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: Finance Director J. Carey McLelland, IT
Director Becky Snyder, Library Director Bill Snyder, Auditor
Absent was: Commissioner
CALL TO ORDER/WELCOME
Chairman Moyer called
the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance. The purpose of this meeting was a workshop on
the FY 2007-2008 Budget.
FY 2007-2008 BUDGET – SCHOOLS
Chairman Moyer called Ervin
Bazzle, Chairman of the Board of Education to the podium.
Mr. Ervin Bazzle stated
that their budget was built on two aspects; current expense and capital outlay. Mr. Bazzle felt that the schools were in a bad
position because for a number of years the schools, especially elementary, were
neglected by being under-funded. The
School Board is in the process now and had been since 1998 of trying to catch
up. He shared information of needed
renovations, repairs, and improvements that need to be done at many of the
schools.
In 1993 when the city
and county school systems merged there was an agreement signed by the
Mr. Bazzle noted that in
the previous year, had the state not refunded money to the schools from
rollbacks, more than teachers supplements for supplies would have been cut,
positions would have been cut. The
“uncontrollable items” for this year’s budget request is over $700,000.
Mr. Bazzle briefly
discussed capital outlay and stated that it was not being funded in a level
that they could take care of the problems they have. This year there are two things in the capital
budget that he noted; technology and a matter of the pump station needed at
Flat Rock. The capital outlay budget is $2,785,000
and current expense is $18,951,648. The
lower our tax base goes, the less money they get from the state.
Commissioner Williams
stated that the Board of Commissioners has restraints. It is a challenge to stay within the growth
rate. The Commissioners look at about
1/3 of the County funds going toward public education. The only alternative is to raise taxes or rob
from other services that are provided which are just as important. What the Board must consider is what they can
afford, how much is appropriate, and how much can they continue to increase
this year and going forward?
Chairman Moyer stated
that in respect to growth and school expenses, there were plenty of studies
showing that the cost of residential development, when people are making good
money on it, far exceeds what the dollars generated from that growth do that do
not pay for the cost of that growth. It
doesn’t pay for schools, recreation, and other items.
Chairman Moyer suggested
the current expense be increased to $18.8 million.
Commissioner McGrady
asked what would be left of the class-size reduction plan with the proposed
budget cut.
Chairman Ervin Bazzle
stated that at this point the schools did not have the space for new
teachers.
Discussion followed
between the Board of Education members and the Board of Commissioners with
questions and concerns.
County Manager
Chairman Moyer made the motion to increase the school budget
by $800,000 and that it all be put in current expense, but allow the County
Manager to talk to the superintendent of the schools to find out if they would like it split between current or
capital in a different fashion and get back to the Board. This is a conditional approval with a
provision that when the final budget information comes out that the tax rate
not be in excess of 46.2 and that the fund balance not go below 12%. The voted passed 3 to 1 with Commissioners
Williams voting nay.
Commissioner Messer
stated that he had a problem going above the 12% threshold. He has a problem banking money when services
are needed in
Chairman Moyer confirmed
the numbers for Ervin Bazzle as follows:
$2,098,675.00 was the
proposed capital budget from the
$18,002,573.00 was the
proposed current budget from the
Chairman Moyer added
$800,000.00 to the proposed capital which can be allocated by the Board of
Education.
BREAK
A five minute break was
taken to change video tapes.
FY 2007-2008 BUDGET – FIRE DEPARTMENTS
Chairman Moyer called
the meeting back to order. As part of the budget workshop the board would be
looking at some of the Fire Tax Districts.
Mr. Moyer mentioned that the Fire and Rescue Advisory Committee held
three meetings to review the budgets of all departments in exhausting
detail. Four departments were making a
presentation at this meeting. Chairman Moyer
thanked Lee Roy Nicholson and the Advisory Committee for the tremendous work
and reviews they had done. The four
departments making presentations were Dana, Etowah, Fletcher and
Chief of the Dana Fire and Rescue Jimmy
Womack stated that the difference in numbers for 2007 versus 2006 was $125,334.00. Dana Fire and Rescue has three full-time paid
firemen and were considering adding one additional fireman. They are in the process of looking at
replacing two trucks that are over 20 years old. Depending on the condition of the trucks, it
would cost $2,000-$20,000 to get the two trucks UL Certified. The Fire Department is looking at purchasing
2007 NFDA compliant air-packs to replace existing air-packs (turnout
gear). In the previous year Dana Fire
and Rescue had responded to over 1200 calls.
Chairman Moyer asked Mr.
Womack to explain the insurance rating, when the department is up for
re-inspection, and the importance of the vehicle on the insurance rating going
forward.
Mr. Womack responded
that the department’s insurance rating was up and it looked like in fall 2008
or spring of 2009 it would be due. They
are looking at replacing one of the tankers with a bigger tanker, which would
supply more water in the district, and replacing the engine in the other
tanker. One tanker could cost anywhere
from 250 to 400 thousand dollars depending on equipment.
Chairman Moyer informed
the Board that the Fire and Rescue Advisory Committee voted unanimously to
continue their rate at .10 after they were provided with this information.
Commissioner Messer
noted that volunteers were a thing of the past.
There was high growth in the Dana area and he agreed with the rate
continuation.
Chairman Moyer stated
that the Board accepted the recommendation of the Fire and Rescue Advisory
Committee. It would not be official until
the budget was adopted.
Chief of the Etowah Fire Department Roger
Freeman, Treasurer Dan Hayes, and President Marty Austin came before the
Board. Roger Freeman stated in regards
to their budget they had originally requested eight and one-half cents (.085)
to maintain where they were, however with the recent development projects going
on in their district; Seven Falls, Biltmore Farms, Eade Road, and Crystal
Springs, they have determined that the rate can be decreased to eight cents
(.08).
The department has a
truck that is twenty years old and they are looking at re-evaluating in
2009. They currently hold a class four
rating which gives a break to the taxpayers.
Chairman Moyer asked Mr.
Freeman to explain the efforts to put costs of added fire protection on the
developer rather than the taxpayers.
Mr. Freeman explained
that the fire department had been working with Lapsley and Associates, the
representatives and developers of Biltmore Farms and
Chairman Moyer stated
that the reason Etowah Fire Department was at the meeting was because when they
made their presentation to the Fire and Rescue Advisory Committee there was
concern that the developments would take longer than expected.
Commissioner McGrady
commended the firemen and was supportive of the rate and recommended it for
approval.
Chief of the Fletcher Fire Department Greg
Garland requested to remain at the same rate of nine and one-half cents
(.095). He focused on three areas;
increasing starting pay in salary, adding three personnel for the substation
and a sewer line project that would cost approximately $150,000. The bordering fire departments and bordering
county fire department were polled to determine the salary range and they were
the lowest paying department of all departments. To keep good employees they must increase
their starting salary to be competitive.
Chairman Moyer stated
that the Fire and Rescue Advisory Committee voted unanimously to continue with
the nine and one-half cent rate (.095).
Chief of the Mills River Fire Department Rick
Livingston, Board of Director President Dr. Howard Norton and Board of Director
Treasurer Joe Fowler came before the Board.
Mr. Livingston reviewed the current status of the department. Due to growth they plan to begin construction
of a second substation which was recommended by the NC Department of Insurance
in the next two months. No additional
apparatus will be needed to equip the second (Boyleston) substation. They are looking at the possibility of a
third substation in the upper North and
Mr. Livingston stated
that they had experiencee an unexplained reduction in tax revenue within the
county portion of their district for the past three years even with huge
growth. During this time they had been
provided with nine different sets of numbers from the Tax Assessor’s
Office. This had made the budget process
very difficult. For the reasons given
Mr. Livingston was requesting that their tax rate remain at six and one-half
cents (.065). The rate was approved by
the Mills River Town Council.
Chairman Moyer stated
that the Fire and Rescue Advisory Committee unanimously recommended the
continuation of the six and one-half cent rate (.065).
BREAK
A five minute break was
taken to change video tapes.
FY2007-2008 - GOVERNING BODY BUDGET
Chairman Moyer called
the meeting back to order to continue the budget workshop. Governing Body was next under
discussion. The Governing Body has two
full-time employees and five part-time employees.
FY2007-2008 –
There was no change in
the
FY2007-2008 – COMPENSATION PLAN
Chairman Moyer noted
that the next item was the compensation plan.
Mr. Moyer explained that all major items had been discussed. The Board had requested that the
Commissioner McGrady
asked if the electronics recycling and hazardous waste disposal project that
the county had just completed was a recurring expenditure or a one time
expenditure.
Commissioner Williams
stated that looking at the current compensation plan the county is looking at a
5% increase annually. The proposed is
between 3.5 and 4%. Mr. Williams
questioned the retention bonus/lump sum payment.
County Manager Steve
Wyatt responded that the increase by retention bonus was not added to
base. It is a lump sum paid on/or around
the anniversary date. The percentage
ranges from 1% to 7.5% depending on number of years service or experience. Less than five years there is no payment. Five to nine years is 1%. At ten years it increases to 2% and so
on.
Chairman Moyer raised
questions in regard to the plan based on the experience he had with the county. The current plan does not move people in
grade at all. The COLA and longevity are
designed to compensate for the fact the plan does not move people properly
through grade in reasonable steps.
Chairman Moyer stated that all budgets had been reviewed and the Board
must also look out for their employees.
There is some concern with respect to the changes that are being made on
the benefits side among the employees. Mr.
Moyer suggested approving the plan as presented.
Commissioner McGrady
supported the plan and was committed to 2008 but would like to look at the
numbers again before making a future year decision.
Commissioner Messer
supported the plan.
Commissioner Williams
would like to see the items discussed earmarked to come from the fund balance.
ADJOURN
Commissioner Messer made the motion for the Board to
adjourn. All voted in favor and the
motion carried.
Attest: