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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 2005.08.02 - 36019CHUCK MOSS Chairperson MIKE ROGERS Vice Chairperson TIM MELTON Minority Vice Chairperson August 2, 2005 Chairperson Moss called the meet ing of the Finance Committee to order at 9:00 a.m., in the Board of Commissioners' Committee Room A, Commissioners' Wing, County Service Center, Pontiac, Michigan. COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT : Chuck Moss, Charles Palmer, Hugh Crawford, Greg Jamian, Eric W ilson, David Coulter, Helaine Zack, Dave Woodward COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: Mike Rogers, Tim Melton, Christine Long OTHERS PRESENT : DRAIN COMMISSIONER John McCulloch, Drain Commissioner Kevin Larsen, Deputy Commissioner EXECUTIVE OFFICE Robert Daddow, Deputy Executive FISCAL SERVICES Nancy Fournier, Chief Leo Lease, Accountant Gaia Piir, Budget Systems Coordinator HUMAN RESOURCES Nancy Scarlet, Director Jennifer Mason, Manager David VandeGrift, Analyst MANAGEMENT & BUDGET Laurie Van Pelt, Director Art Holdsworth, Deputy Director PROSECUTING ATTORNEY David Gorcyca, Prosecuting Attorney Debbie Carley, Chief Deputy Mary Larkin, Chief Attorney BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Tom Middleton, District #4 William Molnar, District #3 Marcia Gershenson, District #17 Eric Coleman, District #23 Larry Doyle, Administrative Director Harvey Wedell, Sr. Analyst Sheryl Mitchell, Sr. Analyst Julia Ruffin, Community Liaison Helen Hanger, Sr. Committee Coordinator PUBLIC COMMENT None. OAKLAND COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 1200 N. TELEGRAPH ROAD, PONTIAC, MI 48341-0470 Telephone (248) 858 -0100 FAX (248) 858-1572 FINANCE COMMITTEE Charles Palmer Hugh D. Crawford Eric Wilson Greg Jamian Christine Long David Coulter Helaine Zack David Woodward FINANCE COMMITTEE Page 2 July 28, 2005 5. BUDGET HEARINGS Capital Cooperative Initiative Reimbursement Fund (This item was advanced on the agenda without objection.) Mr. Soave explained that the Capital Cooperative Initiati ve Reimbursement Fund (CCRIF) would be used for projects that are currently funded by the General Fund. This includes specific collaborative efforts with the communities, capital improvement projects for the County and a nonspecific $200,000 designation f or Cooperative Efforts previously set aside for particular studies not yet identified. Any specific projects not approved during the budget process will need to come back before the Commissioners for approval. There was discussion concerning items 4, 5 a nd 6 of the proposed language for the CCRIF Fund as drafted for the General Appropriations Act. Commissioner Palmer asked when the rules governing the use of the $200,000 for Cooperative Efforts would be brought to the Board. Mr. Daddow indicated that these funds would not be spent until the Commissioners had approved a policy for use of the funds. Commissioner Palmer moved to amend the General Appropriations Act, 7 th BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED paragraph, item 4) to insert "shall comply with the standing r ules of the Board of Commissioners and" following the word "process"; and to amend item 6) to insert " with Board of Commissioners approval" following the words "Fiscal Officer." Supported by Coulter. Motion carried on a voice vote. Prosecutor Ms. Scarlet distributed supplemental information regarding the Prosecutor's FY 06 budget hearing. Mr. Gorcyca is requesting the creation of one General Fund/General Purpose (GF/GP) Assistant Prosecutor IV position to replace one Assistant Prosecutor IV positi on currently funded as special revenue (SR) by the Byrne Grant and terminating on September 30, 2005. He is also requesting to change one partially grant funded SR Probation Officer I (Teen Court Coordinator) position to a fully funded GF/GP position and to change the funding for one grant funded SR Assistant Prosecutor II position (Narcotics Task Force unit) to GF/GP funded. The County Executive is not recommending these requests. Mr. Gorcyca spoke in support of creating these three positions and provide d statistics regarding caseload disposition, warrants, teen court recidivism rates, etc. He noted that deletion of these three positions, in addition to those eliminated because of budget constraints since 2003, will again increase the workload of remaining staff, will eliminate the prosecuting attorney position having the most expertise in dealing with Child Sexual Assault and will return 150 juvenile cases currently handled by Teen Court back to the main docket of the Circuit Court. Ms. Scarlet spoke on behalf of the County Executive, indicating that other elected officials have given up grant positions and asked that the Committee not reverse its policy on grant funded positions. She also provided statistical information. Committee members asked that the Prosecutor and Executive's staff review their statistics to address conflicting data and clarify this information so that the committee can consider it further. FINANCE COMMITTEE Page 3 July 28, 2005 Commissioner Palmer asked if drug forfeiture funds could be used for these positions. Mr. Gorcyca noted several concerns regarding the use of forfeiture dollars to fund positions. He explained that this was an issue in Wayne County and that legislation has been introduced to prohibit the abuse of pursuing assets to pay for staffing. He a lso explained that this money could not be used to fund the Juvenile Unit Assistant Prosecutor. He also indicated that he had drafted a letter to the County Executive to suggest that the CCRIF funds first are used to address County budget and position iss ues. THE COMMITTEE RECESSED FROM 11:00 A.M. TO 11:07 A.M. Drain Commissioner Mr. McCulloch responded to questions from the committee regarding program priorities, line items and position funding. He explained that about 2% of the Drain Commissioner's budget includes General Fund dollars and that his budget task was met by eliminating one engineering coordinator position and one construction inspector II position. In regards to long -term prioritization of programs, a review was done of which services s hould continue and which services are discretionary. The local communities reimburse for the majority of services provided by the Drain Commissioner. The Environmental Services Unit provides watershed-planning assistance to the local communities. This man date was to the communities but the Drain Commissioner is assisting them in this effort. Since the Drain Commissioner has been designated as a central agency, it would be more expensive for the local communities to handle this function individually. The Drain Commissioner also handles this responsibility for the County's parks, airports and facilities. He also advised the committee that Rouge Demonstration money is starting to disappear. This could result in a request by the Rouge River Watershed Council to continue participation through General Fund dollars and may, in turn, lead to similar requests from the other watershed councils. OTHER BUSINESS / ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Palmer asked if positions on the vacancy list were budgeted for and asked tha t he be provided with a dollar figure on the number of vacant general fund positions. Ms. Van Pelt indicated that these positions are fully funded for and that this dollar figure would be provided to Commissioner Palmer. Mr. Soave indicated that information on the budget task would be mailed to commissioners by August 10. There being no other business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned at 11:37 a.m. ________________________ _______________________________ Helen A. Hanger Lawrence M. Doyle Senior Committee Coordinator Administrative Director NOTE: The foregoing minutes are subject to Committee approval.