HomeMy WebLinkAbout20013328 Minutes
WELD COUNTY COUNCIL
Special Minutes - -
October 23, 2!9-1,_,
Weld County Centennial'Center
Tape 170A0.1
The Weld County Council met in special session in full conformity with the Weld County
Home Rule Charter at the Weld County Centennial Center, 915 10th Street, Greeley,
CO, October 23, 2001, 7:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL: The meeting was called to order by President Dwaine Kurtz. Vice
President Joyce Smock, Councilwoman Jody Malone, Councilman Mitchell Martin, and
Councilman Douglas Rademacher were present, constituting a quorum of the
members. Also present: Shirley Bauer, Shirley Carroll, Claud Hanes, Joyce Miller, Judy
Roth, Ken Sigley, Perry Swanson, Sue Young, and the Council secretary, Bev Thomas.
Performance Review of Internal Controls at Weld County Treasurer's Office
President Dwaine Kurtz invited public comment and specifically staff of the Weld
County Treasurer's office to participate in the meeting. It was noted Weld County
Treasurer Art Willis had resigned from his position as of November 1, 2001.
Chief Deputy Treasurer Ken Sigley introduced the staff of the Treasurer's office less
two employees who were unable to attend.
Mr. Martin asked the Treasurer's Office staff, "Who runs the Treasurer's Office?" Mr.
Sigley said that he and the office manager, Sue Young, ran the office "by a calendar of
events that determine the tasks to be done at a particular time." The office is very
statute-driven, and there is shifting of job responsibilities depending on the specific
tasks requiring most of the staffs attention at a given time.
New training is accomplished by presenting an overview of the calendar, familiarization
with the software, shadowing employees, and a "hands-on" approach. Flow charts
have recently been created that describe the pieces of each specific task and job
descriptions have been updated.
The Chief Deputy, by Home Rule Charter, will assume the responsibilities of investing
in the absence of a Treasurer. Mr. Sigley stated that Mr. Willis was private about his
investment plan, though Mr. Sigley took the initiative to find out what Mr. Willis was
doing. The investments have to be entered by staff into the office's Eagle computer
system from the Evare system. Therefore, staff knows where and how much money is
in various investments.
Vice President Joyce Smock complimented the employees for keeping the office in
good shape during their tenure.
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Weld County Council Minutes
Special Meeting-October 23,2001
Page 2 of 4
Office manager Sue Young stated the office has been short one employee, but the
position was filled recently and the Tech IV position that has been vacant for five
months is scheduled to be filled by an accountant. This leaves the staff short of people
to deal with the public and answer phones.
Mr. Sigley emphasized that the employees of the Treasurer's office were hard-working
and efficient, but there had been a major increase in stress because of the work load.
Employees' work loads have increased trying to do the work of the positions that have
been vacant. This has created a tremendous amount of stress in the office and added
tensions between the longtime employees. In addition, the staff has had to do tasks
that were previously done by data processing.
Joyce Miller explained that in the fall, documents have to be prepared for the tax sale
which is about to happen and after the tax sale, redemptions must be handled. In
January tax bills are sent out, in February first-half of tax bills are due, April 30th full-
amount tax bills are paid including mortgage payments coming in, and June 15 second-
half-of-tax bills are due. Then, delinquent tax notices must be sent out and renew tax
lien purchase certificates prepared.
In the meantime, bad-address notices have been returned and searches are underway
for better addresses. October 1 staff has to go out and physically post notices on
mobile homes for delinquent taxes, and if no one is home a certified letter must be sent.
Four hundred eighty mobile notices were posted this year. When the mobile home is
not where it's suppose to be, a different scenario of tasks is involved to track down the
mobile home location.
Mr. Sigley said that six-years-ago the Treasurer's office had eleven employees. There
has been a 4% growth each year in tax payments. In the same time there has been an
increase in the number of employees in the Assessor's office and that office deals with
the same work load handled by the Treasurer's office. The Treasurer's office has
dropped to ten employees and with the accountant position added, there will still be
fewer employees to deal with the public than six years ago. The Weld County
Treasurer's office is on the low end of the number of employees compared to staffing in
other Colorado counties.
Office Manager Sue Young had 165 hours of"extra" work hours this year which cannot
be reimbursed in overtime because of her job description. The problem is similar for
Judy Roth. Mr. Sigley said there are revenue-generating tasks to be done by the office
that cannot be accomplished due to being short staffed.
Mr. Martin addressed the issue of whether Mr. Willis had actively advocated for
additional staff resources. Council members expressed concern that Mr. Willis was not
actively involved enough in the day-to-day workings of his office to effectively advocate
for additional employees.
Weld County Council Minutes
Special Meeting-October 23,2001
Page 3 of 4
Shirley Carroll said that she is having to answer 100 calls a day from title companies
regarding property matters.
Shirley Bauer reported that two annual audits have taken six months to complete plus
the additional internal controls audit. There is not enough time for her to do the audit
work on top of all her other assignments. Perhaps the accountant position will solve the
problem of the audit work taking time from Shirley's primary job tasks.
President Dwaine Kurtz asked if the Treasurer reconciled accounts. Mr. Sigley said
that Mr. Willis reconciled the bank and the investment statements. However, the quality
of the reconciliations was an issue. Mr. Sigley felt that these reconciliations needed to
be done monthly and to-the-penny and that the review the office has gone through
confirms this.
Shirley Bauer's job was made more difficult because Mr. Willis would reconcile
statements, perhaps every three months, and this made it impossible for her to close
out the books in a timely fashion.
The employees of the Treasurer's office agreed with President Kurtz's statement that
Mr. Willis was not in the office enough to supervise his staff. Projections by employees
were that he was in the office one to six hours per week and even when he was there
he was in his own office and was not supervising employees. Ms. Carroll made the
point that Mr. Willis retained the supervisory power and that Mr. Sigley and Sue Young
had in-name-only titles. Mr. Willis was not there to exert his authority or to solve office
matters. It was noted that the lack of Mr. Willis' presence in the office had been
decidedly more pronounced in the last couple of years.
Ms. Young expressed frustration that the employees have not been kept abreast of the
results of the auditors' findings and yet the employees, with their lack of information,
have had to deal with the public's comments and that had been embarrassing.
President Dwaine Kurtz relayed that Council had received compliments and
appreciation of the Treasurer's Office employees from the staff of Deloitte Touche, the
Weld County Treasurer and the Weld County Comptroller. Councilman Douglas
Rademacher and Councilman Mitchell Martin complimented the employees on their
team work and hard work in difficult circumstances. Councilwoman Joyce Smock said it
was remarkable the office had functioned so well and accomplished so much without
leadership.
Councilman Mitchell Martin said it was clear that Mr. Willis's strength was in investing
funds and his weakness was in managing the staff. Council members and employees
agreed that what was needed was a strong leader. Employees expressed that a strong
leader, a hands-on Treasurer, is needed to replace Mr. Willis. Ideally the County
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Weld County Council Minutes
Special Meeting-October 23,2001
Page 4 of 4
Treasurer would be in touch with the staffs needs and job descriptions and have the
ability to advocate for the office to the Board of County Commissioners.
Employees explained the transfer of funds from the Treasurer's office to the taxing
districts.
After a fifteen-minute break the meeting resumed at 8:55 p.m.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Kurtz noted that the Council has received the
resignation of the Weld County Treasurer Art Willis and has forwarded his letter to the
media and elected officials.
AGENDA ADDITIONS/APPROVAL: The agenda was approved as printed.
NEW BUSINESS:
PAYMENT OF THE BILLS:
Councilman Mitchell Martin made a motion to pay the listed bills:
Mileage for Councilwoman Jody Malone $ 46.36
Mileage for Councilman Mitchell Martin $ 39.04
Mileage for Councilman Douglas Rademacher $ 37.82
Mileage for Councilwoman Joyce Smock $109.80
President Kurtz' Expenses $ 14.94
The motion carried.
ADDITIONS: There were no additions to the agenda.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
November 20, 2001
Date approved Dwaine Ku oupcil President
.C.rL'Lt-
Beverly Thomas, Council Secretary
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