Commissioners set 2012 budget; debate bonuses, open meeting policy
Lead Summary
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
After cutting more than $2 million in expense since 2009, Highland County is looking at an estimated revenue of $8,500,050 for calendar year 2012, up slightly from 2011, commissioners announced at their Wednesday, Dec. 28 board meeting.
The commissioners passed a total budget of just more than $32 million, an increase of 1.71 percent from 2011.
Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley, who attended Wednesday's meeting, noted, "There are still no raises from the general fund for county employees."
Commission President Shane Wilkin told those in attendance – which included members of the Highland County TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party, Hillsboro City Auditor Gary Lewis and Democratic candidate for commissioner Josh Patton – "Keep in mind, we are still in union negotiations right now (with the Highland County Sheriff's Office employees)."
Commissioner Tom Horst added, "At the present time, there will be no raises from the general fund, but we don't know where that (labor negotiations) is going to go."
Commissioners also made a budget transfer to various debt retirement funds totaling more than $1 million as they headed into the new year.
After the meeting was called to order at 8:35 a.m. by Wilkin, Commissioner Jeremy Shaffer abstained from a vote to accept the minutes from a previous board meeting.
That meeting was held Thursday, Dec. 22, and Shaffer said that he was not notified of the meeting, nor did he attend. When asked for clarification, Wilkin said, "The Thursday meeting was a continuation of last Wednesday's meeting. We never went out of session."
Horst added, "We ran out of time (Wednesday)."
Two Highland County residents in attendance, Terry Mikkelsen and Fred Boggess, questioned the commissioners regarding the public notification of last Thursday's meeting.
"There was no mention of adjournment at last Wednesday's meeting," Boggess said.
Mikkelsen said, "I was confused why the public was not aware of last Thursday's meeting."
Wilkin responded, "It was just working and talking about budgets."
"We have done this before," Horst said.
A verbal exchange ensued between Wilkin and Mikkelsen regarding the notification of the Thursday meeting and also regarding the recent commissioners' resolution for one-time, year-end bonuses for county employees.
"There was some innuendo that Tom (Horst) and I voted on a one-time bonus for county employees without open discussion. There was a headline (in The Highland County Press) about lack of discussion."
Last week, Shaffer said, "This (employee bonuses) was a passing discussion that never made it to the agenda; now it's an action item. This might be viewed as an arbitrary decision that is unfair by some. It seems that we are making the elected officeholders go over budget, and I don't know that I have seen an official request from any officeholders that would lead us down this path."
On Wednesday, Wilkin referenced a Nov. 17 e-mail from Shaffer in which Shaffer wrote, in part: "Also per our quick discussion on the end of the year, I assume we will have a carry-over. I am going to touch base with Bill (Fawley) today just for clarification. And the bonus idea is good before Christmas, though I have some reservations. We should do something quick so that Bill can prepare either way."
When asked if he had responded to Shaffer's Nov. 17 e-mail, Wilkin said that he had not.
Shaffer said at this week's meeting, "What I meant was that it was never an agenda item. I thought that it should have been merit-based."
"This was discussed in November," Fawley said at Wednesday's meeting.
"I took offense that it was insinuated that this would cause layoffs," Horst said. "Some people insinuated on the media blogs that we gave raises. I think it is irresponsible to put inaccurate information out there."
Horst did not name specific media outlets, nor did The Highland County Press publish his aforementioned items.
"I'm not trying to hide anything from anyone," Wilkin said.
Mikkelsen responded, "I'm not saying you violated the law, but it's the spirit of the law. How do we know when you are in a meeting?"
Following the meeting, The Highland County Press asked commissioners to explain the county policy on continuation of public meetings from one day to the next, with a supporting Ohio Revised Code reference.
Wilkin told The HCP he would seek an advisory opinion from Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins.
The Ohio Open Meetings Act from the Ohio Attorney General's Office references a 1996 case of The Cincinnati Post v. the City of Cincinnati in which the Ohio Supreme Court opined: "The statute that exists to shed light on deliberations of public bodies cannot be interpreted in a manner which would result in the public being left in the dark. The Ohio Sunshine Law cannot be circumvented by scheduling back-to-back meetings which, taken together, are attended by a majority of a public body."
Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins told The Highland County Press on Thursday that the commissioners will be advised to include a resolution for public meeting announcements at their 2012 organizational meeting.
She said in the event future meetings would carry over into Thursdays, commissioners would inform local media of the Thursday meeting.
Commissioners agreed to meet at 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29 to discuss grant applications related to Highland County Community Action Organization for next year.[[In-content Ad]]
The commissioners passed a total budget of just more than $32 million, an increase of 1.71 percent from 2011.
Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley, who attended Wednesday's meeting, noted, "There are still no raises from the general fund for county employees."
Commission President Shane Wilkin told those in attendance – which included members of the Highland County TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party, Hillsboro City Auditor Gary Lewis and Democratic candidate for commissioner Josh Patton – "Keep in mind, we are still in union negotiations right now (with the Highland County Sheriff's Office employees)."
Commissioner Tom Horst added, "At the present time, there will be no raises from the general fund, but we don't know where that (labor negotiations) is going to go."
Commissioners also made a budget transfer to various debt retirement funds totaling more than $1 million as they headed into the new year.
After the meeting was called to order at 8:35 a.m. by Wilkin, Commissioner Jeremy Shaffer abstained from a vote to accept the minutes from a previous board meeting.
That meeting was held Thursday, Dec. 22, and Shaffer said that he was not notified of the meeting, nor did he attend. When asked for clarification, Wilkin said, "The Thursday meeting was a continuation of last Wednesday's meeting. We never went out of session."
Horst added, "We ran out of time (Wednesday)."
Two Highland County residents in attendance, Terry Mikkelsen and Fred Boggess, questioned the commissioners regarding the public notification of last Thursday's meeting.
"There was no mention of adjournment at last Wednesday's meeting," Boggess said.
Mikkelsen said, "I was confused why the public was not aware of last Thursday's meeting."
Wilkin responded, "It was just working and talking about budgets."
"We have done this before," Horst said.
A verbal exchange ensued between Wilkin and Mikkelsen regarding the notification of the Thursday meeting and also regarding the recent commissioners' resolution for one-time, year-end bonuses for county employees.
"There was some innuendo that Tom (Horst) and I voted on a one-time bonus for county employees without open discussion. There was a headline (in The Highland County Press) about lack of discussion."
Last week, Shaffer said, "This (employee bonuses) was a passing discussion that never made it to the agenda; now it's an action item. This might be viewed as an arbitrary decision that is unfair by some. It seems that we are making the elected officeholders go over budget, and I don't know that I have seen an official request from any officeholders that would lead us down this path."
On Wednesday, Wilkin referenced a Nov. 17 e-mail from Shaffer in which Shaffer wrote, in part: "Also per our quick discussion on the end of the year, I assume we will have a carry-over. I am going to touch base with Bill (Fawley) today just for clarification. And the bonus idea is good before Christmas, though I have some reservations. We should do something quick so that Bill can prepare either way."
When asked if he had responded to Shaffer's Nov. 17 e-mail, Wilkin said that he had not.
Shaffer said at this week's meeting, "What I meant was that it was never an agenda item. I thought that it should have been merit-based."
"This was discussed in November," Fawley said at Wednesday's meeting.
"I took offense that it was insinuated that this would cause layoffs," Horst said. "Some people insinuated on the media blogs that we gave raises. I think it is irresponsible to put inaccurate information out there."
Horst did not name specific media outlets, nor did The Highland County Press publish his aforementioned items.
"I'm not trying to hide anything from anyone," Wilkin said.
Mikkelsen responded, "I'm not saying you violated the law, but it's the spirit of the law. How do we know when you are in a meeting?"
Following the meeting, The Highland County Press asked commissioners to explain the county policy on continuation of public meetings from one day to the next, with a supporting Ohio Revised Code reference.
Wilkin told The HCP he would seek an advisory opinion from Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins.
The Ohio Open Meetings Act from the Ohio Attorney General's Office references a 1996 case of The Cincinnati Post v. the City of Cincinnati in which the Ohio Supreme Court opined: "The statute that exists to shed light on deliberations of public bodies cannot be interpreted in a manner which would result in the public being left in the dark. The Ohio Sunshine Law cannot be circumvented by scheduling back-to-back meetings which, taken together, are attended by a majority of a public body."
Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins told The Highland County Press on Thursday that the commissioners will be advised to include a resolution for public meeting announcements at their 2012 organizational meeting.
She said in the event future meetings would carry over into Thursdays, commissioners would inform local media of the Thursday meeting.
Commissioners agreed to meet at 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29 to discuss grant applications related to Highland County Community Action Organization for next year.[[In-content Ad]]