911 Intergovernmental Agreement, 2011 Budget, and Economic Development Through Smartzone

This week, I had three different important county meetings. On Tuesday, the Board of Commissioners met. As I have said before, most of our tough work is done in committee. The Board meeting approved several resolutions, but not much controversial. One important resolution that passed (and not reported on here previously) was an intergovernmental agreement between Ingham, Eaton, Clinton and Livingston counties. This agreement will allow the four counties to combine in purchasing and maintaining new phone technology for the 911 centers in mid-Michigan and to develop virtual backup capabilities. All four counties need to upgrade their 911 phone systems in order to take advantage of internet protocol technology, and all four need to develop emergency backup E-9-1-1 capabilities in the event of primary system failure. Signing this agreement and approving the bylaws allows us to work collaboratively in order to reduce costs and provide for inter-connectivity between counties. It also allows each county to forgo the capital costs of building a physical E-9-1-1 backup center in each county. I had some questions about the makeup of the agreement and bylaws – specifically how decisions are made and how the funding is done – but county staff assured me that the decisions and funding will be done in a fair and equitable way. This agreement will be a good regional tool for savings and efficiency, and I am happy that we passed it unanimously.

The County Services committee held the first of the budget meetings. First it needs to be said that our staff – especially Mary Lannoye (controller) and Teri Morton (budget director) – was able to greatly minimize the impacts of the budget deficit and they need to be greatly commended by the employees and the citizens of Ingham County.

The budget books were handed out on Tuesday, so this there was not much time to read through the extensive budget before committee on Wednesday…but Commissioners and department heads were able to effectively parse and understand the proposals. Every department was happy with their budget allocations in the County Services committee. Not one department head objected to their recommended budget (which is rare). Commissioners did have some questions for some of the department heads, though. I asked our Parks director several questions about the line items in the budget, and he gave good answers. Parks are truly doing a lot more with very little money. I also had issues with our funding of the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. This is an entity that Eaton, Clinton and Ingham counties all belong to, and it handles land use issues for the region. While I have no problem with their work or staff, I did have a problem with the fact that we are giving them the same $102,000 that we gave them last year. I inquired why we should cut all our departments yet give tri-county the same allocation, and they said that cuts would be matched by other entities and would result in lost matching funds from the federal government. Some money we provide goes to administration, but the bulk of the money goes to services that receive an 80% match, so cutting would lose federal funding. Most Commissioners were satisfied with that answer, but I still believe that we shouldn’t be cutting our own departments yet leaving the regional entities whole. As such, I voted against that one appropriation (I was the only no vote on that part of the budget). The rest of the County Services items passed unanimously. The other committees – Human Services, Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Finance – will be holding budget hearings over the next three weeks or so.

In addition to serving on official county committees, I also represent Ingham County on the Local Development Financing Authority (also known as the Smartzone). This Authority oversees economic development activities that are a result of dollars that are captured for these purposes. We heard reports from East Lansing staff on the Technology Innovation Center (TIC), which has about 14 entrepreneurial businesses in it (mostly professor or student-run businesses who receive low-cost rent to get their idea off the ground). I am encouraged by the products that we are helping to get to market and the many people who are creating jobs through innovation that we can assist. I was not thrilled, though, that several of the businesses are looking at moving out of town after their lease with the TIC is up. East Lansing staff is trying to assist these entrepreneurs to stay in the East Lansing/Lansing area, but other areas are offering venture capital and appropriate space (i.e. hundreds of square feet of wet lab space) and other incentives that we cannot offer. I hope to bring forth a proposal to rectify that situation…but that is in development and will be reported on in a future County Blog. We also heard from the Lansing Economic Development Corporation staff about the University Research Corridor and the Knapps building project. I am very encouraged by the Knapps project. We did not receive a $2 million grant due to technical problems, but we hope to re-apply for that and get the money. In the meantime, it seems that the developers are still working to get all the appropriate financing and start the reconstruction. Severeal local, state and federal incentives will be used. The goal is to have residential space, incubator space, and retail in the building. It would be a great boon for downtown Lansing, and I am hoping that this can move forward as soon as possible. I have great faith in the Lansing Economic Development Corporation, and I think this will be yet another example of Lansing rebuilding its downtown and drawing young and talented workers and residents back to our city.

That’s it for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

211 Funding, Fair Master Plan, Electronic Health Records, Juvenile Delinquency

Another busy week on the County Board of Commissioners.

County Services Committee went 2 hours. We considered a few resolutions from the Treasurer. One dealt with moving money from the Delinquent Tax Fund to the 211 call system. In case you don’t know, 211 is the phone number you call when you need human service assistance. It is run by the tri-county United Way. The Treasurer said that he works with them often because of foreclosures and other issues where people run into trouble and need their help. He moved $5,000 from this fund, which was added to the $35,000 that the county gives them for operation of this phone number and staffing. I raised several questions about if Eaton and Clinton counties put in money for this. Apparently they put in a little, but not much. I again commented that regionalism means everyone putting in their own fair share, yet Ingham County is once again putting in more for the greater good. It seems that it is always important for regionalism when we pay more, but it never works the other way (example – Ingham County alone pays for the airport, even though it is in Clinton County!!!). I will continue to argue that all parties need to kick in money for true regionalism to occur on this and all other issues!

We also allowed the County Fair to move $48,850 budgeted for electrical uses to instead be used for a new master plan. The old one is really old (1970’s or so) and they need a new business plan and a competitive analysis of the Fairgrounds and its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Although I think that is a lot of money, we were assured that it will result in funding from other sources. When we did the beer tent, I indicated that I would support efforts to fund the Fair (that will prevent general fund dollars) and I am holding to that. I supported the resolution but told the Fair Board members that I truly hope this results in money to keep the Fair going. We were also assured that moving this money will not affect operations that were expected to be done.

We provided funding through the Health Department for electronic health records (HER). The EHR moves us from paper/written medical records to electronic records. It is not only required by federal law for the many grants that we get, it also gives us other capabilities - reporting to the federal government, patient management and billing. Paper medical records will be a thing of the past in the next 5-10 years. This will also allow us to share information with other health care instructions in the area and around the world.

The Finance Committee took up a resolution to allow Judge Garcia to contract with a specific attorney to do public defender work on juvenile delinquency cases. This one attorney will take all of the cases in Judge Garcia’s court, and all the cases in the Truancy Court. It is a pilot project for a year. It will save the county money because the attorney is willing to work for less than the amount that we usually spend. Commissioner Bahar relayed to the Finance committee that the Judiciary Committee had concerns that there could be a relationship between the jkudge and the attorney thatr could affect the ability of the attorney to proprelt advocate for his clients. Concerns were also raised about the fact that there is one attorney working with one judge, and that the attorney will want to stay in the good graces of the jkudge in order to get the contract in the future. I shared these concerns and offered an amendment that took care of this. We did not question anyone’s integrity, but wanted to be sure that the process remain without any problems. I proposed an amendment that would specify that this program is a pilot program, and that if it continues after the pilot then there will be an independent selection process instead of one judge deciding who the best person is for the job. Commissioners Grebner and Tennis assisted in drafting this language, which made us all feel a lot better about the pilot program.

Budget discussions start next week, with the County Services committee starting hearings. We should have the budget proposal in the next day or two. Wish us luck!

Ingham Health Plan, 911 Center Funding

Lots of important issues coming up next week for discussion in committee. County staff continue to put together the budget, but other issues are still on the front-burner and here are a few things coming up:

Human Services and Finance will consider the annual resolution to authorize a public health service agreement with the Ingham Health Plan Corporation. I have written previously about the Ingham Health Plan (IHP). It is a way for the county to provide health care benefits for those without health insurance. The IHP is not actual insurance, but is a plan that Ingham County residents can join to be covered for certain health services. People have to be at a certain funding level, and it has fluctuated between 150% of the poverty level and 250% of the poverty level over the last few years. The County Board had a glidepath to get to 100% coverage of county residents using the IHP for low-income residents (along with a third-share plan for small businesses to offer insurance to employees). We have gone a long way, and are not continuing to try to let residents know about this plan. In my area, this is especially important to many of the folks in the Baker-Donora area, and county staff have used federal grants to knock doors and let people know that they are available for these health benefits. We also work closely with the Baker-Donora Center.

But how is this funded? The federal government has a program that issues dollars called the Disproportionate Hospital Share (DSH) program. Ingham County provides dollars to the federal government, who then matches the county dollars at a 2:1 ratio. The money is then returned to the Ingham Health Plan Board, which is an independent Board. So if we send $1 million to the feds, they return $3 million back to the IHP Corporation. The IHPC then allocates that money as they see fit. They also decide on the rules for eligibility and how the money is spent on programming. It has been a tremendously successful program, and this week we will again approve the contract with the IHPC. purchase public health services provided to low income residents of Ingham County. The IHPC proposes to purchase services for up to $2,647,727. The purchased services include: Public Health Nursing, Adult Dental, Outreach and Enrollment, and Support for the Ingham Community Health Center Network.

Another issue coming up deals with the 911 center funding (which comes from the 911 millage and not from our general fund). With the City of Lansing passing the agreement this week (and East Lansing previously approving it), we are now good to move forward with building the new center. Because the build will happen later this year and be complete and operational in mid to late 2011, we have to approve one more resolution funding two separate centers. That will be before us this week in Law Enforcement and Finance committees. If the cap of 80% of annual 911 revenue is maintained, the appropriation would be at less than the traditional 95% of operational costs. This is due to the fact that the operational budget requests have exceeded the capital projects. The 2009/10 East Lansing contract was $1,502,886. The 2009/10 Lansing contract was $5,230,130.

Staff is providing us with two potential scenarios that we could consider (or we could do something else if we want). The first staff scenario would fund to the two 911 Centers at 95% of their operating budget costs within the 80% CAP limitation. This would fund the East Lansing center at $1,467,672 and the Lansing center at $5,099,162.

The 2010/2011 estimated Ingham County 911 revenue is $8,208,543. The combined Lansing/East Lansing contracts funded at 95% is $6,661,163. 80% of 911 revenue (scenario #1) is $6,566,834. The difference is $94,329, and the cities would have to make that up.

The second scenario is to fully fund the operational contracts at the traditional 95% of operational costs. The East Lansing contract would be for $1,488,755 (an increase of $21,082) and the Lansing contract would be for $5,172,408 (an increase of $73,246). The additional funding would require a supplemental appropriation out of the 911 Emergency Telephone Dispatch Services Management and System Improvements reserve to increase the contracts by the additional $94,329. Should we do that, approximately $1,600,000 will still remain for Management and System Improvements in the reserve fund (after lease and maintenance costs associated with the radio project are factored in). Staff is recommending this option because we are consolidating the centers and all parties have agreed, and the long-term cost saving measure will save funds and maintain the quality of 911 Emergency Telephone Dispatch Services. I tend to agree with this logic, but want to hear more about the reserve balance and I think we need to have a discussion about the 80% policy. Traditionally we have had limits to ensure operations did not overtake capital expenses and to ensure that capital expenses actually happen. We need to ensure that capital items will be maintained after the consolidation. But for now, with a new center being built, I tend to favor the full 95% funding option. Should be a good discussion.

Lots of other stuff going on next week also. So stay tuned for the blog after Finance on Wednesday night or Thursday morning!

P.S. Don't forget...you can get an email sent to you whenever this blog is posted if you sign up in the box on the top right of this blog. Or you can join my facebook group at "Andy Schor, Ingham County Commissioner" and I will send out an update on facebook each week. And feel free to comment on this blog or to email me at aschor@ingham.org or to call me!

2011 Budget Primer: Deficits, Revenues, Expenditures; Final Primary Campaign Update

This week was very quiet for the Board. As such, I would like to devote some time to discussing the budget. County staff will presented it to us at the end of August and early September. As you know (if you are a faithful reader of the Schor County Blog), the county is looking at a deficit of $7-8 million for the 2011 fiscal year, which starts in January. So why is it that we have that deficit? That gets asked often. The easy answer is that we have reduced property values which lead to less tax collections, as well as less interest income. At the same time, we have increasing expenses. That adds up to a deficit. But lets dig into that a bit more.

First let’s look at revenues that the county collects. In 2011, the county is expecting to collect $42.9 million in taxes. We are expecting to receive $9.3 million in intergovernmental transfers (transfers from cities, townships, etc. to the county). County Departments are expected to generate $20.8 million in revenues. We are also planning to use $1 million from our fund balance (rainy day fund). That is a total of about $74 million. All-in-all, these collections are $4.6 million less than the county collected in 2010 ($2.9 million less in taxes, $231,000 less in transfers, $147,000 less in department generated revenue, and $1.3 million less used from the general fund).

For fiscal year 2011, we are expecting county expenditures to be $80.4 million, which is $1.9 million more in expenditures than fiscal year 2010. That is about $6.5 million less in expected revenues than we have in expected expenditures (which includes the already-projected use of $1 million from our rainy day fund).

Why do we have $1.9 million more in expenditures in 2011 than we had in 2010? Here’s why…
1. In 2010 we had 3 furlough days for almost all employees. We have not figured any furlough days into the 2011 budget because we have not yet instructed county staff to negotiate this with the labor unions. That equals an additional $358,000 in expenditures than we had in 2010.
2. There is a 1% pay raise built into county employee contracts for 2011. Most contracts are in the final year of their cycle, so these will all be renegotiated for 2012 and beyond. But for 2011, the agreed-upon pay raise will cost $360,000.
3. We have an increase of $210,000 in employee fringe costs for 2011 (again, as per contracts).
4. The Friend of the Court and Prosecuting Attorney fiscal year change will cost us $185,000.
5. We have not yet implemented any hiring delays or hiring freezes for 2011. We have done that for the last few years, but not implementing those for 2011 would cost $953,000.
6. DHS foster care will cost an increased $253,000. This is due to new state mandates.
7. We always build in $300,000 to our budget for things that were not included in the budget, called strategic planning initiatives.
8. There is a drain tax at large increase from the Drain Commissioner’s office, which will cost $78,000.

We also have some items that will cost less in 2011. They are:
1. State ward cost decreases in the Family Court reduced by $350,000.
2. Community Mental Health reductions of 5%, saving $108,000.
3. Reduced costs for the clerk due to a 2011 being a non-election year for the county, which will reduce clerk costs by $160,000.
4. Debt service reduction savings of $277,000.

Add to this about $80,000 in other random costs, and you have the $1.9 million in expenditures.

So there it is. That is what we are looking at as we start our budget. Now we will see what the recommendations are from county staff to close the gap. I expect recommendations of more hiring freezes and furlough days, and other creative ideas. But we will see. Stay tuned…

Election Update: This is the final election update until the general election kicks into high gear. As you probably already know, I was victorious in my primary election!!! After a vigorous campaign knocking doors, doing mailings, running an absentee voter program, and continued constituent contact, I captured 83% of the total vote in the Democratic primary. Voters were not persuaded by the negative claims made by my opponent and expressed to me, over and over, that they like the job I am doing and want me to continue fighting for the residents of SE Lansing. Thanks to the voters of the 5th County Commission district. I also can’t express enough my deep appreciation for those who helped me on the campaign trail (knocking doors, lit drops, donating, letters to the editor, etc). I take it very seriously that the voters in the Democratic primary have again entrusted me to advocate for them when important county decisions are made. Now I will match up against my Republican opponent. I have met him once, and he seems like a nice and sensible guy. We will compare our records, philosophies, and ideas moving forward, and I am confident that voters will again choose me to represent the district and move Ingham County forward for the next two years.