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2017-09-12 Budget mtg - Prosecutor for 2018Budget meeting with Prosecutor September 12, 2017 11:00 a.m. Present: Commissioner Stamper, Commissioner Fund, Commissioner Jackson, Becky Butler, Steve Walton, Jonathan Meyer, Janelle Kambich Guests: Justyna Tomtas, Mitch Townsend, Matt Brock, Bill Marshall, Anthony Ahrens, Linda Williams, Olga Miller Recorder: Rieva Lester 2018 prelim budget: Revenue: $661,518, expenditures: $3,183,006; FTEs: 27 Revenue review Becky said the majority of the revenue is the child support enforcement grant. Jonathan Meyer discussed the grant and the child support office, which is housed outside of his office. He said several counties, including Lewis County, are looking at consolidating resources. He said the county is reimbursed 90 percent of its expenditures. Jonathan said the PA also receives crime victim grants. Jonathan said more than one half of his salary is paid for by the state. He said the only area in which the PA’s office likely could realize cost savings would be through legal advice to the county, which he said could be merely “go see an attorney.” He said the state indicates the PA should be paid the same as a court judge, which doesn’t take place in Lewis County. Janelle Kambich discussed the decrease in transfers for victim assistance. Jonathan discussed other revenue linked to the PA’s Office, including court fees and infractions, Dig Class for the Coroner’s Office, District Court, Superior Court and the Mental Health Alternative. He discussed one-tenth of 1 percent funding. Expenditure review Jonathan said $3.6 million of his budget represents fixed costs he has no control over. Jonathan discussed a proposed contract with Vader, which could have brought in revenue. TO-DO LIST Look into going paperless. Jonathan was asked to resubmit his budget with the correct Facilities costs. Jonathan said he has control over roughly $124,000 of his budget. He discussed a raise request that was denied years ago. He said that after the denial, the employees formed a group that then received a larger raise than originally requested. He said $30,000 to $40,000 goes to paper copies. He discussed the need to go paperless. Becky said she noticed line items for clothing. She said she is unaware of approval of those funds. Jonathan said the clothing allowance would be for criminal attorneys because there is a dress code. Becky said most offices do not have clothing allowances, though there is a boot allowance for safety gear and the Coroner and motor pool have clothing allowances. She and Jonathan said the Sheriff’s Office receives a clothing allowance. Jonathan said the PA’s Office struggles to keep quality employees. He said his office is “minimally staffed.” Jonathan discussed his desire to have an efficiency study done. He also discussed his desire for outreach regarding drinking and driving. Expenditure limitation discussion Increase requested: $75,000 for paralegal to process PDR requests Becky told Jonathan he would need to correct his budget to include the correct Facilities rates. Jonathan said he would not be able to do so. He said he has provided to the county $2 million in money returned to or saved by the county. Becky said the half PDR position is the only removal made to his budget. She said he had to have increased other line items. Jonathan said he has no control over the costs associated with professional services (such as experts), out-of-state travel for witnesses, interpreters, insurance, court transcripts and service, office supplies (he said he is merely not using other line items). Jonathan also discussed extra help to digitize records and cold case detectives for unsolved cases. Jonathan said he cannot submit a zero budget. He discussed the liability linked to the RCW. Jonathan said he met with Paulette and Casey about splitting the $75,000 increase request. Becky asked if the request has changed. Jonathan said it has not. He said his office is union, whereas Risk is not. Questions / comments Commissioner Fund gave accolades regarding the Mental Health Alternative. Olga Miller asked what IT services are provided through the Interfund rate. Jonathan said IT works on Outlook, email, calendars, network access, network printers, network copiers, maintaining the web page, ER&R (equipment savings account, per se), laptops, etc. Jonathan said he is looking at changing case-management systems, and IT would help with that. Jonathan said departments don’t have control over many of their line items through Interfund rates. Commissioner Fund invited Jonathan to the Oct. 6 Legislative Roundtable. Jonathan said his office, in essence, is an unfunded mandate. Jonathan discussed lawsuits that go out to the Risk Pool. He said those costs are higher because Risk Pool attorneys also charge an hourly rate. The group discussed the cost allocations related to IT, etc. Jonathan discussed the many entities the PA’s office serves. Olga Miller asked why the county pays for continuing education. Jonathan said the county pays it because continuing education is required. Jonathan said JWORKS (the case management system) costs $29,000 annually. He said it is a new system that he secured at a lower rate as a beta test group. He said Lexis is used for online case research. He said the PA’s office also maintains its own case books. Steve Walton said Jonathan was being asked to make adjustments to his discretionary spending, including the $5,000 for uniforms. If we zero out this budget, it’s going to end up with us going to court. Becky said the whole point of the process is to look at all of the requests. Jonathan said in past years he has returned a total of $524,000. Jonathan said other counties have said they aren’t going to process driving with license suspended in the third degree. He said he won’t do that. He said he refuses to get into a position where he would choose not to prosecute certain cases due to budget issues. Jonathan again discussed clothing costs. He said he views suits as uniforms. He discussed raise requests that were denied. Meeting ended at noon.