New partnership and budget clarification

2:35:06Alright, so I have two items. The first one is a new partnership that the board might be interested in. So many of our customers pay in cash. In fact, many of them don't have a bank account. So when they get paid by check, they use services like a cash checking service like an AMSCOT. And so we partnered with AMSCOT. And when the customers cash out their checks, AMSCOT can look and see if they have a pending track. infraction case with our office and AMPSCOT can process payment for that infraction. So partnering

2:35:36with them allows us to expand services w uh to customers without increasing costs. So it's a new service. Just wanted to make the board aware of that. Um and then the second item is the clerk sent an email to the board yesterday afternoon you have a copy on the dais. Um she sent a letter Uh requesting clarification on the budget cuts from the budget public hearing on the nineteenth. Um uh a revised table two was submitted to our office after the budget hearing. And it's unclear if the expenditure

2:36:07cuts are consistent with the intent of the board's motion at the hearing. It appears that a hundred percent of the board's cuts were taken out of reserves while the constitutional's cuts were taken out of their operating budget. And the clerk is asking for clarification.

2:36:23It it appears and it is hard to tell and so we are asking for clarification.

2:36:28I thought the cut actually cut came from each department.

2:36:31Yeah, each we cut it evenly.

2:36:34So we we cut evenly, that is correct. Um and then as far as each each share, um I think The board's direction to me was to use my discretion on that. So I did elect to take uh the board's cuts from reserves this year with the intent of uh replenishing that with the increase in taxable assessed value for the following year. So I mean if the board would like the cuts to come operationally, we can certainly make make those cuts. So that that was the intent. Uh I just saw the letter this morning, so I'm

2:37:04happy to go through through it and and look through those things, but uh if the board wants to have further discussion on it, I'm gonna need time to look through that and and go.

2:37:11Can you can you explain that again? You're saying you take an all of it out of reserve? No, or just our I took

2:37:17I took the board's portion of it.

2:37:19Okay and what the other ones want to do.

2:37:20They they can they can handle now. The other the others don't necessarily have reserves that they

2:37:25can cut

2:37:25into.

2:37:25But

2:37:25that's a tool that I have at my disposal. So I used it.

2:37:30She's got something on the call for this discussion.

2:37:33No sense for you.

2:37:35Oh yes? Sad?

2:37:41Okay.

2:37:44Well there's no question really, I guess.

2:37:45No, I mean I'm I'm happy to review the letter and go through it with our budget team and and come back so I'm you know, we can we can have the discussion at a future board meeting. Yeah, I'm I'm okay with him having flexibility.

2:37:59Yeah, that's that's Mike's job, trusting me to figure that out.

2:38:07Um, well, okay, so let me bring something up, since we're talking about money and budgets. Um, I got a call from Alex Steve and I know I talked to Eric about this. Um, so two years ago, um Ms. Biles started on a path to help animal services with a capital project that he's we started down the path. Apparently they need uh facility. Um Eric probably knows more about it than I do. And um

2:38:39so I asked Eric to do a little research into it because what Mr. Deed told me was that if one one half of the funding was for the for the design was to be in the twenty two budget, the other half of that design was to be in the twenty three budget, working its way Into a capital building that Animal Service apparently has been asking for for a while. So Mr. Diva had been asking me if I would help to make sure that that building got built, and I suggested there's

2:39:10grant money out there. Let's be ready to ask for some money to help build that building. And he said, and I don't want to stew or not, you have to have the design part done before you. you can ask for some money. So um so then I I called Mr. I called Hugh but you were busy. So Eric and I had a conversation and he did some research. Can you tell us anything? Un spot.

2:39:47Okay building. The planet times we have the second half of that time for putting the FY24 budget.

2:40:05than accomplished thus far with the design money set aside and Flight 23 is a conceptual and schematic design than accomplished. So there is take the design farther to the construction documents, additional money would be required.

2:40:22So w what I asked wha what I understood was it was t like two hundred and forty, two hundred and eighty thousand?

2:40:28Two hundred and sixty four I thought. It's approximately two hundred and forty thousand dollars. Okay,

2:40:32and we gave half of it. We budgeted half of that design in twenty-two. Were you involved in this? Because I had no knowledge of it. Okay.

2:40:41I was involved in the conversation with Mr. Dean.

2:40:44Okay. Yeah. And so and so we budgeted a hundred and twenty something thousand and we got ten percent

2:40:54We we gave ha we budgeted half the money and got ten percent of what we needed. I I don't understand what happened there.

2:41:01So I think what what Administrator Biles had put forward was just a it was like Eric said, it was a conceptual design. Um you know, there's there's efficiencies if you do an entire design all at one time. If you kind of piecemeal things they cost a little bit more, but I think it was a cash flow issue. So I I think we're at a point where, you know, I think to to Mr. Deebs' point and his conversations with you individually, uh that we we need about a quarter quarter of a million. two hundred fifty thousand dollars to take what's been done, turn it into uh buildable plans which then become

2:41:31a shovel ready project if you will um barring permits and other things but um you know the the simple fact is is we did have to remove it from the twenty four budget. Um just you know it doesn't mean that you can't so one time capital expense. Those are usually the first things that we we cancel. Um so we would either need to replace something in the existing budget or again you You drop from reserves to pay for it. Unless characters

2:41:56Sir, that's correct. For the record, the the amount budgeted in twenty FY twenty three was two hundred thousand dollars. A task order to Uh accomplished s cons conceptual design, schematic drawings, and all necessary surveying and geotechnical testing of the soil was issued in FY23. That amounted to about just shy of eighty-five thousand dollars. So the balance was carried forward, but we still need the two hundred and forty thousand to complete the amount to

2:42:27finish the design. And so when I told you, ma'am, it was roughly ten percent percent that included all geotechnical work, et cetera.

2:42:36And And so so that got uh that fell out of this year's budget.

2:42:41That's correct, yeah.

2:42:43These are our wonderful budget dilemmas.

2:42:46From what I hear from the same conversations, um there's there's a will in the legislature to try to get this funded. But we can't get it funded unless we do the design. Maybe we can if you bring an agenda item back to us, uh, say first part of November or and then let's let's take a look at it. See what see what it takes to get us to design when we can have a shovel ready project. 'Cause as as we heard from the legislative delegation, they clearly said they're looking for projects they can get funded shovel ready. Okay.

2:43:16Is

2:43:17this something for too? report because I didn't make it to

2:43:19Would the Board be looking for a recommendation of a project to replace or would the Board be looking more interested in just doing a budget amendment to take from reserves to pay for the design?

2:43:31I'm

2:43:31flexible with whatever you want to bring back to us. I can we'll bring back options. Thank you.

2:43:39So that's a question.

2:43:40So for clear he's gonna get back

2:43:42for clarity he's gonna we've given him flexibility to do what he wants to do with his v budget, whether he does reserves or whatever.

2:43:48So boards out of reserves, the constitutional side of their operating budget. That is

2:43:52what

2:43:58All right.