Finance Committee Meeting Minutes
FY07 Budget Presentations
Glynn County
Board of Commissioners
1:30 P.M., Wednesday,
May 10, 2006
Third Floor Conference Room
W. Harold Pate Courthouse Annex
Brunswick, Georgia
Present:
Committee Members: C.
Johnson, U. Keller, & T. Thaw
Other
Commissioners: C. Fendig, D. Hogan
Staff: D. Chunn, P. McNicoll, B.
Rowell, C. Stewart
Press:
Others:
1)
Consider
approving the April 20, 2006 Finance Committee Minutes.
The following motion made by
Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Johnson passed
unanimously. Commissioner Thaw had not
yet arrived at the meeting.
Approve the April 6,
2006 Finance Committee Minutes.
(Vote: 2-0-0)
2)
Personnel
items.
a. Judges of Superior Court Supplement
Request. The Judges have requested a $6
thousand annual supplement. There are
five other positions whose salaries are tied to the Superior Court Judges’
salaries. Granting of the $24k increase
for the judges will require $45k in increases when the increases to the other
positions are done. Mr. Gary Moore, County Attorney,
has been asked to look at this item and determine if staff’s interpretation is
correct. Mr. Stewart stated that he
would like to have a legal opinion before the Committee makes a decision. Mr.
Stewart said that there has been talk about adding a Superior Court Judge and
that Judge Tuten needs to formally request on if he is in favor of the
additional position. Commissioner
Johnson stated that he doesn’t want to increase the judges’ supplement by $6
thousand but would possible agree to $3 thousand. Commissioner Keller stated that the County
needs to analyze the space needs if a new judge is added to the circuit. Commissioner Keller supported Commissioner
Johnson’s position of possibly approving a $3 thousand supplement increase but
felt that they should wait on making a decision until staff receives a legal
opinion. The following motion made by
Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Johnson passed unanimously. Commissioner Thaw had not yet arrived at the
meeting.
Defer a decision on this item until
a legal opinion is received. (Vote
2-0-0)
Commissioner Thaw arrived at this time.
b. Sheriff Personnel Request. Mr. Stewart stated that the Sheriff has
requested three additional positions for FY 07.
Commissioner Keller questioned how much the Sheriff’s operating budget
was increasing and Mr. Stewart responded that it was about $425k or
approximately 5 percent. The Sheriff
also requested salary adjustments for several current employees. Commissioner Johnson stated that he does not
agree with the salary adjustments and that the Sheriff needs to follow the
normal process of getting employees reclassified. Mr. Stewart asked if the Sheriff could be
invited to the next meeting and Commissioner Johnson stated that he could.
c. Probate Court Personnel Request – Ms. McNicoll
presented a Probate Court revenue comparison and stated that the FY06 projected
revenue is $9,700 more that the actual received in FY05. She stated that the funds needed to change
the current part-time position to full-time amounted to $13 thousand. Commissioner Johnson said that he would
support the full time position if the Judge reduces her operating budget
request by $4 thousand. Commissioner
Keller agreed with Commissioner Johnson.
d. Magistrate Judge Personnel Request – Mr. Stewart
referred to the Recommended Personnel list and asked that the Assistant
Magistrate position be revisited. He
stated that the County’s Code Enforcement personnel are writing good cases and
that one Assistant Magistrate Judge is throwing them out. Commissioner Thaw stated that the Judge needs
to be told that if the County brings in solid cases and they throw them out,
the Board will not be open to increasing the Magistrate Court staff. He stated that Judge Barton needs to be
talked to about this situation.
Commissioner Fendig volunteered to talk to the Judge. Commissioner Keller and Commissioner Fendig
suggested that action on the request be deferred until the situation is
straightened out.
e. Public Works Personnel Request – Mr. Stewart
informed the committee that he had added a Public Works Equipment Operator 2 to
the Personnel schedule. He stated that
Public Works Director John Carter is using personnel from the General Fund
Drainage program to perform duties in the Solid Waste Collection Fund. Commissioner Johnson agreed with the
addition.
f.
Personnel Summary – Commissioner Johnson questioned the need for the
GIS Analyst III and Ms. Becky Rowell stated that this position is a backup for
Ms. Magnant. The following motion made
by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw passed unanimously.
Approve all items on the April 20,
2006 Recommended Personnel Schedule except item #13 (Assistant Magistrate)
which will be deferred to the next Finance Committee Budget meeting. (Vote 3-0-0)
3)
Receive
revised Capital Request.
Ms. McNicoll informed the Committee that the Capital
request had changed as follows:
a. The GEMS server which had
been requested at a cost of $9 thousand has been deleted from the recommended
list because it has been purchased using current year funds.
b. The Blythe Island
Park upgrade of
Electrical Wiring which was requested in the Accommodation Excise Tax Fund has
been decreased from $285 thousand to $129 thousand. Funds amounting to $156 thousand in the
current year project will be carried forward to FY 07. The total cost of the project will remain at
$285 thousand.
c. The following motion made
by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw passed unanimously.
Approve all items on the April 20, 2006 Capital Budget
Request Schedule. (Vote 3-0-0)
A motion
made by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw to add an item to
the agenda passed unanimously.
4)
Consider a request from
the Civil Air Patrol to increase the FY07 appropriation due to increased fuel
costs.
Commissioner Keller presented a request from the
Civil Air Patrol for an increase in their appropriation for FY07. He stated that fuel and maintenance had
increased from $65/hr to $90/hr and that they had reduced their flying schedule
to four days a week. He said that at the
$9 thousand funding level for next year, they will be required to decrease the
flying schedule to three times a week.
In order to stay at the current level of four per week, they will need
an additional $3,500. Commissioner
Fendig commented that they need to contact the boating clubs to get donations
from them and that in the future they need to go to the clients they services
for funding. The following motion made
by Commissioner Keller and seconded by Commissioner Thaw passed unanimously.
Increase the
FY07 budget for the Civil Air Patrol appropriation from $9,000 to $12,500. (Vote 3-0-0)
5)
Transportation Grant
Commissioner Fendig reminded the Committee that the
County must implement the urban transportation program within the next fiscal
year or the County may lose several million dollars in federal/state
funds. He stated that the local match
may be $150 -$250 thousand. He said that
he was not referring to the Rural Transportation Plan which the RDC is
sponsoring and stated that he is against that one as it seems that it will be
used only to upgrade state vehicles. The
project that we are required to fund is the local transportation plan and he
suggested that we would probably try to partner with the Board of Education and
Sea Island.
Mr. Stewart suggested that the Committee receive a presentation on this
subject at the next Finance Committee Budget meeting.
6) Budget Calendar
Mr. Stewart informed the Committee that staff is ready
submit the proposed budget to the full Board of Commissioners and advertise the
availability of the budget for public review as required by state law. Ms. McNicoll stated that the budget that will
be submitted to them is the recommended budget and can still be adjusted prior
to adoption.