Present:   P. Penniman, D. Booth, Todd, K. Herrera
Excused:  L. McBean
Board Members in attendance:  B. Blanchard, D. Kiefer, T. Joseph
Staff: W. Skinner, S. Whicher, G. Potter, P. Messmer, J. Lampman, R Nicholas
Guests:  B. Steincamp and Dan Higgins, News Reporters
 

Called to Order

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

Addition to the Agenda

 A discussion on the Department of Transportation relocation project was added to the agenda.

Approval of Minutes

 It was MOVED by Ms. Robertson, seconded by Mr. Todd, to approve the minutes of June 18, June 25, and July 9, 2002.

 It was MOVED by Ms. Robertson, seconded by Mr. Todd, to amend the June 25 minutes by adding the following language submitted by Ms. Robertson:

 "Since 2003 budget requests for capital programs are not due for submittal until July 5th, the Committee's discussion was purely speculative. It was felt by some members that it was unlikely that there would be any new construction for the Public Safety Building in 2003. Public Safety renovations for the administration side was deferred to 2004; Public Safety Building Jail expansion was put off until 2004, with $200,000 in 2003 for planning and design. One scenario brought forward was to increase the Public Safety Communications System line estimated local share from $4 million to $7,390,000; increase in debt service from $451,250 to $840,000. Overall, putting these costs off until 2004 resulted in a reduction in the property tax rate increase by 6.5%."

 Mr. Penniman said he had an initial concern that the last sentence relating to tax rates is extremely speculative and not appropriate to be included in the minutes; however, Board members are typically allowed to submit changes to the minutes.   Mr. Booth did not feel the amendment was appropriate because there has not been any decision made on the property tax rate.

 A voice vote on the amendment resulted as follows: Ayes - 3  (Penniman, Robertson, and Todd); Noes - 1 (Booth); Excused - 1 (McBean).   A voice vote on the minutes as amended resulted as follows:  Ayes - 4, Noes - 0, Excused - 1 (McBean).  MINUTES APPROVED.

Report from the Chair

 Mr. Penniman said the Committee should have received a memorandum he sent to department heads about where the County is in the budget process.   He said Board members are being asked to convey concerns and questions about the budget through committee chairs.  Committee chairs will act as a collector of those questions and convey them to department heads in time for budget reviews in September.  He said he is hoping to schedule a working session in August with committee chairs to talk about budget review and sort through process issues.

Report from the County Administrator

 Mr. Whicher reported the budget books are being produced a month earlier this year; Board members should receive them by the beginning of next week.   He said he has taken a look at all over target requests and they will take a lot of work.  This year he will be looking at mandated service costs and tax rate because of the inordinate amount of over-target requests that would have to be denied.  He said he will be looking at the mandate portion of the budget because there may be an area where a significant modification can be made.  In terms of looking at over-target requests, he will have to look at programs and whether or not they could survive cuts in order to get down to a reasonable tax rate increase.  He said it is entirely possible that the Board may be looking at the elimination or restructuring of departments and programs.

 Mr. Booth asked what a change in mandated services Mr. Whicher may be considering.  Mr. Whicher said there has been a drastic increase in Medicaid charges, and the State has said we can anticipate another 10 to 12 percent increase during the next year.  He said as the data from the Department of Social Services has been examined, it appears there is a change in the way departments, the State, and service entities, particularly OMRDD (Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities) are charging for their services.  Mr. Whicher said they need to find out if this growth will continue at the same rate or whether it is attributable to the way the billing was done; therefore, they will be taking a close look at the financial estimates.

 Mr. Booth asked if Mr. Whicher would be including an estimate in his budget on what the impacts of unemployment would be.   Mr. Whicher said a per capita approach will be taken to this.    He also said he and Chair Joseph will be visiting several work locations to provide an  update on the budget situation and answer questions staff may have.

RESOLUTION NO.  - APPROPRIATION FROM CONTINGENT FUND FOR TERMINAL AND REPLACEMENT PAY AT THE SHERIFF’S
DEPARTMENT

 MOVED by Mr. Todd, seconded by Mr. Booth.   It was stated that a question was raised at the last meeting concerning the process that is used to calculate figures contained in this type of resolution.  Mr. Joseph said he does not want to know how the figures in the resolution were arrived at, but in the future would like to see language that states someone at the administrative level has reviewed these resolutions and has confirmed the calculation.

 A voice vote resulted as follows:  Ayes – 4, Noes- 0, Excused –1 (McBean).  MOTION CARRIED.

 WHEREAS, the Sheriff’s Office had an employee, Lynn Watros, retire effective June 14, 2002, at a cost of $13,759 for terminal pay, and
 WHEREAS, the Sheriff’s Office has employees who were on compensation and unable to perform their duties, and
 WHEREAS, the Fiscal Policy of Tompkins County allows reimbursement from the Contingent Fund for terminal pay and replacement pay for employees who have been out longer than two months, now therefore be it
 RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Public Safety and the Budget and Capital Committees, That the Director of Finance appropriate a total of $13,759 for terminal pay for Lynn Watros, and $52,760 for replacement pay,
 RESOLVED, further, That the money be distributed to the following accounts:

 FROM:   A1990.54440 Contingent Fund  $66,519
 TO: Civil  A3113.51000412 Regular Pay  $21,994
    A3113.58800 Fringe   $  5,718
  Uniform A3113.51000419 Regular Pay  $14,350
    A3113.58800 Fringe   $  5,156
  Corrections A3150.51000406 Regular Pay  $13,898
    A3150.58800 Fringe   $  5,403
SEQR ACTION:  TYPE II-20

RESOLUTION NO.            - AUTHORIZATION FOR PROGRAM RECONFIGURATION FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

 MOVED by Ms. Robertson, seconded by Mr. Booth.   Mr. Potter stated there has been a historical division in the way ITS has functioned on the administrative side.   The way the department functions now does not provide an accurate amount of how they function in the telecommunications side because all employees work on a variety of work and are not dedicated to one primary function.  He said the Department charges a monthly telephone fee to all departments and uses those funds to pay for the system.  He said they will continue to itemize internally but does not see a need to have telecommunications as a separate program area.    A voice vote resulted as follows:  Ayes - 4, Noes - 0, Excused - 1 (McBean).

 WHEREAS, the Information Technology Services Department is divided into two program areas under one Budgeting Unit known as Information Technology, and
 WHEREAS, the current program configuration includes a program known as “Telecommunications” that was created to assist in the acquisition of a telephone system, and
WHEREAS, a telephone system has been established and current telecommunication activities involve multiple staff members in the coordination of telephone service, telephone programming, and maintenance issues, and
WHEREAS, there is no longer any local share for this program as all expenditures for equipment and service are billed to the appropriate County department, as are other Information Technology services, and
WHEREAS, this service is not significantly different from other Information Technology services and there no longer appears to be a practical reason to isolate this as a separate program area, now therefore be it
 RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Information Technology Services Policy and Budget and Capital Program Committees, That Program Number 6105 Telecommunications be eliminated and any appropriations or revenue associated with this service be included in Program 6100 “Information Technology”.
 SEQR ACTION:  TYPE II-20

Capital Project Review

 Ms. Blanchard said at the July 3 Public Works Committee there was an extensive discussion on Public Works and Airport capital projects.   She is in attendance at this meeting to report to the Committee on the outcome of that discussion. Mr. Whicher noted to the Committee that the purpose of this discussion is to review capital projects; no action will be taken.

Ellis Hollow Road

 Ms. Blanchard said the Public Works Committee and the Highway Division are recommending that the Ellis Hollow Road project be delayed for approximately five years.   The Committee discussed whether a little work should be done now, but the consensus was to put the entire project off and meanwhile, explore whether there is any federal funding available.

 Mr. Messmer said last summer the Highway Division performed a spot paving project on Ellis Hollow Road and tried to identify all the rutted areas.  He estimates that work will hold up for five years, although they may need to fix a few spots during that time.  He said due to budget constraints, the Committee would like to preserve the scope of the entire project and move it ahead to the future.

 Ms. Robertson said she thinks this is very good idea.  She travels on the road every day and thinks this is  the right thing to do.

 Ms. Blanchard presented the remaining Public Works and Airport capital projects, along with the recommendations from the Public Works Committee.

Red Mill Road Bridge

 No change.

Ringwood Road Bridge Replacement

 No change.

Newfield Depot Road Bridge Replacement

 No change.

Coddington Road Reconstruction

 Ms. Blanchard said the Committee is recommending that the land acquisition be programmed into 2004 and design costs in 2005.  She said the numbers will remain the same as will the bottom-line cost of the project.  She also said the Transportation Council Policy Committee will be discussing how this project impacts City drainage and the Town of Ithaca's interest in the project.  Ms. Blanchard said the Committee intends to meet with Town representatives to discuss how this project will be advancing.
 

Hanshaw Road

 No change to the project.  An adjustment in the timing of project stages is being recommended.

Station Road

 No change.

Warren Road

 No change.

Airport Projects

 Ms. Blanchard and Robert Nicholas, Airport Manager, briefly reviewed Airport projects; she noted these projects are not funded with local tax dollars.

Building Projects

 There were no recommendations on the building projects since special committees have been created and charged with those specific building projects.

DOT Relocation Project

 Mr. Penniman said this project was discussed at today's Communications Capital Project Committee meeting.   Ms. Blanchard said now that the County has received $3 million from the State and $700,000 from the Department of Transportation the project will be advanced.   She said Mrs. Smithers will be preparing a resolution to take to the full Board that will include language explaining the project.

Adjournment

 The meeting adjourned at 4:52 p.m.