Commissioners minutes, September 5-6 |
| October 4, 2011 |
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Chairman Smith presented copies of the proposed budget to those requesting one and explained the review and question process. Chairman Smith said included in the budget information are budget points of interest and documents showing the total proposed budget, cash carry forward balance, property tax replacement information, and other revenues not shown in the property tax replacement. Chairman Smith explained the first page of the handout contains market value information. Chairman Smith said for the record there were four elected officials present and he wanted to thank all elected officials and department heads for submitting their budgets and knowing where the County is at financially and the problems the County is facing. Chairman Smith said the second page of the budget handout lists all the entities that have a budget and Column #2 shows what each of those entity’s budgets are. Chairman Smith explained that each budget is made up of cash carry forward, revenues, and property tax replacement figures and the difference between the total budget amount and the sum of the cash and revenues is that amount that is levied. Chairman Smith said this is the closest estimate at this point in time as there is still one month left of this budget year to go. Chairman Smith said when elected officials and department heads are working on their new budgets, Commissioners ask them not to request any more than what is needed and they have done a good job at that. Once budgets are turned in, Commissioners will ask that elected officials and department heads not spend all of their budgets as they have to bring cash forward to start the following year. Chairman Smith said that is tough to ask, but it is the only way without increasing budgets and increasing the levy over the 3%, which can’t be done anyhow. Chairman Smith asked Clerk Glenda Poston to explain the column listed as “other revenue that is not shown with property tax replacement”. Clerk Poston said property tax replacement is agriculture replacement money from personal property that is a set amount and has been in effect for approximately 10 years. Until Idaho Code changes, these figures will continue to be, according to Clerk Poston. “Other revenue” is the revenue that comes into the County and Chairman Smith listed an example of the Restorium. The Restorium receives a lot of its revenue through room rents, which this year should be approximately $500,000. Chairman Smith said this information shows “other revenue” for the Restorium at $521,912, but some of that is probably sales tax that is received. Also included in “other revenue” are grant funds, but if the County is not awarded a grant, those funds cannot be spent so a lot of the figures are just proposed. Clerk Poston spoke of
payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) funding, which
is for federally owned lands and that figure is
spread throughout the County funds. Chairman
Smith said PILT funds are based on a per acre
figure. Commissioner Dinning said Commissioner Dinning mentioned PILT again and said for clarification the Idaho Department of Fish and Game provides funding in the form of “fees” in lieu of taxes (FILT). Chairman Smith said for the last two years, the County has received 100% of PILT whereas before only 70% had been received and he hoping PILT will continue. Chairman Smith said SRS
funds or Craig Wyden funds consist of timber
receipts from the national forest. Counties used
to receive 25% of the timber receipts and that
amount was split between the school district and
roads. Chairman Smith said five to ten years ago
the government came up with an average of all
counties in the United States that receive this
funding so there was a good idea of how much one
of those counties would receive each year.
Chairman Smith said the County would like to
return to the formula of 25%. Clerk Poston referred to
the information for Emergency Communications and
said the County receives 25¢ per phone line per
month to help in applying for grants to assist
the County’s enhanced Clerk Poston said she provided a summary, which is the first page of the handout. Chairman Smith said this form shows market value at $863,941.278. The County is only able to increase the levy by 3% and for this coming fiscal year that comes to a levy amount of $4,248,952. That is an increase of $172,175 from the prior year, according to Chairman Smith. The 3% equates to $123,766 and the new construction roll budget increase totals $48,409. The total of those two is the total of $172,175, according to Chairman Smith. Chairman Smith said Clerk Poston also provided information on the County’s market value and levy amounts from years 2005 through 2011 as well as the County’s new construction value during those same years. Chairman Smith said
Commissioners received a telephone call from
someone who had been listening to the radio and
thought she heard it was the County that was
going to raise taxes a great deal, but that
turned out to be something involving the City of Clerk Poston said the County now runs all elections for other districts, but the County receives funds from the State to do that. Chairman Smith and Clerk Poston briefly mentioned the polling places for elections. Commissioner Dinning
informed those present that the cost of health
insurance benefits has increased 5% and workers
compensation has also increased. Clerk Poston
said there is no cost of living increase this
year. Commissioner Dinning said the County
continues to have raises in things that counties
are mandated to pay. Clerk Poston said Commissioners opened the public hearing to public comment. Donna Standley referred to
the allowed 3% levy rate increase and she asked
if that is included in this budget. Chairman
Smith said yes. Ms. Standley questioned if
Commissioners honestly believe the average
income in Assessor Ryals explained
the circuit breaker program as a program that is
funded by the State. This is a program mostly
for seniors ages 65 and older, but there is an
income requirement along with that. Assessor
Ryals said if someone is making less than
$28,000 and is a senior, or if someone is
disabled, as there are a few other qualifiers,
that person can receive assistance by the State
of Commissioner Dinning said to Ms. Standley that she knows him and the word “entitled” that she used doesn’t accurately describe Commissioners’ way of thinking. Commissioner Dinning said Commissioners have been through this and there are departments that have not filled positions at the level they had been before. The County has been mandated to fill other positions as required by Idaho Code with regulations that have come into affect. Commissioners have asked all departments to really keep budgets down and they have, but there have been increases in effect that were described such as insurance. Commissioner Dinning said when he says health insurance, the County has a health insurance plan already in place prior to Obamacare coming in and Commissioners were looking at that to help save money by anything the County could do a couple of years ago. After talking to the County’s insurance carrier, according to the Obamacare guidelines, if any change is made to the County’s existing policy that was more than $50 per employee, the County would then have to cover all mandated items that would far exceed the cost the County would save. Commissioner Dinning said the Sheriff’s Office was mandated by the State to add at least one additional employee to provide a different level of coverage for the inmates. The County is going to see a large increase in its workers compensation rates. Commissioner Dinning said he has really tried to see where the County can cut and last year especially, the County reduced costs. Commissioner Dinning said this year is where it is and he is not saying it is nice, or that it’s easy, or that Commissioners want to do this, but to provide the things that are mandated and the level of service the County has, this is where we are at. Commissioner Dinning said to Ms. Standley that he doesn’t like taxes any more than she does. Road and Bridge
Superintendent Jeff Gutshall joined the meeting
at Mr. Gutshall asked to interject and he mentioned the cost increases. Mr. Gutshall said the cost of diesel and the cost for the County to plow the roads has doubled and tripled. Mr. Gutshall said he has 340 miles of road to cover. Commissioner Dinning said he personally has really gone over the budget. And last year, Commissioners know that if a department didn’t spend $100 of their budget, their budget was cut back. There was a huge cut taken last year, according to Commissioner Dinning. Commissioner Dinning said Commissioners don’t feel the County is entitled to a 3% increase, but are just trying to operate. Ms. Standley said
co-mingling was just mentioned and she
questioned what the purpose is and if
recyclables were going into the landfill. Mr.
Skeen said recycling is a part of his
department’s revenue. Mr. Skeen said any
recycling other than glass earns a small
revenue. Restorium Administrator
Karlene Magee joined the meeting at Ms. Sandman said her point
was that someone else is doing the separation
somewhere else. Mr. Skeen said that is correct,
but Ms. Sandman said knows people receiving social security benefits and that is changing as well. These people haven’t had a cost of living increase in three years. Ms. Sandman mentioned that everyone has said that taxes have stayed the same, but all her friends that have retired from the military and using herself as an example, she is losing $386.40 each year because more taxes have come out. Ms. Sandman asked how many houses are in foreclosure. Ms. Sandman said county government has to run and has to provide things, but it is time for this County to start looking at not just normal ways of operation. We need to look for people who are willing to come and drive a snowplow once in awhile and have it covered by their own insurance. Ms. Sandman said people need to help each other out such as in the barn raising days. Ms. Sandman said there are how many families that have been packed up and moved by their churches. This County is going to run out of people to be able to keep County government running. Mr. Schernitzki said he is here on a misconception as he heard on the radio the County was going to issue close to a 5% increase in taxes. Mr. Schernitzki said he has now learned by listening to Commissioners in these last few minutes what it takes to do this job. Mr. Schernitzki said he is retired and he has worked his entire life to earn a little bit of income besides his retirement. Mr. Schernitzki said three years ago he and his wife could go somewhere and enjoy life and his retirement, but today his wife had to go to work because they have lost 30% of his income. Mr. Schernitzki said he still gets the same income, but it just costs 30% more to survive. Mr. Schernitzki said Commissioners are going to have to come to grips with the fact that this is a large community of retired people. These people have a set amount of income and they can’t change it. Everything the County does to people takes away from their life style. Mr. Schernitzki asked if Commissioners have had a pay raise in the last three years and Chairman Smith said no. Clerk Poston said she believes the last pay increase was in April 2009. Mr. Schernitzki said that is fine and if Commissioners want to increase people, then they can have a decrease in the County as he is willing to give the County a 2% to 2.5% increase in his taxes if Commissioners are willing to take a 2% to 2.5% cut in their wages. Chairman Smith thanked Mr. Schernitzki for his comments. Ms. Sandman said people in
the community are leaving and that is a fact.
Mr. Schernitzki said there are 200 homes for
sale right here right now and there are
foreclosures up to your ears. Somebody has to do
something and take the bull by the horns or this
County is going to go downhill just like the
rest of the country, according to Mr.
Schernitzki. This is not just a county or a
state issue, it is a Chairman Smith asked for further comments and no further comments were made. Chairman Smith reviewed the proposed budget resolution aloud prior to adoption. Commissioner Dinning moved to adopt Resolution 2011-44. A resolution adopting the fiscal year 2011-2012 County budget. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously. Resolution #2011-44 reads as follows:
RESOLUTION 2011-44
A
RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE FISCAL YEAR 2011-2012
WHEREAS, on the 6th day of September, 2011, at
the Boundary County Courthouse in Bonners Ferry,
Idaho; the Board of County Commissioners held
the fiscal year 2011-2012 budget hearing for
Boundary County, and
WHEREAS, the budget hearing was held in
accordance with Idaho Code 31-1604 and Idaho
Code 31-1605, and
WHEREAS, the proposed budget was duly printed in
the Bonners Ferry Herald on
WHEREAS, there was citizen input on the budget
as proposed, and
WHEREAS, having considered the budget needs and
available revenue,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of
Boundary County Commissioners hereby unanimously
adopt the fiscal year 2011-2012 budget as
attached for
DATED AND DONE this 6th day of September,
2011
BOARD OF
s/
RONALD R. SMITH, Chairman
s/
DAN R. DINNING, Commissioner
s/
WALT KIRBY, Commissioner
ATTEST:
s/
GLENDA POSTON, Clerk of the Board of
Recorded as instrument #251766 Commissioner Dinning thanked those present for their comments and asked them to keep involved with Commissioners. Commissioner Kirby mentioned he felt it would be beneficial to have a report that would show everyone the cuts the County departments have made to keep the budget low and not raise it in various areas. Commissioner Kirby said it would be interesting to have a document showing budget cuts by each department. There are less employment costs as there are fewer employees. The reason for the budget is all inflation and there is no more going on in the County, maybe even a bit less than last year and yet the cost keeps increasing. Commissioner Kirby said it isn’t the cost it is just numbers and inflation. The inflation rate is whatever it is as he doesn’t know what it is, but it is far more than 3% he is sure. Commissioner Kirby said if the County doesn’t take the 3% every year the County falls behind by 6% the next year and we can’t afford to fall back. It is simply the numbers game, according to Commissioner Kirby. Between this year’s budget and last year’s budget for instance, you can see the landfill’s budget has been cut back considerably, according to Commissioner Kirby. Although the Road and Bridge budget is separate as that budget is not levied for, but you can see how costs have increased tremendously for that department and yet the services haven’t decreased. Commissioner Kirby said it may be that Road and Bridge services have even improved a bit as Mr. Gutshall has figured out more economical ways to do things. The County elected officials and department heads watch very closely to not spend any more than they did before, or not as much if at all possible. Commissioner Kirby said that Ms. Sandman mentioned barn raising, etc., and if anyone had any idea how many volunteer hours and volunteer dollars come into the County it is astounding and those numbers don’t show up here. Mr. Gutshall said for his
Road and Bridge Department his employees work
for pretty low wages for their industry and if
they were in the private sector they would make
a lot more. Mr. Gutshall said someone mentioned
retirement and Commissioner Kirby said
sitting here as a Chairman Smith said the 3% increase mentioned is in Idaho Code and in years past, if the County wanted to raise the levy any amount even 10% over the previous budget, the County was able to do that. Chairman Smith said so many years ago, Idaho Code changed and stated that counties were only allowed to raise the levy 3% and a lot of that is to protect the public. Chairman Smith said Commissioners do the best we can do, we do what we have to do in order to operate County government and take care of County employees and what they do for us. The County utilizes volunteers when it can and they have a lot of volunteers. The budget hearing ended at 9:45 a.m., Restorium Administrator Karlene Magee, Restorium Board Chairman Larry Dirks, and Restorium Board member Wilma Devore met with Commissioners to provide an update on Restorium matters. Clerk Poston was also in attendance. Those present discussed the budget for the Restorium in relation to available cash and payroll for the beginning of the next fiscal year. Chairman Smith said he takes total responsibility for the mix up that is currently going on with the budget shortfall as far as payroll. It was said there is a question whether or not the October 2012 budget will be sufficient to cover payroll until January. There has been a discrepancy as to the actual number of employees at the Restorium versus the record of employees on file at the Courthouse. The Restorium has 14 full-time employees and if anyone of those people can’t make it to work, someone else has to come in and cover for them, but there is not budget for those employees. Ms. Devore said adding those extra days off has impacted this. Clerk Poston said there is $15,000 in the budget for overtime and wages for the month of September is approximately $35,000 so that is about $15,000 to $20,000 short. Chairman Smith suggested waiting until the end of the fiscal year to see how the budget looks. Chairman Smith said there is a difference between budget and cash and if an item is not in the budget, money can’t be spent on that item, but transfers can be made if there is a need. The meeting on Restorium
matters ended at Chairman Smith said a conditional use permit for a gravel pit was issued for Kevin McNally and Commissioners have received a complaint that crushing is taking place on Mr. McNally’s property. Mr. Weland said he needs to contact County Attorney Phil Robinson about this matter. There had been crushing taking place, but Mr. McNally has since shut down the crushing operation. Mr. Weland said Mr. McNally may have to have the crushing done somewhere else. Mr. Weland said the crushing is for the Kootenai Tribe’s river restoration project. Mr. Weland left the meeting
at Ms. Brown met with Commissioners to update them on Probation Department matters. Ms. Brown said her department has five kids in the Juvenile Accountability Program. Overall there are 42 juveniles on probation with 10 new cases coming in. Ms. Brown said anytime a juvenile gets probation, she will automatically give them community service. Ms. Brown informed Commissioners that one of her employees has had a large part in tracking down the youths involved in graffiti and burglaries. There are 52 adults on misdemeanor probation and 88% of those cases are alcohol related. There are 298 cases of unsupervised probation. Ms. Brown updated Commissioners on the upcoming meetings will she will attend. Commissioner Dinning moved to sign the Memorandum of Agreement to support the Community Incentive Program (CIP), the Re-Entry Program (REP), and/or the Mental Health Program (MHP). Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Brown left the meeting
at Commissioners tended to administrative duties. Commissioners spoke to Attorney Phil Robinson via telephone to discuss various matters. Clerk Glenda Poston and Planning and Zoning Administrator Mike Weland were also available. Commissioners informed Attorney Robinson they had received a complaint about crushing taking place on Kevin McNally’s property. It was said that crushing was opposed in Mr. McNally’s conditional use permit. Mr. Weland said he has sent a letter to Mr. McNally about the violation and crushing has stopped. Blue Sky Broadcasting
reporter Mike Brown joined the meeting at Mr. Weland said the crusher belongs to the Kootenai Tribe as it is being used for the river restoration project. Mr. McNally has shut down the crushing operation and Mr. Weland said Mr. McNally will most likely need to have the crusher removed from his property. Mr. Weland said the crusher is used for the project so the equipment will probably follow the project. Attorney Robinson said if the crusher is moved from the property at least it is not in violation of the County’s permit. Chairman Smith said what has already taken place is that Mr. McNally has stopped the operation. It is fine for the crusher to sit on Mr. McNally’s property, but it can’t be in operation. Mr. Weland said if Commissioners would like he could send a letter to those writing the complaints to notify them the crushing has stopped. Road and Bridge
Superintendent Jeff Gutshall and Planning and
Zoning Commission Chairman Dan Studer joined the
meeting at Those present discussed
matters involving the Planning and Zoning
Ordinance issues. Chairman Smith said when the
hearing to address the Planning and Zoning
Ordnance ended last week he was stopped by the
Mr. Studer who informed him he didn’t think it
was appropriate for Chairman Smith to call out
Planning and Zoning Board member Matt Cossalman
like he did. Chairman Smith said when the
proposed ordinance went to the Planning and
Zoning Commission, the document has already been
reviewed by the County attorneys. The initial
question was if the issues of the gravel pit had
been resolved and Chairman Smith said to his
understanding the answer was yes. Chairman Smith reviewed the discussion of the hearing and said at this point, if minor changes are made to the ordinance and there’s not substantial changes made then Commissioners can agendize adopting the ordinance. Attorney Robinson said that was correct. If substantial changes are made to the ordinance, the hearing would need to reconvene on the date of October 24th and the hearing would be re-opened to public testimony to address the changes. Chairman Smith said he made his concerns known and it sounds like he was the only one there questioning the issues. Chairman Smith said he is ready now to make the issues right and if there are no substantial changes, he’s ready to adopt the ordinance. Commissioner Dinning asked Attorney Robinson if he had the opportunity to go through the ordinance fully. Attorney Robinson said he should be able to finish his review with Mr. Weland’s notes by this Thursday. Attorney Robinson said he is trying to review the information sent to the Planning and Zoning Commission and the issues that were sent back to see if there was anything significantly different. If it is just format there isn’t any problem, but if there is something significant, there needs to be more discussion, according to Attorney Robinson. Mr. Studer said he wanted to emphasize a lot of changes to Chapters 15 and 16 are primarily structure and he thought it also consisted of adding some examples like the zip lines. The basic structure content was changed and there was quite a bit of rewording and clarification in order to have compliance with definitions and other terms found elsewhere in the document. Attorney Robinson said the public hearing is on the post ordinance as it was published. If there are just procedural and word changes, then the County is fine to move forward. Commissioner Dinning said in this process, does the County have the ability to adopt the map separate from the ordinance or subject to ordinance adoption. Attorney Robinson said the two have to stay in conformity. If Commissioners adopted a map and then made changes making an inconsistency, it is back to holding a public hearing. Mr. Weland and Mr. Studer left the meeting. Commissioners spoke to
Attorney Robinson about possibly abandoning Those present discussed the matter involving the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the question of access ownership. Mr. Gutshall said he doesn’t know why the right-of-way couldn’t apply to the old highway. Attorney Robinson said his only concern is if the County claimed it is not a road, the landowners will have to reflect adverse possession was acquired. Mr. Gutshall said the engineers for BPA just needs to have the County acknowledge whether or not this access is a County road. Attorney Robinson said if there are affected property owners, they may come back to the County and question. Mr. Gutshall said if the County acknowledges the access is the County’s right-of-way, matters will stay the same and BPA will get a permit from the County. Commissioner Dinning said this has to do with BPA checking their property. Commissioner Dinning said he wants to make sure Commissioners express they haven’t maintained this road or don’t wish to maintain it and that it was never in the County road system. Attorney Robinson said he thinks BPA and their Engineer, Mike Gilroy, just want to know if the road is a County road. The call with Attorney
Robinson ended at Commissioner Dinning moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the Sales Agreement with DLB Associates in regards to hardware maintenance for the AS400. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Dinning moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security Subgrant Application for Assistance for the 2011 Emergency Management Program Grant. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Dinning moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the Independent Service Agreement with Bill York Crushing and Salvage for the Solid Waste Department. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Dinning moved to approve non-medical assistance for indigent application #2011-57 for cremation services or in the amount of $1,907.10 as per the Clerk’s recommendation. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Dinning moved to set monthly reimbursement for indigent account #2010-65 at a minimum of $50 beginning April 2012. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously. Clerk Glenda Poston left
the meeting at Commissioners spoke to Noxious Weeds Superintendent Duke Guthrie briefly via telephone to discuss a letter received from the Idaho Association of Weed Control Superintendents. The letter requests support for the Healthy Habitats Coalition (HHC). This coalition promotes the protection, preservation and restoration of the nation’s natural resource, heritage and economic interest from the negative impacts of harm by invasive species. HHC seeks legislation and appropriations that assist private, local, state, federal land managers through state and federal leadership. Commissioner Dinning moved to authorize the County Noxious Weeds Supervisor to expend up to $100 to support the Healthy Habitats Coalition. Commissioner Kirby second. Motion passed unanimously. Channing Nagel stopped by to thank Commissioners for publicly supporting Jeremy Hill.
Commissioners received one sealed bid from Dyck’s Oil and Auto, Inc., for a total amount bid of $171,115. Included in the bid was a check for 5% of the total amount bid. Mr. Gutshall asked about mark-ups and Mr. Dyck said the mark-up did not change. Mr. Gutshall was asked to review the budget for fuel and said the budget for fuel is within $11,000 of the amount bid. Mr. Gutshall said he doesn’t have a problem with the bid. Commissioner Dinning moved to approve the bid from Dyck’s Oil and Auto totaling $171,115 for the County’s fuel supply for fiscal year 2011-2012.
The bid opening ended at Commissioners recessed for
lunch at 1:30 p.m., Chairman Smith and Mr. Gutshall conducted a tour of various County roads to see projects the Road and Bridge Department is working on and to check conditions of various roads. There being no further
business, the meeting adjourned at /s/ RONALD R. SMITH, Chairman ATTEST: /s/ GLENDA POSTON, Clerk By: Michelle Rohrwasser, Deputy Clerk |