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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 2007.07.20 - 36191MIKE ROGERS Chairperson EILEEN KOWALL Vice Chairperson HELAINE ZACK Minority Vice Chairperson July 20, 2007 Chairperson Rogers called the meeting of the Finance Committee to order at 9:08 a.m., in the Board of Commissioners' Committee Room A, Commissioners' Wing, County Service Center, Pontiac, Michigan. COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Mike Rogers, Eileen Kowall, Helaine Zack, Sue Ann Douglas, Hugh Crawford, Tom Middleton, Christine Long , Jeff Potter, David Woodward, Tim Greimel COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT WITH NOTICE David Coulter OTHERS PRESENT ANIMAL CONTROL Larry Obrecht, Manager Joanie Toole CIRCUIT COURT PROBATION Ken Aud, Manger DISTRICT COURT 52-1 Judge Dennis Powers Joyce Renfrow, Administrator Debby Bigger, Account Clerk DISTRICT COURT 52 -2 Sharon Rupe, Administrator DISTRICT COURT 52 -3 Lynda Hammerstein, Administrator DISTRICT COURT 52 -4 Jim Ver Ploeg, Administrator EXECUTIVE OFFICE Jerry Poisson, Deputy Phil Bertolini, CIO/Deputy FACILITIES MANAGEMENT Dave Ross, Director FACILITIES MAINTENANCE Dick Johnston, Manager FACILLITIES ENGINEERING Paul Hunter , Manager FISCAL SERVICES Tim Soave, Manager Nancy Fournier, Chief LaVerne Smith, Supervisor Holly Conforti, Supervisor Prentiss Malone, Analyst Wayne Keller, Analyst HUMAN RESOURCES Nancy Scarlet, Director Brenthy Johnston, Analyst INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Ed Poisson, Director Mike Wilk, Deputy Joe Sullivan, Manager Dale Kukla, Manager OAKLAND COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 1200 N. TELEGRAPH ROAD, PONTIAC, MI 48341-0470 Telephone (248) 858 -0100 FAX (248) 858-1572 FINANCE COMMITTEE Sue Ann Douglas Hugh D. Crawford Tom Middleton Christine Long Jeff Potter David Coulter David Woodward Tim Greimel FINANCE COMMITTEE Page 2 July 20, 2007 OTHERS PRESENT CONTINUED Jim Taylor, Chief Dave Bing LIBRARY BOARD Laura Macini, Director John Chambers, Board Member MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET Laurie Van Pelt, Director PUBLIC SERVICES Mike Zehnder, Director TREASURER Pat Dohany, Treasurer Keith Sawdon, Deputy VETERANS’ SERVICES Diana Calvin, Manager BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Larry Doyle, Administrative Director Harvey Wede ll, Sr. Analyst Sheryl Mitchell, Sr. Analyst Jim Cavanaugh, BOC Liaison Helen Hanger, Sr. Committee Coordinator PUBLIC COMMENT None. BUDGET HEARINGS for FY 2008 / FY 2009 EXECUTIVE RECOMMENDED BUDGET Prior to the start of today’s budget hearings, all departments were asked to be prepared to respond to the following questions: 1. What are your department/division goals and projected performance measures for the new budget year? 2. How were previous goals and current issues identified fo r FY 2006 and FY 2007 addressed? 3. What issues are you facing for the new budget year? 4. What actions did you take to reduce deficiencies and redundancies? 5. What variances exist within your operating and personnel budgets, how are those variances being addressed and are they revenue neutral? 6. What issues are you anticipating beyond this budget cycle that the Committee should be made aware of now? Each department was allotted an hour to respond to these questions and to receive input and additional questions from committee members. The following departments participated in today’s budget hearings: The 52nd District Court (Divisions 52-1, 52-2, 52-3, 52-4), Department of Facilities Management, Information Technology, Public Services (Circuit Court Probation, Ani mal Control, Veterans’ Services), Board of Commissioners. Chairman Rogers indicated that he would allow public comment on particular issues at the time those individual items were being reviewed. 52ND DISTRICT COURT Ms. Renfrow reported that testing pro cedures in her division have changed some what so a little more is being spent but this is still a revenue positive procedure. If a defendant does not show for two JAMS they are immediately sent to probation and tested and most of the time they test positive. If they claim it is some other substance in their system causing the positive results, the sample is sent to the lab for verification and we proceed accordingly. Defendants are charged for these lab fees. FINANCE COMMITTEE Page 3 July 20, 2007 Judge Powers presented his request for one additional Clerk position, citing program, workload, employee turnover and facility issues. Three unpaid summer interns are currently helping out. Judge Powers explained that there are temperature and space issues with the building that are causing stress. Ms. Scarlet indicated that Human Resources has offered emergency salary assistan ce but was turned down by the court. She acknowledged that the court has suffered an inordinate amount of staff loss because of turnover but that they did not see this as a long-term issue. Other courts have caseloads that actually surpass that of the 52-1. She noted that the caseload at the 52 -4 is lower and suggested that the 52nd District Court could look at reassignment of personnel within their classifications. The Personnel Committee will be reviewing this information. Ms. Renfrow indicated that she recently contacted Human Resources to obtain temporary assistance. Judge Powers explained that Travel and Conference dollars are used for one judge who sits on the American Judges Association governing board, recertification for drug court and mandatory judges meetings twice a year. He also indicated that he attends an annual Criminal Law seminar. Ms. Hammerstein indicated that in 2006 professional services funds w ere used for armored car service. Information on each division of the Court was distributed. Ms. Rupe indicated that 52 -2 in Clarkston has increased its revenue and decreased expenditures. Mr. Ver Ploeg reported that the budget for the 52 nd District Court’s chief judge is also included in the total budget for the 52 -4 District Court. All divisions of the Court have instituted new technology and established drug courts. A request for one probation officer for the 52 -4 District Court will be brought to the Personnel Committee. Civil filing fees are available to cover the requested position. Information on each of the 52nd District Court Divisions 1 -4 was distributed. DEPARTMENT OF FACILITIES MANAGEMENT Mr. Ross distributed information on staffing and the County’s 2008-2012 Capital Improvement Program. He indicated that since1974 Facilities Management has reduced staffing levels from 278 to 171 full-time employees, including a reduction in engineering staff from 17 to 9, while adding at least 40% more s quare footage. It was that it was more cost effective to contract for specialized engineering and other services as needed. The Department is responsible for 41 buildings, 75% of which are on the complex grounds , and works with the Sheriff on handling se curity needs for the facilities. The County renovated the 52-3 District Court and it was leased back to the County at no cost. The 52-2 District Court has space needs issues and land has been purchased to co nstruct a new Court facility at some time in the future. The 52 -1 District Court is a leased facility of about 28,000 square feet, for which the County pays lease costs and property taxes. TREASURER Mr. Dohany indicated that his office continues to track legislative changes affecting the Treasurer on an on- going basis. The County is getting better investment rates but conti nues to be prudent with investments . The Treasurer’s goals are to make sure no homeowner occupied property is lost to tax foreclosure, to do the maximum amount of investing and to stay on the cutting edge of technology. Foreclosures are at their highest ever. In June, 42,000 mailers were sent out on real property delinquencies to help avoid foreclosures. The number of parcels that go to auction continues to decline and very fe w are improved property. About 50% that go to auction actually sell. Many of the parcels that are auctioned are under water, are wetlands or small slivers of property. If they do not sell at auction, they are offered for sale to the community or to the property owner next door. A list of these properties is also provided to the Road Commission, the Drain Commissioner, the Board of Commissioners, etc . FINANCE COMMITTEE Page 4 July 20, 2007 Mr. Sawdon explained that Professional Services money is used for renting the Bloomberg machine. The machine is used for all the County funds and the cost is paid for by this investment pool of funds. Mr. Dohany reported that the Retirement Board oversees 18 fund managers who are monitored for performance. The function of investment is governed by law and is limited to what can be invested. The investment policy adopted by the Board of Commissioners is recognized nationally. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Mr. Doyle reported that the goal of the Board of Commissioners (BOC) is to be responsive to County residents in providing programs and services. To date 485 people are participating in the Discount Dental Program and in the Discount Prescription Drug Program. A third of the local communities have participated in the County’s Cooperative Capital Initiative s Revolving Fund (CCIRF) program. The Board of Commissioners’ agendas are now available on the website and a Request for Proposal is in process to web-cast committee and board meetings. Two Commissioners’ meetings have been taped and distributed to local communities for cable television purposes. Commissioners established the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and the Prevention of the Sexual Exploitation of Children Task Force . Commissioners’ staff continues to participate in the Radio Communications Oversite Committee in its ongoing effort to maintain radio coverage. Mr. Wedell explained that the BOC budget has been flat since participating in the 2003 Budget Task. For FY 2008 several changes have been made. The line item appropriation for the H istorical Commission has been increased by reducing several other line items and the line item appropriation for the County-wide Annual Audit has been increased by $8,000. For the last several years, the BOC budge t has absorbed contract increases for the County audit. Mr. Soave also reported that $60,000 from an original $210,000 appropriation will be rolled over with the year-end report for ongoing BOC projects. Mr. Doyle provided further information on CCIRF efforts. The consultant for the CCIRF coope rative projects studies is Plante Moran (PM). PM is beginning an extensive study for the cities of Farmington and Farmington Hills to combine both cities and/or share services, for Bloomfield Township and the city of Birmingham to combine police and fire service, for Groveland, Holly, Rose and Springfield Townships and the Village of Holly to combine fire services and with the 10 southeast Oakland County communities to establish a fire authority. There has been some minor success in combining services fo llowing the study that was done for the cities of Wixom, W alled Lake and the Village of Wolverine Lake to combine their police and fire services. Commissioner Potter indicated that some legislative changes would be needed before townships could consider consolidating with older cities. Mr. Doyle suggested that possibly the boundary commission could be approached for this purpose . Mr. Doyle explained that communities need their governing boards or commissions to pass a resolution to participate in a CCIRF funded study and to submit it with the application. The commitment given to the County is that once a study is complete the community will discuss it and hold a public hearing. Commissioner Douglas indicated that Rochester has gone through several consolidation attempts that have been defeated. She stated that perhaps communities need to have more involvement from chambers of commerce and other groups and through polling to involve citizens in considering consolidation. Commissioner Greimel aske d if schools could access the CCIRF process to study consolidation . FINANCE COMMITTEE Page 5 July 20, 2007 Ms. Van Pelt indicated that this had been discussed and a pplications would be accepted as long as it would involve sharing with local communities for things like library and parks servic es. Mr. Poisson explained that there needs to be a nexus between what the County can constitutionally spend money on and what the schools d o. Otherwise, it would constitute an outright gift to the schools which the law prohibits. Mr. Doyle added that once communities receive their studies, they are being encouraged to move forward and present these studies to their citizens at public meetings without further input or assistance from the County. Commissioner Kowall noted that the Governor is expecting communities throughout Michigan to share or consolidate services with revenue sharing tied to that effort. LIBRARY BAORD Mr. Soave reported that originally the County Executive did not recommend the Secretary position for the Library Board but since that time a Library Technician position has been deleted and those funds are available. This position will be added to the amendment list. Ms. Mancini reported that there are 19 employees com bined within the Library Board for three libraries – the Law Library, the Research Library and the Library for the Visually and Physically Impaired (LVPI). Professional Services includes the filing services for the Law Library. This service is necessary because most of the laws are not accessible on the computer. Gener ally prior to 1996 they are still in book form. There has been a Law Library in Oakland County in some form since 1904. The LVPI has 3200 registered patrons and both the LVPI and the Research Library assist a large number of visitors and call-in requests with research questions. The Library Board also has collaborative relationships with many libraries in southeast Michigan. Commissioner Greimel indicated that having these libraries was a way to extend service s to the general public who can’t afford la wyers or computers for legal documents. He asked how many county employees utilized the Research Library. Ms. Mancini indicated that this specific number was not tracked but they would do so in the future. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Mr. Bertolini and Mr. Poisson explained that Information Technology (IT) employs and deploys a select out- sourcing model. Projects are p rioritized and reviewed to determine the ability to do a project in-house. About 30% of the work is out-sourced. Contracts with telephone service providers are monitored and negotiated on a regular basis. Several of the local communities use these IT contracts for local phone service. The Thin Client environment has provided some savings to the County by providing the assessing and tax functions to the local communities from the IT server through the County’s fiber optics to the network computers. IT is a service bureau supporting all County departments and all 61 of its local units. The Board of Commissioners implemented a policy years ago that stated if a department was pursuing IT services they would first have to consult with the IT department. This has paid significant dividends. Dollars are leveraged horizontally across county departments and vertically to local units. Projects a re prioritized through the Leadership G roup process to develop Scope and A pproach and Return on Investment. A two-year master plan is developed that is continually updated and reported to the Board’s General Government Committee on a quarterly basis. Projects that do not come through the Leadership Group must be brought by the customer to the BOC to request an appropriation. If this occurs, IT will move FINANCE COMMITTEE Page 6 July 20, 2007 to accommodate the additional project by adjusting its prioritization list and master plan. There are also designated fund balances authorized by the BOC for IT purposes. Information on Performance Measures detailing the IT process was distributed. All IT funds have a capital plan for replacement of equipment, some of which is provided through customer service fees. Mr. Sullivan reported that there is on-going discussion with CLEMIS members of possible ways to fund long-term equipment replacement needs now that COPS MORE funds are no longer available . CLEMIS is looking at partnering with universities to drive down the costs. Commissioner Douglas asked how much content could be maintained on the County’s websites. Mr. Bertolini reported that there are 170 content members on the County’s website. If there is a need for additional content, IT will bud get accordingly. PUBLIC SERVICES Circuit Court Probation Mr. Aud reported that Circuit Court Probation (CCP) has 144 employees, two offices on the County complex and one in Troy. The State of Michigan pays all salary and fringe benefit costs and the remaining six percent of the CCP budget is under the County’s Public Services Department. Each probation officer is assigned to 90 clients and 5,000 are under supervision. Operation Night Hawk pairs CCP officers with 33 police departments to make unexpected calls on felony offenders. This program has becomes a national model and received a National Association of Counties (NACo) award. There are currently 53 people in drug court programs and this program has resulted in a savings of 14,000 jail days . CCP also utilizes half- way housing, monitoring and intensive out -patient programs and continues to review and change i ts business model to better utilize jail space. Veterans Services Mr. Zehnder reported that as of yesterday, there have been 3,188 burials in the U.S. Veterans’ Cemetery in Holly, with 16 in process. Ms. Calvin explained that Veterans’ Services provides presentations and out-reach programs to many groups, including senior centers, nursing homes, senior living, hospitals, at state and national conferences, through public announcements, on cable, etc. to make people aware of the services that are available to both veterans and their families, including the Cemetery and pension information. An appointment is not necessary to come in and speak to a counselor. Ms. Calvin indicated that last week the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs notified her that the Oakland office has brought in $78 million to Oakland County veterans. Mr. Poisson indicated that the County would be doing a casual day to help pay for veterans grave markers. Animal Control Mr. Obrecht and Ms. Toole distributed copies of Animal Control’s Strategic Plan and quarterly report. Some of the division’s current projects include having presented the IT Leadership Group with a p rogram to upgrade technology , replacing the fiberglass cages with stainless steel cages to cut down on disease, replacing the sales counter to improve customer service, r aising adoption rates to the goal of a no kill facility by 2010, completing signage, landscaping and adding bark parks, improving access to the LIEN system, to acquire tranquilizer equipment and training for officers to use with dogs that can’t be trapped or approached, to improve the telephone system , to try and get the kennel unit air c onditioned and to expand the spay and neutering program . FINANCE COMMITTEE Page 7 July 20, 2007 Mr. Obrecht also explained that he was pursuing legislative changes to allow for the purchasing of dog licenses on-line and to require licensing for cats. The dog population is currently under c ontrol but the shelter is handling a large number of cats. Over 700 have been spayed since February. He would also like to see adoption fees made more flexible to adjust quickly to the market price. It currently costs $150.00 to adopt a cat. A marketing firm has been hired to promote the facility and the services it provides and a public relations student is helping with this effort by doing press releases on adoption and events. Mr. Obrecht explained that while they have deputies that go out and do animal control they would like to promote the shelter as the Oakland Pet Adoption Center. He noted that his facility has one of the best records in the country in adopting out cats and dogs and reducing the number of animals put to sleep. They are also offsetting in- house costs with volunteers that come in daily to help with adoptions and cleaning. The shelter has the ability to scan a micro -chipped animal to return it to its owner but until the price comes down only veterinarians can implant them. OTHER BUSINESS/ADJOURNMENT There being no other business to come before the committe e, the meeting was adjourned at 2:35 p.m. ________________________ _______________________________ Helen A. Hanger Lawrence M. Doyle NOTE: The foregoing minutes are subject to Committee approval.