) STOKES COUNTY GOVERNMENT
COUNTY OF
STOKES ) DANBURY, NORTH CAROLINA
) JUNE 3, 2009
The Board of Commissioners of the County of Stokes, State
of North Carolina, met
for a Budget Work Session
in the third floor Conference Room of the Ronald Wilson Reagan
Memorial Building
(Administrative Building) located in Danbury, North Carolina on
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
at 1:00 pm with the following members present:
Chairman J. Leon
Inman
Vice-Chairman Jimmy
Walker
Commissioner Ron Carroll
Commissioner Ernest Lankford
Commissioner Stanley
Smith
County Personnel in
Attendance:
County Manager K.
Bryan Steen
Clerk to the Board
Darlene Bullins
Finance Director
Julia Edwards
Chairman J. Leon Inman
called the meeting to order.
Commissioner Carroll
delivered the invocation.
GENERAL GOVERNMENT-GOVERNING BODY-PLEDGE
OF ALLEGIANCE
Chairman Inman opened the meeting by inviting the
citizens in attendance to join the
Board with the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Budget Work Session
Chairman Inman noted Manager Steen had submitted a
proposed Budget - Option 1
which includes State Hold
Harmless Funding and a proposed Budget - Option 2 which does not
include State Hold
Harmless Funding. Chairman Inman noted
that the State Hold Harmless
Funding (only a few
counties still receive Hold Harmless Funding from the State) is due to
sunset after fiscal year
2010-2011. The Board discussed the Hold
Harmless Funding, which is
usually not paid to the
County until August, along with projected State cuts.
Finance Director Edwards noted the following sales tax
reimbursement changes:
·
Loss of sales tax revenue
this fiscal year due to the economy
·
Revenue from Article #44
completely goes away October 2009
·
Revenue from Article #42
will be changing from per capita to point of sale
·
Cities/towns in the
county will be held harmless from the loss of sales tax regarding Medicaid Relief
Chairman Inman noted the following regarding
Option 2:
·
Does not include Hold
Harmless Funding
·
Includes 12 Furlough Days
for county employees (one furlough day savings equates to $32,762)
·
No longevity increases
·
No holiday bonus
·
Closing of greenbox sites
for one full day per week
·
Continuation of selective
hiring freeze
·
Vacant positions will be
frozen until October 2009
·
Significant reductions in
departmental budgets
·
Approximately $200,000 being
appropriated from Fund Balance
·
Reduction in Departmental
Supplies, Travel, and Training for all county departments
·
Furlough days (7.5 hours)
Commissioner Carroll noted that departments
such as EMS, Communications, Sheriff’s
Department, and Jail
(24/7 operations) must replace employees who take furlough days with part
time employees. Commissioner Carroll also noted that furlough
days for Health and DSS
decrease state/federal
funding.
The Board discussed which Option to start
with.
The Board unanimously agreed to start budget
discussions using Option 2.
The Board discussed upcoming fiscal year tax rate.
Commissioner Lankford stated no increase in the tax rate
for fiscal year 2009-10.
Vice Chairman Walker stated no increase in the tax rate
for fiscal year 2009-10.
Commissioner Carroll stated that he decided the tax rate
last.
Commissioner Smith stated the tax rate needs to be set to
provide the needs of the
County, trying not to
exceed the current $.60 rate.
Chairman Inman stated it is not the time for a tax rate increase.
Schools
The Board discussed the funding provided by the County
for schools.
Vice Chairman Walker
stated that the County’s school current expense appropriation is
comparable or more than surrounding
counties.
Commissioner Carroll noted that can be misleading, at one
time the County was at the
bottom when it came to
receiving federal funding (county funding is only about 20% of the
schools’ total funding).
The Board agreed to review each departmental budget in
Option 2 as recommended by
Manager Steen.
The Board discussed the
following departments:
Administration
Animal Control
Commissioner Lankford
recommended the Manager find funding in this year’s budget
(possibly from
contingency) to have the concrete slab done as soon as possible.
Chairman Inman requested
the balance of all contingencies from the Finance Director.
Finance Director Julia
Edwards noted the following balances:
Chairman Inman, with full
consent of the Board, directed the Manager have Public
Buildings estimate the
cost of the concrete slab and have a budget amendment ready for the
June 8th
meeting.
Manager Steen noted that the State still has not made a
final decision regarding lethal
injections, but the staff
would like to go ahead with the lethal injection process.
Vice Chairman Walker
requested additional information from the Chief Animal Control
Officer regarding the
department’s desire to start lethal injections.
Vice Chairman Walker also
requested a cost analysis
regarding the cost of lethal injections versus using the gas chamber
for the last 12 months. Commissioner Carroll noted that it would be
good to analyze the same
data with the projection
of having to repair or purchase a new gas chamber.
Arts Council
Vice Chairman Walker
suggested the possibility of the department reporting to the
Economic Development
Director.
Commissioner Carroll noted that the Board must look at
all options when reviewing each
budget, consider what
services are mandated, what services can be eliminated, etc.
Contingency
Commissioner Lankford
reiterated the need for the County to establish a personnel policy
requiring holiday
time/non-exempt compensatory time being taken before vacation leave.
The Board discussed the need for the County to implement
a policy.
Manager Steen noted that steps have already been taken to
request non-exempt
employees use accrued
compensatory time before using vacation leave and employees who earn
holiday time, use it
before vacation leave. Manager Steen
noted his understanding was to
include a detailed policy
in the revision to the personnel policy and not bring separate policies to
the Board. Manager Steen stated he had no problems with
going ahead with the requested
policy.
Commissioner Carroll
suggested proceeding with implementing a policy requiring the
use of holiday/non-exempt
compensatory leave before taking vacation leave.
Chairman Inman, with full consent of the Board, noted a
proposed policy could be
added to Monday’s Agenda.
Finance Director Julia Edwards noted that the increase in
the Regular Contingency has
been added for specific
departments (24/7 operations) if furlough days are approved.
Finance Director Edwards noted the new line item (401k
Contingency) has been added
due to each prior year
the amount of funding in each department covered all employees whether
or not they participated
in the county’s one percent match. This
year, each department’s 401(k)
match is being
appropriated for only those employees who are currently participating. The
401(k) Contingency is for
employees who decide to start later in the budget year or for new
employees, this saves county
appropriations.
Cooperative Extension
Debt Service
Commissioner Smith noted his recommendation is
to borrow funding for only capital
needs, not for recurring
items such as vehicles.
District Resource Center
Economic Development
Commissioner Lankford
noted the need for the director to use a county car whenever
possible.
Elections
Emergency Communications
Emergency Management
Emergency Medical Services
Vice Chairman Walker suggested additional
information regarding front line ambulances.
Clerk Darlene Bullins reported (per EMS
Director Stevens) regarding equipment:
Environmental Health
Commissioner Carroll noted that the Board of
Health is considering recommending
changes in the fee
structure to be more in line with other counties and actual cost of
service. Fee
committee will be
presenting recommendations to the Board of Health next week.
Commissioner Lankford requested a cost analysis
pertaining to the cost of well permits.
Finance
Fire Marshal
(works from 8:30 am to 12:00 noon each day)
Forsyth Technical
Manager Steen noted that $700,000 has been
included in the financial model in order to
move forward to provide a
place for students in the Early College Program, county must have a
location by August 2010.
Chairman Inman noted the next Budget Work Session is
scheduled for Tuesday, June 9th
at 2:00 pm.
Adjournment
There being no further
business to come before the Board, Chairman Inman entertained a
motion to adjourn the Budget
Work Session.
Commissioner Smith moved
to adjourn the Budget Work Session. Commissioner
Lankford seconded and the
motion carried unanimously.
________________________ _____________________________
Darlene M. Bullins
J. Leon Inman
Clerk to the Board Chairman