Carbondale Reporter

Jackson County Finance and Administration Committee met October 8.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Call to Order (5:01 pm):

Members Present: Comparato, D. Bost, Erbes, Hunter, Larkin, Maxwell and Peterson

Also Present: John S. Rendleman, Cheryl Endres, Laurie Nehring, Robert Burns, Susie Kilquist, Mary Varner, Howard Danzig, Maureen Berkowitz, Sharon Harris-Johnson, Kenton Schafer, Michelle Tweedy, Josh Barringer

Approval of Minutes:

I. 18-3719 September 10, 2018 Minutes

Peterson commented that "Schafer" was spelled wrong in several places. Also in section V, letter C, the word "keep" should be "kept".

A motion was made by Larkin, seconded by Peterson, to approve the September 10, 2018 minutes with the requested changes. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Chair's Report:

Hunter reported that they have held all the budget hearings and the committee has a good idea of what departments are requesting. The committee will need to fill in IMRF, insurance, salaries, etc. The question before the committee now is if and where cuts can be made. Rendleman commented that the Sheriff's budget was not complete when the committee looked at it. Kilquist handed out an updated budget to the committee. Peterson commented that while she was away over the weekend she talked with people in DuPage county who indicated that they would not move to Jackson County because they believe the crime rate is high here but the cost of living is low.

Insurance

II. 18-3720 Worker's Compensation Update

a. Renewal Application

Tweedy reported that the Worker's Compensation insurance renewal has already been filled out with a 1% increase. She recommended the board put in a 4-5% increase to get a true reflection of county salaries because the 1% does not account for any cost of living increases. The board can choose any amount but there may be an additional cost once the audit is completed.

A motion was made by Larkin, seconded by Erbes, to approve the 1% increase in the Worker's Compensation renewal. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

III. 18-3721 Health Insurance

a. Check Issuance

b. Plan Changes

i. Effective Date: Plan Year vs. Fiscal Year

ii. FY18-19 Premiums

iii. Notification

c. Health Savings Accounts

d. Payment of Health Insurance Claims

A. Tweedy informed the committee that some of the checks that Consociate issues for claims are old but are still being accepted by the banks at this time.

B. Plan changes will be discussed at the full board meeting.

B.i. Hunter reported that she heard from Schermer that it will not be an issue to have the insurance plan changes take effect on December 1, 2018 and the deductible to take effect on January 1, 2019. The committee agreed.

B. ii. Danzig addressed the committee and gave out handouts with information about premium amounts as well as a couple of articles about how to provide in-house healthcare. Hunter reminded the committee that the county has not been funding insurance to the fullest. Additionally, she spoke with Schermer and he provided different models that show that the family and children use the county insurance more than individual employees. Hunter encouraged the committee to fund the plan at the actual rates instead of the lower ones that have been used in the past few years. Danzig pointed out that the administrative costs have remained around $40,000 per month. He went on to talk about different trends in insurance and reminded the committee that when the board went out for bids, the other options were much higher than what they pay now. Endres asked how the premiums are set; they are negotiated. Hunter stated that historically the county has funded the employee only portion and the employees are responsible for the remaining amount. This will amount to about a $1300 per month increase for anyone who has the family plan. Larkin stated that realistically it might be cheaper for family's to go to the open market. Hunter commented that the Health Insurance Taskforce might be able to help with that and Schermer has offered to help employees.

B. iii. Hunter

A motion was made by Larkin, seconded by Erbes, to approve for the Health Insurance plan changes to take effect on December 1, 2018 and the deductible to take effect on January 1, 2018.

A motion was made by Larkin, seconded by D. Bost, to approve recommendation of the Consociate proposed FY2018-2019 COBRA rates for the funding amounts for the County Health Insurance. The rates will be: Employee Only-$1027.93; Employee & Spouse-$2,158.65; Employee & Child-$1,850.27; Employee & Family-$3,186.59.

IV. 18-3722 Property & Liability Insurance

a. Insurance Renewal

The committee reviewed the renewal proposal from Snedeker Risk Management. The cost has gone up 1.5% but the unemployment has gone down 2% due to the Rehab & Care dropping off.

A motion was made to approve the proposal from Snedeker Risk Management/IPMG for the renewal of the County Property & Liability Insurance for fiscal year 2019. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Finance:

V. 18-3723 Payment of County Monthly Claims

A motion was made by Larkin, seconded by Erbes, to authorize payment of the County monthly claims in the amount of $410,670.00. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

VI. 18-3724 Payment of Board Members Travel expenses

Erbes asked to have his travel voucher added to the ones already presented, the committee agreed. The new total is $2,928.48.

A motion was made by Erbes, seconded by D. Bost, to authorize payment of the Board members travel reimbursement in the amount of $2,928.48. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

VII. 18-3725 Delinquent Tax Resolution 2018-58 Parcel# 14-04-337-023

A motion was made by Larkin, seconded by Erbes, to approve the Delinquent Tax Resolution 2018-58 Parcel# 14-04-337-023. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

VIII. 18-3726 Financial Statement Review

a. Jackson County Reserves

b. Transfer of Funds

Tweedy gave a brief update about how much has been transferred until taxes are in and reminded the committee that there may be another transfer needed before the end of the month.

IX. 18-3728 Property tax, CAMA and wEdge Software License maintenance and support (DEVNET) The committee reviewed the contract for the DEVNET program. It is renewed every four or five years. Harris-Johnson and Berkowitz spoke about how valuable the program is to what they do. The State's Attorney's Office has not had a chance to review the contract. Barringer would like to see some language in the contract that lists what they expect for access to the County servers and programs. He would also like for them to be explicit about what they are requiring the County to provide. The consensus of the committee is to review this in November once Barringer and the State's Attorney's Office have had a chance to review the contract.

X. 18-3727 Budget Preparation

a. Hearings Overview

b. Budget Preparation Meeting Dates

c. Budget Adoption Date

Tweedy provided the committee with a work-up of the "Larkin Formula" cuts for each department. Hunter pointed out that the original requested amount for health insurance was about four million dollars under budget. Tweedy reminded the committee that the request did not include revenue and that the request is actually about five hundred thousand dollars off. Larkin began discussing the property tax amounts and possible cuts. D Bost asked to see the EAV reductions over the last five years, Tweedy will provide that at the next meeting. The consensus of the committee is to have Tweedy put in the suggested funding amounts for tort, social security, work comp, property & liability and wages with a 0, 1 and 2 percent increase. They would also like to her to use last years health insurance numbers. The committee moved on to reviewing the Sheriff's Department budget. Kilquist stated that she put in the benefits and gave totals. Sheriff Burns stated that he may have around two hundred thousand dollars to roll over to county general. The purchase of new vehicles can come from the detainee fund as it has done for the past few years. Rendleman asked about selling the old vehicles; they are used for trade-in value. Hunter asked about the increase in medical care expenses, it is due to the increase in malpractice insurance costs and an increase in the contract amount which is the first time it has gone up in many years.

The committee decided to hold the next budget meetings on October 17 and October 24 at 5pm in the County Board office.

Labor

Old Business

New Business

Executive Session:

XI. 18-3729 Executive Session under 2 (c) 2 of the Illinois Open Meetings Act to discuss collective bargaining

This was not needed.

Adjourn (6:34 pm):

Larkin moved and Comparato seconded to adjourn, motion carried.

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