County Council holds work session
The Marshall County Council held a Work Session to discuss Health insurance, the american Rescue Plan, Special Local Income Tax (LIT), Municipal advisors, Conflict of Interest, and the Highway Department. No formal action was taken as the meeting was a work session.
Functions of the Council Defined
Councilman Jesse Bohannon introduced the meeting by defining the functions of the Council. “The Council is the ultimate decision maker in all fiscal matters. The Council has the authority and the responsibility to view or review fiscal matters to determine proper policy and set priorities for the allocation and expenditure of County funds. The Council also controls staffing through the Salary Ordinance setting not only just the pay for employees but staffing numbers and job descriptions.”
Collaboration
Bohannon emphasized that to have an effective County government, responsibility falls on the Council to make each decision strategically, proactively and with foresight.
He illustrated that it is important for County Government to collaborate and work together. He apologized that the timing for the Work Session was not agreeable to Commissioner Kevin Overmyer or Commissioner Michael Burroughs and committed to increased communication in the future to ensure mutual availability for Joint Work Sessions. as a result of that scheduling conflict, the Work Session Monday was a Council only Work Session; with Commissioner Stan Klotz in attendance.
Municipal Advisors
The Council discussed the utilization of Municipal
Advisors and explored the potential of expanding Professional Services beyond the current scope of Municipal Advisors being used to include services from Steve Dalton of Cender-dalton Municipal Advisors.
Some of the potential goals for that guidance include the development of a Multiyear Strategic Plan for the next four years, explore the possibility of increasing the capacity of the Highway Department, creating Bylaws to help guide the Budget Process, and assist in implementing some of the best practices that Dalton has observed that other counties have implemented with success.
Accountants look backwards, Financial Advisors try to look forward and apply projections - which requires a balance of looking backwards at data and looking forward for each fund.
Cender-dalton will also be asked to review the Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele (WIS) and Associates Wage Study.
Services will be billed hourly as needed; with no standard monthly contract or retainer fees. Proposals of estimated time and cost will be provided for specific projects. Cender-dalton does not bill for drive time.
A Letter of Understanding will be written and presented for formal consideration during the next regular Council meeting.
Health Insurance
Bohannon raised concerns about a potential projected shortfall for health insurance coverage for employees.
Auditor Angie Birchmeier Johnson said that she doesn’t see a shortfall and confirmed that there was enough funding to cover the increased expense.
Klotz said there was talk of a $700,000 increase but was not at that meeting so could not confirm the primary source of that information.
Councilman Will Patterson asked if there was significant rise in costs for Health Insurance. Klotz said it has gone up but did not specify by how much.
Klotz addressed an aging population and said that the County should consider self-funded or partially self-funded options. He had more questions than answers about exploring that option; but brought the item up for discussion.
Patterson said it would be helpful to open it up to competition; review what is already in place, explore all options, and compare end prices.
Councilman Jim Masterson stated that the process should begin with enough time to research, review and decide.
Bohannon affirmed that it was ultimately the Commissioners who decide the Insurance Carrier but hoped for clear communication. American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Fund Process Bohannon wanted to discuss the legal requirements of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Process. He asked for the Council Attorney Marcel Lebbin for some clarification.
Attorney Lebbin recommended that moving forward the Council and the Commissioners should work together to develop a plan for how the remaining funds should be spent so that the Commissioners present a plan for the funding that the Council will ultimately approve. If the Council doesn’t want to fund the Commissioner’s Plan, and the Commissioners don’t want to adopt projects that the Council want to see in the plan - both government bodies come to an unproductive dispute. He recommended open and honest communication between both government bodies for the sake of the citizens of Marshall County.
Auditor Birchmeier-johnson confirmed that as of Jan. 31, there was $3.8M remaining in the ARPA Fund. An additional appropriation was conducted in January in the amount of $634,536.24 which comes off that total leaving approximately $3.2. An additional appropriation requested by the Marshall County Highway Department in the amount of $1M, which was approved by the Commissioners, will bring that amount down to approximately $2.2M if approved by the Council.
According to Lebbin, it is ultimately the responsibility of the Commissioners to approve a plan, and it is the responsibility of the Council to fund the parts of the plan they agree with. Bohannon asked if recommendations should come from the Commissioner formed ARPA Committee. Lebbin said they could make recommendations however they want, but the Plan falls to the Commissioners.
“The bottom line is the Commissioners need to send you a Plan and you guys need to fund the parts of that plan that you agree with. Once again, it would seem to me that the Commissioners would be spending needless time if they are not communicating with the Council on the front end, because if they are working on items the Council has no desire to fund - then that would not be a good use of their time or resources. So if you have a committee and the committee has the general consensus of the Council to let the Commissioners know what you guys would be willing to fund - that would seem to me to be a good use of time. The Commissioners can do whatever they want. They can send you guys a plan that say’s we’re going to spend it all on rainbows and unicorns and you guys can say no - we’re not funding any of that,” said Lebbin.
He emphasized that communication between both entities is key to ultimate agreement on how the remaining money is spent.
Councilman Tim Harman expressed a desire to see analysis of requests through the ARP Committee; then brought as a recommendation for or against to the Commissioners. The current ARP Committee includes Marshall County Attorney James Clevenger, Councilwoman Nicole Cox, Bohannon, Harman, and Klotz.
A copy of Resolution 2022-08 Adopting Plan for Distribution of ARP, signed and dated by the Marshall County Commissioners on April 4, 2022, and signed and dated by the Council on April 11, 2022 can be requested from the County Auditor. Commissioners at the time were Klotz, Overmyer and Burroughs. Council members at that time were Mandy Campbell, Heath Thornton, Harman, Steve Harper, Masterson, Jon Vanvactor, and Bohannon. The Resolution was signed by Auditor Julie Fox. There are no current written revisions to that Plan; currently changes are made by amendment and approved during County government meetings.
Lebbin recommended that moving forward, all amendments should be documented in writing, then presented to the Council.
Conflict of Interest, Special LIT, & Public Engagement Surveys
Currently the Commissioners and the Council follow state law on Conflict of Interest by completing forms. There is a Conflict of Interest Statement in the Employee Handbook; though the description is broad. Moving forward the Council would like to see more detailed guidelines for avoiding potential actual and apparent conflict; beyond obvious financial conflicts of interest.
Nothing has been officially decided legislatively at the State level regarding the Special Local Income Tax (LIT) at this point. The Council is waiting on that decision and intend to consult with Attorney Lebbin for guidance at that time.
Harman recommended more public engagement through surveys.