Schor Blog: Detective Position and 2013 Budget, Land Bank Properties, Goodbye to 5 Commissioners

This is it. My final blog as an Ingham County Commissioner. It is a little weird. I am excited to go to the House of Representatives and fight for important issues on a statewide basis (which has taken on a whole new meaning this week!) but I will definitely miss the issues and people on the County Board of Commissioners!

But I will get to that in a minute. First, the final issues that we dealt with at the last meeting of 2012. We started off reconsidering a resolution from last meeting dealing with a detective position at the Sheriff's office. This was a position that didn't survive the budget for 2013, and one of the Commissioner's decided to move to retain the position and take the money out of contingency for 2013. As a reminder, contingency is our reserve for emergencies. The resolution had passed at the last meeting, but there was a lot of confusion about it. So it was reconsidered on a 13-3 vote. During debate, it was brought up that neither the Sheriff nor the Prosecutor asked for this position to be restored. Taking this money from contingency would start the commission off in a nice sized hole, along with the money that will have to be found to make up the jail medical (where we are not getting the savings we expected). Budgeting is about priorities, and this just didn't make the cut. Instead, we kept a jail post open. When the resolution was reconsidered, a compromise was offered by Commissioner Rebecca Bahar-Cook to take $20,000 from the Sheriff's Drug Forfeiture funds to pay for the first few months of 2013 for this position. At that time, a retirement will allow for the detective to be moved. The position would still be removed, but the person would not be laid off. The supporters said it would be a good compromise because it would not impact the budget before the year even starts and would prevent a layoff. The opponents said that the position is necessary for the sheriff and county, and this would further cut public safety. This amendment passed 13-3 on a bi-partisan vote, then the resolution passed 14-2.

The second resolution that was pulled for discussion was the resolution moving about 300 properties to the Land Bank. Commissioner Vickers asked what properties were being transferred, and Treasurer Schertzing said there were about 186 Lansing properties adn about 100 Leslie properties. Vickers then asked how many properties the Land Bank has and the answer was that it is about 1,000 and about 37 were sold and put back on the tax rolls this year. Finally, Vickers asked how much is left in the revolving loan fund for these properties, and the answer was about $1.5 million. The resolution then passed 13-3.

While not controversial, it is important to note that we did approve two resolutions that settled contacts with our employees. We settled with the Teamsters Local 580 for the 911 Supervisors and we settled with the FOP 911 non-supervisory. We went through the details of these contracts in the County Services committee, and it is exciting to know that these contracts are starting to be worked out with employees. While a year overdue, it is good to see settlement.

After these resolutions, we said goodbye to the commissioners that were leaving. I was one of them, and I will put up my speech in a separate blog. The other commissioners leaving were: Commissioner Dale Copedge, Commissioner Steve Dougan, Commissioner Vince Dragonette, and Commissioner Mark Grebner. Grebner had been on the Board for 35 years and has been an institution of knowledge. He received just the second ever resolution of honor passed by the County Board Commissioners (the other was Grady Porter). The rest of us received very cool plaques showing our service to the County. It was very light and there were lots of laughs and stories. It was nice, and a bit sad. But there was also a lot of optimism for the future and excitement to welcome Commissioners Sarah Anthony, Kara Hope, and Randy Maiville. They will do wonderful work for the County.

So, thanks for reading this blog for the last few years. And thanks for all your support over the last 10 years. I will continue to blog and update all my constituents as a State Representative starting in January. Swearing in is January 9th (according to the Constitution) but I will be in my office doing the work of the people on January 2nd. Please feel free to call or email any time. Thanks everyone for everything, and have a wonderful holiday season!

Back to Blogging

I’m back. I know it has been a few weeks since blogging. Sorry about that. It was a combination of a few things:

(1) Getting elected to the House and all the craziness that has accompanied that. Tuesday the 7th was election day, Wednesday was yard sign take down, Thursday and Friday were new legislator orientation. Also that Thursday I participated in my first House Democrat caucus, where we elected our leadership for the next two years. I was proud to support Rep. Tim Greimel for leader and Rep. Rudy Hobbs for Floor Leader. Since then, it has been a whirlwind. I was part of a press release calling on moving on the Health Exchange and have been working on a variety of other things. I am looking forward to serving my constituents for the next two years in the House of Representatives, being a leader in the Democratic Caucus, and working with both parties to create good public policy for Michigan.

(2) Holidays. Everyone has been telling me that my family should get away, and we did. We went to California for a week and spent Thanksgiving with family. It was fun and nice to get away for a few days.

(3) Wrapping up pre-existing county issues. While the county commission and committees met, the big issues that we considered were issues that I previously wrote about. We finalized and passed the budget, and we finalized and passed the PACE program. I previously wrote about both of these and you can go to past editions to see them. Additionally, I had to miss a few committees because I was sick (the campaign finally caught up to me!) and because of my family vacation.

(4) Continuing my work at the Michigan Municipal League through the end of the year. I have been assisting the transition of my issues and have been helping out where I can. The League is an absolutely fantastic organization and is one of the leaders in forward thinking in Michigan. Placemaking and retention of talent in our urban communities will strengthen Michigan's economy for the future, and I am excited that I was able to play a part in this effort at the League.

All this being said, I will continue to publish this blog through the end of the year and report on the important county commission issues. We only have two more full county commission meetings, and two one more round of committees until the end. And next year I am planning to continue this blog and do a legislative email as a member of the House of Representatives. So I will continue my communication and transparency. Thanks so much for reading!

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. December will go quick, and I am excited for January. Swearing in for the Legislature will be on Wednesday, January 8th but our office will be open on January 2nd. You will be able to reach my office on January 2nd at andyschor@house.mi.gov or at (517) 373-0826, and you can always stop by the House Office Building in downtown Lansing and come to my office on the 10th floor. Until then, you can continue to get me at andy.schor@gmail.com.

Thanks again, and I hope to chat with everyone soon!

Employee Health Care Benefits, Countywide Official Compensation, 2013 County Budget Passed

Go Tigers! It is 0-0 as I write this and I am hopeful for a game 2 win!

This week, we had a relatively short meeting. We considered the resolution I mentioned last week setting the health care provider for union employees. The Ingham County Health Care Coalition, who is a coalition of the various employee groups and unions, investigated various plan designs and options for the County’s health care plan for 2013. After finishing it’s review, the Health Care Coalition recommended a small change in the prescription benefit.

The Coalition also reviewed a proposal by the Controller and County Commission that would switch from PHP to Blue Cross Bliue Shield and eliminate the high cost plan, which would save the County $500,000 per year while not costing the employees any money. The proposal would establish a trust funded with $300,000 per year that would offset any employee’s potential increase in out of pocket costs for co-pays and deductibles. The employees that would switch from the high cost to the standard plan would experience substantial savings in premium costs. Additionally, the employee’s out of pocket costs would be capped at an amount equal to their premium savings and the difference between the total out of pocket costs would be paid for out of the trust. The benchmark used to determine the employee’s contribution rate is recommended to increase 2% from the amount used in 2012 in accordance with historical practice.

Unfortunately, the Health Care Coalition rejected this plan and did not authorize the
proposed changes in health care for 2013, so it seems that we will maintain the status quo. The Coalition met once and rejected the proposal, then met again at the request of the county and again rejected the proposal. As such, unless the Coalition position changes, we will authorize Letters of Understanding with all of the collective bargaining units to accept the proposal from Physicians Health Plan of Mid-Michigan. The County will provide the same health insurance benefits to the
Managerial and Confidential Employees effective January 1, 2013.

We next considered compensation for Countywide Elected Officials (excluding judges). I discussed this last week. The resolution proposed to keep the compensation for the countywide officials in 2013 and 2014 the same as it was in 2012. Commissioner Dougan asked to divide out the County Clerk from the rest of the countywide officials. We unanimously approved the compensation for the Sheriff, Register of Deeds, Treasurer, Drain Commissioner, and Prosecutor. In the vote on the Clerk, Dougan complimented current clerk Mike Bryanton, who has served for 18 years and has done an excellent job. Dougan argued that the successor Clerk should not have same salary. He moved to amend to reduce the Clerk's salary by $6,000 to be equal to the Drain Commissioner and Register of Deeds. Commissioner Holman objected saying that this is the compensation for the job regardless of the person there. Commissioner Nolan said that the countywides have are receiving no raises for the next two years and haven't had raises for a while. U argued that the person coming in will have the same duties and responsibilities, and will also need to learn the intricacies of the job so they deserve the same compensation as the existing compensation. The amendment failed 3-11 (the three GOP there voted for it). The final resolution for the Clerk passed 13-1 (dougan voted no).

Finally, we considered the 2013 General Appropriations Resolution (the Budget for the 2013 calendar year). Commissioner Grebner, the Finance Chair, mentioned that there is a good summary of the budget in the budget document (which can be found at www.ingham.org) and that people can review the summary for the details
of the budged. He said the Controller was able to preserve the county's cautious fiscal approach, maintains the reserves by not drawing down at an alarming rate, preserves almost all services expected by the county citizens, keeps long term commitments to employees, cuts costs, does things that cost less and bring in more money, and reforms the pension system. All this done with less money from state, less in interest earnings, reduced property tax values. There were no angry mobs or people asking us to reverse a decision. The budget maintains the progressive innovative workings of Ingham County. No one was treated unfairly, and the pain was equally shared. The resolution passed unanimously.

My campaign for State Representative is now in the home stretch. Twelve more days. I am excited and exhausted and ready for the campaign to be over. I will try to do a preview of the races and give my thoughts on each one, if I have time. If not, please feel free to email me for my thoughts on any of the races. 517-618-1666. Thanks again for everyone's support!

Property Assessed Clean Energy, Health Care for County Employees, County-Wide Official Pay

This week, we had a County Services committee meeting. We first considered a resolution that would create a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) district. There was a presentation by Andy Levin of Lean and Green Michigan. He talked about how creation of this program would be a tremendous economic development driver in the county. All funding would be from private sources. Commercial and industrial property owners would save energy and money by making buildings more energy efficient. Buildings more be comfortable and attractive to tenants. It would put county workers to work with the retrofits. It would raise the tax base over time. And there would b no risk to the county. This was created and allowed by PA 270 of 2010, which allows PACE for commercial, industrial, and multi-family property throughout the county (but not residential homes). It allows flexible financing arrangements, and up to 100% financing. No downpayment would be needed, and the whole energy project can be financed. This would be friendly to banks as well because if there was already a mortgage, the bank that holds the mortgage on the property has to give consent. Another benefit is that PACE would help property owners to pay the mortgage because they will have increased property values and taxes, so banks are likely to give consent. All traditional energy efficiency improvements can be financed - lights, windows, HVAC, thermostat, permeable parking lots, and everything that makes a building use less energy and use water more efficiently.

The PACE district can be financed through a special assessment mechanism. This would provide for secure, long-term financing. There are no taxpayer dollars, no Tax Increment Financing, nothing public. Business owner can voluntarily take on a special assessment if they choose. The special assessment would be first in line for payoff should a bankruptcy happen, so it is secure for whoever lends the money. The debt is on the land, not on the person. So if the property is sold, the new property owner has the debt. Typical bank loans are 3-5 years, and when the loan is paid off the company is still in the red. PACE, on the other hand, is a 7-20 years loan. It would be for the useful life of the restoration. Their is a lower, fixed interest rate due to stronger lien position and reduced risk for lender. The contractor that does the work must guarantee the savings, and the contractor must write a check for the difference if it doesn't happen (according to law). Lean and Green has private partners (banks and private funds) that can finance these projects, and there are private funders looking to finance deals. The county votes to get into the program, which is statewide, and can vote to get out at any time. There is no contact and no county dollars encumbered. Additionally, this can satisfy the state revenue sharing requirements in terms of the cooperation component (20% of the dollars that the county receives). On Tuesday, there be a public hearing on the PACE districts, then the resolution can be adopted. This has been used for office buildings, corporate headquarters, data centers, synagogue, funeral homes, etc.

Commissioner Grebner had several excellent questions. He asked if bonds are sheltered from federal taxes. The answer was that bonds are not federally tax advantaged but are state tax advantaged, which makes a difference with state banks. There is no liability for the the county. Questions were also asked about delinquent taxes and was told they are not part of this. The community has the option regarding whether or not to turn over taxes when they are delinquent. The County Treasurer gets to decide.
27 states and the District of Columbia have these. There were also questions about whether this applies to agricultural property, and the answer is that it does apply (except for incinerators and digesters). Additionally, water reclamation projects are included. Wells and reservoirs and other water conservation are going to request this. Farms are eligible. There were also questions about the special assessment. The answer is that it is guaranteed and is handled by the county, which would be a new thing for Ingham County and similar to the drain office. There were many follow up questions about what happens to the property if there are lot splits and the parcel is developed for another purpose. The administration burden can be worked in to the project costs and recaptured by fee on property owner. Also, we are not precluded from any other firm that wants to do this outside of Lean and Green. We can create another district or could replace the existing entities. Others can also work in the district if the county takes action to allow for this. Treasurer Schertzing was asked if this will be a big burden for him, and he responded that it won't be. He said that the county does economic development and this fits into that model.

Finally, questions were asked about how the length of the time frame is set. The answer is that Lean and Green requires an investment grade audit of the energy conservation measures, then approves that the financing is less than the useful life of the equipment. This is based on the weighted average of the equipment. It is up to the parties to decide on the time frame. Some want longer, some don't want long term debt. The County Treasurer gets the final determination, but this is usually driven by market conditions. Commissioner Grebner commented that this is a powerful tool because it is a burden on the land and not the owner, and because it has priority over a mortgage. People with money at stake could use this as a new tool. Commissioner Grebner commented that this can be used for mobile home parks and other water uses, and Lean and Green needs to be ready for all of the activity that would come as part of farmland and other water issues. The resolution now goes to a public hearing on Tuesday then will come back for consideration the week after in committee.

The second big issue that we looked at was the resolution regarding health care options for county employees. We have a health care coalition, which is a coalition of our employee unions that decides on health care options. There were three options on the table at the last health care coalition meeting:

option 1 - status quo
option 2 - move to Blue Cross Blue Shield but retain the high cost plan, which would not create much in savings and would create a new vendor and all the trouble that comes with a new vendor (new rules, new cards that may not be available in time for open enrollment). option 3 - move to BCBS without the high cost plan which would ***

Although the county staff highly recommended the third option, the coalition passed option 1 on an 11-10 vote. It was pointed out, though, that they were split on the provider but did not want to eliminate the high plan. The resolution before us recommended status quo. The Commissioners wanted to move to Blue Cross without the high plan but need the health care coalition to agree as part of collective bargaining in order to create the savings. We amended the resolution to authorize staff to go with the existing option or with the commissioner-preferred option and allow for staff to try to convince the Health Care coalition again that this is the best plan for the county employees and county with the appropriate information. The UAW indicated that they are supportive of the county position. This resolution passed unanimously.

Finally, we dealt with a resolution setting the salary compensation for county-wide elected officials. These are the elected officials that serve the entire county, excluding the judges which are set by the state. The resolution included the same salaries for 2013 and 2014 for the Sheriff, Prosecutor, Treasurer, Clerk, Register of Deeds and Drain Commissioner that they had in 2012. The resolution also requires current these county-wide elected officials to contribute an additional 1.8% of gross wages to employee retirement, increasing the total contribution to 10.26% (which does not apply to county-wides under the new hybrid plan). Commissioner Vickers praised the work that Register of Deeds Hertel has done and was concerned that Hertel will be making less than the new Clerk. All committee members agreed that we should eventually have the Clerk, Drain Commissioner, Register of Deeds, and Treasurer to be equal when there are new people in the offices. With the state of the budget and the cuts we have had to make, though, no one moved to increase the salaries to match. Vickers did move to reduce the county clerk by $6,000, though, but there was no support for the motion.

Sorry for the late posting, but I have been busy lately. But more on that later...17 days until the November 6, 2012 general election!

DC/DB Hybrid Tabled, Move to Amend, CATA

This week we had our Board Meeting. It was much quicker than I expected. The employee resolutions creating a hybrid defined benefit (pension)/defined contribution (401(k)) for commissioners and non-represented employees, which were controversial in committee, were tabled for one meeting on the Board floor. We had testimony from union leaders on these asking us to hold them because negotiations on the union employee contracts are still ongoing and are making progress. I expected this to take a lot of time and discussion, but it didn't.

Also, I may have mentioned that we would be doing the budget at this meeting. I apologize for any inconvenience that this created. We will be having a final vote on our 2013 budget in late October (the second Board meeting of that month).

We considered the resolution by Move to Amend. As I mentioned last week, this organization believes that campaign contributions are not speech and should be treated as property that can be regulated. They also believe that corporations are not people, and that they should not be able to contribute to campaigns in the same way that people are. Our resolution expressed support for Move to Amend's efforts to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution expressing these ideas. This passed 12-2 with 11 Democrats and one Republican supporting, and two Republicans (Dragonetti and Dougan) opposing it. They did not indicate in debate why they were voting against this resolution.

Finally, we considered amendments to the contract that we have with the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA). Commissioner Grebner once again (and for the final time) reminded us that the voters overwhelmingly passed additional taxes for CATA (roughly 73% in favor) and that the public supports CATA. He also reminded us that sometimes Commissioners don't like the things that CATA does, or want CATA to do something particular. This resolution is the place to attempt to rectify any concerns, as CATA has to do what we tell them in order to get the millage money. Commissioner Dragonetti asked if he could triple the service that CATA provides to to Delhi. Grebner said that Dragonetti could make a specific motion to this effect. He then reminded Dragonetti that Delhi Ready-Ride is a delhi-only service that CATA provides, and that Delhi is the only place in the service area that has such a service. This is done because CATA underserves Delhi and wants more people to ride the bus there. Dragonetti did not offer any amendment, and the resolution with the amendments to the contract passed unanimously.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Corporation Political Giving, Potter Park Zoo Director, DB/DC Hybrid, PLA for Family Center

Sorry for being late with the Blog this week. We had committee Thursday night, so I wasn't able to write this at that time. Luckily, I have a rainy morning to do it this morning!

This week, we had the County Services committee which was fairly busy. We first took up a resolution expressing the county's support for the group Move to Amend. This group is a national organization that wants to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Citizen's United case. This case said that corporations are people and contribute to political campaigns. Move to Amend wants to amend the U.S. Constitution to say (1) money is property and not speech, so it can be regulated and (2) corporations are not people. The Lansing Coordinator of Move to Amend testified in support of the resolution. He said that there is a resolution before the Lansing City Council as well. He also said that in addition to the Lansing group, there are groups in Traverse City, Glen Arbor, and Grand Rapids in Michigan. The resolution passed unanimously.

We then discussed the Potter Park Zoo. In good news, the Zoo was accredited by the AZA (which few zoo's are) when the accreditation folks were here last month. That is great news for Ingham County and the Potter Park Zoo. One criticism in the report, though, was that the executive director has too many levels of people to report to. There were about several levels of decision making after the executive director. The resolution that we had before us addressed that situation. It would make the executive director an employee of the county and directly supervise employees (which is necessary for the accreditation). The resolution gives the executive director $48,000 as a salary with no benefits in addition to compensation from Friends of the Zoo. This passed unanimously. We also considered a resolution that would move the executive director to be an employee of the Controller. She currently reports to the zoo board which reports to the parks board which reports to the parks director which reports to the County Services Committee which reports to the Board of Commissioners. This has too many advisory committees and is too much time in order to make decisions. There were also questions about if there is too much direct reporting to the controller. She currently has about 13 departments reporting to her now. Several member of the committee were hesitant to add another one. There were also questions about creating a new zoo department. I had suggested that we should have the zoo board report to the county services like the fair board does. We will continue the discussion at the next meeting and make a decision then.

We again considered a resolution authorizing the establishment of a MERS Defined Benefit/Defined Contribution Hybrid plan for the Board of Commissioners and Elected Officials. This was referred to committee from the Board, a resolution approving modifications to the 2012 managerial and confidential personnel manual, and a resolution the Establishment of MERS a Hybrid Plans for managerial and confidential employees. We rehashed the same conversations regarding the fairness of each plan, the problems with defined benefit, the risks involved, the potential rate of return percentages, and other factors. The big hang-up on these resolutions is whether or not we should do these before we deal with the union employees in collective bargaining. Some (Grebner and Holman) argued that we should deal with the employees that we can control now and pass these resolutions. Others (DeLeon, Celentino, Schor) argued that we should wait until employee negotiations settle the DB versus DC issue before moving on to our non-represented employees. These resolutions were table in County Services, but passed Finance and will be considered on the Board floor on Tuesday. One issue that came up that was new was how to prevent people from getting a higher rate if they go to another county position? Currently, if a county commissioner receives a 1.5 DB multiplier for 15 years then takes a job somewhere else in the county and receives a 2.25 for a few months, the entire service become a 2.25 multiplier. We all agreed that is wrong. We were told that we could go to an alternative rate instead of standard rate with MERS, but were not sure if this can only be done for transfers or not. Staff is checking on this, and we will make that change if we can.

Finally, we considered a recommendation from our staff to not use a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) when the bid specs go out for the Ingham County Family Center. Our staff recommended against having a PLA because of a recent;y-passed law. Last year, the Legislature passed a law prohibiting PLA's. That law was struck down by the courts. The Legislature then came back this year and passed a law saying that PLA's cannot be used in bid specs. This law has not yet been challenged but many think that it illegal to craft a law that would re-create something already struck down by the courts (according to previous legal cases). Our staff recommended against a PLA in bid specs due to the passage of that law. They said that they would be able to encourage the winner of the project to use a PLA according to the law, but were not comfortable going against the law. Commissioners Grebner and Holman and Celentino agreed with this. They said that we should follow the law and push for a PLA after the bid packets go out. They said to continue to push for a PLA could delay the Ingham County Fammily Center project because of time delays and the need to re-write the bid documents. I made a motion to reject the staff recommendation. I believe that the move by the Legisalture would be struck down by the courts just like the previous law was. If we continue with the PLA and we are sued, I believe the judge would rule the new law unenforceable. Commissioner DeLeon agreed with me and voted with me to reject the staff recommendation and continue on with a PLA. Commissioners Holman, Grebner, and Celentino voted against my motion (again, bevause they were concerned about the delays for the project and they think that a PLA can still be done after the bid packets go out). The motion was rejected and we went along with the staff recommendation to not use a PLA in the bid packets for this project.

The other committee that I had was the Human Services committee. All of the action items were on the consent agenda (many of the changes were already made in Finance, which met the day before and was out of order because of the Jewish holiday). We did hear an excellent presentation on the county dental program. Really eye-opening regarding the need for dental services and the many needs. They are truly doing a great job!

Next week is the Board of Commissioners meeting. We are meeting on Monday night instead of Tuesday because Tuesday night is the beginning of Yom Kippur. Have a great weekend!

Ingham County 2013 Budget Hearings

Last week started the budget hearings for our annual budget. Last week, I provided the budget summary letter from the Controller. We have now had all of our budget committees meet and significant changes have been made to the controller-recommended budget.

The County Services committee had most of its departments indicate satisfaction with their budget recommendations. This includes our Advisory Boards, Board of Commissioners office, Controller, County Attorney, County Clerk, Drain Commissioner, Economic Development, Equalization, Facilities, Fair, Farmland and Open Space Preservation Millage, Financial Services, Hotel/Motel, Housing Commission, Human Resources, Information Services, Purchasing, Transportation and Roads, Treasurer, Tri-County Regional Planning, and the Zoo. Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel agreed with the budget request, but let us know that money was being moved from the Register's Automation Fund. This fund was created by the Legislature a few years ago to ensure that technology is updated in the Register of Deeds offices. It comes from the recording fees charged. Three years ago, Hertel indicated that there was a surplus in the Automation Fund and agreed to have some of the money go towards helping the county budget for two years. That agreement expired last year, but the Register of Deeds indicated he would agree to it for one more year. But there was a warning that the Attorney General is reviewing the legislation creating the Automation Fund and may rule that it cannot be used for staff and to help general funds. If that happens, the County will need to backfill that money. Additionally, the Automation Fund is running out of money and likely will not be able to be used next year to backfill the general fund. We appreciate his comments.

The only Department in the County Services budget to ask to discuss their budget recommendation was the Parks Department. The Controller recommended eliminating two unidentified positions for $115,000 in budget savings. One of the positions was placed on the so-called Z-list to be reinstated. The budget always includes $300,000 in strategic planning funds which we use to reinstate cuts that are particularly troublesome. We call this the Z-list (I don't know why...it is before my time!). So we agreed to place this position on the z-list.

In Human Services, all departments accepted the controller recommendations except the Health Department. As mentioned last week, there were over 40 positions targeted to be eliminated. Many of these were in the Health Department. Our Health Director, Renee Canady, made a good presentation about why many of these positions are needed. She said they are looking at current needs versus operating budget, and the need to maintain current needs. She said that can't be done with this budget. They made significant changes to their operations to meet the needs. Some changes are seen as budget enhancements, but they can’t maintain the current level of service without these requests. They were forced to consider personnel eliminations versus program eliminations. While they understand the desire to eliminate vacant positions, many of those are still vital. Ill-timed retirements in important positions have resulted in elimination of needed vacant positions. She requested reinstatement of the Health Communications Specialist, two food bank specialists, an Office of Young Children Training Coordinator, and two environmental health positions. She provided a series of ways to fund this, including the use of z-list dollars and the use of unrestricted reserves (which are the reserves that we use for bonding, cash payments before receiving taxes, etc.). Additionally, several members of the public and the Community Health Center Board and the Health Department staff asked for the reinstatement of the dental electronic health record position, the patient portal position, and the patient centered medical home funding. All told, these requests (with a few additional positions being deleted) came to $285,000. We had a long discussion of priorities and needs. Also, there was discussion about grants and other dollars that would come to Ingham as a result of these positions. We voted 4-1 (Vickers opposed) to include all positions on the z-list so we could send them to Finance and have them compared against all other needs of the county. The Health Department was also asked to rank these in terms of importance in the eventuality that we can't fund all of them.

I don't serve on the Law Enforcement and Judiciary Committees. Luckily, the chairs of each of those committees sent me updates from their budget action. Commissioner Penelope Tsernoglou, Chair of the Law Enforcement Committee, reported:

"The Animal Control, Community Corrections, 911 Dispatch Center, Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Prosecuting Attorney, and Tri-County Metro Squad Representatives indicated their satisfaction with their budgets early on so the committee promptly approved their budgets and sent them on their way. While there were noticeable cuts made to many of these departments, the directors were able to work with our controller to reach a budget we could all live with.

However, the Sheriff’s Office was unable to come to an agreement regarding their budget. The controller’s recommended budget included the closing of Post 7 (57 beds) and the elimination of six correctional officers, adding up to a savings of $583,424 in addition to eliminating a deputy and a detective position. The two positions, a deputy and a detective position, were placed on the z-list. Sheriff Wriggelsworth indicated that both positions were very much needed, but the deputy position would come first if he was forced to choose between them. An additional Pre-Trial Services Investigator position was included within the budget for Circuit Court to help manage the jail population in light of the reduced capacity. However, Sheriff Wriggelsworth and Undersheriff Alan Spyke presented a strong case for keeping the post open. Commissioner Celentino moved to take money out of the undesignated fund balance to pay for the jail post. The controller offered an alternate suggestion of placing part of the cost for the jail post on the z-list and allocating the remaining costs elsewhere. However, the motion passed 4-2 with Commissioners Schaefer, Celentino, Dragonetti, and Koenig supporting it and Commissioners DeLeon and Tsernoglou voting no. Commissioner Koenig unsuccessfully moved to reconsider. Commissioners felt strongly that we need to keep the jail post open. Unfortunately we may be setting a bad precedent by attempting to use undesignated fund balance to balance our budget. If we do end up using the full amount this will be the highest amount of undesignated fund balance the county has ever used. It is very likely that the Finance Committee will adjust our recommendations before sending the Sheriff’s budget on to the full board."

Commissioner Carol Koenig, Chair of the Judiciary Committee Committee reported:

"All divisions of the judiciary accepting the Controller's recommended budget. The one caveat given by the chair was that if the budget change proposed in Law Enforcement (namely leaving the jail post open) was adopted, the additional pre-trial investigator position for the courts would probably not be filled."

The Finance Committee's job is to put the budget back together. They had to look at all of the requests on the z-list to see what should receive the $300,000. They also had to review the $500,000 taken from the reserves. My understanding is that MOST OF the Health Department needs were taken care of by allowing grant dollars to be counted towards these positions in the budget. A Sheriff Deputy position was also restored thanks to an arrangement arrived at between the Sheriff and the collective bargaining units. The z-list money ($300,000) will all be used for the jail post. We will then look to rent out the 64 beds in the post of the jail that was closed a few years ago. If that is successful, that money ($150,000) will be used to make up the remainder of the cost of keeping the jail post open (with a little coming from the 2013 contingency fund). The other z-list requests, including a communications officer at the Health Department, a full time position in the parks, and a detective in the Sheriff's Department were not funded. It seems that the Health Department may be able to fund the communications position by moving other funding around, but that is still being worked out.

I am interested in hearing the final result presented to the entire Board of Commissioners. It seems that Finance and the Controller got creative, but I am glad that they were able to come up with plausible alternatives that did not take money from the county reserves.

Well, that's it. That's plenty. Sorry this is so long!