08-16-2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commission Minutes--August 16, 2001 2336 DEPARTMENT HEADS-PLEASE POST IN A CONSPICUOUS PLACE FOR STAFF TO READ RECESSED MEETING OF CASS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING IN BUDGET SESSION AUGUST 16, 2001 MEETING TO ORDER Chairman John Meyer reconvened the budget meeting at 8:40 AM on August 16, 2001, in the Commission Room, Cass County Courthouse, with members present as follows: Robyn Sorum, Alon Wieland, Scott Wagner and John Meyer. Also present were County Auditor Michael Montplaisir and accountant Deb Ness. Donna Schneider was absent. BUDGET REVIEW Information Services Department Robert Holmbeck, Information Services Director, was present regarding his budget request for 2002. On the revenue side, he said the contract amount with the State Court System will be increasing by $350.00 per month. Income may decrease for copies of the tax rolls which are requested by mortgage and realty companies because the State's Attorney is suggesting a charge that is more realistic with the actual cost of copying the documents. Mr. Montplaisir believes the manpower cost of producing the documents should also be included in the fee. He thought there should be some type of balance of what it is worth and what the law allows, which is the cost of producing the data. Mr. Wieland said the county is looking for ways to generate revenue, other than property taxes, and he believes the fee should provide some income since it appears to be an extra service which the county provides. Everyone was in agreement to increase the Web Development line item to $17,500, which is more realistic to fully complete the Web Site. A new printer copier estimated at $10,500 was replaced in the budget by a small printer at a cost of $2,200 because the Auditor's Office recently purchased a printer copier that can be used for printing the tax statements. Commissioners were in agreement to eliminate $57,000 for an AS 400 computer in the new jail facility. Mr. Holmbeck anticipates that the present AS 400 will be replaced in about two years and could possibly be rotated to the jail at that time. Mr. Wieland asked about increases in education travel, per diem and seminar registration, and Mr. Holmbeck said he intends to send each staff member to a training session, and the registrations usually cost about $2,000 per seminar. Mr. Montplaisir called attention to the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) being in the Information Services budget this year. The Commission approved a GIS Coordinator position, which will be under the supervision of the Information Services Director. Ongoing projects which were questioned by Commissioners are the Veterans Service Office document scanning, which the Auditor's Office will help to complete. Concerning laptop computers for the Commission automation project, Mr. Holmbeck said the computers are on order and should be here soon. He plans to give Commissioners a Web demonstration on the software they will be using with the new computers.