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Six months in, county on track on budget

Posted June 19, 2015 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler The Herald Tribune

CHESTER -- So far, so good for Randolph County.

The Randolph County Board of Commissioners heard the midyear financial report from county CPA Jim Schmersahl, of Schmersahl Treloar and Company, on Friday and were told the county is still on track for a balanced budget.

"Overall, I would suggest you are very much on budget in total," Schmersahl told the commissioners. "The somewhat windfall in sales tax is balancing the cost of insurance and retiree payouts."

Schmersahl's report, a copy of which was provided to the media, showed a potential $290,000 surplus in sales tax revenue. That is expected to offset between $180,000 and $200,000 in additional insurance costs for the next budget year.

"With the increase in premiums in July, monthly expenses will increase and we'll be significantly underwater in that area," Schmersahl said.

Schmersahl said five months of the current budget year will bear the brunt of the increase in insurance costs.

"We're going to be talking a lot about insurance," said Commissioner Dave Holder, who later said CIRMA (Counties of Illinois Risk Management Agency) and ICRMT (Illinois Counties Risk Management Trust) were scheduled to present their proposals to the county on Tuesday.

An area highlighted by Schmersahl was overtime pay in the sheriff's office. Halfway through the fiscal year, the department has spent 90.7 percent of the $9,000 it was budgeted for overtime.

"The sheriff (Shannon Wolff) and I have had many conversations about that," Holder said.

Wolff said the overtime was due to limited staff in his office and Holder said the county can't afford to add another salary to help combat the problem.

"We know it's running over, we can't do anything about it," he said. "We're just going to try and manage it."

Holder later said he had received a letter from the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) advising the county that is predicting an increase in next year's numbers.

"That would continue an unfortunate trend in the last several years," Schmersahl said. "The only way for the county to control that is to reduce headcount."

Randolph County Treasurer Justin Jeffers asked whether the county has made enough staffing cuts. In previous comments to the media, Holder said 16 county employees have been cut in the past three years for financial reasons.

Two more moved from full time to part time.

"Not factoring in what insurance costs will be, I believe we have achieved sustainability," Holder said.

"The headcount issue is not a six-month issue," Schmersahl said. "That has to be looked at longer term."

The commissioners also heard a report from County Clerk Pat Laramore on the costs of the April 7 election. Total cost for the election was $40,983.77 with $10.22 cost per vote cast.

Laramore said this year's consolidated (school and municipal candidates) election had the lowest amount of voters (4,009 out of 20,821 registered) since 1999.

General assistance for the period was $1,000. The Randolph County Care Center had 65 residents. The next meeting of the Board of Commissioners is scheduled for July 2 at 9 a.m.

Roundup

The commissioners approved the third quarter meeting dates of July 2, 17, 31; August 14 and 28 and September 11 and 25.

The commissioners approved a tax resolution raising the filing and publication fees for various permits and procedures administered by the zoning administrator and Land Resource office. The new fees are as follows:

Zoning Certificate of Compliance - $35 (filing), $0 (publication)

Special Use Permit - $150 (filing), $40 (publication)

Zoning Map Amendment - $150 (filing), $40 (publication)

Appeal - $150 (filing), $40 (publication)

Variance - $150 (filing), $40 (publication)

Late Fee - $25 (filing), $0 (publication

The board appointed Angela Crain to a one-year term (expiring June 30, 2016) to the Violence Prevention Center of Southwestern Illinois.

The board approved a special use permit for Red Bud resident Brian Guebert to separate a pre-existing homesite of 15 acres from pre-existing 72 acres for the purpose of refinancing.

The board tabled a zoning use permit for Laurie Umbdenstock regarding Horror Land in Modoc. Confusion over whether the permit was for four weekends in October or five was stated to be the reason for the delay.

The commissioners approved a retirement agreement for Randolph County Sheriff's Deputy Alan Young, effective June 30. The agreement will allow Young to retain health insurance until age 65.

"It allows us to bring in a deputy at lower cost," Holder said.

Highway Department

Holder reported he had received a recent communication inquiring about the possibility of rumble strips at County Line Road at Route 150 and whether they would be beneficial to prevent accidents at that intersection.

County Engineer Mike Riebeling said he would check into it.

Care Center

Randolph County Care Center Administrator Ken Slavens reported the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires employers to report what insurance coverage employees have.

"We have to list employees by social security number and whether or not they had insurance coverage," Slavens said. "Six dollars per employee sounds pretty high."

Slavens also spoke on Select Rehabilitation's therapy services.

"It's intense, but it's a really good service," he said. "We've had people come after car accidents and knee surgery to get better."

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