Jackson County Finance and Administration Committee met Jan. 15.
Here is the agenda provided by the committee:
Call to Order (5:01 PM)
Members Present: Comparato, D. Bost, Endres, Erbes, Hunter and Peterson
Members Absent: S. Bost
Also Present: Christine Snyder, Michelle Tweedy, Sarah Patrick, Josh Barringer, Dana Dailey, Lisa Jacquot, Mary Varner, Kenton Schafer, Maureen Berkowitz, Robert Burns, Jeff Whitbeck, Jennifer Lindsey
Approval of Minutes
I. 19-3910 December 10, 2018 minutes
A motion was made by Erbes, seconded by Comparato, to approve the December 10, 2019 minutes as presented. The motion carried by unanimous vote.
Chair's Report
Liz thanked the Sheriff's Office for providing coffee.
Insurance
A. Worker's Compensation Update
B. Payment of Health Insurance Claims
C. Health Insurance Task Force
A. The coordinator reported that end of the year filings are being submitted this month and there are 2 work comp cases so far in 2019
B. Tweedy reviewed the presented health insurance claim information. Erbes moved and D. Bost seconded to pay the January health insurance claims in the amount of $381,794.48, motion carried.
C. Hunter reported that she asked the coordinator to gather some information on different health insurance options. Hunter would like to have options prior to the first Health Insurance Task force (HIT) meeting. She went on to remind the committee that the county is not required to go out for bid on health insurance but in an effort be transparent she thinks it would be a good id ea to go out for bid. It will also provide the HIT with a place to start. Endres suggested getting bids on comparable plans to start with so that HIT will be comparing apples to apples. Hunter reminded everyone that is will be a long process and labor intensive for the board office staff. She then informed the committee that many counties do this on an annual basis and Jackson County may look at doing that.
Comparato moved and Erbes seconded to go out for bid on the county health insurance plan.
Finance
A. Payment of County Monthly Claims
B. Payment of Gilbert, Huffman, Prosser, Hewson & Burke, Ltd.
C. Payment of Board Member Travel Expenses
A. Endres moved and Erbes seconded to pay the county monthly claims in the amount of $294,603.53, motion carried.
B. Erbes moved and Comparato seconded to pay the Gilbert, Huffman, Prosser, Hewson & Burke, Ltd. bill i n the amount of $7,284.04, motion carried. Tweedy asked which line item this bill should be paid out of, reminding the committee that there is no contingency fund this fiscal year. She went on to say that it could be paid out of the contingency line item from last year since the work was done last year but any future bills will need to come out of somewhere else.
C. Comparato moved and Endres seconded to pay the board members travel reimbursement in the amount of $2,999.43. The committee then discussed the individual forms and noticed that Mueller had a meeting on that is not reimbursable and Comparato was missing a meeting. The motion was amended to show the removal of Mueller's December 1, 2018 attendance at the swearing in of elected officials and the addition of the December 3, 2018 Board meeting to Comparato's, motion carried.
II. 19-3911 Delinquent Tax Resolutions 2019-01 to 2019-08
a. Delinquent Tax Resolution 2019-01 Parcel# 04-21-178-011
b. Delinquent Tax Resolution 2019-02 Parcel# 03-28-100-006
c. Delinquent Tax Resolution 2019-03 Parcel# 13-30-176-002
d. Delinquent Tax Resolution 2019-04 Parcel# 14-03-331-030
e. Delinquent Tax Resolution 2019-05 Parcel# 14-04-383-008
f. Delinquent Tax Resolution 2019-06 Parcel# 15-16-353-003
g. Delinquent Tax Resolution 2019-07 Parcel# 15-21-176-030
h. Delinquent Tax Resolution 2019-08 Parcel# 16-25-402-004
D. Bost asked for an explanation of the process of getting the delinquent tax resolutions to the board and what it means for the county, Jacquot and Berkowitz provided the answer.
A motion was made by Comparato, seconded by D. Bost, to approve delinquent tax resolutions 2019-01 to 2019-08. The motion carried by unanimous vote.
III. 19-3912 Petitioning State Government-Not for profit Hospitals
This item will remain on the agenda until S. Bost is able to attend.
IV. 19-3913 UCCI Solid Waste Fund Opinion
Comparato began by explaining that he has concerns about the ambiguity on how the fund is being and can be used. He is suggesting that the county contact UCCI to get a legal opinion and/or clarification on the use of the Solid Waste Fund and what the IEPA thinks about how the county has been using the fund. He pointed out that in order for UCCI to provide an opinion the request must come from the Chair of the County Board. Hunter read and email from Allison Mileur in the State's Attorney's Office that states what the Fund can be used for since it is a restricted account. She went on to say that as she see's it Comparato wants to know if the county can borrow from the fund and she believes they can. Comparato pointed out that saying borrow or saying use is really just semantics and does not answer the real question of whether the county is appropriately dipping into the Fund. Tweedy took this opportunity to explain the difference between the two different tipping fees that are collected. Hunter stated that any resistance to the idea is because if UCCI says pay it back ASAP the county does not have the money to do that. Tweedy pointed out that the county is audited every year and there have been no issues with using the funds. Comparato pointed out that it is better to get it out in the open than keep doing something that may not be allowed. He went on to say that his end goal is to get information on the legal perspective of the use of the Fund.
A motion was made by Comparato, seconded by Erbes, to authorize and direct the Chairman of the County Board to request a legal opinion from UCCI on the use of the Solid Waste Funds over the last ten years. The motion carried by unanimous vote.
V. 19-3914 Financial Statement Review
a. Bonds Update
b. Court Security Funding/Fee Study
c. Tax Anticipation Warrants
A. Tweedy stated that there is no new information, the next payment is due in June and if the board pays back the $500,000 that was borrowed the bonds are on schedule to be settled in 2020.
B. Hunter informed the committee that this was underfunded during the budgeting process. The Sheriff has agreed to use the housing of prisoner fund on an as needed basis to pay the around $10,000 shortfall each month. Hunter also discussed the need to do a fee study for the courts and the entire county. Sheriff Burns was asked to check into the cost of a fee study firm.
C. Hunter began by informing the committee that the county will run out of money and she asked Harris-Johnson to look into getting tax anticipation warrants (TAW) which is a loan for governments. Harris-Johnson spoke with three banks who said they would be willing to work with the county on TAW. None of the banks would give her an interest rate without knowing how much the county will need. Also, the would require the county to provide a comprehensive plan for how they plan to pay the money back and not end up needing to reborrow right away. She then told a story about when she was a school administrator as an example. She went on to say that it would take four to six weeks to get them set up and she would need to work with the State's Attorney's Office to negotiate the contract. Hunter asked Tweedy to explain where the tax money went. Tweedy explained that the county levied nine million dollars and six million of it has been spent. If the board does not pay the money back that they borrowed they will run out of money in May, if they do pay the money back the county will run out of money in March. Hunter said the county will probably need to borrow around four million dollars. The committee asked where the six million dollars has been spent; two million on health insurance, $500,000 on tort liability, $500,000 on AP's and $2.5 million on payroll. Harris-Johnson said her office, Assessments and the County Clerk's office are working to try and get tax bills out sooner this year. Hunter asked if there is anything the board could do to help with the money issue, Berkowitz suggested levying the full amount possible. Endres stated that health insurance is what is breaking the county and it needs addressed. Burns stated that if the board was going to have a Health Insurance Task force they need to do it right this time not like last year. They need to have everyone at the table and provide everyone with the same accurate numbers so a collective decision can be made. Patrick asked if the board has thought of a hiring freeze. Hunter suggested that the Finance Committee meet more often to address issues in a more timely fashion, the consensus of the committee is to meet twice a month.
A motion was made by Peterson, seconded by Erbes, to authorize temporarily funding court security as needed from the housing of prisoner fund. The motion carried by unanimous vote.
VI. 19-3915 County Clerk Office Renovations
This item was moved to February due to the fact that the County Clerk did not attend the meeting.
VII. 19-3916 IRS Civil Penalties Update
Tweedy informed the committee that this item is on hold due to the Federal Government shutdown. The IRS agent she was working with is not in the office until the shutdown is over.
Labor
Hunter asked Sheriff Burns to try to contact the FOP Union Rep regarding the contract.
Old Business
New Business
Executive Session
Adjourn (6:48 PM)
Endres moved and Erbes seconded to adjourn, motion carried.
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