08-20-2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

~ ,.-. 11. Commission Minutes--August 20,2001 2341 BUDGET REVIEW, Preliminarv budaet aDDroved at 63.49 mills/Dublic hearina set Michael Montplaisir, County Auditor, provided a letter dated today summarizing changes made by the Commissioners after some 14 hours of budget review with county departments and outside agencies last week. The 2002 budget, at this time, includes a mill levy decrease of 1.34 mills, a 4% cost of living adjustment (COLA) for county employees plus normal step increases at 1.4% to 3.97%, health insurance coverage for county employees with a maximum $9.00 per month increase for full- time employees, funding for 35 new employees (28 of which are in the new jail facility), increased funding for the Red River Valley Fair and the Cass County Historical Society, and funding for ajobs training program administered by Fargo Cass County Economic Development Corporation (FCCEDC). Mr. Montplaisir said the process is for the board to approve a preliminary budget and to set a suggested hearing date for 3:30 PM on September 17, 2001, in the Commission Room. That is the date for interested parties to come in and address the board on budget matters. He said Commissioners may wish to schedule a meeting for further budget review, sometime after the date of the public hearing and before the budget must be finalized, on or before October 1 st. Mr. Meyer suggested a possible date of September 24th. Mr. Wieland asked fellow Commissioners to consider removing $140,000 from the FCCEDC budget for a jobs training program because he believes it is premature at this point to fund it at the level initially requested. MOTION, passed Mr. Wieland moved and Mrs. Schneider seconded to reduce the job development fund by $140,000 in the 2002 budget, leaving $120,000 in the fund over a two-year period. Discussion: Mr. Wieland said the job training program is not fully developed and may not be operational even next year. Mr. Wagner said he is hesitant to remove money from the fund at this time because the task force appointed to study the issue has not held all of their meetings yet. Mrs. Schneider serves on the task force and said she understood there would be four meetings. The group has met three times and the fourth meeting is scheduled. She does not feel the task force is anywhere near making a recommendation at this time. At the call for the question and upon roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously. Mr. Wieland said money could be added back into this fund by reducing something else, however, the total budget cannot be increased once the preliminary budget is approved. Mr. Montplaisir will provide information requested by Jeannette Stanton, Fargo, relating to the dollar amount of the 4% employee salary increase and the dollar amount of benefits. MOTION, passed Mr. Wieland moved and Mr. Wagner seconded to adopt the 2002 preliminary county budget at 63.49 mills; to set a hearing date of September 17, 2001, at 3:30 PM in the Commission Room, Cass County Courthouse; and to direct the County Auditor to prepare a budget summary for publication in the County's official newspaper. On roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously.