Staff:      N. Jayne, Administration; J. Grogan, Administration; C. Covert, Clerk of the Legislature; D.  Squires, Finance Director; S. Whicher, County Administrator

Called to Order

 The meeting was called to order at 3:00 p.m.  Mr. Koplinka-Loehr reported briefly on the agenda setting meetings and said committee agendas will be available at the latest the Wednesday prior to the meeting.

Changes to Agenda

 There were no changes to the agenda.

Approval of Minutes

 It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Mr. Koplinka-Loehr, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to approve the minutes of the December 13th meeting as submitted.

Chair's Report

 Mr. Koplinka-Loehr spoke about a Community Advisory Panel Report done two years ago by a group of citizens.  He asked that copies be made available to new Committee members.  The report included approximately 25 recommendations relating to budget issues.  Many of the recommendations have been implemented and some continue to be discussed.   Mr. Marx, Commissioner of Planning and Public Works, is working on converting the capital program process to a 20-year capital plan.  It will be necessary to look at criteria as an organization for areas that should be part of the capital program.  The Community Advisory Panel or a subgroup of that group may be asked to look at that and give this committee some advice and recommendations.

Report from the Finance Director

 Mr. Squires distributed a copy of the 2005 Contingent Fund report.  He said it is too early to form an opinion on where the County will be when the 2005 books are closed.  The preliminary Contingent Fund report shows it is likely to be overdrawn by approximately $200,000.

 Mr. Squires also reviewed the General Fund report.  The two items he noted about 2005 were that the County's cash position remained stable and that sales tax revenue is up about $800,000 over budget.  He also noted that the programs in the Department of Social Services are in good shape and that there should be no reconciliation problems reported.

 At this time, explanations and definitions of various county funds were provided for the new Legislators as well as some of the processes outlined.

 In response to a question raised by Mr. Shinagawa, Mr. Squires reported on the process for collecting taxes from the towns.

Report from the County Administrator

 Mr. Whicher briefly spoke about mandated accounts and highlighted the budgeting process for "mandated payment" accounts and said those Departments with mandate accounts are held harmless.  He also briefly reported on the projections made in the Medicaid accounts and said the County is in transition as 2005 is the base year for the State to determine the Medicaid Cap.  He believes the County may be approximately $250,000 short, but reminded the Committee it is only a guess at this time until the final numbers are in early this summer.

Resolution - Requesting Amendment to New York State Tax Law Article 31 to Permit Tompkins County to Impose a County Transfer Tax

 Mr. Koplinka-Loehr briefly explained the resolution adopted by the Legislature in 2005 requesting the State to pass enabling legislation to allow Tompkins County to impose a Transfer Tax.  He said at the time this resolution was proposed, other areas of revenue sources were explored and transfer tax was felt to be the best option.  Further action to reaffirm the 2005 Transfer Tax resolution by the Legislature is not necessary, but he wanted to bring the Committee up to date on this proposal.  If the State gives the County authorization, the County will be required to adopt a resolution to implement it and require the County Clerk to collect the revenue.  It is anticipated that $400,000 would be collected in a twelve-month period if this legislation is approved and that the transfer tax will be paid by the seller in real estate transactions

Liaison Assignment - Tompkins Cortland Community College

 It was the consensus of the Committee to appoint Michael Hattery as the liaison to the Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3).

Budget Process

 Mr. Koplinka-Loehr gave an overview of the 2005 budget calendar and said a proposal will be coming forward to the Committee in the next few months for the 2006 budget process.  He also reviewed briefly the glossary of terms relating to the budget process distributed with the agenda.

 A brief discussion followed concerning mandated payments and responsibilities; Mr. Whicher agreed to provide a report outlining mandated expenditures and responsibilities and the local share.

Committee Responsibilities

 Mr. Koplinka-Loehr highlighted the list of responsibilities assigned to the Committee for 2006.  Mr. Whicher said he hopes that a different approach to capital program budgeting will be proposed and implemented this year.  Mr. Marx has prepared a Capital Program report with a timeline for Legislative implementation in 2005 and Mr. Koplinka-Loehr requested Committee members receive a copy of said report.  Mr. Squires brought to the Committee's attention that one of the responsibilities of this Committee this year as part of GASB's (Government Accounting Standards Board) rules is appointing an Audit Committee that will need to meet with the auditors as needed.

Proposed Committee Goals

 At this time, the Committee reviewed the proposed goals for 2006.  Mr. Koplinka-Loehr asked Committee members to look over the list and let him know if there are any additions or revisions which members would like to include.  A brief discussion followed concerning the County's fringe rate and Mr. Grogan said he would distribute a report he prepared of a comparison of relevant counties and their fringe rates.  Mr. Koplinka-Loehr said he would like to revisit the proposed goals and prioritize the list once they are finalized.

Fiscal Policy Review

 Mr. Koplinka-Loehr requested Committee members to review the Fiscal Policy (included in the agenda packet) as the Committee will be reviewing the policy and possibly consider proposing recommendations for revisions.  One area the Committee will be addressing this year is how negotiated salary increases will be handled through the budgeting process.

 Discussion followed concerning the review of outside agencies such as Tompkins Community Action, Tompkins County Area Development, Cooperative Extension, Ithaca Breast Cancer Alliance, etc. that the County provides funding to.  Mr. Booth and others agreed that a 5-10 year history of what has been 0spent by the outside agencies would be useful for the Committee to review again.

 Further discussion followed concerning possible systems the County may or may not have in place if any decisions at the State level have a significant impact on funding at the County level such as the potential lawsuit with the school system in New York City.

 In response to a question raised from Mr. Sigler the process of how the Committee discusses and recommends policy and an explanation of how a policy is brought forward to the Legislature was reviewed by the Committee.

 Mr. Sigler asked that some of these issues be targeted and included on the list of goals; Mr. Koplinka-Loehr asked him to put that in writing and submit it as a goal.

Tour - Administration and Finance Departments

 Mr. Koplinka-Loehr offered to provide a tour of the Departments of Administration and Finance if anyone was interested.

Adjournment

 The meeting adjourned at 4:58 p.m.