Rock Island Today

The Rock Island County Administration Committee met Tuesday, July 12.

Here are the meeting minutes as provided by the Rock Island County Administration Committee:

Administration Committee Minutes Tuesday July 12, 2016 8:30 am

The Administration Committee of the Rock Island County Board met at the above date and time in the Conference Room of the Administration Office on the second floor of the County Building, 1504 Third Ave, Rock Island, IL. Chair Mia Mayberry called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Minutes as follows:

1) Call to order and roll call

Committee members present: Mia Mayberry, Kai Swanson, Ginny Shelton, Nick Camlin, Jeff Deppe, Drue Mielke, Ron Oelke

Committee members absent: None

Others present: Jerry Shirk, Darren Hart, Hayleigh Covella, Kenneth Maranda, Kurt Davis, Louisa Ewert, Tammy Weikert, April Palmer, Dave Ross, Derrick Hendrickx

2) Approval of the minutes from the June 14, 2016 meeting

Motion to approve: Nick Camlin 2nd: Drue Mielke Voice vote Motion carried

3) Public comments

There were no public comments.

4) Consider transfers of appropriations

Motion to approve: Jeff Deppe 2nd: Ginny Shelton, Drue Mielke Voice vote Motion carried

5) Consider appropriation resolutions for funds

Motion to approve: Jeff Deppe 2nd: Nick Camlin Voice vote Motion carried

6) Consider approval of claims

Motion to approve: Nick Camlin 2nd: Kai Swanson Voice vote Motion carried

7) Consider approval of treasurer’s disbursements (TDs)

Motion to approve: Nick Camlin 2nd: Drue Mielke Voice vote Motion carried

8) Reports to the Committee

a) Condition of Funds – Ms. Palmer i. State of IL Payments

Ms. Palmer presented two of her three standard reports. She noted that the cash page is awaiting information from other offices and they haven’t been able to gather just yet. Ms. Palmer will put those in everyone’s mailboxes or email them as soon as they get those done later this week.

On the trial balance or budgetary standings report, Ms. Palmer had nothing new to report. She noted that for Court Admin, there’s $850 from unencumbered that the committee just approved a resolution for which will be used to buy checks and forms to keep the courts operating over there. That’s just for supplies purchases she’s had to make. Ms. Palmer noted that the good news is they buy those in bulk, so she thinks the check supply should last for three years and forms should last for almost two. It’s kind of a large purchase now and then they won’t have to shell out for those for a couple of years. Ms. Palmer noted that their attorney fees are up. Under Coroner, autopsy and funeral expenses are a little bit higher. The other ones just appear to be a little bit over but they’re not really; it’s just one-time spending.

Ms. Palmer moved on to the Fund Balance page. She reported that the General Fund column that says “Current Fund Balance” compared to last year, despite the fund balance going down in FY15, is $1 million higher this year than last year as of the end of June. Revenue is up and expenses are down. Expenses are down about $300,000. For expenses to be down seven months into the fiscal year is pretty amazing.

Ms. Palmer reported that today’s General Fund cash balance hasn’t changed from yesterday. It’s $1,589,500.

Ms. Palmer noted that in Animal Control, revenue is up and expenses are down, which is good. She noted that the beginning fund balance is in the red and that’s what’s killing the whole deal. They took such dive over the last couple of years when that estate money ran out. They do have $95,000-96,000 of support budgeted from the General Fund, so that may be needed. The cash balance from prior loans is still fairly healthy. They’re trying to squeeze by without taking any more money from the General Fund, but time will tell.

Ms. Palmer reported that Child Welfare is actually lower than it was as of the end of June last year. There’s still 56% left. They’re actually under budget for a change, which is good news. Court Security, Child Support, and COPS appear to be in the red because they don’t move that money from the General Fund until the end of the fiscal year all in one shot. Court Security is only at $97,000 in the red compared to $136,000 last year, so hopefully they won’t need the entire General Fund transfer of $240,000 there. Ms. Palmer predicts they will probably need some sort of budget transfer from the General Fund to COPS to cover that deficit. They’re $71,000 in the red. She suggested that maybe Court Security and COPS can balance each other out so whatever is budgeted will be all that’s needed.

Ms. Palmer provided her State of Illinois Payment Report. She explained that there’s a month in for the month past. Most of those are paid up through March now and a couple are paid through May.

Motion to approve report: Jeff Deppe 2nd: Ginny Shelton Voice vote Motion carried

b) Information Systems – Mr. Davis

Mr. Davis presented his monthly report. He noted that they have received the first payment for website advertising. It was a whole $184.55.

Ms. Mayberry asked if there have been any issues with the website. Mr. Davis said no.

Motion to approve: Ginny Shelton 2nd: Kai Swanson, Ron Oelke Voice vote Motion carried

c) Public Defender – Mr. Heintz

Mr. Heintz’s monthly report was provided in the packet.

d) Emergency Management Agency – Mr. Shirk

Mr. Shirk presented his monthly report.

Motion to approve: Jeff Deppe 2nd: Ron Oelke Voice vote Motion carried

e) Court Services – Mr. Vandersnick

Mr. Hendrickx presented the monthly Court Services report.

Motion to approve: Kai Swanson 2nd: Jeff Deppe Voice vote Motion carried

f) Circuit Court – Ms. Weikert

Ms. Weikert reported that she went to a meeting with a couple of her staff and what she found interesting was that in addition to all the legislative updates, there were some individuals there from Circa called Guys in Ties. They do those fun educational trainings for people and she found it to be an interesting way to learn about how to deal with difficult people. It was a twist on being a downer and being more positive about how to approach situations. She found it valuable and thought it might be something the county would be interested in, but she has no idea what the cost was.

Ms. Weikert noted that something else they started this month that’s exciting is they are now taking the bonds from the scales when state police pull overweight trucks over. Instead of collecting the bond money via cash, they’re taking via credit card using a company called Court Money at no cost for the county. That’s a win. It allows truck drivers to post bond using a credit card and then ACH money to her office. That’s more guaranteed funds and more options for those situations. It could replace others, like GPS and things like that, but they’re only using it for bonds right now.

Ms. Weikert’s office did have one more person retire last month, which brings their open positions to four union staff and one management staff. She’s just mentioning that because she’s starting to see the impact of having fewer employees. They’re holding their own right now, but she’s watching closely. She is nervous about that, but staff is doing good job of keeping the office running at the level they should and accurately. Ms. Mayberry asked what position. Ms. Weikert said Accounting Clerk, which is like a Clerk 1.5. It’s kind of a comparable salary. She just retired and they wish her well. She did a great job. Ms. Weikert noted that they have plenty of people cross-trained in that position to fill in.

Ms. Weikert reported that they are working on the offsets as far as the delinquent admin fees for child support. During the first quarter of 2017, they plan on turning those over to the state comptroller. Through the collections process, the collection agency gets 30%. Those debts are then referred to state comptroller. Of that 30%, the county gets 20% and 10% goes to the collection agency. It’s a win-win for those offsets. The collection agency can recoup any debt that’s owed, but the comptroller can only collect the last 7 years of debt. It’s to the Circuit Court’s advantage to use a collection agency in addition to the tax offset program. There is plenty of notice given to the debtor by the county and the collection agency before it’s referred to the comptroller. The debtor has the option to dispute any fees that there’s an issue with. They hold the money for 60 days to give them the option to dispute it and prove why their taxes should not be offset.

Mr. Swanson said he assumes that as the Circuit Clerk, Ms. Weikert derives fees from other counties in the circuit through the courts and asked if that’s true. Ms. Weikert said no, the only fees that come through her office are the fees owed to them. Mr. Swanson asked if any of those originate from Mercer or the other counties in the circuit. Ms. Mayberry said they have their own Circuit Clerks. Mr. Swanson said he wasn’t aware of that even though it’s one circuit, each county has their own Circuit Clerks. He thanked Ms. Weikert for doing what she is doing with short staff. Ms. Weikert said it takes close monitoring and moving people around strategically, but they’re doing a really good job. She noted that it helps that their caseload is down, but when caseloads go down they’re not collecting as much revenue. It’s a vicious circle. Mr. Swanson noted that it also means people are behaving better.

Ms. Mayberry asked if things are going well with e-pay. Ms. Weikert said yes. They just completed drafting court rules for e-filing and have the administrative order ready to present to the other Circuit Clerks to make sure they’re in line with what the court rules are going to be and what the process is going to be. Once that’s done, Judge Braud will sign off and submit an application in the next couple of weeks.

Mr. Oelke asked if Ms. Weikert’s office is not budgeted to fill those positions. Ms. Weikert said they are budgeted positions. Mr. Oelke asked if she’s just seeing how it’s going to go. Ms. Weikert confirmed and said she’s just kind of watching it. Mr. Ross said they’re trying to save money. Ms. Weikert said that two are positions that are Board approved, but they agreed in the last budget year not to fill those this year.

She’s still watching that because if it gets to the point where they have to do something, she’d figure out something different. The other two are budgeted. She’s just holding off on that because they moved those three Clerk I salaries over to Doc Storage, she’s not filling the Systems Manager position because that’s too hard of an impact on Doc Storage to take all of those positions.

Motion to approve: Ron Oelke 2nd: Drue Mielke Voice vote Motion carried

g) Animal Control – Ms. DeYoung

Ms. DeYoung presented after Item 9i.

Mr. Ross noted that Ms. DeYoung just left the room, but she didn’t have too much. She is going to bring forth a recommendation next month to raise fees for the adoption of puppies, he thinks up to 8 months old. She’s working with the State’s Attorney to determine the method and if it has to be by resolution or by motion. She’s also doing an analysis of how it would affect finances and the public if they would close one day a week to the public. They still would have staff costs because of animal care and intakes, but she’s doing that analysis as well on cost savings potential. That will all come to this committee or a committee when that time comes. Ms. Mayberry asked if Mr. Ross knows how much the increase would be. Mr. Ross said he doesn’t. He’s looked at it, but it’s been about a month. He knows it wasn’t unreasonable. She said it’s lower than what others charge still. Ms. Mayberry asked if he knows what it is now. Mr. Ross did not off the top of his head.

Ms. DeYoung came back into the room. Mr. Ross noted that he gave her report for her and that he talked about the analysis of possibly closing one day a week. Ms. DeYoung said she’s having hard time scheduling full-time people. Mr. Ross asked what the adoption rate is now. Ms. DeYoung said dogs are $100 and she wants to raise puppies to $150. She noted that you can’t get a puppy for $150 with everything done. Mr. Mielke asked how much cats are. Ms. DeYoung said they can’t give cats away. Mr. Mielke said he went down there and a kitten claimed him. Ms. DeYoung explained that when they run specials, Paws compensates for it. Kittens are always more expensive because they can get rid of them more easily. Kittens are usually about $40, but they’re the same price as cats right now. Mr. Mielke said he thought it was fine and that it makes sense. That’s the animal that picked him. She came and fell asleep on his lap. Mr. Mielke noted that he liked Ms. DeYoung’s interview on Channel 8 and said she did a great job. It was good press.

Ms. Mayberry asked if the $150 is pretty in line with other shelters. Ms. DeYoung said yes. She also wants to raise service fees for declaws to $150. Right now it’s $90. They’re hoping that with $150, they’ll discourage people from declawing their cats. They’re getting a lot of cats returned and the problem is they’re peeing outside the box and that’s the #1 unadoptable reason for a cat. Mr. Mielke said that Ms. DeYoung knows more about this than he does, but it seems like declawing is not the thing to do anymore. Ms. Shelton noted that it’s cruel. Ms. DeYoung said people still do it. They get mad because for $90, they won’t do all four claws. Mr. Mielke said he didn’t get this one declawed. He got her a scratching post and she uses it. He thought that was the trend. Ms. DeYoung said it’s not. She noted that people are charging a lot more money for it because they want to discourage it. Animal Control is the cheapest declaw around. Ms. Shelton noted that it’s really cruel and if that cat gets outside.

Ms. Mayberry asked about upcoming events. Ms. DeYoung said in September they are hosting at the Creekside Vinery. It is a walk, not a hike, through the vineyard. They will have excellent music. That’s September 10th. They’re looking right now for sponsors and for people to sign up. She sent an email out. Mr. Mielke said he’ll put it in his Coal Valley newsletter if that’s okay. Ms. DeYoung said that’s perfect. They’re looking for sponsors to fill the event. Ms. Palmer asked the difference between the $40 dollar and the $65 package. Ms. DeYoung explained that the $40 is just one person. You get a cooler, raffle tickets, the hike, appetizers, and music. The $25 package is for people – they were afraid to discourage people who don’t like wine, but there is beer there, so you just get the glass of beer, not the wine tasting. $60 is for a couple, but you only get one cooler. They figured that couples don’t get two coolers. Ms. Palmer said she didn’t think it was really clear, but she’ll read the flyer again. Ms. DeYoung said she’ll double check it, but she hopes it is because she already printed them and have posters up and around.

Ms. Mayberry asked if the golf outing went well. Ms. DeYoung said it was a good day. It was a lot of work. It’s like a wedding every year. They were full. They had 144 golfers. They didn’t get as much from people buying raffle tickets this year. Now people just walk up and donate a twenty. It wasn’t their most profitable one, but the Paws Board had a late start on getting sponsorships.

Motion to approve: Drue Mielke 2nd: Kai Swanson Voice vote Motion carried

Ms. DeYoung asked if she needs to wait until after the County Board meeting to raise prices. Mr. Ross asked what the State’s Attorney’s Office said. Ms. DeYoung said that when she checked with him, it was that those are not controlled by ordinance. She will double check with them. Mr. Ross asked her to double check. If they have to have Board approval, then they’ll bring it back next month and it won’t be until August. If they don’t, maybe they will just do it.

h) Coroner – Mr. Gustafson

Mr. Gustafson’s report was provided in the packet.

i) Sheriff – Captain Hart

Captain Hart presented his monthly report. He noted that they have started housing some Cook County inmates and will see some additional revenue come in that they haven’t seen in about 18 months. Their population is down. They’ve opened new facilities up there. Rock Island County has 7 or 8 and has held those for the last three or four weeks at $50/day. That starts to add up.

Motion to approve: Ginny Shelton 2nd: Kai Swanson Voice vote Motion carried

9) Committee member opportunity for brief comments (no decisions will be made)

There were none.

10) Adjourn

Motion to adjourn: Jeff Deppe Meeting adjourned by Chair Mia Mayberry at 8:55 a.m.

Future scheduled meetings on August 9, September 13, October 11, and November 9