VANDERBURGH COUNTY COUNCIL

MINUTES

FEBRUARY 6, 2008

The Vanderburgh County Council met in session this 6th day of February in room 301 of the Civic Center Complex. The meeting was called to order at 8:31 a.m. by Council President Marsha Abell.

President Abell: I’d to call to order the February 6, 2008 meeting of the Vanderburgh County Council. Attendance roll call, please.

President Abell: Mr. Fluty, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

(Pledge of Allegiance was given)

President Abell: I would entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the January 9, 2008 meeting.

Councilmember Leader: So moved.

Councilmember Raben: I’ll second.

President Abell: Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Here.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

Councilmember Sutton: Do I get a do-over, Madam President?

President Abell: Mr. Sutton meant yes.

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

President Abell: He’s been watching the presidential races too long.

(Motion unanimously approved 6-0)

President Abell: Appropriation Ordinance, I’ll turn the meeting over to our Finance Chairman, Mr. Raben.

RECORDER

Councilmember Raben: Okay, thank you, Madam President. First on the agenda, under Recorder, 1040-1910 PERF in the amount of 10,765, I’ll move approval.

Councilmember Winnecke: Second.

President Abell: Roll call vote.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

RECORDER                                                           REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 6-0)

WEIGHTS & MEASURES

Councilmember Raben: Okay, next under Weights & Measures, 1302-3520 Equipment Repair in the amount of $960, I’ll move approval.

Councilmember Leader: Second.

President Abell: Roll call vote.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

WEIGHTS & MEASURES                                      REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 6-0)

PUBLIC DEFENDER

Councilmember Raben: Public Defender, 1303-3948 Death Penalty in the amount of 175,000, I’ll move approval.

Councilmember Leader: Second.

President Abell: Could I ask that this be put off until next month? I just got the bills that I asked to see. You gave them to our secretary, I guess, yesterday and I just got them this morning and I haven’t had an opportunity to look at them.

Steve Owens: Could I come up?

President Abell: Yes, please, Mr. Owens.

Steve Owens: Actually, I think I gave them to Ms. Deig last week.

President Abell: Oh, I’m sorry. Well, I got them this morning and I haven’t had an opportunity to look at them.

Steve Owens: Obviously, the people are interested in getting paid as soon as possible, but the court has approved the orders and we’re just waiting on the appropriation. So if we need to put it off, we’ll have to put it off.

President Abell: Well, I hate to put people off being paid but I don’t feel, unless I’ve looked at these bills that I requested, that I’m really doing my job that I’m really paid to sit up here and do, and this is to make sure that the expenses are all in line. But if Mr. Raben wants to go ahead with the vote, you can.

Councilmember Raben: Madam President, I’m fine withdrawing my motion or passing it either one. If your recommendation is to sit on it, I’ll withdraw my motion and make my motion: 1303-3948 Death Penalty set in at zero.

President Abell: And we’ll put it back on the agenda for next month.

Steve Owens: Okay, that’s fine.

President Abell: Is that okay? Did someone second your original motion?

Councilmember Leader: I did.

President Abell: Will you withdraw your second?

Councilmember Leader: I will.

Councilmember Raben: Madam President, I do have a question. I guess I really wanted to ask this question last week and I’m not making judgement nor passing judgement, but in the event of a case like this, if we were looking at life without parole versus the death penalty, what would be the difference in the cost to the taxpayers?

Steve Owens: I think Mike asked that question last week and I wasn’t able to answer his question. I can tell you it’s less and if we put it off till next month, I’ll be able to get you an answer before then. I can’t specifically tell you how much less it would be right now.

Councilmember Raben: Thank you.

Councilmember Sutton: We got into a very good discussion I felt like last week, I mean, very even-handed without necessarily passing any judgement one way or the other, but more so, just trying to get a good sense of one action as opposed to the other and the impact that it may have. And it’s definitely something to look at. I know a number of states are actively watching this whole area and what’s going to be done and what’s going to happen with the whole death penalty area. So that will be interesting to see what you may bring back next month. You know, of course, Illinois right now has set aside all death penalties right now at this point in time. So it will be something for the state to look at.

Steve Owens: One question? Will I need to file an additional appropriation request or will it just automatically come back on?

President Abell: Refile it.

Steve Owens: Refile.

President Abell: Maybe you’d like to stay after the meeting and meet with me and kind of go over these things with me or do you have something else you have to do?

Steve Owens: I have a 9:00 court appointment but I can come back. It should take about five minutes.

President Abell: How about Mr. Bunner? Is he available or is he going to court?

Steve Owens: Mr. Bunner probably isn’t as conversant with those figures as I am.

President Abell: Okay. If not, I will definitely get hold of you today.

Steve Owens: I’ll come back over.

President Abell: Okay.

Steve Owens: Thank you.

Councilmember Raben: Could we, -- just looking at this, and this is the first opportunity I’ve had as well, there are November bill and December bills. Madam President, do you think we might possibly want to act on the November bills because those are already 90 days?

President Abell: That’s what I’m looking for. I don’t have them.

Steve Owens: Jim, what she has is the – I think, my understanding was we were asked for a summary, somewhat, of how we arrived at that figure and I’ve brought that up and then I think Councilman Abell asked for a copy of the actual bills that had been submitted for November and December. We brought those up and gave them to Sandie last week.

President Abell: That’s what I don’t have.

Steve Owens: I think that’s what she’s referring to that she hasn’t had an opportunity to look at.

Councilmember Raben: I guess my question to the Council was, do we maybe want to go back and just act on the November bills because those bills are now 90 days old?

President Abell: I have no problem with that but I haven’t seen them and I don’t have them on my desk, and you’re asking me to approve something that I don’t even – I haven’t seen. If you want to pass it around...has anyone else seen it?

Councilmember Raben: I don’t have the actual bills, I’ve just got the summary. You work with these people every day, I mean, I guess they’ll continue to offer their services in the future if...

Steve Owens: Obviously, they’ve got a lot of time in this case and they’ve got a lot of bills in this case. They would like to get paid as soon as possible. I’m sure that they understand because I’ve told them that we were going to have to file an additional appropriation request. I’m sure that they’re going to understand if the Council wants to look at this. I don’t think they’re going to give me any grief about that. These two particular attorneys are coming back on the normal payroll actually Monday.

President Abell: I’ll defer to you, Mr. Raben, however you – I don’t think we allow any officeholder to walk in here and ask for $175,000 without something to back it up and I feel like it’s – Mr. Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Mr. Fluty has made a good point. Until the state certifies our budget, it would not approve a new appropriation, which will probably come early March, typically. So even if we approve it today, it’s not going to be paid in the timely fashion that probably the vendors would like.

Steve Owens: So even if it were approved today, it’s not going to get paid?

Councilmember Winnecke: Correct. So delaying it a month so we have the opportunity to inspect these invoices more carefully, really will not delay the timing of the payment.

Councilmember Raben: And the motion stands if you want to set it in at zero.

President Abell: Okay, we’re going to set it in at zero and you can refile it next month. Mr. Raben made the motion. Do we have a second to set it in at zero?

Councilmember Leader: I’ll second.

President Abell: Roll call vote on that please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

PUBLIC DEFENDER                                             REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 6-0)

President Abell: You’ll refile it next month.

Steve Owens: I’ll refile it and then I’ll get with you after the meeting.

President Abell: Okay, if I’m not here, we’ve got plenty of time between now and next month. I was just going to try to hurry it up. But we’ll get together.

Steve Owens: Okay. Thank you.

SCOTT TOWNSHIP ASSESSOR

Councilmember Raben: Okay next, Scott Township Assessor, 2490-1160-3600 Rent in the amount of $4,200, I’ll move approval.

President Abell: Second?

Councilmember Winnecke: Second.

President Abell: I didn’t second, I was asking for one. Does anyone want to ask a question about this? There was some discussion on it. Mr. Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Do we know if this is for the existing building and contract? And when that contract that’s in the existing building went into place?

Councilmember Raben: This is actually to Scott Township. This is for the rental space. I think there was some confusion last week as to maybe this rent going for part of a move or something to an individual’s residence, but this is where the office is now and where it stays. The figure that we set in at budget time was just wrong. The rent is $10,000 a year and this makes up the balance.

Councilmember Shetler: And that’s based on a prior contract that was written –

Councilmember Raben: And signed by the County Commissioners.

Councilmember Shetler: Alright, thank you.

President Abell: Any other questions? Roll call vote please. I’m sorry, Mr. Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Is that officeholder here? I know we had asked that he be here.

President Abell: No. He indicated that he had a pre-scheduled medical appointment this morning.

Councilmember Sutton: Well, I think we can do without him this particular time if that’s where he is.

President Abell: Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

SCOTT TOWNSHIP ASSESSOR                          REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 6-0)

CIRCUIT COURT SUPPLEMENTAL ADULT PROBATION

Councilmember Raben: Okay next, Circuit Court Supplemental Adult Probation in the amount of $17,700, I will move approval.

Councilmember Leader: Second.

President Abell: Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

CIRCUIT COURT

SUPPLEMENTAL ADULT PROBATION              REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 6-0)

WEIGHTS & MEASURES

PUBLIC DEFENDER

FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES

CIRCUIT COURT SUPPLEMENTAL ADULT PROBATION

SUPERIOR COURT SUPPLEMENTAL ADULT PROBATION

COMMISSIONERS (LATE)

Councilmember Raben: Okay, now we move into transfers. Does anyone have any questions or is everyone comfortable with taking these in one lump motion? If so, Madam President, I’ll move that all transfers be approved as listed.

President Abell: Do I hear a second?

Councilmember Leader: I’ll second.

President Abell: Mr. Winnecke, did you have a question?

Councilmember Winnecke: No, I did not.

President Abell: Oh, okay. Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

WEIGHTS & MEASURES                                      REQUESTED       APPROVED

PUBLIC DEFENDER                                             REQUESTED       APPROVED

FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES                        REQUESTED       APPROVED

CIRCUIT CT. SUPP. ADULT PROBATION          REQUESTED       APPROVED

SUPERIOR CT. SUPP. ADULT PROBATION      REQUESTED       APPROVED

COMMISSIONERS                                                REQUESTED       APPROVED

(Motion unanimously approved 6-0)

Councilmember Raben: Okay, and last, we’ll move into the amendments to the Salary Ordinance. First, under Public Defender, I move that we amend salary line 1303-1970 Temporary Replacement as previously approved. Circuit Court Supplemental Adult Probation, move we amend salary line 2600-1980 Other Pay as previously approved, transferring the funds from Other Pay line to Unemployment line. Superior Court Supplemental Adult Probation line 2620-1110 Probation Officer as previously approved, setting the line in at $8,078 to meet the state’s 2008 minimum salary schedule for probation officers. Health Department, salary line 213.1-1140 PAT MED II in at 40,628. Salary line 213.6-1130 Clinic Clerk STD COMOT II in at $24,719. Line 213.7-1130 Clinic Clerk STD/HIV COMOT II/Step 1, setting 2008 salary in at 24,719. 213.7-1160 Lab Med Tech Supervisor PAT MED II in at the 2008 salary of 40,628. The above lines are only to be used if other grants are withdrawn. So I make that in the form of a motion.

President Abell: Do I hear a second?

Councilmember Winnecke: Second.

President Abell: Roll call vote please.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

(Motion unanimously approved 6-0)

President Abell: Thank you, Mr. Raben. Is there any old business anyone has to bring before the Council? Under new business, we have several items to discuss this morning. One is the appointments to some, some board appointments that we have missing. Ms. Deig, the sheet that you gave to me, you indicate that we still do not have an appointment to the Economic Development Commission/Vanderburgh County. I thought we appointed Wayne Ellis to that.

Councilmember Raben: No, we don’t, but I’ve gotten a person to (inaudible) that has not made a commitment yet.

President Abell: What did we appoint him to? I made that appointment for part of the year, I remember. We do have a couple appointments that we’re going to make this morning. I’m going to skip to the Convention Visitors Bureau. As all of you are aware, David Dunn has resigned from that board and we hate to see him go. He’s been on it a long time. Mr. Winnecke has talked to him and I understand there is no chance that he would not resign because of his other duties. Mr. Winnecke met with Fred Niemeier. Would you like to tell us a little something about Mr. Niemeier?

Councilmember Winnecke: Sure, Mr. Niemeier is an officer in the Dunn Hospitality Group and operates two of its properties in Evansville and oversees new construction for their company around the mid-west and also oversees a property of theirs in Paducah. He’s an Evansville native and he is also the incoming president of the hotel/motel association, so he is very interested in giving back to the community and is very interested in this particular board.

President Abell: I think that’s a good appointment for us. It seems like a very good fit. Another appointment that we have is to the Area Plan Commission. In the audience today we have Mr. Dewey Colter. Mr. Colter, would you like to come to the microphone and give...

Jeff Ahlers: (Inaudible)

President Abell: Would you come to the microphone please and give us a little information about your background so that people will understand why you’re on the Area Plan Commission?

Dewey Colter: Madam Chairman, members of the Council, I think I can attribute this to Ms. Abell and our experience from the past. We met as I was moving to the Evansville area on a relocation with my wife. My background comes from economic development, county administration in the state of Illinois, and we’ve been here in Evansville a little over a year now. We’ve had a number of discussions on the future growth of Evansville and Vanderburgh County and have had some quite substantive discussions of which apparently was enough for her to feel that my background has some qualifications that may stand in good stead for the Area Plan Commission, so I thank you for that. I’ve also served as Mayor in a town in north western Illinois, served four years on a multi-state area plan commission, which took in five counties up in Illinois and Iowa, and have been involved in comprehensive planning both under the economic development area in southern Illinois and as a county administrator in central Illinois. So my challenge now is to get a little more acquainted with the process. I’ve been reviewing some of the statutes and I met with the Plan Commission staff on another issue out in our neighborhood, so getting well acclimated to the process and look forward to serving the county as best I can.

President Abell: I think everyone would feel this is a good fit. Thank you for coming this morning, Mr. Colter.

Councilmember Leader: May I ask Mr. Colter a question?

President Abell: Yes, certainly.

Councilmember Leader: What is the reason you moved to Evansville, Sir?

Dewey Colter: My wife relocated with the VA system, so she’s a nurse practitioner at the clinic here.

President Abell: Thank you, Mr. Colter.

Dewey Colter: Thank you, Madam President.

President Abell: I understand that we do have the Economic Development Commission for Vanderburgh County position available and, Mr. Raben, you have someone you’re talking to, is that...okay. We also have the Burdette Park Advisory Board position available. If any of you know someone that would be a good fit... you might know someone, Donna? We’d appreciate that. I have talked to someone about the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals. That’s become such a time-consuming position, there’s a lot of people that are hesitant to take it with the number of appeals we’ve had. Its become very time-consuming. This person has not given me a “no” yet, so as soon as I know on that, I’ll let all of you know. It’s someone involved with real estate and the understanding of those type things. Since the Convention & Visitors Bureau does have some abilities to spend money, it comes before this board, I guess we need to take Mr. Niemeier’s position on there, needs to take a vote and I’d appreciate someone nominating him, seconding it, and us voting.

Councilmember Winnecke: Madam President, at this time I would move that we nominate Fred Niemeier to the County Council’s appointment to the Evansville-Vanderburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Councilmember Leader: I would like to second that. I’ve known Mr. Niemeier for a long time. I think he would be a great member.

President Abell: Could we have a roll call vote please?

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Leader?

Councilmember Leader: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Raben?

Councilmember Raben: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: Councilmember Winnecke?

Councilmember Winnecke: Yes.

Teri Lukeman: President Abell?

President Abell: Yes.

(Motion unanimously approved 6-0)

President Abell: One discussion we need to have this morning, and I don’t see Ms. Smith here, I had talked with Betty Knight-Smith yesterday. I gave all of you last week a letter from the Mayor regarding the possibility of increasing recording fees to set up a trust fund for housing. Mr. Ahlers has done some checking on that. I think we’re going to still investigate that a little further. From the statute that he showed me this morning, it looks like 60% of that would stay in Evansville and 40% would go to Indianapolis. And I’m really not too excited about sending more money to Indianapolis. I would think we could use our money here much better than sending it there and letting them decide if we need any of it or not. And we don’t know exactly who sets up the trust. My understanding is CAJE is in favor of this, and I know, Mr. Winnecke, you have a relationship with CAJE, I believe, don’t you? And, Mr. Sutton, don’t you?

Councilmember Winnecke: We do.

President Abell: Would one of you like to talk to them and –

Councilmember Winnecke: Actually, I have an appointment with a representative from CAJE, and I’m assuming it’s about this issue, tomorrow afternoon, so I will report back. And just so, -- did you say that 60% of the new recording fee would stay here and 40 go to Indy or vice versa?

President Abell: No, you have it right. That’s what the statute Mr. Ahlers has found, and that’s the first time I’ve heard that any of it wouldn’t stay here, so that’s a little different slant on it.

Councilmember Sutton: Well, I don’t know what the timing is on this, Madam President, but the legislature will be winding down here soon, so I don’t know how much time we actually have to act on it. I’m not in any way implying that we need to do something today, but obviously the discussions that we need to have, need to proceed very rapidly so, I mean, if this is something that’s going to be on the agenda for next month, which I guess I’m anticipating that it will because I don’t know if they’re even receiving any additional amendments or adjustments to any bills right now, as they are kind of winding down this legislative session.

President Abell: My understanding is that, I’m not sure that the ordinance that sets up the trust fund has even happened yet. So if we started drawing the funds, we really don’t have anywhere to put them –

Councilmember Leader: Ms. Abell, I did mention this to the Mayor and he told me, this is all I know, I don’t know much else, but that the trust fund does exist. The city’s affordable housing trust fund does exist and this money would go into that fund. So that’s all I can speak to this morning.

Jeff Ahlers: Well, I guess what I’d need is, I guess someone from the Mayor’s office or someone to contact me in terms of – because it looks like the ordinance would have to be passed by the county fiscal body to set that up. So if there’s one set up I’m not sure what mechanism was used. So we may want to verify that. In terms of answering Mr. Sutton’s question, based upon my looking at the statute, the statute already has the mechanism in place, so what’s going on in the legislature right now, I don’t think has anything to do with timing. What it is, is that the county fiscal body, the County Council, would need to set up the, you know, affordable housing trust fund and then you would have to set in place the new recording fee, and then, as Ms. Abell was talking about, the statute says 60% of it would remain here, 40% of it gets sent to the State Treasurer, so and then they have their mechanism with whatever they’re doing with the affordable housing program. So I would agree, it would be helpful, I suppose, for someone to speak to us or contact me, and I guess let me know, I mean, what is it that, what is in the plans to do with this money or what is it that we think we’re going to accomplish with it, to know. And then what we’ll need to do is, we’ll have to, if we decide to act on that, we will need to pass and publish and ordinance, so just so everyone knows, that’s not something that’s going to happen overnight. Somebody needs to give me advance notice if we intend to go forward because we’ll have to, an ordinance is going to have to be noticed and published. But in terms to answer your question, what’s going on in the legislature now, I would not think would have anything to do with this, because this is already a statute.

Councilmember Sutton: Right, the other thing, I guess, is in this letter that we have here doesn’t really give any guidance on what the increase is suggested to be. So that would be helpful information, so I don’t know, Councilman Winnecke, if maybe I can get with you after and figure out when that meeting is, we can sit down together.

Councilmember Winnecke: I think that’s probably a good idea. We can talk to the CAJE representatives and just kind of huddle with everyone between now and the next meeting. But I do know that affordable housing is CAJE’s next big initiative for the community. So after our meeting tomorrow, I’ll report back.

President Abell: And I think all of us are in favor of affordable housing and I think you could relay that message to them. We just want to make sure this is set out the right way and our citizens benefit from this particular fund.

President Abell: The other issue we have this morning is the discussion of mileage, we got a letter from our Pigeon Township Assessor that I gave to everyone, regarding the increase of mileage. We would have to do this in an ordinance because we have an ordinance which establishes the mileage that we pay. I’m open for discussion to see how everyone feels about this.

Councilmember Leader: I’d be interested in asking Mr. Fluty his opinion on this. And if we did pass an ordinance, where would we get the money?

Bill Fluty: You would get it from the General Fund or Reassessment, I guess, would be the two options. I know there’s , often as the gas prices go up, the wear and tear, plus the mileage rate, always comes before you. So that’s where it would come from, so it’s at your discretion.

Councilmember Leader: I have never heard in modern times of anybody paying thirty cents. I just wanted to comment on that. I mean, I worked for a not-for-profit organization for the last thirteen years and we virtually lived on a shoe string and I don’t remember when we received thirty cents. We went with the federal government mandate is how we worked.

President Abell: I was going to ask you, did you mean you survived on less or more?

Councilmember Leader: It was obviously less. But we attempted to stay within the guidelines of government, you know, to be fair and equitable.

President Abell: Well, the memo that we received indicates that the state of Indiana pays forty cents per mile and I have no reason to think that that’s not correct. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that we might want to increase it some. I don’t know how this body feels about how much you’d like to see it increased. It’s currently thirty cents a mile. I don’t think gasoline is going to go down, looking at the economy, I’m sure nothing is going to go down.

Councilmember Sutton: I don’t know what the figure is, but yeah, I mean, thirty cents is pretty meager. I mean, that’s a pretty low amount given today’s times. But is there – and the federal amount, that’s not listed on here. What is that rate?

Councilmember Leader: It’s 48 ½ cents.

President Abell: The city of Evansville pays 48.5 and I think that is the federal.

Councilmember Leader: That is the federal rate, 48 and a half. And they just raised it recently.

President Abell: They just raised that recently. I guess in my – to just throw out – I don’t think 40 cents a mile is unreasonable. I guess that’s just, you know...Mr. Shetler?

Councilmember Shetler: I’m not sure if that 48 is what they pay their employees or if that’s what the IRS rules. Because I was thinking the IRS was 42 that you’re allowed to take off on your taxes. And yeah, it does go up with the CPI and some fuel things and stuff like that, so I’m not exactly sure. But there is a difference between the two.

Jeff Ahlers: (Inaudible)

Councilmember Shetler: That’s right.

Councilmember Sutton: I mean, I’d like to see us get at least up to the city level. I mean, the city, according, and this is 48 and a half.

President Abell: Mr. Fluty, do you have any idea how much money we spend out of the General Fund for mileage throughout the year to all of the offices combined? Because, obviously, the ordinance would affect every county office.

Bill Fluty: I can’t give you that off the top of my head but I can surely get that for you.

President Abell: Maybe what we should do is look and see what the impact is going to be on our General Fund. If this meets with everyone’s approval, we could come back next month, talk about it, decide the amount we want to set it in at then have Mr. Ahlers draw up the ordinance? How does everyone feel about that?

Councilmember Winnecke: I think it’s fine. The other thing we could consider is just redraft the ordinance or rewrite the ordinance so anytime that the federal level moves, ours moves. That way, we don’t have to come back and revisit this every year or two or three years.

Councilmember Raben: Do we want to use federal or state?

Councilmember Winnecke: Whatever (Inaudible)

President Abell: Why don’t we have Mr. Ahlers go ahead and draw up the ordinance without an amount in it and maybe Mr. Fluty could get those figures together for us and we could kind of fast track filling them in. Mr. Ahlers thinks we should look at the state: the state of Indiana pays 40 cents a mile.

Jeff Ahlers: Well, I’m saying if you’re going to tie it.

Councilmember Raben: That would probably be cleaner and I can’t cite any examples now but I’m sure they exist, where there are certain state called functions where reimbursements are based back to the county, based upon their state level. So it would just keep everything cleaner and more consistent. And that would be pretty substantial, going from 30 cents to 40. I mean, that’s a pretty good increase. You know, the last time it was increased was 2005 and it was from 28 to 30 cents, so if a person drove 100 miles, they were reimbursed an extra $2.00.

President Abell: Well why, if it’s in agreement with everyone, we’ll have Mr. Ahlers draw the ordinance up at 40 cents a mile and Mr. Fluty can get us some figures on what the impact is going to be on our general fund, so at least we’ll know what we’re voting on. Does that sound okay with everyone? Is that alright with you?

Daphne Robinson: Thank you very much. Yes.

President Abell: And thank you for bringing it to our attention. We wouldn’t know it if someone didn’t tell us about it because we don’t travel. Well, we travel, but we don’t get paid for it. Is there any other business to come before the Council? Mr. Sutton?

Councilmember Sutton: I didn’t know if Mr. Fluty was going to make some comment or mention about the memo that he sent to us concerning the County Option Income Tax. I didn’t know if he was going to discuss that?

Bill Fluty: We surely can. I passed out actually some information about our COIT, County Option Income Tax, and I think it explains it pretty thoroughly: $3,000,000 came into Vanderburgh County. The County General fund or the county Rainy Day fund is another 1,364,000. We had 640 something thousand in there before, so that brings us up to $2,000,000, and I think that’s a nice total to have in there. COIT projections are made on last year’s figures, so when we do budget, there is a time when we are expecting an amount and sometimes that will fluctuate. This will give us a little bit of a backup just in case those numbers are off at any time. So it’s kind of a buffer for us. But that money could be used for something else if you decide.

President Abell: Or we could save that money.

Bill Fluty: Yes, you could.

Councilmember Raben: We established the Rainy Day fund that the existing COIT that already existed what, about four years ago, five years ago?

Bill Fluty: Yes, we’ve had, different times we’ve had money put into this account. I think, before there was a Rainy Day or a law that actually established a Rainy Day, you put money into the Jail set aside, and I think one time you put it into the COIT Windfall. Now it’s just directed into that Rainy Day fund as it comes in.

President Abell: Ms. Leader, did you have a question?

Councilmember Leader: I have something.

President Abell: Thank you, Mr. Fluty, and I think Ms. Leader has something.

Councilmember Leader: I just wanted to comment on the letters we received from Mr. Alsman. I don’t want to comment on whether I agree or disagree with him, but I’ve known Mr. Alsman since the 60's. I was at Mead Johnson with him, you know, as I retired from Mead Johnson a few years back, and at one time Randy was the president of the company. And he has chosen, after leaving the corporate group in a high level executive position, to return to Evansville. So it’s nice to hear from someone who is paying attention.

President Abell: Did all of you see those letters? Okay, thank you. Anything else to come before this Council? Then we stand adjourned. No –

Teri Lukeman: The amended meeting dates?

President Abell: I don’t have amended meeting dates on my agenda. Oh, that’s because I was still using last – mine that I brought with me. Amended meeting dates. Did you pass something out to us, Mrs. Deig?

Sandie Deig: It was in your packets.

President Abell: Oh, Bill has something else? I’ll have to – I’ll find – Mr. Fluty, you can go ahead while I find the budget hearings amended meeting dates.

Bill Fluty: Back to the Rainy Day fund. The Treasurer will ask me how long that we should invest that money and I, just from this Council, if you should have a suggestion, if we could go out six months or would you like to go out a little farther than that? A better interest rate is the farther you go out. Do you have an opinion on that?

Councilmember Raben: I’d like to offer a suggestion that we initially look at six months. Because of where we’re at right now with Green River Road, the extension of University Parkway, let’s look at six months and revisit it after that point.

Councilmember Leader: I agree with that, too, because we have a lot that’s going to be on our plate shortly.

Councilmember Sutton: I’m sorry, I was looking at another item on my desk. What were you proposing?

Bill Fluty: The Treasurer will ask me how long we should invest that money and the reason being is, she would invest that two million dollars for six months and then she would be reluctant for you to tap into that for that six months, not that you couldn’t, and she would have to call that in. But she would lose some interest because of that. So if you feel comfortable that that money will be set in there for the six months, not that you couldn’t get to it in an emergency, but she would like to know that. And then you can give me another time frame if you think you want to go out farther, after that.

Councilmember Sutton: Well, you know, right now, if you look at interest rates, there really isn’t a whole lot of difference between longer term interest and some of the shorter term interest. In fact, we were just discussing that just a few minutes before the meeting here. So as we look at it right now, there really is no advantage to going longer. Even three years isn’t too much different than six months, so it may not necessarily be a bad move. I mean, when we come back, things may change. The environment may be much different and we can look at some other opportunities for ourselves.

Bill Fluty: It’s a common question she asks me on different projects whether it be road projects or different funds that we have available. So I just want to get your take on it.

President Abell: The amended meeting dates, they’re the finance meetings and I had actually talked to Sandie about these on the phone and didn’t realize that we were going to talk about it today. We are going to have our budget hearing dates 9:00 a.m. to noon on August 11, 12 and 13. We will have budget hearings on August 26 from 9:00 until noon, which we had already scheduled. And then, of course, on September 10, from 9:00 to noon. Does that meets with everyone’s calendar okay?

Is there any other business to come before this Council? We stand adjourned.

(There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 a.m.)

VANDERBURGH COUNTY COUNCIL

        President Marsha Abell               Vice President Lloyd Winnecke

       Councilmember Jim Raben           Councilmember Mike Goebel

        Councilmember Tom Shetler         Councilmember Royce Sutton

        Councilmember Donna Leader

Recorded and transcribed by Teri Lukeman.