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PORTER COUNTY COUNCIL The Porter County Council convened their regular meeting following the final reading of the 2008 Porter County Budget, on Tuesday, August 25, 2007, in the County Administration Center, 155 Indiana-Suite 205, Valparaiso, Indiana. Members present were Michael Bucko, Jim Burge, William Carmichael, Matthew Murphy, Robert Poparad, Rita Stevenson, and President Dan Whitten. Also present was Auditor Jim Kopp, Attorney Dave Hollenbeck, Lindy Wilson and Jan Noll. Mr. Whitten, Okay, let’s move onto our regular meeting. I think we can dispense with the Pledge of Allegiance. We’ve done that tonight. First item on the agenda is the approval of minutes. What’s your pleasure? Mr. Bucko moved to approve the minutes of the Special Meetings on August 14, 2007 and August 30, 2007 as received. Mr. Murphy seconded, motion carried on a unanimous voice vote.
ATTORNEY REPORT Mr. Whitten, Let’s address the Attorney’s Report. Mr. Hollenbeck, Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate you accommodating my request. As I emailed each of you on September 18th, the $10,000,000 of tax anticipation warrant money that you approved earlier this year has been expended by the auditor’s office, and we are again in a cash flow crunch with the need to… Mr. Carmichael, What’s with the whiteout. Mr. Hollenbeck, He signed in the wrong place. Mr. Kopp, I signed the wrong place. Mr. Murphy, Makes you nervous to see the Auditor and the County Council Attorney using whiteout. Mr. Hollenbeck, I asked the guy to sign one form, and he signs in the wrong place. Mr. Poparad, Sure. Mr. Whitten, Wow. Mr. Murphy, Right out in the open. Mr. Hollenbeck, With that in mind, the law--as my email indicated to you--would allow the County to borrow up to the anticipated revenue from the tax levy. We’ve already done ten. The anticipated amount is $25,356,000 which would leave us another $15,000,000 that we could borrow against. We really have little option. We need to pay our bills, and I’m being told by our Auditor that we’re close to the point where that won’t happen. Mr. Carmichael, Do you need a motion? Mr. Hollenbeck, I need a motion for you to approve what we have designated as Ordinance 07-9-25, which authorizes the Auditor to borrow up to an amount not to exceed 15,000,000 additional dollars for tax anticipation warrants, so that we can pay our bills until the taxes come in. Mr. Whitten, Can I get a motion? Mr. Poparad moved to approve Ordinance 07-9-25 as presented. Mr. Murphy seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Hollenbeck, Thank you, and I will function accordingly. Mr. Poparad, I’ve got to ask a question because we’re on that issue. Mr. Hollenbeck, Yes.
Mr. Kopp, We were told that we should have something by the end of the month as far as tax rates. It will take about eight weeks after that, so some time around Thanksgiving we should get tax bills out with a December 15th due date, if in fact, the State gets us something. Mr. Whitten, Okay, anything else, Dave? Mr. Hollenbeck, No, I appreciate you accommodating me, and I’m, I’ve got a plane to catch, so I’m going to have to run. Mr. Whitten, Have a good flight. Mr. Murphy, See you, Dave. Mr. Hollenbeck, Thank you. Mrs. Stevenson, Bye, Dave. Be careful. FIRST READING Mr. Whitten, First Reading, please. At this time, Auditor Kopp read the Notice to Taxpayers.
PUBLIC DEFENDER 01.84 Mr. Whitten, Public Defender 01.84, 144 Form, Part-time Public Defender from $0 to $50 an hour. A transfer of $6,000 from Salaries to Hourly. Hello, Jim, how are you. Jim Tsoutsouris, Fine, thank you. I have a, one of my deputies is on maternity leave, and she has insurance during this 12-week period that she doesn’t paid, so the money has been budgeted and is there. I have another attorney whose taking her load, and I’m just asking to transfer those monies that were budgeted for her salary, which she is not receiving, to a part-time fund that I can then administer a claim. Mr. Whitten, What’s your pleasure?
Mr. Poparad moved to amend the 144 Form, Part-time Deputy Public Defender from $0 to $50 per hour, and approve the transfer of $6,000 from 1110 Salaries to 1120 Hourly, submitted by Public Defender 01.84. Mr. Carmichael seconded. Mr. Poparad, Did you not have a part-time hourly wage? Mr. Whitten, Yes, that seems odd. Mr. Tsoutsouris, Never. This is my first in 37 years as a public defender, I’ve never had anybody on maternity leave. Mr. Whitten, Wow. Mr. Poparad, No, I meant, I’m just talking about, you never had a part-time wage? Mr. Tsoutsouris, Never. Mr. Whitten, Wow, that’s something else. Roll call, please. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Tsoutsouris, Thank you.
Mr. Whitten, Thanks, Jim.
ANIMAL SHELTER 01.45 Mr. Whitten, Animal Shelter 01.45, we have a transfer of $4,700 from Salaries to Hourly. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for transfer of funds submitted by Animal Shelter 01.45, the amount of $4,700 from 1110 Salaries to 1120 Hourly. Mrs. Stevenson seconded, motion carried on a unanimous voice vote.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP 01.52 Mr. Whitten, Jackson Township 01.52, we have an additional $3,000 to Hourly. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Jackson Township 01.52, the amount of $3,000 to 1120 Hourly. Mr. Poparad seconded. Mr. Whitten, There’s a motion and a second. Discussion? Mr. Poparad, Will this get you through the year? Mr. Whitten, Will this do it for you? Jan Meyers, I hope so. Mr. Poparad, You have to. Mr. Whitten, Roll call, please. Mr. Poparad, You can’t come back. Motion carried on the following roll call vote:
Murphy - Yes Poparad - Yes Mr. Whitten, Thank you.
PINE TOWNSHIP 01.55 Mr. Whitten, Pine Township 01.55, we have a couple, additional $150 to Office Supplies; $100 from Training & Education to Office Supplies. What’s your pleasure? Mr. Poparad moved to grant the request for additional appropriations, the amount of $150 to 2110 Office Supplies, and the transfer of funds, $100 from 3130 Training & Education to 2110 Office Supplies, submitted by Pine Township 01.55. Mr. Carmichael seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Nancy Kolasa, Thank you. Mr. Whitten, Thank you very much. Have a good evening.
UNION TOWNSHIP 01.58 Mr. Whitten, Union Township 01.58, we have an additional of $1,419.92 to Office Supplies. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Union Township 01.58, the amount of $1,419.92. Mr. Burge seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Whitten, And the transfers, $200 from Office Fixtures to Furniture & Fixtures over $100; $200 from Maintenance Agreements to Office Supplies. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for transfer of funds submitted by Union Township 01.58, the amounts of $200 from 2120 Office Fixtures under $100 to 4440 Furniture & Fixtures over $100 and $200 from 3610 Maintenance Agreements to 2110 Office Supplies. Mr. Murphy and Mr. Bucko seconded, motion carried on a unanimous voice vote. Carol Linzy, Thank you. Mr. Whitten, Thank you.
HEALTH 05.95 Mr. Whitten, Health Department 05.95, we have a transfer, $3,000 from Medical Services to Contractual Services. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for transfer of funds submitted by Health 05.95, the amount of $3,000 from 1320 Medical Services to 3950 Contractual Services. Mr. Bucko seconded, motion carried on a unanimous voice vote.
ADULT PROBATION 01.43 Mr. Whitten, Adult Probation, additional $165 to Maintenance Agreements. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Adult Probation 01.43, the amount of $165 to 3610 Maintenance Agreements. Mr. Bucko seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote.
ADULT PROBATION USER FEES 48 Mr. Whitten, Adult Probation User Fees 48, we have a transfer of $700 from Training & Education to Office Supplies. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for transfer of funds submitted by Adult Probation User Fees 48, the amount of $700 from 3130 Training & Education to 2110 Office Supplies. Mr. Murphy seconded, motion carried on the following voice vote:
Bucko - Yes Burge - Yes Carmichael - Yes Murphy - Yes Mr. Whitten, Wow, that threw me off. Mr. Poparad, I just couldn’t; just call me a Democrat. Mr. Whitten, Six to one.
JUVENILE PROBATION USER FEES 47
Mr. Whitten, Juvenile Probation User Fees 47, additionals, $1,500 to Training & Education; $2,000 to Travel. What’s your pleasure? Mr. Whitten, Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Bucko, My only question would be, if any of those had something transferred out of them previously. That’s the only question I’ve got. Mr. Carmichael, She’s not here. Mr. Bucko, Not here. Mr. Kopp, Mr. Bucko? Mr. Bucko, That’s a trick, boy, isn’t it. Well, I’m going to say no. Motion carried on the following roll call vote:
Bucko - No Burge - No
ITS-ENHANCED ACCESS 186 Mr. Whitten, ITS-Enhanced Access 186, an additional $20,000 to Enhanced Access. What’s your pleasure? Mr. Poparad moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by ITS-Enhanced Access 186, the amount of $20,000 to 10 Enhanced Access. Mr. Carmichael seconded. Mr. Carmichael, What’s this for? Mr. Whitten, This budget was inadvertently not turned in for the 2007 budget hearings held in ’06. Mr. Poparad, Is this for wiring the building? Sharon Lippens, No. Mr. Poparad, No. Mr. Whitten, What is this for? Mr. Bucko, Secret agent. Mrs. Lippens, The enhanced access is a fee that the State allows the County to charge for access to public records through an electronic means. Mr. Poparad, Is this the $400,000,000 house. Mrs. Lippens, No. So we have many attorney firms, title companies, mortgage companies, etc, that use a gateway that we have to access public records from their own office, and they pay a monthly fee for that. That money then goes into the enhanced access account, which is supposed to offset the cost of providing it, so we can use it for equipment and software, things like that. Mr. Whitten, Okay. There’s a motion and a second. Discussion? Mr. Poparad, I thought we already did that. Mr. Murphy, We did. Mr. Whitten, Roll call. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Whitten, Thank you.
PARKS OPERATING 127 Mr. Whitten, Parks Operating 127, we have several additionals: $3,000 to Advertising; $2,000 to Event Expenses; $940 to Contractual Services. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Parks Operating 127, the amounts of, $3,000 to 3340 Advertising, $2,000 to 3980 Event Expenses and $940 to 3950 Contractual Services. Mr. Bucko seconded. Mr. Whitten, Discussion? Mr. Carmichael, Are these the guys that do all the work out there? Harold Erwin, Yes. Mr. Carmichael, You’re the guys. Mr. Erwin, Yes, this is our Supervisor of Parks, Mike Howton, and I am the General of the… Mr. Bucko, So he’s the guy that does all the work out there. Mr. Erwin, He does all the work, and I just more or less tell him what to do. Ed is down in Indianapolis at a conference, that’s why we are here representing the Park Department tonight. Mr. Whitten, Great. Roll call, please. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote.
PARKS 01.85 Mr. Whitten, Parks 01.85, I assume these are… Mr. Erwin, These are transfers. Mr. Whitten, These are transfers. $500 from Gas, Fuel & Lube to Uniforms & Clothing; $500 from Tires & Tubes to Training & Education… Mr. Murphy moved to grant the request for transfer of funds submitted by Parks 01.85, the amounts of $500 from 2210 Gas, Fuel & Lube to 2220 Uniforms & Clothing, $500 from 2310 Tires & Tubes to 3130 Training & Education, $800 from 3520 Water & Sewage to 3510 Power and $1,000 from 3920 Disposal to 3951 Compliance Testing. Mr. Whitten, 800 bucks from Water & Sewage… Mr. Bucko seconded. Mr. Whitten, 1,000 from Disposal to Compliance, all those in favor, signify by saying aye. Motion carried on a unanimous voice vote.
Mr. Erwin, Thank you. Mr. Carmichael, Alright, good job; tell Ed we don’t need him. Mr. Erwin, Okay.
Mr. Whitten, Prosecutor Pretrial Diversion 38.08, additional $8,000 to Returning Fugitives. Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Prosecutor Pretrial Diversion 38.08, the amount of $8,000 to 3250 Returning Fugitives. Mr. Bucko seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Carmichael, No convertibles. You heard that story? Brian Gensel, No. Mr. Carmichael, No, okay. Mr. Gensel, Tell me it later though.
COMMISSIONERS 233 Mr. Whitten, Commissioners 233, we’ve got a couple additionals, $10,000 to Auto, Truck & Equipment; $40,000 to Medical & Dental. Supplies… Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Commissioners 233, the amounts of $10,000 to 2320 Auto, Truck & Equipment and $40,000 to 2410 Medical & Dental. Mr. Bucko seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Poparad, You know, an hour ago it was Mr. And Mrs. Now it’s just last names; pretty soon we’ll be down to, hey, you. Mr. Whitten, The guy on the end. Mr. Kopp, You want me to say Mrs. Mr. Poparad, Well… Mr. Murphy, Councilman. Mr. Bucko, It’s past bedtime, it’s past 8:00, that’s the problem. Mr. Poparad, Pretty soon, it’s, they, you, the one on the end. It’s disintegrating here as we speak. Mr. Kopp, The Cubs are on. Mr. Bucko, Nah, the Cubs are off today.
COUNTY CORRECTIONS 07 Mr. Whitten, County Corrections 07, we have five additionals: $25,000 to Gas, Fuel & Lube; $26,744.67 to Contractual Services; $4,000 to Other Supplies; $10,000 to Tires & Tubes; and $10,000 to Household & Bedding. Mr. Burge moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by County Corrections 07, the amounts of, $25,000 to 2210 Gas, Fuel & Lube, $26,744.67 to 3950 Contractual Services, $4,000 to 2250 Other Supplies, $10,000 to 2310 Tires & Tubes and $10,000 to 2330 Household & Bedding. Mr. Poparad seconded, motion carried on the following roll call vote:
Stevenson - Yes Whitten - Yes Bucko - Yes Burge - Yes Carmichael - Yes Murphy - Yes
JAIL 217 Mr. Whitten, Jail 217, we have some salary or two additionals: 32,000 to Salaries; 7,000 to PERF.
Mr. Poparad moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Jail 217, the amounts of, $32,000 to 1110 Salaries and $7,000 to 1230 PERF. Mr. Bucko seconded, motion carried on the following roll call vote:
SHERIFF 01.05 Mr. Whitten, Sheriff 01.05, we have four additionals: $139.25 to Overtime; $3,373.55 to Overtime; $30,000 to Gas, Fuel & Lube; $250,000 to Pension. What’s your pleasure? Mr. Kopp, That 250 to Pension, really needs to be ten, 211. Mr. Whitten, 200… Mr. Kopp, 211,000. Mr. Whitten, Okay. Mr. Kopp, That’s what’s calculated. Mr. Whitten, Okay. Mr. Kopp, We have to put in to meet our requirement for this year. Mr. Whitten, Okay, What’s your pleasure with this? Do you want to take them one at a time? Give me a motion. Mr. Bucko, I’ll move. Mr. Whitten, On all of them? Mr. Bucko, Yes. Mr. Bucko moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted and amended by Sheriff 01.05, the amounts of $139.25 to 1130 Overtime, $3,373.55 to 1130 Overtime, $30,000 to 2210 Gas, Fuel & Lube and $211,000 to 1230 PERF/Pension. Mr. Whitten, Is there a second? Motion died for a lack of a second. Mr. Whitten, Motion dies. Give me another motion.
Mr. Murphy, Let’s take them one at a time. Mr. Murphy moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Sheriff 01.05, the amount of $139.25 to 1130 Overtime. Mr. Burge seconded, motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Whitten, Okay, $3,373.55 to Overtime. What’s your pleasure? Mr. Poparad moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Sheriff 01.05, the amount of $3,373.55 to 1130 Overtime. Mr. Murphy and Mr. Carmichael seconded. Mr. Carmichael, I seconded for discussion. Why are there two? Why aren’t they combined? Mr. Murphy, That’s a good question. Sheriff Dave Lain, It’s a, it was a clerical issue. Reimbursement for two separate individuals. Chief Deputy Doug Snider, Those are people assigned to the task force, federal reimbursements that they get paid overtime. It comes out of our overtime budget. It goes back to the general fund, and we’re asking it to come to our fund. It’s been reimbursed. It was paid by us, reimbursed by the federal government, and we’re asking for it be put back in for overtime. The bulk of those are different, but the same. Sergeant Bud Gootee, We’re going to have them do this every quarter, because that’s when they pay, and that’s for… Mr. Murphy, Oh, okay. Mr. Carmichael, Okay. Mr. Whitten, Roll call. Motion carried on the following roll call vote:
Burge - Yes Carmichael - No Mr. Whitten, $30,000 to Gas, Fuel & Lube. Gas price fluctuation. Mr. Poparad moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Sheriff 01.05, the amount of $30,000 to 2210 Gas, Fuel & Lube. Mr. Murphy, I’ll second for discussion. Mr. Murphy seconded. Mr. Murphy, So next year this goes to the Auditor? Mr. Carmichael, He who sells gas would make the motion. Mr. Murphy, Yeah, go figure. Mr. Poparad, Be nice. Mr. Whitten, Oh, man. Wow. Mr. Murphy, Next year this goes into the Auditor’s budget. Mr. Burge, Even though this is going to the Auditor, we’re doing the gas cards? Mr. Whitten, Yes. Mr. Poparad, How is that going? Mr. Burge, Has there ever been any discussion on this, it was E-85, the hybrid fuel, because it is quite a bit less expensive than regular fuel, as far as a cost savings for government vehicles? Mr. Bucko, Do any of our vehicles use? Or will be able to use it? Mr. Burge, Yes, if we ever have a discussion on switching or making, taking steps to switch in order to save on fuel costs by using the ethanol-based, E-85. Mr. Poparad, Well, don’t, just a little clarification. You realize you get a lot less mileage. Actually, there’s an article in Sunday’s paper, they compared the cost. Mr. Carmichael, That’s what I read too. Mr. Whitten, I think we should have all vehicles that are like the electric, with pedals. Mr. Burge, We could at least look into it. Mr. Carmichael, It’ll cost you more per mile to drive… Mr. Whitten, Eeee, Eeee, Eeee. Mr. Carmichael, Than it does it with the gasoline. Mr. Poparad, Yes… Mr. Bucko, Because of the less… Mr. Poparad, The economics. I mean I’m just, the paper had a nice article Sunday. Mr. Whitten, Okay. Mr. Burge, Well, at least maybe take a look at it. I have heard other people say… Mr. Poparad, Oh no, a lot of people… Mr. Burge, Saying the other way that, because you save like, was it 40% less? Mr. Poparad, Yes, but it doesn’t, they don’t, it’s not priced based on mileage. That’s the problem. It should be priced 30% less because you’re getting 30% less mileage, but it’s not. Mr. Burge, Okay. Mr. Poparad, That’s the economics. Mr. Whitten, Roll call, please. Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Mr. Whitten, $211,000 to Pension. What’s your pleasure? Mr. Carmichael moved to grant the request for additional appropriations submitted by Sheriff 01.05, the amount of $211,000 to 1230 Pension. Mr. Murphy, I’ll second for discussion. Mr. Murphy seconded. Mr. Whitten, We have a second for discussion. Discussion. Mr. Bucko, Who’s got any? Mr. Whitten, I don’t understand. Mr. Bucko, Me either. Mr. Poparad, Is this from last year? Where’s this number coming from? You guys? Mr. Kopp, We’re obligated to pay $687,422 into the sheriff’s pension fund this year, out of the court and the employees we’re going to collect, let’s see, about 176,000. We paid from the general fund 300,822, which leaves a balance of $210,600, and I rounded it off to 211, because these numbers are going to go down a little bit in the fourth quarter. Mr. Poparad, Is this, does this count, your 670, your 687, count the Clerk’s money? Mr. Kopp, Yes. Mr. Poparad, What part of that? Mr. Kopp, The Clerk’s money through August is $65,495, and the sheriff’s pension money through August is $58,834. And I’ve extended those values to 12 months, and that’s $176,000. That’s how I said, paid in from the court and the employees, 176. Mr. Poparad, Right. Mr. Kopp, And you take another 300,822 off of 687,422, and you come up with 210… Mr. Poparad, Why did you subtract the 300? Mr. Kopp, That’s paid from the general fund already. Mr. Poparad, Alright, so this is another 250 from the general fund? Mr. Kopp, Right, 211. Mr. Poparad, Does that seem right to you guys? Chief Deputy Snider, Because we stopped doing the Clerk’s office certified claim, and per our meeting… Mr. Poparad, Right. Mr. Whitten, Shoo, that’s a lot of bread. Chief Deputy Snider, That monthly has not been going in, so this would be… Mr. Carmichael, You ever see the payouts on that? Chief Deputy Snider, Because we’re not doing the 30 or $40,000 a month, we’re not… Mr. Whitten, Yes, but I don’t remember. Chief Deputy Snider, If we had been doing it the way we had for years, that 30-grand a month would be going in there. Mr. Poparad, Well, I guess, and I was there, but I didn’t think… Mr. Kopp, It’s about 40-grand a month that they were getting… Mr. Poparad, Right. Mr. Kopp, From their… Mr. Poparad, The collection of the Clerk’s fees. Mr. Kopp, Right. Mr. Poparad, Right, so that money stopped coming? Mr. Kopp, We, the Clerk… Chief Deputy Snider, We stopped sending… Mr. Kopp, Was never collecting it. We were paying it out of the general. Mr. Poparad, Correct, but wasn’t it coming in from the Clerk’s office? Mr. Kopp, No. No, the only thing coming in from the Clerk’s office is $13 per service. Mr. Poparad, Well that’s not, but that’s not the eligible funds. Chief Deputy Snider, This is where it gets confusing. I have a different interpretation of that. Mr. Poparad, Forget the $13, they’re entitled… Mr. Kopp, Right. Mr. Poparad, They’re entitled to seven funds of which I think five are collected in the Clerk’s office. Me and Bill had this discussion three years ago. You guys, them seven, you know, the nine funds, I think we collect five or seven, they’re entitled to that money. Where’s that going? Chief Deputy Snider, In the general fund. But it doesn’t get tracked the same way that Mr. Kopp is, what Mr. Kopp is talking about that the Clerk’s office is collecting is that new an additional $13. Mr. Poparad, Nah, no, no, no, I’m talking about the… Chief Deputy Snider, The regular that’s been longstanding for 20 years? Mr. Poparad, Yeah. Chief Deputy Snider, Is part of a 27% of the… Mr. Poparad, Right. Chief Deputy Snider, Dale Brewer collects… Mr. Poparad, Correct. Chief Deputy Snider, It goes over to the general, and Mr. Kopp doesn’t real see that sub… Mr. Poparad, Right. Chief Deputy Snider, For our pension, because… Mr. Poparad, I think the moral of the story is, this isn’t accurate as being all tax money. That’s all I’m trying, I’m trying, we had a handle on it before, Bill, didn’t we? Mr. Carmichael, Uh, huh. Mr. Poparad, But it sort of has gotten lost in the interpretation now. They’re entitled to, you guys got that statute. Chief Deputy Snider, Yes. Mr. Poparad, To a whole bunch of fees. Mr. Kopp, They were going through the calculation… Mr. Poparad, Right. Mr. Kopp, Three or four days, and it was always very consistent and… Mr. Poparad, Right. Mr. Kopp, Like 40,000 a month, and we decided to do away with it, and we just fund it. Mr. Poparad, Yeah, yeah, but, and I don’t, I don’t know if I agree with the accounting method because, and I know that’s your area, but I’m going to take exception with the fact that you just basically shit-canned a lot of work that me and Bill did for like three years to get this thing straightened out. I mean I’m sorry, I’m going to be a little… Mr. Kopp, I didn’t shit-can it.
Mr. Poparad, Well no, we had… Mr. Poparad, No, Jim, I’ve got to take exception to that. We had linkage between what they were collecting on their end, and what was coming through the court system, and now you just threw it in the garbage can. So now we have no idea out of this $500,000, roughly, that’s going to their pension plan, how much of that is tax money. That’s all I’m saying. Mr. Kopp, I don’t think you knew before either. Mr. Poparad, We did. Mr. Carmichael, Oh yeah. Mr. Kopp, I won’t argue with you, I don’t know. Mr. Whitten, Okay, again, okay, we have a motion and a second, let’s… Mrs. Stevenson, What can we do to get it back to… Mr. Bucko, How can we restore the linkage? Mrs. Stevenson, Yes. Mr. Kopp, The Sheriff can restore the linkage if you want. Mr. Poparad, No, the Clerk’s fees come through your office, and that was collected in the court fees, the court costs, there is, was it seven or five fees, I don’t know, I’d have to dig out my paperwork. There was x-amount of fees collected by the Clerk that was supposed to feed this pension plan. For years it never was tracked. Me and Bill got them to track it here, it’s been four years? I don’t know, whatever. Mr. Kopp, I’ve never seen those tracks. I don’t know. Mr. Carmichael, Well, if you don’t fund it… Mr. Poparad, We’re funding it. See the problem is, the way we’re doing it right now, we’re going to fund it regardless of whether they collect a dime or not out of the Clerk’s office. It could be all tax dollars. We have no way of knowing how much of this is tax money, how much of this is court costs. Mr. Carmichael, All I’m saying, Bob, if you don’t fund it adequately, according to the actuaries, then it goes away in three years. It’s done. If that’s what you want to do. Mr. Poparad, I mean you’ve got to look back at the original intent. Mr. Carmichael, That’s right. Mr. Poparad, The original intent of this was, their contribution, plus some court fees, plus their paper money, was supposed to fund the pension. Their pension was never supposed to come out of tax money, it was set up, I mean 50 years ago. Mr. Carmichael, Does anybody know how much is in that account now? In reserves? Chief Deputy Snider, In the pension… Mr. Carmichael, It was six million when I… Chief Deputy Snider, It’s about nine million now. Mr. Carmichael, It’s what? Mr. Poparad, Nine. Chief Deputy Snider, About nine million. Mr. Carmichael, Nine million now. Chief Deputy Snider, It’s about $9,000,000 invested in our pension fund. Mr. Whitten, Okay, any other discussion? Mr. Poparad, No, yeah, we need, we need to not lose sight of this growth in your load, and I know we’ve had some conversations, Doug, about the Merit Board adjusting vesting, maybe not the, the fact they’re vested in five years, that sort of thing. That has been, because since I’ve been sitting here, it’s damn near doubled in five years. So actuaries being what they are, five years from now this is going to be 1.2 million dollars, and now you’ll be totally into the general fund by who knows how much, because your contribution can’t go up appreciably, the court costs aren’t going to change, you’re going to be into the taxpayers for three-quarters of a million dollars for 60 guys or 70 guys or whatever the number is. I’m just urging you very strongly to adjust your benefit schedule, you know, kick these guys back to ten years, whatever you guys, you know, I mean somebody being vested, somebody working anywhere for five years and getting a pension is unrealistic in 2007. Mr. Carmichael, That’s right, Bob. Mr. Poparad, That’s all I’m saying. Mr. Carmichael, Amen. Mr. Poparad, I’ll make the motion to approve. Mr. Whitten, There is a motion already and a second. Mr. Poparad, Oh, I’m sorry. Mr. Whitten, That’s okay. Roll call. Motion carried on the following roll call vote:
Murphy - Yes Poparad - Yes Mrs. Stevenson, Yes, there needs to be changes. Mr. Whitten, The way we’re doing it; Oh man, the Cubs, Murphy just told me the Cubs lost. Mr. Carmichael, No. Mr. Whitten, I don’t want to spoil your evening, Bill. Forget I said that. Mr. Carmichael, Put the gavel down, the meeting’s over.
COUNCIL 234 - Request tabled to the October 23rd meeting Mr. Whitten, Council 234, we have an additional $250,000 Undercover Expenses. Mr. Gensel, What I would like to do, Mr. President, if I could. I’ve spoken with Mike today… Mr. Whitten, Make a motion. Mrs. Stevenson, I would like to make a motion to table this. Mrs. Stevenson moved to table the request for additional appropriations submitted by Council 234, the amount of $250,000 to 2251 Undercover Expenses. Mr. Whitten, Can I get a second? Mr. Bucko seconded. Mr. Carmichael, I don’t think tabling it is not adequate. In order to bring it off the table…
Mr. Whitten, It would take a unanimous vote, I think we’ll take if off the table. Mr. Whitten, I don’t think I’m going to have a problem doing that. There’s a motion to table and a second. Roll call, please. Motion to table carried on the following roll call vote:
Poparad - Yes Stevenson - Yes Mr. Whitten, It’s tabled. Mr. Gensel, Okay, to any particular point certain? Mr. Whitten, It would be our next meeting, Brian. Mr. Gensel, Great.
SUPERIOR COURT 3 - JENT 01.38
Mr. Whitten, Superior Court 3, 01.38, a transfer of $400 from Legal to Training & Education. Mr. Whitten, We’ve already done the Attorney Reports. I think that Mr. Burge has something under… Mr. Carmichael, Well under Liaison, we need 350-million to take the South Shore down to Valparaiso and to Lowell. Anybody have any suggestions? Mr. Whitten, No. Mr. Carmichael, It’s only 350-million for a local match. Mr. Whitten, That don’t seem too bad. Mr. Carmichael, I think Visclosky can get it too. Daniels has got our major moves money, 3.8 billion. Mr. Whitten, Yes. I don’t have any answers. Mr. Carmichael, Just a comment. Mr. Whitten, You got me on that one, Bill. There’s some other thing, this has been a long meeting, so. Wow. Jim, do you want to go ahead and do your thing now so.
Mr. Burge, Yes, we have a guest to speak before us just for a few minutes this evening. Mr. Ralph Bufano. He spoke briefly in front of us last night at the hospital meeting, in relation to a sports youth facilities, and he wanted an opportunity to address us for a few minutes this evening to talk a little bit about the vision that they, he and some of the sports organizations have, and to give us a little bit insight of the potential positive revenue impact that it could have on the County for investing in that type of situation.
Ralph Bufano, Thank you. Can I pass these out? You have been here a long time. I don’t, I want to make it short. I just want to say that I thank you for the opportunity of being here, and I think it’s a very worthy cause. It’s the last of what’s going on tonight, but yesterday, I’m all by myself, but yesterday you saw a little bit resemblance of the kind of support that we had when were here with youth. Mr. Burge, I was just going to say, with the example you gave here of the park, the size of that would actually fit into, both the concept fits into the Park Department’s master plan as it currently exists, and the size of acreage you’re talking about would fit into the proposed park that they’re attempting to buy… Mr. Bufano, Yes, sir, I’ve got that… Mr. Burge, So it’s…
Mr. Bufano, I’ve got that, right here, this is 194 acres. But they bought in, in 15 years ago, 17 years ago, what they bought was, the facility cost 2.1 million dollars. That, that Crystal Lake paid for, and what you see here, costs that. That was that, that, that time period. We don’t know exactly what you can get this for. I’m showing you this 194 acres. My God, 190, we could even put angels on there, because it’s so big. It’s so huge. We could have activities that would, you don’t have to have all of it. You don’t even have to have this. But would there be something that you could do, not only for the youth, but the young adults, for the middle-aged, and for everyone to have a part, a piece of the action, so that you can be at the top of all of this being responsible for such a, such an undertaking that no one up to this point. In other words, it’s the last of whatever there is, because there’s nothing else. Mr. Whitten, I hate to cut you off. Mr. Bufano, Yes, sir. Mr. Whitten, We’ve got second reading here to do, and it’s almost 9:00. Mr. Bufano, Okay. Mr. Whitten, Thank you for coming. Mr. Bufano, You’re terrific. Thank you for the time. Mr. Whitten, I appreciate your time, and waiting this whole time. Mr. Bufano, And by the way, anything I can do, Jim Burge knows how to get in touch with me. Anything that I can do to be instrumental in this, please, in the future, I’d like to know that you can call on me, if God gives me the way. Thank you so much. Mr. Murphy, Thank you. Mr. Whitten, Thank you very much waiting through this long meeting. We appreciate the time and information. Mr. Bufano, Thank you. God bless. Mr. Whitten, Thank you so much. Second Reading. SECOND READING Mr. Poparad moved to approve Second Reading. Mr. Murphy seconded, motion carried on the following roll call vote:
Bucko - Yes Burge - Yes Mr. Whitten, Well as much as I hate to say, I think we have to leave. Mr. Carmichael, No. Mr. Poparad, Shocking. Mr. Whitten, Thank you all for coming. It’s always a pleasure. Mr. Kopp, You’re the only ones left.
There being no further discussion, meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
PORTER COUNTY COUNCIL
Mike Bucko
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September 25, 2007