06-06-2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commission Minutes—June 6. 2022 5574 salary impacts with various COLA figures as the old system could. He said any changes the Board makes will have to be computed by the Finance Office staff manually. Mr. Steen said he attended a Fargodome Authority Board meeting last week and the City of Fargo directed the Fargodome Board to use a 3.5% COLA figure for their budgeting purposes. Mr. Peterson said he is okay with using the 8.5% COLA for budgeting purposes; however, is not in favor of 8.5% as the final figure. He said an 8.5% increase would have a large fiscal impact to the 2023 budget. Mr. Breitling said prices on all products and services are rising and is important to recognize. Mrs. Scherling asked if the Commission can legally give bonuses to County staff. Mr. Burdick said he would need to complete research to determine if bonuses are legal for the Board to give staff. He said about twenty years ago the Department Head group decided they needed a method to recommend a COLA and the April to April CPI process was established at that time. He said since then the County has also began conducting salary studies every three years and he does not recall a time that the result of a salary study was ever to decrease salaries, it has always been that salaries need to be increased. MOTION, passed Mr. Peterson moved and Mr. Breitling seconded to adopt an 8.5% cost of living adjustment for use in developing the 2023 Cass County Budget. On roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously. 9. EXTENSION OFFICE, Office upgrade budget adjustment approved Mr. Wilson said the 2022 budget includes an update to the Extension Office space located in the Annex. He said the budgeted amount for the project is $60,000 for office furniture and an additional 5,000 for lighting and paint. Buildings and Grounds Supervisor, Gene Gartner received two bids for the office furniture portion of the project, one from Interoffice for $112,510.22 and the other from Christiansons for $112,842.14. Mr. Wilson said the estimated cost for the project was created over a year ago and since then prices have increased significantly. He said the Buildings and Grounds Department and Extension Department have reviewed both quotes and determined the quote from Christiansons provides the best overall material benefit, and specifically, the Christiansons proposal offered a better layout in the office entry area. The Buildings and Grounds Department and Extension Department have worked together to identify funding sources for the project. Buildings and Grounds has a budget for Annex General Maintenance which has a current fund balance of $136,011.09. Extension Agent, Rita Ussatis has identified $23,333.98 for the project within the 2022 Extension budget. Mr. Wilson said the project can be funded with existing budgeted funds, and a budget adjustment is needed to transfer funds from the Extension Office fund to the Annex General Maintenance fund. Mr. Peterson asked where the extra funds from the Extension Department are coming from. Ms. Ussatis was present and said the funds will be coming from other line items within the existing Extension budget including a fund that was created to track funds made from holding conferences and events with other agencies, the travel and workshop fund since agents are not traveling as much after the COVID pandemic, and from a pesticide program with excess funds. MOTION, passed Mr. Breitling moved and Mr. Peterson seconded to authorize the Chair to sign a purchase order with Christiansons in the amount of $112,842.14 and approve a budget adjustment from Extension Office funds to the Annex General maintenance fund in the amount of $23,333.98. Discussion: Mr. Steen asked if the County can accept the bid with Christiansons even though it was not the lowest bid. Cass County State's Attorney, Birch Burdick was present and said the formal bidding process and regulations generally apply to projects over 200,000. He said it is in the best interest of the County to follow the process