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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-03-20 adjMarch 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 1) 000 0 An adjourned meeting of the Board of Supervisors~ of Albemarle County, Virginia, was held on March 20, 1995, at 1:00 P.M., Ro~m 241, County Office Building, McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia. This meeting was ad- journed from March 15, 1995. PRESENT: Mr. David P. Bowerman, Ms. Charlotte Y', Humphris, Mr. Forrest R. Marshall, Jr., Mr. Charles S. Martin, Mr. Walter F. Perkins and Ms. Sally H. Thomas. ABSENT: None. OFFICERS PRESENT: County Executive, Robert W. Tucker, Jr., Deputy County Executive, Richard E. Huff, II, and Executive ASsistant, Roxanne W. White. Agenda Item No. 1. The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m., by the Chairman, Mr. Perkins. Agenda Item No. 2. Work Session - 1995-96 County Budget: Review and Discussion: Mr. Perkins said Mr. Albrecht from WVPT Television was present today at the Board's request to discuss their request for a contribution from the County. Mr. Albrecht said WVPT is asking the County for ten cents per capita support to help offset the cost of running the station. It is a request they have made for a number of years. A number of cities and towns, including Charlottesville, do support the station. It is general support to help WVPT with the things they cannot do with restricted money, one of which is local programming. The Station does a weekly magazine show Which is expensive because it is shot in the field. Mr. Albrecht said ab6ut one-quarter of their total viewing audience and total member contributions come from Charlottes- ville and Albemarle. Therefore, they make sure that at least one-quarter of the topics that are in that program are centered on people and things that are going on in this area. One thing not mentioned much in the past is the value of the instruc- tional service WVPT provides for schools. It is a contract with the State Department of Education which totals approximately $464,000. There are 90,000+ students in the area being served. The value to Albemarle County is about $54,000 in instructional programming. There are 900 hours of programs being broadcast this year to the schools. That number varies from year to year. The school divisions determine what is in the service. There is a representative from each division which uses it, on a planning committee. Every course used in the series (there are 200+ series) has a teacher's guide to go with it which has activities and discussions to prepare the students for the lessons. Another thing the station started about two years ago was to work with day care providers. They are working with 24 providers in Planning District 10 to make more effective use of the "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" program which is designed for two and three year olds. This is similar to classroom programs in that it has a plan and play book which includes activities and discussions of the programs, which are not used just as a babysitting service. The Station would like to have more providers in this area, but cannot afford the staff and the resources to go out and recruit them. There is a similar program which has been developed by Sesame Street, but it is much more sophisticated and it would require several staff people to fully implement that program. Mr. Albrecht then offered to answer questions. Mr. Bowerman asked what percentage of WVPT's funds are coming from the Federal government. Mr. Albrecht responded 20 percent. Mr. Bowerman asked if they expect to lose any of that funding. Mr. Albrecht said they do expect to lose some of the funds, but they do not know how much o~ when they will lose the funds. Currently, the Federal appropriations are in place for the next two years. The bill that passed the House last week ca~ls for a reduction of $47.0 million (15 percent) from the next appropriation and then 30 percent in 1997. There are no appropriations beyond that point. ~or WVPT it means they would be getting only $1,000 from the appropriation next year. Not known at this time concerns the money which comes from the Federal Treasury to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) . That money ~upports a lot of March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 2) programming. CPB also pays for one-half of the publiCltelevision interconnec- tion system for a faster control operation to PBS. They are on the cutting edge of technology but there are occasional problems w~th the transition from analog signals to digital. The integrated receiver decoders were to have been replaced by an improved model about six months ago and'they still can't get the bugs out of the improved model. Once it is working right, it will allow up to 40 different channels to be fed simultaneously on what use to accommo- date a total of five. They want that capacity because there are multiple instructional streams being delivered now but there are more that could be delivered if the whole system were operating properly. Mr. Albrecht said that distance learning is a growing activity all over the country. There is a southern regional group that has various states all over the country involved, so that a program will be produced in one state and used in 20 other states. There is no common source. Programs are coming from everywhere and each one is tieing up one channel. Even with 40 channels there is demand for these programs, especially in rural schools where there is a small student population and they cannot afford either enough teachers or teachers with the kinds of skills to teach advanced placement courses or some foreign languages. Virginia is doing about 13 hours per day of distance learning. Ms. Thomas asked what difference $6000 from Albemarle County would make to WVPT. Mr. Albrecht said their total budget is $2.5 million, so every dollar counts. For example, it would support out-of-pocket costs for doing their magazine show for several months. As long as they found underwriters, they did a series entitled ~Virginia Outdoors" which enCouraged tourism all over the state. They were able to do those programs for our-of-pocket costs of $3000 a week. They can produce inexpensively, so $6000 can be stretched, especially if they can find some underwriter to help with a particular project. Mr. Marshall said he happened to be in Amelia County once when they were filming one of these episodes, so he became a sudden star. Mr. Bowerman said he is impressed that WVPT has its revenue needs down to where only 20 percent is coming from the Federal government. Mr. Albrecht said they wish the amount could be even less. If these cuts come, they are going to hurt the smaller stations. The distribution of the funds that go directly to stations is skewed to help the smaller sta~'ions. The tiniest ones serving the most rural parts of the country get as much as 45 percent of their operating dollars from CPB. Stations like that just barely hang on, so that could start a downward spiral where the smallest stations go. They help share some of the costs the rest of the stations pay, so that means the survivors have to pick up the rest. If the money went down to some low point and stayed there, it would take four or five years before everything stabilized again. The point they are making to Congress is that they are iwilling to take hits like everybody else, but be reasonable. The Federal money has been there for 26 years, so don't pull the rug out in just two years. There would be no way the stations could replace that kind of money in two years. Mr. Marshall said he asked that this item be put on the list of items for reconsideration because every year the request comes to the Board, but the Board does not support it although the County uses the ~Services. Mr. Perkins thanked Mr. Albrecht and said the request would be added to the Board's list of items for reconsideration. Agenda Item No. 2a. Budget Matters for Reconsideration from Other Work Sessions. Mr. Tucker handed Board members a chart which set' out the Board's Reserve. This information provides a scenario which outlines some funding alternatives for the Board to consider. The chart handed out was as follows: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FY 195-96 WORKING BUDGET Beginning Reserve Fund $200,419 Plus restoration of 599 Funds 36,515 Plus restoration of Comm. of Revenue/Treasurers Funds ~ 309,875 (Less $25,000 added to Capital Projects Reserve Fund) ~ (25,000) March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 3) NET Beginning Reserve Fund $521,809 County Executive Adjustments Joint Security Complex Share Adjustment $19,350 TJEMS Adjustment 1,756 Addition to Commonwealth Attorney's Revenues - Additional Compensation Board Reimbursement 8,000 Adjustment for Reduction in Street Light Costs I' 5,000 Adjustment - CYFS Family Partners Match Amount (1,225) Total County Executive Adjustments $ 32,881 Total Reserve Fund $554,690 Board of Supervisors - Funded Initiatives Cost Funded Parks and Recreation Teen Center - Option 2 Additional Fund~ County Attorney 7,000 Asst County Atty (net Sec Serv & Inter'Ts) 32,210 32,210 Registrar Part-time Office Assistant II Juvenile Court Personal Computer (County share) Sheriff Part-time to full-time Sheriff's Deputy (County's Share) Police 5 Patrol Officers (@58,280) Police Additional Funds - Narcotics Fund Inspections Engineering Social Services Inspections Document/Reserve Fund Household Water Quality Testing Program FSS Program - Client Costs Parks & Recreation Pool Rental Fees Planning Part-time to full-time Planner Zoning Full-time Zoning Inspector Health Department Child Health Partnership Program Contrib: JABA Congregate Meals - Additional Funds Contrib: SHE Operating Costs 5,215 5,215 750 750 12,695 12,695 240 743 48 150 12 000 25 750 10 500 5 000 9 575 15 610 48 570 13 000 6 900 United Way Four Additional Day Care Scholarships 12,480 12,480 Library Additional Funds - Library Clerk (Circulation) 7,642 7,642 Library Library Assistant II 24,289 24,289 ~, 5,000 ,~ 6,804 6,804 2,500 12 000 14 125 10 500 5 000 9 575 15 610 48 570 13 000 6 900 1 555 Contrib: Discovery Museum Transitional Funds Contrib: WVPT WVPT Contribution Contrib: TJPDC Sustainability Council Funds Contrib: MACAA Additional Funds 2,624 Total BOS Changes - General Government $489,733 $297,194 REMAINING RESERVE FUND $257,496 General Government Recommendation General Government .5% Addition to Performance Pool . 45,465 Constitutional Officers - 2% Stipend for Registrar & Constitutional Officers' Staff 18,596 Total General Government Recommendation $ 64,061 Mr. Tucker said staff has learned that there will be some additional State revenues available, and that amount has been included on the list. He noted that the one-half of one percent for the General 'Government performance pool was added in; this is the amount the School Board started their budget sessions with. Also, as a suggested scenario, a two-percent stipend for the employees of the Constitutional Officers has been shown, as well as a stipend for the Registrar. Not included at this time for the stipend are the employ- ees of the Joint Security Complex for two reasons. There would have to approval from the City of Charlottesville to fund that iStipend. Staff recommends that at the end of the 1994-95 fiscal year, iif the Jail Board has revenues from Federal prisoners or from other funds the~ choose to use to fund a stipend or bonus, the City and County consider funding it at that time. Ms. Humphris said she thinks this will result in a morale p~oblem with the Joint Security Complex staff. According to information furnished to the Board about the employees of the constitutional officers~ the stipends are intended to continue. The Joint Security Complex employees are not guaranteed anything for this year or at anytime in the future, so that does not seem fair. Mr. March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 4) Tucker said this creates a difficulty because the City'has to join in the funding. Ms. Humphris said there is already a big morale problem with the correctional officers feeling that they are not as important as these other people. Mr. Tucker said additional School Division revenUes have been added in, along with one-half of a percent for the performance pOol. Transferring an additional $171,000 to the School Division to be used basically as they choose, along with funding for one-half of one percent for the performance pool in the amount of $63,052 leaves a remaining ReserVe Fund of just a little over $23,000 for use by the Board in the next fiscal year. Staff does recommend that some reserve be kept for the Supervisor's use in the next fiscal year. He said this chart shows a scenario to which changes can be made. This gives a starting point for the discussion today. Mr. Marshall suggested the Board set a goal for what it would like to remain in the Reserve Fund and work from that point. Ms. Humphris said she would respond to Mr. Marshall by saying she is not comfortable with having only $23,000 as a Board Reserve Fund. She would be more comfortable if there were more money available for requests that might come up in the next fiscal year. Mr. Martin said he thought $50,000 would be a better figure. Ms. Humphris agreed that $50,000 as a minimum amount would be preferable. Ms. Thomas said there was a footnote in the budget which she would like to mention. An "Illegal Trash Dumping Committee" has been working for a while. She thinks the committee will be bringing some 'requests to the Board that may involve funding. Mr. Tucker noted that $10,000 is funded for that item. Ms. Thomas said it is possible the request could be for more than $10,000. She also would prefer a minimum of $50,000 aS a reserve. Mr. Tucker said at the end of the current fiscal year there will be some carryover funds. The Board could take some of those funds and add them to its Reserve in any amount felt to be necessary. The ReserVe Fund shown in the chart is only that amount which staff knows is available in the 1995-96 budget. In August when the Fund Balance is known, the Board could add to the Reserve Fund. Mr. Bowerman said that amount could shrink for reasons beyond anyone's control. Mr. Tucker said staff does not belie+e that will happen between now and the end of the fiscal year. Ms. Humphris asked if there is any estimated figure for that carryover. Mr. Tucker said he thinks it will be a significant amount, although he does not know the exact figures. Mr. Marshall said the Board has to keep in mind that when the new high school is opened, the County will need to equip the building also. Mr. Tucker said some of that money will be included in the request~ for borrowing or the amount for the actual construction, but approximately $1.5 million will be needed to open the new school. There is a need to start setting aside money for that purpose. The carryover funds will be used for that as well as the $1.8 million set aside in the carryover last year for the high school. Mr. Marshall said the Board needs to save money for that school, so he does not think the Board can add those carryover funds to this Reserve fund. Mr. Tucker commented that last year $1.8 million was saved. He does not know that there will be that much left at the end of this year, b~t it will be a significant carryover. Mr. Bowerman asked for a range of that carryover balance. Mr. Tucker said the majority of those funds will come from revenue that has exceeded projections for the current fiscal year along with some savings in local government. Mr. Perkins said Mr. Pat Mullaney, Director of parks and Recreation, was present. He asked if the Board is to discuss the Teen Center. Mr. Tucker said that is the one item not on the list, and one on which the Board wanted additional information. Ms. Thomas asked what the chances are of getting ~he City to stay close to the agreed upon funding level. Mr. Mullaney said he has spoken to Mr. Leon Churchill, new Assistant City Manager/Director of Parks~and Recreation, and asked him about continuing the 50/50 percent funding level for one more year. He gave no reaction to a second option which would be to split the difference between 50 percent and 33 percent. Mr. Mullaney said if the Board wants to try for one of those options, it would be helpful to have this Board write March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 5) -' · City Council requesting them to consmder that. 000284 Mr. Churchill indicated that they would not ask City Council to support the 50 percent funding for another year. Ms. Thomas said she dropped by the Teen Center one day in the summer- time. It was clear there were some kids present who would not otherwise have anything to do with their day. They were younger children than she had expected. Since the Center is just starting she would not want to stop it as a program at this point. She cannot say that a year from now she may not change her mind. Kids take a while to find good places to go. Mr. Mullaney said staff feels the Teen Center has been a success considering the attendance they get now. The numbers exceed those at any other teen center they have talked to. On several occasions they have been near the maximum number that can be handled in the building. They are happy with the numbers, but it is a numbers game as to how many kids are City residents and how many are County residents. Based on where the Teen Center is located, there are a number of kids from the Whitewood Road area that come every day. It is difficult for staff to get City residents in to balance that number. Staff is concerned about having to concentrate its efforts on playing a numbers game, as opposed to providing a service. Mr. Tucker said a second scenario gets midway between the one-third, two-thirds which is a compromise staff considered. If the County went with one-third to two-thirds, it would be an additional $14,000 for the County. Ms. Humphris asked what the City had said about Option #2. Mr. Mullaney said they did not respond to Option #2. In fairness, maybe that is the proposal that should be made to the City. They have i~dicated they do not want to split the costs 50/50, but did indicate that they would like to use the two-year attendance figures to keep away from drastic adjustments from year-to-year. He said that would be a reasonable option. Mr. Perkins said he remembers that Mr. Mullaney said there was no written agreement to split the costs 50/50. Mr. Mullaney said there was no written agreement on the funding of the Teen Center. In hindsight, that was a mistake. The formation of the Teen Center came about qUickly, and signing of an agreement was just left out. Mr. Tucker said as far as staff knows, City staff will propose to City Council the one-third/two-thirds funding. He tends to Support Option #2 even though it was a verbal agreement. Originally, there was to be two years of funding at 50/50, and then a usage basis would be considered. In fairness, the amount could be reduced gradually. Ms. Thomas said that would allow the City to work with the Teen Center to get more City youth involved. Ms. Humphris said she was reluctant to fund this item in the beginning. But, after all the discussions, she was willing to give it a two-year trial. She is disappointed that the City is not willing to hold up its end of the agreement which she believes is important to its success. She suggested that the Board choose Option #2 and impress upon the City that if they are going to renege on the agreement, to do so in a way that will not leave the County holding more than its share by a large amount. Mr. Bowerman asked what Option #2 means in the amount of funds to be included on the list. Mr. Tucker said it would be an additional $7000 from the County. He suggested adding it under the funded initiatives as a funded item. Mr. Perkins asked how the Board members wanted to handle the discussion from this point. Ms. Humphris asked if the Board had finished with the Teen Center. Mr. Perkins asked if Ms. Humphris wished to make a motion to add that item. Ms. Humphris said she reluctantly makes a motion to add $7000 for the Teen Center. Mr. Marshall suggested that instead of vo6ing, the Chairman ask if any Board member wanted to comment on each item as they go down the list. Mr. Perkins asked if there were a consensus to add Parks and Recreation - Teen Center (Option 2 Additional Funds), $7000. It was the consensus. Mr. Perkins then asked about adding County Attorney - Assistant County Attorney (net of Social Services and Interns) in the ~m~unt of $32,210, March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 6) Ms. Humphris and Ms. Thomas both indicated aye. imf. Perkins said he has some problems with the request because it sounds to him like there is a need for someone to answer the phones as opposed to needinglanother attorney. He has received some comments from the public that the Board is building the legal staff to harass the citizens. Other Board members did not agree with this statement. Mr. Perkins said he does not support that addition. Ms. Humphris said she will support the addition. She has no doubt that it is a necessity. Mr. Martin, Mr. Bowerman and Ms. Thomas al! indicated their support of the request. The next item was the addition of Registrar - Part-Time Office Assistant II in the amount of $5215. Mr. Martin, Mr. Bowerman, Ms. Humphris and Ms. Thomas all indicated their support of the request. Juvenile Court - Personal Computer (County Share) in the ~ount of $750 Ms. Humphris, Ms. Thomas, Mr. Martin and Mr. Bowerman!iall indicated their support of the request. Sheriff - Part-time to Full-Time sheriff's Deputy (County Sha~e) in th- amount of $12,695. Ms. Thomas indicated "no." Ms. Hu~Phris said she was not sure whether to support the request or not. Mr. Tucker said the County will need to get the City's support for upgrading this position from part-time to full-time. Ms. Humphris said she could not find any jdstification in the paperwork for this position. Mr. Marshall said he thodght someone would be present from the Sheriff's Office to comment on the request. Mr. Tucker said the Sheriff made the request, but staff did not suppor~ this position. It did support his other requests. Ms. Humphris said she does not support it. Ms. Thomas and Mr. Perkins also said they did not support ~he position. Mr. Martin said the key to him was the request for an office assistant. No Board member expressed a desire to support the position. Police Department- Five Patrol Officers at $58,280 each in the ~_ount of $240,743. Mr. Perkins said it is only one officer. Ms. Thomas asked why $48,150 is being added instead of $58,280. Mr. Huff said the officer would be hired in January rather than in July. Mr. Bowerman asked how many officers are actually being included in the budget if the Board supports this request and includes the $48,150. Mr. Tucker said the Board w6uld be adding five new officers. Staff supported three officers under the COPs Program plus this position. Mr. Huff said if the COPS funds are not received, it will be only three officers. Mr. Bowerman agreed with the request, !as did Mr. Martin, Ms. Humphris and Ms. Thomas. Police Department - Additional Funds (Narcotics Fund) in the amount of $12,000. Ms. Thomas said she would like to talk about !this program. When she asked the Police Chief where he would use money if the Board could only add a small amount, he said in overtime compensation so they !can get their community policing done. Ms. Thomas said she attended the Police'Academy and she is interested in that approach to policing because she feels that is where a difference can be made. She understands that if the City and the University do not put their amounts into the Narcotics Fund, there will be no fund. She would prefer to put the amount in the Police budget, an~ if the Narcotics Fund falls through, the funds be retained for community policing. Mr. Huff said on Friday, the County submitted a grant application under the Federal Crime Bill for $48,000 in community policin~ overtime money. If that grant is received, that will meet much of Chief Miller's request for overtime money. If it does not, then there would be the flexibility to move this money to where it is most needed. The three chief~ made an agreement that all would chip in the same amount per officer for ~he Narcotics Fund. Not having heard what the other two entities plan to do] Chief Miller was hoping to have Albemarle's money available if they do c6me through. Mr. Martin said since it is a three-party agreement, he wan~s to make sure the other two parties know Albemarle County is willing to f~nd its share. This is a crucial area. He said that is where most of his caseload is. Ms. Humphris asked if the grant money is not awarded, can the Board ~o back and discuss giving the Police Department money for community policihg. She would like to March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 7) 000236 It w~s the consensus of the i; i keep that item on the list of things to look at. Board to include the $12,000. Inspections Department- Inspections Documentationist/Reserve Fund in th,' amount of $25,000. Ms. Thomas said she would like to ~emove that item. She is not convinced this addition to the Inspections Department is needed. Mr. Bowerman said staff made a good argument not to do it, land he agrees with staff. Other Board members agreed not to include the item. Engineering Department - Household Water QualitylTesting Program in th,', amount of $10,500. Ms. Thomas, Ms. Humphris, Mr. Bowerman and Mr. Marshall agreed to support this request. Mr. Perkins said it seems the County is getting a good "bang for the bucks" in this program, i~ Social Services FSS Program (Client Costs) in the ~mount of $5000. Ms. Humphris asked Mr. Martin if he feels comfortable ~ith the request. Mr. Martin said not one hundred percent. Ms. Humphris said she is not quite sure it needs to be $5000. Mr. Bowerman said it depends on!how well it is adminis- tered by Social Services. It could be beneficial. Mr~. Martin said it sounded like they were using the money for leverage. Ms. Hump~ris said she believes staff understands the Board does not want to be enablers of abuse of the program. Mr. Bowerman suggested that the County Executive's staff follow this program to see how the funds are used and if the results can be measured. Then, if there is a similar request next year, the Board will have something on which to base its decision. ~ Mr. Marshall said he will have to ABSTAIN from voting on any part of the Social Services budget because he does more than $10,0010 worth of business with them each year. Mr. Perkins said the $5000 is on the list. Parks and Recreation - Pool Rental Fees in the ~m~unt of $9575. Mr. Perkins, Ms. Humphris, Mr. Bowerman and Ms. Thomas saidl they did not support this item. Mr. Martin said he may have a conflict of ihterest because he is on the YMCA Board, although the YMCA Swim Club and the ~CA are not the same thing. He is not arguing for this as a member of the YMCA Board. He knows several people with children in this program and it is a genuine feeling that they are getting a raw deal. They compare themselves to all of the other clubs the County provides facilities for. Mr. Martin said the club actually asked for a lot more than the $9575, but staff identified the amount that would help them cover the fee for use of City pools. His son plays basket- ball and T-ball, and he only has to pay $35 for his three children to partici- pate in these sports. The reason this is so inexpensive is because the County provides the facilities. If the County did not provide!the facilities, then he would be in the situation of paying approximately $260 per child. He thinks the Board needs to take into consideration that eventually the County will be in the pool business. Those people who are really into swimming and have to come into town to pay for the pools should at least get something. Even $5,000 would acknowledge that there are County residents who pay their taxes and who are not getting the same benefit as other~participants in sports. Mr. Perkins said he thinks if the Board does this~ it will be opening itself up to requests from every other swim team in thelCounty. Ms. Thomas said she is not swayed by the argument that T-ball is cheaper than swimming beCause there are some sports that are just a lot more expensive than other sports. Her children always chose the most ~xpensive sport, that of horseback riding. She is influenced by the idea tha~ if some children need scholarships then the County is not providing those scholarships. She said the County does have an arrangement with Social Service~ to provide scholar- ships for some county recreation programs. She asked if~ there would be any value in providing money through scholarships, i~ Mr. Martin said he thinks that would still help t~e Club because part of their fees go to provide scholarships. Ms. Humphris sa~d their scholarships do not come under the same criteria that the County's SoCial Services Depart- ment uses. Mr. Martin said he believes their goal and Objective is much the March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page $) 0002 7 same. The scholarships are for people who cannot afford to pay. Ms. Humphris said she cannot support this request because she feels!it is something special for a small group. She agrees with Mr. Perkins that opening this door would be precedent-setting for other groups the County does not provide funds for in the recreation arena. Swimming is expensive, but it iS at their choice. A lot of it is geared to competitive swimming instead ofljust swimming for recreation. She does not think the Board is ready to ~enture into that arena. Mr. Martin said he would like to try one more time before taking a consensus. He thinks there is a big difference between horseback riding and swimming. He said that in almost every community there is swimming going on, and most localities have a pool. He comes from a locality where there is no stop light, but there was a pool. He thinks you could separate swimming from lots of other activities because in most communities the kids have access to a pool, and Albemarle does not have a pool. Mr. Perkins said he thinks the difference is whether it is year-round access or whether it is just during the swim season. He thinks everybody in the County has access to a swimming hole or a swimming!~pool during the swim season, but few have access all year-round. Mr. Martin said he would like to put a motion on'the floor to support $5000 for this program. The people he has talked to have said that basically any amount would help with the program. Mr. Marshall Said he wants to make sure that the children who cannot afford the fees havela place to go. Ms. Thomas asked if this is wintertime swimming the Board is discussing. Mr. Mullaney said the only period of the year that was included are those months when the beaches are not open, and that is 38 weeks ou6 of the year. Mr. Marshall said if there are kids who are indigents and cannot afford to go, this would be an opportunity for them to go. MS. Humphris asked if they will belong to this group which is geared to competitive swimming. Mr. Marshall said he needs to separate the competition from somebody just swim- ming. If it is for competition, he will not support it. Mr. Martin said this is not just going to unorganized swimming. It is a swim team with 123 members on the team. ~ Mr. Perkins said he sees this the same as if the 'County provided piano lessons for anybody in the County who wanted to play the piano. Ms. Humphris said she had asked the other day about the precedent, and who else would want the County to provide funds for other swim teams. Mr. Mullaney said staff had the same discussion in the offilce as the Board is having right now. One thing to remember is that a lot iof people who belong to the Crozet Swim Team, the Fairview Swim Team, the Elks iSwim Team, etc., belong to CYAC during the off-season when those pools are closed. He does not think there will be requests from teams who have places to swim. Ms. Humphris asked if this is not mostly competitive swimming. Mr. Mullaney said "yes." One thing about the amount that bothered him is that it doels not reduce the fee for swimming a great deal. It only reduces the fee for' swimming about ten percent. He said there is a certain fairness to this r~quest because they have reduced it to two hours a week swim time which is ~quivalent to what is played in other sports. If someone cannot afford to be on the swim team, this ten percent reduction will not make it something a person can afford to do. There are a lot of other expenses involved in swimming.~ Ms. Humphris asked Mr. Mullaney to explain about the scholarship swimmers. She understands there are few kids there now! who would actually be eligible for a scholarship were it to be done by the criteria the County uses. Mr. Mullaney said that is possible. What could be done is to set the money aside in an account and let the County dispense the money to CYAC when someone qualifies. Ms. Humphris said there are two different issues involved. The Board is dealing with scholarships, or the Board is dealing with', scholarships for eligible kids who fit the County's criteria. Mr. Marsha~ll said that is where he wants the money to go. Ms. Thomas asked if the Board could say there wouid be money in the Parks budget that through an arrangement with the Department of Social Services could be used for scholarships for qualified m~mbers of the CYAC Swim Team. She is not turned off that these are competitive!iswimmers. She is March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 9) concerned about the precedent, and about the money not!~going to the kids who need it the most. She likes the scholarship idea. Ms. Humphris said she likes the scholarship idea! for the kids who qualify under the County's criteria. She asked who wodld determine which kid would get how many hours of swimming from the scholarship. Mr. Mullaney said he believes the funds would have to be dispensed on a first-come, first-served basis. Mr. Martin asked if the program would not still be looking at the two hours. Ms. Thomas said there was something in the budget materials that indicated that senior swimmers would swim more hours, iMr. Mullaney said it depends on the difficulty level. Kids can swim for recreation in the program, or can swim competitively. Mr. Martin said he would like to make another suggestion. Put $5000 in the Parks budget and let Mr. Mullaney take all of the Board's concern for not supporting the request, and bring back a proposal abou~ how to regulate the spending of those funds. Mr. Marshall said he would s6pport that suggestion. Ms. Humphrzs said the money would be ~oing to Parks for the purpose of scholarships according to the County's criteria. Ms. Thomas said $5000 would either buy five junior scholarships at $970 each, or a i feWer number of senior scholarships. Mr. Mullaney said it might be possible 6o structure it in such a way with CYAC that $5000 would buy many kids two hours swim time each week swimming with their people, and maybe more kids could be reached that way. Mr. Bowerman said that is a good idea. Mr. Marshall s~id he would support that. Ms. Thomas agreed. Planninq and Community Development Department - Part-Time to Full-T~mn Planner in the amount of $15,610. Ms. Humphris, Ms. T~omas, Mr. Bowerman and Mr. Marshall all agreed to support the request. Zoninq Department - Full-Time Zoninq Inspector in the ~m_ount of $48,570, It was the consensus to support the request. ~ Health Department - Child Health Partnership Pro,ram in the amount of $13,000.. It was the consensus to support the request. Contribution: Jefferson Area Board for Agin~ (jA~A) - Con,re,ate Meals, Additional Funds in the amount of $6,900. Mr. Marshall' said he would support the request. Ms. Humphris said the Board has not had a! full discussion of the request. Mr. Marshall said Mr. Butler and Mr. Pace came to the Board meeting. Ms. Humphris said the Board was talked to, but did not then discuss the request. Mr. Martin said it was discussed because some! Board members did not want to include the funds on the list, and he did. Thei~discussion concerned the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and whether this new request was to be in lieu of, or in addition to that program. He had lots of phone calls indicating that RSVP had been wiped out. When he suggested that this request be added, it was in addition to other funds. Ms. Thomas said at this time, the RSVP Program has not been wiped out, nor have any funds been taken from it. She thinks the question is still before the Board. Does it want to reduce the amount of funding for RSVP? Staff's recommendation on that was ambiguous. Ms. White said the Program Review Committee for the last couple of years has looked at RSVP in conjunction with a lot of other r~quests and priorities. The Committee feels it is not a priority, there are other needs and not only for JABA where $6000 could go to do something more beneficial to the community than funding the RSVP Program. They do some good work, but when the Committee looks at other programs and priorities, RSVP goes to bo6tom of the list. In and by itself, there is nothing wrong with the program. ! The analysis shows that most of the volunteers are being used within JABA's! own program. That was a concern because there are a lot of seniors who ar~ volunteering, and they should be encouraged to go out and work in other s~gments of the commu- Ms. Humphris said staff's original recommendation ~as that a meals site should be at the Senior Center. She asked if staff hadl~changed its mind after the people appeared before the Board to justify having it at the church. Ms. March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 10) White said it was only because staff did not recommend funding a site. Ms. Humphris said those people organized and they came to the Board and the Board heard the message, so now what the Board is dealing wish is whether to fund the congregate meals site in the northeast section of ~he County, with the $6900 in addition to the amount for RSVP. She is confused about where this leaves RSVP. From the phone calls she has received sihce last Thursday, the people don't seem to understand the problem. They were talking about JAUNT and RSVP, and about transportation for their volunteer~. Ms. White said a lot of the money RSVP uses is to help their volunteers with transportation. Ms. Thomas said if the Board is not sure what the community is getting back from RSVP, the Board could give the money directly to JAUNT to be used for vouchers for senior citizens who are traveling to ~olunteer activities. She does not feel strongly that it is worth doing, butiif Board members have a problem with RSVP, she will suggest that as an alternative solution. She said when agencies were talking to the Board, she pointed oUt where the County gets a lot of leverage for its dollars. When a lot of volunteers are involved, that is where there is a lot of leverage. She does nog want to cut it too much. Ms. Humphris agreed with staff that when RSVP spent 68 percent of their volunteer hours in-house at the Senior Center and JABAI that is not all the tYpe of volunteering the County would wish them to do. Mr. Martin suggested that the congregate meals be at $6900 on the list, leave RSVP funded in the budget as it is, and that the!staff be asked to relay to them the Board's concerns about the number of volunteer hours. Next year the Board will know if they paid attention to its concerns. Staff can make a recommendation next year. Ms. White said staff can loOk at the issue of transportation and the idea for JAUNT vouchers. Ms. Thomas agreed. Contribution: Shelter for Held in Emergency (SHE) - ODeratinq Costs the amount of $1,555. It was the consensus to support !this item. United Way - Four Additional Day Care ScholarshiDs in the ~_ount of $12,480. It was the consensus to support this item. Library - Additional Funds for Library Clerk for !Circulation in thn amount of $7,642. It was the consensus to support this item. Library - Library Assistant in the ~ount of $11 24,289. It was the consensus to support this item. Contribution: Discovery ~useum Transitional Fund's in the amount $5,000. Ms. Humphris said she was not sure about this item. Mr. Perkins said he had asked for this amount to be put in since he believes it is going for a good program. Mr. Marshall agreed. Ms. Humphris said she thought the message was made clear last year that there would be no transitional funds given again for FY '98. She said she sat with members of the DiscoVery Museum Board and asked what they were doing for fund-raising. She did n~t feel that their Development Committee had done a good job in their development activities. She feels there are resources that they have not tried to tap. She thinks the Discovery Museum is a wonderful activity, but is discouraged that they are "transitioning" again. Mr. Martin said he feels the same, but the difference is that he has no problem with the amount of $5000. If the amount were bigger, he would have a different feeling. He would vote to leave the $5000 inl~ Mr. Marshall agreed, as did Ms. Thomas. Ms. Humphris said she just had to v~nt her feelings, but she also agrees. Contribution: WVPT Public Television - WVPT Contribution in the ,of $6804. Mr. Marshall said everybody knows how he feels about WVPT, so he will vote "yes." Ms. Humphris said she would like to make this a real initiative of the Board. Mr. Bowerman said he certainl~ supports it. Mr. 000'240 March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 11) Martin said the $6804 is based on ten cents per capita!. He felt it might be better to put in a flat number so it does not appear the Board is locking itself into a per capita formula. Ms. Humphris suggeslted changing the amount to $7000. Mr. Martin said that makes more sense. Ms.i Thomas said she feels as if she has a conflict of interest because WVPT is one-third of the televi- sion stations received at her house. It was the consensus that the Board would support an appropriation of $7000. ~ Contribution: Thomas Jefferson Pl~-.inq Distric~ Co--nission (TJPDC) Sustainabilit¥ Council Funds in the amount of $2,500. It was the consensus to support this request. Mr. Perkins said he has some concern about the other localities and what their contribution will be. Contribution: Monticello Area Comm,,nit¥ Action Aqenc¥ Additional Funds in the amount of $2,624. Ms. Humphri~ said she could not find in her paperwork what the funds are for, or how the amount of the request came about. Ms. White handed out a paper showing a baDic analysis of MACAA's funding request and the total budget dollars spent in Overall programs. If you look at local dollars for all counties and city, t~ere is a per capita cost. If you multiply that figure by the number of CoUnty residents and look at the County costs, the County is about $13,000 over in actual funding based on a per capita cost. The County cost for 517 residents would have been $28,520, but the County is actually funding $42,340. What that does not show, and what Ken Ackerman was talking about the other day, !is that MACAA calcu- lates their local share based on the amount of time their outreach worker spends in Albemarle County. It is not based on the number of individuals served. The chart shows that for the last three yearsi the County has been under funding. In the current year it was .9 percent under, and in the next year it would be 1.5 percent under. That makes an assumption that the other localities are going to fund their total request. For'FY 1994-95, the County was $7200 under its fair share. Mr. Bowerman said that according to Mr. Ackerman they are trying to get Nelson and Louisa up to what Albemarle has done and have everybody do their full funding. In keeping with the spirit of that, he does not have a problem with the additional funds. Ms. Humphris said she is bothered because she does not understand what the County is basing its fair share on. Ms. White said the County has agreed to a certain share. The Program Review Committee this!year, said it wants to work closely with the outreach worker who is assigned ~o Albemarle County to develop a work plan and to get an idea at the beginnin~ of the fiscal year what they will actually be doing with some of their community-based programs. That may give a more accurate number of people they are actually working with and the amount of time they are actually spending by the end of the next fiscal year. Right now it is based on their estimate of how much time they are spending. That is what all had agreed upon, and that is how they bill everybody else in the other localities for their shareJ Ms. White said they do not know why they are serving fewer people than in some other localities. At this point, they just don't know. Ms. Humphris said for now, the county has an obligation. Ms. Thomas! said with some additibnal watching of the agency this coming year, she~ is comfortable with the additional funding. It was the consensus to support this additional funding for MACAA. Agenda Item No. 2b. Proposed Allocation of Board's Reserve Fund. Mr. Perkins asked if there is any Reserve Fund left. Mr. Marshall said with those changes it leaves $2~1,695 in the Reserve Fund. He said if the Board is going for the one-half o~ one percent in the performance pool, and the two percent stipend, instead 6f giving it in salary, he would rather see it go toward the health care package. It would give an increase in income, and, it would be an increase in inc6me without being an increase in taxable income. Mr. Martin asked if Mr. Marshall was speaking about the .5 percent. Mr. Marshall said "yes." It woul~ not cost the County anymore money, but it would cost the employee a lot less money. March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 12) 000241. Mr. Bowerman asked what effect that suggestion w~uld have percentage wise. Ms. Thomas asked if the County already pays thel full~ cost of health coverage for the individual. Mr. Tucker said "no.' Ne~t year, the County's contribution is going to 90 percent. Mr. Martin said there is a commonality issue with the Schools. Mr. Tucker said the School Division had requested a .5 per6ent increase in the performance pool. Staff supported looking at it for the impact it would have on the bonus and on the merit pool as a vesting. If i~ is increased by one- half of one percent, at least one-half of the employee~ would be able to vest a step next year. At two percent, nobody would vest next year. Mr. Martin said he was pleasantly attacked by someone as he walked in the door who preferred the opportunity to vest rather 6hah get the minor reduction in insurance. In theory, he agrees with Mr. ~Marshall. Mr. Perkins said when he suggested this at an earlier meeting he said to have a one and one-half step increase and a two and one-half percent merit pool. The reason he did that was to give people a chance to vest. Ms. Thomas said the Board had originally said it iwould do a mandatory health screening and pick up more of the employee's health insurance cost. Now, the employees do not have to do the mandatory hea~th screening. She thinks it is worth thinking about the message being se~t to the employees. Mr. Martin said that might be one of the incentives th~ Board talked about. Mr. Marshall said he would like to take $48,465 and $63,052 and add it together and buy as much additional health care covera~e as possible. Ms. Thomas said if the Board does that, at the same time itl is saying the employ- ees do not have to have the mandatory health screening,~ it would be picking up more of the health insurance costs, and she is afraid the Board is sending out the wrong message. Ms. Humphris said if the Board were to do that, o~er 93 percent of the County employees would not vest a step next year. She !thinks they would be very unhappy not to vest. She thinks it is important that the one-half percent be added to the performance pool so that at lea~t 50 percent of the eligible employees are able to vest a step. Mr. Bowerman said he still does not understand something. According to staff's figures, without the $45,465, only 21 people can fully vest. Mr. Tucker said "yes." Mr. Bowerman asked if the fund would be $200,000 if there would be a two percent pool. Mr. Tucker said "yes." Mr. Bowerman said that means only 21 people would vest a full two and one-half percent because dozens of other people got a bonus of some amount. He asked how staff arrived at the figure of 21. Mr. Tucker said it was based on what the~trend has been over the years in scoring evaluations. Mr. Bowerman said just about everybody gets a bonus. The idea was that it be a merit bonus. If you have 15 people in an office, only three people would get something. Everybody else is doing the job the way they are supposed to be doing it. An employee does not get a pay increase because he is doing his job. He gets a bonus because he does something exemplary. Mr. Bowerman said what staff is saying is that with a $200,000 bonus pool, only 21 people will get the two and one-half percent. Mr. Hufflsaid "no." The bonus pool is what the employee will receive this July 15th i~ an outright bonus. It does not in any way represent what that person will ~est in the next year on his salary. If he gave every employee in his office'100 on the evaluation, every employee in his office would get a two percent bo~Us. Because nobody received a bonus over two and one-half percent, which is the cutoff required to vest, nobody in his office can vest a step next yearl What staff repre- sented to the Board in the 21 people vesting a step ass6mes the same scoring distribution as this year. Whether or not that happens~remains to be seen, but he does not think it will. Employees will know it ~ill be hard to vest a step next year. The $200,000 that is in the budget for!the two percent bonus is just the one-time bonus payment and is unaffected by!~what will happen with the vest next year. Mr. Bowerman said he understands t~at. Mr. Perkins said it looks like nobody would be ab]"e to vest. Mr. Huff said that with two percent, almost nobody will. Unless ithere is a big spread, and there are some employees who are not doing well, if ieverybody is doing a pretty decent job, they will get two percent and nobody ~ill vest with a two and one-half percent pool. March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 13) 000242 Mr. Bowerman asked why not just eliminate the merit pool and give everybody two percent. Mr. Tucker said that is one option staff is looking at. Mr. Perkins asked why not just give it as a bonuS. Mr. Bowerman said it does not seem that would accomplish what the Board wants to accomplish. Mr. Huff said nobody can vest more than two steps, so that!is five percent. An individual bonus cannot go over six percent, the way it~ is designed. In looking at all the scores last year, it just does not ~appen. For instance, in the current year there was not enough spread betwee~ the worst performer and the top performer in the department head pool for ~nyone to vest two steps this year. That same principle holds true for the classified employees. Mr. Marshall said the difference between government and the private sector is that merit pay does not work because of controls. Mr. Perkins said there is a lot of confusion on this Board and probably!the School Board about the County's system. To him it seems like a double whammy to give someone a bonus for good performance and the next year they are ~ble to take two and one-half percent steps of that and it gives them a per~anent salary increase. They are getting paid for the good performance and ge~ to keep part of it for years to come. It really has a compounding effect on ~he compensation package for the whole County. Mr. Tucker gave an example at an earlier meeting about an individual making $20,000 and what happened to that!person over the last six years. There might be someone like that in the CoUnty and they actually have less earning power today than they did six years ~igo because of the cost- of-living index. There are a lot of people in the Cou~:ty who have had substantial salary increases because of the bonus and ~hen the vesting. Mr. Marshall said in his business, if he gives aA individual more health care insurance it does not go as an expense to that person, and it saves that person money in the way of taxes. Mr. Perkins asked w~at that buys in insurance costs. Mr. Tucker said it would be between $17 and $8 a month for the average employee. Mr. Marshall asked if the employee is not better off. Mr. Martin said the employee would be except that peopl!e would not vest, and if they do vest it means that 2.5 percent goes with the~ for the rest of their tenure. If the Board sets it up so they can't vest, that will not help them for the rest of their lives. When compared that way, i~ makes a difference. He said that Governor Chuck Robb and Governor Gerald Ba~iles did the same thing one time where state employees did not get a raise, but they increased the benefits and it was great, but state employees don'~ have the vesting thing. Mr. Perkins asked what would happen if it were dr~pped back to a 1.5 percent step increase and a 2.5 percent merit increase.! Mr. Tucker said it is not an equal number. One of things he wanted to bring back to the Board's attention is that of the private sector salaries. It was handed out last Wednesday. At 2:53 p.m., the Board recessed, and reconvened &t 2:59 p.m. Mr. Perkins asked about the private sector survey:. Mr. Tucker said that gets to another issue. The County is within the two and one-half to five percent range that most of the private sector gives. SQme of them have some type of performance or bonus involved in that, but not necessarily added onto it. Some of that information is hard to acquire, but that is the best information the County could get with unidentified complnies responding to the survey. If the scale adjustment is reduced from two percent to one and one- half percent that will put the County a little further ~ff its market analy- sis. In fact, the Reserve Fund would be increased by d$ing that by almost $15,000. What the Chairman is proposing is reducing th$ scale adjustment from two percent to one and one-half percent and increasing the bonus pool by one- half a percent from two percent to two and one-half perC~ent. By doing that, the trade off is that the Board would gain about $15,000 in its Reserve Fund. Mr. Marshall asked if that would be better for th~ employees. Mr. Tucker said he does not believe it will be any better. ,~It will affect the County's market by putting it a little further away from!the market. This has been mentioned before by both this Board and the School-I~Board, and that is how complicated the performance pay is. Staff is addressin~ that issue right now, trying to simplify it and give some different scenarios.I That should be finished by early Fall. , Mr. Bowerman asked if staff is saying the system ~s broke now. Mr. Tucker said it is not broken, it is complicated, it is hard to understand, it March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) ~ 00024 (Page 14) Ii is probably not addressing the needs as it should, and!~it is not addressing what is happening throughout the country in terms of h~w compensation is provided. Some localities and some companies are goin~ back to just straight cost-of-living or scale adjustments. The pay-for-performance, which many felt was important because you tried to get at a person's pelrformance' is not being seen as important to the employee. A lot of employees]dont like it because it is complicated. A lot do not like the fact that there evaluation is tied to money and they would like to see an evaluation on h6w well they are doing. It is the pressure. They feel a lot of pressure to perform and then they feel like it is always looking at the next guy. It is!their evaluation of their fear. ~ Mr. Bowerman said that goes on in the private se6tor all the time. He asked if the new system will be adopted in 1997. Mr. ~ucker said he does not know how the plan will be proposed at this early date. i Mr. Martin said he likes Mr. Marshall's suggestioh about the health insurance, but in reality, given the vesting situation,!1 it doesn't really work. He suggested that the . 5 percent be added to th~ performance pool, and then the Board start talking about constitutional officers. MS. Thomas said she agrees with that suggestion ~articularly when looking at all the information staff has handed out. ~t seems to be the best use of the dollars. She does not want to see the empl6yees falling behind the market. Mr. Perkins said that is a real question. Ar~ they really falling behind? Ms. Thomas asked if Mr. Perkins could think o~ another way to ask the question. She said it has been asked in a number of different ways and staff has furnished some good information the Board did not have two weeks ago. Mr. Perkins asked if the Board wanted to go with ?he . 5 percent in the merit pool. Ms. Humphris and Ms. Thomas agreed. Mr. Bowerman said he agrees although he does have reservations. In the spirit of What the Board is trying T t to accomplish he will go along with it since Mr. ucker has mentioned that staff knows there are problems with the system and they are going to address those for the next scheduled review. He thinks it is r!easonable. Mr. Tucker said if the Board members who don't support it are concerned, it has been reduced to four percent. Staff started the budget with~ a two and one-half percent scale adjustment, and that is now back to two percent. Mr. Perkins suggested moving on to the subject of' funding for salaries of the constitutional officers. He asked what the Boar~ wanted to do with that category. Ms. Thomas said she realizes the Board ~s talking about the stipend, but she would like to return to page 87 of the]budget bill where the Board agreed to give the Commonwealth's Attorney a $30,~00 increase in local funds. She does not agree with that. She realizes the!argument made was that the office must pay for overtime work, but she thinks the Board would be setting a precedent, although the Board broke its precedent when it gave a stipend to the Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in the imiddle of the year. Now a part-time receptionist is being added and if ever!there is a time when the Commonwealth's Attorney should be able to get the stlate Compensation Board to pay attention to his needs, this is the right time. IShe is speaking in terms of the political party in control at this point, iShe does not think this is a precedent the Board should set or continue, i Mr. Bowerman said all of those political position~ could be changed in November. Ms. Thomas said the Governor will not changelin November. If anything changes it will be the legislature which if it!changes becomes more of the same political party. Mr. Bowerman said he was ~alking about the Commonwealth's Attorney, the Sheriff, the constltutmonal officers themselves. He thinks the Board needs to look at this request in t~rms of what needs to be done and the Board's responsibility in it. If the Board does not feel there is a responsibility, don't fund it. It the Board feels it shares in the law enforcement efforts and judicial efforts of the community, and does not feel the State is picking up its fair share, then he thinks the Board has to step up and fund it regardless of what the State does, ~ecause it is the County's citizens who are directly served by these people. Ms. Thomas said she thinks this Board has felt that giving way on that ~ssentially means it is a burden that would come back to the local taxpayers. ~hat funding is supposed to be picked up at the State level. The Board!idid not want to easily give way on that. Ii Mr. Martin said he does not believe that is where !!the Board has tried to hold the line. For a long time, this Board funded the ~heriff's deputies. March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 15) Where the Board tried to hold the line was in the acr~ for all those employees. A couple of years ago, the position in the Sheriff's office as well. Ms. Humphris said she understands Ms. Thomas' con agrees with her, but she remembers that the Commonweal good case for personnel needs. She agrees with Mr. Bo talking about serving County people, and whether they sented well or not. Because of that, she can half-tea Commonwealth Attorney's request. To her, it is differs board stipend for employees. That takes the Board int, and she does not believe the Board has discussed it en. policy. Mr. Marshall said he will support it. Mr. Perki] he was not supporting the stipend. Mr. Marshall said $8500 on page 87 in the Commonwealth Attorney's budget. Thomas had shifted the conversation over to that page. else agrees, so the Board could move on to discussion Ms. Humphris said she would like to hear what about the stipend. Even though other localities do it that other localities do things she does think should Board would be taking over a responsibility the State thinks the Board should resist it as long as it can. this Board to "go for it", the Board really needs to m~ employees of the Joint Security Complex. They are und~ every bit as deserving as anybody else's staff people. problem with the City, but to her giving it to them lat left over from the Federal inmates, is not fair. Mr. Martin said he has some grave concerns. The area where the Board cannot back out of. In ten years, impossible to say, let's stop doing this. The Board is has some permanency about it. The flip side of that is the Board to start doing this. At this point, the peo~ Security Complex are not included. He agrees with Ms. deserve a stipend more than some other people being tal said he will explain the reason he thinks it is time fc it. The State Compensation Board, and to the same exts government in general, does this thing where everybody the same. The bottom line is that a Registrar or a She west Virginia is being put on the same footing as the p The cost-of-living in Albemarle is very different from He is inclined to move in that direction, even though permanent direction. Mr. Perkins said he has resisted this as long as He also remembers when there were policemen leaving th work as deputies in this County because the deputies we 000244 s-the-board stipends )ard funded a half-time lents. She partially [h's Attorney made a ~erman that the Board is ~re going to be repre- ~tedly go along with the nt from the across-the- unchartered waters, ~ugh to change its s asked Mr. Marshall if .e was talking about the Mr. Tucker said Ms. Ms. Thomas said no one f the stipend issue er Board members think she has often found e done. She feels the lays is theirs. She !f it is the pleasure of e a case for the rpaid, overworked, and iShe recognizes the er if there is money Board is going into an he thinks it would be making a decision that that it is time for le at the Joint Humphris that they may ked about. Mr. Martin ~ the Board to go into ht almost, the State throughout the State is riff living in South- eople in Albemarle. a lot of other places. he knows it is a .t has been a question. ~ fOrce and going to ~e paid more than the policemen at that time. maybe justifiably so. situation. Mr. Perkins said if he went along with this evaluate these jobs and put them on the County scale. control over what kind of salaries those people get if decided in two or three years to jump these salaries u County's scale when it is good for them, or on the Stats good for them? How would that work? That is the quest He thinks this is done in a lo; of localities, and Particularly, Jim Heilman made a good case for his Mr. Tucker said that actual question was posed to Police Department was created. At that time, the Compel schedule was higher than the County scale. The Sheriff State scale. That has changed over the last 10+ years. these employees are ever moved to the County's scale (th to move them onto the County scale now), staff would loc funding as a grant. A block grant to the County would : the County scale, but that money would be just supplemei revenues. He does not recommend that this be flip-flop! has had this conversation with the constitutional offic~ support getting on the County scale, would like to have and be under the County's personnel policies, as well. control what future elected officials may want to do. the County should rould the Board have ~he Compensation Board Would they be on the scale when it was .on he has. the Sheriff when the Sation Board's ichose to stay on the He thinks that if ~ County cannot afford k at the State's und these employees on ting General Fund ed back and forth. He rs, and those that it handled that way, !here is no way to March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 16) Mr. Bowerman said the Board could have all of t~ officers agree to that today, and come up with the mon could be a change in personnel who would say they want constitutional officer they would have to right to do certainty of permanence. Mr. Martin said that is why The Board has some control over the stipend. If you e it probably could not be taken away, but it could be 1 least discuss taking it away. Mr. Tucker said to address Ms. Humphris' concern, Complex is a stumbling block, he suggests using some o Staff would then make a request to the City to fund tl County would only be funding one-third of any increase formula. Their share would be higher than the $35,368 stipend on the Joint Security Complex staff. That re~ City does provide stipends for all of its constitution~ many years. This is not anything new for City Council chance of getting them to go along with the stipend fo2 said if the County starts to provide a stipend for somi 000245 ~ constitutional ~y to do it, then there ~d to opt out, and as a Lhat. There would be no ~e likes the stipend. ,er got to that point, ~veled, or the Board at if the Joint Security the Reserve for that. eir two-thirds. The based on the current which is a two-percent ~est could be made. The il officers and has for Ms. Thomas asked the the Jail. Mr. Tucker of its constitutional officers, the Board would just ask them to dirty up th~ money. The County's funds would stay in the Board's Reserve, then if the Ci[y supported it the Board would shift those funds from the Reserve to do t~ County's shar~. If the City did not support it, the funds would just stay[in the Board's Reserve. Ms. Humphris said if the Board is to do this at tll, she feels the only fair thing is to treat everybody fairly. Mr. Marshall ~and Mr. Martin agreed. Mr. Bowerman agreed. Ms. Thomas disagreed because she percent stipend is adequate for the Registrar. Mr. Ma~ to bring that up as a separate issue. Mr. Tucker asked for some guidance concerning the wealth's Attorney, Ms. Higgins. Does the Board intend this stipend? He brought this up because the Board re¢ increase in addition to a $3000 increase the State appz took action. Mr. Bowerman said he does not know how tk separated from the rest of the employees; the Board ca~ exceptions like that. The Board made the exception wh individual stipend for her which went with her, and no stipend would go with the position, not with her. Mr. that what the Board granted was for Ms. Higgins and no~ one is for the position. Mr. Tucker said it would be make exceptions. Mr. Martin again said he thinks the Board should the Registrar separately. He thinks something could be the person because he thinks the Board is in much the s more so with the Registrar than with the Commonwealth's exception that goes with the person and not with the po five percent, and three percent would be based on the p position. Mr. Perkins asked if that is agreeable with everyl said he can support five percent. Mr. Martin said it w the Registrar, and three percent for the person in the Ms. Thomas asked about the School Division. Mr. this is simple, but what is the $82,360? Mr. Tucker s~ the total net transfer will be $171,000. Mr. Marshall s~ $47,052 for the Reserve Fund. Mr.. Perkins asked what is the amount of additiona[ School Division. Mr. Tucker said it is $82,360. Mr. P~ $190,000 is for. Mr. Tucker said staff did not apply i~ would go to the School's top priority, but staff did ass the .5 percent for the commonality, and .5 for the perf( the $63,052. Staff was trying to make some logic to it numbers the School Division furnished. Mr. Tucker said would fund whatever amount the Board gave them for some update. Mr. Perkins said the Board would not have to fl is not sure a two- tin said he was going Assistant Common- or her to also get antly approved a $7000 Dyed after the Board ~t salary could be t start taking it granted the the position. This 4artin said he agrees the position, and this ~sier for staff to not .ake up the issue of done that belongs with ~me situation, even Attorney. Make an ~ition. He said to do ~rson and not on the ~ody. Mr. Bowerman .)uld be two percent for )osition at this time. [artin said he knows d it is an addition so .id he had a figure of reserve funds for the rkins asked what the to anything. It ~me they would fund rmance pool, which is ibUt could not from the ~Dr. Castner said he type of curriculum nd the whole thing. March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 17) Ms. Thomas asked why the County is getting the the State. Ms. White said it is $75,000 in State mone local funds. The $75,000 from the state is some at-ri back in the budget, In the initial Governor's budget, some maintenance money was taken out and they reinstit Ms. Thomas asked if the $190,000 and the $63,052 000 246 a [ditional $82,000 from ;, and they got $6700 in ~k funding that was put isome at-risk money and ~ted those funds. are actually being added if that is the final decision. Ms. White said added in revenues, and then $170,692 is being added in the County is funding $63,052 in the performance pool funds. $20,000 from their state funds is being used t Mr. Marshall asked the bottom line on the Reserv said it is $32,273, assuming the School Division's trar Mr. Marshall said the Jail is in there too. Mr putting in the County's share of the $35,000 for the Jc Mr. Bowerman said that also includes the two percent. of this will be funded if the City doesn't match. Mr. would stay in the Reserve Fund. The County's share of Ms. Humphris asked if anyone would be willing to School priority fund to make it $200,000. Mr. Martin leave it up to the County Executive to figure out how additional amount, he would like a round number of $25 budget was reduced by .005 percent, individual account: feel that, but he thinks it would be a great benefit ~ given to the School System. He is not proposing to do that the County Executive come up with his best soluti¢ to about $250,000. Mr. Tucker could tell the Board ho~ Ms. Humphris said she is not willing to do that. is fair to the County Executive to make him do that. where the Board knows it should give up money, then it place. Also, she understands that the School Division the Board can give it, but the Board has to remember ti how fast they can implement things. They can't impleme one time. There is only so much they can implement in tie $82,360 is being Reserve funds. Then md $190,000 in reserve fund the $190,000. Fund now. Mr. Tucker ~fer is left. !Huff said that is iht Security Complex. Mr. Marshall said none ~ucker said the funds zhat is $13,086. add $10,000 to the iaid he would like to !he Board can add an ,000. If the overall would not necessarily ~en added'together and that, but does propose n to raise that number best to do it. She doesn't think it there is a place ishould just name that can use all the money at they are limited in tt all the changes at one bite. Mr. Martin said his School Board appointee does Tot feel that way. For many years now the County has been fighting to just pax for the growth. This is not a huge amount, but would help a great deal. He ithinks it could be accomplished without even noticing were it went. Mr. Bowerman asked how much discretionary funds ire in General Govern- ment, non-salary, non-committed items. Mr. Tucker said argument on the other side that the Schools have a $70 versus what Local Government has in terms of making up said staff could go back and find some more money even the Board did today. He would rather that the Board, them additional funds, use the Reserve Fund as much as replenished at the end of the fiscal year. Ms. Humphris said that in order to move the disc~ move that the Board establish an additional reserve f~ at $200,000 instead of the $190,000. Mr. Marshall aske motion, Ms. Humphris was recommending that the Board ap thereby reducing the Board's Reserve Fund to $22,273. Mr. Marshall then seconded the motion. Mr. Bowerman with that. Roll was called, and the motion passed by the fOl AYES: NAYS: Mr. Marshall, Mr. Martin, Mr. Perkins, Ms. Thoma Ms. Humphris. None. Agenda Item No. 2c. Setting of Tax Rates for pUb Mr. Martin then moved that the Board go to public budget as just discussed, keeping the tax rates at 72¢ $4.28 for personal property. The motion was seconded b he can make the 0+ million budget ithat difference. He !in some of the things f it wanted to give possible. That will be ~Sion along, she would d for School priorities if along with that rove the budget s. Humphris said "yes." lid he can go along Lowing recorded vote: ., Mr. Bowerman and ic Hearing. hearing with the ~or real property and ~ Mr. Marshall. March 20/1995 (Adjourned Meeting) 000~4~ (Page 18) Roll was called, and the motion passed by the f¢ lowing recorded vote: AYES: Mr. Marshall, Mr. Martin, Mr. Perkins, Ms. Thomas, Mr. Bowerman and Ms. Humphris. NAYS: None. Agenda Item No. 3. Executive Session: Land Acq At 3:38 p.m., motion was made by Mr. Bowerman, t Executive Session pursuant to Section 2.1-344(A) of th Subsection (3) to consider acquisition of property for motion was seconded by Ms. Humphris. Roll was called and the motion carried by the fo lowing recorded vote: AYES: Mr. Marshall, Mr. Martin, Mr. Perkins, Ms. Thomas, Mr. Bowerman and Ms. Humphris. NAYS: None. Agenda Item No. 4. Certify Executive Session. The Board reconvened into open session at 4:01 p n. Motion was immedi- ately offered by Mr. Bowerman that the Board certify b~ a recorded vote that to the best of each Board member's knowledge only publi~ business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements o~ the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion authorizing the executive session were heard, discussed or considered in the executive session. isition. Lat the Board go into ~ Code of Virginia under 'a school facility. The The motion was seconded by Ms. Humphris. carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: NAYS: Roll w~ Mr. Marshall, Mr. Martin, Mr. Perkins, Ms. Thom~ Ms. Humphris. None. Agenda Item No. 5. Board. Other Matters Not Listed on Mr. Perkins requested information, for the April including a referendum on the ballot which would authoI market for General Obligation bonds for the proposed ne thinks the citizens should vote on borrowing that amouY is through the bond market or through the VPSA. s called and the motion Mr. Bowerman and Agenda from the 5th Board meeting, on £ze the Board to go to high school. He of money whether it Ms. Thomas asked if the cost of going to the open studied. Since the County has not borrowed on the open years, she thinks a lot of work will have to be done tc design and how to understand it. She is told that is a very expensive market would be market for so many determine a rating Ms. Humphris said that means that if the public Board to borrow, then the new high school would not be he thinks the public would be pretty '~pissed off" if the school. Mr. Bowerman said an advisory referendum would as to what they wanted the Board to do. It would be mo fact. Mr. Martin said he will go along with Mr. Bowerm the Board needs to go out and sell the bond issue to th. been this kind of situation before and everybody said tl work hard to get it passed, and it didn't happen. Ms. Humphris asked if this would be an advisory referendum. Mr. Davis said it would be a referendum to go to the market for general obligation bonds, but whet actually borrowed it as general obligation bonds would discretion. It would not be an advisory referendum. I authorizing that borrowing, but it does not obligate th way. process. ~id it did not want the ouilt. Mr. Martin said Board then built the be a decision by them · e than advisory, in Ln. Ms. Humphris said ~ public. There has ~ey were going out and ~ferendum or a bonding authorize the staff to ~er or not the Board ~till be at the Board's would be a referendum Board to do it that .roved by the Board March 20, 1995 (Adjourned Meeting) (Page 19) Mr. Tucker said this would be a big decision bec~ start the ball rolling on the split billing of the rea referendum fails, there is no need for the split billi: Mr. Marshall said he firmly believes that if the dum, the public will vote it down just like they did ti Ms. Humphris said this Board did vote unanimousl~ school. Everybody is counting on the new high school.' Board has talked for the last three or four years that build the new high school there should be a referendum was willing to do that. Boards do change but that is the members felt. Mr. Martin said he thinks the Board is beyond th already made a commitment. Mr. Perkins said the Board commitment. Ms. Humphris said if the Board goes for ti is the date that has to begin? Mr. Tucker said it has Ms. Humphris said the split billing has been reserved : for this particular circumstance. Everything is in mol forward to buy half of a new high school. Mr. Tucker said staff would bring the Board info: at the April 5 meeting. Mr. Marshall said he had read the minutes of Dec~ to the end, and found them to be in order. He then of J those minutes. The motion was seconded by Mr. Bowerma~ the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: NAYS: Mr. Marshall, Mr. Martin, Mr. Perkins, Ms. Thom~ Ms. Humphris. None. Agenda Item No. 6. Adjourn to March 22, 1995, at hearing on Jail expansion. At 4:09 p.m., with no further business to come b~ was offered by Mr. Bowerman, seconded by Ms. Humphris, until March 22, 1995, at 5:00 p.m. in Room 241, for a expansion of the Regional Jail. Roll was called, and the motion carried by the f¢ AYES: NAYS: Mr. Marshall, Mr. Martin, Mr. Perkins, Ms. Thoml Ms. Humphris. None. 000 48 ~use the Board needs to estate tax. If a .g at this time. Board goes to referen- he meals tax. to build the high Mr. Perkins said this when it came time to to see if the public he way a majority of point now. It has hasn't made any e split billing, what to start this Spring. or years specifically ion for that to go nation on this subject nber 7, 1994, pages 15 iered motion to approve Roll was called and s, Mr. Bowerman and 5:00 p.m. for a public [ore the Board, motion to adjourn this meeting iublic hearing on Llowing recorded vote: , Mr. Bowerman and