SPECIAL COMMISSION
MEETING
MONDAY, MARCH 13,
2006
PRESENT: W.
SCOTT BIAS, PRESIDENT
ROBERT L. BAILEY, COMMISSIONER
NANCY CARTMILL, COMMISSIONER
STEPHEN ZOELLER, COUNTY MANAGER
SHARON ROSS, ASSISTANT COUNTY MANAGER
FOR BILLABLES AND PAYABLES
W. Scott Bias, President, called the Special Meeting of the Cabell County Commission to order at 9:00 a.m.
#059 FISCAL
YEAR 2006/2007 BUDGET DELIBERATIONS WITH
COUNTY OFFICEHOLDERS
OSCAR ADKINS,
ALTERNATIVE SENTENCING DIRECTOR
Oscar Adkins, Alternative Sentencing Program Director, went over his 2006-2007 budget with the Commission and stated he was requesting a total of $304,602 which would be $78,078 less then last year’s budget.
Nancy Cartmill, Commissioner, asked if the Worker’s Compensation had deceased. Mr. Zoeller informed the Commission there was a decrease in the Worker’s Compensation and it would show in everyone’s budget.
Commissioner Cartmill also asked why the overtime had been reduced by $66,000.00.
Mr. Adkins stated there was a verbal agreement between Alternative Sentencing and the Commission where Alternative Sentencing would pay the Commission $6,000 a year to offset salaries if funds were available. Mr. Adkins further stated that at the present, Alternative Sentencing was making monthly payments to the Commission, however, in this budget Alternative Sentencing would pay the Commission at the end of the year if funds were available and if no funds were available then they would not be able to pay to offset the salaries.
Commissioner Cartmill stated if payments for off setting salaries needed to be paid then it should reflect in the budget.
Commissioner Cartmill asked Mr. Adkins since the number of applicants were down, did Alternative Sentencing still need the last two employees hired.
Mr. Adkins stated he needed at least one of the two employees, however, he was prepared to cut staff if the numbers did not increase. Mr. Adkins went on to say they were waiting on the courts to provide Home Confinement with applicants.
The Alternative Sentencing Program’s request for 2006-2007 was $670,454, a decrease of $63,611.
MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2006
PAGE TWO
MIKE DAVIS, E-911 DIRECTOR
Mike Davis, E-911 Director, informed the Commission he was requesting a 3% salary increase for his staff to order to retain employees. Mr. Davis stated he did not include a pay increase for himself.
Mr. Davis stated he was proposing step increases to reward personnel that remain with CCERC as a career; an intermediate level of Senior Telecommunicator created to provide incentive for fourth year employees to stay an additional three years in order to obtain the new title and pay increase; proposed change in the titles of two administrative employees with slight pay increases to reflect their additional duties over the last three months and would continue after the new center was open.
Mr. Davis stated he was requesting three entry level Telecommunicators in order to maintain five Telecommunicators per shift. Mr. Davis informed the Commission the reason for this additional manpower was due to the increase of calls to E-911.
Mr. Davis went over the line items with the Commission and stated he was requesting $2,224,958 for the 2006-2007 budget, which would be an increase of $199,400 from last year’s budget.
A. GORDON MERRY, III, CCEMS DIRECTOR
Gordon Merry, CCEMS Director, informed the Commission he had several items he would like to discuss and also gave an update on the new ambulance station on Norway Avenue (Gallagher School).
Mr. Merry stated in his budget there were increases in fuel, utilities, vehicle maintenance and a request to replace four ambulances, instead of three, due to the increased number of calls.
Mr. Merry suggested obtaining credit cards with a pre-set limit to use in case of emergencies on long-distance transports. Mr. Merry also discussed with the Commission hooking up to the Courthouse computer system for the purpose of processing invoices.
Mr. Merry informed the Commission that due to other ambulance companies going out of business, he would like to explore the possibility of placing an ambulance into service to handle non-emergency runs. Mr. Merry stated that he would not need to purchase a new ambulance or hire new personnel as he would use an existing vehicle and transfer current per diem employees to temporary full-time status.
Mr. Merry stated he had not included a wage increase in this budget, however, he told the Commission he may wish to revisit this subject should their financial situation improve. The CCEMS budget request for 2006-2007 was $6,416,154, which was an increase of $941,293.
MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2006
PAGE THREE
KIM WOLFE, SHERIFF – TAX DEPARTMENT
Kim Wolfe, Sheriff, informed the Commission that he requested a base salary increase of 7% for the Tax Department civilian employees.
Sheriff Wolfe stated that the terminals, computers and keyboards, in the Tax Department, were twelve years old and, in order to serve the public, he believed the equipment should be upgraded at a cost of $12,000.
The Tax Department’s requested budget for 2006-2007 was $355,922, an increase of $19,897.
KIM WOLFE, SHERIFF – LAW ENFORCEMENT
Sheriff Wolfe stated he requested a salary adjustment for the deputies because he was losing employees due to the low pay; requested a base salary increase of 7% for civilian employees working in Law Enforcement; requested four new vehicles for the road patrol; requested to hire six additional deputies.
The Law Enforcement requested budget for 2006-2007 would be $2,074,116, an increase of $178,913.
Sheriff Wolfe informed the Commission he requested a base salary increase of 7% for civilian employees in Courts & Process.
The Courts & Process requested budget for 2006-2007 was $91,960.
Sheriff Wolfe requested a 7% base salary increase for the Director of Courthouse Security.
The Courthouse Security requested budget for 2006-2007 was $286,428.
ADELL CHANDLER – CIRCUIT CLERK
Fay Lyon, Office Manager, stated that the Circuit Clerk, Adell Chandler, requested a $900 increase in salary for each deputy clerk and this increase was included in her budget.
Mrs. Lyon also informed the Commission the copier lease would expire soon and the Circuit Clerk would need to lease a new copier.
The Circuit Clerk’s requested budget for 2006-2007 would be $667,502.
W. Scott Bias, President, recessed the meeting at 10:50 a.m. until, Tuesday, March 14, 2006 at 9:00 a.m.
SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING
TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2006
PAGE FOUR
PRESENT: W. SCOTT BIAS, PRESIDENT
ROBERT L. BAILEY, COMMISSIONER
NANCY CARTMILL, COMMISSIONER
STEPHEN ZOELLER, COUNTY MANAGER
SHARON ROSS, ASSISTANT COUNTY
MANAGER
FOR BILLABLES AND PAYABLES
W. Scott Bias, President, reconvened the Special Meeting of the County Commission at 9:05 a.m.
OTTIE ADKINS – COUNTY ASSESSOR
Ottie Adkins, Assessor, stated he there was no increase in his budget, it was the same as last year’s except for the reduction in Workers’ Compensation. Mr. Adkins sent a letter with his proposed budget in which he requested an across the board increase of $900 for each employee.
The requested 2006-2007 budget for the Assessor’s Office was $645,218.
Stephen Zoeller, County Manager, informed the Commission that the $6,000 Home Confinement had removed from their budget, for the reimbursement of salaries, would be placed back into their expenditure line because that amount would be budgeted into the Commission’s revenue line.
The Commission agreed that this money should be placed back into the Home Confinement’s budget.
Mr. Zoeller also reminded the Commission they were paying for the indigent inmates sent to Home Confinement.
KAREN COLE – COUNTY CLERK
Karen Cole, County Clerk, stated her budget was the same as last years except she had included a salary increase for employees.
Mrs. Cole informed the Commission she was facing a serious storage problem with her permanent record books. Mrs. Cole also informed the Commission that she needed an updated version of her indexing program or a complete imaging system, which would help alleviate the storage problem.
Mrs. Cole stated she needed more shelving in the annex on 4th Avenue and her office could also use another storage room.
The requested 2006-2007 budget for the County Clerk was $724,341.
TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2006
PAGE FIVE
CHRIS CHILES – PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
Chris Chiles, Prosecuting Attorney, informed the Commission that in his budget he requested a new position with a salary of $40,000 which he believed would help with the jail situation.
Nancy Cartmill, Commissioner, asked Mr. Chiles what he had done with the salary when Mr. Martorella retired. Mr. Chiles stated he divided that money between his employees.
Mr. Chiles stated he believed he could save the Commission $40,000 on the jail bill by having this new position and even if he had filled Mr. Martorella’s position last year, he would be requesting this new position just to address the jail issue.
Commissioner Cartmill stated that very little had been spent out of capital outlay and asked Mr. Chiles if he had plans for the remaining amount. Mr. Chiles replied he probably would purchase a lap top for the courtroom.
Stephen Zoeller, County Manager, asked about the employees that were on grants and if they were included in the budget and Mr. Chiles replied they were, however, he usually took them out of the budget and he would correct this mistake.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s budget request for 2006-2007 was $903,319.72.
The Commission informed Mr. Zoeller they would like to discuss the vehicles used by the county employees.
W. Scott Bias, President, recessed the Special Meeting at 10:35 a.m., until Friday, March 17, 2006 at 10:00 a.m.
SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006
PRESENT: W. SCOTT BIAS, PRESIDENT
ROBERT L. BAILEY, COMMISSIONER
NANCY CARTMILL, COMMISSIONER
WILLIAM T. WATSON, COUNTY ATTORNEY
STEPHEN ZOELLER, COUNTY MANAGER
SHARON ROSS, ASSISTANT COUNTY
MANAGER
FOR BILLABLES AND PAYABLES
W. Scott Bias, President, reconvened the Special Meeting of the Commission at 10:05 a.m.
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006
PAGE SIX
#061 LETTER, KAREN COLE, COUNTY
CLERK
RE:
APPOINTMENT OF POLL WORKERS AND
EMERGENCY BALLOT COMMISSIONERS FOR
THE 2006 PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTION
Robert L. Bailey, Commissioner, moved to approve the poll workers and the following Emergency Ballot Commissioners: Mary Ann Henry (Democrat), Lois Merritt (Republican), Dolores L. Rozzi (Democrat) and Lois Silling (Republican) for the 2006 Primary and General Election. Nancy Cartmill, Commissioner, seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.
#062 FISCAL YEAR 2006/2007 BUDGET DELIBERATIONS
Stephen Zoeller, County Manager, passed out the proposed budget to the Commission. Mr. Zoeller stated that the first page were comments, in no particular order of importance, just things he believed the Commission should be aware of and the second page were revenues and the third page were expenditures with the remaining pages being details of the accounts.
Mr. Zoeller stated the following were comments for consideration by the Commission:
* Four Vehicles requested by the Sheriff were not included in this budget
* Eliminating a position in Data Processing
* No capital projects were included in the proposed budget
* A 5% salary increase using last year’s salary levels for all county employees on the
General county payroll was included, however, this would not include CCEMS and E-911
* A contingency of $300,000 was included in the budget
* Sheriff Wolfe requested a $56,000 increase for fuel - $26,000 was placed in the
proposed budget for fuel
* Sheriff requested $20,000 for over-time for Law Enforcement - $8,000 was
placed in the proposed budget
* $260,000 per month for the jail bill based on the average monthly bill at present time
* No change in Courthouse Security
* No reduction in the Parks and Library appropriations
* Budget included $800,000 of revenue projected by the carry-over 2005-2006
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006
PAGE SEVEN
* Budget included $175,000 from new legislation regarding redeemed property
(Bill pending the Governor signature)
* No changes in Health Care
Mr. Zoeller stated that the proposed budget included the use of a one time carryover of $160,000 from Coal Severance and $650,000 from the General Fund. Mr. Zoeller further stated this was a total of $850,000 that would not be available next year and would have to be made up by most of the 2007 carryover and most of the contingency.
Mr. Zoeller listed potential additional revenue this year would be as followed:
* Additional carry over from $300,000 to $500,000
* Taxes from the Woodland’s Retirement Community $600,000
* Due to a positive ruling on the jail suit $450,000 to $700,000
* $300,000 from the Building fund.
Commissioner Cartmill stated she was concerned about balancing the budget on an estimated carryover.
Mr. Zoeller stated another option would be to place the 5% salary increases into a Commission line until the amount of the carryover was determined and then the funds could be transferred.
Commissioner Cartmill stated she still was concerned about salary increases until the suit with the Regional Jail Authority was settled. Commissioner Cartmill further stated she believed this sent a bad message to the Jail Authority, especially if this suit would go to the Supreme Court because the Court would want to know why the Commission could give salary increases but could not pay the county’s jail bill.
The Commission and Mr. Zoeller went over the budget by line items and also discussed salary increases for Pete Meadows, John McCallister and Steve Carson.
Nancy Cartmill, Commissioner, moved to go into executive session to discuss Data Processing. Robert L. Bailey, Commissioner, seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.
The Commission went into executive session at 11:30 a.m.
The Commission went back into regular session at 11:50 a.m., with no action was taken.
The Commission and Mr. Zoeller discussed the Coal Severance budget.
After a lengthy discussion, President Bias instructed Mr. Zoeller to back out the salary increases in the General Fund Budget and place them in a Commission line item for consideration at a later date.
FRIDAY MARCH 17, 2006
PAGE EIGHT
The Commission discussed the use of vehicles by county employees.
W. Scott Bias, President, adjourned the special meeting of the County Commission at 1:04 p.m.
__________________________________________
PRESIDENT,
COUNTY COMMISSION
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