JOHNSON COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT #1 – Johnson County, Kansas

Board of Directors Meeting

January 18, 2011      6:30 p.m.

Fire Station #1, 490 New Century Parkway, New Century, KS

BOARD MEMBERS           STAFF

Keith Johnson                         Max Sielert

Kent Harlow                           Rob Kirk

Mark Burdolski                       Jerry Holly

CALL TO ORDER

Mark Burdolski called the meeting to order.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Keith Johnson moved to approve the agenda with the correction of the location of the meeting being Station 1, not 3.  Kent Harlow seconded and the motion carried.

MINUTES

Kent Harlow moved to approve the minutes from the December 2010 Board meeting as submitted.

Keith Johnson seconded and the motion carried.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Chief Sielert discussed the numbers in the financial report relative to the temp note.  Upon review he found there were some expenses that obviously were not posted appropriately.  Our in house accounting shows where the numbers were different.  He will be meeting with the accountants tomorrow and discuss with them where the numbers need correcting.  It is believed the problem is where the radios were reimbursed and did not get posted correctly.

Keith Johnson expressed concern the Liability numbers as of December 31^st were not reflected properly.  They discussed where posted income would make the difference.  This will also be discussed with accountants the next day.  We were over budget $73,268 in the operating portion of the budget for 2010, however, when you look at the unexpected revenues we will be receiving in 2011 things don’t look so bad. We knew we were going to be over budget for 2010 as a result of the bond issue and the consolidation with the City of Gardner. It was the uncollected revenue from the City of Olathe that made things so tight for us in 2010 cash flow wise.

We just became aware that Kimberly Clark has been receiving a 75% tax abatement since 2008, but should have been receiving only a 50% abatement.  Our tax share will be adjusted due to this error.  We calculate the difference in 2008 would be around $39,000, 2009 it would be around $38,000, and for 2010 it would be around $33,000. So as a result of that collection error that occurred in the County Appraisers office, the Fire District has collected around $110,000 less in tax revenue over the last 3 years than we should have. This year 2011 we will get $36,025 more than we budgeted for now that the error has been corrected at the Appraisers Office. He talked to Paul Welcome the County Appraiser  today and he advised that we will also collect the $110,000 we were under paid sometime in the next few weeks.   The land part cannot be recovered, as it was not a tax and was also a minor amount.  The building portion can be recovered.   The first check this month from the county will have half of the $36,025 for 2011.  Then in another tax disbursement in the next few weeks we will receive $110,000 more, which will be shown as delinquent taxes.  As a result of this abatement error being caught and corrected we will get a total of around $146,000 in revenue this year that we did not budget for.

So, when we look at the unexpected revenue we will be seeing in 2011 from this, the position we did not fill and the fact that we have no debt payment this year, things look very good for 2011. There was discussion of the numbers involved with this new bond.

We will get our first tax distribution from the County on January 20^th for around $608,000.  We have already received our 1^st quarter payment from the Airport and will receive 2^nd quarter payment on April 1^st.

We will need to pay off our first note at Metcalf bank sometime this month.  The Bond Council will have to review our financial reports for 2010.  Mark Burdolski questioned how the corrections are made to our financial reports and documented for future reference.  One way to document the changes is by showing corrections in the minutes.

It was determined that a revised financial report will be furnished for approval next month.  Keith Johnson moved to table the December Financial Report until revisions are made and an opportunity to discuss at our February meeting.  Kent Harlow seconded and the motion carried.

BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR

None

OLD BUSINESS

Fire Chief Max Sielert presented:

Kimberly Clark’s tax abatement issue was discussed and reasons for this happening.  It has been on the tax rolls for 3 years and 2011 will be the fourth year.  There has also been some discussion about being very likely that other errors were made in abatements.  An audit is being scheduled for others in New Century in the event there has been an error.

He indicates he is still working on updating the 2010 and 2011 budgets on the state form.  We have been working on finalizing our 2010 files.

We have received several calls about building codes issues inside the city limits of Gardner.  He has discussed this with Stewart Fairburn with the City of Gardner.  We plan to meet with the City next week on how we will be doing inspections, plan review and code enforcement.  Our biggest issue is when we receive telephone calls regarding codes issues, we don’t want to be advising business owners 1 way, why the City building inspector is advising them another. In the future we will have input on how the inspections and plan reviews are handled. Kent Harlow asked if we ever worked with the city codes department.  He advised that we have not been involved with Gardner city codes in the past, however, we will be doing inspections of every business in the Gardner city limits from here forward.  We will inspect and give them a list of things that are required to be corrected.  When they respond with correction have been completed, we return for re-inspection.  Any items that are continuously not being corrected, will be turned over to the City Code Dept for handling.  We just need to meet with City Codes Officials and coordinate our efforts.

He advised he has tried to contact Marilyn this past week about the City of Olathe collection.  She is still working on the summary judgment.  Once this is done, we review and make changes.  The only timeline involved is once she has submitted this to the court, it will be from 1 to 6 months before a judgment is made.

Deputy Chief Rob Kirk presented:

He presented the opportunity to apply for a federal grant for fire prevention and inspection.  We want to purchase 5 notebook computers and software to hook up to firehouse, along with docking stations.  This will enable us to enter inspection related data directly into firehouse.  The $60,000 grant would require us to pay $6,000.  The grant indicates that priority will be given to those cities where this has not existed in the past.  This should put us in the top, as far as need, relative to this grant.  We can have the application process completed by Friday if permission is granted by the Board.  The deadline is February 14^th and we should be notified by August this year if we win the grant.  The Board granted permission to apply for this grant.

NEW BUSINESS

None

FUTURE MEETINGS

The next Board meeting will be held at Station 2 on 183^rd, on the 2nd Tuesday, February 8^th and will begin at 6:30 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

At 7:25 p.m. Kent Harlow moved to adjourn the meeting and continue with executive session.  Keith Johnson seconded and the motion carried.

There was a 15 minute Executive Session convened:

Contract negotiations