Mr. Joseph called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m.

Changes to the Agenda

Mr. Penniman said he would like to discuss clarifying the rollover policy and an issue that came up at a recent program committee meeting.

Approval of Minutes of May 2, 2000

It was MOVED by Mr. Todd, seconded by Mr. Penniman, and unanimously adopted by voice vote by members present, to approve the minutes of May 2, 2000 as submitted. MINUTES APPROVED.

Chair's Report

Mr. Joseph had no report.

County Administrator's Report

Mr. Erb reported that NYSAC will be holding a one-day seminar on the New York State Tobacco Trust Program which is the securitization opportunity. This will take place in Syracuse on May 23 at 10 a.m. Mr. Erb said he anticipates the deadline for Counties to indicate their interest in joining this to be moved to later in July.

Wendy Skinner announced forums to discuss the tobacco settlement proceeds will be held on May 24^th from 5:30 - 7 p.m. at the Women's Community Building and on June 12^th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Human Services Building.

Finance Director's Report

Mr. Squires distributed an updated financial report for the first quarter of 2000. He said DSS programs seem to be a little higher than normal in the mandate area but he has not had time to review this. He said the auditors will attend the next Committee meeting to discuss the audit. He said one of the surprises contained in the audit was TCAT which is a joint venture between Tompkins County, Cornell University, and the City of Ithaca. He reported there may be an issue because the TCAT budget experienced an operating budget deficit in 1999. He noted that the agreement states that all the funding partners are equally responsible for any losses. Mr. Squires he does not yet have all of the information; therefore, cannot yet form an opinion on this.

Mr. Proto asked if this means that one of the funding partners has not made their contribution. Mr. Squires said he does not think so; however, he does not yet have any of the details. He said an accounting firm was hired to do an audit of TCAT because the Board of Directors wanted to get the books brought up-to-date. He said this may reveal some of the cash flow concerns that have been raised over the last two years.

Deputy County Administrator's Report

Mr. Proto said a couple of meetings ago an issue was raised that the State was imposing new software regulations on the Health and Mental Health Departments and that this will result in an expense of approximately $300,000. He asked Ms. West what the status of this is. Ms. West said Bart Deluca, Commissioner of Mental Health, has been working on this issue with Brenda Grinnell-Crosby, Public Health Administrator, to see how much money the County will actually need to spend. Ms. West said they are still considering this as a capital program request; however, detailed information is not available at this time.

The following resolution was MOVED by Mr. Proto, seconded by Mr. Penniman:

Mr. Proto asked if there is any way to tell how Tompkins County ranks against state and federal figures and if the program has been relatively effective. Mr. Joseph said when he asked this question he was told that this is a program where it is very hard to obtain success indicators. Mr. Erb said he would forward this question to Sue Robinson and Bill Benjamin in Criminal Justice.

A voice vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Ayes - 4, Noes - 0, Excused - 1 (Davis). MOTION CARRIED.
RESOLUTION NO. - APPROPRIATION FROM CONTINGENT FUND - DOORS (DOMESTIC OFFENSE OFFENDER REHABILITATION SERVICES) PROGRAM - TST BOCES

WHEREAS, Tompkins County currently has a contract with Tompkins Seneca Tioga (TST) BOCES to provide education classes for domestic violence offenders (DOORS Program), said contract being in the amount of $31,275 which includes providing for two classes for the calendar year 2000, and

WHEREAS, the intention of the program is to avoid, where possible, waiting lists for this population group before they are able to commence enrollment in classes, and

WHEREAS, the DOORS, program currently has a list of nine domestic violence perpetrators waiting to start a class and there being no available class to enroll them, and

WHEREAS, the Public Safety Committee also desires to avoid waiting lists for this population, and

WHEREAS, the additional amount of $1, 750 will eliminate this waiting list by allowing the program to commence another class from June 1 through December 21, 2000 instead of waiting until the next budget period, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Public Safety and Budget and Fiscal Policy Committees, That the County appropriate $1750 from the Contingency Fund to the TST BOCES Contract via the Criminal Justice Services Office and the County Administrator or his designee is directed to execute a modification of the existing contract with TST BOCES to incorporate the new dollar amount and class start-up expectation

FROM: Contingency Fund 1990.44400 $1,750
TO: Administration Criminal Justice Services 6314.54400 Program Expense $1,750

TOTAL $1,750
SEQR ACTION: TYPE II-2O

It was MOVED by Mr. Penniman, seconded by Mr. Proto, and unanimously adopted by voice vote by members present, to approve the following resolution and submit to the full Board:

RESOLUTION NO. - APPROPRIATION FROM CONTINGENT FUND - CAYUGA LAKE WATERSHED INTERMUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION MUNICIPAL DUES

WHEREAS, the Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization's mission is to create, modify, and implement a watershed management plan to allow local governments within the watershed to work together for the purposes of accessing dollars, cost savings, cost sharing, and efficiency of activities around municipalities, and

WHEREAS, this plan when completed will prioritize water quality problems and solutions, and

WHEREAS, the Intermunicipal Organization will provide direction for the regional planning boards and other staff, and oversee the entire project, and

WHEREAS, Tompkins County has formally participated in the Organization since December 15, 1998, and

WHEREAS, the Government Operations Committee recommends in the future that this expense be included in the Planning Department's budget, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Government Operations, Planning and Intermunicipal Coordination and Budget and Fiscal Policy Committees, That the County is authorized to become a member of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization,

RESOLVED, further, That the following budget appropriation for Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization Municipal Dues be made:

From: A1990.54400 Contingent Fund $ 900

To: 1010.54416 Membership Dues $ 900

SEQR ACTION: TYPE II-20

Ms. Davis arrived at 9:28 a.m.

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

RESOLUTION NO. - CREATION OF INTERNSHIP POSITIONS AND CONTINGENT FUND APPROPRIATION - PERSONNEL

WHEREAS, the Board of Representatives approved $50,000 in the 2000 Contingent Fund relative to the Personnel Department's internship program, and

WHEREAS, the broad intent of this program is to provide a funding source for departments who have identified program needs and can utilize eligible internship candidates under this program to perform research and special projects, and

WHEREAS, the County is committed to providing meaningful, challenging hands-on, in-depth work experience for eligible internship candidates in a variety of disciplines related to local, regional, state and federal government operations,

WHEREAS, this new program will also provide another avenue for workforce development and enhance and broaden the opportunities for County department to utilize the skills and abilities of eligible candidates to provide a valuable service to the taxpayers of the County, be it therefore

RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Government Operations and Budget and Fiscal Policy Committees, That fifteen positions of Project Assistant, 76/049, are hereby created in the Personnel Department effective immediately (pending jurisdictional classification to the non-competitive class) with an hourly range of pay between $7.00 and $10.00 per hour, no benefits and a work week not to exceed 35 hours, and

RESOLVED, further, That the Director of Finance be authorized and directed to make the following appropriation from the Contingent Fund for this purpose:

FROM: A1990.54400 Contingent Fund $ 50,000

TO: A1430.51000 Regular Pay $ 50,000
SEQR ACTION:

The following resolution was MOVED by Mr. Penniman, seconded by Mr. Joseph:

RESOLUTION NO. - APPROPRIATION OF GENERAL FUNDS FOR 2000 CAPITAL PROGRAM – SOLAR PANEL ARRAY – PUBLIC LIBRARY

Mr. Squires said although the Board approved this expense at that last May 2 Board meeting, the Board did not allocate funding. Mr. Joseph suggested an alternative way to pay for this is to bond. Mr. Squires said he recommends that this be paid for out of current funds. He said it would cost $40,000-$50,000 per year to bond this for 20 years.

Mr. Penniman said he would prefer to bond this amount because he would like to see future taxpayers pay for this because they are the ones who will experience the future savings.

Following discussion, the mover and seconder each withdrew their motion.

It was MOVED by Mr. Penniman, seconded by Ms. Davis, to authorize the Finance Director to bond for this purpose. Mr. Proto does not support bonding for this when the future savings are unknown. He feels it would be wiser to pay for this now and see how much savings is generated.

A voice vote on the motion resulted as follows: Ayes - 3, Noes - 2 (Proto and Todd). MOTION CARRIED. Ms. West will prepare a resolution to this effect and submit for placement on the full Board agenda.

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

RESOLUTION NO. - REALLOCATION OF SPACE COSTS AND FISCAL TARGET ADJUSTMENTS FOR 2001 – COUNTY ROAD AND BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS

WHEREAS, Resolution 24 of 1998 authorized the reallocation of space costs for departments no longer directly eligible for non-property tax revenue to be centralized in the Buildings and Grounds budget, and

WHEREAS, at that time, the expenses for utilities in the Bostwick Road facility continued to be budgeted in the Highway Budget, and

WHEREAS, there is no reimbursement for these expenses through funds other than property tax revenue, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Facilities and Infrastructure, and Budget and Fiscal Policy Committees, That the 2001 Fiscal Target for Roads and Bridges, Budgeting Unit 5000 be reduced by $ 69,091 and the Fiscal Target for Utilities, Taxes, Insurance & Rent, Budgeting Unit 4705 be increased by same.
SEQR ACTION: TYPE II-20

The following resolution was MOVED by Mr. Todd, seconded by Mr. Proto:

RESOLUTION NO. - AUTHORIZATION FOR PROGRAM RECONFIGURATION -- 2001 BUDGET – COUNTY ROAD

Mr. Todd said the intent of this resolution was to not have the summer road program affected by overruns in the snow removal budget. A differently-worded resolution was presented at the last Facilities and Infrastructure Committee meeting; however, the Committee asked that it be rewritten to accurately reflect the intent of the resolution.

Mr. Joseph said this establishes a separate budgeting unit, which means money cannot be moved without the Board's permission. Any money remaining in the snow removal budget will go into the highway fund balance.

Mr. Penniman asked if it would make sense to have a separate fund balance for snow removal; however, he was told this money would already be isolated.

Mr. Todd asked Ms. West to attend the Facilities and Infrastructure Committee meeting next week and explain how this resolution was written.

A voice vote resulted as follows: Ayes - 5, Noes - 0. MOTION CARRIED.

WHEREAS, Tompkins County is obligated to remove snow and ice on County Roads in order to make them safe for winter travel for emergency services personnel and the general population, and

WHEREAS, the cost of services related to snow removal within the County Road Budget can radically fluctuate from one season to the next making adequate fiscal resources to meet the needs of the summer road improvement program at annual risk, and

WHEREAS, a severe winter with continual precipitation can place an excessive demand on our snow removal resources, and

WHEREAS, the County is obligated to reimburse towns for their maintenance of County roads whereby the County has minimal influence over the local costs of materials, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Facilities & Infrastructure, and Budget & Fiscal Policy Committees, That materials and contractual obligations related to snow and ice removal be established as a separate Budgeting Unit #5010 entitled Snow Removal, and

RESOLVED, further, That Program #5000 be re-titled Maintenance, & Traffic Control, and

RESOLVED, further, That the 2001 Fiscal Target for the Budgeting Unit that includes County Road Program #5000, Maintenance & Traffic Control, and Program #5005, Bridges, be reduced by $400,986, and

RESOLVED, further, That the 2001 Fiscal Target for the Budgeting Unit #5010 Snow Removal be increased by $400,986.
SEQR ACTION: TYPE II-20

The following resolution was MOVED by Mr. Penniman, seconded by Mr. Proto:

RESOLUTION NO. - APPROPRIATION FROM COUNTY ROAD AND HIGHWAY MACHINERY FUND
BALANCE - 1999 SURPLUS FUNDS

Mr. Todd said the Highway Machinery Fund Balance contains operating costs as well as machinery costs.

It was stated that an excess in the snow removal account cannot be predicted. It is not a matter of good management but luck.

Mr. Squires cautioned that there may be a shortfall in the Department due to bringing this amount down to a bare minimum. He said the fund balance may erode if revenues are lower than expected

A voice vote resulted as follows: Ayes - 5, Noes - 0. MOTION CARRIED.

WHEREAS, the County Road and Highway Machinery divisions have been certified by the Director of Finance to have unspent appropriations and excess revenues from 1999 resulting in a surplus on the County's books as of December 31, 1999, and

WHEREAS, pursuant to County Fiscal Policy, surplus funds may be requested for use in the current or following year budget, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Facilities and Infrastructure and Budget and Fiscal Policy Committees, That the following transactions are approved:

BUDGET APPROPRIATION:

From: County Road Fund Balance D599.0000       $54,847

Highway Machinery Fund Balance DM599.0000     6,570
                                                                                    $61,417

TO: Highway Materials D5110.54312                  $ 54,847

Auto Supplies (Machinery) DM5130.54306             6,570
                                                                                  $61,417
SEQR ACTION: TYPE II-20

RESOLUTION NO. - ESTABLISHING 2001 FRINGE BENEFITS PAYMENT RATE

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

In response to Mr. Proto's question whether the Health Benefits Committee has come up with anything that may influence this, Mr. Joseph said he does not think anything that the Committee has done will affect what the County sets the fringe rate at.

RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Budget and Fiscal Policy Committee, That the fringe benefits payment rate for 2001, which amount shall be charged to all County departments, shall be 25 percent.
SEQR ACTION: TYPE II-20

RESOLUTION NO. - ESTABLISHMENT OF GUIDELINES AND FISCAL TARGETS FOR ALL COUNTY BUDGETING UNITS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE 2001 BUDGET

The following resolution was MOVED by Mr. Penniman and seconded by Ms. Davis:

Mr. Penniman asked Ms. West what the property tax impact would be by each percent of reducing targets. Ms. West said it would be approximately one and half percent. Mr. Todd brought up the Intermunicipal Resource Sharing Committee and recent discussions that have taken place. Mr. Joseph said sharing by municipalities is about sharing, not competing with each other to bring in development. He views sharing sales tax as taking money from one pocket and putting it into another.

A voice vote on the resolution resulted as follows: Ayes - 5, Noes - 0. MOTION CARRIED.

WHEREAS, the Tompkins County Fiscal Policy specifies that a fiscal target is the maximum amount of general revenue spending authority that a department head or program director may request without initiating an Over-Target Request, and changes in fiscal targets should be communicated to department heads and program directors as timely as possible in order for them to submit their draft Over-Target Requests by June 26, 2000 and final budget requests by July 14, 2000, and

WHEREAS, the Board of Representatives wishes to establish targets for departments and agencies in preparing 2001 budget requests, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Budget and Fiscal Policy Committee, That fiscal targets for all budgeting units, excluding Tompkins-Cortland Community College, for preparation of the 2001 budget are hereby established as follows:

Discussion - Rollover Policy

Mr. Penniman said there have been cases where departments have had rollover monies available for reasons he is not sure he can support. He gave an example of a department that had budgeted $40,000 for a service and it ended up costing only $30,000. He said one could argue that it was the result of good management but asked the questions where do you draw the line in determining what good management practices are worth rewarding with rollover. Mr. Penniman said he is not prepared to make any proposal to amend the policy until he reviews it. A copy of the Fiscal Policy will be distributed to Mr. Penniman. Mr. Joseph advised Mr. Penniman that he always has the opportunity to vote against any rollover request he views as a windfall in revenue.

Mr. Todd said there is some rollover money that he feels is generated by good management and there is some that is generated that is not all related to management. A good example is the snow removal funds for the Highway budget. If we experience a mild winter, there will be a surplus of funds available in that account, and this has nothing to do with management.

Ms. Davis said she is very leery of having to determine what is and what is not the result of a windfall although she agrees with Mr. Todd about the snow removal budget. She said she does not want to tamper with the policy because she feels it is good fiscal management to let departments know that if they save money through good management they will not be penalized.

Mr. Joseph agreed with Ms. Davis' comments and noted there were other reasons for the policy other than to reward good management. He said regardless of the source of rollover funds, it is generally spent on something that would become an OTR if rollover was not available.

The following resolution was MOVED by Ms. Davis and seconded by Mr. Penniman. After a brief discussion it was determined that this resolution was not scheduled to come before this Committee until the June 1^st meeting. Therefore, it was MOVED by Mr. Proto, seconded by Mr. Todd, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to postpone this resolution to the June 1, 2000 Committee meeting.

RESOLUTION NO. - BUDGET ADJUSTMENT AND APPROPRIATION OF UNSPENT GENERAL FUNDS FROM 1999 TO VARIOUS ACCOUNTS

TC3

Carl Haynes, TC3 President, reported the College is moving through the budget process and provided an update on this years budget and how next years budget is beginning to look. He said full details will be presented at the May 31^st meeting at TC3.

He reported this year's budget is going well and their enrollment projections exceed budget estimates. They are 65-75 FTE's over budget so they will be asking the Board to approve a modified 1999-2000 budget. This will have no impact on Tompkins County's contribution but will allow them to use more tuition money.

Mr. Haynes reported on next year's budget and said although there is a State budget in place, it isn't particularly generous to community colleges. He said they received $125 per fte student increase in base aid that was slightly under half of what the SUNY trustees were asking for. They were trying to get the State funding up to the one-third level. This increase is basically a maintenance of effort. Mr. Haynes said as a result of this they will be requesting permission to increase tuition. The TC3 Board of Trustees will be discussing this at their June meeting. He noted that in the past four years there have been no tuition increase, in fact, one year there was a decrease. He said the Tompkins County's contribution will remain about the same.

Mr. Haynes reported that the proposed budget includes two new faculty positions; one for the Institution of Research and the other for the web-based media program.

Mr. Proto asked how enrollment at the TC3 compares to other community colleges. Mr. Haynes said last year they finished with a six- percent increase in enrollment and this year they expect a three- percent increase. Next year's budget is based on a three percent increase as well. He stated that if the projections hold true they will break a record. He reported the Global Connections program is doing well and is part of the enrollment increase. The housing project is also doing very well. He said faculty increases are directly related to enrollment growth.

Mr. Haynes reported on health insurance and said that continues to be an area of concern, but noted the contract that was negotiated with the unions has helped. He said last year's rebate was put into a reserve so that if rates go up this will help offset that.

Mr. Penniman asked if there are some academic areas where there are strong areas of growth. Mr. Haynes said the new computer forensics program is doing quite well. He said in the next two years there will be a need for 100,000 teachers, therefore, this is going to be an important area. Next year's programs will include a chemical dependency program in response to a new certification requirement. They will also be partnering with BOCES for a teacher's training for multimedia. Next year they will have programs in sports management, GIS, and will be partnering with the East Hill Flying Club for an aviation flying program.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 11:20 a.m.

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