[1. ROLL CALL]
[00:00:06]
CALL TO MEETING TO ORDER.DO WE HAVE ANY AMENDMENTS TO THE AGENDA? UH, NONE FROM STAFF, MR. CHAIRMAN.
[3.A. FY 2024 Financial Audit Report]
ON THE REPORTS WE HAVE MR. AARON HAWKINS HERE TONIGHT.GO TAKE, GIVE US SOME GOOD NEWS.
I ALWAYS LIKE TO START THINGS OFF AT, AT, AT, GO FIRST AT A MEETING.
AND, UM, GLAD TO BE HERE TO PRESENT THE, THE FY 24 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND, AND THE AUDIT.
AND, UM, JUST TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE AUDIT PROCESS ITSELF.
UM, SECOND YEAR INTO A NEW ACCOUNTING SYSTEM.
UM, I THINK EVERYONE'S FEELING MORE COMFORTABLE, UM, FROM THE FINANCE STAFF TREASURER'S DEPARTMENT.
I THINK EVERYONE'S, UM, AS EXPECTED SECOND YEAR INTO A NEW ACCOUNTING SYSTEM, I THINK FELL MUCH, MUCH BETTER THAN THE FIRST.
AND, UM, THOUGHT THE AUDIT PROCESS WENT WELL.
UM, REALLY, REALLY, UM, NOTHING BUT GOOD THINGS TO SAY.
UM, FROM THE AUDIT PROCESS, I DO HAVE, WE DO HAVE A SEPARATE MANAGEMENT LETTER TO TALK ABOUT, UM, SCHOOL BOARD.
AGAIN, THEIR, THEIR ESER GRANT, UM, JUST LAGGING AND GETTING THOSE REQUESTS OUT FOR REIMBURSEMENT THAT THEY HAVE FOR THOSE FEDERAL EXPENDITURES.
UM, SO SEPARATE MANAGEMENT LETTER THAT TALKS ABOUT THAT.
AND, UM, I HAVE TO THINK WE'RE GETTING CLOSE TO THE END OF THOSE ESSER ESSER FUNDINGS AND, AND, AND ARPA AND COVID RELATED FUNDINGS THAT ARE OUT THERE, BUT WE SHALL SEE.
BUT, UM, JUST TO GO OVER JUST A FEW BASIC, UM, PAGES WITHIN THE REPORT, UM, AND THEN KIND OF OPEN IT FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE.
UM, I ALWAYS START ON PAGE ONE, WHICH IS OUR AUDITOR'S REPORT.
IT CONTAINS OUR AUDIT OPINION, WHICH OUR AUDIT OPINION IS UNMODIFIED.
UM, IF IT WERE, IF IT WERE A MODIFIED OPINION, THAT WOULD NOT BE A GOOD THING.
A MODIFIED OPINION WOULD, WOULD HAVE SOME LANGUAGE LIKE THIS, AND THEN IT WOULD SAY, BUT THERE'S THIS OTHER THING, AND THAT WAS, THAT'S WHY IT WOULD BE CALLED A MODIFIED.
THIS IS VERY MUCH THE, THE BOILERPLATE TEMPLATE, UNMODIFIED OPINION, AND HOW IT'S WORDED.
AND, UM, BASICALLY MEANS THAT BASED ON THE TESTING THAT WE DID, THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS THAT FOLLOW THIS CAN BE RELIED UPON.
UM, THERE WERE NO NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS THAT, THAT REQUIRED, UM, INCLUSION IN THIS AUDITOR'S REPORT FOR THIS YEAR.
UM, I THINK THE ONLY NEW, NEW HURDLE THIS YEAR WAS JUST A, UM, AN INTERPRETATION ON, ON CAPITAL ASSETS AND GROUP CAPITAL ASSETS AND THAT ADD A LITTLE, A LITTLE FUN TO THE, TO THE FINANCE STAFF ON, ON GETTING A HOLD OF CAPITAL ASSETS, BUT NOT A NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARD.
ON PAGE FIVE AS THE MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS, UM, I ALWAYS THINK THAT'S A GOOD, A GOOD PLACE FOR YOU ALL TO LOOK AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS THAT FOLLOW THIS, THEY KIND OF HAVE A VERY SET FORMULA AND HOW, WHAT GETS PRESENTED AND HOW IT GETS PRESENTED AND HOW THINGS LOOK.
AND, BUT THIS MDNA, WE CALL IT THE MDNA FOR SHORT.
THIS REALLY GIVES THE FINANCE STAFF THE ABILITY TO TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ECONOMIC TRENDS, GEOGRAPHIC TRENDS, COMPARE THIS YEAR TO THE PRIOR YEAR, THINGS THAT WOULDN'T BE APPROPRIATE TO BE LATER IN THE FINANCIALS.
SO THIS KIND OF GIVES YOU, UM, JUST SOME BACKGROUND ON, ON WHY THE, THE NUMBERS WERE, WHAT THEY WERE THIS YEAR IN THE REPORT.
UM, AND AGAIN, I, I'M TALKING AS THOUGH WE'RE, WE'RE ALL LOOKING AT HARD COPIES RIGHT NOW.
I ASSUME THERE COULD BE SOME PEOPLE WATCHING ME ON A, ON A VIDEO SOMEWHERE AND COULD BE LOOKING AT A PDF DOCUMENT.
AND SO THE PDF PAGE NUMBER WOULD BE SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT.
SO WHEN I'M REFERENCING PAGE NUMBERS, I'M TALKING ABOUT THE HARD COPY DOCUMENT, THE NUMBER THAT YOU SEE AT THE BOTTOM.
AND, UM, SO PAGE 18 IS WHERE YOU REALLY SEE YOUR FUND STATEMENTS BEGIN.
AND ON YOUR GENERAL FUND IS WHERE I USUALLY HONE IN AND TALKING ABOUT THE FUND STATEMENTS.
GENERAL FUND HAD A FUND BALANCE OF ABOUT $27 MILLION, OF WHICH ALMOST 26 OF THAT WAS UNASSIGNED.
SO FOR USE AT THE COUNTY'S DISCRETION.
FLIPPING OVER TO PAGE 20, YOU CAN SEE THE CHANGES IN YOUR GENERAL FUND FOR THE YEAR.
UM, DOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 20, YOU, YOU BEGAN THE YEAR WITH FUND BALANCE OF JUST SHY OF 25 MILLION AND THEN ENDED IT WITH THE NUMBER THAT WE SAW ON THAT PREVIOUS PAGE, A LITTLE OVER 27 MILLION.
I'M GOING TO JUMP WAY FAR AHEAD IN THIS REPORT FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END ON PAGE 1 64 AND ON PAGE 1 64, YOU, YOU SEE OUR NAME R-F-C-R-F-C AT THE TOP.
AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S A REPORT THAT WE HAVE TO, TO ISSUE, UM, ON THE INTERNAL CONTROL TESTING THAT WE HAVE TO DO AS WELL AS STATE COMPLIANCE.
AND, UM, IF WE HAD ANY FINDINGS THAT WE HAD TO REPORT BASED ON THAT, WE WOULD TALK ABOUT THOSE HERE.
UM, BUT WE DO NOT HAVE ANY FINDINGS TO TALK ABOUT, UM, AS IT RELATES TO THAT TESTING.
[00:05:01]
UH, WE'VE GOT OUR REPORT AND OUR OPINION ON THE FEDERAL COMPLIANCE TESTING THAT WE DID FOR THE COUNTY.AND IF WE HAD FEDERAL FINDINGS TO REPORT, WE, WE TALK ABOUT THOSE ON THESE PAGES, BUT WE DO NOT HAVE ANY FEDERAL FINDINGS TO REPORT, WHICH IS A GOOD THING.
AND I THINK THOSE ARE REALLY THE MAIN PAGES THAT I, THAT I TEND TO GO OVER WITHIN THIS, THIS BECOMING A VARIED LARGE DOCUMENT THESE DAYS.
IT PROBABLY USED TO BE HALF THIS SIZE.
UM, BUT SOMEONE DECIDED WE NEED TO FILL IT WITH PAGES UPON PAGES OF TALKING ABOUT YOUR BRS PLANS AND
BUT, UM, ANYHOW, I KNOW IT'S A LARGE DOCUMENT AND, AND SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE BEEN DIGGING INTO IT IN DEPTH AND MAYBE SOME OF YOU HAVEN'T DONE QUITE THAT MUCH OF IT YET, BUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE, IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS NOW, FEEL FREE TO ASK THEM.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS AFTER TODAY, FEEL FREE TO UTILIZE ANN HOWTON TO GET IN TOUCH WITH QUESTION.
THE COUNTY'S VERY LUCKY TO HAVE ANN, AS I'M SURE YOU KNOW, AND, UM, TAKES PRIDE IN THE WORK THAT SHE DOES AND, AND DOES GREAT JOB.
SHE CAN'T RETIRE UNTIL WE GO, THAT'S 20 YEARS, RIGHT? THAT'S RIGHT,
ANY, ANY QUESTIONS? ANY QUESTIONS FOR AARON? ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY, NOTHING, MR. CHAIRMAN, I JUST WANT TO ALSO THANK AARON AND, AND YOU KNOW, ROBINSON FARMER COX ALWAYS DO A WONDERFUL JOB FOR US AND, AND, UM, YOU DO AN AUDIT FOR A PURPOSE AND, AND OBVIOUSLY YOU, Y'ALL DOING IT VERY WELL AND THANK YOU FOR, FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING, ANN.
AND I KNOW IT'S ALREADY BEEN MENTIONED, BUT, UH, IT, THERE'S A LOT THAT GOES INTO YEAH.
YOU KNOW, HAVING GOOD FISCAL INTEGRITY.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, FOR OUR CITIZENS AT HOME, YOU KNOW, WE VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE ANN AND THE STAFF AND THE OTHER, YOU KNOW, FINANCIAL FOLKS, WHETHER IT'S, WHETHER IT'S IN THE SCHOOLS OR SOCIAL SERVICES AND WHATNOT.
FOR US, OF COURSE THE TREASURER AND THE COMMISSIONER REVENUE, BUT, UM, GOOD JOB IS ALWAYS ANN.
MAKES OUR JOB A WHOLE LOT EASIER.
YEAH, WE WELL, YOU AT HOMESTEAD.
I WAS THE ONLY REASON I SAY THAT BECAUSE, UM, PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOUT THEY LIKED YOUR HAIR.
SO I THOUGHT I WOULD TELL YOU ABOUT THAT.
IT'S GOOD TO HAVE A HEAD OF HAIR LIKE THAT.
BE THANKFUL FOR WHILE I HAVE THE LEFT.
HEY, IT'S BETTER TO HAVE IT THAN HAVE IT TURN LOOSE, RIGHT? SO
KEEP YOU WEARING YOUR HAIR LIKE THAT, COACH.
OKAY, MS. CHAIR, CAN I JUST MAKE A COMMENT? NO,
THIS DOCUMENT HAS SO MUCH TO DO WITH ANNE HOWARD AND I JUST WANNA SAY THANK TO ANNE AND THOSE THAT HELP IN THE PROCESS IN THAT DEPARTMENT, AS WELL AS ALL OF OUR OTHER STAFF THAT ARE INVOLVED WITH THIS AND OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM AND OUR OTHER ENTITIES THAT ARE OUT THERE.
YEAH, THERE ARE A LOT OF MOVING PARTS THAT'S IN THIS, IN THIS REPORT, BUT YES, IT IS.
ANN IS THE ONE THAT CONTROLS THOSE MOVING PARTS AND GETS THERE.
SO JUST PUBLICLY SAY THANK YOU.
CAN WE HAVE SOMEONE WITH US TODAY TO PUTS IT ON THE BOOKS? OKAY.
YEAH, WE LIKE TO THANK, THANK YOU ANN.
I THINK SHE DOES THIS IN HER SLEEP.
MS. CHAIRMAN, WHEN YOU THIS HARD COPY TOO, YOU GOT THE SECTION UNDER THE, THE, UM, INTRODUCTORY SECTION MM-HMM
AND IT GETS REALLY A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF READ THROUGH THAT.
THE OTHER KIND OF THE KEVIN MAGO FAVORITE IS THE STATISTICS STATISTICAL SECTION.
'CAUSE IT ACTUALLY GIVES YOU, IN MANY CASES, A 10 YEAR PROJECTION, NINE YEAR PROJECTION, WHICH MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN ON THERE, THERE IN THAT PERIOD OF TIME.
MR. DOULA, YOU CAN SEE THE, THE PROJECTIONS AND LOOKING AT SOME OF THAT STATS.
AND SO I KNOW WE, WE GO BACK AND REFERENCE THAT QUITE A BIT.
SO FOR YOU ALL, THAT'D BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY AND IF YOU CAN READ THOSE SECTIONS, THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
[4.A. Board Of Equalization Recommendations]
TO ACTION ITEMS. KEVIN, EY.UM, I'M GONNA TAKE THE FIRST ONE.
SO, AS YOU KNOW, UH, PRESENTLY THE, UH, REASSESSMENT FIRM IS, UH, HAVING THEIR APPEAL PROCESS.
SO THEY'RE, UH, AT THE HISTORIC SOUTHSIDE EDUCATION CENTER, THE OLD MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND THEY'RE GOING THROUGH, UH, THOSE APPEALS NOW.
THE NEXT PART IS TO, UH, MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE BOARD OF
[00:10:01]
EQUALIZATION.AND SO WE HAVE, UH, FOUR NAMES THAT WE WANT TO OFFER TO YOU ALL.
UH, ONE IS THE, AND AGAIN, SOME BACKGROUND IN THIS.
THEY'VE, THEY'VE ALL DONE THIS ONCE BEFORE ON THE, THE BOE, SOME LONGER THAN THAT.
UH, SO A REAL GOOD, UH, GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS.
UM, I KNOW THAT, UM, OUR COMMISSIONER REVENUES REACH REACHED OUT TO THEM.
THEY'VE INDICATED THAT THEY'RE WILLING TO SERVE.
I STARTED CALLING THEM TODAY, TALKED TO MANY OF 'EM.
SOME HAD, I LEFT VOICEMAIL MESSAGES TOO, ONE THANKING THEM FOR THEIR, UM, DESIRE TO, TO SERVE AGAIN.
UH, AND THE ONES I SPOKE TO TODAY WERE ALL VERY, UH, HAPPY TO DO SO.
UH, SO THE FOLLOWING NAMES WOULD BE RENNY BRIDGEMAN, JOE BATTISON, THOMAS H****R, AND SUSAN N AND SUSAN NYE WOULD BE THE, THE ALTERNATE IN THE EVENT THAT, UH, THE FIRST THREE WOULD, WOULD BE UNABLE TO SERVE DURING THAT PERIOD OF TIME.
IT'S KIND OF IMPORTANT TO GET THIS RECOMMENDATION TO THE JUDGE SO THEY CAN GET APPOINTED.
UM, THE COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE AND I ARE WORKING THROUGH SOME TRAINING THAT WOULD TAKE PLACE THIRD WEEK IN JANUARY.
AND THEN WE WOULD LOOK AT THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY, MID MONTH OF FEBRUARY, I THINK, TO ACTUALLY HAVE THE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION HEARINGS.
THAT'D BE DETERMINED ON DEADLINE FILE.
THE DEADLINE TO FILE WOULD BE IN FEBRUARY.
UM, AND THAT WE, AGAIN, WE WOULDN'T KNOW UNTIL WE GET THE APPLICATIONS IN.
UH, WE DO HAVE A, FOR THOSE THAT ARE, ARE CALLING THE REASSESSMENT OFFICE, NOW THERE'S INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO GET A-A-B-O-E APPLICATION.
UH, ALSO WE PUT THIS ON THE COUNTY WEBSITE, UH, UNDER THE REASSESSMENT TAB THAT ALLOWS, UH, CITIZENS TO DOWNLOAD AN APPEAL FORM, UH, AN APPLICATION RATHER TO THE, THE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION.
SO, UM, MR. CHAIRMAN, THOSE ARE THE NAMES.
WE JUST SIMPLY NEED A MOTION AND, AND MAY OF COURSE SOME DISCUSSION IF NEED BE.
BUT WE WOULD ULTIMATELY, UH, HAVE A MOTION BE MADE TO, TO, UM, APPOINT RENNY BRIDGEMAN, JOE ADDISON, THOMAS H****R, AND SUSAN I TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION RATHER TO THE JUDGE FOR BOARD OF EQUALIZATION.
I ALSO MOVE SECOND ROLL CALL MR. LEE.
[4.B. VRA 2019C Taxable Bond Requisition #7 And Tax-Exempt Bond Requisition #55]
MOVING ON DOWN TO MS. ANN HARRINGTON.UM, WHAT I HAVE BEFORE YOU TODAY IS A REQUEST TO SEND SOME FUNDS TO VRA TO COVER OUR PORTION OF OUR YIELD, UM, PAYMENT, YOUR REDUCTION LIABILITY PAYMENT TO THE IRS, UM, THE WHOLE 200 2019 C UM, BOND ISSUE THAT V-R-S-V-R-A DID FOR US.
THE INTEREST RATES WERE FAIRLY LOW ON THAT BORROWING SINCE IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS THAT WE'VE HAD FUNDS OUTSTANDING ON THAT, WE'VE EARNED ABOUT $340,000 OF INTEREST.
SO THE IRS WOULD LIKE THEIR PART OF THAT.
ACCORDING TO THEIR GUIDELINES, WE CAN'T KEEP ALL OF IT.
SO THE PART WE CANNOT KEEP IS ABOUT $85,084,000.
UM, SO PART OF THAT IS GONNA COME OUT OF THE TAX EXEMPT, UM, BALANCE THAT'S ABOUT $14,000 AND THAT WILL WIPE OUT THAT PART OF THE BORROWING PROCEEDS.
THERE'S ABOUT 300,000, ALMOST 300,000 LEFT IN THE TAXABLE BOND PROCEEDS, WHICH IS NOT AFFECTED BY THIS ARBITRAGE.
UM, AND YIELD RESTRICTION, UH, LANGUAGE THAT THE IRS PUTS ON US, THAT'S ONLY APPLICABLE TO THE EXEMPT BONDS.
UM, BUT 70,000 OF THAT, ALMOST 300,000 IS GONNA GO TOWARDS PAYING OFF THIS ARBITRAGE AMOUNT.
UM, AND SO WE HAD PURPOSELY NOT SPENT ALL THE MONEY, BUT THE REST OF THE MONEY THAT'S LEFT IN THERE, WE'LL WE'LL GO WITH BACK INTO THE CIP FOR SOME UPCOMING PROJECT TO BE DETERMINED AT THIS POINT.
SO IF THERE'S, IF THERE'S NOT ANY QUESTIONS ON IT, I JUST NEED A, UM, APPROVAL OF THE REC OF THE RESOLUTION THAT'S IN YOUR PACKET.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? ANY QUESTIONS? I'LL MAKE A MOTION THAT WE, UM, ACCEPT THE PAYMENT AS PRESENTED.
[00:15:01]
MR. CHAIRMAN? THAT'S IT.ANYBODY GOT ANY STATEMENTS? ALRIGHTY.
AND A NEED A MOTION FOR A CHAIRMAN? SO MOVED.