Carbondale Reporter

Jackson County Finance and Administration Committee met July 8.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Call to Order (6:00 PM)

Members Present: Calandro, Comparato, D. Bost, Erbes, Hunter, Mueller, Nehring, Peterson and Snyder

Members Absent: Larkin, Mendoza, Rendleman and S. Bost

Also Present: Sharon Harris-Johnson, Maureen Berkowitz, Kenton Schafer, Mitch Burdick, Josh Barringer, Bart Hagston, Jennifer Lindsey, Jeff Whitbeck, Frank Byrd, Kevin Kern, Lisa Jacquot, Dana Dailey

Approval of Minutes

I. 19-4252 June 10, 2019 minutes

A motion was made by Erbes, seconded by Calandro, to approve the June 10, 2019 minutes as presented. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

Chair's Report

Insurance

A. Worker's Compensation Update

B. Payment of Health Insurance Claims

C. Health Insurance Update

A. The County Administrator is working on fixing the 2018 audit, she will be meeting with Mr. Couch this week.

B. The claims will be presented at the Board meeting.

C. Erbes gave an updated of the decisions made at the recent Health Insurance Taskforce meeting. Those minutes can be found at: https://www.jacksoncounty-il.gov/government/county-agendas-and-minutes

Finance

A. Payment of County Monthly Claims

B. Payment of Board Member Tra vel Expenses

A. Comparato moved and Erbes seconded to pay the County Monthly claims in the amount of $214,986.61, motion carried.

B. Comparato moved and Calandro seconded to pay the Board members travel reimbursement in the amount of $3,743.37, motion carried.

II. 19-4253 Greater Egypt appropriation in the amount of $15,054.50 In light of the current cash flow issues the committee has decided to hold this for a month. The County Administrator will contact Greater Egypt to discuss this with them.

III. 19-4254 FY18 County Wide Audit Update There have been some delays at KEB but the County audit will be completed by the end of the month deadline. This item will be on the Board agenda.

IV. 19-4255 Ordinance Authorizing the County Recorder's Office to Increase Fees The committee reviewed the ordinance and the attached fee study. A motion was made by Mueller, seconded by Calandro, to approve the Ordinance Authorizing the County Recorder's Office to Increase Fees. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

V. 19-4256 Ordinance Authorizing the County Clerk's Office to Increase Fees The committee reviewed the ordinance and attached fee study.

VI. 19-4257 A motion was made by Erbes, seconded by Comparato, to approve the Ordinance Authorizing the County Clerk's Office to Increase Fees. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

VI. 19-4257 Petitioning State Government-Not for Profit Hospitals

In light of the upcoming S. Bost move Erbes has offered to take over the work on this project. He will speak with S. Bost to get the current information.

Labor

Hunter reported that she and Larkin had a six hour mediation meeting with FOP and nothing was decided, the next meeting is in August.

Old Business

VII. 19-4258 Cash Flow Discussion

Harris-Johnson gave the committee a handout of the current cash on hand and reported that she is trying to make it without the County having to do tax anticipation warrants, but she recommends that the Board vote on the Ordinance this month in case it is needed. She reminded the committee that the payroll each month is about one million dollars and the accounts payable are about five hundred thousand dollars. Then she informed the committee that the Courthouse air conditioning went out and it will be about $22,000 repair. Hunter asked for it to be noted that Department Heads and Office Holders need to be very conservative in their spending. Harris-Johnson then concluded by stating that the dates they are looking at for taxes being due are August 26 and September 26, additionally the tax sale date has been set for December 5th.

New Business

VIII. 19-4259 Engaging outside accounting assistance for the remainder of the fiscal year

The committee was informed that the Accounting Coordinator quit at the end of June. The County needs assistance to get through the end of the year to assist with the audit, journalizing, etc. Hunter discussed engaging an accounting firm for the remainder of the year and during the budget process discuss what to do next year. The Board can use the salary for the Accounting Coordinator and would need to stay under $30,000 to not have to bid the services. D. Bost asked about other candidates for the position and there were some but the learning curve is steep and work needs done now. Peterson suggested moving the discussion to the Board meeting. Hunter stated that the gaps in the accounting work need to be figured out and then an accounting firm could be located. Nehring asked if KEB could do it, Hunter said yes and also mentioned Leslie Williams as another option. The consensus of the committee is to pursue the idea. Hunter will meet with the Treasurer and the County Administrator to find the gaps. Nehring asked to go into executive session to discuss the Accounting Coordinator quitting, the matter will be put on the Executive Committee agenda.

Executive Session

Adjourn

Comparato moved and D. Bost seconded to adjourn, motion carried.

https://www.jacksoncounty-il.gov/Home/Components/MeetingsManager/MeetingMinutes/ShowPrimaryDocument/?minutesID=5001&isPub=True&includeTrash=False