Called to Order

 Mr. Koplinka-Loehr called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m.

Changes to the Agenda

 It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Ms. Mackesey, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to add the following resolutions to the agenda:

 Resolution No.   - Authorization to Increase Hours and Appropriation from Contingent Fund -    Health Department

Approval of Minutes of February 7 and 13, 2006

 It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Ms. Mackesey, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to approve the minutes of February 7 and 13, 2006, with the changes submitted.  MINUTES APPROVED.

Chair's Report

 Mr. Koplinka-Loehr had no report.

Finance Director's Report

 Mr. Squires reported the bond sale will be held on February 28th.  He distributed information on sales tax distributions and stated municipalities will be getting checks tomorrow for January sales tax.  He said the good news about sales tax is that the County is substantially ahead of last year in receipts and he hopes it continues that way.

 Ms. Mackesey asked what the difference is between the one percent and the three percent sales tax in terms of distribution.  Mr. Squires said there is special authorization that allows counties to collect an additional one percent in sales tax that was enacted by the State in 1990.  Tompkins County adopted this additional tax in 1992 and it is shared differently than the three percent tax based on a specific formula that was established.

County Administrator's Report

 Mr. Whicher updated the Committee on the status of filling the position of Public Information Officer.  He stated Jevon Grogan will be taking over the duties of that position in the interim period until an appointment can be made from the Civil Service list.

 There was no report from the County Attorney's Office.

Health Department

 Sylvia Allinger of the Health Department presented the Committee with statistical information relating to the Early Intervention and Pre-School Education Programs over the last ten years for the purpose of explaining cost overruns in those programs.  She said enrollment in the Early Intervention program has more than doubled since 1995 and the Pre-School Education program has experienced a 50% increase.

 In terms of funding, the Department believes the greatest increase in cost is due to the intensity of programming for the children.   The Pre-School Education program operates on a school calendar; therefore, billing and funding begins July 1st.  In order to see how much the County would get back she had to look at what she thought the Medicaid reimbursement would be for the Ithaca City School District and the Franziska Racker Center for November and December which the Department will not be able to bill for until April.  Once that is billed she expects the Department will receive approximately $167,000 in State reimbursement after April.   She said in total, there will probably be $252,000 in revenue to help negate the $474,000 overrun in the program.   She said she believes the increase is the result of the intensity in programming they have experienced with children over the last five years and that they are seeing this in both the Early Intervention and Pre-School Special Education programs.

 In Pre-School Special Education there are children who attend Special Ed integrated programs which means the children who have more severe cognitive and development problems attend a classroom pre-school setting.   When a child is accepted by the Committee on Pre-School Special Education Committee and a determination has been made that the child qualifies for Special Education integrated programming, the child is accepted into a program at the Franziska Racker Center or at the Ithaca City School District.  There are a small number of children that do attend special programming in Binghamton and at OCM B.O.C.E.S.  When a child is accepted into a program the County is committed to pay the entire tuition rate for the full year and it is not dependent on the number of days per week the child attends.

 Ms. Allinger said this is a very big issue for NYSAC right now because tuition rates are typically two to three years behind.  The Department just recently received notice on the reconciliation for the tuition rates for school year 2003-2004.   Currently, the tuition rates for the Ithaca City School District for 2003-2004 are $16,621; six-week summer programming costs $2,710; the rate for the Franziska Racker Center for 2003-2004 is $26,228; the summer program is $4,371.  This amounts to $160 per child per day.  The Department has not received the reconciliation rates for years beyond 2003-2004; therefore, the Department is paying at the 2003-2004 rate.  When a notice of reconciliation is received for 2004-2005, they will have to make a determination of where money is owed.  Typically the County will owe them money because rates usually increase rather than go down.    After a review of the 2003-2004 rates which were received in January, the Franziska Racker Center estimates it is owed $70,000 by the County.    In addition, the County owes $61,500 for the 2005-2006 year based on the 2003-2004 rates.

 In 2003-2004, there were 44 children attending the three different integrated programs and in the Fall, there were 46 children who attended.  In the 2004-2005 school year there were 53 children who attended the summer programs and 62 children attending this school year.   She noted in 2002-2003 the Franziska Racker Center charged $115 per day and are now charging $160 per day.

 Ms. Allinger was asked if she could explain the increase in rates charged by the Franziska Racker Center.  She explained two years ago the Center opened a program entitled the Partnership Program which is for children who are on the autism spectrum, and said  there are many in Tompkins County.   She stated this is a tremendous integrated program and a national model and at this time there are no other integrated programs available.  When this program was opened and they applied for their tuition rates, the State based their rates on the Partnership Program, but when they charged all of the Counties (Tompkins, Cortland, Tioga, and Seneca counties), they raised the tuition rates across-the-board for every one of their Preschool Special Education programs even though they were not specialized in autism.  The State Education Department said they could not discriminate on the programming.  Ms. Allinger said she has spoke to other counties about this because she feels this really needs to be addressed.  She noted that out of 331 children last year, only 53 attended an integrated classroom setting; the majority of the services are provided in the home.

 Ms. Allinger said given the assumptions she has communicated to the Committee, she anticipates the deficit will be approximately $250,000 to $275,000.

 Mr. Whicher asked who reviews the budget for the Franziska Racker Center.  Ms. Allinger said the Health Department contracts with 50 private contractors and 14 different agencies through these programs and has authority through a guidance document to audit the other agencies.   Mr. Whicher suggested that this area be explored because he is hearing similar issues from DSS.    She will provide a copy of the guidance document to Mr. Whicher.

 Mr. Koplinka-Loehr summarized what actions would be taken following the discussion.   He said the Department will:

· Explore investigating the determination by the State to identify how the cost of intensive service programs are shared across all departments;

 Mr. Booth disclosed that his wife is employed by the Franziska Racker Center

Executive Session

 It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Ms. Mackesey, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to enter into executive session at 3:36 p.m. to discuss a personnel matter.  The meeting returned to open session at 3:42 p.m.

 RESOLUTION NO. – AUTHORIZATION TO INCREASE HOURS AND APPROPRIATION FROM CONTINGENT FUND – HEALTH DEPARTMENT

 It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Ms. Mackesey, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to approve the following resolution and submit to the full Legislature.

 WHEREAS, the WIC Program record review is projected to be completed by April 29, 2006, and

FROM:  A1990.54440 Contingent Fund $13,673

RESOLUTION NO. – APPROPRIATION FROM CONTINGENT FUND – TERMINAL PAY – HEALTH DEPARTMENT

 It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Ms. Mackesey, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to approve the following resolution and submit to the full Legislature.

 WHEREAS, the Health Department had an Administrative Assistant resign effective December 30, 2005, and

RESOLUTION NO.       - AUTHORIZATION TO INCREASE HOURS – WIC PROGRAM DIRECTOR – HEALTH DEPARTMENT

 It was MOVED by Mr. Shinagawa, seconded by Ms. Mackesey, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to approve the following resolution and submit to the full Legislature.

 WHEREAS, the WIC Program has sufficient State/Federal funds to increase the WIC Director's time,

Explanation:  Funds are available due to changes in staffing since October 1, 2005.  Increasing the WIC Director to 40 hours will permit an expansion of clinic hours.  The Women Infants and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has served Tompkins County since 1980 and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2005. This federal and state funded program strives to improve the nutrition and health status of participants through the provision of nutrition foods, nutrition and health education, breastfeeding support and referrals to community services.  In fiscal year 2005 seven nutrition and support staff served an average of 1555 people per month with a total annual food value of  $854,000.00.

Prioritization of 2006 Committee Goals

 Ms. Jayne provided members with a list of proposed 2006 Committee goals.  Members each spent time prioritizing the goals and returned the document to Ms. Jayne.  She will compile the information and present to the Committee at the next meeting.

Assigned Counsel Program

 Ms. Hughes said the Assigned Counsel Program operates as a small Department which generates a budget of $1.5 million.  The Department consists of one full-time Coordinator, one full-time Secretary, and one .33 time Supervising Attorney.   Tompkins County is one of only three counties in New York State that does not have a public defender's office.

 Ms. Hughes reported the Department has a budget overrun in the amount of $137,510.   She said this is because last year was the first year in the history of the program that a new rate structure was put into place (criminal matters are $75/hour; misdemeanors are $60/hour; and all family court matters are $75/hour across-the-board).  She said there was nothing in place by which to gauge the budget estimate on based on the new rates; therefore, the budget was a guess.

 Mr. Whicher pointed out that 75 percent of the program is used for non-felonies and suggested looking at different approaches to see if there may be some cost savings available to the County.   A question was raised as to whether all of the cases on the spreadsheet provided to the Committee qualify for assigned counsel.   Ms. Hughes said the majority of persons are qualified for assigned counsel; however, there are cases in which the judge orders an individual to have assigned counsel.  A request was made that the County Attorney look into whether the County has to pay the costs for assigned counsel in those cases.

 Ms. Hughes briefly explained the differences in an assigned counsel program and a public defender's office.  She explained that an assigned counsel program has a pool of independent attorneys from which to select and a public defender's office has a very small number of attorneys who handle all of the cases.  In cases where there are multiple defendants, a public defender's office would only be able to represent one of those individuals and outside counsel would have to be obtained for the others.  Mr. Whicher said issues of the cost effectiveness of both these types of programs is an area that will be receiving examination in the near future.

RESOLUTION NO.       – AUTHORIZATION OF A LEASE FINANCING AGREEMENT  WITH CHASE EQUIPMENT LEASING CORPORATION

 It was MOVED by Mr. Sigler, seconded by Mr. Booth, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to approve the following resolution and submit to the full Legislature:

 WHEREAS, the County of Tompkins has an approved capital project for the replacement of the public safety communication system, and

Review of Fiscal Policy

 Mr. Whicher continued a tutorial on the Fiscal Policy which began at the last meeting.  Mr. Koplinka-Loehr noted that the last set of minutes included a request that Mr. Marx prepare and circulate a list of possible criteria for fiscal capacity and parameters related to Capital project planning and present to Legislators in advance of the March meeting.

Adjournment

 The meeting adjourned at 5 p.m.