reserve Fund.  Committee members discussed the best way to fund the account.  Budget Committee Chairman Theodore Hopkins suggested that if revenue from housing inmates is received in excess of the $1.6 million bond payment, we may want to leave a percentage of the costs associated with operating the jail in the General Fund and place the remainder of the revenue in the Reserve Fund.  Legislator Timothy O’Grady stated that the revenue received from housing prisoners should be used to support the building and jail operations with any extra going to reserve for the debt.  Mr. O’Grady indicated that he would not like to see excess revenue just falling to General Fund to support other programs.  Legislator Dwight Fanton suggested that all revenue received from housing inmates above the $1.6 million needed for the bond payment should be placed into the Reserve Fund for a rainy day, and the additional costs associated with housing out-of-county inmates should be absorbed in the budget.  Legislator William Hall questioned who currently controls how that revenue money is spent.  County Administrator/Budget Officer John Margeson indicated that the revenue is booked in the General Fund.  Although there is not a dedicated stream that goes to offset expenses in the Sheriff’s Office or Jail, there are operational expenses associated with running the building and any overages will have to be absorbed by the General Fund.  Legislator Hall expressed concern about fiscal responsibility, noting that people generally tend to be more conservative when money is tight and more extravagant when they believe there is money available to pay for extras.  Mr. Margeson estimates that the County will receive approximately $2.1 million in revenue from housing inmates this year.  The debt payment of $1.6 million will be paid, and the remaining $500,000 has not been dedicated to pay anything specific.  Right now any excess would fall to fund balance and offset any accounts that are short.

 

            County Treasurer Terri Ross stated that the committee needs to decide what standard they want to set – at what level do they want to fund the Reserve.  Legislator Hopkins suggested putting any revenue received over the budgeted amount into the Reserve Fund.  We collected $513,000 for housing inmates in 2007, and that was not budgeted and fell to fund balance at year end.  We ended 2007 with an unappropriated, unreserved Fund Balance of $2.9 million.  Committee members discussed putting $500,000 into the Reserve.  

 

            Legislator William Dibble distributed copies of a draft resolution stating that all revenue received from housing non-Allegany County inmates at the Allegany County Jail, after deducting the yearly cost of principal and interest paid on the bonds issued to cover the cost of construction of the facility should be paid into the Public Safety and Training Facility Debt Reserve Funds as created by Resolution No. 118-04.

 

            Once money is placed in the Reserve Fund, it can only be used for debt service, not operating expenses.  Budget Committee Chairman Theodore Hopkins asked County Treasurer Ross and County Administrator Margeson to come to the next meeting with a recommendation as to the amount they believe should be placed in the Reserve Fund.  They will also plan to discuss adoption of a resolution regarding the designation of a specified amount into the Reserve Fund at the next meeting.

 

Section IV Salaries

            Legislator Timothy O’Grady mentioned an article that appeared in the Democrat and Chronicle recently that talked about the City of Rochester handing out bonuses to department heads that did an exemplary job.  Several people commented that they did not believe that you can use public funds for bonuses. 

 

            Committee members briefly discussed the process used to evaluate and grant raises to department heads on an annual basis.  Committee members would like to send a referral to the Personnel Committee to develop a defined system for evaluating department heads and granting annual salary increases.  REFER TO PERSONNEL COMMITTEE

 

Sales Tax Report

            County Treasurer Terri Ross distributed copies of a Sales Tax Report reflecting receipts through December 13, 2008, totaling $16,940,491.81 and interest totaling $17,381.17 which is up about 6.729 percent ($1,068,058.76) over last year’s figures.  Ms. Ross stated that we will receive two more sales tax payments before the end of the year, and we need to collect $400,000 to hit this year’s budget figure.  Ms. Ross noted that we will be slightly short on sales tax interest this year.

 

Adjournment

There being no further business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned on a motion by Legislator Fanton, seconded by Legislator Hall and carried.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Brenda Rigby Riehle, Clerk of the Board

Allegany County Board of Legislators