Quincy Reporter

Adams County Board Finance Committee met Nov. 11.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Meeting Convened at 6:00pm

Members Present: Bret Austin, Travis Cooley, Tim Finlay, Brad Poulter, Brent Fischer Members Absent:

Others in Attendance: Ryan Niekamp (County Clerk), Todd Eyler (First Assistance State’s Attorney), Jonathan Hoover (Public Defender)

A motion to approve the minutes from October 14, 2024, as written by Mr. Cooley and seconded by Mr. Finlay. The minutes were approved unanimously.

There were speakers for public comment.

The following appropriations were read and voted on together:

Additional Fund Appropriation – from Jerrod Welch, Director of Public Health – in the Amount of $2,500 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5105 – Salary Administration – for a Revised Budget Amount of $373,401 and $11,500 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5120 – Salary Community Epidemiology – for a Revised Budget Amount of $785,577 and $34,000 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5305 – Insurance Medical – for a Revised Budget Amount of $439,000 and $300 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5320 – Insurance Life – for a Revised Budget Amount of $1,800.

Additional Fund Appropriation – from Jerrod Welch, Director of Public Health – in the Amount of $5,200 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5509 – Maintenance Equipment – for a Revised Budget Amount of $25,200 – and $3,000 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5546 – Postage – for a Revised Budget Amount of $11,000 and $5,500 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5563 – Printing – for a Revised Budget Amount of $20,500 and $1,500 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5589 – Utilities Water – for a Revised Budget Amount of $9,000. Additional Fund Appropriation – from Jerrod Welch, Director of Public Health – in the Amount of $2,000 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5610 – Lab Expenses – for a Revised Budget Amount of $8,000 and $89,000 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5635 – Public Health Expenses – for a Revised Budget Amount of $289,000 and $307,000 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5640 – Nursing Expenses – for a Revised Budget Amount of $957,000 and $34,000 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5645 – Maternal Child Health Expenses – for a Revised Budget Amount of $59,000

Additional Fund Appropriation – from Jerrod Welch, Director of Public Health – in the $1,500 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5657 – Stationery and Supplies – for a Revised Budget Amount of $7,500 and $1,000 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5736 – Travel Clinical Services – for a Revised Budget Amount of $6,000 and $2,000 for Expense Account Number 601-601-5835 – Equipment and Furniture – for a Revised Budget Amount of $12,000

Additional Fund Appropriation – from Jerrod Welch, Director of Public Health – in the Amount of $10,000 for Revenue Account Number 601-601-4120 – Fees Environmental – for a Revised Budget Amount of $160,000 and $70,000 for Revenue Account Number 601-601-4155 – Interest Earned – for a Revised Budget Amount of $120,000 and $262,000 for Revenue Account Number 601-601-

4250 – Revenue Immunizations – for a Revised Budget Amount of $916,000 and $500 for Revenue Account Number 601-601-4260 – Fees Screening Fees – for a Revised Budget Amount of $600. Additional Fund Appropriation – from Jerrod Welch, Director of Public Health – in the Amount of $50,000 for Revenue Account Number 601-601-4295 – Revenue Miscellaneous County Health – in the Amount of $150,000 and $8,000 for Revenue Account Number 601-601-4625 – Grants Vision and Hearing – for a Revised Budget Amount of $42,000 and $1,500 for Revenue Account Number 601-601-4626 – Grants VFC Compliance – for a Revised Budget Amount of $11,500 and $14,000 for Revenue Account Number 601-601-4760 – Grants Family Case Management – for a Revised Budget Amount of $203,000

Additional Fund Appropriation – from Jerrod Welch, Director of Public Health – in the Amount of $283,000 for Revenue Account Number 601-601-4795 – Grants Other – for a Revised Budget Amount of $858,000

Mr. Austin noted to the committee  that the Health Department rapidly increased their nursing program along with SIU taking over the dental aspect of the Health Department. Overall, all the appropriations are budget neutral.

Mr. Cooley advised that some of the movement of monies was due to taking, in part, of Pike County Health Department.

Motion to approve the fund appropriations was made by Mr. Austin, seconded by Mr. Poulter. The appropriations were approved unanimously.

Mr. Austin went over the co-mingled checkbook of the County’s and noted many of the different fund balances that are housed within the co-mingled checkbook. Mr. Austin advised that if the board could re-arrange the tax levy lines so they’d net out evenly, the checkbook balances could look much different (i.e., county general v insurances, etc.). The co-mingled checkbook at the time of the meeting had a $15.2 million balance. Mr. Finlay asked how the county starts out with a negative balance. Mr. Austin stated that it’s carry-over from the year previously and explained different funds that are not in county general. Mr. Finlay asked how the county general line is funded. Mr. Austin advised it is through property taxes is what funds the county general lines and explained the need to remove the cap of county general so the levies can balance themselves out to better suite the fiscal needs of the budget.

Mr. Austin next went over the induvial checkbooks – these funds are funded through different sources (i.e., ARPA, MFT, etc.). The accounts that are represented in this section are all specialized accounts and the funds located in this summary the Board should continue to utilize and find projects and uses for. The aggregate of all these funds sits at $18.6 million at the end of October 2024. Mr. Austin stated that the Sheriff requested a fence to be placed around the squad cars and that is an appropriate expense to be used out of the 002 account and the quote that was received is slightly over $100,000. Mr. Austin stated that due to a conversation with he and Mr. Poulter, Mr. Austin spoke with Mr. Frankenhoff and they agreed to move two salary lines out of county general and into the GIS expenses.

Mr. Austin reviewed the summary Revenue Report. Mr. Austin stated that the county had an anticipated revenue of $21 million and at the end of October the amount of revenue was hihng around $19.5 million. Mr. Austin spoke of a thought to tax less in the IMRF lines and use some of the reserve that is sitting in the account currently. Overall, the summary revenue is in order with one caveat of the PPRT (Personal Property Replacement Tax). Mr. Austin advised that the recreational tax has declined largely due to Missouri passing cannabis. Mr. Austin stated that PPRT is around a million dollar under and that is due to the State reformulating the spread of PPRT across the state. At the end of the report, it was reported that the County is currently sitting at a $2 million revenue deficit with one month remaining – Mr. Austin believes that the county will meet its anticipated revenue.

Mr. Austin went over the Expenses. Medical Insurance is overbudget. Total County General Admin, there was around 5.22% remaining and it’s anticipated to go over by around three percent; however, it is within the one-percent margin of error for the overall budget. Many departments were running under expenses budgets; however, one more month within the FY remains. The total YTD expenses, at the end of October, was $53.8 million. In comparison, the budget put in at $62 million, however, the county did not complete a couple of projects which will make the expense budget around $58 million and at the end of the day, the county is around $1 million to the positive.

Mr. Finlay stated that if you take the total YTD expenses and annualized them, the jump goes from $58 million to $67 million. Mr. Austin stated, correct; however, revenues are also increasing and there will be carry-over. Mr. Austin provided an answer that the budget has in it, all project expenses planned and the board could take all the planned projects out to make the budget look better; however, the projects are planned and then each department would need to request the money at the time of their planned project. The new cleargov software will now allow the board to look at an operational v capital project budgeted to help. Mr. Finlay stated that at the end of the day, the total number of checks that are written will be the same. Mr. Austin said to compare apples to apples, one would need to look at the co-mingled accounts and subtract the co-mingled expenses, that provides the number in the co-mingled accounts.

Mr. Austin displayed a dashboard off of Cleargov. The total budget expenses are up 3.56% which is less than the anticipated revenue increase of 4.05% with a net difference of $5.9 million. Mr. Austin stated that it’s a balanced budget, due to timing all the data had to be dumped into the software and next year the capital budgeting tool will be inserts which will better help the understanding of the balancing. Mr. Austin explained that IMRF will be taxed less by almost $300,000 for the next following FY and then provided other examples to show how it was not a deficit spending budget as the funds that are being expensed more than their respective revenues currently has sitting monies in their respected funds. Mr. Finlay asked to review the total balance of $13 million and the board would use up around $6 million. Mr. Austin stated it was closer to $32 million. Mr. Finlay clarified that this was in use of reserved funds. Mr. Finlay asked about medical insurance and asked about revenue of insurances. Mr. Austin stated the revenue for the insurance is not great. Mr. Austin stated that FY23-24 medical insurance was hit hard, and we expense around a 340,000 more than what was expected. In FY22-23, the board took the medical insurance line and funded it adequately. Mr. Finlay stated that employee contributions decreased substantially. Mr. Austin explained the reasons with one reason being the specialty drugs such as obesity prescriptions. Mr. Austin stated that in the next benefit plan year, the county will not be funding the specialty drugs unless the beneficiary is also enrolled in Health Check 360 and then the county would pay 90% of the prescription. Mr. Finaly asked what happened with the EE contributions and renewal. Mr. Austin stated that they went up around 7% increase and the overall increase was 11% and a single employee will roughly be around $100 per employee for their contribution cost. Mr. Austin also stated that the county is now offering a high-deductible health care plan at $30 per pay period instead of $100. Mr. Finaly asked if there was an HSA. Mr. Austin stated that there is an enrollment for the HSA. Mr. Finlay asked about the LACF. Mr. Austin stated that it’s a grant and the county only gets reimbursement if the grant gets used. Mr. Austin stated overall, the county is looking at around $2million in Revenue increase, and $2million in Expenses with most of the increases being within salaries.

Mr. Austin went over how the revenue request would sit if the FY24-25 budget passes as presented. The total difference between the two years sits at $642,000 which presented a 5% (rounded) increase in the requested revenue. Mr. Austin provided details that the EAV will estimate to increase around 7.5% so that will have a factor in adjusting the tax levy.

Mr. Fischer entered the committee  at 6:56pm.

Ordinance Number 2024-11-001-036 – Ordinance Adopting Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget. Mr. Finlay made a motion to approve. Seconded by Mr. Cooley. The committee  approved unanimously.

Resolution Number 2024-11-001-037 – Resolution Approving the Retention of WIPFLI as the Auditors for the County of Adams for FY2023-2024. Motion to approve was made by Mr. Cooley and seconded by Mr. Fischer. The resolution passed unanimously.

Mr. Austin stated that the county is currently talking with local and national bonding agents for the HVAC project and the capacity of the bonding for the county is around $60million and typically the agents do not like to see more than 50% utilized. Mr. Cooley asked how the HVAC bond repayment plays into the levy discussion. Mr. Austin agreed that the discussion needs to be done soon and is being talked about. The committee discussed the different financial options between requesting a loan or needing to bond and then pros and cons to each. Mr. Finlay asked if it’s possible for the county to borrow against its own accounts much like borrowing against a certificate of deposit. Mr. Austin stated that it could certainly offset several hundred thousands of dollars a year; however, it legal would need to review.

There being no other business the mee/ng adjourned at 7:45pm on November 11, 2024.

https://www.adamscountyil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/10415/638693664331400000