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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance November 24 1998I WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL 2 Finance and Administrative Services Committee 3 4 November 24, 1998 5 6 The meeting was called to order at 9:30 a.m. by Committee Chair Marlene Dawson in the 7 Council Committee Room, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. 8 9 Also Present: Absent: 10 L. Ward Nelson None 11 Connie Hoag 12 13 COMMITTEE DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL 14 151. ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE LEVY OF TAXES FOR COUNTY AND STATE 16 PURPOSES IN WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON, FOR THE YEAR OF 1999, 17 PURSUANT TO HOME RULE CHARTER SECTION 6.10 (AB98 -379) 18 19 Nelson moved to recommend to full Council. 20 21 Dawson questioned the use of road taxes for road use enforcement. Wareing stated that 22 several years ago, there was a diversion from the road fund to traffic enforcement. It is a transfer 23 from the road fund to the general fund to support various road - related activities. There is a 24 corrective statement that indicates that the levy has a zero tax increase this year. The corrected 25 document will be submitted. 26 27 Nelson stated that Wareing referred to a limit to the amount of the 1998 taxes. Wareing 28 stated that is what the 100% levy is. It is limited to the amount collected in 1998. 100% of what 29 was collected in 1998 for 1999. 30 31 The new section added under the NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED section, "This 32 represents a zero tax increase for the year." 33 34 Nelson suggested coming back to this item when the correct document is presented. 35 36 Dawson questioned what prevents an increase in the amount from the road fund. 37 Wareing stated that they wouldn't guarantee the tickets. Tickets aren't a fund- raising 38 mechanism. It is an appropriate use of the road funds and also funds the road use deputy. 39 40 Nelson stated that there has to be a limited amount to be used for criminal justice. 41 Wareing stated that it has to be justified. 42 43 Dawson suggested increasing the amount taken from the road fund. Nelson stated that 44 the road fund is also being depleted. Wareing concurred. 45 46 Nelson postponed action until language is received. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 11/24/98, Page l 2 (Clerk's Note: Committee moved to item #2) 4 (Clerk's Note: The following is a continuation of item #1, after action was taken on item 5 #2.) 7 Wareing stated that on page 2 of the packet, section (B), add at the end, "The amounts 8 collected through the county general levy shall be limited to a zero (0) percent rate increase." 10 Nelson moved to recommend the amendment. 11 12 Motion carried unanimously. 13 14 Nelson moved to recommend the ordinance as amended. 15 16 Motion carried unanimously. 17 18 2. ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE 1999 WHATCOM COUNTY UNIFIED FEE 19 SCHEDULE (AB98 -380) 20 21 Dawson stated that the Building Industry Association (BIA) requested justification of the 22 increase in the permit fees. She would like to see this postponed, or wait until after the court 23 case with the City of Bellingham. 24 25 Wareing stated that postponing for a few months would not be possible. They could not 26 hold the entire Unified Fee Schedule. There is more than ample justification for the raise. 27 Planning and Development Services (PDS) could address the concerns. It is untimely that the 28 County is just now hearing about this. He believed the BIA has already taken part in this 29 discussion. The Unified Fee Schedule needs to be passed. There are other elements that need to 30 be passed. 31 32 Michael Knapp, Planning and Development Services Director, stated that the County is 33 far from the lawsuit with City of Bellingham. The Building and Codes Division (B &C) is 34 funded entirely by permit fees and the Land Use Division is 40% funded by fees. The County 35 does not include any of the Planning Division, all of the B &C, and 40% of Land Use. The fee 36 increase is tied to the Uniform Building Code (UBC) fee structure. 37 38 Nelson questioned the City of Bellingham lawsuit. Knapp stated that the fees the County 39 charges are to pay for the costs incurred. 40% includes land clearing related to a construction of 40 a building, counter staff receiving instructions, zoning review, anything related to getting that 41 building processed is charged a fee. Bellingham has a much higher fee schedule. B &C portion 42 of the revenue goes toward those pieces within the land use division that work through that 43 process. There is one fee that comes to the counter. The total dept. revenue for fees includes 44 $1.8 million for the building process. The building expenditures also total $1.8 million. The 45 total department budget is $2.6 million. Bellingham charges fees higher than their expenses. 46 Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 11/24/98, Page 2 I Pat Jones, BIA, stated that they support PDS. There have been significant and positive 2 changes since Knapp took over. They are in a position of ignorance with respect to the details 3 for the current budget. His perception under the UBC is that the fees to be charged need to relate 4 directly to the services provided, under the provisions of the UBC. That means services 5 rendered from the point an applicant comes in to require a building permit for building a 6 structure. There are other services provided by PDS that are not related to building a structure. 7 The BIA wants to be assured that the accounting is rational to that separation. There are no costs 8 being paid for by building permit fees. Want PDS to be adequately funded. Just need more 9 information. 10 11 Knapp stated that part of the dilemma is that every line item goes towards processing 12 construction permits. That is not true in Land Use. 40% of Land Use goes toward construction 13 14 Knapp stated that the fees coming out of the UBC are 1991 fees. County has gone 10% 15 above that. If they use the current 1997 fees, it will be 40% - 50% above the 1991 fees. 16 17 Jones stated that is true, for code related building permit fees. An increase simply 18 because it is available is not justification for doing it. 19 20 Nelson questioned whether the costs of doing business have increased from 1991 by 21 10 %. Knapp stated that they have. The greater increase has been in the software, and some in 22 the salaries. He would be happy to continue to work with BIA for better communication. 23 24 Wareing stated that the County appreciates the good relationship with BIA and AGC. He 25 and Bennett would like to be included in the meeting with the BIA to discuss the numbers. Keep 26 building fees to the level that they need to be. The general fund supplements to approximately 27 30 %. Not using money to fund other operations. The county has kept the fees at an appropriate 28 level. There have been increasing costs, including enforcement. 29 30 Nelson questioned whether fines collected from code enforcement go to the general fund. 31 Wareing stated that was correct. 32 33 Nelson questioned whether the fine structure is included in the fee structure. Knapp 34 stated that there is a maximum amount that depends on how cooperative someone is. If someone 35 doesn't know the rules and has made a mistake, they've been lenient with them. 36 37 Nelson questioned how they could track the collection of fines. Wareing stated that the 38 enforcement interest is in compliance. There are negligible fines collected. They generally 39 don't fine people. 40 41 Knapp stated that many usually comply with the rules. A majority of people were 42 ignorant of the codes. 43 44 Nelson moved to recommend approval. 45 46 Motion carried unanimously. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 11/24/98, Page 3 1 2 (Clerk's Note: Committee returned to item #1) 3 43. ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE FINAL BUDGET OF WHATCOM COUNTY FOR 5 THE YEAR 1999 AND RESTRICTING THE EXPENDITURE OF CERTAIN FUNDS 6 THEREIN (AB98 -381) 7 8 No action taken was taken. 9 10 Nelson questioned whether full time employees (FTE) in the proposed budget in the 11 packet are a reflection of either the committee discussion or the initial proposals. Wareing stated 12 that the changes are not reflective of the committee discussions. 13 144. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR PAYMENT OF COUNCIL MEMBER 15 EXPENSES AND /OR TRAVEL (AB98 -143K) 16 17 Dawson stated that there was one item from Council Member Brenner regarding legal 18 costs. 19 20 Nelson stated that it appears to be a conference with an attorney. 21 22 Karen Frakes, Senior Civil Deputy Prosecutor, stated that this involves the County's 23 appeal of the Health Department's issuance of the Recomp permit. She appealed to the Air 24 Pollution Authority. This issue has come up in other contexts. It is her opinion that County 25 property should not be used to fund a personal appeal. 26 27 Nelson moved to not recommend. 28 29 Motion carried unanimously. 30 31 COUNCIL "CONSENT AGENDA" ITEM 32 331. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO AN 34 AGREEMENT COVERING THE SECOND YEAR OF A TWO YEAR BID, 35 BETWEEN THE WHATCOM COUNTY JAIL AND THE LOWEST RESPONSIVE 36 BIDDER, NORTH CAMPUS PHARMACY, TO PROVIDE PHARMACEUTICAL 37 SERVICES TO THE JAIL IN THE AMOUNT OF $74,600 (AB98 -402) 38 39 Dawson stated that this was the only bidder. They've been providing the service for 15 40 years. She questioned why other pharmacies don't respond. 41 42 Nelson stated that the pricing is very reasonable. The County is getting a very good rate 43 on the medications. He was glad to see more utilization of generic drugs. He questioned the 44 formula usage. Generally, there should be a certain number of medications at the jail. He 45 questioned the method used to make this determination. 46 Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 11/24/98, Page 4 I Dan Fitzgerald, Jail Manager, stated the contracted doctor and visiting nurses determine 2 those amounts. 3 4 Nelson questioned whether this was just a dollar amount. These are the drugs of choice 5 that the physicians would have. 6 7 Fitzgerald stated that they are not necessarily kept in stock. If a prisoner needs a drug, 8 the prices listed are what the County would be charged. Fitzgerald stated that the County 9 purchasing department sends out advertisements to bid, in addition to the newspaper ads. They 10 would have a list of vendors that serve that particular product. 11 12 Brad Bennett, Administrative Services Finance Manager, stated that generally they go 13 through the yellow pages and pick out everybody and send out a bid request. He will look into 14 it. 15 Nelson stated that he does have some questions. He would talk with jail staff. 16 17 Nelson moved to recommend approval. 18 19 Motion carried unanimously. 20 212. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A 22 CONTRACT BETWEEN THE WHATCOM COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN 23 SERVICES DEPARTMENT AND ST. JOSEPH HOSPITAL RECOVERY CENTER 24 FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT FOR INDIGENT 25 AND LOW - INCOME CLIENTS IN WHATCOM COUNTY, IN THE AMOUNT OF 26 $90,049 (AB98 -403) 27 28 Dawson questioned whether this was a part of the 1998 budget. Nelson stated that it has 29 been included in the County's budget for the past several years. 30 31 Nelson moved approval 32 33 Motion carried unanimously. 34 353. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO 36 AMENDMENT #1 TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT BETWEEN 37 WHATCOM COUNTY AND WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL OF 38 GOVERNMENTS, FOR A LAND USE STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 39 REGARDING ZONING ON THE GUIDE MERIDIAN, IN THE INCREASED 40 AMOUNT FROM $15,000 TO $24,062 (AB98 -404) 41 42 Nelson questioned the increased amount and who applied the amended scope of work. 43 44 Michael Knapp, Planning & Development Services Director, stated that they were 45 initially involved in a greater share. They turned the work over to the Council of Governments 46 (COG) to do work. They didn't have that portion of the scope in their initial scope of work. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 11/24/98, Page 5 I Their scope has been expanded, as they take over some of the work from the County. Since they 2 have already become familiar with the Guide Meridian through other work, the County decided 3 it would be appropriate for them to take on the entire scope of work. 4 5 Nelson questioned whether COG would be evaluating the appropriateness of existing 6 zoning, or the effect. The appropriateness of the zoning is the decision of the Council. Knapp 7 stated that they would make a recommendation. The language may be confusing. 8 9 (Clerk's note: End of tape one, side A) 10 11 Nelson moved to recommend approval. 12 13 Wareing stated that there is no additional expense. It is within the budget authority of 14 PDS. It just shifts the funding. 15 16 Nelson stated that it should be clarified that they are only evaluating the effectiveness. 17 Knapp stated that they would develop findings. 18 19 Wareing stated that they would submit their findings to Council. 20 21 Knapp stated that it would also go through Planning Commission. 22 23 Nelson stated that he doesn't want to see one option submitted, but several options. 24 25 Knapp stated that the Planning Commission would also hold a hearing and make a 26 recommendation. 27 28 Motion carried unanimously. 29 M4. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A 31 CONTRACT BETWEEN W 4ATCOM COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 32 DEPARTMENT AND THE OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL TO IDENTIFY AND 33 ENROLL INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE ELIGIBLE FOR HEALTHY OPTIONS 34 MANAGED CARE PLANS, IN THE AMOUNT OF $50,000 (AB98 -405) 35 36 Dawson questioned why there is a statement not to exceed $55,000 instead of $50,000. 37 38 Chuck Benjamin, Health and Human Services Director, stated that $18,000 is included 39 for administration and campaigning in the community. 40 41 Nelson moved to recommend approval. 42 43 Benjamin stated that they also brought forward the agreement to the Finance Committee 44 last month. 45 46 Motion carried unanimously. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 11/24/98, Page 6 1 2 5. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A 3 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT BETWEEN THE WHATCOM COUNTY 4 JAIL AND NURSE PRACTITIONER ANNE SLATER, AARNP, TO PROVIDE 5 HEALTH CARE FOR OFFENDERS IN- HOUSE, IN A PER HOUR AMOUNT OF $50 6 (AB98 -406) 7 8 Nelson moved to recommend approval. 9 10 Motion carried unanimously. 11 126. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO ENTER INTO A 13 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT BETWEEN THE WHATCOM COUNTY 14 JAIL AND WHATCOM COUNSELING AND PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC, TO PROVIDE 15 FOR PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES FOR INMATES IN THE JAIL, IN AN AMOUNT 16 NOT TO EXCEED $18,480 (AB98 -407) 17 18 Dawson questioned how the service meshes with the services provided by the jail case 19 manager. Nelson stated that the jail case manager evaluates funding and long -term needs. This 20 covers clinical work after the evaluation has already been determined. The County is trying to 21 reduce the cost to the jail if an inmate's optimal location is in mental health services. 22 23 Nelson moved to recommend approval. 24 25 Motion carried unanimously. 26 27 28 OTHER BUSINESS 29 3o ADJOURN 31 32 The meeting was adjourned at a.m. 33 34 35 36 37 38 Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription 39 40 41 42 ATTEST: WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL 43 WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON 44 45 46 Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 11/24/98, Page 7 2 Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk Marlene Dawson, Council Member Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 11/24/98, Page 8