Logan County Board votes on budgetary issues, next fiscal year draft on display

 

[November 02, 2021] 

At the Logan County Board’s October voting session, the board approved a draft of the 2021-2022 fiscal year budget to put on display.

Board members present were Board Chairman Emily Davenport, Vice Chairman Scott Schaffenacker, David Blankenship, Janet Estill, Bob Farmer, David Hepler, Steve Jenness, Keenan Leesman, Dale Nelson, Bob Sanders, Annette Welch and Jim Wessbecher.

Several county employees were also in attendance and addressed the board about the budget.

Logan County State’s Attorney Brad Hauge asked the board to reconsider the five percent cuts to departments with budgets over $500,000.

These cuts would affect both the Sheriff’s Department and State’s Attorney Office. Hauge is concerned the community could perceive cuts as trying to defund the police because they would affect law enforcement and a judicial branch.

After asking the board to keep that in mind, Hauge said he did not believe that was the intent of the Finance Committee when the motion [for the cuts] was brought forward.

The discussion at the Finance Committee meeting focused on what cuts might be needed. However, Hauge said he was not sure it was even necessary to make cuts. He said cutting five percent of budgets over $500,000 seems arbitrary and feels those numbers were a starting point for discussion. He feels the committee did not really look at line items or departments and consider impacts of cuts.

If the motion for the cuts passed, Hauge said it would affect public safety particularly in the States Attorney’s Office. It would mean him having to get rid of the Assistant States Attorney because his budget would not allow for cuts in any other places. Hauge said a single motion cannot track line items.

Logan County Circuit Clerk Kelly Elias works in another one of the offices that would face a five percent cut. Elias said she does not have five percent to cut from her budget.

Since 2018, Elias said the Circuit Clerk’s Office has been working with a bare bones budget. There is no room to make cuts or take any more off. Prices (expenses to the department) have increased substantially since then, too. To offset costs, Elias has asked for grant money from Bellwether and is waiting to see a denial letter.
 

As of January 2022, Elias said the entire court system is changing in regard to fines and fees. More will be going online, which means higher costs to run offices. Elias would like board members to talk to each office separately about their budget. She has not had one board member reach out to find out what is going on in her office or talk about why cuts are needed.

Group insurance is listed in the Circuit Clerk’s line items. Elias said it should not be listed there because group insurance does not come out of her budget. Without that line item, Elias said her budget would be under $500,000.

After thanking the board for their time and consideration, Elias said she feels other monies are available that are not present in this budget. During 2022, money will be available from permit fees and American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Finance Committee updates

Several motions were brought forward from the Finance Committee.

Motions brought forward by Finance Committee Chairman Steve Jenness related to cuts, a contingency fund, anticipated permit fees and hiring freezes. After discussion, some of the original motions were amended.

Jenness also brought a motion off the floor to approve adding $400,000 in anticipated permit fees to a revenue line item. This motion included adding $400,000 to the Contingency Fund expense line item.

A couple of wind farms are likely to go forward in 2022 and Jenness said $400,000 is just a fraction of what is anticipated. Showing the amount as revenue and including it in the contingency fund expense line item allows the board to deal with unanticipated expenses by using that fund.

The board approved this motion 10-2 with Nelson and Schaffenacker abstaining.

Nelson wanted to discuss the motion for cutting five percent on department budgets over $500,000. He has seen emails and has concerns.

Because Nelson is not sure where the deficit is coming from, he questioned how the board can make cuts. Not understanding where the deficit “driver” is coming from and making blanket cuts without knowing seems unfair to Nelson. He feels the board needs to look at where the county is losing revenue and decide if they are making cuts where they need to be.
 

In January 2022, Jenness said he plans to begin meeting with department heads each month. These meetings will allow Jenness to review their budgets and do a comparative analysis with other communities. He can then see where our county is at compared to similar sized communities.

Though the board still may not have a balanced budget at the end of the year, Jenness said it will help analyze where the county is at. He will also be able to see whether the county is overspending or underspending on areas.

With adding the permit fees, Hepler said the five percent reduction may not be necessary.

Originally, Jenness had motioned for a cut of five percent on department budgets over $500,000. With adding the anticipated fees, Jenness amended it to zero percent cuts to these budgets. The main motion as amended passed with 10 yeses. Nelson and Schaffenacker abstained.

Welch asked about including pay increases after the budget is off display. She motioned for a three percent raise for non-union workers to catch them up.

During the past year, Jenness said the county could have done furloughs and layoffs but did not. Many worked from home and could still receive a paycheck.

Though Nelson was in favor of zero percent cuts, he thought the board should hold off on pay raises. That could be amended in 30 days.

Hepler said he would not support the pay increases and said ARPA funds (American Rescue Plan Act government economic stimulus funds related to pandemic recovery) could be better for the employees. These could be used for a one-time premium pay for those who did not get raises last year.

Welch’s amendment for the pay increase failed 2-10. Welch and Sanders were the only yes votes.

Jenness had originally motioned that 50 percent of cuts to departments be applied to the proposed contingency fund, to be disbursed by two-thirds vote of the board. He amended it to remove the 50 percent cuts, but approve the contingency funds being disbursed by two-thirds vote. This amendment was unanimously approved.
 

The contingency fund will come from wind farm permit fees. Jenness said the $400,000 is shown as a revenue and as an expense going out. It is a net zero balance.

If the county does not get wind farm money next year, Jenness said the county does not have to expense it. The board will know the funds are in there to approve any requests by department heads.

Welch is in favor of showing we are not relying on the wind farm money. She likes the idea of showing part of it as revenue and the other part as a contingency. Welch said the board needs to be better at showing its growth and where it is trying to get to [with the budget].

Saying he was in favor of the motion, Schaffenacker said it is a failsafe. It is showing the board recognizes these budget moves as budget amendments.

Blankenship amended it so contingency funds would only be available in the fourth quarter by two-thirds vote. If dispensed earlier than the fourth quarter, Blankenship said it should require a three-fourths vote. The funds would not be available for any payroll expense or bonuses.

The only problem Sanders had is if an emergency came up earlier in the year.

In those situations, Blankenship said the funds would still be available, but would require a three-fourths vote of the board.

To Schaffenacker, needing eight votes one month and then nine votes another month is splitting hairs.

What Wessbecher agreed with is that departments should not use it for bonuses. He did not think they would come forward and ask to use the contingency fund that way, though.

Blankenship does not want departments to grant bonuses with these funds either. He wants them to only be used for emergencies at board’s discretion. Blankenship wants to protect both the long-term sustainability of the county and its employees.

The amendment for the number of votes on disbursal of funds passed 10-2 with Schaffenacker and Wessbecher voting no.

Other budget related items.

The board approved a motion for an airport fencing project and a snowplow. Jenness said the money will not come from general funds. Capital improvement funds can be used.
 

Nelson said he thought the county would put up the funding and get reimbursed. He is concerned that the airport has a deficit already and has gone over budget.

Airport and Farm Committee Chairman Jim Wessbecher said the airport is not losing money. The price of fuel has increased, but there has also been an increase in sales. He said improving the airport will have several benefits.

From a business perspective, Blankenship said these improvements are a good investment and will up the airport’s value. There will also be significant reimbursement of the project funding.

A budget amendment for a courthouse x-ray machine was also approved.

The board then approved putting the amended budget on display for 30 days.

There had been discussion at the board workshop about hiring freezes for all departments and a motion was brought forward.

After some discussion, the motion for hiring freezes was sent back to the Finance Committee.

Since there are current positions that need to be filled, Welch feels the hiring freezes need more explanation.

There are at least two positions that need to be filled in the Sherriff’s Department. Therefore, Sanders does not want a hiring freeze on emergency services or anything to do with safety. He would also like an end date if hiring freezes are set.

Jenness said the intent is not to prohibit departments from hiring someone with the approval of board. If someone quits, Jenness said they will figure out if someone else can be cross-trained.

A temporary position for a facilities manager for the restoration was previously approved, but Blankenship said it will come out of restoration funds. This position is a contracted service under the control of the country board. Therefore, the person would not be considered a county employee or receive county benefits.

October 28, 2021
FY 21-22 Budget ON DISPLAY

[Angela Reiners]