Called to Order

 Mr. Koplinka-Loehr called the meeting to order at 11:32 p.m.

Changes to the Agenda

 It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Mr. Penniman, and unanimously adopted by voice vote by members present, to approve the addition of a request to fill a Security Officer position at the Community Justice Center to the agenda.

Comments from the Public

 No member of the public was present to speak.

Approval of Minutes of July 6 and 13, 2004

 It was MOVED by Mr. Penniman, seconded by Mr. Booth, and unanimously adopted by voice vote by members present, to approve the minutes of the July 6 and July 13, 2004 meetings as submitted.

Chair’s Report

 Mr. Koplinka-Loehr asked Mr. Penniman to provide the full Legislature with a committee report at the next meeting in his absence.

Finance Director’s Report

 Mr. Squires was not in attendance.  Mr. Koplinka-Loehr distributed a Contingent Fund Report dated August 6, 2004.  The total balance available is $524,059.

County Administrator’s Report

 Mr. Whicher distributed two documents:  “General Revenue Summary” and a “Summary of Mandated Programs – taxpayer costs from 1997 through 2005 as recommended”.  Mr. Whicher provided the Committee with an outlook of the 2005 budget and said the earlier forecast is very close to what it looks like the numbers will be.  There are a couple of changes that may result from an adopted State budget, but there is no way to know what those might be at this time.  He said he has been working to fund Over Target requests but expects the last 300,000 to 400,000 may be difficult.

 Mr. Whicher reported staff is much more able to handle data since changes have been made to the process; what took two months last year has only taken two weeks this year.   He stated he has just begun to work on the capital and debt service figures.

 Mr. Whicher said he anticipates the next two years will be fiscally difficult for the County.

Resolution Referred Back to Committee

RESOLUTION NO. 164 - ESTABLISHING 2005 FRINGE BENEFITS PAYMENT RATE

 MOVED by Mr. Penniman, seconded by Mr. Booth.  Mr. Koplinka-Loehr read the following statement submitted by Legislator Kiefer:  “The fringe rate should be set at the real amount even if its 40 or 41 percent and then use the money to subsidize it if you have to.  Make it two transactions if necessary, don’t artificially set the fringe rate low”.

 Mr. Whicher stated there are two separate issues.  He said the fringe rate was set by this Committee at 39 percent a few months ago.  He said if the Legislature were to ask departments to now use a figure of 40 or 41 percent the result would be several over target requests.  The second issue is there is a fluctuation in the amount that is needed from the fringe pool and depending on what people’s assumptions are, it  will generate a different percentage.  He said it is never known what the fringe rate is going to be, especially in contract negotiation years.

 Discussion continued with regard to the retirement payment not having to be made in 2004.  Mr. Whicher said the County may not have a liability if it can show that those funds are going to be towards retirement reserves in the future.  He said placing these funds in the General Fund could expose the County to risk.   He said it may be the answer to sustain salary and fringe rates of the next few years as well.  He stated the County is entering into a period of uncertainty and he anticipates retirement costs to climb over the next year and then come down a little and stabilize.  He also noted a large percentage of the County’s costs are for payroll and fringes (60-70%).

 Mr. Joseph said these funds are already in the fringe pool and if no action is taken that is where they will stay.  Mr. Booth said he has no problem putting the fringe rate at 39 as long as the monies will stay there for future fringe pool commitments.

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

 WHEREAS, upon adoption of the 2004 budget the estimated Fringe Pool for the employer share of fringes, including New York State Retirement, Social Security, Workers Compensation, Voluntary Employee Benefit program (known as "VEBA"), Health Insurance, Supplemental Benefits and Unemployment Insurance was $12.4 million dollars, and
 WHEREAS, the 2004 estimated Fringe Pool represents thirty-nine percent of estimated payroll, and
 WHEREAS, State Comptroller Hevesi, has proposed that the County's 2004 Retirement payment be deferred until February 2005, and

 WHEREAS, now that the Senate and Assembly have passed bills that eliminate any 2004 retirement obligation payments for the County, resuming annual payments in 2005 with the payments due in February, and
 WHEREAS, when this Legislature acted in May to establish budget guidelines, no specific fringe rate was included and a resolution is needed to establish this for the 2005 budget process, now therefore be it
 RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Budget and Capital Committee, That the Fringe Benefits payment rate for 2005 budget requests for all County departments based on actual payroll paid, shall remain at 39.0 percent.
SEQR ACTION:  TYPE II-20

Position Request – Sheriff’s Department

 It was MOVED by Mr. Booth, seconded by Mr. Penniman, and unanimously adopted by voice vote by members present, to approve the request by the Sheriff to fill a position of Deputy Sheriff at the Sheriff’s Department.

Position Request – Information Technology Services

 It was MOVED by Mr. Penniman, seconded by Mr. Todd, to approve a request by the Director of Information Technology Services, to fill a position of GIS Project Leader.  Mr. Potter stated the person currently in this position will be relocating out of the County in the next six months.   This position is responsible for converting the tax map application to a new software model and data format and is involved in a COMCAP project data request.  He said the dispatch operations are also in the process of converting over to a new GIS mapping and interface in order to meet cell phone requirements.   Mr. Potter said he needs to have someone in this position on an interim basis to cover the necessary transition of the GIS program to the new employee.

  Mr. Potter stated he is proposing to cover the costs from two sources -  ITS 2004 Operational Budget and the Communications Capital Project.  Mr. Potter stated if this request is not approved and the Department is forced to wait until the employee leaves, it is unlikely that the GIS program will be able to respond to the COMCAP requests based on current workloads and the current tax map conversion project.  Also, he would need to shift a significant amount of his time to manage the transition.

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

Position Request

 It was MOVED by Mr. Todd, seconded by Mr. Penniman, and unanimously adopted by voice vote by members present, to approve the request by the Director of Probation and Community Justice to fill a position of Security Officer at the Community Justice Center.

 Mr. Booth requested that an additional box be added to the Position Request Form that shows the impact the filling of the position would have on the current year’s budget.

Personnel Department

 The Personnel Department had no items to present.

Budget Calendar

 Mr. Whicher reported the budget calendar is on schedule.
Fiscal Policy

 Departmental Entitlements

 The Committee discussed Section 2: “Total costs incurred by departments to replace employees in paid status who are absent from work, or unable to perform the duties of their position, for longer than two months; the absence may be due to any incident of job-related or non-job-related illness or injury, or to suspension”.  It was asked what reasoning there was to produce a two-month time period.  Ms. Thomas suggested that is the usual time someone is out of work for a surgery for maternity leave.  Mr. Meskill recalled there was no particular reason and that it was just a chosen threshold.

 Mr. Whicher was asked to produce analysis to show how many people have been out of work for 30 to 60 days.

 The majority of the discussed focused on the language contained in the policy and how it is being interpreted.  It was unclear whether or not a department would be reimbursed for the entire length of time a person is out of work if the period exceeded 60 days, or whether reimbursement would apply from the 61st day and beyond.

 Mr. Meskill said he has been under the impression that reimbursement only applied after the 60th day and therefore has to absorb the cost of the first two months.  He said this has a significant impact on 24/7 operations

 A request was also made that Mr. Whicher also provide the Committee with a record of which period departments have applied for reimbursement for.
 
 The Committee agreed to continue discussion on this item at the next meeting.

 Departmental Deficits

 The Committee had a brief discussion about departmental deficits and whether a plan to forgive the deficit needed to be included in the Fiscal Policy.  It was agreed that the Policy already allows for any type of payment scenario to happen.

 Revenue Options

 There was no new information presented on this subject; therefore, there was no discussion.

Request

 A request was made by Legislator Booth to amend future agendas to show which items require action by the Committee.

Adjournment

 The meeting adjourned at 12:35 p.m.
 

Respectfully submitted by Michelle Pottorff, Deputy Clerk, TC Legislature