M I N U T E S KITSAP COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS September 19, 2002 The Board of Commissioners met on the above-stated date. Present were Chair Tim Botkin, Commissioner Chris Endresen, County Administrator Malcolm Fleming, Clerk of the Board, Holly Anderson and Deputy Clerk of the Board, Opal Robertson. (THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS' PUBLIC MEETINGS AND PUBLIC HEARINGS ARE AUDIO AND VIDEO TAPED). ITEMS SET FOR TIME CERTAIN: 2:30 PM) Meeting Called to Order with Pledge of Allegiance. 2:30 PM) Special public hearing to consider a Resolution providing for the submission of a Proposition to the qualified voters of Kitsap County at the November 5, 2002 election, for their approval or rejection, authorizing an increase in the regular property tax levy. Chair Botkin stated Commissioner Angel is unable to attend this special meeting but after discussion of this matter with her on last week, agrees that the Board should move forward on this matter due time constraints. He said prior to proceeding with the consideration of the ballot measure resolution, the Board went through a conceptual budget process asking all agencies to submit a 90% budget over last year's due to foreseeable issues relative to balances between the County's revenues and expenditures. Over the past weeks, Chair Botkin said the Board has taken the submittals and drafted a conceptual budget that is affordable to the County and one based on more precise numbers and available revenues. He said budgets are always estimates but these were the best numbers and best available information the Board had to date. Malcolm Fleming, County Administrator, said the budget process began by reviewing the projection of both expenditures and revenues in order to determine what it would take to maintain a prudent fund balance for the County's programs. He said that process involves establishing a percentage amount for cash flow purposes and a reserve amount to maintain the county's bond rating which is currently A+. He said staff projects revenue and expenditures and then identifies the amount that needed to be cut from the existing programs in order to maintain a fund balance. He said the expenditures are exceeding revenues at this point the same as it did in 2001. Fleming said for 2002, staff planned to bring the fund balance down by having expenditures exceed revenues but due to a number of things staff was unable to predict when the budget was being prepared in 2002. He said some of the things that contributed were loss of previously committed back fill funding from I-695 and an increase in medical insurance premium benefits. Fleming said based on these constraints, departments were asked to describe their budget impacts if expenditures were reduced by 10% for 2003 and another 5% for 2004. He said departments submitted their detailed budgets and described the impacts that the cuts would have on their programs. Included in the Board's packets, he said Table A describes the programs that the Board desires to restore funding for, Table B describes items cut from the budget but would be restored in 2003 in the voters approved and Table C describes the current budget with accepted reductions. Commissioner Endresen thanked the various department heads, elected officials and their staff for the hard work done on the budget. She said there were a number of reasons that caused the Board to make such deep budget cuts that includes rising insurance benefit costs, un-funded state mandates, the impacts of I-695, rising costs of the law and justice system and indigent defense. She said the Board has looked at all revenue sources available to the county and had to make decisions on what programs to restore in the base budget without extra tax dollars. She said they also had to determine what programs were critical to keep but could not be funded as well as what programs had to be cut entirely. Commissioner Endresen said these were difficult decisions and the hardest part was not putting names on positions of the employees who would be laid off. She said it's easy to say cut government spending but its difficult to know the employees who work very hard yet will be loosing their jobs. She apologized to those employees. Commissioner Endresen said the level of service would not be the same and citizens needed to understand that. Chair Botkin said this has been a difficult process and one of the reasons that it was possible was because the agencies agreed with the process asked of them knowing the kinds of declining service it represents. He said it was hard to prioritize one item over the other but the Board felt it did what was necessary. He said agencies were required to cut its budget by 10% services and noted that the cost of providing services last year is still less. He said the cost of providing those same services this year is more expensive. Chair Botkin said the Board recognizes that I-747 (reduced property taxes to a maximum of 1%) authorizes the voters to provide additional revenues for services if they chose to do so. He said it is up to the voters to decide whether to add some of the funding and services back to the reduced budget. Chair Botkin said the timeframe involved in this process requires that the Board adopt a resolution no later than Friday, September 20th authorizing a ballot issue in order for it to appear on the November ballot. Discussion was held between the Board and Fleming regarding Table B. Bob Lamb believes the citizens are being taxed to death and the Board should review this matter. He said he has not heard an impact statement on the cuts from the budget and did not know how much could really be cut. He suggests the county should advertise for a group of citizen volunteers to help review the proposal for auditing purposes. He believes there are people who vote on these types of measures who did not pay taxes. He did not believe this should be an issue on the November ballot. James Robinson, Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council, said the council requested $110,000 from the county for the new budget year and that contrasts with the $90,000 allocated for them in the current year. He said economic development is viewed as an essential factor in our quality of life, it provides jobs for residents and permits us to live and work in proximity of our jobs as well as generates tax revenues that supports infrastructure and public services. Robinson said without new money coming into the county there is less money to circulate within the county. He requests the full amount of $110,000 and said in light of the budget constraints and knowledge of the county's strategy requests that any difference the Board could allot be included in the ballot measure. Ron Ross questioned the Board about the cost to put this measure on the ballot and said it didn't matter one way or the other whether this measure was placed on the ballot. He suggested that cuts could be made in consultant fees and he also has concerns about the rising costs of medical benefits. Ayvon Card suggested cutting costs for some of the committees served by the County. She is concerned about properties that has been taken off the tax rolls and placed into green belts. Vivian Henderson, Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners, said she did not object to this proposition being placed on the ballot. She is concerned about properties being placed into the open space program. She believes if other agencies can cut cost so could the Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council. Steve Boyer, Kitsap County Sheriff, said he realizes it is the sheriff's office, jail and budget that impacts what the County is facing today. He felt it is for a good cause and for the delivery of services from the Sheriff's Office there is a good return on investment. He said he realizes these were difficult choices to make and thanked the Board for the preliminary decisions made on health and safety issues relative to the Sheriff's Office. Karen Flynn, County Auditor, said the Auditor's Office has added one staff person in the last 25 years and the office has managed a lot through the use of technology, careful budget planning and efficient use of staff. She believes county government has been responsible and has done good work. Discussion was held among the Board members regarding the use of volunteers in the County, revisiting the open space program, cuts being made whether the ballot issue is approved or not, distribution of property taxes, cuts in the county's consultant fees, $5 million reduction in the county's budget, public services provided by the county, improvement to county services, additional public input regarding the budget, internal auditor position included in the budget, Health District restoration into the budget, economic development, detention and probation officers restored in Juvenile Services and restoration of maintenance costs and workers into the budget. A motion was made by Commissioner Endresen and seconded by Chair Botkin that the Board adopt Resolution No. 159- 2002* thereby providing for the submission of a Proposition to the qualified voters of Kitsap County at the November 5, 2002 Election, for their approval or rejection, authorizing an increase in the regular property tax levy. Motion carried. Public meeting adjourned at 4:00 PM. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS KITSAP COUNTY WASHINGTON TIM BOTKIN, CHAIR "Not Present" JAN ANGEL, COMMISSIONER CHRIS ENDRESEN, COMMISSIONER ATTEST: HOLLY ANDERSON DATE APPROVED CLERK OF THE BOARD * See Resolution Journal Volume No. 57 ** See Ordinance Journal Volume No. 11 THE NEXT MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WILL BE MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002. Visit the County's website at www.kitsapgov.com NOTE: KITSAP COUNTY DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY. INDIVIDUALS WHO REQUIRE ACCOMMODATIONS SHOULD CONTACT THE COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE AT (360) 337-4428 OR TDD (360) 337-7275 OR 1-800-816-2782. (PLEASE PROVIDE TWO WEEKS NOTICE FOR INTERPRETER SERVICES). UPCOMING TIMED AGENDA ITEMS: (PLEASE NOTE: These dates and times are tentative and subject to change) SEPTEMBER 23, 2002: 10:00) Resolution proclaiming the weeks of September 23 – October 18, 2002 as Kitsap County Employees United Way Campaign Weeks in Kitsap County. 10:00) A Continuation of a public hearing to consider an Ordinance updating referenced codes and changing application procedures and fees for building permits - Kitsap County Code Chapter 14.04. 10:00) B Continuation of a closed record hearing for decision only to consider appeals filed by: 1) Ingrid Siedler, Monica Robbins, Marilyn Rafn, John & Linda Valley and; 2) Jon Day of the Hearing Examiner's second decision rendered on July 19, 2002 to approve with Supplemental Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision on Remand from Superior Court a Conditional use Permit, Zoning Code Variance, Critical Areas Variance, Shoreline Substantial Development Permit and Shoreline Conditional Use Permit submitted by Jim & Cathy Hayes for the Hood Canal Oyster Processing Plant, an oyster processing plant fronting the northwest side of Seabeck Bay along the Hood Canal in Central Kitsap, Commissioner District No. 3. SEPTEMBER 30, 2002: "5th Monday" – No Public Meeting KITSAP COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MINUTES, SEPTEMER 19, 2002 277