The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners reconvened t=
he
recessed budget meeting from Thursday,
June 7, 2007, on Tuesday,
June 12, 2007, =
at 6:00pm in the Commissioners Meeting Room of the County Administration
Building, 348 South Main Street, Sparta, NC.
&=
nbsp; Present: Chair Ken Richardson, Vice-Chair W=
arren
Taylor, Commissioner Randy Miller, Commissioner Doug Murphy, Commissioner M=
illy
Richardson, County
Manager Don Adams and Clerk to the Board Karen Evans. County Attorney Donna Shumate was
absent.
Chair Ken Richardson reconvened the recessed meeting at =
6:00pm.
Chair Ken Richardson thanked the =
County Manager
for the job that he has done in putting together this budget. He stated that the revenue-neutral=
rate
has been in discussions for a good while.&=
nbsp;
He further stated that he is pleased with the type budget that the <=
st1:place
w:st=3D"on">County Manager
has given the Commissioners. =
He
said that out of the people that came before the Commissioners, the things =
he
would like to look at are the Library, Wilkes Community Co=
llege,
personnel in the Building Inspections and their fees, volunteer fire depart=
ments,
rescue squad and forestry service. <=
/span>He
talked about if the Board is remaining with a revenue-neutral rate, then ar=
eas would
have to be cut or look at the fund balance. He talked about the salary study t=
hat
was performed by All American and having a 3-year plan to get county salari=
es
more inline with the surrounding counties.=
He urged the Board to be careful when considering deviating from that
study.
Commissioner Warren Taylor stated that in addition to Ken
Richardson’s items, he thinks the Board should look at working with t=
he schools
to be able to finance the fiber optic update. He talked about the benefits of th=
e upgrade. He stated that he thinks it is imp=
ortant
to work with Wilkes
Community College t=
o make
sure they have sufficient funds to provide the needed services. He talked about he and Don met wit=
h the Recreation
Commission about getting a trail from Wilkes
Community College to Alleghany High Scho=
ol. He further talked about he has obt=
ained $5,000
from Blue Ridge RC&D to go towards that project.
Chair Ken Richardson and Commissioner Doug
Murphy talked about the building inspection request.=
Commissioner Warren Taylor suggested taking each concern=
and
trying to reach a consensus before moving on. He said he thinks the County Manager
has done a good job in preparing a revenue-neutral rate budget.<=
/span>
Commissioner Doug Murphy talked about looking at the vol=
unteer
fire departments and the rescue squad.&nbs=
p;
He stated that he agreed with Commissioner Warren
Taylor about going over each item that was discussed. He further stated that he thinks t=
he County Manager
did a good job on the budget.
Commissioner Randy Miller stated good job with what has =
been
presented. He further stated =
the need
to look at salaries but maybe not this year. He talked about some salaries are =
8-10%
lower than surrounding counties. He
said that the Board needs to decide how many band aids the County is going =
to
keep using. He talked about t=
he Wellness Center is supposed to be self-supp=
orting. He further talked about he has met=
with
them, and he doesn’t get a lot of answers. He said he has offered suggestions=
about
ways to bring back prior members. He
talked about the need to be working towards making these groups
self-supportive. He said he a=
grees
about Wilkes Community College and Building
Inspections. He talked about =
the rescue
squad, and the number of required members.=
Commissioner Milly Richardson agreed with everything that
has been said, but thinks the Board should consider cutting something every
time something is added, and the Board should consider dropping the tax rat=
e to
40¢ by cutting things. <=
o:p>
Commissioner Randy Miller agreed with Ken Richardson abo=
ut
not picking one certain person or department, but 2% is not a lot, and it w=
on’t
cover the cost of living and insurance costs.
Commissioner Milly Richardson commended the County Manager.
Chair Ken Richardson talked about starting with the County Manager’s
presentation then go to the requests.
He stated that $146,000 has been built into the budget for the repay=
ment
of the QZAB funding. He said =
his
recommendation is to leave the money in there encase the QZAB money isnR=
17;t
awarded, and see how much it will fund with the stipulation that the Board =
of
Education uses it for the same thing.
Commissioner Warren Taylor <=
/st1:PersonName>and
County Manager Don Adams talked
about the $146,000 would cover approximately a $1,000,000 loan. County Manager
Don Adams stated that it is re=
asonable
to shorten the term because many of these repairs are capital improvements.=
Commissioner Doug Murphy talked
about putting the upgrade in the loan.
Commissioner Warren Taylor stated that would restrict the
amount of money they could borrow and put them in a greater bind.
Commissioner Doug Murphy and
County Manager Don Adams talked
about securing loans and having them reprioritize their needs. Commissioner Doug Murphy stated he =
agrees
to keep the money in the budget.
Commissioner Warren Taylor <=
/st1:PersonName>and
County Manager Don Adams talked
about how much control the Board of Commissioners has over the Board of
Education’s spending once the money is approved.
The Board of Commissioners talked about supporting the
schools’ technology request. <=
/span>
Chair Ken Richardson talked about going forward with the=
5%
if the State provides 5% for personnel.&nb=
sp;
County Manager Don
Adams stated that it is included in his budget.
Chair Ken Richardson talked about looking at adding
technology monies in the amount of $32,500.
The Board of Commissioners and County Manager Don Adams talked about Dr. Cox’s request=
s from
the prior meeting including the capital reserve requests and the needs appl=
ied
for with the QZAB funding.
Commissioner Doug Murphy talked about the dilemma of the=
timing
of the QZAB loan and would it be feasible to wait and see, then add it to t=
he
budget. He talked about makin=
g sure
that the teachers are taken care of on the local supplements.
Commissioner Randy Miller stated that county employees a=
re complaining
because they can’t get 5%.
Chair Ken Richardson reminded everyone that the County g=
ets
longevity pay after five years of service.
Clerk to the Board Karen Eva=
ns
explained the longevity pay plan.
Chair Ken Richardson explained the reasoning behind prov=
iding
longevity pay was because of turnover.&nbs=
p;
Commissioner Doug Murphy stated that if the 5% is figure=
d in
the budget, he is comfortable with the school’s budget.
Chair Ken Richardson reminded everyone that everything
doesn’t have to be done tonight.&nbs=
p;
He stated that the public hearing will be on June 18 and the budget =
must
be approved by June 30.
County M=
anager D=
on Adams
talked about the amount that can come out of the capital request because of=
the
QZAB funding.
Chair Ken Richardson stated that the Board can go back to
discuss the schools again.
The Board continued reviewing the County Manager’s
recommendations. Chair Ken
Richardson stated that the fee schedules will be reviewed individually.
The Board talked about the building industry and the req=
uest
to add an additional inspector.
County M=
anager D=
on Adams
stated that he needs to discuss the Transfer Facility budget, and the solid
waste fee schedule. He passed=
out
papers regarding the General Fund’s running budget. He explained the worksheets. He talked about fund balance
numbers, tax collections and sales tax projections and federal inmates̵=
7;
revenues.
Commissioner Warren Taylor asked what 1¢ on the tax
rate is.
County M=
anager D=
on Adams
stated it is $168,500. He con=
tinued
talking about the fund balance.
Commissioner Randy Miller talked about the building
inspections. He further talked
about the more homes built the bigger the tax base and more money coming
in. He stated that if it costs
$12,000, he thinks the Board needs to do it and don’t wait. He further stated that if the build=
ing
industry slows down then they would have to look at laying the person off.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He said that the building industry
doesn’t seem like it will slow down.
Chair Ken Richardson talked about the meeting with the m=
ajority
of the builders in April stating that they could live with fee increases to
help with services. He furthe=
r talked
about hiring someone new to train. <=
/span>
County Manager Don Adams
talked about there is really two questions; hire another inspector and raise
rates effective July 1.
Chair Ken Richardson stated that it will require two
motions. He reviewed the curr=
ent
rates and the proposed rates. He
talked about still needing $12,000 to meet those needs.
The Board of Commissioners talked about the building ins=
pector’s
position and ways to come up with additional monies; fund balance and raisi=
ng
rates to cover the costs.
Commissioner Randy Miller asked if the Board can get
surrounding counties’ rates to look at before deciding on this.<=
/o:p>
Commissioner Warren Taylor <=
/st1:PersonName>stated
that the Sheriff said he is okay with the County Manager’s
recommended budget.
Chair Ken Richardson asked if everyone agrees with the <=
st1:place
w:st=3D"on">County Manager’s
recommendation for the Extension Service and Soil & Water.
The Board of Commissioners talked about the Elections
request for the part-time Administrative Assistant. They further talked about she is av=
ailable
to work 40 hours a week, if needed.
Chair Ken Richardson continued reviewing the County Manager’s
recommendations regarding the Tax Office and the Planning/Recreation
recommendation. He said the
Commissioners need to have further discussions regarding the Board of Educa=
tion
and the building inspections.
County M=
anager D=
on Adams
explained the numbers on the QZAB request versus their capital request.
Chair Ken Richardson talked about the library, and the s=
alary
plan that was discussed has been approved by Sur=
ry
County and probably will be appr=
oved
by Yadkin County
and Stokes County.
County M=
anager D=
on Adams
explained his recommended amount versus the requested amount for the librar=
y.
Chair Ken Richardson talked about the regional library
employees. =
Commissioner Warren Taylor stated that he doesn’t =
have
any problems supporting the library’s request or Wilkes Community Co=
llege’s
request.
The Board of Commissioners agreed regarding additional
funding for the library and Wilkes
Community College.<=
o:p>
Chair Ken Richardson stated that he doesn’t think =
3%
is enough for the volunteer fire departments. He further stated that he thinks it
should be between 5-10%.
Commissioner Milly Richardson stated that she thinks it
should be 10% for the volunteer fire departments and the rescue squad.=
County Manager Don Adams
talked about the forestry service funding this year does not include that o=
ne
position, and the remaining money goes into the fund balance. He stated that providing them 10% =
is
about $800 less than their request.
He talked about the recommended amount versus the requested amount.<=
o:p>
The Board of Commissioners agreed to provide 10% for the=
volunteer
fire departments, forestry service and the rescue squad.
The Board talked about when to reconvene this meeting to
have further budget discussions. They
decided to recess this meeting until after the public hearing on June 18.
County M=
anager D=
on Adams
stated that he needs to talk to the Commissioners about the Transfer Facili=
ty
budget which is in the negative by $37,500 for the upcoming budget year, fe=
es
for solid waste and review all of the other funds. He stated his recommendation is to=
raise
solid waste fees only on the weight accounts and household availability.
Chair Ken Richardson talked about 7¢ on the tax rate
was required before the availability fees started to be charged. He gave an example of a 100-acre f=
arm or
a house and lot in comparison to the difference being charged on the tax ra=
te
or charged as an availability fee. <=
/span>He
stated that the availability fees are fairer than charging on the tax rate.=
County Manager Don Adams
talked about three areas that he is recommending to increase fees; househol=
d,
weight accounts and dumpster rates.
He passed out all of the fee schedules.
The Board took a five-minute recess at 7:50pm.
=
County=
Ma=
nager
Don Adams reviewed the fee sch=
edules
for building inspections, EMS, recreation
department, ROPES course. He
reviewed the current Transfer Facility solid waste fees. He explained the estimated fund ba=
lance
at the end of the year and the 07/08 budget is $37,500 short. He talked about the need to raise =
the
fees some to cover the difference between the fund balance and shortage or
raise enough to cover all of the shortage and leave monies in the fund bala=
nce. He reviewed $1 increase in househo=
ld
fees and weight account fees would generate.
Commissioner Milly Richardson made a motion to take the =
County Manager’s
recommendation of increasing the household fees and weight accounts.
County M=
anager D=
on Adams
explained his recommendation is $2.50 instead of $1.
Commissioner Milly Richardson rescinded the prior
motion.
Commissioner Milly Richardson made a motion to approve t=
he County Manager’s
recommendation of increasing by $2.50 and offer encouragement to increase
recycling. She talked about
Alleghany County needs to encourage recycling to reduce the amount of w=
aste
being generated. She talked a=
bout sending
out a statement on the bottom of the solid waste bill promoting recycling.<=
o:p>
Commissioner Warren Taylor <=
/st1:PersonName>seconded
the motion on the floor. Vote 5:0.
Commissioner Milly Richardson made a motion to leave the=
other
fee schedules as is with the exception of building inspections. Commissioner Warren
Taylor seconded the motion. Vote 5:0.
Chair Ken Richardson recessed this meeting until immedia=
tely
after the Commissioners’ meeting on June 18.
Res=
pectfully
Submitted,
Karen Evans<=
/p>
Cle=
rk to the
Board
Att=
est:
Ken Richardson
Cha=
irman