Dodge County panel discusses new rules

By Diane Graff of the Daily Times staff
Wednesday, January 7, 2009 12:42 PM CST

JUNEAU - Two months after the presidential election, changes are still in the air for local government.

Several changes to governing rules were discussed by the Dodge County Board of Super-visors Executive Committee Tuesday and will be forwarded to the full board for approval later this month.

The changes come on the heels of the retirement of Administrative Secretary Garland Lichtenberg. Lichtenberg retired Dec. 1 and the county implemented a new form of government with Administrator James Mielke.

The committee approved a resolution which would change the duties of the county's insurance, inventory and purchasing committee. If approved, the worker's compensation administration and oversight would be transferred from the county insurance, inventory and purchasing committee to the county's human resources and labor negotiations committee and human resources department. The change would be noted in the county's rules of order.

The committee also approved a resolution to increase the current $1,000 limit of the purchasing agent to $2,000. That title of purchasing agent was transferred from the retiring administrative secretary to the new county administrator with the request the limit be increased.

ADVERTISEMENT

To increase the limit, a resolution is required to change the county's rules of order.

Increasing the purchasing limit will increase the efficiency of the department, according to county board Chairman Russell Kottke. “Now is a reasonable time to do this,” he added.

The change will save time in all areas, Mielke said. He noted some departments make smaller, separate purchase orders to avoid surpassing the $1,000 limit. “Now I see multiple vouchers to stay under the $1,000 limit,” he said.

Along with the increase proposed for the purchasing agent, the committee also approved a resolution to increase the limit for single purchase items from $1,000 to $2,000. The rule will apply to all departments except the highway committee, information technology department, Clearview Long Term Care and Rehabilitation and health fatalities committee. If a request to purchase or lease is under $2,000 it can be handled by the governing committee. Any purchase or lease item over $2,000 needs to be submitted to the insurance, inventory and purchasing committee or the county board.

Also associated with the retirement of Lichtenberg, the county needs to make a fund transfer to the administrative secretary account. With Lichtenberg's retirement, the county had to payout his accumulated sick leave and with the new administrator there was additional salary and fringe benefits and computer costs, which resulted in expenditures of $225,711, which was $62,000 over budget.

The executive committee has proposed transferring $55,750 from the undesignated general fund and $6,250 from the risk management account to cover the additional expenses.

“We knew this was going to happen when we made the budget last year,” Kottke said.

The resolution to transfer funds will be presented to the full board when it meet at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20.

The board will also consider a bill from the Wisconsin Counties Association of $11,512 for dues and subscriptions.

The committee also learned the February board meeting will be moved to Feb. 10 due to the primary election on Feb. 17. The meeting may be canceled if there is not enough business to warrant the meeting set for three weeks after the January session, Kottke noted.

The committee authorized the highway commissioner and committee to attend a fly-in convention in Washington D.C. April 21 and 22 and authorized the human resource director to attend the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association Conference April 5-9 in San Antonio, Texas.