Woodford County Fiscal Court - Regular Meeting

that are here for budget presentations. And so I'll start with uh Director Rich Pictor at Parks and Rec uh to present their preliminary budget to the court.

Yes. Things to show you here. Okay. So, um did they have the packets, Melody? Did they got the information? Okay. So, you should have um this information in front of you, but I just wanted to go through a little bit uh with it quickly. I told Magic Carl I'd keep it under two hours. Um so, with that said, uh you see before you the the request from the parks and recreation department of a budget request of $998,812. um that reflects a a 1% 1.4% increase from last year or a total of $13,762 above last year's request. Um and just some notes that are in this budget. Um health insurance has been factored an 8% increase. However, we do not have those exact totals yet. That's kind of a placeholder that's been given to me from the city of sales who we get our insurance through. Um this budget um does include restructuring of full-time staff configuration. However, we're not adding any new time new full-time staff members. Uh we recently made some changes and and um uh leted a full-time and staff member go. Um and instead of replacing that with a full-time position, we're actually going to be partnering with Midway College and looking at some internships where these students can get both college credit and get paid, but they'll be under our part-time salaries. Um, but we're keeping the same number of full-time employees because I'm adding an outside maintenance worker to this budget. Um, with the increase of Huntertown and more parks, um, and other parts of the park coming more online and with the extensive use and and usage now at Hunter at Big Spring Park, that's requiring a lot more attention down there. So, we'll be bringing on a new full-time outside maintenance person um, this next fiscal year. Um the cost of living increase for this budget has been

factored at 3%. And um out of that number uh which is an increase of 13,000 I did want to just point out the fact that payroll taxes generated from the parks department that are paid back to the county is $37,444. So um essentially 30 $30,000 of that 998 gets paid back in taxes to the court. Um, and then I have the list of the capital improvements um that you'll see um on the next page and I'll kind of run through those briefly. Um, most of these this year are are more on the maintenance related side. Um, we're requesting two two outdoor maintenance trucks. Um, we're currently running a 24y old truck that was actually surplus from emergency management to us. has 142,000 miles, transmission slipping, and none of the staff feel comfortable having it leave the park. It's basically just a a local trash truck in the park. And then we also have an 18-year-old F250 that we need to um basically move to the trash truck. Um again, it's got significant issues. Um it's not cannot pull trailers with our mowers and we don't take it off of the park at this time. Um additionally, we're looking to purchase a snow plow for our maintenance truck. this past winter really taught us that, you know, having one of those is going to be needed, especially as we open up this new recreation road. Um, will give us the ability to plow the roads, keep them open, um, when we have bad conditions. And as I pointed out, it also when we have serious big snows, it could be used by county to help in local county subdivisions, um, smaller subdivisions where the bigger trucks for the county can't get into, um, or if there's any issues with county trucks. Same with the large salt spreader um that to help cover the parking lot and the roads. And again, this could also be used in county or city subdivisions uh if needed. Um the one thing that I know people will be interested and happy to hear is we do have in this budget

pickleball lights for the pickleball courts. The the use of pickle ball um continues to grow. Uh, I left there last night after a parks board meeting around 8:30 at night and the courts were full and the outdoor basketball courts were full and we're seeing a lot of that. Um, pickle ball really um while we have our our older and senior players play there in the mornings and and early afternoons, seeing a lot more of teenagers using it in the afternoons. Um, so we're going to look to do that. We will be improving the disc golf course um by adding 12 or by adding new disc golf baskets and hole signage. The original ones are 10 years old and starting to fade and wear out. Um, in doing so, we're also partnering with the new Woodford County Disc Golf Club. And so, you can envision them much like you think of Weissa Soccer or Woodford Youth Baseball Parents Association. We're going to let them kind of be the guiding force of tell us what's new, what's trending, and what needs to happen. And the nice thing is they're willing to do the work. They just want to say, "Hey, can we make these improvements?" So, Parks and Rec will be partnering with them to make improvements. um not only this year but in years to come. Um also on the maintenance side, a new skid steer, our our current Bobcat is 27 years old and has over 3,500 miles hours on it and is undersized and underpowered for some of the attachments we now have. Um new flooring in the Falling Springs area offices. Uh that's the original carpet in there and it's honestly really gross. Um but uh it's got some juice stains as you can imagine from kids and other stuff and it just needs to be replaced. continuing with our um ongoing maintenance of the pools, the outdoor pool pump feature replacement of replacing one pump, so the next one will be the lazy river. Um we didn't make it the full time. We have another pump that actually failed this year. Um and so that's come out of this year's budget as an unbudgeted item at the tune of $18,000. So we're trying to stay ahead of it with budgeted items. And then as we've done the past um continuing the work on plantings and invasive removal

at Huntertown and Big Spring and continuing our abilities to put money aside into um uh CDs for future retirement liabilities that we get hit with when the um when the state when people now retire and we are forced to not forced we we now pick up the cost of their sick time which years ago used to be covered by the state is now covered by the individual. um groups. So that is the J the brunt of the capital improvements which is a reduction of $54,000 from last year's request. So with that said, I'll switch to couple other slides here. So you have in front of you first slide on the on the budgets of all the numbers um 10 years worth of history there as well as the current forecast and the budget in purple. Um, and so the first page is is the rollup totals and then the individual all 250 line items are on the next accompanying pages.

Um, so um, and I won't go through those line by line. However, I hit the the key points there in the capital improvements of the items and things that that routinely change. Um, but I'll if as you get into it, if you have any questions at any point, always feel free to reach out to me. Um, with that said, I wanted to talk a little bit um on this couple of these pie charts here that show you some of the uh the breakdowns of the revenues over the last five years. Um, and it didn't fully populate there, but the blue line is city county, 52% of the overall funding for the parks department. The other 48% is made up of um revenues generated by the parks department which I think is unique because you know as you know most parks and parks and recreation departments are nothing but cost centers because they don't generate revenue. We actually do generate a fairly good portion of our revenues. Um, with that said, I wanted to focus a little more time on on this slide, um, because it shows where our expenses are coming from. And I've kind of done a lot of studying on this here and looked at all the numbers and 49% being wages and benefits is obviously pretty typical. Most most businesses, your your salaries are your highest um, cost of expense. But the one I really want to point out to is the utilities in the in the falling springs maintenance being 30% of the overall expenses um, that we're incurring at this time. And that number is going to continue to increase. And so, uh, I bring this up as just a first time to say this, but, uh, the perfection group that did all the work here in the courthouse to improve, um, all the heat and air and HVAC and everything that you did at the courthouse did a full page booklet on Falling Springs and what can be done going forward. And and what I would call this is the next 25 years. Falling Springs is going to be approaching 25, but we we want to look at the next 25. We know what happened with the high school and people got mad because we had to build a new high school and they claimed that the old one wasn't

maintained and they need to build one. Well, we we need to make some changes going forward so that we have this building for the next 25 years. And in here, they talk about things like, you know, it need to need new boilers. It's going to need things such as putting um solar on the roof so that we can reduce our utilities and get more efficient. I mean, when you talk about 25-year-old boilers, they're just highly inefficient to what's out there today. And so what I'm proposing or what I'm not proposing today, I want everyone to keep in mind that I think not this year, not this budget cycle, but and not this court or this council, but the next court or council are going to need to consider what the next 25 years are going to look like in terms of um doing something jointly to make sure we're upgrading the roof because the roof's going on 25 years old. It's going to need to be changed out. And so all these major infrastructure things are going to need to be looked at. And so, um, you know, I I would hope that maybe in the future we could have a committee of of court members, city council members, parks, boards, and citizens that come together to say, "Okay, what projects, what can we do, and how can we fund this so that we make sure Falling Springs is there for 25 at least more years." Um, with that, I've got a quick breakdown then of um, just how the benefits since that's a large number, you know, how our wages come down. 40% full-time, 35 part, and 25 through benefit in benefits. And the good thing is um benefits is actually not rising as fast as it was, as you may know, thanks to um sports wagering is breaking down the retirement liab retirement costs to cities and and governments and as well as the parks department. So that's helping even though healthc care is obviously still continues to rise. And then when you look at our our salaries, they they pretty much trend with the um cost of living adjustments that have been made over the years. There's no large spikes. They kind of are just ticking up um naturally.

And with that, I'll leave you with this. all your family fun activities this summer. So, that's all I have and that's a commercial that we ran some last year and you'll see that coming up this spring to promote the outdoor pool and it really did some really good numbers for us this past year. So, I'll take any questions now or you feel free to contact me at any point um if you have detailed questions about any line items or anything else within the budget.

Well, thank you, Director Pictor. We really appreciate this good work on the budget and providing all of that information for the committee and the fiscal court to review uh breaking it down so we can understand it. Um remind us again the uh overall increase to the budget that you have this year. The overall increase is 1.4% or $13,700 I think. Excellent. Which I I joke Kelly Carl could fund that. You know, we talk daily out here, you know, so I can tell you all about this. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, we got it. We're going to keep this place uh for another 25 awesome years out there.

Absolutely. And um you know, it Falling Springs really is a gem. It's a unique and special part of our community, one that is so widely utilized and appreciated. And uh yeah, I appreciate you looking forward and letting folks know that there in upcoming budgets there's got to be some considerations of additional expenses, but um this budget looks good. Members of the committee, questions or comments for Director Pictor? As uh Director Pictor mentioned, if you have any questions, please contact him directly. And um yeah, Squire uh Gil, you're recognized.

Thank you. Um is there any money in the Woodford Parks Foundation that you know of that that are we able to access that for any of these thinking of that roof? I I would say I can't speak for the parks foundation, but I can say that that's what the money was designed for. Um if I'm correct, there's somewhere in the neighborhood of maybe 150 to 200,000. So that would go towards some of these capital, you know, large scale capital improvements. It's definitely what it was designed for. Um, but you know, unfortunately like the roof and stuff, you're talking upwards like a million dollars. Yeah. Type thing. But it definitely could be used for that. Yes.

Yeah. I know that theater is having trouble with a leak. They've had a trouble with a leaky roof. I didn't know if your building is I mean 25 years old. We haven't had a lot of leaks. you know, we've had a couple spots here and there, but they've been minor fixes, you know, just seams and stuff that have come up. So, yeah, we've had we've had repairs over the years. Um, no, none more than we've had 5 years ago. Um, but every now and then, you know, a drain will back up or something, water backs up and it gets underneath some flashing or flashing needs to be fixed or cocked or whatever, but no major repairs have needed to be made. Um, but that's not to say that they're not going to be coming in the future. Thank you.

And director Pictor, um you you referenced the Perfection Group's um energy audit and looking at the the facility and um you know, one of the things that's a reality is that a lot of the equipment and mechanics are original, so they're much less efficient than yes, uh new. Uh there's also been some replacement. some of the original equipment remains on the roof, you know, and uh every uh nail hole, screw hole in a roof is always a a potential weakness for moisture and u so I think that there's a big cost savings in an energy efficiency type project for the facility in the future.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, when you when you look at just one aspect of our building and that being the indoor pool and you know, even though today is 80 something degrees and in July it'll be 105, that pool boiler is running 24/7 pulling gas to heat the indoor pool cuz it has to. But there's efficient systems out there now that could use solar and your pool boiler, which we're on our third one because they wear out very fast. They're in a very corrosive environment and they run about $30,000 a piece. And so we've already gone through three of them in 25 years, but you can turn those literally off come April and not turn them back on until October. So you expand the lifespan of that one type of machine a lot. And then you're saving your gas bill. When you look at our our gas bill um is runs roughly between 65 and $70,000 a year. Um you know, those are cost savings that can be done because the way the system was designed, the boilers have to run. So again, when it's 105 in July, it be crazy to tell you, but if you go downstairs, there's times when the boiler is running because it has to put heat in the building to regulate the humidity in the building. And that's just the way the system was designed. But there's much better newer technology out there right now. So when when I say talking about 30% of our total expenses, um that's something I think that future courts and councils need to really consider.

Thank you, Director Victor. Any other questions? Square of Runner, sir. Rich, u you was talking about the age and stuff. How old is the the heating and air over on the theater side of that building? It's the same. It's one system for the whole building. One systems for the whole building. Yes. So, there's no no difference. The same boiler, same AC systems. Yeah. Um run the heaters. They just have separate air handlers that run those building those areas. Okay. Thank you, Richard. Thank you. Square Carl. Nothing. I'm just All right. Anything else for Director Pictor? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate the budget presentation. Uh, next up we have the Woodford County Conservation District.

Good. Thank you.

I think we've got uh our proposal sent to you all earlier today. U our group has worked on this um about five meetings so far to get this uh for you all. Uh let me introduce myself before we get started. Michael Duckworth. I'm chair of the conservation district board. Matt Colton is with us today. Matt came on board back in August and uh he's done a great job for us. We're pleased that he's on board with us here today. So, uh we submitted you all our office budget and then you've also got uh which is our main request from you all and then also we've got our building uh information or building budget information and then the third item you've got is our equipment budget. So, we we should have all three of those in front of you. But mo mostly today will talk about our requests uh for for the group for the upcoming year. Uh, we too, just like Rich had just stated, we we've kind of done a 10-year look back on our our budget and Nat's done a real nice job looking back through uh that historical data and has been able to uh really do a nice job kind of getting a handle on what our facility is uh costing every year to operate. So, um we're at about $153,000. We're working with the extension district and with USDA and then the other agencies located in the building. But for today's request, we're going to uh come before you asking $234,76 that represent us about a 6.5% increase over last year. Just one comment on the 10-year look back when we adjusted for inflation. We have been running about 0.72% annually on our requests and uh we think we're just running a real efficient budget with local, state, federal

agencies all coming together under one roof there. Um our personnel budget is u $188,392. That represents about 53% of the total budget requests uh today. will note that we did sign a new 9010 partnership affiliation agreement with USDA. One of our employees is a shared employee. So, we house uh Jared there with us and he uh we get 90% of his um salary and benefits reimbursed through that that program. So, we're very pleased that went from 7030 to 8020 and now it's 9010. So, so the federal government is providing a larger percent of that each year since we've had that program. Uh, and Jason works, uh, excuse me, Jared works primarily with the federal programs there in the in the community. Uh, the rest of our programs you'll see there, uh, and I'm I'm glad to go over any of these in detail, but the, uh, operating expenses at 17% that's $62,811. said, like I say, that that basically is our main operations of the building there. Uh you're going to see something in there called building rents and leases. That's a $15,000 $15,677 line item this year. That's $13.58 a square foot that uh you'll see represented in the budget. And then the last category, our our last major category is administration. That's $101,575. This is where all of our local cost shares come. Uh $81,300 of the monies that you all expend to us and invest with us are for backyard conservation programs, dead animal removal programs, uh field cover crop. That program continues getting larger

and larger every year. Uh those are all conservation programs that we've um really like investing into. Uh, also we do grid sampling, pollinator habitat program, and then rock gateway and soil testing are all are represented in there. One I would like to recognize that's new in the budget this year is a $3,400 line item. We've installed with the help of Jared and uh, NAD have gone across and installed 12 weather stations across the county. And uh right now, believe it or not, in April, we're already in a D2 drought down in the southern part of Woodfrey County. So, I think it's some data that we're able to kind of feed through to the federal government for uh for information that's uh I think been beneficial. So, on the on the on the income side, we did just uh we did put $3,400 in there because we'd like to map where those are so we could could show that on our website and continue putting more of that information out to the community. Uh, one last thing I will mention, we did a did a couple of things here recently. Like I say, we we did the January 10-year look back and tenure study. We also just last month we have a new procurement manual that we have developed which will help in our bidding processes. And then we also were involved with NAD in the extension office. They did a a Glenn's Creek watershed. This is part of the university's done a pretty major study. We did a couple of nights with farmers across the community back in February. Uh that that wershed represents about 21,000 acres of of the community. That's about 20% of our county land mass here. And uh that study continues to go on and the university will continue to be involved in that as long as well as the conservation district. So um that's a quick overview. Glad to talk any more

details about things we do. I've got u several facts and figures that I'm glad to go into detail, but just a couple of things about what we invested in. We had a million dollars of NRCS contracts last year, $45,000 in soil and water conservation contracts, 5,700 trees distributed, 1100 acres of cover crop, 500 soil samples, 300 in our art contest, 11 or excuse me, hund over 100 dead animals removed, 32 monarch stations, and seven rock gateways. So that's just a kind of a quick overview of some of the many things we've done, you know, in the urban areas out out in the farming community. So be glad to answer any questions and give the hard ones over to Nat.

Squire Verer, you had a question. I I have a comment. Sure, please.

U Michael Matt, I I uh it doesn't show the true true uh purpose of and and goals that you you guys accomplish out there. uh you leverage so much money with these programs, especially with bringing Jared on board. He can process those federal grants quicker, gets that money back into our farmer's hands. The weather station, that's going to be a big help because that data goes into FSA, which in turn leverages money for drought, you know, emergency aid and stuff from from the federal government. So all those pro uh things that you've been doing in the recent years has really really picked us up on leveraging money for this county and the farmers in it. So I just want to say thank you on that. You're welcome. Thank you, judge.

Thank you, Squire Varner. Other questions or comments for conservation district? Yeah, Squire Gentry, you're recognized.

You have $20,000 for a building construction. Can you tell me about that? Yeah, that's a line item we try to put in uh much like what Rich has talked about to maintain the building. LA last year we had to we've been in that building about 30 years and we had to put a new roof and new gutters on. That was about a $60,000 investment. So, uh we like to keep some money in there to maintain the building, maintain the parking lot. There's a there's a place out back, for example, that where extensions, handicap parking is, it's probably going to need to be addressed for accessibility. So, uh, that those kinds of projects, John, will be what we'll be using those funds for.

Okay. So, you also have, um, in your maintenance and repairs, 52,000. Wouldn't that cover everything you just said? The 52,000 for maintenance. Yeah,

that's um that 52,000 is under janitorial, and that's for janitorial services and cleaning supplies. And the the just as an example, one of the things that I anticipate needing to be replaced next year is a fan coil and a air handler on the extension side of the building. But we've got one that's starting to go out. About half of the air handlers I think in the building have been replaced. The whole building's on geothermal. There's a fair number of things that are coming. You're welcome. Thank you. Other questions or comments? Can

Can you share Taylor? Oh, sorry. I apologize. I didn't wait for you to recognize me.

Um, you were sharing and I I missed the number. You shared what the um change has been uh I don't know if you said it was 10 years and and our and the requested contribution from the fiscal court. What was that that distinction? Uh yeah, LZ, we did a a 10-year look back. Uh I think we got that here with this information. Yeah, we we went and did a study on all the information uh from 2017 through 2026. So it was 154,000. It was what the request was from the fiscal court back in 17. And then uh last year was 218,763 and then uh but the when when you back out the inflation

Oh, that's okay. That was Yeah, inflation was 35.3%. And u excuse me, the request was 35.3 and the inflation was 28.1. So that that's a 72%. I'm I missed that that nuance. I was just uh and we've got we've got that information l if you need that maybe that's already been sent through that predates me by a couple years on that day too there too.

Well, thank you Squire Taylor and um Mr. Chair the um I we didn't get that 10ear look back information from you all that I'm aware. U no no worries on that whatsoever. But well just looking through our records I think the I think the question is from so in 202122 your all's uh requested was 150 and your actual was 150 223 it goes from 157 requested to 233,958.91 actually uh appropriated to you all from the fiscal court and um 2023 24 that the request is still 157,000 and then it's 187,000 actual with a little bit more money on there. 202425 the request goes up to 215,000 and then again the this past year is $218,000.

Correct. So the the the increase seems to really come in the 2122 u 22 23 fiscal year in in that time and I don't recall and I'm not sure if you all can provide any information on on the reason for that significant jump in that fiscal year. Right. We we can research that James and get that back to you.

Yeah. Well, some of the things that are worth noting, uh, Jared was hired in 2021. There's a new operations manager in 2022. Um, yeah, I would have to look back in my other notes to see about the there were substantial increases in personnel. And from 2017 to 20 26, local cost share went up 100% over 100%. Oh, one of those years, uh, when we when we added a new employee, we went from a single payer, uh, employee up to a family uh, plan. And that was that was a pretty large percent of that increase. I think that was about $14,000 of that. I remember the first year I was on the board there, James, that happened. So, uh, we can research that and get you the specifics on that, but but we were we went from that. I know the the health insurance went up considerably for the employee.

What was the 2023 number you mentioned? Um, the 2022 23 fiscal year request was $157,000. Uhhuh. The actual paid out was $233,958.91. At least that's what is that what you had, Madam Treasur? Yes. 233 what? 958.91.

It's um you know I I I'm my guess is whatever happened in that period in time and I don't think it was the health insurance. Whatever happened in that period of time is is what's um somewhat responsible for the increases in the budget. But since basically 2122 fiscal year, that's when we went from the historical uh requests of around $150,000 to now we're up to $234,000 in this fiscal year. Do you know how much the U district's budget overall is funded through the fiscal court's appropriation? Uh nearly all of it, James.

That that's what I was thinking. Um, I couldn't quite gather that from the the budget documents, but I guess what I was asking is uh is it roughly about $100,000 in your outside revenue and income that comes in through rental uh rents and leases? We we get extension. We have a contract through extension and then we have a contract through USDA for leases. And let's see, we've got that as well. It's closer to 85 85,000 in revenue.

101,000 and change includes the the proposed $15,000 $677 of rent from the our office operations to compensate for the square footage. Good deal. Good deal. I I mean I'm I'm just trying to understand it from the documents presented. So other questions or comments? Scar Carl. On the income side, you mind to turn on your mic. I'm sorry. On the income side here, um just looking at this and I'm just asking you tell me. Sure. What is sweep interest? I see that you've drawn interest and you carried a balance forward. Mhm.

But where is that? Uh we moved the three accounts. Each one has that like office budget. Yes, we mo we moved all three of the the counts budgets into a sweep account. Went from uh about a half a percent interest to about 3 and a half% interest. So the income is generated there and then you disperse it. You just keep it separately like this. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. County Attorney sir. Michael, if I may ask, on on the last page, um, and those who've been on the court for a while know that something that always grabs my attention is the word donation. Um, and I see E3300 grants and donations. Fiscal court can make appropriations, expenditures for matters that serve county public purpose, but they can't just like contribute to a cause, make a donation. they can't do that directly, so they couldn't do that indirectly. Um, so when I see that word donation, that causes the radar to go up a little, but then I see below it, it mentions appropriations. It's the fiscal any money from the fiscal court that the district receives could not be used for a donation because that would be doing indirectly what they can't do directly. Is that can that be guarded against? And if so, how? And I don't know what it means when it says y'all y'all list donations.

We we we donate, for example, to the to the food bank each year. That's a that's a line item in there. That's When you say donate, you just to put in their general budget. Yes. Yes. It's a request. That's a money in money out situation. So I think it's around $4,000, Allan. That's for the food. That's what's listed here. And and you probably don't know this. Do you know historically why the word donations is has been listed there?

That that account number and the title grant and donations is a that's a a title that the state division of conservation they give us a chart of accounts that we have to use. And so what I've been trying to do is stay consistent with Oh, that's a good idea. Yeah. Turn his mic on so you're I've been trying to stay consistent with the chart of accounts that the state gives us that we're obligated to use and then we just have sub accounts under those account items. And so that's where the the word donation. So So that that's based on their template, correct?

And what you all have adopted. And that's fine. And and I certainly don't mean to to uh say that I think I know what you can and can't do, but I know what the court can and can't do. And and again, they cannot directly or indirectly make donations. They can fund

and it and again I guess again it's going to appear that way. Yeah. Um, and that's why when I I guess the question arose and the answer was primarily all your funding comes if anything is deemed a donation that shouldn't come from fiscal court funds. Well, and I will in the case of the food pantry in particular, um I did just discover when I was going through the our plan of work in an old copy, there was language about it coming from equipment revenue. Um and so I think that was the intent. Okay.

And because we've had quite a bit of staff turnover Mhm. Um I'm not sure it always came from equipment revenue, but that the intent is for it to come from equipment revenue in that case. Anyway,

part of what we we deal with Allan is we have multiple agencies that have monies coming through and as uh I I when I was and I've been on the board three years now and it it takes a while to kind of you know meet with all the players, understand all the players and then when you get a young man with talent like this that's got got a great handle on and not not that the board didn't have a handle on all this cuz we have people that come into our office and audit this quite frequently and uh that set that set of folks has had turnover all as well at the energy and environmental cabinet at the state level. So there's been eyes on these uh accounts uh quite closely since this building was built. So, we're um we're assured that these funds are fine and uh but if there's another way that the scholarships, for example, we've been able to utilize some of the donations that way as well.

So, and that the scholarships are coming from equipment revenue and then being paid to students. And I think that would increase my comfort level for the court if for something that is considered and maybe even referred to as a donation does not come from what the fiscal court uh provides uh because again they cannot directly do that. So they therefore cannot indirectly do that.

Sure. So, and that may be just a small point, but I think again when we don't have any sort of heading like that, and we do it different than the state does, obviously, uh, but that would um, and I realize that's a small amount when we look at the monies that are involved overall, but yeah, and the board had quite a a long conversation on some of those matters back or Allan, we uh,

we're we're now working through some some of these things that I think we've had four different people that have been putting codes in there, then you may code it one way and that may code it another way. So, we've been trying to get some consistency there with the way we're coding. So, some of that is is a response from that matter. Thank you all. Thank you, Judge. Yes, sir. uh uh as I said on on that board uh I know all of our donations or grant that are are out to the community always came out of all the rental and I know that's

yes went through and I know there were several years there that that the conservation district didn't ask for any more money than previous year there was a constant and yes then then kicked in and that's the reason our budget started to climb but but as as when I said on there everything that went to food pantry, farmers market and stuff came out of the rental. Yes. Yes. I think that's that's what I recall. Yes. And that's that's that's the way that did because we could not spend any money coming from the court to do those. That's right. And we didn't practice that and I know you guys aren't either. I know that's where that comes from. Right. Sounds good. Thank you.

And lastly, I I'll announce the um we're we're working with the court on this and other agencies. The uh Earth Day program is this this Saturday, so 10:00 to 12:00. Go and stop by. They'll be Nat and the whole group went over to pick the trees up yesterday. Toured through the farm there. And so we're looking forward to seeing everybody for Earth Day this coming week. And anybody will be welcome to come out there. And uh obviously got the the new logo here that's been designed and developed and want to try to get our address right on the bottom. I don't know. We're going to need to change that address. It uh Nat communicated with the tree coalition and and the paper and I think they got that

squared away. Yeah. Um yeah, Squire Taylor, you're recognized.

Sorry, I want to go back. Um Squire Gentry's question about the janitorial uh maintenance part of it. Um had me looking at we don't have it for every year. In years past, we didn't always get the budget. It looks like um for the building budget, but um and and maybe this is inflation. I'm I'm just wondering if it looks like we went from uh in 2324 on between janitorial uh payroll the the salaries for the custodial assistant and then the services about 35,000 to um this year looking at 52. Am I right on it?

Yeah, we had a 53. No, I'm sorry. Go ahead. 52. So that So I I chain because we had a a W2 employee who's been cleaning the building. So we had separate

net salary, taxes, medic, you know, all the all of the personnel expenses associated with that individual and she has since left. And so now, and we had a separate line item for services that was for like carpet cleaning and things like that. So it was a much smaller dollar amount on that line item in the past. Um, and now we are contracting out custodial work. So it's all getting lumped into the same account if that makes sense. Okay, that's that contracted s well the contract janitorial services. Yeah, I'm sorry. I was trying to find the other the other account.

That was 1,500 though. I I put that in my 3500. I mean 35,000 total. Oh, you added that? Yeah, I added that in. So, you were adding just because I was there was lines. Well, that's just what you all had and I was putting those together. Okay. So, if you take out those taxes, that's probably is that net salary or is that salary? And that's net. Yeah. So then you've got state, federal, county withholdings. Yeah. Well, I know those are all included. Yeah. Okay. On that previous So it's still up. That was in what year? 2324. 2324.

I I guess ultimately having gone I guess my question is having gone from a W2 employee to a service, is that something you all bid out or is it a some I mean that's a a big jump? Um Well, that happened. What could have been a savings in in in not having to pay those same taxes. Yeah. The the change actually happened last month. Yeah. We just we got the W2 employee,

what I've got in my notes is from 23 to 24. We went from $26,695 budgeted for a for building payroll to $33,434 for building payroll. building payroll, meaning salaries for custodial staff. Correct. And then I added the 1,500 for the the other. So that was about Got it. Yeah. Yeah. So we we were Yeah. So that's the and that was those were payraises essentially is what is what that amounts to. Thank you.

Yep. And uh Scrier Barner, to your point, I think um the office budget reflects the grants and donations line items. Um and um you know maybe I think that E30300 uh designation maybe that's the um coded designation for your uh for your your budget either your accounts or your software or however that is. But perhaps maybe an easier resolution for uh the county attorney's concerns would be to remove donations from that appropriation administrative line item which is is listed under the office budget account.

Um the scholarships to your point are in the equipment equipment account. So we can just shift E3030. And let me be clear. I mean we absolutely support the the work of the food pantry and you're all support of them as well. I I don't think that's an issue. I think it's just making sure that we delineate the county attorney's uh emphasized point that comes up each and every request from every agency asking for a sponsorship or a donation. Yeah, we can we can certainly make that amendment. Um, Square Barney.

Yes. Just on your point, uh, the the farmers market there that that also was a great project they have appropriations because they they hand out the vouchers and folks can can go to the farmers market and pick up fresh vegetables and stuff, you know, during it. It's a great it's a great uh great uh program. Absolutely. Other questions or comments? Yep. Squire Taylor.

I I just one last one. I I saw in the rental income in the again the bu building budget um there was a probably a gosh 20% reduction in in rental income from fish and wildlife uh between 23 24 and then 27. Is that a difference in their utilization like they don't have an office there anymore or those were accounting errors I believe. Okay. Mr. They had less less space or something they needed.

We have had some changes like that, but I I what were the years? I can double check, but I 2324 is u was the only other uh year I have of the theud the building budget. Yeah, I'm sorry. That's what I meant. Yeah, I suspect those are accounting errors. Um Square Carl. Yes. On this and just request whether when you go back and look is there any way to get this so that we can see the lease the previous year. It's nice to be able to see it. You know I mean we sure can.

This is good too but it's nice to be able to see it instead of you know we're asking you but if you have it already on here it's very easy for us to see what the increase is or even if it's prior two prior years. I think I've always did that with the sheriff's office. I had two years budgets prior to what I was doing so that you could actually go back and see it. It's just nice. You're talking the entire budget or building lease. The entire budget? Entire budget. Got it. Sure. And you can just do it on a spreadsheet. I think you had Well, and I'm certainly taking notes for as Rich was presenting. It's just nice and Well, and it sounds like that 10ear look back would be really helpful. We appreciate that.

Yes. Oh, yeah. I think that would be good for all of us to see. We're kind of working through that. We did that exercise for our um extension district board renegotiating some leases there. It allows us to while we've got that information and this is my first rodeo and I appreciate Melody and you all supporting us and being communicative as as I have questions as well as the board. So, and Mr. Chair, you mentioned that um the funds and accounts are routinely reviewed and audited. Um but my understanding is you have an audit every four years. Is that correct?

That's required by the the the energy environmental committee. Yes. And they and you've got additional audits since then or since 2022. That predates me so I can't address that. None that I'm aware of. But with this is an audit year for us. I got you. 26. Oh, great.

Well, one of the things that was um brought up in the last audit audit was the um some of the issues with the budgeting and um some of the lack of segregation of duties. And this is from the audits submitted that are online uh with the cabinet. And you know I I think the the thing that we're talking about here is you know clearly inflation has caused an increase in your all's budget but there was some overspending in the 22 23 year uh at le I guess it would have been the 2122 year according to the audit. I'm not sure, but um it it sounds like to me that you all are are working to address those concerns and and um and I I was just wondering if there's any other audits that you all had in in the in between times for us to look at.

Not that I'm aware of, but we we can get an audit if that's what the court requests. No, I I'm we're not requesting an audit. think you uh to Nat's point, you have a a required audit in this upcoming in the current fiscal year, I guess. Correct fiscal year. Yes.

Well, I think if you look at um this year, you're asking for $234,000 and some change. And the district's office budget proposes a roughly $39,000 budget deficit. The building budget proposes roughly $34,000 budget deficit. um representing roughly $75,000 in in budget deficits. It seems like your reserve that you have that has been a carryover in the past will be considerably lower going into next fiscal year. So, do you anticipate because of this budget that you'll need more money in the next year's fiscal year budget?

That's part of the exercise we're working through with extension. Um, we met with them. Well, you were there for a little while. So, we're u it starting in July, we'll get our end of year actual data and get back with them. That's the way we left the meeting the other day. So, uh, that that partnership has been going on for a long time and it's worked for the benefit of the whole community for many years and we've tried to keep that budget very close to what we need to to use and we don't try to build up a lot of reserves. So, we we will try to address that during the next next year. And will there be some changes needed? Yes, there'll be some changes needed. Uh we've got contracts coming up with uh USDA that we'll have to address there. Lease will be coming up here in a couple of years. So all those things will be in conversation.

Thank you Scar Taylor. Well to that point I just um I'm I want to follow with Nat on this offline. I don't want to u you know go too far on this but uh waste something you may need to get back to me on. But it looks like for the extension district, it looks like since 2324, there will have been a um almost probably 30% increase in that lease um revenue already. So I I don't know if it was a such a undershot prior to that uh that that was an issue or I'd like to see that 10 year and I'd love to make sure there's maybe not a administrative issue in 2324 that that we missed.

Yeah. um because that you know that that's a big jump in just a few years of of 12 $13,000 and additional

I would I would guess that that's partially accounting error but but I would also say that extension is only paying for 1,674 square ft of the space that they occupy and under a previous arrangement there was Um, essentially we financed the addition through KO of the 5,310 ft. They paid the payments and did not pay rent on that. And then after that space was paid off, they still have not paid rent on 5,310 ft. So, it is my view that they are drastically undercharged. Um but

I don't know about drastically. Well, it it's there are expenses associated with that space that are not we don't have income to offset. So,

yes. Yes. No, I I'm just saying I think um I think in the collaborative spirit of uh the fiscal court, the conservation district, and a extension all working together, uh I think it's something that clearly you all are working on, which I appreciate. We can all work it out together. Um I I think the um one of the to to piggyback off a point that um the county attorney was making about donations and appropriations. Uh one of the things that the fiscal court would not be permitted to do would be a sweep account on accounts. Um that would be something unpermissible by our auditors. And I don't know that that would be something that an agency like yours, which is a different type of agency than a constitutional government, but it does appear that some of the funds that we allocate to you are invested in a sweep account that earns interest for the district. And it might just be something that you need to talk to uh the financial institution or um I I I know that those those are difficult accounts for auditors to understand and and appreciate and to the point where the fiscal court would not be permitted to have that type of account. Um they're

we have different rules than you, but I mean they're they're federally insured accounts just like all other accounts of the bank. Well, I mean there's also other insured uh investment mechanisms that people could use that local governments are not permitted by law to use. Uh I'm not saying that you all are not permitted. I'm saying that I am fairly certain in discussing with our auditors we would not be. And it's it's the same concept as the donation language that just something probably to look into. Um you might you might be right maybe it's something that is totally permissible.

If I may go back to the lease conversation I just I would welcome any any contributions to that conversation. I I think everybody agrees here and I wouldn't be here if if these agencies weren't coll-located in the same building. I think that's one of the things that makes this community and these service providers super unique and it's very beneficial for the stakeholders. Um, I just think as as I've looked at the numbers and I'm learning, um, we've we've got to account for the costs and have revenue to offset it in terms of the building operations and um, yeah, that and

yeah, we're going to take a a one-year exercise with the agencies in the office. That's kind of what we've agreed to do. and we and we communicate quite closely with those agencies and they they all want to stay colllocated together. Nobody knows what the future holds for those. I mean, I recall when we built that building many years ago, there was many naysayers that said we couldn't do that building. Here, here we are. Fast forward from 1994 to today, we're still we're still standing. we worked through a lot of things together and uh I look forward to working through those together again through the next 12 months.

And Mr. Chair, to your point on that um it is a wonderful collaboration and resource that we have at the a resource building to have all the folks in one place that serve our farmers, our a community, our whole community. Um I think that you all have done a tremendous hire in bringing that on. He has been exceptional to work with. He works hard. already knows what he's doing. I know you're you see that every day, but we do.

Um I know we're digging into the budget u realities because there are definitely some questions, but I think overall I hope you know that the fiscal court stands ready to support your office, your agency's a extension, uh the other agencies in in our a resource building. Um and you know, it's it's one of those things where to your point, it is collaborative that we'll we'll work through any issues that we have. Good. look forward to it. Thank you, Squire Vers.

Yes. One one other comment. Uh you know, we Nat and and Michael hadn't addressed the the pressure we have every every um lease cycle with USDA and and also with extension to hold that building together to hold those entities there because there's pressure to move that USDA office to Faget County which in turn brings all the farmers here has to move. There's a lot of counties that doesn't have a USDA office. That's right.

And the the farming community and the leaders have worked their magic to keep that there. And and one of the reason things is the low lease prices, the low per square foot. And then I know when I was on there, we we put in a lot of things we had to do to keep USDA like computer cool room and different things. Oh yes, I recall. To do that cost a lot of money to do that that we had to do to get to secure that lease. So there's a lot of pressure there to hold that together. judge as you say and that that is a gem that we you know the farmers of Wford County take advantage of because it's right here and and we're fortunate to have it. So, thank you J.

Thank you, Squire Varnner. And I I really do appreciate the uh USDA FSA office and their uh executive board who made the decision to keep it in Woodford County. And I think it speaks to our agriculture community and and the setup at the a resource building that that we we have a one-stop shop and it is an incentive to be there. Um, you know, I I think that however the fiscal court can be helpful in working with and helping alleviate those pressures. I know Squire Varner is committed to that. I I remain committed to that. I believe our full fiscal court does as well. Good to hear. Yes, sir. Other questions or comments for the chair? Right here.

Seeing none. Thank you all. Oh, yeah. Squire Gill, you're recognized. I just want to say I've I've been to Darl and I both have been to a lot of these meetings and they're very long and and you've done many of them to try to come up with this. It's a it's a big challenge because the cost of everything is going up and you have a set lease for a certain amount of time and that that can't change yearly, right? So, I I really appreciate the effort you've made to try to make this clear. I think this format is different than we're used to looking at. It's a little bit different and maybe that's it's kind of thrown me off a little bit. And I agree with uh with Squire Carl that it would be good to have last year's compared to this year's so we can

Oh, yeah. We definitely got that. Yeah. If we could just have them side by side in Collins, that would be great. But I really appreciate all the work you've done on this and I know there have been hours and hours of discussion to try to get here and I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Squire Gill. Other questions or comments? Well, thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh thank you, Mr. Cop. Uh thank you to the uh board of supervisors as well.

We'll move on to our next item of business. You all have the proposed DE detention center budget. I would ask that um we have that accepted into the record and that if you have any questions or comments to reach out to our jailer, Madame Jailer Michelle Ranken. Um Madame Clerk, which are the proposed department budgets that we've received since our last committee meeting? Are you aware? Sorry to put you on the spot. I think maintenance is still a draft form. Um maintenance has submitted another draft. Um, I think Drew was finishing up on some safety, but we don't have any new ones since our last meeting.

So, we we're getting to the uh short rows of the departments and agency's budget. We've had a meeting with the uh Versailles Police Department, the mayor uh regarding that budget as well. Midway had a representative in that meeting uh as well. I think that's something that um is going to be a continuation budget for the court to review. I know I think they're on the agenda for our next budget and finance committee. Um so any other questions or comments about any of the departments or agency's budgets that we have before us or questions you have about any that we don't have before us? Seeing none, we'll move on to our road material bids. We do have our road supervisor, Scott Dean, with us and also uh Gail Smith is with us as well from the road department. Um their recommendation is going to be to the budget and finance committee that we u accept the bids for the winter coal mix, the batuminous materials, concrete, crushed stone, and salt. Um, and then they're going to ask that we rebid the road fluids and fuel uh as recommended by the supervisor. That being their recommendations, are there any questions on those recommendations from the committee or the court? Seeing none, I will um entertain a recommendation to accept the bids for winter cold mix, batuminous materials, concrete, crushed stone, and salt as recommended. Motion by Squire Bronner. Second.

Second by Squire Carl. Any questions? Seeing none, all those in favor, please vote signify by saying I. I. I. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries. Uh, their recommendation would then be to rebid the road fluids and fuel. Is there a motion to do that? Motion. Motion by Square Taylor, second by Squire Carl. Any questions there on? Seeing none. All those in favor, please vote signify by saying I. I. All those opposed? Nay. And that'll be a recommendation to the full fiscal court for approval thereon.

Um, we have the indigent burial fund request. It's for $750 for a cremation uh for the party represented in the request. You all have that before you. Members of the committee, do you have any questions on that? Uh, I would entertain a motion for the recommendation to authorize the dispersements of funds in the amount of $750 for the indigent burial funds. Motion by Squire Barner, second by Squire Carl. All those in favor, please vote and signify by saying I. I. I. All those opposed, nay.

Um, the steel cemetery request from the cemetery committee has still not come directly from the cemetery committee. I think they plan on meeting and uh uh revising their request to the court, but um it's for some tree removal work out there that they would request from the city and the county. Uh but again, that's not before us, but something that we will look at um when they have that ready for us. We do have the telephone service migration request. Uh, Director Drew Chandler is here and um, Director Chandler, I give the floor to you to explain this request.

Thank you, Judge. Um, mid pandemic, we went to a hosted voiceover IP phone system that facilitated remote work. Um it allowed uh calls to be transferred not just from one end of the hall to the other between offices but between floors and uh that phone system has since been expanded to the road department, solid waste, recycle, uh animal control, um corner's office, uh the gov center. It's in multiple buildings. Uh we are no longer in a long-term agreement. the original term that was a state price contract uh has concluded. Um there was a corporate restructuring of that service provider and we landed with one of their entities that really wants to get out of this phone system business and concentrate on um providing internet service and residences and uh landlines and consumerbased items uh called uh Altafiber which is a subsidiary of Cincinnati Bell. Um to that effect uh they connected us with a company called Ring Central and Ring Central's pricing is actually more competitive than Alta Fibers. And there's a pretty substantial monthly and annual cost savings uh for a three-year term, which is what's in front of you. I did go out and get some uh internet quotes for other services and um I don't think we'll find a better deal. We could we all can bid this service but I I don't think the pricing will will be any more aggressive. Um, in addition to the monthly recurring savings that comes along with this, uh, Ring Central as part of this partnership

with Alta Fiber is offering us a credit equivalent to 3 months free service to facilitate the transition. So instead of paying for two services simultaneously while we make the change and I don't think it'll take a calendar quarter but uh it will have to be a very coordinated project to minimize any disruption from the offices uh as they switch. Uh all our existing hardware is compatible so we don't have any equipment to buy. Uh there are some benefits to this ring central software that we don't have now. uh and the main one being is a a total integration with Microsoft Office 365. So all the staff that have a an extension assigned to them uh and I'll use our clerk and our treasure for example uh that's integrated with Microsoft Teams. So if they're at the at a conference or some other training, uh they can ring directly in Microsoft Teams as though they were sitting at their desk, uh which may or may not be useful for their duties. Uh we'll also have some more local control. Right now, uh the clerk sometimes will change uh which facility her staff uh work at and and we have to request those types of changes. Well, now that could be handled, you know, internally. So we uh we will have access to more features than we do with the current solution. Uh and and I do want to emphasize this is not uh a basic dial tone service. We have 77 lines. We have virtual faxes. Uh we have additional local numbers that are the public facing you know 873 and 879 uh that the Woodfordians recognize when an office calls. it shows up on the caller ID. Uh this will not affect any

of the the other services. So we we still have some traditional dial tones. Uh like for the elevator call buttons here and the annex. Uh the county attorney's office is a high volume fax user. They still have a traditional fax machine. Um so none of that will be affected. Uh the annual savings is uh $2,773.80. 80s and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Any questions for director Chandler? Squire Taylor. I just want to I I actually used Green Central uh in my day job during the pandemic and they were uh really innovative and and very responsive. So, I had a really great experience with them and I didn't know that that was being explored by you until I saw it. But uh I think it's a great move on that those opportunities. Thank you, Squire Barner. Thank you. Uh uh Director Chandler, uh I see down here you got $4,881 19 of free service amount that's on top of the $2,000 savings. That's correct. So there's that be used for

correct. There's Well, so the that's for that transitional period. Okay.

So, if we transition in uh 30 days instead of 3 months, which I think is probably achievable, uh we get the full benefit of that service credit. So, effectively, they won't invoice us for 90 days even though we've technically started service uh with the first port migration. Uh behind the scenes, this would be much like any of us switching from AT&T to Verizon is what's happening behind the scenes. So uh that has to be coordinated and the faster we make the transition one there is a monthly recurring savings but we would get the full benefit of the credit because we would stop being build by the current provider that we have today.

Thank you Director Ch.

Is there a motion to recommend the proposal to migrate the services as presented? Motion. Motion with Squire Taylor. Second, Mquuire Carl. All those in favor, please vote and signify by saying I. I. All those opposed, nay. That motion carries as well. Thank you, Judge. Thank you, Director Chandler. Appreciate your uh diligence and thoroughess. Do you want to take up the USDA documents that were received earlier in committee or postpone that? We can take that up in the full fiscal court report if if that's okay. Thank you, Judge.

Uh we do have some other matters to proceed through. Is there anything else to come before the budget and finance committee as we transition to the personnel committee? Seeing none, I'll deem the budget and finance committee adjourned and we will call this meeting of the personnel committee to order. Madame clerk, please let the record reflect all members of the personnel committee are present and accounted for. Uh we have before you this evening a um long worked on document and recommendation for the road department reorganization. As I mentioned, our road supervisor is here along with um Gail Smith, who is um we're actually working on a a different title for uh Gail. Um reason being is that sometimes in her discussions, people assume that she's some sort of an administrative assistant instead of an executive administrator. So, uh, in her role in running the office at the road department, we're going to make sure to, um, have a title that reflects her responsibilities. So, that's not reflected in the current, uh, recommendation from the road department. But what I want to share with the personnel committee is that over the past several months um even beginning in the road department supervisor transition um we've realized the need for a full review of job titles, duties, descriptions, and salaries for members of the road department. So, uh, with our HR manager, Terresa Tipton, myself, with the assistance of Gail Smith, and now Scott Dean as road supervisor, we've come up with a plan which we think addresses several important issues. The number one being is that we transition from a flat base pay rate system to rewarding and

uh, promoting those with skilled trades. and Squire Gentry, you know, as well as anyone, the skilled trade field is a highly competitive industry. Just as an example, uh we we have the the uh memo that I presented to you that Theresa Typton and myself worked very hard on. Uh but CDL drivers in particular are starting out at $35 an hour in in some cases. Um, we have several very accomplished CDL drivers and some of those CDL drivers have other skilled trade backgrounds like welding, fabrication, uh, tree and arborous work, all sorts of different backgrounds and experiences. And our goal is to create a base salary rate of pay that is competitive, which means that we are increasing the base rate of pay pretty much across the board, even for laborers and road workers up through drivers, equipment operators. And we created a new position or we're recommending to create a new position as a technical specialist. Uh the common term that everybody knows is jack of all trades. somebody who can do a little bit of everything but is very very skilled at uh several different things including driving, having a CDL, uh operating heavy equipment. Uh we have u employees in the road department now that can do much more than any and all of that. So the recommendation is that the base pay rate increases across the board and you all can see that those figures are before you in the memo. Then we would have skills-based pay add-ons. So, for example, um we were allowing folks to get their CDL and giving them a $1 increase on the hour if they were able to obtain that CDL. They also signed a contract with us. The reality is is that that's still underpaying what

a CDL driver is making in the market. And so, uh that recommendation for an add-on would be up to $3 an hour. Um the rest of the add-ons are there before you. Um and then in in addition to the increased base rate pay rate, the add-on pay for specialty trade skills, we would then create the new position, a technical specialist. This position would be in charge of project management. they would have the ability to do uh many different things and we we would basically be uh recruiting and and retaining folks that would make much more than they would in the the private market as well. You can see that our mechanic base rate of pay uh was low and we have in our mechanics shop we have folks that are very very skilled as well with additional duties and skills that they bring to the table. So they would be rewarded and the reflection in the suggested pay rate is the um uh salary adjustment that we've presented. Additionally, we would look at trying to create um programs of specialties where folks could um achieve and earn additional add-on pay through proficiency tests. Meaning they would have to be able to uh we'd have to develop that program. we'd have to create a mechanism for objective testing and have folks that would be able to do that to qualify. And I think that some of the folks there now would probably be eligible for that. But it gives folks an incentive uh and the ability to to to you know earn more money on on their skills and for us to um educate and train and improve our current workforce. Additionally, we would like to look at leadership and safety additional pay for folks to take over those responsibilities. Currently, that's the responsibility of the road

supervisor. And as many folks know, um the road supervisor job is um pretty much in full demand all the time. Um it's really really hard when that responsibility falls on one person across the department for the entire time. So, it would be a situation where folks could take those responsibilities. Also in this uh memorandum and the presentation we formalize the sign uh installation and sign manufacturing positions. So right now um one of our mechanics is the fabricator for the signs. He would be also responsible for inventory and um statute responsibility knowing what type of signs and where do they go and all that sort of stuff. And then we have a second position of a sign installation person and they would get additional pay for being the person responsible for that which means that they would manage the crew to go put up a sign uh and they would work with the sign fabricator to figure out which signs to put up. We actually currently have these positions uh active in the road department. This formalizes that position and rewards that position with uh a specific title and designation and additional pay. Uh finally we uh have three additional positions uh that would be included. This would be the same proposal that would go to the budget and we do keep the road intern project or the road intern u program available uh which we haven't been able to use as much but it's it's mainly because um you know we've just been covered up to the to the brim with all that the road department has been dealing with. So, that being the case, let me open up any questions that you all have regarding the um proposal for the road department reorganization.

And I would add um before I recognize Squire Taylor, I would add that um what what I'm proposing is not incorporating the 3% potential um cost of living adjustment. that any cost of living adjustment that would be awarded in the budget would be awarded in addition to these salaries in exception to the one-year rule come July one which will all be reflected in the budget personnel spreadsheet which Teresa is working on diligently and we will get to you all well before the budget is presented Taylor. Well, first of all, thank you for preemptively answering that because that was 50% of my question. So, I appreciate that.

Sure. Uh, it's always great when you don't even have to ask the question that you're gonna ask. Um, and two, I I'm I'm wondering I I'm we've talked about this off, you know, um, one-on-one, judge, about the need for, uh, this approach u for some time and I really appreciate everybody's hard work on this. I know you all dedicate a lot of time and I think this is a really exciting not only for accounting um for the skills that folks have but also giving them a pathway for advancement. I mean I think that to have a structuralized formalized pathway for advancement is uh a morale booster. It's an opportunity to retain uh talent and I think that it's it's a great initiative. My only question furthermore is and and this is kind of similar to like the sign fabricator uh news designation which I think is a a really great element to this with that new software and things as we see uh for for science fabrication as we see other investments in technology and you know every every uh backho seems to have a a computer on board now and all these other things. Um, I guess is is there opportunities for us to update this continually for those kind of uh adjustments because I think that there there's the sky's is the limit for us to be able to incentivize growth and then quite frankly savings for us in the long run by retaining talent and uh expanding skills.

So the short answer is yes. I think that, you know, th this is um it it's a proposal that shifts the direction of the road department from a um traditional flatbased rate pay rate. Everybody makes the same. You come in as a driver making $16 $18 an hour. You come in as a laborer making $146 an hour. move away from that and we we recruit folks that can do more than one job that can we need a guard rail and drive a loader. You know, we we want folks to know that there's also opportunity if you come in as a laborer, you can achieve the level of a technical specialist. And as Squire Gentry, you know so well, um, you know, these skilled trade jobs are so valuable in the market. And you know, one of our issues is we are creating skilled trade folks, we're teaching them or sometimes by just the jobs that are in front of the road department, they're learning how to do things that give them experience where they can go and leave us and make a bunch more money. The other thing is, and it's clearly set out in our personnel memo, we do want to um return to moving away from contract labor where we can and investing that money in our individuals. And the only way we can do that is to properly pay our folks and recruit and retain folks that can do it all. And and to that point, judge, I would um I I really hope we continue to