Executive Director Zerwin provided an explanation of the costs in each of the slides,
attached to these minutes. She said a 3% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) was
included in Salaries as recommended by the County Board and that the mid-year salary
adjustments were offset by vacancies in FY25. Discussion ensued around Operational
costs for major components including battery lifecycle and replacement costs for the
Police and Fire portable radios, projects such as the DeltaWRX RFP for CAD, the
Hidden Lakes tower improvements, repair and maintenance of equipment, the decrease in
communication services, and County licensing and cost sharing services including GIS.
Member Honig entered the meeting at 8:12am.
In terms of capital, Executive Director Zerwin reviewed upcoming costs of approximately
$6.8M out of account 54199 to finish the radio replacement project and another $6.5M
for the final payment on the original radio contract with Motorola. Vice Chair Franz
questioned the capital funding moving forward. Executive Director Zerwin also
reminded the Board there would be a $1.2M payment for the AXS console project, the
third of six payments coming due. Vice Chair Franz questioned how we are going to
budget for capital dollars going forward. He said, we did not really talk about revenue,
stating he thought we have about $19 million. Our operating costs are about 13 million.
So what do we need to set aside for capital every year on average? Because I am trying to
get to the question of where are we with our reserves? Are we able to meet our demands,
et cetera? Executive Director Zerwin replied, we do not typically carry reserve. You
carry capital contingency for the replacement, that basically because this agency is 90%
infrastructure. There are maintenance and capital replacements, and 8% on the personnel.
She explained the reserves are monies to replace those major components. She said, we
count only the monthly surcharge for the revenue projection because interest fluctuates.
There is really no way to calculate that, especially in this market. Executive Director
Zerwin reminded the Board there is about $30,000 annually in non-surcharge revenue
from membership into the system and like agreements.
Executive Director Zerwin moved on to the chart showing the 54199 Capital costs and
their average life expectancy, which is usually based off the contract, and their respective
replacement schedule. She explained that by dividing the cost by the life expectancy, and
setting aside funds annually, we will reach the full replacement value at the time of the
contract. And that even if money is saved by upgrading a system as opposed to replacing
it, that does not negate the need to have full replacement dollars available when the Board
decides to replace the system. Executive Director Zerwin explained that once a
replacement is funded, the monies are carried over each year until it is done (financed),
and that no additional funds are being set aside for a particular item. She said Baker
Tilly, the outside auditors, set the funds up this way to allow for flexibility to move the
funds when we need to pay the invoice and that at that time, there would be a dip is the
reported dollars from the Treasurer. Executive Director Zerwin said there is about $16M
in the money market fund and about $34M in long-term investments, but that there will
be multiple large payments coming out in December and the Treasurer's Office will be
moving money around to minimize any kind of major penalties in our investments.
Treasurer Henry entered the meeting at 8:24am.
Vice Chair Franz expressed frustration that he has I've been on this board 10 years and he
