Present:  P. Penniman, T. Todd, L. McBean, R. Booth, M. Robertson
Board Members:   D. Winch, T. Joseph
Staff: D. Chase, D. Squires, S. Whicher, K. Smithers, I. Stein, W. Skinner, M. Reynolds, T. Alpert, J. Hughes, B. Grinnell-Crosby, A. Valenti, M. Dolan

Called to Order

 Mr. Penniman called the meeting to order at 2:07 p.m.

Approval of Minutes of March 26, 2002

 It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Mr. Todd, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to approve the minutes of March 26, 2002 as submitted.  MINUTES APPROVED.

Chair's Report

 Mr. Penniman had no report.

Finance Director's Report

 Mr. Squires reported he has been busy satisfying the auditor's inquiries.  He expects them to be conducting the audit for approximately one more week.

County Administrator's Report

 Mr. Whicher reported at the Health and Human Services Committee meeting this morning it was confirmed by the Department of Social Services that Medicaid will be underfunded by $1.2 to $1.5 million.  In addition to that, NYSAC has reported the New York State Legislature is considering another bill in the human services area to increase salaries.  He said this bill basically will run parallel to the one given downstate by Govenor Pataki.   It is estimated the cost of this will be $100 million; 50 percent will be paid by the State and 50 percent will be local share.  Mr. Whicher expects to have a dollar amount soon on the impact this will have on Tompkins County.    He also reported budget scenarios are beginning to arrive in his office and he has begun to review them.

Deputy County Administrator's Report

 Mrs. Smithers said it is her understanding that Governor Pataki will sign a bill today so that the recission on sales tax on clothing in the City will commence June 1st.

 She said she has prepared a rollover summary along with an application for departments to submit to Administration.  She distributed a document entitled 2001 Certified Rollover - For use in 2002/2003 Budgets.  She said there was one-time money that was approved in the 2001 budget which resulted in no target increases.   She said some of these departments that received one-time money in the 2001 budget ended up having rollover money at the end of the year.   In the spreadsheet she identified the amount of non-target OTR's and created a column showing what each department's eligible funds would be if this amount was deducted from the total rollover available from 2001.   The other document she distributed illustrates cumulative data of rollover, fiscal target information, non-target increases, and adopted budgets for the past four years for departments and agencies.  Mrs. Smithers said she needs direction from the Committee on what process will be used for rollover funds.

 Mr. Joseph said another suggestion that is being made by some departments is that they can cut a program within their 2003 budget but they would have rollover available to keep the program going for the remainder of this year.  Part of the argument for this is that it would allow department to phase out the function and provide an opportunity to employees to transfer to another position.  Mr. Joseph said this would be a tool departments could use in helping the Board achieve its goal of reducing permanent spending in the 2003 budget.

 Ms. Robertson said she would like to have a general idea of what percentage each department's available rollover is of their total budget.  Mr. Whicher said this information can be retrieved from the documents that have been distributed; however, a quick calculation could be made if she preferred.

RESOLUTION NO.     - IMPLEMENTATION OF BUDGET RESTRICTIONS, AND ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES FOR 2002 AND
                                        CREATION OF FISCAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

MOVED by Mr. Penniman, seconded by Ms. Robertson. Mr. Penniman said an argument he has heard in favor of this is that the creation of this would allow all committee chairs to get involved; an opposing argument is that the creation of this will only create additional work for the Board.  Mr. Whicher said department heads feel this would allow for a more balanced and consistent review as opposed to the existing system.  The strong sentiment from department heads was that if a review process is created, that it be equal across-the-board.

There was a lengthy discussion about what the membership of this Committee should be.  Various suggestions were made that included:  a three-member committee, seven-member committee that includes each program committee chair, eight-member committee, five-member committee, turning this function over the Budget and Capital Committee, and having the Board Chair a member. Mr. Whicher stated department heads feel this should not be a three-member committee.

Ms. Robertson said she feels Mr. Joseph should chair this committee and it should be either an eight-member committee (each program committee chair) or a three-person committee.  She does not feel it should be Budget and Capital Committee.

Mr. Booth said he does not feel it is critical to have all program committee chairs as members of this.  He feels in order to operate effectively the Chair of the Board needs to be a member.  He also feels this should be a small, bipartisan Committee that has the authority to make decisions rather than recommend to the Board.

Ms. McBean asked for clarification on what the duties of this Committee would be.   Mr. Joseph said at this point, the only responsibility the Committee would have would be to approve the filling of positions.  He said there may be a time when an additional function is assigned to the Committee.

David Chase, President of the CSEA, spoke in support of a seven or eight-member committee.  He said if this was only a three-member committee, it would be unlikely members would have knowledge it would need to have in order to make decisions.

Mr. Winch said he would expect that any time a position was being discussed the department head and an Administration representative would be present in order to provide information to the Committee.  Mr. Winch said he would support a five-member committee.

Mr. Penniman concluded the discussion, saying the question before this Committee is whether or not the Committee should be created; it is up to the Chair of the Board to decide on the membership.

It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Ms. Robertson, to add the following language to the second Resolved:  "fill vacancies, expand hours of existing positions, and reclassify positions".

Mr. Booth said personnel costs are a huge cost to the County and he feels the Committee should be seeing all aspects of changing County positions.

Ms. Dolan spoke of the experience of the 2001 budget situation and a call to departments by the Board to reduce spending and to return a significant amount of money to the County; she said that effort was effective and she feels it will be effective once again.   She asked that the Board leave the administrative ability to department heads to perform reclassifications because it is an effective tool for department heads to manage their departmental budgets in difficult situations.  She believes to impose a requirement that committee approval be obtained before a department can reclassify a position would only result in a roadblock to a department effectively managing its budget.

Mr. Whicher spoke in support of providing departments with tools they feel would be useful in managing their departments in this difficult fiscal time.  He said the Board could always institute tighter controls at a later time if necessary.

A voice vote on the amendment resulted as follows:  Ayes - 2 (Booth and Todd); Noes - 3 (McBean, Robertson, and Penniman).  MOTION FAILED.

A voice vote on the original resolution with language suggestions being accepted as friendly resulted as follows:  Ayes - 5, Noes - 0.  MOTION CARRIED.

WHEREAS, Tompkins County is experiencing increasing shortfalls in State and Federal Aid, caseload increases in mandated services and a significant reduction in available surplus funds, and
WHEREAS, it is evident that without procedures for an immediate reduction in spending in the current and subsequent year’s budgets the County will face a rise in property tax rates to an unacceptable level, now therefore be it
RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Budget and Capital Committee, That Department and Agency Heads are requested to anticipate the impending fiscal situation and take whatever steps they can to assist in recommendations related to their specific program areas,
RESOLVED, further, That for the year 2002 there shall be a Fiscal Management Committee of the Board, members to be appointed by the Chair of the Board,
RESOLVED, further, That effective immediately, authorization by the Fiscal Management Committee is required in order to fill vacancies,
RESOLVED, further, That the use of certified available surplus funds continue to be subject to review and approval by the County Administrator, program committee, Budget and Capital Committee, and Board of Representatives,
RESOLVED, further, That for the year 2002 transfers to and from Personnel lines shall be subject to review and approval by both the Director of Finance and the County Administrator.
SEQR ACTION:  TYPE II-20

Budget Calendar and Process

 Mrs. Smithers reviewed the timeline for the 2003 budget process.

 Mr. Penniman spoke of the budget reductions departments have been asked to present to the Board.  Mr. Whicher said by the middle of May program committees will have seen proposed program cuts for 2002.  Mr. Joseph said there needs to be discussion about how program committees of the Board and the Budget and Capital Committee will deal with these budget scenarios.    Mr. Penniman said he does not feel it is logistically possible to perform an extensive review of the 2002 cuts.  He said this either needs to be integrated into the full 2003 budget process or the Board needs to give program committees substantial authority during this phase with the understanding that the full Board would be responding a few months later during the 2003 budget process.

 Ms. Dolan said she cannot overstate the lack of clarity that exists among departments despite the best efforts of many people.  She said it was her belief that department heads were to present a scenario to County Administration to describe what would happen if they had to effect a ten percent reduction in 2002 and an additional ten percent reduction in expenses for 2003.  She said she felt it was incumbent on her as a manager to create as much of that reduction in 2002, but that the fuller decision-making would take place during the 2003 budget process.

 Mr. Joseph said the Budget and Capital Committee is tackling with the issue of how to deal with the scenarios departments are developing.   He said he expects there to be a lack of clarity among the departments because the Board is not yet clear on the direction it will take.   He said the Board now needs to decide how it will handle the information that is being collected by the County Administrator.

 The Committee briefly discussed how to handle funds that would be returned by departments in 2002.  It was the consensus of the committee that this would basically be a bookkeeping issue and that it could be resolved at a later date.

 The subject of rollover funds was raised and whether departments would be allowed to keep rollover funds to transition into their 2003 budgets.   Ms. Stein said the County's rollover policy was hard fought for and mixing it up with a desire to control a one-time situation will only "open a can of worms".

 Mr. Penniman said he agrees with the comment that was made that targets need to be established as early as possible.   He said this Committee needs to take a look at the overall budget situation as soon as possible and make a decision on establishing targets and a budget calendar for the 2003 budget.  Mr. Penniman said he would prefer that this be done at the next meeting.

 Ms. Robertson raised the issue of reviewing capital projects and said she thinks its very important that this Committee begin looking at this area of the budget.

 There was discussion about establishing fiscal targets.  Mr. Joseph he has heard feedback that the Board should keep the current budget process in place because it was initially designed to get through a tough year.  He said the result of the Board passing a twenty percent budget reduction will not produce more over target requests, but larger ones.

 No action was taken by the Committee.   Mr. Penniman said the Committee would continue discussing this at the next meeting.

RESOLUTION NO. 73 - APPROPRIATION FROM CONTINGENT FUND – CITY OF
    ITHACA – MUNICIPAL SALES TAX AGREEMENT

 MOVED by Mr. Penniman, seconded by Mr. Booth, and unanimously adopted by voice vote to approve the following resolution and submit to the full Board:

 WHEREAS, Resolution No. 87 of 1993, gave authorization for the County to enter into an agreement with the City of Ithaca for the distribution of sales tax proceeds, and
 WHEREAS, the County pays for selected services provided by the City in an amount that increases or decreases yearly based on the percentage change in actual sales tax collected in the City of Ithaca, and,
 WHEREAS, actual collections within the City of Ithaca increased by 2.2835 percent in 2001, and
 WHEREAS, adjustments necessary to pay the various agencies requires both a budget transfer and an appropriation from the Contingent Fund, now therefore be it
 RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Budget and Capital Committee, That the Director of Finance be authorized to make the following transfers and budget appropriation:

BUDGET TRANSFER:   Budget  2002 Due  Available from Transfer
MH – Recr. Mainstream      A4326.54400 $79,612      $78,673  $     939
S/Tax Reserve                     A6902.54666        1,029          -0-       1,029

BUDGET APPROPRIATION:         Available from Approp.
Contingent Fund Appropriation A1990.54400      $22,874

Total Available – Transfer Funds and Contingent Fund Appropriation  $24,842

Transfer / Appropriate To:                                                               Budget                                   2002 Due                                 Amount:
CDRC A6313.54400                                                                     $  15,385                              $ 15,736                                  $     351
OAR A6315.54400                                                                              4,461                                  4,563                                         102
HSC Agencies A6305.54400                                                           177,224                               181,271                                       4,047
Yth. – Recr. Mainstream A7028.54666                                               89,541                                93,630                                       4,089
City of Ithaca – Residual A6901.54666                                             274,833                              290,133                                     15,300
Towns & Villages – A6950.54666                                                      33,626                                34,579                           Est.         953
                                                                                                                                                                                                     $24,842
SEQR ACTION:  TYPE  II-20

Adjournment

 The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.