Denton County Commissioners Court Denton County Pre-Trial Facility 1406 Troy H. LaGrone Drive, Denton, Texas * * * * * Formal Agenda Minutes
Not Official Minutes.  For official minutes, please contact the County Clerk at 940-349-2012.

July 21, 2004

Be it remembered, Commissioners Court of Denton County, Texas was called to order for a Budget Workshop – Appeal Hearing - on Wednesday, 21st day of July, 2004, at 9:00 a.m. in Commissioners Courtroom, Courthouse on the Square, 110 W. Hickory, Denton, Texas by County Judge Mary Horn. Commissioners Sandy Jacobs, Bobbie J. Mitchell & Cynthia White were present along with County Clerk Cynthia Mitchell’s representative, Deputy Clerk Kathleen Bransford. (Commissioner Carter was out of town.)

Discussion of any action related to Denton County’s 2004-05 Budget.

(The following is an attempt to provide only the highlights of this budget work
session. The motions are official upon review by the Budget Director, the Chief of
the Civil Division of the Criminal District Attorney’s Office and the approval of
Commissioners Court. For a viewing of the entire proceedings, please contact the
Information Services Department for a video, the website at dentoncounty.com or the
County Clerk’s office for the audio tapes.)

RECORDS MANAGEMENT PAGE A-103 PAGE 5 OF 6 CHANGES SHEET

Theresa Rogers, Records Preservation Manager: Please reference Page A-104 indicating the increased workload since 1999. Last year you asked me to limit the amount of public traffic to our department. That has not produced as much of a decrease to our workload as we had hoped; departments are still requesting original documents from us due to the increase each department is seeing in public traffic.
Comm. Mitchell: Page A-104, you show total inmate hours for 2004. Will you be using inmates in 2005?
Ms. Rogers: Nothing has been estimated because we do not yet know what the new sheriff’s policy will be. We’re planning on using inmates, if available.
Comm. Mitchell: Additional inmates could help you?
Ms. Rogers: I do not have room for anymore.
Comm. Mitchell: But you do have room for another employee that you are requesting?
Ms. Rogers: We have a special enclosed room for the inmates.
Comm. Jacobs: Judge, this department is under your purview. What is your recommendation?
Judge Horn: I am confident we will have the assistance of the inmates and would ask my assistant, Frank Phillips and Operations, if we could increase the capacity of the room where the inmates work.
Ms. Rogers: I have requested more room in the lower level.
Judge Horn: That area needs refurbishment but we are still waiting on the final settlement check from the lawsuit.
Thomas Keever, Asst. DA/Civil: We have filed a motion for status conference on the settlement to either settle this matter or further litigate it.
Judge Horn: They agreed to a settlement but have not paid.
Mr. Keever: The hold-up is they want the county to indemnify them against everything and I am totally unwilling to do that.
Judge Horn: Let’s get with Danny to see if we can come up with more space so as to increase the number of inmates helping Theresa’s department.
Mr. Phillips: I have spoken with Danny about more space and he needs suggestions. But I will ask him again.
Comm. Jacobs: Can we get a drawing of the space and take a look at it?
Judge Horn: There is more space across the hall and, I believe, putting up four walls is less expensive than a new employee.
Donna Stewart, Budget Director: If we do find more space and more inmates are available, we would still need the printer.
Ms. Rogers: Yes, I will need another Reader/Printer for the inmates to be able to work.

PROBATE COURT PAGE A-17 PAGE 1 OF 1 – CHANGES SHEET

Jean Manion, Probate Court Investigator: We are asking for an additional position to assist in the monitoring of the guardianship cases. An annual review is done by the Judge but paper reports are not always accurate as to what is really going on. It is important for the court to do a more detailed monitoring. This could be done by volunteers but before they can be recruited, we would need a coordinator for 15 to 20 volunteers to manage them and prepare reports which can them be reviewed by the court for recommendations. By going out in the field, we could catch wrongdoing in cases before reaching a crisis point.
Comm. Mitchell: Is there not someone doing that job now?
Ms. Manion: Right now the monitoring process is done through review of annual reports. The Assistant Investigator, Missy Rainey, an Intern Probate Investigator, is helping the judge review those cases. A red flag prompts an investigator to go out in the field. Volunteers would provide the manpower to check on every case.
Comm. Jacobs: My question is directed to Donna – we have asked you in the past to prioritize requests for new positions that are not in the Recommended Budget but if we had the money, we could satisfy the request. Is this request of high or low priority?
Ms. Stewart: Based on all other departmental requests, I would have to rank this as a lower priority. We have done so much for the Guardianship Program by implementing it last year with a $75,000 impact this year. The Court has paid attention to their needs.
Comm. Jacobs: 99.9 % of all new hire requests are probably warranted. Denton County has the lowest ratio number of employees to population. My priority has been to use funding for raises for all our employees as opposed to hiring new ones. We cannot do both new hiring and raises. Neither Donna nor I are saying that your employee is not necessary but we must look at all departments and see the greatest need.
Ms. Manion: I understand.
Judge Horn: Last year when this program was set-up, there were references to grant funding. Where are we on that issue?
Ms. Manion: Applications have been submitted to the state and a local program - I have not spoken to a Director recently as for an update. Let me clarify that the Guardianship Program and the hiring of guardians is one issue. A court monitoring program is another program and would involve all guardianships.
Judge Horn: So you are pursuing grants but nothing has come of it yet.
Ms. Manion: Yes.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PAGE A-82 PAGE 4 OF 6

Ms. Stewart: Jody would like to address Ambulance funding at the top of Page 1 of the Changes Sheet and also some mobile phone and computer printer requests on page 4 of 6.
Jody Gonzales, Fire Marshal: On Page A-82 are small appeals. I am requesting that the mobile phone expense be restored to the amount I initially placed in my budget for the purpose of coordinating with the Health Dept thereby facilitating communication and dissemination of information throughout the State of Texas. The $1360 request could go as low as $1000 – I am working on that.
Comm. Mitchell: Why can’t it go any lower?
Mr. Gonzalez: I am trying to eliminate other line items and re-allocate some of my pager money to make
it go that low.
Comm. Mitchell: But this is something you and your employees can control.
Mr. Gonzalez: This is an increase in service so we do not have control over that. I have the money for the device but the service plan needs to be upgraded for three units at $30 per month. This service will give us internet and email capability throughout the entire system.
Comm. Mitchell: Do you have laptops and PDA’s?
Mr. Gonzalez: This is a PDA Device and yes, we do have laptops, some are wireless but used mainly for TLETS & INLETS information disseminated by the Sheriff’s Dept. for determining criminal information.
Comm. Jacobs: Your first statement about coordinating with the Health Dept. got my attention. Based on emergency services, this would assist you in improving communication?
Mr. Gonzalez: Absolutely.
Comm. Jacobs: Explain how it would help.
Mr. Gonzalez: By providing an immediate response not only with the Health Dept. but various other agencies outside the 8-5 workday norm. Right now we have this capability only through cell phone usage which, if we lost that, would leave us no communication between all these agencies.
Judge Horn: Tell us about the printer.
Mr. Gonzalez: Prior to our move from this building, we were using Barbara’s laser printer. This is a third-year request for a colored printer which would eliminate our evidentiary expenses for an outside photography development supplier. 75% of our equipment is digital and printable thereby saving money on an outside film developer.
Comm. Jacobs: What is your outside vendor cost now?
Mr. Gonzalez: Around $500 -$600 per year. Currently, all we have is a black and white laser printer.

AMBULANCE FUNDING PAGE 1 OF 6

Mr. Gonzalez: I wish I could say that this proposal is zero impact, but I cannot. Donna and I have discussed this proposal for several years and now it is also on the front burner of the Fire Chief’s Assoc. The proposal is to eliminate ambulance transport billing by Denton County. EM Dept. bills $345 per ambulance transport to an emergency facility – billing only insured and self-paid patients. All Medicare and Medicaid patients are not billed. Medicare only reimburses the actual provider – not the sub-contractor provider, i.e., Denton County. I have worked with Dr. Burton and the Judge on this through legislative procedures, but Federal statute requirements override any progress we have attempted.

The Fire Chiefs and Ambulance providers are willing to do their own billing in unincorporated areas, just as they do in their municipalities, in order to secure funding from Medicare/Medicaid patients. And their point is that the county has not increased ambulance funding in over eight years. Most all EMS providers itemize their bills but under the county system, they do not have that capability.
Comm. White: So you are requesting an increase?
Ms. Stewart: It is actually a revenue loss but we show it as a positive number because it will impact the budget in the amount of $45,000.
Mr. Gonzalez: I am asking to eliminate that revenue line item altogether, allowing individual Fire & EMS services to bill their own patients, thereby gaining more revenue than what the county’s $345 per call provides.
Mr. Keever: Under our present system, the county pays $10,000 up front to each service plus $345 per run?
Mr. Gonzalez: That’s the Fire contracts. EMS is different.
Comm. Jacobs: We pay EMS by per capita to service those unincorporated areas.
Mr. Gonzalez: Yes – it is a three tiered formula based on population, rural square miles and number of rural runs. Their point is that instead of the County having to increase their funding of $345 per run, just let them do their own billing and collection. I believe that estimated Revenue line item of $45,000 is too high and, in fact, the revenue projection for this year is $50,000. Previous years it was $40,000 which is where it should have stayed, in my opinion. Auditor’s actual revenue in 2003 is $54,000 – my projections, under EMS collections, shows $31,419. This discrepancy was due to a $23,000 payment from Dallas County in October – I do not have a contract with Dallas County so that revenue figure is incorrect. The Auditor’s office is working on that – perhaps a miscoding. The problem with County billing is that we are losing half of the money that could be collected. Enabling individual agencies to do their own billing would provide more revenue for them, not for the county.
Comm. Jacobs: I am not disagreeing with you but, if we did not have this program to pay for services in unincorporated areas, emergency services would still go there and individual patients would still pay. The end result is that the county would be better off without this program, let each agency do their own billing and collecting of money that is now uncollectible by the county. I fear, though, that the agencies will suffer and not get any money or it will take longer to collect from the Federal Gov’t. making that $45,000 look like nothing compared to what they will lose. This program has been so successful here in our County, it has been used as an example not only across the state, but across the country. Your recommendation is not the best solution to the Medicare/Medicaid problem: I fear it would hurt not only our Fire Departments but also our residents. I cannot support this.
Mr. Gonzalez: I understand. Let me propose this: we could lower that $45,000 revenue number by $25,000. Currently, the budget for Emergency Medical Services is at $775,000 – if we lowered that to $750,000 as in previous years, leaving an impact of only $20,000 to the county and thereby allowing the Fire Departments to budget their own funding.
Comm. Jacobs: So you already had Plan B in place which does sound a lot better than Plan A. What if we allowed them to do their own billing but reimbursed them the same amount we are paying in now. Then they would be the main provider allowing them to claim Medicare/Medicaid and we could continue providing them funding as a Second Provider.
Mr. Keever: I do not foresee a state problem but there might be a problem on the Federal level.
Comm. Jacobs: My suggestion would be to hold out that $20,000 and research this possibility.
Mr. Gonzalez: That eliminates the County from doing any billing but still being able to provide the funding and allowing them to collect at a 65% rate, like the City of Denton, as opposed to our rate of 20%. That is my proposal. You have a good idea, Commissioner.
Comm. Jacobs: Thank You – but now get with Legal to see if it is doable.

COUNTY AUDITOR PAGE A-45 PAGE 2 OF 6

Mr. Wells, County Auditor: As you know, District Judges control my budget as opposed to Commissioners Court, so I am seeking your input on my appeal request. My preference is to have your OK before my request goes before them. Two items being requested are an upgrade of a PT Financial Analyst Three position to a FT Internal Auditor position.

This is not a request for a new employee – current employee is budgeted at 30 hours, we are asking for a ten-hour per week increase to go FT. Our staffing right now is 14.75 employees – in 2001 our staffing was 16 and so we are asking you to restore one of our positions we voluntarily cut. This is approximately a 10% decrease in our staffing when the county has a whole has increased at about 8% in the same period.

Also listed is some of our increased workload experienced in this time period. New programs that my office is administering which bring in additional revenue to the County: SCAAP Grant (State Criminal Alien Assistance Program) has no strings attached as to where the money can be spent, two Child Protective Services 4-E Grants, Indigent Legal Services Grant, Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund and Assistant State Prosecutors Longevity Reimbursement Agreement.

Another new program we’ve added where the funding is specified but still requires extra work from my office: TRIP 2004 Road Bond Program - $187 million dollars. Also, my office continues to work from the 1991 Road Bond funding. If the ’91 program has lasted over ten years, this program may be with us for the rest of my career. Also, the GASB 34 Financial Reporting Compliance represents a major shift in the way my office operates – other counties have added staffing to deal with this. It did take 100 extra hours of my time individually last year to comply with it. 200-250 clocked hours added to my staff. Because of the work we do, our audit fees are 30 - $40,000 less.

My last request is restoration of our Training & Education funding to the $6,055 rather than the $5,225 based on equity recommendation. The average budget for each employee throughout the non-enforcement, non-legal departments is about $437. My budget reflects $360 – am asking for $420, which seems reasonable to me.
Comm. Jacobs: James, I have never known you to ask for something you did not need but I am still going to ask a question. Donna, where does this fall on your priority list?
Ms. Stewart: In my opinion, considering all he has mentioned, a high priority.
Comm. Jacobs: I have no problem with your request and, in fact, realize that your staffing is a lot lower than most auditor departments across the urban counties. You and your staff deserve a “Hat’s Off” salute.
Mr. Wells: It is true and Thank You.
Comm. White: Could this be covered legally out of the interest from Bond Funds?
Mr. Wells: Not having researched that, I would still say probably not. I could not say that this requested position would be working full time on transportation issues. I will look into it because my office does spend many hours working on road issues.
Comm. Mitchell: My question pertains to Training & Education – YTD you are at $3,418.43 with two months left, you believe you are going to reach that $5,000?
Mr. Wells: We will spend more than that.

CITY OF DENTON TEEN COURT HANDOUT

Barbara Gailey: Thank You for this opportunity to appeal your decision. I apologize, as an immediate past president of the Juvenile Diversionary Services of Denton (JDS), we have been remiss in updating Commissioners Court as to the progress of the Teen Court. Let me introduce Sgt. Roland Jones, Executive Director of the Teen Court.
Mr. Jones: We have provided you a pamphlet with the history of the Teen Court. The introduction of us as the City of Denton Teen court is incorrect. It is under the JDS, Inc., a non-profit corporation that is run for the entire County. When the program began in 1995 under a Title V grant, the City of Denton initiated it and created JDS, Inc. and then we invited other cities to become a part of it. We stretched that grant from three years into five years; for the last three years, our funding has been a third from Denton County, two-thirds from the City of Denton. That is where the confusion arises – we are not asking for funding to run a city teen court. All we are asking is funding to cover a third of the cases that come from Denton County, i.e., JP Pct. 5, City of Highland Village, Sanger, Pilot Point, etc.

The Denton Teen Court will continue next year – whether it continues with county funding/participation is the question before us. Without county funding, we will no longer be able to take cases from county courts or these smaller towns. Nor we will be able to provide Community Service Programs to Juvenile Probation as we have over the past few years because without a contract from the county we cannot cover our liability insurance.
Comm. Mitchell: I appreciate the job that you’re doing but having witnessed first hand the Lewisville/Flower Mound Teen Court, I have a problem with County funding to this program. I believe Teen Court is up to each city to fund. I am not in favor of funding this. Lewisville requested funding from the County in the same amount that we provide to the City of Denton Teen Court. I told the Mayor the same thing I am telling you – I believe this to be the responsibility of every city.
Comm. White: I appreciate what you are saying, Comm., but I have a different viewpoint in looking at the amount of in-kind services provided by the City of Denton. As a county, we need this for the unincorporated areas and small towns that simply cannot afford the program.
Comm. Mitchell: But they do have access. They can go to the Denton Teen Court.
Comm. White: It is an appropriate expenditure for Denton County to contribute to Teen Court for those people living in unincorporated areas and the smaller cities. $30,000 is a small price to pay for the benefit we’re receiving for the community-at-large. This is also an invaluable service for the teens.
Comm. Mitchell: Are you willing to give the same amount to the City of Lewisville?
Comm. Jacobs: And the City of Carrollton?
Comm. White: Yes, I would be. The City of Denton is already paying for the City’s share. The $30,000 being discussed is the County’s share in the program.
Mr. Jones: If I may interject one thing – there is not a city that I’m aware of that is responsible for Justice of the Peace No. Five. That is a county responsibility. Over a third of my cases from last year came out of JP 5.
Comm. Mitchell: I understand. When we first started our Teen Court, JP 3 was doing it with funding from the City of Lewisville. She turned it back over to the City and JP 5 can do the same thing. I am not knocking the services you provide – I love Teen Court. I have been a big proponent of Teen Court but I believe the cities can pay for it themselves.
Mr. Jones: Excuse me, but you’re saying that JP 5 should turn its cases over to a City Court? I don’t think that is legal.
Comm. Jacobs: That is what the cities of Carrollton and The Colony did.
Comm. Mitchell: We’re not doing it in JP 3 – the City is handling those cases.
Mr. Jones: The only cases JP 3 handles for juveniles are unincorporated tickets which are their truancy cases which we set-up with CCD counseling and gave them a program to handle truancy. You’re saying that JP 5 should now refer his cases to a city court so the city must set-up a teen court?
Comm. Mitchell: I don’t know how you would set it up – that is not my argument. My argument is that cities should pay for Teen Courts. And if there are teens that have to use the city court, than we have to contract and pay JP 5’s cost for that. I do not have a problem with that.
Mr. Roland: That is what we’re here to explain. That’s all we’re asking you to pay for – that third of the cases that come out of that court, nothing else.
Comm. Mitchell: No, you have other cities….
Mr. Roland: If you will check the number of cases from last year….
Comm. Mitchell: I checked them….my comment is still that the City of Denton needs to run it’s own Teen Court….
Mr. Roland: The city will continue….
Comm. Mitchell: …if the county has any cases referred to the City of Denton, JP 5 needs to pay them.
Mr. Roland: That’s exactly what we are saying here….I am not asking you to pay for the Cities of Denton, Sanger, Highland Village cases. I am asking for funding for the cases sent to me by your JP court.
Comm. Jacobs: I love Teen Court. My son and daughter served on Teen Court in The Colony. They loved it. When it began, the County did not pay one penny – it was all out of JP 2 – Judge Moseley was the JP, he initiated the program without a cost to the County. He and his staff handled all those cases without contracting out that service. Extra money was brought in by his solicitation of businesses in the area to contribute food/services. The program got so popular that the cities decided they wanted to do it with their Municipal Judges. So, Sir, we do not have to contract the 30% with you……we can do that in-house with our existing JP court the way we used to and probably at less cost than this $82,000. Thereby, we would not be outsourcing this service but doing it internally since it’s only 30% and allowing the Cities of Denton, Highland Village, etc. to do their own Teen Court. That is my recommendation.
Judge Bateman, JP 5: Looking beyond the money aspect, this is one of the few programs I have in dealing with juveniles and causing them to be responsible for their own actions – if it is taken away, then the parents will have to pay.
Comm. Jacobs: Judge, no one is suggesting that this program be taken away. If you will contact Judge Ron Marchant, JP 6, he will be glad to explain how you can run one yourself. And, if we’re only talking about 30% of the total, it will not be difficult for you at all.
Judge Bateman: How can we do this with the staff that I have?
Comm. Jacobs: Call Judge Marchant….he will tell you. He only has three staff members….how many do you have?
Judge Bateman: Five and one PT. But you’re saying to include this on top of all the other matters….
Judge Jacobs: I know….I’ve been around a long time….I know how JP court works. But contact him and he will give you a lot of insight.
Judge Horn: I thank everyone for their time.

BRIDGES OUT REACH PROGRAM PAGE A-96 PAGE 5 OF 6 (Health Care Relief Fund)

Sharlyn Elliott: I am the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Bridges Out Reach of Denton County, Inc. I am also a Public School Teacher at Lewisville ISD. I am here for the appeal of our budget. Bridges represents an outreach effort among several local churches of various denominations and local community organizations to provide children guidance and activities for a more rewarding and meaningful summer. The summer program incorporates spiritual instruction, instruction in core subjects of reading, math and science based upon the TACS objectives and community service. Bridges meets the needs of the at-risk youth not only during the summer but throughout the year by participating in school based sponsored programs such as the Headway Tutoring Program, Excel Preventative Program and provides food to children in athletics and those being tutored after school.

Our mission is to impact the young people of Southern Denton County in a positive way by inundating them with positive role models.

Some of the services rendered by Bridges: 5-week free summer program in which we lease the building and a bus to pick-up the children. This year we had 110 children from five middle schools in Lewisville and one in Flower Mound. This is our fourth year and we began in a church with 40 children. We teach the Bible, reading, science, math, computer technology, fine arts, Karate and community service. Field trips once a week are free and lunches are provided by CCA (Christian Community Action).

Many of my children have been in the court system. Please refer to the handout which shows that in 1998 Denton County Juvenile Detention Dept. paid out $960,000. This year that amount is over $2 million dollars with a current budget proposal of $2 million. For those children who have committed serious crime you must place them. The Post Adjudication Facility for six to nine months is a cost of $93.75 per day, so I took an average of seven months and that number is $19,687.50 per child just to stay in the system in Denton County. We’re asking for $29,000 to help defray our costs with a possible 115 children in the program next summer and we will be tracking all these children throughout the school year. Also, I believe we had only one Title I middle school last year – this year we have six Title I schools in the Lewisville ISD. The level of poverty has increased in the City of Lewisville, thereby creating greater needs.

Our community support: my husband and I gave $7,000, Rita Lasuzo, also a Public School Teacher, has given $4,000, Ronald McDonald’s give an annual contribution of $5,000, Sam’s Club of Lewisville - $1,000, Verizon Foundation gave $4,000 this year, Wal-mart of Lewisville $500, et al.

Ms. Lasuzo read a letter of support for this program from Dr. Cynthia Ledbetter, UTD Science & Math Education.
Comm. Mitchell: This is a wonderful program and we all appreciate that fact. My question is, do the cities of Lewisville or Flower Mound give your program any grant funding?
Ms. Elliott: They told us we have to be a part of block-grant funding. We are preparing our application for that funding now.
Comm. Jacobs: It is a pleasure to hear of your commitment and devotion to this program. None of us question the program’s benefits. Are all of your children from the City of Lewisville?
Ms. Elliott: The majority but we have some parents driving their children from Southlake. We serve the east side of Lewisville but its open to all children who want to come.
Comm. Jacobs: Donna, have we funded this group before?
Judge Horn: This is a new request.
Comm. Jacobs: And what is the recommendation of our Social Service Committee?
Ms. Stewart: Their recommendation was for status funding without adding any new agencies.
Judge Horn: They are also recommending a 20% decrease in funding to all agencies currently being funded.
Comm. Jacobs: There are so many social service agencies that need and deserve funding. It is a balancing act…..if you were making this pitch to me, I would probably write you a check but you are making it to the taxpayers of Denton County and therefore our need for a Social Services Committee to give us citizen’s input.
Amy Torres, a junior at Luther High School: Read a paper she wrote about Bridges.
(3-minute power point presentation followed.)
Comm. Jacobs: Have you made this presentation to the Lewisville ISD?
Ms. Elliott: They pay my salary as a teacher but no, as for them funding this. They benefit from Bridges.
Mr. Richard Plott, President and CEO of Bridges: Social Intervention is so vital to our juvenile justice system. We will pursue L.I.S.D. funding but it is vital that we have your support, also. We cannot survive without it with several thousand children throughout the county at risk and needing social intervention.
Comm. Mitchell: The committee did not recommend this program not because they did not see its worthiness – they believe it is a good program but are unable to include new programs because of the amount of money Denton County can give. I will be questioning several programs that are included– Boys & Girls Club of Denton County and Denton City/County Day School.
Comm. Jacobs: I wish we had the money to fund not just your thousand kids but the thousand fifteen hundred kids from the City of Denton, Carrollton, etc. We have no less than eighteen independent school districts either partially or wholly within Denton County. It is unfortunate that any child be left behind – I don’t know if anyone has the answer. I look at social service funding as having to bring a safety issue or a service issue to all of our residents – an example, library funding – or an area where neither a school district nor any city has any responsibility over. If it is working in one area, we should not require all taxpayers to pay for the benefits of one area. You are isolated to one area – the L.I.S.D. area. I was pleased to see the number of churches participating in your area. That is great!

CONSTABLE JOHN HATZENBUHLER, PCT. 4 PAGE A-76 PAGE 4 OF 6

Constable Hatzenbuhler: I am here to request our Traffic Deputy be restored to the budget. I have been approached by several people including Comm. Carter about expanded traffic enforcement. We try to do this but recently have been inundated by civil papers, writs, etc. Traditionally, a Traffic Deputy will more than pay for himself. I have presented you with some figures regarding the Road Rage Deputy out of Pct. 2. He did $114,000 gross with $43,000 going back to the state and $70,600 stayed in the County. The Deputy I have assigned to the City of Bartonville did $90,000 in gross, $48,000 to the state with a net of $39,000.
Comm. Mitchell: You are not running a traffic deputy now?
Constable H: My deputies have the authority but as a secondary task. We’re requesting one to do it as a primary job. Also, he would be enforcing the handicap parking violators.
Comm. Mitchell: Do you know if our new Sheriff is going to be handling all traffic enforcement?
Constable H: I do not know. The County does have one handicap deputy but he is doing the whole county and the problem is bigger than a one-man job. We could relinquish one of our requests for a vehicle to help pay for this and we can get by for another year with the vehicles we have.
Ms. Stewart: What would change on your Changes Sheet is a $19,000 reduction for one vehicle – the new vehicle is not included in here based on their appeal – bringing their total request to $37,329.
Comm. White: You mentioned that there is already one Road Rage office for the entire county from Pct. 2.
Constable H: He does come when requested but one traffic deputy cannot cover the entire county.
Comm. White: My concern is that we’re creating another License & Weights Dept. in another Constable’s office that’s covering only one precinct.
Constable H: He would not be a L & W Officer.
Comm. White: I am betting Precinct One could use one as well…..I get a lot of calls about this problem.
If we give you one then we are starting a precedent…..
Constable H: In comparison to Precinct Four, Precinct One JP precinct is mostly covered by city police.

OPERATIONS PAGE A-59 PAGE 3 OF 6 (Courthouse on the Square)

Danny Brumley, Manager of Facilities: Originally, $38,000 was budgeted for furnishing refinishing. I have cut that number down to $29,200. This request includes all the furniture in this courtroom - minus the row seating - the chairs and the desks in each office and in the 1896 Room.
Comm. Mitchell: I already paid to have my office furniture refinished and I would expect each Commissioner to do the same.
Comm. Jacobs: Could this come from the bond money?
Mr. Brumley: I tried that – no.
Ms. Stewart: Because it involves refinishing – not the buying of new furniture.
Comm. White: What would the amount be if you took out the furniture in each Commissioner’s office?
Just did the furniture in here, the conference room, 1896 Room…..
Mr. Brumley: All of the furniture is in need – the last time it was done was 18 years ago. I’d like to see all of it done.
Comm. Mitchell: Will you be reimbursing those of us who already paid for it out of our own budget?
Mr. Brumley: Comm. Mitchell found the money in her own budget for her two desks but not the chairs when we were in the Pre-Trial Center.
Comm. Jacobs: I would like to put this on the end and see what happens as we get closer to end of budget.

RECYCLING PAGE THREE OF SIX

Mr. Brumley: This request for a new recycling truck @ $35,400 was initially tied to the new employee with all the other requests. My request is not to tie it to that new employee – Vehicle Assessment Committee does recommend the purchase of this truck.
Comm. Jacobs: Is it just the truck the committee recommended?
Ms. Stewart: The committee recommends replacing it whether we get a new employee or not.
Beth Fleming, Director of Purchasing: This truck was purchased in 1996 with grant funding and does need to be replaced. And, we have looked high and low for more grant funding, but cannot find any.
Comm. Jacobs: I would be in favor of the truck.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY PAGE A-39 PAGE 2 OF 6

Lee Ann Breading, Assistant District Attorney: Mr. Isaacks really wanted to be here for his appeal but he is President of Texas District & County Attorney’s Association this year and he had to go to the National Conference.

Evidence Expense: Our cases requiring forensic evidence are growing. We originally requested $50,000 in this line item – this is an increase of $7,000 from last year but our concern is that is still not enough. The actuals in 2001-02 were $19,239.90; in ’02-’03, $33,940.90 – the adopted budget that year was $11,000. Currently, we have spent $33,311.32 in evidence expenses – the adopted budget was $18,000 of which some was separated out for CPS. At this point, we have spent all but $200 with two months to go. The Capital Cases line item that you put additional expenses into, we depleted that by the end of January in the hearings for the Clark death penalty case. Some of the factors driving this is the DNA testing for several capital cases during the next budget year. State Witness Reimbursement is out of money so they are giving out vouchers.

Currently, we are in trial on a murder case – there are three defendants involved and also involves bringing the Medical Examiner from Oklahoma down here. But, the problem is that this particular ME moved to Maine, thereby increasing our expenses. We are requesting an additional $25,000 for this line item. This money could be put into contingency to allay our concerns about the mounting costs.

Equity Adjustment: This particular equity adjustment was not approved by Human Resources but we ask you to reconsider this request. There were some revisions done that Amy was not aware of. One employee began working for the County in April, 1994. She was promoted several times and had a good work background when she came to us. The other employee began in July 1991 and was also promoted several times. These two employees need to be placed on the same step as another employee who was hired in 1997 and is now doing all the detail work of the Grand Jury. If the court agrees with this equity adjustment of one step, we will adjust to the Recommended Budget to find the funds – a total of $3,480. In the Recommended Budget there is a request for a lap-top plus software for me – that amount plus a little we would take from Contract Labor would fund this equity adjustment, if the court so pleases.
Comm. Jacobs: Lee Ann, my suggestion would be to get with Amy again since you have acknowledged revisions that she has not seen regarding the equity adjustments. And I would like to hear if her recommendation changes. If it is not approved by our HR Director, it’s usually outside of policy and then it is up to us to determine the specifics.

Additional Misdemeanor Prosecutor: The cost after several adjustments is $69,878. This is an entry level prosecutor position over the misdemeanor courts that generate revenue – fines and court costs. If we keep operating short-handed, something will give.

Civil Division: We requested $5,000 in Contract Labor to assist this department in areas needing automation.
Judge Horn: This is a lot of money just for Contract Labor. How many hours is it going to take for someone to do data-entry?
Mr. Keever: We require help in various areas – filing, data-entry, etc. $5,000 is a lot less than a full time employee would cost.
Judge Horn: True enough.

INFORMATION SERVICES PAGE A-13 PAGE 1 OF 6

Kevin Carr, Director of IS: My request is for a new hire in the Application Development Dept. It is actually a re-allocation request as we have some other funds that we’re eliminating in order to get this new hire. We feel this position is important. Our App. Dev. Team is two fulltime employees and one part-time temporary. This team does website development on Intrasite/Intranet, graphic design work, data base administration and software programming. This request is actually more for the entire county than for just our department. A majority of the requests we receive for custom application are turned down because we do not have the manpower. Departments come to us with great ideas about how their work could be streamlined with the development of software, but we have to turn them down. Galveston County has 15 employees in this division; Fort Bend has ten. Even those counties smaller than us have more employees than we do. I am proud of our small team because of the amount of work they have accomplished.
Comm. Mitchell: Donna, you did not recommend this position?
Ms. Stewart: No, but I would place this as a high priority.
Comm. Mitchell: He’s showing 0 impact…..
Ms. Stewart: I did not know he had these available cuts….
Comm. White: So the impact will be in years going forward.
Judge Horn: But it begs the question….if you can do without these items he has cut, why were they in the budget in the first place.
Mr. Carr: I addressed that in my appeal. Some of the software and software maintenance is directly related to this dept. This new position would save us from outsourcing our software development/maintenance and produce efficiencies within other departments to the point of where they might not have to create a new position. We have existing space on the 5th floor of the Carroll Building so that would not entail additional cost.

RECESS 11:30 a.m.
RECONVENE 1:30 p.m.

CONSTABLE PRECINCT TWO (L & W) PAGE A-67 PAGE 4 OF 6

Sergeant Wayne Rhodes: We have three topics to discuss regarding appeals. We thank the Budget Office for allowing us a part-time Office Support Specialist 1 but because of a 45% increase in citations in 2004 by L & W and due to racial profiling which effects how citations are kept, we are asking you to consider upgrading that recommended PT to a Fulltime position. In addition, we have received over 654 new warrants this year and a 69% increase of civil process papers which must be processed in a timely manner. At the end of this fiscal year, we will have spent more than three times our 2004 budget for contract labor. Constable Floyd would like to use $2498 of the $2500 of Contract Labor recommended by the Budget Office to help defray the cost of the FT employee, leaving only $9,563 in additional funds to bring position from PT to FT.

We are also asking for a fulltime Deputy Constable. There is over $350,000 in warrant revenue outstanding because we do not have anyone to do the collection. Each deputy we have today attempts over 200 civil papers per month and with the population explosion, these numbers will continue to rise. We are averaging about 66 hours per month on our Bailiff services to the JP 2 court. Currently, we are borrowing a L & W Deputy to assist in handling Bailiff services, thereby taking him away from his own job duties.

Initially, we requested $86,552 to obtain the position. We looked for offsets and were able to cut the costs of the new hire to $54,300.
Ms. Stewart: So we can eliminate the Printed Material, Operating Supplies, Uniforms, a vehicle…..
Mr. Rhodes: Yes. I offered my Uniform allotment for this year if we could get someone. The only thing we do not have is the mobile hand-held radio, which is a safety factor.
Comm. Jacobs: So, what is the difference?
Mr. Rhodes: $32, 200.
Comm. Jacobs: I’d like to pass out a copy of an article from the Dallas Morning News about three days ago regarding population estimates. They are ranking Lewisville as the 32nd largest city behind the County Seat of Denton which is ranked 28th – this is for the State of Texas. The Colony had a 30% population gain over three years. Little Elm had 184% gain. So when the Sergeant talks about the population boom, here are the figures to back him up.

Mr. Rhodes: Thirdly, we wanted to discuss our ruggedized mobile laptops which are obsolete. Originally, to replace two in the Constable’s dept. would cost $10,152 and to replace five in L & W would cost $24,900. These are prices Susan Tyler, our Office Manager, obtained from the DIR. Since then, we have been talking with Kevin Carr, and he suggested we might look into leasing these laptops from Dell at a cost of $9,856.62 for this coming fiscal year – replacing all seven laptops.
Comm. Jacobs: Do we have a recommendation from Kevin?
Ms. Stewart: Yes, you will see on your Changes Sheet, that these be added to our lease arrangement, and the numbers reflect his recommendation.
Mr. Rhodes: To recap the three items we are appealing: the approximate $9500 for our Office Support Specialist to go FT, $54,300 for the FT Deputy Constable and approx. $9900 for the laptops.

HUMAN RESOURCES PAGE A-2 PAGE 1 OF 6

Amy Phillips, Director of HR: We have a “virtual” traffic jam in HR. While our visitors total about 2000 to our office, we’re answering about 50,000 phone calls at the Front Desk which handles a lot of them or transfers them within the department. This is a big increase. We’re also receiving thousands of applications and other documents being faxed to our office and this is with the same two positions handling all of this incoming communication as we had in 1996. The Court has been supportive in giving us personnel resources on the Benefits & Risk Management side. But, on the administrative processing side, the workload has increased greatly with the same number of staff.
Comm. Jacobs: When was the last time you got a new employee?
Ms. Phillips: 2002 we got a Benefits Coordinator.
Comm. Jacobs: Right now you have a total of eight people in your office.
Ms. Phillips: That is correct – for 1400 employees. Industry standard is one HR person for every 100 employees. My staff is doing a great job but they have reached a point where the work is overwhelming. A couple of years ago we started posting our jobs on Career Builder and the Texas Workforce Commission. Also, job postings are emailed to all departments and, with the help of DIS, we have 2,060 people enrolled in a program where they too receive job postings for Denton County. Those enrollees are growing by about
175 people per month. We’re providing a lot more service to the Public but all this exposure produces a lot more administrative work for our staff of two in the front office. Our office is impacted more by new employees than any other office in the County. People also contact our front office to schedule for training.

We have had more Civil Service cases this past year than we have had in the past five years. We’ve had more EEOC complaints filed than in the seven years I have been with the County. The Civil DA responds to these cases but my office provides a lot of information, research, and discussions to the Civil DA. Employee Relation issues also tax our office on Public Information Requests. All of this leads to high maintenance filing for my front office and an increase in typing tests – over 1000 last year.

The same two ladies in the front that annually answer 50,000 phone calls, dealing with 2000 walk-ins, and processing 16,000 applications. Each application is copied and sent out to each department to which the applicant noted and for which the applicant may call back several times requesting their application be sent to other departments - making for a Customer Service friendly operation but adding more time and work spent by these two employees. Added to their burden are projects they must support: Performance Appraisal, Forums, Service Awards Picnic, et al.

My request is for one Grade 14, Clerk level position that can handle phone calls, walk-ins, etc.
Comm. Jacobs: Since the last time this department received a new employee, our number of employees have increased by about 8% which substantiates the need Amy has presented. Additionally, I believe our HR dept. is being asked to do more than it was being asked to do three years ago. I can support this request for a new position.
Ms. Phillips: I am also appealing my Training Position. I know that you are all aware of the need for this position. I realize it is a budgetary issue although I believe it would pay for itself by preventing some of the complaints we’re getting or, if not prevent them, it would aid our Supervisors and Dept. Heads to act more within policy and within the law.
Comm. Mitchell: Of these two positions, which is of higher priority to you?
Ms. Phillips: That’s a good question but each position is so different – one is an entry level position to handle the volume of paperwork internally within our office, the other position is more of a county need for improved training of Supervisors and Managers to improve performance of departments county-wide. We have been asking for the Training Position for years.
Comm. Jacobs: If you had to make one of these positions PT, which one would it be?
Ms. Phillips: The administrative position.
Comm. Jacobs: It may be less expensive for us to go ahead and create a part time Staff Development Coordinator and full time on the entry level position to achieve the same results at a lower cost impact.
Ms. Stewart: For the Staff Development person at 20 hours per week, the cost would be $31,996.
Comm. Jacobs: As opposed to $61,181. This way Amy would end up with two employees, doing entirely different things and still resolving the Training issue.
Ms. Phillips: Comm. Jacobs is correct – it would help our Training a lot because that person would have time to spend on the development of a training manual/course.

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE PCT. 4 PAGE A-20 PAGE 1 OF 6

Judge French: My request is to appeal the Printed Material. The court has spent a total of $2617 the last twelve months and we still need $742 for file folders and $360 for county receipts to be ordered which totals around $3500. We asked for $4000 and Recommended gives us only $2100. Please reconsider and allow us our need of $3500, or better still, $3700 just to squeak by because these printing costs just keep increasing.
Comm. Mitchell: I do not have a problem with the $1900 increase but do you not have another line item you could draw from?
Judge French: We’re juggling money now and that is possible just to cover this year. We need the file folders and county receipts before the end of year. Our annual printing expenses are at least $3700.
Comm. Jacobs: Donna, when you reviewed Judge French’s budget, did you cut more than one line item?
Ms. Stewart: No, that was not the only line item that was cut.
Comm. Jacobs: If we were to allow $1500 rather than the $1900, that would get you the $3500.
Judge French: That would get us a little closer to our request….
Comm. White: Donna, what was in this line item last year?
Ms. Stewart: That amount $2007 was expended which is why the Recommended is $2100. They did just amend their budget to add another $500 to it from another line item.

TEXAS ALCOHOL BEVERAGE COMMISSION PAGE A-78 PAGE 4 OF 6

Beth Gray: The only line item I’m appealing is the air-time cards. We’re trying to get mobile computers in our cars for the purpose of running people through the system for warrants, drivers license, previous alcohol entries, etc. Currently, we are running everything through County Dispatch which causes a backlog if we’re running 15 – 20 tickets at a large party. $600 would allow us to purchase an air time card for the state purchased mobile computers allowing us to access the State computer. Denton County is almost to its limit of 2000 licensed permits, so we have our work cut out for us. We originally requested $1200 because we are not sure if the State will be willing to pick up the cost for the second air-time card.
Comm. Jacobs: So this $600 would eliminate your need to run everything through Dispatch? What kind of difference in numbers would this $600 investment bring?
Ms. Gray: What I am sending now is usually 30-40 per month. What I could be sending is 200 per month. I do not send everyone through simply because of the volume and hardship it would cause Dispatch.
Comm. Jacobs: Considering the time element, I believe the $600 covering a year of monthly service charges would be a good investment.

CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES HANDOUT

Joni Coker: I am here to respectfully appeal your denial of retention bonuses. Our caseworkers have an overwhelming caseload – the long hours (24 hrs/day), low pay and emotional toll cause a high rate of turnover among caseworkers. It’s costly and time consuming to replace them and removes needed stability from our abused and neglected children of Denton County. This retention bonus is eligible for a Title IVE contract reimbursement – the county would pay 58% and be reimbursed 42% and has been successful in Dallas County. Turnover has been reduced by approximately 10%.
Judge Horn: I would dearly love to give our own employees a retention bonus. Why should I do it for CPS and not our county employees.
Joni Coker: Because this affects abused and neglected children.
Judge Horn: Several of our departments also affect children although I am not taking away from the good services of CPS. I would not be able to support this unless I could do it for everyone.
Comm. Jacobs: I have never heard of a retention bonus for a government agency – although since you are quasigovernmental, you may be able to do this. Tom, could you look into this? I have been talking about being able to give bonuses to our employees for years but have always been told it cannot be done. Cities can do them but we cannot.
Mr. Keever: I have not looked at this item specifically but normally you can only reward for future work, not past work.
Comm. Jacobs: Our longevity would be so considered…I have to agree with the Judge. If we’re not giving our own employees a bonus, I’d have a hard time doing this.
Judge Horn: Thank you for your time…it never hurts to ask.

TAX ASSESSOR/COLLECTOR PAGE A-49 PAGE 2 OF 6

Steve Mossman: We requested eight additional staff members in our current budget: Network Assistant to assist our IT operator at a pay grade 17 but would accept 14 just to get someone; we had requested seven clerk positions, three are in the Recommended Budget, I am appealing the other four. TxDot has installed 4 additional RTS terminals in the Tax Office because they say we need them – these terminals are sitting there with no operators. I clearly informed TxDot that we did not have the manpower for that many terminals. Four of these positions would be in Motor Vehicle. Three positions are needed in Property Tax.

Previously, Comm. Jacobs you had mentioned the possibility of a Staff Pool. I have spoken with other counties where it is working successfully – if we had it, I would take advantage of it. Colin County is very happy with it. Through February, until we get caught up, my staff is working 9-10 hours a day and 8 hours on Saturday. Our problems range from stale-dated checks and contracted entities are losing interest – financial interest – because of the lag time for our processing and are considering doing it themselves again.

I have checked on a “Lock-Box” where payments go directly to the bank for immediate processing – the bank’s charge for the service is $114,000 annually.
Judge Horn: We could afford more employees at that amount and be letting the money draw interest for the county, not the bank. Donna, the three employees you recommended were meant for which division?
Mr. Mossman: They were not designated – same dollar amount. We would request that a new line item for collection ads @ $8500 be re-instated. This money has been coming from Office Supplies but its just not there. Our training budget was trimmed from a request of $23,040 to $12,000 – my staff has to retain or gain certification in order to do their jobs. We need that money. Our Postage budget was trimmed from $95,000 to $92,000 – 92 is what is projected to be used this year which means I will be coming back in a month asking for Unappropriated contingency. Denton County is at the bottom as far as staffing but our capacity is at the highest level.
Comm. Mitchell: I constantly get complaints from citizens having to wait until 9 a.m. to get help. Would these additional employees help or will the hours stay from 9 to 4:30?
Mr. Mossman: Ultimately, it would re-open at 8 and I would like to even be open one evening until 7 p.m.
Comm. Jacobs: Where will you be placing the three employees you’ll be getting?
Mr. Mossman: My intention is that two will go to Motor Vehicle and one to Property Tax.
Comm. Jacobs: Will they all be in Denton?
Mr. Mossman: No. One will be Lewisville/MV, one in Denton/MV and Denton/Property.
Comm. Jacobs: Admittedly, this court and past courts have been stingy with the hiring of new employees but the choice has always been between more employees or raises for our present employees. I have always come down on the side of raises. Every department in the county probably needs and could justify a new hire.
Mr. Mossman: Most of my staff has said they would prefer new employees to raises.
Comm. Jacobs: The tax collection agency makes about $200,000 a year and the salaries for 54 employees is $2.2 million with benefits. You got a new employee in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, two in 2001 and now you’re asking for five more. I would venture to say that you have received more new employees in the last few years than any other department. So many departments need more people and to grant this many new employees, outside of the jail, which is mandated, is not a fair and equitable distribution of the funding this County normally spends on new hires. I’m not suggesting you do not need them, nor that your figures are skewed nor that your request is even out of line…..if I were in your shoes, I’d be doing the same thing.
Mr. Mossman: If you look at the comparisons with other counties, we could easily justify….
Comm. Jacobs: If we did that, Steve, we’d be hiring 20 more attorneys – just as a beginning – if we ran the same numbers as you have here.
Judge Horn: How would you prioritize your request?
Mr. Mossman: Clearly, the two Deputy Clerks rather than the network assistant.
Judge Horn: Costs less that way too. Thank You.

PURCHASING PAGE A-8 PAGE 1 OF 6

Beth Fleming: We received in the Recommended Budget a Mechanical Assist Carriage, which we do appreciate and have been requesting for three years; however, one of our fax machines is malfunctioning and only receiving faxes, not allowing us to send out. I am also requesting $700 to go back into Computer Supplies – we requested $6,000 and got $4,000. So, this is a reallocation. These two items are vital to get us through the year and take precedence over our need for the Mechanical Assist Carriage.
Comm. Jacobs: So the net difference is 0 – I do not have a problem with that.

RECYCLING COMMITTEE HANDOUT POWER POINT PRESENTATION

Ms. Fleming: Most of the Committee members are here on very short notice. They are Comm. White, myself, Frank Phillips, Pat Griffith, Clarence McCraw, Gustavo Hernandez, Public Works/Engineering, Theresa Rogers, Jody Gonzalez, Cathy Allcorn, Janie Coleman, Danny Brumley and, of course, Connie Baker is our Recycling Coordinator.

This Committee was established in 1992. We obtained grant money for equipment and held a Products Recycling Show. Also, we held a contest for our logo which is on the screen now. In 2003, the Purchasing Department prepared a report – The Greening of Denton County. In that report there were several charges that Commissioners Court gave us. We studied other programs, did surveys and went on tours of other county’s programs. A lot of research from across the country was used to prepare our policy as well as consulting with the EPA and other state agencies. The policy was adopted on June 22. One of our recommendations was to expand the program and that is our presentation today. We’re also working with Joel Henrie in County Planning on website design to expand education and offer incentives to employees to increase participation for the County.

A summary of our current efforts: in 2003 there was a lot of waste disposal and waste reduction and the purchase of environmentally preferred items. This will increase over time. The model that most interested us was Tarrant County’s program – they started in 1994 - managed by the County Clerk’s Office. It began as a document destruction program and has expanded. Their paper and cardboard recycling is baled and sold on-line auctions so they’re getting top dollar for their products. Four Detention Officers run this program with five inmates and ten work-release inmates. The program has generated about $450,000 revenue in the last ten years bringing in about $90,000 annually. Thirty entities participate by bringing recycled material to them so the only pick-up is from their own county offices. They shred, sort and bale the paper/cardboard and Tarrant County retains the revenue to offset the cost. They are providing the other governmental entities a way to recycle and comply with recycling requirements without any share of the revenue. Even with Tarrant keeping all the revenue, the program does not pay for itself.

Our plan proposes to do paper sorting, shredding and baling. Presently, we recycle everything in one container. We sell it in those containers for which we get little money. The money is made off the sorted and baled paper. We would like a set-up similar to Tarrant and encourage other governmental entities to bring us their goods to help them comply with recycling requirements. Our focus would be on cities and school districts within Denton County and this would increase our revenue. The equipment needed is a baler, truck, etc. For the labor, we’re requesting one new employee and the use of the inmates or community service workers. A full-blown program is necessary for the revenue and would require a new employee to be on-site at the recycling center while the other employee is picking up. Right now, it takes Connie all week just to pick-up from our own county facilities.

We can use a warehouse type facility behind the MADD building on Jones street in Lewisville. Improvements would include heating, we’re not asking for AC, and electrical to upgrade for the equipment requirements. Supplies and equipment needed: a sorting table, a shredder with a conveyor belt, a hopper and baler.
Judge Horn: Is there a liability question as to us doing recycling for other entities?
Ms. Fleming: There are some questions about that. Tarrant County has created release forms and then there are some procedural problems with inmates shredding sensitive documents – that would be for the new employee, perhaps. A large shredder would save time and money for our departments. Another improvement in this building would be to increase floor space for stacking bales by the partial removal of a loft on one side of this warehouse. We surveyed governmental entities within Denton County and only received back nine responders interested who would be willing to deliver their product to us. The Committee will vigorously pursue other entities should our program get up and running because they realize that is where the increased revenue is.
Judge Horn: When you contacted these other entities, did you ask them if they had their own recycling program?
Ms. Fleming: Yes, and most of the larger cities, do but what we discovered is the cities have recycling programs for their citizens but do not focus on their own internal program. That is where our interest lies. The same applies to School Districts – at one time more active than they are now.

We are looking at buying re-conditioned equipment. Clarence McCraw has researched this thoroughly. We’ve laid out the floor plan to make sure all will fit. Another need is a pallet jack in order to move the bales around. The truck is new @ $35,400. Our recycling truck needs to be replaced anyway – without or without the adoption of this program. The remodeling would entail paving of the shed floor to keep the bales dry.
Comm. Jacobs: Road & Bridge could do that.
Ms. Fleming: The electrical service upgrade is in the Facilities budget. Everything, including the new employee request and the truck, totals $145,801. On the revenue side, in 2002, without sorting the paper, we received about $3400 and in 2003, $2800. If we had sorted and baled, the projected revenue could have been $13,400 in 2002 and $11,800 in 2003.
Comm. Jacobs: What do we pay for our trash pick-up now? Where does it all go?
Ms. Fleming: That is a valid point because the more we do to reduce our trash, the smaller we can make our bins. We’re billed on the size of our trash bins and the number of pick-ups. We have already reduced the size of our bins just with our present level of recycling.
Comm. Jacobs: Take a look at what offsets there may be on that side. I believe you would get more recycling material if everyone knew it was going to a giant shredder. Recycling encompasses a lot more than just the act itself: we can use recycling figures to reduce our pollution points which ultimately affects transportation; we also know there will be an offset from our trash and it will bring in revenue. We have to decide if we’re going to take the next step because this program is over 10 years old and has proven itself without any expansion. Are we willing to make an investment for not only the reasons I have pointed out, but just because it is the right thing to do?
Ms. Fleming: Danny has substantiated to me the reduction of costs in trash pick-up and he also reminded me that we do not presently recycle cardboard at all because of the lack of inmates. I believe we are paying the Sheriff’s Dept. to dispose of our cardboard. In summary, we are not saying that this program will pay for itself initially. Our charge is to expand the program in the most efficient manner we can. The equipment expense minus the new employee is $105,805 and remember, $35,000 is for the truck which is a necessity just to keep this program running as it does today. The estimated revenue increase for Denton County alone is projected at $10,000 – a conservative estimate. By including governmental entities, we expect that figure to rise to $20,000. With that, the minimum estimated payback would be 5.3 years on the equipment. Taking it a step further, subsequent years after year one, the revenue could increase by $10,000 plus each year. If you added the remaining years at $30,000 increase, the payback would be 3.5 years on the equipment.
Comm. Jacobs: This space is from a trade-out and did not cost us anything.
Comm. White: I want to recognize the amount of work the committee did on this project. Thank You to all the committee members, especially Clarence and Frank. I regard this as an investment up front but we need to be thinking in the long term – I think our revenue estimates are very conservative. A market exists from these governmental entities that are active externally but not internally. But, like the Wellness Incentive Program, this court has to be committed for the long term in order to realize the investment. It does not need to be stopped after one year.
Ms. Fleming: Frank just reminded me that currently there are several large governmental agencies in Denton County taking their recycling to Tarrant County.

HEALTH PAGE A-89 PAGES 3 & 5 OF 6

Dr. Burton: I have three topics to discuss but am going to begin with our need for a Public Health Nurse. Since 1998, our caseload has doubled and our revenue has doubled. We had 20 employees in 1998 and that has not doubled so I am asking for one new employee. My focus is on Pre-Natal Care: 6400 births in 1998 up to 8400 in 2002. Of course, most women in Denton County have private physicians but we serve many low income and Hispanic families. Hispanic births alone have gone from 1000 in 1998 to 1800 in 2002. Certain days are set aside for Pre-Natal Care and yet we have had to turn people away for the first time in 30 years in Public Health. There is not anyplace else for them to go.

My next request is a reclassification of a position. We have six Office Support Specialist II positions and one OFS I position. Over time, those roles have become interchangeable. Why punish one person when they are doing the same job as everyone else and I would appreciate your granting this reclass.
Comm. Jacobs: Is this a reclass or an upgrade of their job description?
Ms. Phillips: It is a reclass and we would have included this in the recommended reclassifications had Dr. Burton caught it before the deadline. I do support this reclass.

Dr. Burton: Next is Jail Health staffing – not the new jail. We have four supervisory positions, three dental positions, one clerical, four DO II’s and eleven DO III’s. The DO II’s are Emergency Medical Technicians. DO III’s is a higher grade – paramedics and LVN’s. We requested an additional DO II and III slot – neither was recommended. We are not staffed to deal with over a 1000 inmates as there were in March of this year. Even the inmates that are out of county must be assessed prior to being placed and, if needed, coordinate their health care from a distance. That is a challenge for our staff. We’ve also had difficulty filling our existing positions.
Comm. Jacobs: Can you bring us some statistics on that?
Dr. Burton: Yes, I will.
Ms. Phillips: We are helping his department with this issue. We’re researching other entities’ staffing and pay.
Dr. Burton: I am not getting quality applicants for our new slots at the new jail.
Comm. Jacobs: Amy, please place this as an agenda item – it needs to be addressed.
Ms. Phillips: Certainly.
Dr. Burton: An alternative to our request for two new positions is a request for two part-time DO III’s. We have never utilized part-time positions in Jail Health and this could be very cost effective.
Comm. Jacobs: People ask me a lot as to why we are spending so much money on Jail Health – please understand, we are mandated to provide health care 24 hours a day to our prisoners.
Dr. Burton: Correct – it is our inmates that are the only people in Denton County entitled to health care.

Judge Horn: Thank You everyone. We are adjourned at 3:35 p.m.

This set of minutes for Budget Workshop 07-21-04 prepared by Deputy Clerk Kathleen Bransford and reviewed by County Clerk Cynthia Mitchell.