Called to Order
Mr. Koplinka-Loehr called the meeting to order at 3:04 p.m.
Changes to the Agenda
There were no changes to the agenda.
Approval of Minutes of February 27, 2006
It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Ms. Mackesey, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to approve the minutes of February 27, 2006 as submitted. MINUTES APPROVED.
Chair's Report
Mr. Koplinka-Loehr called attention to a recent Ithaca Times article in which Mr. Nathan Shinagawa was recognized as being the second "highest ranking" Asian elected official in New York State.
Finance Director's Report
Mr. Squires reported on an article that appeared in the Ithaca Journal last Monday saying that tobacco companies were trying to get out of the agreement. He received an email from the Attorney General saying tobacco companies were going to withhold 20 percent of their payment because they say the states were not holding up their end of the agreement. Mr. Squires said if this does happen Tompkins County will be about $100,000 short in revenue. The Attorney General is unsure which side will prevail and that a resolution will likely fall with the courts.
He reported he has been working on closing out the books for 2005 and has not come across any major item which would cause concern and noted accounts for the Airport, Solid Waste, and highways look stable. He said he should have a much better idea of how the year ended at the next meeting.
County Administrator's Report
Mr. Whicher was not in attendance.
Committee Goals - 2006
The Committee
reviewed the prioritized list of goals presented and accepted minor changes
to the order of priorities. Mr. Koplinka-Loehr noted that regardless
of the order, the Committee will focus on achieving all of the goals.
The agreed upon list of goals is as follows:
2006 Budget
and Capital Committee Goals
Priority
1 Oversee
implementation of the 2006 budget and the development of future budgets
that maintain the County’s fiscal health.
2 Improve
Capital Program reviews and sequence in advance of budget processes, incorporating
20-year capital planning horizon.
3 Monitor
proposed changes in the NY State and Federal budgets and their impact on
County finances.
4 Review fiscal
policies.
5 Develop
2007-09 fiscal parameters in cooperation with the entire Legislature.
6 Work toward
reducing the fringe rate by 2% over the next 2 years.
7 Educate
and equip committee members and legislators in budget process and decision
making tools.
8 Continue
to improve the budget process, including a focus on what fiscal management
tools and information are needed by Legislators to be able to review policy
questions throughout the year.
9 Establish
an Audit Sub-committee to comply with pending Federal mandate.
10 Explore
increasing the fund balance to meet future fiscal challenges.
11 Continue
to monitor the recommendations of the Budget Community Advisory Panel.
12 Continue
to explore revenue options available to the County (fees, sales tax, mortgage
recording tax, etc.).
13 Continue
focus on public understanding of and confidence in the budget processes
and outcomes.
14 Assist
the Strategic Planning Committee in setting organization-wide priorities.
15 Monitor
and continue to blend 3-year departmental budget projections into annual
reports, annual work plans, and goals/objectives.
2007 Budget
Calendar
The Committee reviewed The proposed budget calendar. Mr. Koplinka-Loehr noted the calendar is in a different format than in the past and was prepared to show how activities flow through the process. Mr. Booth suggested items 6, 13, 16, 20, and 24 be highlighted to make the document easier to follow. Mr. Koplinka-Loehr noted that there is a substantial amount of information behind each task.
Ms. Robertson said she would like program committees to receive a report prior to April on State and Federal budget impacts, even if the information is tentative. Mr. Koplinka-Loehr suggested that program committees ask departments for this as they may have more information and will be ready at that time to provide a tentative report to the committee.
Mr. Koplinka-Loehr stated the budget process will last 3 1/2 months. Comments received on last year's budget survey indicated that people wanted to continue with the current length of the process.
RESOLUTION NO. - APPROPRIATIONS AND BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS FOR SALARY INCREASE - WHITE COLLAR, MANAGEMENT/CONFIDENTIAL, AND BLUE COLLAR EMPLOYEES
MOVED by Ms. Mackesey, seconded by Mr. Shinagawa.
It was clarified by Ms. Jayne that the salaries for 2006 were budgeted, with $1.3 million put aside in the General Fund as a placeholder for salaries. The figures contained in this resolution are the actual calculations. However, for 2005 salaries the County Administrator included some funds in the General Fund and departments were told that when contract settlements were reached the departments would be "made whole". Mr. Koplinka-Loehr stated there are two questions that need to be answered: how to pay for 2005 salaries and where will the money come from. Ms. Jayne said department heads have reviewed these calculations and will be discussing this at their March 15 meeting.
The Committee agreed to language revisions; Ms. Kiefer said she will make a motion at the Legislature meeting to add the language back in to the resolution.
A voice vote resulted as follows: Ayes - 5, Noes - 0. MOTION CARRIED.
WHEREAS, Resolution No. 117 of 2005 “ESTABLISHMENT OF GUIDELINES AND FISCAL
TARGETS FOR ALL COUNTY BUDGETING UNITS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE 2006
BUDGET” stated that all salary changes and associated fringe costs or savings
will be paid through or received by the General Fund, and
WHEREAS, the bargaining agreement between Tompkins County and the White
Collar Union, for the years 2005, 2006, and 2007, was ratified, and
WHEREAS, Management and Confidential 2005 salary adjustments were already
included in 2006 fiscal targets, and
WHEREAS,
the 2005 Management and Confidential salaries were increased, and
WHEREAS,
the bargaining agreement between Tompkins County and the Blue Collar Union
for the years 2005, 2006, and 2007, was ratified, now therefore be it
RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Budget and Capital Committee, That effective
March 22, 2006, the departmental accounts listed on the attached departmental
summary document for fiscal year 2006 will be adjusted from the following
revenue accounts:
REVENUE:
General Fund Balance, Highway Fund Balance, Airport Fund Balance, Solid
Waste Fund Balance, Workforce Development Fund Balance
RESOLVED,
further, That the Department’s Fiscal Targets in preparation for the 2007
budget have been increased by the net salary and fringe adjustments as
reflected in the attached departmental summary except for positions designated
as onetime.
SEQR ACTION:
TYPE II-20
* * * * *
* * * * *
*The document showing salary adjustments is located at the end of these minutes.
Budget Training - Account Breakdown
Ms. Jayne continued the tutorial on the budget process, explaining the way accounts are broken down and numbered. Mr. Koplinka-Loehr recalled the 1992 budget process and how the Legislature (Board of Representatives) got to a point where it needed to reduce the budget but couldn't identify a specific area; therefore, imposed an across-the-board reduction to all departmental and agency budgets. Following that action, an advisory committee was established which recommended the County move to a program-based budgeting process.
Department of Probation and Community Justice
RESOLUTION NO. -- INCREASE IN HOURS - MICROCOMPUTER SPECIALIST - PROBATION AND COMMUNITY JUSTICE
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
Department of Probation and Community Justice's Microcomputer Specialist
is required to provide training and assistance to staff with technology
issues, including examination of certain client's computers for compliance
with probation conditions for the Department of Probation and Community
Justice, and
WHEREAS,
the duties and responsibilities of this Microcomputer Specialist position
are such that they can only be efficiently accomplished in a forty-hour
workweek, now therefore be it
RESOLVED,
on the recommendation of the Public Safety and Budget and Capital Committees,
that one position of Microcomputer Specialist - Probation and Community
Justice (638/12) competitive class be hereby increased from 35 to 40 hours
per week effective February 13, 2006,
RESOLVED,
further, That no additional County funding is necessary at this time.
Explanation:
In 2005, as part of our rollover plan, we received permission to fill our
Microcomputer Specialist position at 40 hours per week. This position
has not been filled in several years due to the tight budget constraints.
Personnel recruited and provided a certified list which also listed the
position as 40
hours.
The position was budgeted, offered, and filled at 40 hours effective 2/13/2006.
Unfortunately, despite our all believing this position was 40 hours, it
has just been discovered that the position was actually 35 hours.
The attached draft resolution is to correct that error.
_________________
20-Year Capital Plan
The Committee reviewed the draft document submitted by Mr. Marx for discussion. Mr. Koplinka-Loehr explained that the document contains a list of potential measures of fiscal capacity and indebtedness.
Mr. Squires explained the legal limits for debt and stated 1.5% of the 5-year assessed valuation is what is considered to be a maximum debt limit ($87-88 million). He recalled the County's debt history and said the County started increasing its debt in 1992 with Solid Waste programs. Other contributors have been the Human Services Building, Airport, and Tompkins Cortland Community College projects. He said Tompkins County's assessed values have gone up dramatically over the last five years. Before that time they were going up only by minimal amounts. He noted Cortland County and the City of Ithaca are nearing their debt limit. He also said one area that needs to be looked at is how much does the County want to devote to servicing debt out of its General Fund operations. He said flags are raised when this amount reaches ten percent. He said this also creates a problem because each incremental level of debt increases the pressure on developing a budget. At the present time 4% of the County's expenditures is on capital projects.
It was noted that the Public Safety Communications project is a large project that has a significant impact on he annual debt service. Mr. Squires said the County will be paying $2 million annually for this project for the next ten years. He also noted the cost of the project will be $85,000 per million.
Ms. Mackesey said she would like to see consideration given to national trends to be factored into fiscal capacity measures as she would expect some things to have an impact on a long-range plan.
Mr. Koplinka-Loehr asked what kind of indexes or measures bond raters use. Mr. Squires said typically per capita debt is used. However, Tompkins County has many school districts carrying significant debt and a high number of college students which distort that number. He spoke of existing debt service obligations and said we know going forward when certain debts are going to retire.
Mr. Sigler asked if the County were to receive Federal or State money for a project such as the Public Safety Communications System, could it use the funds to reduce debt in another way that would provide a greater savings to the County. Mr. Squires said federal and state funds are very restrictive in how they can be used; therefore, funds could not go towards another purpose.
Mr. Koplinka-Loehr said Mr. Whicher, Mr. Marx, and Mr. Squires will bring a recommendation to the next meeting of this Committee for fiscal capacity measures.
Mr. Marx suggested selecting three to four measures that can be tracked over a period of time. He said then a picture can be developed so that a projection can be made as to where the County is going to be at a point in the future. This provides a planning tool by which to project capacity for capital projects. He said the Facilities and Infrastructure Committee will be looking at major projects that are on the table and will be making recommendations on a prioritized order.
Mr. Sigler said he thinks that interest rates are going to continue to go up and thinks it would be a good idea to come up with a savings plan for future capital projects. He believes it would make projects easier to justify to the taxpayers. Mr. Koplinka-Loehr said that how to best allocate any surplus resources was a topic of a public forum about four years ago that received mixed results from the public.
Other areas mentioned were maintaining the level of spending on capital, for instance, when there are dips in spending, to continue paying into a capital reserve, and/or increasing the Fund Balance
Mr. Marx said most of the analysis has been on property tax base up to this point because it is more stable and predictable and is fairly safe to use to predict in the long term as opposed to the sales tax. He also said this can be used to identify a value limit of debt - for both a minimum and maximum amount of debt. A draft plan, which he intends to present a draft in April, will also contain a schedule for updates.
Ms. Mackesey said she has some trouble making a recommendation on a 20-year plan for capital projects without having a similar plan for programs. Mr. Marx responded that although Ms. Mackesey has made a good point, the Capital Program does take into account program-related capital needs.
Adjournment
The meeting
adjourned at 4:50 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted by Michelle Pottorff, TC Legislature Office