CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – While official action cannot be taken during a work session, a lot can be gained from hearing the thought process behind the proposed plans.
Clarion County Commissioners Ted Tharan and Wayne Brosius (Ed Heasley was at another meeting) discussed efforts to develop five-year and ten-year capital improvement plans along with a revenue projection at Tuesday morning’s work session.
“We just need to plan out the next five to 10 years instead of shooting from the hip,” said Tharan.
Tharan said some of the items that the commissioners might consider in the plan are buildings and grounds, estimate what all needs to be done including improvements, and anticipate expenses for the next five to 10 years.
“We got the windows at the courthouse done and we’re looking at bathrooms over there,” Tharan said. “We also have to look at maintaining the old jail, maintaining the courthouse—we need to renovate the basement of the courthouse because the sheriff needs more space—we would like to get domestic relations. A new 9-1-1 building could possibly be included in the plan, along with record storage, and a roof over the new jail.”
“There are so many things out there that we need to get a plan, and how we’re going to do it instead of just going on to the next project.”
Commissioners announced they are considering hiring Rose Logue, former Clarion County Director of Accounting, at an hourly rate to assist with the project. Logue, a Clarion University MBA graduate and long-time budget administrator at CU before joining the county, was looking at the development of such a plan and talked with auditors before she retired.
“We need to look at what the cost would be, how much money do we have, and anticipate revenue. The reason we are suggesting Rose is because she is partially responsible for showing us how much money we have…We need to have someone who would have the time to put all this together.”
The existing Clarion County maintenance staff could be used for some of the projects, but larger tasks such as the replacement of roofs would likely be bid out.
“The roof of the Human Services building is one of those situations, the county park, some improvements at Helen Furnace, the old jail needs some work done on the towers and repointing,” added Tharan, indicating a list of endless projects.
“Mindy Frampton is working on grants right now to possibly put windows in the old jail. We need to evaluate everything we have that needs to be done. Voting machines are another thing that needs to be done, and we need to look into that plan.”
Show me the money
An ambitious plan with projects would likely require funding in addition to any available grants.
Tharan said that he would not anticipate a bond issue to pay for some of the items on a five or ten-year plan.
“If we found interest to build a 9-1-1 center, and you had to borrow money to do that, I would not be in favor of borrowing more money than our current income from our debt service payback. Currently, we’re taking in each year about $100,000.00 more on debt service than were using. That means you could borrow approximately $700-$800,000.00 and use that money.”
Clarion County collects 1.5 mills in debt service tax each year ($565,000.00 last year). It has approximately $4.7 million in debt and collects more than is needed to make debt payments, electing to build up a reserve for possible future projects.
The current 2019 budget includes an $800,000.00 capital budget, with $500,000.00 earmarked for unplanned capital expenditures. One general definition of capital budget describes it as a new construction, expansion, renovation, or replacement project for an existing facility or facilities.
“What you take for debt service can only be used for payment of debt,” said Tharan. “It used to be that before we (current commissioners) got here, they rolled that into the general fund saying that’s paying back previous debt.”
“Now, we’re setting that money aside to either pay off our current debt with that money and bring the principal down, or we can build it up, so if we have a situation where we have to borrow money, we have money there to start making the payments.”
Nearly $300,000.00 has built up in the fund.
“A little bit of debt is good because (we) are in a good financial situation right now. Assets almost equate to our debt that is close to $4.7 million, and we have $4 million setting in assets. We’re very close to being out of debt. You don’t want to be out of debt because it does benefit you in the government manner to be in a certain amount of debt,” explained Tharan.
Other matters discussed at the work session included the following:
• Reviewed a contract on behalf of Corrections with pest management for outside pest control services cost of $480.00 a year.
Tharan said that by law the county has to spray the jail.
“It’s just preventative measures, so we aren’t overrun by rodents.”
Brosius said the inside of the prison is serviced three times a year. The total cost is $1,656.00 per year.
• The county’s GIS files, including area property maps, may soon be available online.
“We’re working on putting them online, and we’re still investigating all of that, checking all the legal facts. We’re not sure if it’s going to be free or a charge. There will probably be a disclaimer on it that we’re not responsible for any errors or omissions. We’re hoping to have some answers by next Tuesday.”
• Commissioners are going to look more closely at the Clarion County recycling efforts to comply with regulations established by Clarion Borough.
• Handwritten letters are being encouraged from area residents who support efforts to locate federal USDA offices to Clarion County.
Two proposals from Clarion County were submitted, one at Glassworks Business Park and another at Trinity Point. Letters could be sent to legislators, President Donald Trump, and the secretary of agriculture Sonny Perdue.
Due to the government shutdown, it appears the process is stalled.
