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03-08-2004 MinutesBOARD OF SUPERVISORS MINUTES March 8, 2004 Supervisors in Attendance~ Mr. Kelly E. Miller, Chairman Mr. Edward B. Barber, Vice Chrm. Mrs. Renny B. Humphrey Mr. R. M. "Dickie" King, Jr. Mr. Arthur S. Warren Mr. Lane B. Ramsey County Administrator Staff in Attendance~ Colonel Carl R. Baker, Police Department Ms. Marilyn Cole, Asst. County Administrator Mr. William W. Davenport, Commonwealth's Attorney Ms. Rebecca Dickson, Dir., Budget and Management Mr. Robert L. Eanes, Asst. to the County Administrator Ms. Lisa Elko, CMC Clerk Chief Stephen A. Elswick, Fire Department Mr. Bradford S. Hammer, Deputy Co. Admin., Human Services Mr. Joseph Horbal, Commissioner of Revenue Mr. Donald Kappel, Dir., Public Affairs Mr. Steven L. Micas, County Attorney Mr. Francis Pitaro, Dir., General Services Ms. Sarah Snead, Dir., Social Services Mr. James J. L. Stegmaier, Deputy Co. Admin., Management Services Mr. M. D. Stith, Jr., Deputy Co. Admin., Community Development Sheriff Clarence Williams, Sheriff's Department 1. DINNER WITH MEMBERS OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES BOARD Members of the Board of Supervisors had dinner in Room 502 of the Administration Building with members of the Social Services Board prior to the meeting. Mr. Miller called the regularly scheduled meeting to order at 6:09 p.m. Colonel Baker stated Officer Michael Jason Gray, who had been called to active duty in Kuwait, died as a result of a traffic accident on Friday, March 5, 2004. He provided details of Officer Gray's funeral arrangements. 04 -198 03/08/04 Reverend Johnnie Fleming provided a special prayer for Officer Gray's family. 2. WORK SESSIONS COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR,s FY2005/2006 BIENNIAL FINANCIA?. PLAN INCLUDING PRESENTATIONS FROM~ 2.A. SOCIAL SERVICES BOARD Ms. Snead introduced Mr. W. M. "Rusty" Sirles, Chairman of the Social Services Board who recognized members of the Social Services Board and introduced Mr. Bruce Miller to present Social Services' proposed FY2005 budget. Mr. Bruce Miller reviewed organizational highlights, including implementation of expanded agency hours; continued success of the award winning Adoption Initiative, resulting in 18 hard-to-place adoptions being finalized in the last fiscal year; successful implementation of the Child Protective Services Differential Response System; and continued fiscal accountability and integrity of the department during budget uncertainties. He stated that, during Hurricane Isabel, 725 citizens were offered refuge in four shelters; 5,675 citizens applied for Disaster Food Stamp relief; 4,768 households were approved for Disaster Food Stamp benefits; and over 9,000 families received assistance with food, shelter or other necessities. He stated the Vehicles for Change Program, a regional partnership, provides used cars to low-income families through low interest loans. He reviewed critical issues, including the need to expand the Smith-Wagner Building; unfunded mandates; recruitment and retention of exemplary personnel; rapidly increasing benefit caseloads in multiple programs; and changing demographics in the disabled and aging population. He then reviewed the average monthly caseload for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Food Stamps and Medicaid. He reviewed the increase in Adult Protective Services investigations and stated the department's number one priority is an additional Social Worker for Adult Protective Services/Adult Services. He provided details of a recent case of adult abuse, and requested the Board's consideration of the additional Social Worker requested for Adult Protective Services/Adult Services. Mr. Miller requested information from Ms. Snead relative to what happened to the perpetrator in the adult abuse case described by Mr. Bruce Miller. 2.B. CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS 2.B.1. THE COMMISSIONER OF THE REVENUE Mr. Horbal addressed the Board regarding the Commissioner of the Revenue's proposed FY2005 budget. He stated the department is responsible for administering tax programs that generate revenue in excess of $137 million annually and programs that exempt in excess of $1.7 million annually. He further stated the department now has an automated new vehicle registration process to register newly purchased vehicles using DMV data for personal property taxes and 04-199 03/08/04 county decal purposes, noting that although the number of newly purchased vehicles registered annually is growing, the number of customer visits is decreasing. He stated a major new initiative for FY2005 is the reorganization of the business tax area, which includes the business license, business personal property, specialty consumer and business taxes, and the field audit divisions. He further stated the initiative includes new positions to handle routine processing of specialty taxes and sorely needed assistance in the business license area, indicating that this will allow the field auditors to focus solely on revenue generating audit tasks. He stated staff estimates that revenue generated from the reorganization initiative will exceed costs by more than $150,000 annually and requested the Board's support of the initiative. He provided details of staff development and retention initiatives and stated customer service is a priority in the Commissioner of the Revenue's office. Mr. Miller thanked Mr. Horbal for the presentation. 2.B.2. COMMONWEALTH'S ATTORNEY Mr. Davenport addressed the Board regarding the Commonwealth's Attorney's proposed FY2005 budget. He stated concerns for FY2005 include additional workload in the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office with the possibility of a new fifth General District Court Judge; an additional position has been requested from the Compensation Board; continued future funding of the Project Exile Grant; and continued access to grants and other funds. He provided a comparison of the number of judges and staff members as well as funding provided to Henrico and Chesterfield. He stated his office is doing everything possible with its existing resources to handle the workload, but it may be necessary to request additional funding from the Board if additional positions are not provided by the Compensation Board or through grant funding or if the Project Exile funds cease. He expressed appreciation for the Board's support. Mr. Miller thanked Mr. Davenport for the services provided by the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. Mrs. Humphrey excused herself from the meeting. 2.B.3. SHERIFF'S OFFICE Sheriff Williams presented the FY2005 budget for the Sheriff's Office. He provided details of state versus local funding for the Sheriff's Office and expressed concerns that the House budget includes language to decrease jail per diem payments to $6 per day for local inmates, resulting in a potential loss of approximately $107,000 in state revenue. He stated the Criminal Alien Assistance Program allows the Sheriff's Office to collect federal funds to offset the costs of housing illegal aliens in the local and regional jails, which will generate approximately $25,027 in new revenue. He further stated Anthem's Inmate Medical Program will allow the Sheriff's Office to utilize Anthem's negotiated discounts with medical providers, resulting in an estimated annual cost 04-200 03/08/04 avoidance of $108,080. He reviewed new revenue opportunities authorized by the General Assembly, including $5 added to court costs of certain criminal cases to offset costs of courthouse security; a $25 fee assessed to those processed into jail to offset processing costs; a $25 fee assessed in cases where State Code mandates collection of a DNA sample; allowing a locality to charge up to $1 per day to help offset the costs of jail operations; and $1 added to court costs of certain criminal cases to offset costs of operating the training academy. (Note: the only fee not currently charged by the county is the $1 per day to offset costs of jail operations.) He then reviewed key operational trends, including inmate days versus violent incidents; actual inmate population versus community-based corrections plan projections; and increasing dockets resulting in increased security operations. He provided details of Community and Inmate Programs and the Replacement Jail project. He reviewed efforts of the Sheriff's Office in enhancing community safety during the Hurricane Isabel disaster. Mr. Miller thanked Sheriff Williams for the presentation. Discussion ensued relative to the number of inmates that will be housed in the replacement jail. Mr. Barber expressed concerns that the state is continuously decreasing funding for the Sheriff's Office and the county is burdened with making up the difference. 2.C. POLICE DEPARTI~NT Colonel Baker provided details of the Police Department's proposed FY2005 budget. He reviewed accomplishments of the Police Department, including receipt of a NACo award for the Military Reservist Family Support Group; obtaining re- accreditation from Virginia Law Enforcement Standards; opening of the Clover Hill Police Support Facility in April 2003; beginning the installation of 257 mobile digital computers in police vehicles; instituting the Hispanic Outreach Program; beginning the pre-construction/detailed planning phase of the police property/evidence storage facility through the CIP; and beginning initial planning for the Hull Street District Station. He reviewed financial activity and stated the FY2005 proposed budget totals $37,390,500, representing a seven percent increase from the FY2004 adopted budget. He then reviewed details of calls and assignments; Incident Based Reporting (IBR) Group A incident rate per 100,000 population; IBR Group A clearance rate; average police response time for life threatening calls; a comparison of cost per capita for law enforcement services; traffic deaths and personal injury accidents per 100 million miles driven; number of volunteer hours; crime prevention programs; STEPP/child safety programs; and attrition rate for sworn and civilian personnel. He reviewed challenges and trends, including limited personnel resources which affect the department's ability to be innovative in crime suppression and ability to be innovative in program services; increasing complexity of crime; increasing traffic problems; terrorism response and prevention; population growth; increasing illegal drug activity and drug related crime; and high juvenile crime. He then reviewed additional funding requests for FY2005, including $439,200 for operating and 04-201 03/08/04 capital equipment for grant positions and $2,592,600 for 29 additional police officers (20 police officers, four sergeants, four detectives and one training officer). He stated the county's ratio of officers per 1,000 citizens is 1.6, indicating the national average is 2.7 in suburban counties. He provided details of calls for service in each of the police radio zones. He reviewed other additional funding requests for FY2005, including $71,200 for a Technical Services Technician; $38,200 for a Booking Technician; and $72,600 for a Forensic Technician. He also reviewed FY2006 needs, including 23 police officers; personnel and operating costs for the Hull Street District Station; two Records Specialists; one Vice/Narcotic Detective; and one Computer Evidence Recovery and Internet Detective. He next provided details of the Animal Control Division's proposed FY2005 budget. He reviewed financial activity, indicating that the proposed budget totals $999,600, representing a six percent increase over the FY2004 budget. He provided details of calls for service; animals impounded; and animals adopted. He reviewed additional funding requests for Animal Control, including $80,500 for an Animal Control Officer; $29,200 for a Kennelmaster; and $25,000 for a replacement truck. Mr. Miller thanked Colonel Baker for the presentation. informative Mr. King commended Colonel Baker on the department's cost savings as a result of volunteer services. 2.D. FIRE AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES Chief Elswick provided details of Fire and Emergency Medical Services' (EMS) proposed FY2005 budget. He stated the Winterpock Station opened in 2002; River's Bend opens April 5, 2004 and the Courthouse Road Station will open next year. He stated the department provided 30,000 responses last year to assist citizens with Fire and EMS issues, and this number is increasing. He further stated the FY2005 budget, totaling $37,477,000, represents a 12 percent increase over the FY2004 adopted budget, indicating that the increases reflect personnel and operating costs for the River's Bend Station; 21 positions and partial funding for operating costs of the Courthouse Road station; additional funding for the staffing and leave plan; and increased benefit costs. He stated, if additional money is available, Fire and EMS is requesting funding to replace two pieces of fire apparatus annually instead of one; provide replacement turnout gear for firefighters; increased Instructor pay rate; a Principal Account Clerk in the Payroll Division and a Shift Safety Officer to be on duty 24 hours a day. He further stated federal funding may be available next year and, if so, the department would be requesting $86,000 from the county as the local match to hire these 18 firefighters. He stated additional funding requests also include Electronic Beam Tomography Diagnostic Testing equipment; replacement batteries for hand-held radios; a Fire Captain to coordinate terrorism training and issues; and a Terrorism Preparedness Coordinator for the Emergency Manager's Office. Mr. Miller expressed appreciation to Chief Elswick for the informative presentation. 04-202 03/08/04 On motion of Mr. King, seconded by Mr. Warren, the Board adjourned at 7:30 p.m. until March 10, 2004 at 3:30 p.m. Ayes: Miller, Barber, King and Warren. Nays: None. Absent: Humphrey. ~unne t~' ARaclm~nS ~Ys tra to/ 04-203 03/08/04