MINUTES
STATE
OF
The Henderson County
Board of Commissioners met for a special called meeting at
Those present were: Chairman Bill Moyer, Vice-Chairman
Also present were: Research/Grants
Coordinator
CALL TO ORDER/WELCOME
Chairman Moyer called
the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance, stating that the purpose
of this meeting is budget and budget related issues workshop.
TAX VALUATION
He
reviewed numbers with the Commissioners, explaining that:
Anticipated Tax Base Gain is
$2,726,946,547, greater than 2006 and
Anticipated Revenue Gain is
$4,592,248, greater than 2006.
He
reviewed a whole Powerpoint presentation with the Board, explaining that he
projected a loss in revenues in personal property, both general retail and
industrial as well as a projected loss in revenue in public service companies.
He also projected a revenue loss of $367,344 in registered motor vehicles. In
summary registered motor vehicles, personal property, and public utilities will
contribute less in 2007 than in 2006 to the actual levy billed (revenues). Real
property will make up the loss (+$4,592,248) and because of the total aggregate
increase in the real property component from 2006 to 2007, will contribute more
in 2007 than in 2006 to the actual levy billed (revenues). Mr. Duncan stated
this is the shift that happens every reappraisal year in every county in the
State.
In
summary,
·
Tax Base
Projections will be made on the basis of the best information available.
·
The growth in
real property will be partially offset by the decline in other property.
·
Most owners of
personal property will pay less tax in 2007 than in 2006.
·
2007 represents
the most equitable tax year.
·
Tax Base
Projections may be adversely affected by:
1.
Pending appeals
of reappraisal valuations.
2.
Additional
applications for PUV and Elderly Exclusion –
30 days after a Change in Value Notice (PUV), June 1st
(Elderly).
3. Pending legislation.
Current
and Final Tax Base Projections will continue to reflect the “reappraisal year
shift” common in most reappraisal years.
Revenue Neutral Tax Rate
Commissioner
Williams wanted to be sure to emphasize that in most cases property owners will
actually see an increase in the dollar amount taxes that an individual will
pay.
BENEFITS PLAN
Jan
Pritchard referred to a Power Point presentation entitled “Medical Benefits
Plan Design Changes”. Several weeks ago she had addressed the Board and given
an overview of what was happening with our benefits plan. Our Benefits Plan is
escalating to the point that if we do not do something about it, it will become
unaffordable. There are several things that can be done to control those costs,
one of which was a recommendation to the Board to put in a Wellness Plan which
the Board approved. The other piece of control is benefit plan design. The Power Point was a brief summary of some
of the recommended benefit plan changes that staff would like to put into effect
in order to achieve the goal of lessening the county cost increase at just 8%
rather than the predicted 16%. Ms. Pritchard reviewed the suggested benefit
plan changes with the Board. The Power Point presentation is included as part
of these minutes. These medical benefits plan design changes represent an
estimated savings to the current plan of $473,633. Staff has put this plan
together to prevent having to ask the Board to raise taxes to pay for the
benefit plan.
Chairman
Moyer stated that the Board approved the Wellness Plan already. Commissioner
STRATEGIC PLAN ISSUES
·
To review all
County billing procedures and internal controls annually.
·
To comply with
Debt Issuance Policy established by the Board of Commissioners.
·
To comply with
Fund Balance Policy by maintaining a 12% undesignated fund balance.
·
To continue the
implementation of the 2020 County Comprehensive Plan, conducting an annual
review to ensure compliance.
·
To encourage
“green” building and energy efficient construction and promote the use of
sustainable and renewable energy sources.
·
To budget funds
annually for economic development initiatives and support the Lockwood Greene
recommendations.
She also reviewed the Goals:
Ms. Coffey then reviewed the FY 2008 Strategies &
Resources:
Limit budgetary growth no
new $
Zero-based budgeting no
new $
Cost recovery policy development no new $
Schools and community college funding formula no new $
Energy conservation policy development no new $
Enhanced civic education programming $10,000
CIP Phase I (Tuxedo & Edneyville) $700,000
Land Development Code implementation no new $
Small area planning no
new $
Parks master plan development $10,000
Minimum Housing Code development no new $
Spay-Neuter Program implementation no new $
Animal Shelter Volunteer Program implementation no new $
United Agenda for Children support (revised) $25,000
Sedimentation Ordinance enforcement $180,000
Stormwater management program $10,000
Watershed coordination (net amount) $20,000
Inventory of historic sites $5,000
Solid waste management plan $20,000
Hillandale/Mills River schools construction (debt)
$2,148,875
Community Services Study (new)
$500/study
E-911 Reorganization Study (new) $15,000
Ms. Coffey directed attention to the items that would
require additional county dollars:
Enhanced civic education programming - $10,000. This
will include some programming on HCTV #11 and will generally improve our public
education programs.
CIP Phase I - $700,000. This includes $400,000 for
Parks Master Plan Development - $10,000. The
Recreation Department has already begun the process of developing an outline
for the Master Planning process. That
will include some public input, as well as the Recreation Advisory Board having
a lot of input into the process.
Ms. Coffey also briefly explained the other areas
where additional county funding is necessary:
Sedimentation Ordinance Enforcement $180,000
Stormwater Management Program $10,000
Inventory of historic sites $5,000
Solid Waste Management Plan $20,000
Hillandale/Mills River schools construction (debt) $2,148,875
Ms. Coffey explained that the following are areas that
we’ve heard about since April 18 but the Board may want to discuss and put on
the agenda for discussion regarding the Strategic Plan:
United Agenda for Children support (revised) $25,000
Watershed coordination (net amount) $20,000
Community Services Study (new) $500 per study
E-911 Reorganization Study (new) $15,000
Agriculture Project $50,000
Chairman
Moyer felt that two issues needed to be added.
One doesn’t take any money but still needs to be added to the Strategic
Plan – “Enhance the quality of life for all county citizens, to improve access
to health care, children’s services” – he wanted to add the elderly and aging
citizen services to goal 3. As #2 Chairman Moyer said that the Board touched on
this in the guiding principals but we need to have something more
specific. He felt we need to take a step
to implement it – to promote energy efficiency and the use of sustainable and
renewable energy sources. He offered the
objective – to develop and implement an energy efficient study for all our
county facilities. He suggested $2,000.00 for a complete study. Maybe we could implement it in next year’s
budget. He suggested that this might be one of the first steps in handling
global warming.
The
Board felt it was important to discuss and take action on these items at this
time.
Enhanced Civic Education Programming – Chairman
Moyer made the motion for the Board to approve the $10,000 for this item. All
voted in favor and the motion carried.
CIP Phase I (Tuxedo & Edneyville) – Commissioner
Williams made the motion to approve $300,000 for the PARTF grant for the
Parks Master Plan development – Commissioner
Messer made the motion to approve the $10,000 for this. All voted in favor and
the motion carried.
United Agenda for Children - Chairman Moyer stated that the bulk of this money
will be used at the early stages with respect to engaging some experts in the
area to help produce a demographically accurate group from the community that
will give them a good and accurate representation of what the county feels they
need as far as children’s services. They will work towards having a children’s
summit where all these groups come together to try to fill all the needs of
children in
Commissioner
McGrady stated that they also hope to go to the municipalities and seek their
support. The United Agenda for Children has gotten pretty broad participation
within the community. The summit will result in a report immediately to the
community.
Commissioner Young made the motion to
approve $25,000 for United Agenda for Children.
Commissioner
McGrady felt that he should abstain from voting on this one since it is a
direct grant to an organization which he is heavily involved in. He requested
to be recused. The consensus of the
Board was to recuse Commissioner McGrady. Following discussion, Commissioner Young added to the motion that
the municipalities support this effort in a like amount. A vote was taken and
the motion carried four to zero.
Sedimentation and Ordinance Enforcement
Approved
by consensus, $180,000.
Stormwater Management Program
It
was the consensus of the Board to approve the $10,000 for this program. The
Board will further discuss this issue at a meeting tomorrow.
Watershed Coordination
Following
some discussion, Commissioner McGrady
made the motion to approve $20,000 for this.
All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Inventory of Historic Sites
The
Board approved the $5,000 for this by consensus.
Solid Waste Management Plan
Approval
by consensus, $20,000.
Hillandale/Mills River Schools
Construction
Discussion.
Community Services Study
Chairman
Moyer made the motion to approve $500 for this item in the Strategic Plan. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
E-911 Reorganization Study
Commissioner Young made the motion to
approve $15,000 for this study. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Agriculture Project – Farmland Preservation
Commissioner Williams made the motion to
approve $50,000 for these agriculture purposes in this year’s budget. All voted
in favor and the motion carried.
Chairman
Moyer added two items as follows:
Goal 3 – Children’s Services, Elderly,
and Aging Citizen Services
There
is no price tag association with this.
Chairman Moyer felt this should be part of our Strategic Plan.
Commissioner McGrady made the motion to
add the language as suggested to the Strategic Plan. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
Promote Energy Efficiency Study
Commissioner McGrady made the motion to
approve $2,000 for this study plus the language discussed earlier. All voted in
favor and the motion carried.
By
consensus the Board approved other issues on the list that had money tied to
them, other than the Tuxedo Park/Library project.
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN ISSUES
$15,732,308
is in the
On
slide 2 – FY2008 Revenues. There were no changes except the small amount for
public schools.
FY2009
Expenditures.
FY2010
Expenditures.
Following
discussion, it was suggested that the Board approve the coming fiscal year but
then have the planning documents for future years (forecast). In January the Board will plan to do a formal
assessment and make any necessary changes in those future year forecasts.
Chairman
Moyer asked for a motion to approve the Capital Improvement Plan for 2008,
revenues and expenditures. Commissioner
Young made the motion to approve the CIP for 2008, revenues and expenditures,
with additional discussion needed on the Tuxedo project. All voted in favor and
the motion carried.
Recess
Chairman
Moyer called a five minute recess, to change videotapes.
SHERIFF DEPARTMENT ISSUES
Sheriff
Rick Davis updated the Board on the Agency Profile as follows:
·
133 Full-time
employees
·
47 Park-time
employees
·
Provides law
enforcement coverage for approximately 374 square miles in
·
Provides law
enforcement coverage for approximately 97,217 people living in
·
A fiscal year
2006 – 2007 operating budget of $10,556,307.
Sheriff
Davis stated that he genuinely believes that they can work smarter financially
while offering a strong and effective service to the citizens of
Sheriff
Davis stated that in the upcoming fiscal year the Sheriff’s Office will
continue to focus on community
interaction, response time, efficiency and an overall effectiveness that will
allow them to serve the people of
Sheriff
Davis stated that the FY 2007-2008 is a $10,798,904 budget, which is an
increase of 2.30% when compared to the FY 2006-2007 operating budget.
What
does this budget accomplish:
·
Full support and
payment of the proposed County Employee Compensation Plan.
·
Full assumption
of the one traffic project position provided in the FY 2006-2007 operating
budget through a grant from the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety
Program.\
·
Complete
financial responsibility for D.A.R.E. Camp – an extra summer opportunity to
help educate the youth of
·
An 18.4% increase
in the Drug Enforcement Program line item.
·
An 18.2% increase
to cover the costs of operating the helicopter which provides essential support
for drug searches and missing person searches.
·
Continuation of
the commitment to Henderson County Crime$toppers.
·
Creation of a
line item to support the Henderson County Explorers Program.
·
Expansion of the
E911 Center and the addition of two new consoles, without tapping into the 911
Fund.
·
Provide Mobile
Data Terminals (MDTs) in every patrol car.
·
Provide wireless
Internet in each patrol car.
·
Provide the
software and upgrades to create a “real-time” reporting system to accurately track
crime statistics and data throughout
·
Provide all
necessary tools to allow the implementation of E-Citation.
·
Provide 10
marked, new patrol cars.
Sheriff
Davis stated that we definitely need a
Sheriff
Davis stated that the
·
47 Full time
employees
·
7 Part time
employees
·
Provides law
enforcement coverage for approximately 374 square miles in
·
Provides law
enforcement coverage for approximately 97,217 people living in
·
A fiscal year
2006 – 2007 operating budget of $3,643,456.
Cpt.
Cochran stated that it is real important to him to spend the tax payers’
dollars wisely as well as concentrating on the
The
287(g) Program is a program where our Detention Officers are trained by
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to be Immigrations Agents on the local
level. This will allow our deputies to
run the name and fingerprints of a suspected illegal alien through a dedicated
database. If the alien is deemed
illegal, the deportation process can be started in
Cpt.
Cochran spoke of the need for increased security in the Courthouse. They will
use any available funds to add security cameras and recording capabilities
within the Courthouse complex. He spoke to the issue of security in the
detention center, explaining what they currently have.
Narcotics Team:
Sheriff
Davis updated the Board with the following:
·
7-member
Narcotics Team.
·
The Sheriff’s
Office is a member of the regional Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task
Force.
·
Between
·
In 2006, the
Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Team seized $5,875,058.28 in drugs, money and assets
related to cases in
·
Since 1996; 3,224
cases have been opened; 2,990 arrests have been made and $25,012,889.28 in
drugs, money and assets have been seized.
·
A certain
percentage of all funds and assets seized return to
Gang Activity:
·
Approximately 5
confirmed groups throughout
·
Approximately 200
– 235 members within these groups.
·
Activities of
violence include: assaults with firearms, physical altercations and narcotics
trafficking.
·
Gang members
range in age from 14 to their mid-30s.
·
Only recipient
west of
·
One Gang
Enforcement Officer (Sergeant Doug Hill).
·
One Latino
Outreach Coordinator (TBD, Beginning July 1).
·
The Henderson
County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for all matters related to the Henderson
County Gang Prevention Task Force (community members, community leaders and
government officials). The first meeting was held in April and the next is
scheduled for late May.
·
Community
presentations, community education and awareness, gathering gang intelligence,
as well as graffiti removal are all components of the Gang Prevention plan at
the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office.
Fire Tax Districts
Chairman
Moyer had distributed a hand out on this topic for the Board’s review and consideration.
He stated that the Board needs to decide which of the Fire Departments they
want to take a look at. With many of
them the Board will have to schedule some additional time and meetings. The
hand-out lists the current rates, the requested rates, and the recommendations.
He asked the Commissioners to review the hand-out and be ready for discussion
at tomorrow’s budget meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Chairman
Moyer made the motion to adjourn the meeting. All voted in favor and the motion
carried.
Attest:
Elizabeth
W. Corn, Clerk to the Board
William L. Moyer, Chairman