1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Budget Workshop 10 Friday, August 25, 2000 11 9:00 a.m. 12 Commissioners' Courtroom 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 PRESENT: FREDERICK L. HENNEKE, Kerr County Judge H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 24 WILLIAM "BILL" WILLIAMS, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 LARRY GRIFFIN, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 On Friday, August 25, 2000, at 9 o'clock a.m., a budget 2 workshop was held by the Kerr County Commissioners Court in 3 the Commissioners' Courtroom, Kerr County Courthouse, 4 Kerrville, Texas, and the following proceedings were had in 5 open court: 6 P R O C E E D I N G S 7 JUDGE HENNEKE: All right. It's 9 o'clock on 8 Friday morning, August the 25th. We'll convene this special 9 meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court. Agenda item 10 today is to have a workshop on the budget for 2000/2001 11 fiscal year. I think perhaps the best way to start would be 12 for me to ask our Auditor, Tommy Tomlinson, to just give us 13 a brief update on the budget summary which he's prepared. I 14 believe y'all have an open copy. Tommy? 15 MR. TOMLINSON: Everybody have a copy of -- I 16 put it in your box. 17 AUDIENCE: No. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: I think all the Commissioners 19 do, yes. 20 MR. TOMLINSON: I think -- 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Do we have any extra 22 copies? I see one, two -- several elected officials that 23 would like a copy out there. The press. 24 MR. TOMLINSON: Well, now I don't have one. 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: You got one, Thea, to make a 3 1 copy? Okay. 2 MR. TOMLINSON: The notes really are 3 self-explanatory, explains the -- what I did and my 4 assumptions. The fund balances are identical from the last 5 meeting we had. I have not made a change on Notices. The 6 only other change is to Non-Tax Revenue, and I've -- I've 7 bumped that from approximately $60,000 from -- from the 8 first look at that. I looked at non-tax revenues again 9 through -- through July, so I think at this point, I -- I 10 don't really see any other -- any areas where I think 11 there's going to be any significant change. So, I think 12 we'll just -- well, in my estimation, go with that for this 13 number. As you -- what -- I applied the current tax rate to 14 2000 values to get the tax revenue that -- that you see 15 under the Tax Revenue column. That's an additional $570,250 16 over last -- over last year, so that -- that's what we have 17 to work with, is -- is the 570, plus -- plus the 59,000. 18 What I'd like to do is be able to -- to have 19 a number for -- especially for salaries, to be able to 20 determine -- to give some reasonable estimate of what -- of 21 what our projected cash balances will be. There may be some 22 room in -- in cash balances for -- at the end of 2001 23 that -- that we could use for these budgets, but it -- the 24 number is so large, I think, for salaries that I'd be afraid 25 to make an estimate at this time without -- without knowing 4 1 what -- exactly what -- what that number is. I think that 2 would be helpful to be able to see what -- what the change 3 in salaries is going to do to the expenditures. As they are 4 right now, the expenditures only include what the current 5 salaries are. That's for '99/2000. 6 As I -- in my note, also, I did not -- I did 7 not include anything for permanent improvement, and that's 8 for the completion of the -- of the remodel project. We 9 just really don't have a good enough number right now to -- 10 to know what that needs to be. Also, I did not include the 11 $160,000 that we've committed to for the T-hangars out 12 there. That is not in here either. So, the only -- the 13 only change in the expenditures, really, from last time are 14 the items that -- that were approved during the budget 15 hearings for -- for individual budgets, except for anything 16 relating to salary. I didn't -- I didn't put anything -- 17 any change in here at all. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: When you say "were 19 approved," is that -- what list of approved? 20 MR. TOMLINSON: Well, there were some line 21 items that -- that there was a consensus. 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: Tommy, if I can just 23 interrupt, what Tommy's talking about is, like, money for 24 redistricting. In this current budget year, we -- we 25 budgeted $5,000 for redistricting. 5 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: I suggest -- our contract is 3 for 20. I suggest we put 22,5 in for the next year's budget 4 for redistricting. That's the exact type of thing -- we 5 committed to raise the County court reporter's salary up 6 to -- in parity with the other court reporters. That money 7 went in there. It's the items that we discussed when the 8 individual department budgets that Tommy and I felt both had 9 the concurrence of -- of all of the Court. The wish list 10 items and the additional funding items that are identified 11 in the priority list that I handed out are, for the most 12 part, not included in what Tommy has been taking into 13 consideration. 14 MR. TOMLINSON: One thing that I remember 15 about is we changed the fuel line item for the Sheriff's 16 Department by -- 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: We added $10,000. 18 MR. TOMLINSON: -- $10,000, I believe. And 19 it's those types of changes that I do have in here. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But the wish list-type 21 items and all that -- those were not. 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: Those are not addressed, with 23 a couple of minor exceptions that I can identify. Any 24 questions about the revenues that Tommy has talked to us 25 about? 6 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We're working with 2 about $630,000? 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, actually, it's not that 4 much. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How much is it? 6 JUDGE HENNEKE: My simplistic way of looking 7 at things, I added the estimated tax revenue and the 8 estimated non-tax revenue, and subtracted the existing 9 expenditures, and came out with a surplus of $431,246. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: 431 -- 11 JUDGE HENNEKE: 246. Which, to me, is what 12 we're starting out with. 13 MR. TOMLINSON: Oh, okay. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 15 MR. TOMLINSON: I agree with that. 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: You agree with that? 17 MR. TOMLINSON: Yes. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. Any questions on the 19 revenues? Or anything on this budget summary? All right. 20 To answer one of Tommy questions, I've met yesterday with 21 Keith Longnecker and went over the permanent improvements, 22 the Annex, and it's Keith's best estimate that we will need 23 an additional $50,000 to complete the project. That's 24 $50,000 above what remains in the money that we borrowed. 25 So, it's -- that's the number that he has come to a comfort 7 1 zone with. 2 MR. TOMLINSON: The reason we need to know -- 3 I mean, there's several reasons we need to know that answer, 4 but -- but that are -- in last year's tax rate, for '99 tax 5 rate, we have -- we have already included in our total rate 6 $250,000. So, if -- if we don't need $250,000 again -- 7 again in 2000/2001, then we have that amount of tax rate to 8 go somewhere else. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Tommy, I think -- 10 backtrack a minute. The 431,237 number that you have or the 11 Judge has, that's out of the General Fund only? Or is that 12 everything? 13 JUDGE HENNEKE: That's everything. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So that includes Road and 15 Bridge? That's all tax rates combined? 16 MR. TOMLINSON: Yes. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: That's just a bottom line. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: What you just said 19 about the building, the -- the Annex, the $250,000 was -- in 20 effect, tax equivalency for 250 was set aside in the current 21 budget, and if we only use 50, as the Judge indicated here 22 from his recent discussion with Mr. Longnecker, that would 23 leave an additional tax rate equivalency of $200,000 to be 24 applied someplace else. 25 MR. TOMLINSON: That's correct. 8 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Do I understand 2 correctly? 3 MR. TOMLINSON: That's exactly what I said. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But that's not an 5 additional $200,000 to the $400,000. 6 MR. TOMLINSON: Yes. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yes, it is. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But then -- but permanent 9 improvement's listed on here, and you said that this is a 10 net number that we're talking about. Permanent improvement 11 is listed on that first group of numbers as a separate item. 12 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Well, you'd have a 13 balance in there of 2816 at the end of next year. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, then, $200,000 is in 15 here, then. 16 MR. TOMLINSON: It's in there, but -- but 17 it's set -- it sets there. 18 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Set aside from -- 19 MR. TOMLINSON: It sits there for Permanent 20 Improvement. If we don't need it for Permanent Improvement, 21 it can be shifted to -- 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's what my question 23 was a minute ago. Then there's really not -- 431 is not a 24 net revenue, then, because $200,000 isn't part of that. 25 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: That's right. You'd 9 1 have another $200,000 if you stayed at the same tax rate. 2 MR. TOMLINSON: That's true. 3 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I would just say in 4 passing that if we have a fairly good feel that $50,000 is 5 right, that's not enough. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I would agree with that. 7 (Laughter.) 8 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: That we need to have 9 some management reserve there, some contingency, and I 10 wouldn't take -- if we really feel like the $50,000 is a 11 pretty good number, I'd like to see some kind of little 12 reserve in there, because we still have some unknown things, 13 and I just say that in passing. We can work that later, 14 but -- 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: That's fine with -- Keith 16 is -- you know, is as comfortable as he can get with the 17 figure of $50,000, because we're 86 percent completed. The 18 bulk of the work is done. Linda won't agree with me, 19 because they haven't done her stuff yet, but -- 20 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: She's the last one. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: -- the bulk of the work is 22 done, and what's left to be done should not result in so 23 many surprises, because it's doing work in the existing 24 courtroom, which is fairly well-known, as far as 25 construction is concerned. We're not talking about going 10 1 into walls and finding tendons. We're not talking about 2 finding piers that are shorter or foundations where we 3 didn't expect them. So, I think that's part of Keith's 4 thinking, is the fact that, essentially, what remains to be 5 done is redoing the District Clerk's space, including the 6 County Law Library space, and that's not a complicated part 7 of the project, the way I understand it, in a nontechnical, 8 nonengineer, nonarchitect frame of mind. But, I mean, 9 that's -- I'm not arguing against them making it more than 10 50; I'm simply saying that that's part of the rationale 11 behind our consultant -- our Project Manager's estimate of 12 what we're going to need to finish the project, above and 13 beyond what is available. 14 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Well, and if he has -- 15 if he has figured that with some contingency in management 16 reserve -- and maybe 50 is enough. I'm saying if that's the 17 real -- if that's the hard number, that we -- an estimate, 18 then I'd like to see a little reserve on it. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: I'm not going to argue with 20 that. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'd like to see a little 22 more reserve, 'cause $50,000 in construction goes very fast, 23 and we ran into lots of problems when we did the first floor 24 of this building, and I anticipate more problems when they 25 get upstairs. I mean, it's -- this building -- it's as 11 1 difficult as this building in a different way. 2 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Mm-hmm. 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: That's true, it's old. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You end up with -- you 5 know when, when they go into the ceiling, who knows what 6 they're going to find. I mean, so I agree with Larry, we 7 need to make sure we have enough there, and I'd be more 8 comfortable with, you know, I'd say more than 50, less than 9 100, somewhere in there. 10 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah, 10 or 20 percent 11 reserve minimum. 12 JUDGE HENNEKE: We're talking 75? 13 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Seventy. 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: If we're talking 75 for 15 Permanent Improvement, that backs out 175, and which, added 16 to the 431, would be available for other needs. Is that -- 17 am I going down the right path, Tommy? 18 MR. TOMLINSON: I think so. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. 20 JUDGE HENNEKE: Which my quick and dirty math 21 tells us that gives us about 606 now. The big ticket item, 22 or one of the big ticket items, one of several, are the 23 employee increases, and I've handed out to you the work that 24 Barbara and her staff have done in estimating the different 25 scenarios. The total of what Nash has recommended, plus 12 1 there's the longevity and educational pay increase policy we 2 adopted and the 2 percent COLA, is an increase of 3 $364,189.67. Now, that's my increase; that's my math. 4 Don't blame Barbara if it's wrong, but that is to implement 5 the Nash recommendations, plus give the employees who are 6 not affected by Nash a 1 percent -- a 1-step increase, do 7 the longevity -- do the educational benefits at the jail and 8 the Sheriff's Department, and give everyone in the county a 9 2 percent cost-of-living raise. I think that's the number 10 that we need to discuss to start out with, because it -- 11 until we nail that down, we really don't know what we have 12 available for other needs. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Who is included in the 14 longevity? 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, the longevity really -- 16 are you distinguishing between education and longevity? 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sir. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. The longevity is 19 everyone in the county who is not getting the salary 20 increase as a result of the Nash study gets a 1-step 21 increase. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Do we have a feel for 23 how many employees that is? 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: Oh, it's close to 200, I 25 would guess. There's only 60-some employees affected by the 13 1 Nash -- I'm guessing now, Barbara. Do you have a feel for 2 that? 3 MS. NEMEC: No. I'd have to go through here 4 and -- and count, but it's -- it's quite a few. Just kind 5 of roughly looking at this, the ones in red are the ones 6 that are affected by the Nash study. If y'all want to kind 7 of take a look at that. And all the others are the ones 8 that are -- would get that longevity. Just kind of pass 9 that around. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: The ones in the red do 11 not get longevity. 12 MS. NEMEC: Right. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is there a threshold on 14 the longevity? I mean -- 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: They have to have been here a 16 year. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: One year? 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: As of October 1st. Anyone 19 who hasn't been here a year as of October 1st would not get 20 the longevity increase until the following October 1st. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, I have a 22 thought. And I just -- 23 MS. NEMEC: I'm sorry. This does not include 24 department heads, elected officials, anything like that. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Right. 14 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What does that mean? 2 MS. NEMEC: Hmm? 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What does that mean, 4 exactly? 5 MS. NEMEC: We need to discuss that. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And that, I guess, 7 maybe is part -- going to be part of my discussion here, is 8 that there are -- there are certain people that -- as an 9 example, Glenn Holekamp and Leonard and Marc out at the 10 Animal Shelter, that are in charge of -- of a tremendous 11 amount of properties and valued property of the courthouse 12 and -- I mean, millions and millions of dollars of items 13 that the taxpayers own. And it's my opinion that those 14 folks that take care and are responsible and are accountable 15 for that function need to be included in the longevity. 16 Those are the folks, in my opinion, that we really need to 17 take care of with longevity pay. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: I don't disagree with you. 19 The -- the management difficulty is that people like Leonard 20 and Marc and Glenn are not in a step and grade situation. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, you -- 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: They get a salary. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Mm-hmm. 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: So it's hard to, you know, 25 give them a 1-step increase, because we don't know what that 15 1 one step would be. They've always been -- their salaries 2 have always been addressed separately from the step and 3 grade. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And they need to be 5 continued to be addressed separately. You do it with a 6 percentage, as opposed to salary, as opposed to step and 7 grade. 8 MS. NEMEC: And I figured that they would be 9 included in the longevity. I just figured that I would not 10 figure out what it was that they got, that that would come 11 from the Court as to how much. I never figured that they 12 wouldn't get it, I just figured that was something that the 13 Court was going to have to address, and -- 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's what we're 15 doing, is I want to address that. 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: One-step increase is 17 equivalent to what, 2 1/2 percent? 18 MS. NEMEC: Mm-hmm. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: So we could agree that all 20 department heads would get a 2 1/2 percent increase, and 21 they'd be getting the equivalent of what the other employees 22 are getting. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: The Nash equivalency 24 is 2 1/2 percent? 25 MS. NEMEC: The step and grade schedule. 16 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Step and grade? 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: Step and grade. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I agree with that. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah, I do too. 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: All right. We had some 6 additional -- 7 MS. NEMEC: Is that elected officials also? 8 Or is this just department heads? 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: Right now we're just talking 10 about department heads. What do we have, five of those, 11 four of those? 12 MS. NEMEC: Okay. Just so that we all agree 13 on who we're talking about, we're talking about the Road and 14 Bridge Superintendent, new title, the Road and Bridge 15 Engineer, the Maintenance Supervisor -- I believe that's his 16 title -- and the Animal Shelter Manager; I'm not sure what 17 the exact title is on that. And I believe that's it. Is 18 that -- am I missing someone? 19 MR. ODOM: Tommy. 20 MS. NEMEC: Oh. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: He's waving behind 22 you. 23 MS. NEMEC: I felt somebody kick me back 24 here. 25 (Laughter.) 17 1 MR. HOLEKAMP: I love it. 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: Tommy's salary, though, is 3 set by the District Judges. So, I mean -- is that right, 4 Tommy? 5 MR. TOMLINSON: Well, that's true, but Judge 6 Ables has taken the position, and since I've been here 10 7 years, that he has always tried to stay in step with -- with 8 what the County does for -- for other department heads or 9 elected officials. He doesn't -- he doesn't want to take 10 the position that he's going to come down here and say, this 11 is what -- you know. 12 JUDGE HENNEKE: If we recommended to him a 13 2 1/2 percent increase for you, do you think he would 14 probably go along with that recommendation? 15 MR. TOMLINSON: He probably would. 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: What about Collections 17 Department? 18 (Discussion off the record.) 19 MS. NEMEC: You know, we always -- we have 20 several that are not on the step and grade that are exempt 21 employees, like the Assistant County Attorneys; they're not 22 on a step and grade. There's -- there's several, when come 23 to think about it. 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, they need to be -- of 25 course, neither of them have been here here long enough to 18 1 get the longevity, either. 2 MS. NEMEC: At this point. 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: But they need to be on a step 4 and grade. 5 MS. NEMEC: Oh, I think that the study put 6 them on the step and grade now. 7 JUDGE HENNEKE: It does. It does. 8 MS. NEMEC: I think there's the Assistant 9 Maintenance Manager out at the Ag Barn, that the new study 10 classified him as exempt. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think it -- I mean, it 12 should apply to all exempt employees except for the exempt 13 elected officials. I mean, I don't see how you can 14 really -- the purpose of this is to get -- award seniority 15 in the County, and whether you're a department head -- I 16 mean, you don't want to leave someone out just because they 17 fall through the cracks. To me, it should cover all exempt 18 employees. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Which leads to a 20 question. I'll agree with that. But, Mr. Holekamp, your 21 number two man out there, can we determine whether he's 22 going to remain exempt, or is he going to remain -- is he 23 going to become exempt or is he going to remain nonexempt? 24 MR. HOLEKAMP: According to the 25 recommendations of Nash and my discussions with Barbara, his 19 1 -- the way the job description was written, he -- he should 2 be exempt. And I take the position to leave him exempt. It 3 gives us a little more flexibility, and his authority -- 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: To leave him exempt 5 or -- 6 MR. HOLEKAMP: Establish him as exempt. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Then there's another 8 one we have to add into the mix. 9 MS. NEMEC: And, of course, if do you that, 10 then you do have to increase his salary, 'cause his salary 11 right now is figured as a nonexempt employee receiving 12 overtime for all the hours that he works over. Being an 13 exempt employee, he's still going to be working those 14 overtime hours, but not being compensated for it at time and 15 a half, so you have to look at -- at his salary. And I 16 don't know, what did I put down? Do you have the schedule 17 there? I plugged in a figure, just in discussion with 18 Mr. Holekamp, and -- 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Your figure that you 20 plugged in as an exempt -- 21 MS. NEMEC: Mm-hmm. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Did you put him there 23 as an exempt? 24 MS. NEMEC: Yes, sir. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. Then he would 20 1 be eligible for 2 1/2 or equivalency. 2 MS. NEMEC: At a salary of $25,500. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And that's -- you and 4 Mr. Holekamp arrived at that conclusion? 5 MS. NEMEC: Right. Just kind of looking at 6 the other departments and what the managers in other 7 departments -- 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Barbara, I'm not real 9 clear on that. Is -- $25,000 is where he is today? Or is 10 that what we've recommended he go to? 11 MS. NEMEC: That's what we're proposing. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Where was he? 13 MS. NEMEC: He is at -- right now, he's at 14 $21,994. With the -- with the longevity, he would be at 15 $22,544, and we're proposing -- that's with the nonexempt. 16 So, because he's -- we're proposing that he be exempt, like 17 the study shows, and we're proposing he be at 25,5. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. If we take him 19 to 25,5, do we tack on the 2 1/2 percent on top of that? 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Does that 2 1/2 21 percent go on top of that, or is that taken care of in your 22 calculations, 2 1/2 percent equivalency for step and grade. 23 Is it in your equation now? 24 MS. NEMEC: No, it's not in my equation. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Huh? 21 1 MS. NEMEC: No, it -- 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It's not in the 3 equation? 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That would fall -- in my 5 mind, fall under the category of someone who was adjusted by 6 the Nash study. Those people are not being -- 7 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: If we follow that 8 ground rule, then it will not fall -- because that's being 9 adjusted for the study. 10 MS. NEMEC: And this just happened to be one 11 person. There might have been another one in here; I'd have 12 to really look, but this happened to be one person that the 13 Nash study said was one of those that just kind of was left 14 lingering as to what to pay them. There was one or two that 15 he had a question on, just -- just what he could -- that he 16 did not recommend a pay for them, but he did recommend that 17 they be exempt. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What was -- did that 19 position -- Glenn, you may know -- take comp time for all 20 the time this year? Or there was some overtime paid for -- 21 MR. HOLEKAMP: For that position that you're 22 talking about? Comp time. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Comp time. 24 MR. HOLEKAMP: Yes, sir. And he averages 25 anywhere from 50 to 55 hours a week. 22 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm just wondering -- I 2 mean, I'm concerned, 'cause I know he puts in a lot of 3 hours. I didn't realize it was that much. I just want to 4 make sure that we're not really, you know, hurting that 5 position, because if you go exempt, you no longer get comp 6 time, and that's -- you're talking about, basically, if he's 7 working 55 hours a week, that's almost a third again of the 8 salary, so you're talking about -- there'd be -- you could 9 equate that -- it would be more like $30,000, I mean, trying 10 to keep it in balance with the amount of time. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So I think you're -- 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I'm not proposing 13 going that high on the salary; I think maybe we need to look 14 at whether he should be exempt or not. 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Or -- or accept the 16 figure that Barbara and them worked out as a -- as a number 17 that's acceptable to change him from nonexempt to exempt, 18 and then lay the 2 1/2 on like you're doing the others. 19 MS. NEMEC: This is only $3,000 more than 20 what he would be making, and I -- I'm sure that he works -- 21 or has comp hours more than $3,000 in a year now. So, we 22 were being very conservative when we came up with this 23 figure. 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Glenn, do you think 25 that number is right? 23 1 MR. HOLEKAMP: No, sir. 2 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: As I -- as an exempt? 3 MR. HOLEKAMP: Yes, and it's going to be a 4 management situation for me to be able to allow him -- even 5 if he's exempt, it's going to be my responsibility to not 6 work him too many hours. That's my responsibility. 7 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: That's true. 8 MR. HOLEKAMP: And whether they're exempt or 9 nonexempt has nothing to do with anything, other than as far 10 as the job title requires him to make some decisions that 11 make him exempt. 12 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Let me go back to -- 13 MR. HOLEKAMP: As far as I can't work him 60 14 hours a week and expect him to -- 15 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Of course not. My 16 question is, this the number that -- that Barbara has as an 17 exempt employee. Does that sound right to you? Is that 18 about the right level? Twenty-five -- what was it, 25? 19 MS. NEMEC: 25,5. 20 MR. HOLEKAMP: 25,5. Well -- 21 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Does that about sound 22 right? 23 MS. NEMEC: Or do you want them to increase 24 it, you know, which came up with that, but we didn't feel it 25 was our -- 24 1 MR. HOLEKAMP: I want to bring something up 2 here, since you've brought it up. And, Leonard, I wanted 3 to -- 4 MR. ODOM: Don't use my name. 5 MR. HOLEKAMP: No, no. No, this is a 6 positive. In Road and Bridge, for example, a crew chief is 7 a foreman, is that the old foreman status. 8 MR. ODOM: Mm-hmm. 9 MR. HOLEKAMP: Based on what it is, 10 recommendations say 20; is that right? 11 MS. NEMEC: Right. 12 MR. HOLEKAMP: A 20? I think a crew chief at 13 Road and Bridge is a 20. And -- and Mike is really my crew 14 chief, except that he has authority to hire and fire in my 15 absence. So, if you -- if you want to try to -- to look at 16 it from that angle, you know, I'm not saying he drives a 17 maintainer, but what I'm saying is in responsibility. Nash 18 did not address his at all. They just kind of threw up 19 their hands and said, well, I don't know what that one is. 20 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I still haven't heard 21 a recommendation. That's what's I'm asking for. 22 MS. NEMEC: $26,134 is a 20.3. 23 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Do you want him exempt 24 or nonexempt? 25 MR. HOLEKAMP: Nonexempt. 25 1 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: You want him -- 2 MR. HOLEKAMP: Well, I want him exempt 3 from -- to follow the recommendations of his job 4 description, 'cause that's what we're trying to do here, 5 identify. I'd like to have him exempt, but the salary needs 6 to be at least -- and a dollar amount is real difficult for 7 me to say how much it is. If it's 27 -- what did you say? 8 MS. NEMEC: $26,134 is a 20.3, which -- which 9 he would be at a -- at a 3-step with the -- 10 MR. HOLEKAMP: That would be acceptable. 11 MS. NEMEC: -- longevity. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So that's equivalent to 13 about a 20 in Road and Bridge? 14 MR. HOLEKAMP: Like a crew chief, yeah. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Crew chief. 16 MS. NEMEC: And anyone can be exempt and 17 still have a step in grade -- 18 MR. HOLEKAMP: Mm-hmm. 19 MS. NEMEC: -- number, so we could put him at 20 a 20.3, but he's an exempt employee. That's not a problem. 21 MR. HOLEKAMP: And I think that is 22 acceptable. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And the guy is 24 extremely talented. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No question about it. 26 1 But we got to make certain we're not -- not in the 2 conversion -- in the dollar conversion, that we're not 3 shortchanging him by reason of his current status. That's 4 the whole issue. 5 MR. HOLEKAMP: I would not allow that to 6 happen if I -- on my end. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We might unknowingly 8 do that. 9 MR. HOLEKAMP: I would not knowingly do that. 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. So, what I'm hearing 11 now is all the department heads are going to get a 2 1/2 12 percent increase. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Exempt. 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: All exempt employees. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Except those adjusted by 16 Nash. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: Except those adjusted by 18 Nash. And Mike is going to go to a 20.3. 19 MS. NEMEC: All exempt employees who have 20 been here more than a year. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: Yes. 22 MS. NEMEC: By October 1. 23 JUDGE HENNEKE: Correct. 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: But, you know, in this 25 case, that position won't get 2 1/2 percent because it was 27 1 adjusted for the Nash study. 2 MR. ODOM: Clarify -- I need a clarification; 3 I'm an Aggie. 4 JUDGE HENNEKE: Clarified; that speaks for 5 itself. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Nothing we can do 7 about that. 8 MR. ODOM: I knew that was coming. Glenn 9 started it back here. 2 1/2 percent for elected officials 10 plus the COLA? 11 MR. HOLEKAMP: No, department heads. 12 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Exempt. 13 MR. ODOM: I mean -- okay, department heads. 14 2 1/2 percent, one step, and the COLA, right? Okay. I just 15 want to be sure. 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: Which is equivalent to what 17 all of the other employees in the county are getting. 18 MR. ODOM: And everybody that's under me is 19 getting the same thing that doesn't get a Nash 20 recommendation. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: And that brings us to the 22 issue of elected officials. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Get out the next 24 memo. 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, no, that's for next 28 1 year. 2 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah, that was -- 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: Barbara, do you have 4 something on elected officials? 5 MS. NEMEC: Yes, I do. I was going to turn 6 this back in when I got all the signatures on it, but then I 7 received a memo from the Judge, and so I thought this was 8 just something we weren't going to consider any more. But, 9 we had a meeting on July the 18th of the elected officials, 10 or most of the elected officials, anyway, and we came up 11 with the agreement that we were going to request a $2,000 12 increase in salary, and so I typed out that memo and had the 13 elected officials sign it that were in favor of it, which 14 is, as you can see, most of them, except I didn't ask the 15 Court to -- to consider it, 'cause I felt that they would 16 consider it at the time that we met. But, like I said, I 17 don't know -- I know since then, all the elected officials 18 had gotten a memo from the Judge, so I didn't know if -- if 19 that was still something that everyone was considering, or 20 if we were going to look at this instead of that. But, 21 anyway, there's -- there's what we came up with. And, based 22 on the Nash study, there are employees who are receiving 23 anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 increases, so us elected 24 officials didn't feel that $2,000 was out of line to ask -- 25 to ask for. 29 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Nash is recommending 2 from three to ten? From three to ten? Is that what you're 3 saying? 4 MS. NEMEC: And, you know, just looking at 5 the high -- the ones that are moved up to the highest, there 6 are some employees that are getting raises that amount 7 anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000. 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: I'm not aware that there were 9 any that were ten. I thought the highest was about seven. 10 MS. NEMEC: Seven? Okay, I'd have to really 11 look at it. 12 MR. ODOM: I think he's got one guy at the 13 Sheriff's Department that got $10,000. 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: We've got a couple that 15 are pretty close to that, Judge. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But we don't want to 17 talk about that. 18 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: You want to leave that 19 alone. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Barbara, are there any 21 situations where we have employees being paid more than the 22 elected official that's over that section? 23 MS. NEMEC: I believe probably -- let me look 24 here real quick. Now, we do have some employees that with 25 this -- with this -- with the Nash study, they will be 30 1 making more than -- than some of the elected officials. Not 2 necessarily in that department, but -- but, yes, we -- 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm more concerned about 4 in the department that they're in. I mean, you have to look 5 at the department. I just want to make sure -- I just don't 6 think it's appropriate for -- you know, for any employee to 7 make more than the boss. 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: I don't think that happens. 9 I mean, if you looked at -- if you compared some of our 10 senior employees, for instance, in the Sheriff's Department 11 with the constable's salary, yes, they're going to make more 12 than the constable. But they're not going to make more than 13 the Sheriff. I don't think there's any situations where an 14 employee would be making more than the elected official or 15 the department head in charge of their -- their work 16 situation. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's good. 18 MS. NEMEC: No, not in the same department. 19 There's employees that are going to be making more than the 20 county-wide elected officials, but -- but, no, they're not 21 in our department. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: May I go on -- throw a 23 ball in the air? 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge Henneke's 31 1 memo -- I don't know if I want to call this a recommendation 2 or not, but these numbers on here -- 3 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: For next year? 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 5 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Is that what -- am I 6 thinking of the right one? 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, that is a 9 recommendation for next year. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, I'm sorry. 11 Nevermind. 12 JUDGE HENNEKE: Because we don't have the 13 money -- 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, I understand. 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: -- to address that this year 16 and do the employees. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's exactly what I 18 was going to say. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: So I think that's -- that's 20 food for thought at this time next year. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: I thought I'd lay it out on 23 the table now so everyone can be considering it as we go 24 through the process. 25 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Judge, I have a 32 1 question here about the sort of the way to get our arms 2 around this. It would seem to me we set out at the first of 3 the process saying that this year, that employee 4 compensation was our number one priority, that we were going 5 to try to get that right with the world and all that sort of 6 thing. Would it be prudent to take what we have -- and we 7 probably have to have a little more discussion of this, but 8 would it be prudent to take what we have for all of these 9 recommendations, the Nash study, what we've -- a little bit 10 of what we discussed in previous workshops, what we talk 11 about today, and run those numbers to some pretty good 12 detail to see what the real impact is? Because -- 13 JUDGE HENNEKE: I think that's where we're 14 headed, but what we need to do -- 15 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I thought we'd do that 16 to see what else we've got left. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, we've got to give Tommy 18 and Barbara some direction as to -- 19 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Right. 20 JUDGE HENNEKE: -- as to where to come up 21 with the numbers. Now, you know, the -- the elected 22 officials have requested a $2,000 across-the-board salary 23 increase. I have some -- my own personal thoughts about 24 that. I'm not sure that that's totally the best way to go, 25 but what does anyone else say? 33 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think you look at 2 salaries as a percentage basis rather than a flat, because 3 there's a reason that some are paid higher than others. And 4 I don't think we're -- going across and giving all of them 5 $2,000, percentage-wise, gets things out of whack. And I 6 think we've spent a lot of time in the last probably 10 7 years on the Court, my understanding, and while I've been on 8 the Court as well, in trying to get all -- trying to 9 equalize people that are doing the same thing, and I think 10 you start getting that out of whack when you start giving 11 just a flat amount. I think a percentage basis. 12 MS. UECKER: And at the meeting we had -- I 13 don't know if Barbara wants to address this or not, but we 14 discussed the problem with percentages. And the reason we 15 decided on a flat rate this time was because those that -- 16 you know, what happens eventually when you keep going with 17 percentages is the margin keeps getting larger and larger, 18 because the percentage of a higher salary is much greater 19 than the same percentage of a lower salary, so you get -- 20 the margin keeps going -- gets greater and greater. And 21 that's why we decided on the flat increase. We discussed 22 that, and that's where we came up with the number. 23 MS. NEMEC: For example, the high pay -- an 24 elected official who gets paid $50,000, if you go on 25 percentage, that elected official is going to get a lot more 34 1 than the official that's getting paid $34,000, and you'll 2 never catch up. 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: But I think there are 4 distinctions that have to be made in the positions to which 5 individuals are are elected, and those are reflected in the 6 differences in the salaries, which is part of what I said in 7 my memo. All elected officials are created equal. We're 8 elected by the voters, but not all elected officials are 9 created equal. Some have county-wide jurisdiction, some 10 don't have county-wide jurisdiction. Some have a lot of 11 fiscal responsibility, some don't have a lot of fiscal 12 responsibility. So, I think -- in my own mind, I think you 13 have to recognize that there are distinguish -- there are 14 distinctions among elected positions that are reflected in 15 different salaries for the different positions, and the 16 percentages maintain those distinctions. 17 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah. There's no -- 18 no reason I can think of at the -- what business we call the 19 executive level that you're trying to make everybody make 20 the same. There's no -- 21 MS. UECKER: That's not what we were saying. 22 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Well, close to the 23 same. 24 MS. UECKER: We weren't saying that, either. 25 We were just saying that in this particular year -- we're 35 1 not saying every year, but in this particular recommendation 2 that we were making, that we would rather not see a -- the 3 percentages, because it's always been percentages, and that 4 margin keeps getting greater and greater. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I agree with that. I 6 understand that. I mean, you use a -- you dance around it 7 all day long, but we can -- just as an example, the County 8 Attorney. I don't know where he is, but I know he's up 9 there a pretty good ways. But his 2 1/2 percent just 10 broadens the distance between everyone else, every time. 11 I'm wondering -- I'm going back to this -- your estimate, 12 Mrs. Treasurer, about the employees getting salary increases 13 from somewhere between three and nine or somewhere in there. 14 MS. NEMEC: I see a $10,000 one in here. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Three to ten. And the 16 elected officials are going to a two -- $2,000 annual 17 increase. Why don't the elected officials go to three and 18 just get on the bottom end of -- of that? That was what I 19 would like to see. 20 MS. NEMEC: That would be nice. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That would be nice, 22 wouldn't it? 23 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, you know, I'm certainly 24 not going to argue that, per se, except from a budget point 25 of view, you know. At $2,000, if we give a $2,000 increase 36 1 to every elected official, the impact to the budget is 2 approximately $43,000. If we give a $3,000, the impact to 3 every -- increase to every elected official, the impact is 4 going to be approximately $64,000, $65,000. It's a 5 budget -- it's a financial question. How much are we 6 willing to -- 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We can sure make it up 8 with the Purchasing Agent's salary. 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, the Purchasing Agent 10 was included in the budget. We could, but since it ain't 11 there, ain't much there to take away from. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thought I'd lob that 13 bomb over there. 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: We'll make it up in the 15 salary. If we had one, we'd certainly make it up in the 16 amount of money he'd save the County. You know, it's -- 17 that's a decision for this Court. I mean, what we need to 18 do, again, is to give Tommy and Barbara some indication of 19 where we want to go with that. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess my only problem 21 with doing it across-the-board is that we have, in recent 22 years, spent a lot more time -- as an example, the 23 constables. We raised constables a lot, especially relative 24 to all the other salaries, in the last four years. And most 25 of the other elected officials really haven't been 37 1 increased, except we got all the constables up quite a bit 2 for various reasons; cars and lots of other things that came 3 up. But it seems, you know, that -- you know, if we give 4 them the same increase right now, they're just getting -- I 5 mean, they're not catching up; they're getting higher 6 relative to everyone else than I think was intended. So, I 7 don't know that -- 8 MS. UECKER: Not really, because everybody 9 else is going up, too, same amount. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They're on a percentage 11 basis. 12 MS. UECKER: And the discussion was had in 13 the meeting that maybe precinct officials should be maybe a 14 little less than county-wide. I mean, that discussion was 15 had, but that's not what we -- 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I hope that wasn't a 17 very long discussion. 18 MS. UECKER: It wasn't. 19 MS. NEMEC: No, we knew that the precinct 20 officials that was going to have to approve it would shake 21 their heads and let that go away. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Just pretend you 23 didn't have that talk. 24 MS. UECKER: Okay, we didn't have that talk. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You're right, there 38 1 are precinct officials that make that decision. 2 MS. NEMEC: Yeah. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Tommy, do you have any -- 4 or Barbara, either one, have any idea on what's going to 5 happen with the insurance -- medical insurance yet? Because 6 I know -- I mean, one of the things I think was a -- a bad 7 thing that happened last year, was some of the elected 8 officials got less take-home because the insurance went up. 9 And I -- that's pretty bad when you give someone a raise and 10 they get less money. Even the cost-of-living adjustments 11 didn't get much money. 12 MS. NEMEC: You know, I -- with the claims 13 that we have, I -- I don't foresee our insurance going down. 14 Even if we go out for bids, you know. I -- I may be wrong, 15 but -- but the reason the insurance went up last year on the 16 part of the employee, it also -- I mean, the -- the 17 employees that had their dependents covered is because when 18 insurance goes up, we decide where the increase is going to 19 be. Is it going to be on the employee part and the County's 20 going to pick it up, or is it going to be on the dependent 21 part? And last year we leveled it off. We gave some of the 22 increase to the the County, per employee and then we gave 23 some to the dependent. So, it's up to the Court whenever 24 that happens. We don't -- you know, I'm sure it's going to 25 go up. We don't have to put it on the dependent side of it. 39 1 There aren't -- we are -- we don't have that many 2 dependent -- dependents that are covered. 3 MS. PIEPER: 'Cause no one can afford it. 4 MS. NEMEC: Simply because they can't afford 5 it. But I've been out talking to -- to different people in 6 the community, and their dependents coverage is 3,400-and- 7 something dollars, and we complain about our 200-something 8 that we pay. It's like that everywhere. Insurance is just 9 expensive, so it's just a matter of does the County want to 10 make it up or do we want to lay it on the dependent part of 11 it? And when you -- when you put it on the dependent part 12 you're having to increase it so much because we don't have 13 that many dependents that are covered. 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: When will we know whether 15 we're going to have an increase or not? 16 MS. NEMEC: Probably won't know -- our 17 contract is not renewed till January, so it would probably 18 be late part of November that we'll even get a feel for it. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: That's really not something 20 we can budget for, hardly, unless we want to take a 21 conservative approach and budget a couple percent. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think on the going back 23 to the salaries, it sounds like from the Judge's proposal he 24 would like us to look at aligning everyone in the next 25 budget year. And that may -- is probably an appropriate 40 1 thing to do. And that may be a good time, after census 2 comes out with the population, we can look at different 3 counties and spend a little bit of time on that. And, with 4 that in mind, I'd probably be more in favor of a $2,000 5 across-the-board increase, what I'm hearing, and then look 6 at next year and see if adjustments need to be made in 7 individual salaries. If that's -- if we're going to do an 8 adjustment, I would rather do that than do a $3,000 this 9 year. 10 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Do we know that this 11 $2,000 that the $38,000 is -- is that a firm number for 12 budget impact? 13 JUDGE HENNEKE: $38,000 is the 19 elected 14 officials times two, but then you add on the -- 15 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Well, that's what 16 I'm -- 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: -- FICA, you add on the COLA, 18 it comes to about $43,000, by my -- my calculations. Again, 19 don't blame Barbara or Tommy for -- 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Forty-three? 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: Forty-three. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: With FICA and 23 everything? 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: I believe so. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I think I support 41 1 Commissioner Letz' thoughts on that. Coincides with the 2 Judge's memo. 3 MS. NEMEC: I have a question. On -- okay. 4 On the elected officials, what we're doing is we're 5 getting -- elected officials are -- do not get longevity; 6 they get cost-of-living and then whatever increase the Court 7 decides. Now, on department heads, department heads get 8 cost-of-living and they get longevity, but where is their 9 raise? 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, they get that 2 1/2 11 percent. 12 MS. NEMEC: Yeah, but you're giving raises to 13 employees and you're giving raises to elected officials, but 14 you're not giving raises to department heads. All you're 15 giving them is the longevity and the cost-of-living. 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: But the bulk of the employees 17 are only getting the longevity and the cost-of-living. Bulk 18 of the employees are getting the one-step increase plus the 19 cost-of-living, and we just took a consensus that we'd also 20 extend the same thing to the elected officials -- 21 MS. NEMEC: So, whatever -- 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: -- to the department heads. 23 Now, elected officials don't have longevity, so in lieu of 24 longevity, we're -- the consensus seems to be they'll each 25 get a $2,000 increase plus cost-of-living. 42 1 MS. NEMEC: I'm not worried about elected 2 officials, I'm worried more about the department heads. So, 3 whatever time you say you're going to give employees a 4 raise, you know, we don't have -- let's say next year we 5 don't have a Nash study, we're going to give employees a 6 3 percent raise. Then, at that time, department heads will 7 get that 3 percent -- 8 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Also. 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: We've always gotten -- 10 MS. NEMEC: Okay. 11 JUDGE HENNEKE: Always got cost-of-living. 12 MS. NEMEC: I just want to make sure they're 13 not being left out. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I didn't know elected 15 officials were getting cost-of-living and $2,000. 16 MS. NEMEC: Sure. Cost-of-living goes up for 17 everybody. 18 MS. UECKER: Loaf of bread does -- it costs 19 the same for me as it does anyone. 20 JUDGE HENNEKE: Is there any more discussion 21 on, basically, the employees' side of the equation? I think 22 we've now ratcheted ourselves up probably in the 23 neighborhood of $420,000 for employee -- 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: We need -- 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: -- benefits, including 43 1 elected officials. 2 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: -- to get that number 3 run so we can know what the real impact is. That's the next 4 step in that process. 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: It's about 420, my guess is. 6 MS. NEMEC: I think I ran all the numbers. I 7 mean -- 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: Didn't have department heads 9 in there. 10 MS. NEMEC: Oh, okay. So I just need to add 11 it. What -- what section are we talking about on here? 12 What is being approved? Is it D? Or E? 13 JUDGE HENNEKE: It's the -- 14 MS. NEMEC: After Nash study, plus 2 percent 15 COLA> 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: F plus 2 percent COLA, yeah. 17 MS. NEMEC: Okay, F. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: And then the department heads 19 and the elected officials. 20 MS. NEMEC: Okay. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: The department heads being 22 $43,000, so that takes us up to, you know, 407. So, if you 23 add the department heads, we're going to be close to 420. 24 All right. 420 from our 606. We now have -- we now have 25 about enough left to to do the T-hangars. 44 1 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Ha, ha. 2 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: There were a couple 3 things, Judge, that I needed to mention on the Sheriff's 4 Office one. In our proposed budget that I presented, for 5 some reason, as you're seeing right now in your budget 6 amendments, I don't know if -- if they have increased 7 through Tommy, like our trash service from B.F.I. from -- 8 from what I recommended, 'cause I recommended the same as 9 last year, but whoever figured the budget last year is not 10 accurate, 'cause these last two months we're out of that, so 11 that really may have to increase a little bit more than -- 12 than what I had proposed in the budget. 'Cause I kept it 13 the same, and we're going to be a total -- a total of $1,000 14 shorts. It runs us $450 a month out there. Couple of those 15 line items, Prisoner Meals, you know, that -- that are not 16 -- may not be quite right either. We go with -- I recommend 17 a little bit increase in some of those, but not much, and it 18 may be something that we're in the ballpark. And, later on 19 in the budget year, we may end up having to adjust some of 20 those from somewhere. I don't know how you want to do that. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: On both the meals and the 22 trash, is that a function of more prisoners or a function 23 of -- 24 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: The trash should have 25 been a set thing all along, and should have been set. And I 45 1 just went by what last year's was, and normally it is set, 2 but whoever figured last year's, when I was looking at the 3 budget, I don't know if it went up before I took office or 4 what happened, but there's not enough in that line item to 5 get us through the rest of this year, so we're having to 6 adjust it, and it's going to come somewhere around $1,000 7 short, best I can see. Prisoner meals is due to the 8 increase in inmates. Prisoner Indigent Care is going to 9 have to go up. Everything dealing with inmates, because of 10 the out-of-county housing is going up more than what they 11 had budgeted for, and we -- we figured a small increase in 12 that, but I can't really say exactly what that increase is 13 going to have to be to get us through this next year. Now, 14 we are bringing in -- and I don't know if it's counted in 15 the revenues, the $350,000, which maybe that can come back 16 out of -- 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: Sheriff, I need to get those 18 numbers to Tommy today, or, you know, as soon as you can, so 19 that he can reflect those, because I don't think the Court 20 wants to intentionally underbudget an area that we know 21 we're going to need. So, if we know that's short, get him 22 the -- the corrected numbers, and then we can ratchet that 23 into the -- the next round. It's also been brought to my 24 attention that the Commissioners Court budget doesn't have 25 any money in it for bonds. 46 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: For what? 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: Bonds. I presume we're going 3 to need some money for bonds for somebody. You'd think the 4 guys who are going to need the bonds would pay attention to 5 that. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Could we put two more 7 bonds in there, please? 8 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: The only thing I'd ask 9 Barbara real quick, just to make sure, back during last year 10 when they budgeted the five new jail positions, when you 11 figured out all this, are those five new positions added? 12 MS. NEMEC: Are they filled right now? Are 13 those filled right now? 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Yes. 15 MS. NEMEC: Yeah, they're in there. 16 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: You've got them figured? 17 I just wanted to make sure on the salary part. 18 MS. NEMEC: Now, there's -- they're changed 19 -- 20 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right. 21 MS. NEMEC: -- because one was switched to 22 the Sheriff's Department. 23 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. 24 MR. ODOM: Judge? 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: Leonard? 47 1 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. I -- are we going to 2 get a direction as far as what I have in 600, 611? Is that 3 pretty well set, and if it is set, then can I start putting 4 together my package for vehicles and looking at that and 5 getting some kind of commitment from people? Because 6 there's a window of opportunity to -- 7 JUDGE HENNEKE: Sure. 8 MR. ODOM: -- to order some stuff, but it 9 takes a while. If you don't -- 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: It hasn't been approved or 11 adopted, but the numbers that we've brought to the Court 12 today essentially reflect, for the most part, everyone's 13 budget requests, exclusive of personnel. 14 MR. ODOM: Of personnel. 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: Does anyone have a problem 16 with that? 17 MS. UECKER: Does that include the Requested, 18 Not Recommended? 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: No. 20 MS. UECKER: Okay. Then I have a question 21 about that, too. I had some Capital Outlay items that I had 22 requested in my original budget request, and they are 23 neither on the must fund or on the Recommended For Funding 24 or on the Requested, Not Recommended. Does that mean -- 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: Which items would that be? 48 1 MS. UECKER: Like, a new fax machine, 2 reader/printer. 3 MR. TOMLINSON: They're in there. 4 JUDGE HENNEKE: They're within your Capital 5 budget; they're in there. 6 MS. UECKER: Okay. Well, I was just 7 confused; they were not on here. 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: That means they were. 9 MS. UECKER: Okay. 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: We have some other things we 11 really have to consider, and then we'll go to kind of the 12 add-ons. 13 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: There's one other one 14 that I need to talk about, 'cause it may affect Glenn's and 15 mine. In your Not Recommended, you have the one deputy 16 position. Now, is that the Work Release Program that we 17 were talking about? 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Yes. 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Then that may affect 20 Glenn. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: The other items that 22 really -- you know, on the list that I prepared, my thinking 23 we need to do were the -- the upgrade to the mainframe. 24 Tommy, correct? 25 MR. TOMLINSON: Mm-hmm. 49 1 JUDGE HENNEKE: We estimate about $60,000 for 2 that; is that correct? 3 MR. TOMLINSON: That's correct. 4 JUDGE HENNEKE: The T-hangars, which is 5 $160,000. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: 146. 7 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, it says 146 on here, 8 but Tommy has it as 160 in the way the budget works. And 9 we've already taken care of the Annex renovation; we agreed 10 to go 75 on that. We are, at this point, substantially 11 in -- ahead of our 606. So, the question becomes, do we 12 want to discuss putting the package for Tommy to come back 13 with us a number on any of the Recommended For Funding? 14 Recommended For Funding, everybody got that in front of 15 them? 16 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Mm-hmm. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: The third column. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Middle column, Recommended 19 For Funding. Park Maintenance is already included in the 20 expenditure numbers. Seemed to me I thought we had a real 21 consensus to do that. 22 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah. 23 JUDGE HENNEKE: County Court at Law 24 interpreters, which are Number 9, is already in the 25 expenditures. That's something we just have to do; we don't 50 1 really have a choice on that. Sheriff's Department 2 full-time bailiff, Number 10, is already in the numbers. 3 And that's taking the part-time bailiff position we 4 currently have, making it a full-time position, and the 5 Sheriff's going to transfer the Courthouse Security position 6 back to the Sheriff's Department. That's not a -- that's 7 not a funding issue, because it's a wash. So, Numbers 4, 9, 8 and 10 are already included in the expenditure figures that 9 Tommy prepared and are reflected in the budget, actually. 10 So, how do y'all want to proceed? Do we want to go through 11 and add any of the items under Recommended For Funding, or 12 Requested, Not Recommended, so that Tommy can bring back 13 those numbers? What is your -- what is the thought on the 14 Court? 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, there's some 16 things that we probably want to consider. I would like to 17 ask the question of Mr. Odom while he's here, with respect 18 to Item Number 6, which is resurfacing courthouse drive, 19 creation of additional parking, is there a possibility, 20 Leonard, that due to the fact that the -- you haven't done 21 some jobs this year because of water shortages and so forth, 22 that that can be cranked into the tail end of the current 23 budget? 24 MR. ODOM: Are we referencing this on the 25 east side over here? 51 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, let's talk 2 about the whole thing. 3 MR. ODOM: I don't think I would have enough 4 money there to do the whole thing. Certainly, the time 5 factor would be on this side. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 7 MR. ODOM: But the probability of having some 8 excess on that are -- the answer is yes. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 10 MR. ODOM: As I see we've been looking, 11 analyzing that. That doesn't mean that we won't have 12 expenditures there, but -- because we're progressing on -- 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 14 MR. ODOM: -- with our program. I don't 15 think it was that much money for this over here. It was 16 significant on this side. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, the total 18 number that I'm looking at with respect to the driveway and 19 additional parking is $15,000. 20 MR. ODOM: That is $15,000. That is this one 21 and this one over here. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And the driveway, 23 right? 24 MR. ODOM: No, sir. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No? 52 1 MR. ODOM: No, that $15,000 only had to do 2 with, I think, the two driveways -- I mean two parking lots. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Oh, okay. 4 MR. ODOM: I don't remember that number. 5 Fifteen only covered the parking lots here. I will look at 6 a commitments to try to do it, but like I say, I do not 7 believe that any of the expenditure will be done during this 8 budget year for this side over here. I don't think. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: They're probably not 10 really difficult on that side. 11 MR. ODOM: Something over here, we could look 12 at and try to get together -- 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'm just trying to 14 figure out how we can get it out of next year's recommended 15 if there's a possibility of doing it this year. 16 MR. ODOM: When are we going to close our 17 books? And when will they finish this part here? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I think we don't 19 know that exactly, but I think we could -- if you have the 20 funds, we could order bring it to Court at a meeting and 21 authorize that to get that done. 22 MR. ODOM: See, there's no -- you know, I 23 might be able to stockpile some material. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Can we spruce up the 25 numbers and do some of those things, and then bring it back 53 1 at maybe the -- not the -- this coming back Monday, but two 2 weeks from now, so we can have a feel for it before this 3 budget year's out? Spruce up the numbers for the project, 4 front back and inner drive, and then we'll make a decision. 5 MR. ODOM: Is that the direction of the 6 Court? 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Mm-hmm. 8 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: That's this -- you're 9 talking about this year's budget? 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: For this year. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So we can take it out 12 of this. 13 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: With monies that are 14 already in the budget, if there is anything to squeeze. Can 15 we do it? That's the question. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's the question. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, the meeting's going 18 to be in the -- the meeting and also the timing is going to 19 be September 11th? And then are you going to have time in 20 the next weeks after that to get it done, or at least 21 obligate the funds? 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: Obligate the funds. 23 MR. ODOM: Obligate the funds. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Obligate the funds. 25 MR. ODOM: Or you can get the material. 54 1 JUDGE HENNEKE: Let's go back to -- 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Thank you. 3 MS. UECKER: I have 4 JUDGE HENNEKE: Linda? 5 MS. UECKER: I'm sorry. I have one question 6 on -- again, on the Requested, Not Recommended list, a 7 Capital Outlay item that I had requested in -- for approval 8 on the Law Library. The C.D. towers and computers. The new 9 Law Library is being equipped with the computerized -- and 10 I've already canceled the hard copy on most of that, so 11 we're going to be saving that -- that bill, and it will come 12 to -- with the C.D.'s, it's, like, $443 a month, as compared 13 to the $1,000-and-something that we've been spending on hard 14 copy. My question is, is these C.D. towers and computers 15 are necessary to use those CD-ROMs that we're getting, and 16 I'm wondering why it's in the Requested, Not Recommended 17 list, or was it your intent to take it out of the balance 18 that was in the Law Library fund? 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, the reason it's on the 20 Requested, Not Recommended was because it was a wish list 21 item and it was above your Capital budget. And, as you see 22 from these items, virtually nobody got anything that was 23 above their base budget. There just isn't the money. Now, 24 if we want to take it out of the balance of the Law Library 25 dedicated fund, we can do that, because that has no -- no 55 1 bottom line budget impact. 2 MS. UECKER: Well, I just -- I think I just 3 need some direction from you as -- I mean, 'cause those 4 items are necessary to go where we're headed with the Law 5 Library to be able to save the money on the hard copy and 6 the space. We can't do it without this. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think it should come 8 out of the Law Library fund. 9 MS. UECKER: Okay. 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: Definitely. If it's 11 available out of the Law Library fund, that's where it has 12 to come from. 13 MS. UECKER: Okay. 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And, last question I 15 have; on your Recommended, are those still recommended? I 16 know you started going over some of those. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: We're trying to get our arms 18 around that. So, what I want to do at this point is to -- 19 the Court to identify items that they want to be included in 20 the next round of budget figures so that we can come to 21 grips with where we're going to have to find additional 22 funds, if we decide to do that. My rough calculations are, 23 with the salary adjustments, the mainframe, the T-hangars, 24 and the Annex, we're at $715,000, and we had 606. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: When will revenues start 56 1 coming in from the T-hangars? And is that revenue in the 2 budget? 3 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: About halfway through 4 the year. 5 MR. TOMLINSON: No, it's not in the budget. 6 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: And it's not -- in 7 fact, actually, what they did was they reduced -- based on 8 the projected six months of revenue in the first year from 9 the T-hangars, they reduced our other -- 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: Operating. 11 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: -- operating expenses 12 by that much. Now, the following year, it would be twice 13 that reduction, is what that amounts to. And that's 14 probably about right. Maybe a little conservative. Might 15 be a little more revenue than that, because those things 16 will fill up quickly. But our -- the following year, then, 17 our operating budget should be zero. I mean, we won't have 18 to make that contribution any more. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's where our 20 payback comes. 21 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: That's where our 22 payback comes. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is that reflected in the 24 budget? Is there a decrease in the money we pay the City -- 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: Yes. 57 1 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yes. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- in the budget? 3 MR. TOMLINSON: There's -- it's zero for 4 operating. 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: I think it's 18. 6 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Eighteen or something, 7 because they only reduced -- because they only projected a 8 half year's -- 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: Which is down from 32 in the 10 current budget. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, that revenue is in 12 the budget. 13 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: It essentially is 14 there, because it shows -- reduced our operating budget by 15 the amount of half of the projected revenues. Following 16 year, that goes to -- that operating thing goes to zero. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, I think 18 Mr. Williams is going down this list here, and a little 19 while ago he had gotten to the computer specialist, 20 requesting that it stay in or go in there, and I agree with 21 that. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I agree with it today, 23 but maybe not after the next round of numbers. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: There's a lot of 25 things we may not agree with next round. I'm sure there 58 1 will be. 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. I mean, that's what I 3 want to do right now, is I want the Court to identify items 4 that they want to be included in the next round, knowing 5 that the next round, again, is only to take a look at where 6 we are. 7 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Right. 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: So, Commissioner Williams and 9 Commissioner Baldwin have identified the computer 10 specialist. Anyone else have anything they want to identify 11 to include in the next round of calculations? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Refresh my memory on the 13 Annex finish-out. 14 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah. 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: The money to do the space in 16 the bottom line. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The bottom, okay. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Create office space out of -- 19 chaos. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We'd like to talk 21 about that. Mr. Holekamp and I are prepared to make a small 22 presentation on that, if now is an appropriate time. 23 MR. HOLEKAMP: Just real quick. Real quick? 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I don't know. We have 25 put together somewhat of a plan and a little drawing down 59 1 here to bring over the Juvenile Probation Department and the 2 County Treasurer's office to move down there. And, we've 3 come up with some square footage, and a plan and dollars, 4 and we've come out pretty close to your $100,000 there, a 5 little bit over. And, this is -- you know, if you -- if you 6 go down there, there are -- there are two large rooms -- 7 basically two large rooms, and we have -- our proposal to 8 you is that we only take one of -- the larger of those two 9 big rooms, and put the Juvenile Probation Department and the 10 County Treasurer in that area this year, and then next year 11 we can go over and do another portion it. 12 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: You said that's a 13 hundred -- 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Expanding the County 15 Attorney's office, too? 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sir, it does. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Does that include -- 18 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Did you say $100,000 19 or $200,000? 20 (Commissioner Baldwin held up one finger.). 21 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: One hundred. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Shows 200 on your 23 sheet. 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: But that would be 25 to -- 100 under this plan. 60 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sir. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's based on an 3 estimate of $50 a square foot build-out? 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's correct, which 5 I don't know is a real number or not. And we also have 6 something -- maybe we want to talk about that with the 7 Sheriff. So, Glenn, go ahead. 8 MR. HOLEKAMP: Now, and that's -- the -- the 9 reason I -- on the deputy position, Work Release deputy that 10 was in the budget, or requested in the budget, they are -- 11 that would really change the Jail Maintenance budget if we 12 did not do it, because I had taken that position completely 13 out and used part-time people. The other thing is -- is in 14 this renovation of or expansion of this bottom space, the 15 Sheriff has indicated to me in a conversation that he felt 16 very positive that Work Release Program individuals from the 17 jail, inmates, could actually do that work down there. 18 Because we have a lot of talented people in the jail. 19 (Laughter.) 20 MR. HOLEKAMP: So that may be -- want to be 21 something that you put in the mix, as far as your program 22 of -- with the Work Release Program. That is not 23 necessarily trustees. As I -- as I understand the program, 24 they can pull the people they wish that meet the criteria 25 out, and have them work. So, possibility of something can 61 1 be done there to save money. 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: Let me point out that this 3 Courthouse Security position is going back to the Sheriff's 4 Department. How the Sheriff decides to use that position is 5 up to the Sheriff. If he wants to use that position for his 6 Work Release Program, he's more than happy to -- we're more 7 than happy to have him do that. If he wants to put that 8 position out on the road, that's his decision. So, the 9 issue really isn't no Work Release Program if we don't fund 10 an additional position. 11 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: It is in a way, due to 12 the manpower on the street. Okay, I intentionally did not 13 ask for more street deputies this year, because if I can use 14 that work -- the Courthouse Security position, possibly, 15 back on the street, okay, then that will solve my problem -- 16 the majority of my problem on the street. That's why we're 17 trying to use that. The Work Release Program is something 18 that myself, the Maintenance people -- and something I've 19 seen work around other counties, that I just think can be 20 a -- a very large benefit to the County in finishing out 21 that -- I think we'll save more money in labor costs than 22 we'll ever pay in salary for that one position. So, 23 that's -- that's why I asked for that position. 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: I'm certainly not quibbling 25 over the use of the position and the pay for it; I think 62 1 it's a wonderful program. It's a budget issue. 2 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I agree. 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: And we don't fine-tune your 4 department. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: May I ask a question? 6 JUDGE HENNEKE: Certainly. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And at the risk of -- 8 fine-tuning, I don't wish to do that. I just need to have a 9 little enlightenment, please, Sheriff. The Work Release 10 Program embodies transferring of responsibilities of an 11 individual who's now Jail Maintenance. That becomes work 12 release; is that correct? 13 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Exactly right. He'll be 14 able to take about five inmates a day, 5 days a week, 8 15 hours a day, outside of that jail to where we can have 16 the -- 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So, my question is, 18 with that in mind, is it really necessary to replace that -- 19 that Jail Maintenance individual inside? Or is he not 20 capable of doing both inside and outside under the Work 21 Release Program? 22 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Well, I think Glenn kind 23 of adjusted his budget, supposedly, accordingly. Because 24 what -- what I envisioned the Work Release Officer being 25 able to do is take some of those inmates that are classified 63 1 appropriately, to where we can use them inside our facility 2 out there, we can use them inside this courthouse, we can 3 use them around the grounds, help finish-out, whatever. As 4 long -- I did not want to get into the nonprofit 5 organization clean-up areas. I wanted it to stay on County 6 properties, whether it be at the parks or anything else, 7 where we can actually get them out to work. Now, really, if 8 we get them out and work, it saves me a lot of headaches and 9 problems inside the jail. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It's a great program. 11 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And I think it will save 12 the county a great amount, so as far as if Glenn was going 13 to actually replace that person, he has an individual to -- 14 doing the clean-up inside the Sheriff's Office, itself. I 15 don't know how you address that in his budget. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, let's find that 17 out. To me, that's important. Are we talking about a 18 one-to-one replacement of that individual inside again? 19 MR. HOLEKAMP: No, sir, about a half. I had 20 replaced with -- in my jail budget, I reduced it from a 21 full-time position to about $9,000, and that was to cover 22 part-time custodial work, like two or three times a week, 23 and also some overtime that I'll need for maintenance inside 24 the jail on call-outs at night. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: There's a difference 64 1 in $9,000 and a full salary plus benefits. 2 MR. HOLEKAMP: Quite a bit. 3 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And there's going to be 4 some areas even around here or at the courthouse where 5 Glenn's going to have to use maintenance personnel to do it. 6 I'm sure there's going to be some things Linda has or 7 Barbara has that we aren't going to be able to allow 8 inmates, as far as working access to those areas to clean or 9 to do any, you know, type upgrade and work. So, it's I 10 think Glenn figured it about right. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Thank you. You shed 12 some light on it for me. I thought we were talking about a 13 full position; we're not really talking about that. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, it seems -- and I 15 understand what the Judge is saying, that it is the 16 Sheriff's decision as to how he uses employees, but I think 17 the other part of it is that the plan he's come up with is 18 to get more deputies out on the street and the schedule -- 19 and scheduling them accordingly. And, to do all of that and 20 do the Work Release, I think we need that other position. 21 As I understand it. 22 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Plus, there is one other 23 motive in -- in getting the deputies also out on the street. 24 The more deputies on the street, it's also going to, at the 25 same time -- and I'm hoping -- this is foresight, trying to 65 1 see this in -- it will cut down on our overtime, because I 2 definitely want more training for the deputies. And that 3 way I'll still be able to have the streets covered without 4 having to call somebody into overtime or work comp time for 5 that time when we're sending somebody through training. So, 6 it's -- you know, you need the manpower to be able to fill 7 one to where we can burn some compensatory time -- 8 compensation time and things like that, by having the 9 manpower to do it instead of just keep racking up overtime. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And to come up with some 11 of the money, we can either add it in the full amount now, 12 but I think that appropriate reductions should be made, if 13 we add that deputy, in Park Maintenance, would be an area, 14 and in the Annex finish-out. I mean -- and, to me, this is 15 a good program, but I think that we need to make sure that 16 we do get the savings in the other areas. Only way we know 17 we're going to get those savings is if we budget them and 18 then we hold Rusty's feet to the fire. 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I'm sure Glenn will hold 20 my feet to the fire. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: Hearing that the -- 22 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: So, you're saying 23 reduce Park Maintenance by some number and finish-out by 24 some number that will equate to the deputy's salary? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. 66 1 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah. 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, for right now, let's 3 just put the deputy's salary over here on the list to play 4 with. Anyone else want to add something to the Court -- the 5 wish list? 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'd like to ask Marc 7 what his work is for the kennel worker. Let's hear from 8 him. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Could we hold off on 10 that just a second? Could we finish this -- 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Oh, yes. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- please? The floor 13 plan down there calls for the Juvenile Probation Office to 14 move over here, the County Treasurer, as well as one more 15 office for the County Attorney's office down there, at 16 around $100,000, which cuts the original proposal in half. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Now it's going to cut 18 even more, with the Work Release -- 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, yeah, it will. 20 See, if you have the Work Release prisoners come in to 21 actually do the work, we don't know how much, but it really 22 cuts it maybe in half again. So -- 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I think Glenn and I 24 would just kind of like to see the nod of a head or a shake 25 of a head or something before we move any further in this 67 1 thing. 2 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I like that plan. 3 You're talking about the plan itself on -- 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, just -- 5 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: So, proceeding that 6 way sounds pretty good to me; half of it this year, half 7 next year, roughly, will take in that Number 5, take it down 8 from 200 to -- what, 60, 75? 9 MR. HOLEKAMP: One thing is -- I don't think 10 anybody brought this up. Juvenile Detention Department does 11 not have enough room. They're getting a new officer, 12 supposed to be hired by October 1, and they physically have 13 no place to put the fella unless he share -- shares one of 14 those little, you know, 6-by-6 cubbyholes. So, I really 15 think -- and when I was doing this planning, of sorts, is I 16 -- juvenile probation is pretty much a -- a necessary space 17 problem. I'm not saying we have to build it, but they do 18 have a problem as far as room to put the employees that they 19 currently have. So, I think it needs to be addressed 20 whether it's through construction or elsewhere. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: Judge Tench has been waiting 22 patiently. 23 JUDGE TENCH: This renovation downstairs in 24 the Annex, how does that affect my area? I mean, nobody's 25 told me about these -- this. 68 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's right, and we 2 -- and we will come and talk to you about it once -- once 3 these guys have said, yeah, this looks like maybe a workable 4 plan, which they are saying at this time. Then I am going 5 to come talk to you, because we are talking about extending 6 the County Attorney's office, one office out into your 7 so-called courtroom. 8 JUDGE TENCH: Okay. What -- and a related 9 question. Whatever happened to the bench upstairs that was 10 supposed to be -- 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We're addressing that 12 also. 13 MS. UECKER: Still up there. 14 JUDGE TENCH: Well, I figured it probably 15 was, but -- 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But it may end up down 17 there around your place somewhere. We don't know where it's 18 going to be. 19 JUDGE TENCH: In a warehouse somewhere, as 20 long as -- 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, it will be -- 22 JUDGE TENCH: As long as the "hysterical" 23 society can take care of the -- 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, but we're going 25 to come look you in the eye and talk with you. 69 1 JUDGE TENCH: Okay. Thank you. 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: Commissioner Williams had 3 asked the question of Marc about the kennel worker, but I 4 think, with the indulgence of the Court, before we address 5 that, let's take a 10-minute break. We've been at this for 6 an hour and a half. Let's take a 10-minute break, come back 7 at 10:35, and we'll push on through. 8 (Recess taken from 10:25 a.m. to 10:35 a.m.) 9 - - - - - - - - - - 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. Let's reconvene this 11 workshop of the Kerr County Commissioners Court. When we 12 recessed, we were discussing items to include in the next 13 budget. Marc, do you want to talk to us about your request 14 for a kennel worker? 15 MR. ALLEN: Well, the reason we're asking for 16 that is our calls are up. Last year we cut this position, 17 and we've tried to operate with just four people. What's 18 happening -- and our call-outs are up, and my comp time -- 19 I'm having to let these people off, 'cause we can't pay on 20 the overtime. So, I've got -- right now, I've got two 21 people with 50 hours of comp time, so I'm going to have to 22 let them off. That leaves me down to three people, trying 23 to run an Animal Shelter, run all the calls in the city and 24 county. It's killing me. You know, if I have that extra 25 person, then I can afford to let one of the people off and I 70 1 won't be running so short-handed, 'cause that leaves the 2 shelter short when I've got calls everywhere. I put the 3 numbers in the proposed budget to the City, and they were 4 okay with it, as far as I know. It would be about a $5,000 5 increase coming to us, but it's just the comp time, I'm 6 running short-handed constantly. And, when we got all these 7 calls backed up, I'm the one that gets to go run them, all 8 because I don't get paid comp time. So, after-hours 9 everybody else gets to go home at 5 o'clock, and I'm the one 10 that gets to pick up the slack. 11 JUDGE HENNEKE: That's true. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is the number -- see, 13 here for Animal Control kennel worker, is that a gross 14 number or net number for our budget, given the City's 15 increase in contractual obligation? 16 MR. ALLEN: Well, the City will be paying -- 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Part of this number? 18 MR. ALLEN: Part of it, 40 percent. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: Forty percent of the $13,753. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. Okay, thank 21 you. That's what I wanted to know. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's a gross number. I 23 mean, I -- just another one of these things. We're in an 24 interlocal agreement with the City, and then we -- last year 25 was the first year of that. And, you know, we went through 71 1 the year to see how things went, and I think it's -- I mean, 2 if we're not able to make the calls, living up to our 3 agreement with the City, then we have a problem. So, this 4 is an item that, to me, is pretty important, because -- and 5 not just from a dollar standpoint. It's a lot more 6 cost-effective to have someone doing that job, which is 7 important. The kennels have to be kept clean. 8 MR. ALLEN: I have to keep my streets 9 covered, too. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. So -- 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I would agree, 12 Commissioner. We have a contractual obligation with the 13 City to perform the work. We have to perform it. 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. Anything else? Just 15 add everything on the list? I want to bring up the issue of 16 the Deputy Collections Manager and the Collections 17 Department. It's been demonstrated that that department 18 returns money to the County. It's demonstrated that it more 19 than pays for itself. It's been operated with two part-time 20 people. We've gotten to the point where it doesn't appear 21 that we can sustain it on two part-time people. So, at 22 least for purposes of the next round, I'm going to suggest 23 that we put the Deputy Collections Manager into the mix, as 24 well. 25 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: What are the revenues, 72 1 roughly, from our Collections Department? I mean, roughly. 2 And I don't -- I'm not looking for a -- 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: Barbara, do you have those 4 handy? 5 MS. HOLMES: Yes, I'm looking. And Tommy 6 might have a better figure. I've got some -- I don't think 7 I have that particular budget with me, but hang on just a 8 second; I'll give you some figures. I've got some figures, 9 but not with me. What we -- I was able -- I run some 10 reports off the computer, and they show that our collections 11 and money had increased 28 percent, which was something like 12 close to $100,000 after the collections program has begun. 13 And those are just off the top of my head. And I know the 14 percentage figure is correct. I'm not sure about the money 15 figure. 16 MS. PIEPER: A lot of that -- if I can add to 17 this, a lot of that also stems from the old cases that they 18 have been able to come back and collect on from the '80's. 19 MS. HOLMES: And they've been collecting a 20 tremendous amount of those in the last month. You know, 21 $600, $700, $800, $900 at a time from people in California. 22 Brad is contacting these people; he's found them. They're 23 sending money orders for it. So -- but the figures I had 24 were just prior to that. 25 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I'm curious, 73 1 generally, what level of revenues. 2 MR. TOMLINSON: I think the Probation 3 Department has also agreed to supplement that operation 4 again, also. 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: The Adult Probation 6 Department? 7 MR. TOMLINSON: Yes. 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: I attended briefly the 9 seminar that the Office of Court Management from Austin and 10 Mr. Duncan put on Thursday, and the number that sticks in my 11 mind is, when he took over -- when he took over Collections, 12 our collection rate from the County Court at Law was about 13 26 percent. We were collecting about 26 percent of the 14 fines and court costs that were levied. Current collection 15 rate is between 70 to 80 percent. 16 MS. HOLMES: Now, that is correct, yes. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you. So, it -- it is 18 an operation that, in my opinion, has demonstrated its -- 19 its viability. So, at least for purposes of the next round 20 of discussion, I would like to throw in the mix the Deputy 21 Collections Manager, who would, again, be the only full-time 22 employee in that department. 23 MS. HOLMES: That's correct. 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: Mr. Duncan does not want to 25 go full-time. 74 1 MS. HOLMES: No, he doesn't want to. 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: Talking about one full-time, 3 one part-time, as opposed to two part-time. 4 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Okay. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Was that a -- one 6 full-time, one part-time, instead of two part-time? Is that 7 number here? It is increased, but there would be a decrease 8 then if we had it there; it would be a decrease in 9 part-time. 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, there really isn't any 11 part-time in that budget right now. As you may recall, some 12 of the other departments contributed money to keep the 13 part-time person going. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: For this -- to the end of 16 this budget year. I believe, Linda, didn't you find some 17 monies? 18 MS. HOLMES: Correct, the Probation 19 Department and Linda. 20 MS. PIEPER: No, I didn't find any. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: Adult Probation. Anything 22 else? Anything else off of the -- of the list? 23 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Number 3. 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: Sheriff's Department Training 25 and Ammunition. Again, this is so the Sheriff's Department 75 1 can take the people out to Thunder Ranch and get legitimate 2 training and firearms qualifications. 3 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I personally think this 4 is essential, especially after we went out there last week 5 and I saw some of our officers shoot comparison and the 6 training they went through. It's not just how to shoot, 7 it's how to, you know, think hostage-type deals, talking 8 suspects out. I think it's a very essential part. I know I 9 was looking at trying to -- maybe we could use some of that 10 $15,000 grant to help pay for some of this, but in the 11 Requested, Not Recommended cuts over on this other side, we 12 had -- where the Judge put in there the light bars, et 13 cetera. Well, the et cetera in there is also our 14 bulletproof vests and our portable radios. So, when I 15 figure up trying to buy the bulletproof vests and portable 16 radios, I'm going to need to do that with that $15,000 grant 17 we got, which I think I can do. We're going to need to buy 18 six bulletproof vests for jail -- the jail's part of this 19 was also the Capital Outlay was requested not to be funded 20 in here. So, that's portable radios, and then the portable 21 radios we've got to have on the street. So, I don't have 22 any other place that I can draw this money from for Thunder 23 Ranch, and I think it is a very extremely important issue 24 that we get our guys trained out there for officer safety, 25 for public safety and everything else. 76 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Can you take a reduced 2 amount? 3 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Well, of the $11,000, 4 $6,000 of that is the cost of actually going out there. 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And that is a very 6 greatly discounted cost, because what's happening is 7 Kerrville PD, Fredericksburg PD, and us have jointly gone in 8 or are going to jointly go into this where they're giving a 9 reduction, and it costs each agency $6,000 a year, where 10 right now, PD doing it alone is costing them almost $12,000. 11 So, that leaves me $7,000 for ammo. All right. Out of that 12 -- well, not even seven, it's $5,000 for it. $4,000 for 13 ammo in here, and that is not going to cover it. Last week 14 alone -- and where I'm going to try and make that up in is 15 donations to the department. We do have donations, we do 16 sell some T-shirts. But, last week, in going out there one 17 time, we spent right at $2,000 out of our donation deal in 18 ammo alone. Okay. And that was only for service weapons, 19 not our shotguns, because we didn't do shotgun training out 20 there or our M-14 training out there last week. So, my ammo 21 amount, by itself, is probably going to be up close to 22 $8,000 by the time we finish, and I'm hoping to make that 23 other up in donations. See, we're cutting it to the penny 24 as much as I can cut. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I think we ought to 77 1 put it in. 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay, we'll throw that in the 3 mix, as well. Should have done this the easy way. Is there 4 anything we don't want to throw in? 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Right. 6 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Okay. You said 7 interpreters and the bailiff were already in the numbers. 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: Yes, 4, 9, and 10 are already 9 in the numbers. 10 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Well, I think we're 11 ready to run a budget and see what -- how bad it is. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: How good it is. 13 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: How good it is. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It could be good. 15 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: That's right. 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: Are we there? Jonathan? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm not adding anything 18 else. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: Buster? 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, sir. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: Bill? 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No. 23 JUDGE HENNEKE: Larry? 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: No. 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. 78 1 MS. NEMEC: Judge, I have a question. Back 2 to the salaries, the Appeals Committee heard several 3 appeals. Is that automatically approved by the Court? And 4 I gave each of y'all a copy of of what our -- the Appeals 5 Committee's recommendation was. 6 JUDGE HENNEKE: Was it -- is it included in 7 the numbers we've got or not included in the numbers? 8 MS. NEMEC: It's included. 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. Then -- 10 MS. NEMEC: Only that we would be looking 11 at -- I think I said for me to look at F, that would mean 12 looking at the other one, because we approved the corporals 13 to be moved to sergeant 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: The position, if it's 15 included, if it's approved. 16 MS. NEMEC: Okay. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: For budget purposes. Okay. 18 Anything -- 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Only other thing I 20 mentioned to you yesterday, I just want to ask Barbara that 21 we had noticed yesterday in the Nash study under Jailers 22 Salary, you know, most jailers stay the same except for the 23 cost-of-living and one step if they've been there, but 24 there's four positions under there, under the Nash study, 25 that put them as booking officers, where they're having to 79 1 do the computer work and -- and there's a lot more tedious 2 stuff. So, under the Nash study, it did recommend those 3 four positions to be upped another grade, another step, 4 compared to the regular jailers. So, you're going to have 5 four to figure higher than what the regular jailer was, not 6 counting the shift supervisor. 7 MS. NEMEC: Are these just jailers, or 8 dispatchers? 9 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: No, jailers. Currently, 10 the jailers -- the booking officers and the jailers are the 11 same, and then you have shift supervisors. What the Nash 12 study did was put the shift supervisors in the jail as 13 sergeants and the booking officers -- which are specially 14 trained people; it's not just anybody can do that -- the 15 booking officers as corporals in there, because they do do 16 that type of stuff. And they do supervise the rest of it 17 when the sergeant's not there. So, under the Nash study, it 18 did up those four salaries another step. 19 MS. NEMEC: Okay. Those are not included, 20 because I did not have -- I saw that, but I didn't realize 21 that he was recommending that some of our employees have 22 that title. I thought that was just an overall -- so I'll 23 have to get those from you. 24 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right. It's a -- 25 MS. NEMEC: So, there's -- 80 1 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Four positions there 2 down at this 14, and I think under the Nash deal, it puts 3 them at -- 4 MS. NEMEC: I do have the dispatcher 5 supervisor at 16. 6 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right. And the corporal 7 in the jail under this Nash deal is 14's to 15's, so it's 8 going to up them 2.5 percent; it's one step for four people. 9 Where the salary right now is the 18 -- $18,956. You're 10 upping them another 2.5, which is about $600 per employee -- 11 $600, $700. 12 MS. NEMEC: I'll get those numbers from you. 13 JUDGE HENNEKE: Just include those in your 14 numbers. Tommy? 15 MR. TOMLINSON: Just -- just for your 16 thought, we -- it's -- this concerns the main computer 17 system. We -- we are on the verge of a critical situation. 18 Right now, the -- the Sheriff's office and the jail has 19 stopped doing indigent because of space. 20 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Haven't stopped, but 21 software called us the other day and told us we needed to -- 22 unfortunately, need to stop taking photographs of our 23 inmates, which is of a guy being booked in, which, to me, 24 Is drastic; you've got to have those photographs. But, 25 They said if we do not stop, their computer system will be 81 1 overloaded within a few weeks and we'll be through. And, 2 so -- 3 MR. TOMLINSON: My -- my point is -- is that 4 I had an agenda item for Monday for RFP for the system. If 5 we can, you know, find the funds, that's -- that's something 6 I think we can do the issue then. And that -- if we -- if 7 we have the time to do it, and we might be able to take it 8 out of next year's. 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: I think we might look at 10 the -- 11 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Radio. 12 JUDGE HENNEKE: -- the Radio line item, take 13 a look at that, and, you know, if we can go ahead and do it 14 this year, let's go ahead and do it this year, which, again, 15 would give us the $50,000 $60,000 relief over the next 16 budget. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I agree. 18 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: We have to look at -- of 19 course, the only thing, Tommy and I would just have to get 20 together in looking at that radio, because that's where I 21 think Prisoner Meals or something -- or this trash service 22 that's short in this year's budget due to the out-of-county 23 housing, that was some of those items that -- that the 24 Sheriff's Office is running short, running out of. But, I 25 think Tommy and I can get together, and I would hope there's 82 1 enough left in there to fix that immediately and take care 2 of it, 'cause it's going to hurt us without that computer 3 system. 4 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Okay. 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: All right. 6 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Sounds like a plan. 7 JUDGE HENNEKE: Jannett? 8 MS. PIEPER: I have something. Judge, on 9 your Not Recommended list, Item 14, that's $5,000 for my 10 document preservation, my old books that are from the 1800's 11 that are -- for some reason, none of the previous clerks 12 before me have -- have preserved. But we can take that out 13 of our Records Management fund. 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: That's a dedicated fund? 15 MS. PIEPER: Yes, it is. 16 MS. UECKER: She can, but I can't. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, if that's -- we -- you 18 know, if there's money in in that fund -- 19 MS. UECKER: Unless she wants to give me half 20 of it. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: If there's money that fund, I 22 don't see why we shouldn't go ahead and do that so we can 23 include that, if it's money that will come out of a -- 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Dedicated fund. 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: -- a dedicated fund. 83 1 MS. UECKER: See, yours is -- the County 2 Clerk's is a dedicated fund, strictly for use in the County 3 Clerk's office, unless she, you know, chooses to share that. 4 But there is a dedicated fund for all offices that I can use 5 from. Now, I don't know how much is left in there, 'cause I 6 used some of that for part-time salary. But -- you know, 7 and there again, I don't know what -- should I try to use 8 that out of of there later? Or -- 'cause I have the same 9 thing. I've got -- 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: You need to figure out if 11 there's a dedicated fund you can get it from, and you need 12 to present that to us. 13 MS. UECKER: Well, like I said, the fund that 14 I can use from is for all elected officials. The County 15 Clerk's dedicated fund is strictly for the County Clerk. 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: Which fund are you talking 17 about for all elected officials? 18 MS. UECKER: A Records Preservation fund that 19 we collect a fee on in civil and criminal cases. 20 JUDGE HENNEKE: What's the balance in that? 21 MS. UECKER: I don't know. 22 MR. TOMLINSON: It's about $38,000. 23 JUDGE HENNEKE: $38,000? 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I wouldn't know what -- I 25 mean, the two -- County Clerk and the District Clerk are the 84 1 two offices that would have most of that need. 2 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I don't know what type 3 of records she's talking about. But you know, like us right 4 now -- later in next year's budget is when I was going to 5 start talking about it, year after, is we have about 65 6 filing cabinets out there with inmate records that are 7 totally full, and we're having to scrounge and trying to 8 find some other file cabinets, and I'm hoping in the future 9 to go to microfilming all those records. And I don't know 10 if that type of fund may be a source where we can try and 11 get that equipment for microfilming those records. 12 MS. UECKER: I think I can probably solve 13 that problem for him, and I've offered this to the Sheriff 14 before. We'll microfilm them for him. We've got reader -- 15 if they've got -- we'll put them on film for him, and all 16 they'd have to do is buy a reader-printer out there and a 17 storage cabinet for the film. I mean, I've got the camera 18 that does it. I don't mind doing it for him. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: You all need to get together 20 and work that out. 21 MS. UECKER: I've offered that to the 22 previous Sheriff. 23 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I'd love to take you up 24 on your offer. 25 MS. UECKER: Okay. That's not a problem. 85 1 JUDGE HENNEKE: My -- my feeling is, if 2 there's a dedicated fund that we can tap for this records 3 preservation that doesn't involve adversely affect the 4 bottom line that we're playing with, that's okay. 5 MS. UECKER: I'll come to the Court later at 6 some point after the budget and get some approval -- 7 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. 8 MS. UECKER: -- for using it for that. 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: All right. Anything else? 10 Bob? 11 JUDGE TENCH: The J.P.'s that are going out 12 to the State Hospital have requested an increase in the 13 compensation that they get out there. It's not part of our 14 normal salary. It's an additional. It's -- right now, 15 we're getting $300 a month. We would like to get $500 a 16 month. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: How much? 18 JUDGE TENCH: Five hundred. It's a total 19 annual increase of $2,400. This money basically comes from 20 other counties, supposedly, to pay for these mental health 21 hearings. We would like to -- and it's been increased the 22 last couple years, I guess, I understand. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is that $500 per 24 J.P.? 25 JUDGE TENCH: Per month. We do it on a 86 1 monthly basis. We - we are scheduled and we do it every 2 three months; only three of us are doing it at the present 3 time. 4 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: We have one J.P. for 5 each month. 6 JUDGE TENCH: Yeah, right. And what we would 7 like to get, rather than $300 a month, is $500 a month. The 8 $300 a month equates out to $3,600 a year; $500 equates out 9 to $6,000 a year, a total increase of $2,400 to be spread 10 out to the J.P.'s. We had requested this the last couple of 11 years, and we would like to see it come to fruition. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Why are only three of the 13 J.P.'s participating? 14 JUDGE TENCH: The other one opted not to. 15 Said he could make more money selling insurance policies. I 16 don't know. I -- I mean, I can't answer that specifically. 17 That's what he told me. But -- 18 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: The cost is the same, 19 anyway. It's just -- 20 JUDGE TENCH: Right. It does not -- it comes 21 out to be three times a year versus four times a year. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge Tench? 23 JUDGE TENCH: Yes, sir? 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What is it you do out 25 there? I'm sorry, I missed that. 87 1 JUDGE TENCH: We do the probable cause 2 hearings twice a week out there. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's before the 4 County Judge goes out there and commits them? 5 JUDGE TENCH: Yes, sir. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Or releases? 7 JUDGE TENCH: We determine whether the 8 people -- there is probable cause to keep the people in 9 there to go to the final hearing before the Judge Henneke. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And someone has to -- 11 by law, someone has to go do the probable cause hearings? 12 JUDGE TENCH: Yes, sir. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is that -- is that a 14 constitutional duty of yours to do, or can -- 15 JUDGE TENCH: I can't answer that. It's not 16 a constitutional duty, no, sir. It's an added function. 17 MS. UECKER: Has -- 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Who else would do it? 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: Me. 20 JUDGE TENCH: That would be three days that 21 week he'd have to go out there. But, it's been -- it's 22 been -- it's been going on for a number of years, back prior 23 to my taking office. Judge Burney did them all, every 24 month, every -- every one of them, and she got tired of it. 25 It gets old after a while. And a month at a time is 88 1 sufficient, because you have to schedule around it. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: How -- I'm sure we can -- 3 I mean, we get reimbursed for that. Do we get reimbursed 4 for the full amount, or is there a fee? 5 JUDGE TENCH: I don't know what the County's 6 paid, specifically. 7 JUDGE HENNEKE: We charge the counties $50 8 per hearing that I do for judicial services, which, you 9 know, based on the pace that things are going, with 10 information provided by Jannett, if we get 80 percent of the 11 bills paid, comes to about $34,000 a year. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Does that $50 include -- 13 or is there an additional fee? 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: No, it's for all the judicial 15 services for myself and the J.P.'s who go out there. Right 16 now we have in the budget about $9,200 for me going out 17 there, and $3,600 for the J.P.'s going out there. So, the 18 County expends approximately $13,000 on judicial services at 19 the State Hospital, and then receives in return, if we have 20 an 80 percent collection rate, $34,000. Jannett, is that 21 what we figured? 22 MS. PIEPER: I think so. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Why wouldn't we get 100 24 percent collections? 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: That's just a conservative 89 1 number. I'm not saying we don't. I'm saying for -- for 2 purposes of bringing the number forward, I chose 80 percent. 3 I think we do -- we have a much better collection rate than 4 that, but -- 5 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: So, if we were to do 6 this, take it from $300 to $500 a month, there is no -- it's 7 not a dedicated fund, but there is money produced in that 8 process that would cover that. 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: There's revenue produced that 10 offsets the -- 11 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Right. 12 JUDGE HENNEKE: -- increase. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: How much time does it 14 take? 15 JUDGE TENCH: Approximately an hour to an 16 hour and a half per day -- I mean, twice a week. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Three hours a week, 18 roughly? 19 JUDGE TENCH: Yes, sir. 20 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: About -- 21 JUDGE TENCH: Sometimes there's seven or 22 eight we have to go through. Yesterday I had one -- well, I 23 had two, but one was discharged before I got there. So, I 24 mean, it was a rather rapid process. 25 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Well, I would 90 1 recommend we cost that, and that's another one of those 2 things that we will have to look at in the process, but run 3 it in these numbers. 4 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. 5 JUDGE TENCH: Thank you, sir. 6 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: If I can change gears 7 for just a second, one thing -- 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Good god, when are we 9 going to get rid of him? 10 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That's right. 11 Out-of-county housing. We're currently, as you well know, 12 charging $35 a day. Is there plans on the Court on 13 increasing that, or what are we -- are we going to leave it 14 at $35? I think we're barely breaking even, if we are. 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: That's always been done based 16 on a recommendation from the Sheriff, so if you think a 17 justification is -- an increase is justified and won't 18 reduce the population significantly, bring it to us. 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I think an increase is 20 definitely justified. I know before we built our facility, 21 you know, we were paying Bell County $45 a day for housing 22 ours, okay? So, $35 a day is not that much. Probably 23 have -- who we're housing for right now are Bandera, Llano, 24 and Gillespie, mainly. Llano has already broke ground, I 25 understand, on a new facility for themselves, and Milton 91 1 Young -- I was talking to him, and he's saying if it goes to 2 $45, and plus with the number of inmates they're having to 3 -- we're having to house for them, they're really batting 4 around the idea of doing a bond deal over there, evidently, 5 and trying to build their own facility, which they're going 6 to have to do sooner or later anyway. 7 JUDGE HENNEKE: My suggestion is that you do 8 some informal checking with the people who -- whose 9 prisoners we house and what the market is, and bring us back 10 a recommendation. 11 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: It's like a business. 12 It's supply and demand, and we ought to charge as much as we 13 can. And if -- I mean, I'm serious; it's whatever the 14 market will bear. 15 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: At least the County's 16 not going in the hole, you know, for housing somebody else's 17 inmates. But I also want to hope that we can do a service 18 to these other counties by -- by adequately and justifiably 19 doing it. 20 JUDGE HENNEKE: Do your homework and bring us 21 a recommendation. 22 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Okay. 23 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay, timing. On the budget, 24 once we adopt -- once we approve the proposed budget, it has 25 to be on file with the County Clerk's office for 15 days 92 1 before we can have a public hearing. We have to have a 2 public hearing. After the public hearing, we can adopt the 3 budget. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Same day? 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: We can do it on the same day, 6 yes. And the tax rate -- once we approve the tax rate, the 7 proposed tax rate, which has to be and on-the-record vote, 8 we set the date for public hearing. The public hearing must 9 be between 7 and -- 7 and 10 days after we set the rate, and 10 then, after we have a public hearing, we cannot adopt the 11 tax rate until at least three days have passed -- between 3 12 and 14 days. We have to adopt the budget before we can 13 adopt the tax rate, as the two fall in line. Elected 14 officials' salaries, they have to be set by the 15 Commissioners Court at a regular meeting, which I think is 16 really defined as the first meeting of the month. 17 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Mm-hmm. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: And, after that, we have 19 to do public notice, we have to have a public hearing, which 20 must be at least 10 days after we set elected officials' 21 salaries, and then we can proceed with that. So, we're 22 going to have some timing issues to get all this 23 accomplished. I'm sure we all want to get it accomplished 24 by the end of September. I mean, technically, we could go 25 till October the 16th, I think it is, but I don't think any 93 1 of us want to do that, so -- 2 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Tell us when to be 3 here and we'll be here. 4 JUDGE HENNEKE: I think what we're -- what 5 I'm talking about is having another -- a special meeting 6 next Wednesday. Tommy said that's about -- that's when he's 7 comfortable having the budget reworked to bring to us. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is that August 30? 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: Yes, sir. We can do it 10 morning or afternoon, whatever the preference is. The goal 11 will be at that date, if we could, to actually approve the 12 proposed budget, which then we can file with the County 13 Clerk's office at the time and work our public hearings 14 accordingly. So, just be forewarned that we have a -- not a 15 workshop, but a meeting next Wednesday so we can take a 16 vote, set dates, and proceed. 17 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Nine o'clock? 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Anyone have a preference as 19 to morning or afternoon? 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I prefer morning, 21 myself. 22 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Me too. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Doesn't make any 24 difference. 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: All right, it will be at 94 1 9 o'clock Wednesday, August the 30th. Okay. Does anyone 2 else have anything we need to talk about this morning? If 3 not, we're adjourned. Thank you all. 4 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Thanks. 5 (Workshop concluded at 11:10 a.m.) 6 - - - - - - - - - - 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25