Commissioner David Ferdinand:
Thank you all for coming today. I hope you enjoyed your meal. Didn’t Matt and his staff at Northern Lights do a great job? We’re so glad you all could be here for the fifth annual State of Canyon County Address presented by Allied Waste Management. I’d like to thank our sponsors for making this event possible: our presenting sponsor, Allied Waste Management, event sponsors Treasure Valley Community College, Idaho Power and Western Benefit Solutions, sponsors Houston Bugatsch and Ida-Div Credit Union, Caxton Printers and Swan Falls Excursions. Let’s give all the sponsors a hand.
In our audience today, we have several folks who need to be recognized. I’m going to start with Canyon County elected officials, Treasurer Tracie Lloyd, Coroner Vicki DeGeus-Morris, Clerk Bill Hurst, Assessor Gene Kuehn and Sheriff Chris Smith. Representing Prosecuting Attorney John Bujak is his chief of staff, Tim Fleming.
Some new faces at the county also need to be recognized. Please help me welcome Dr. Robert Deters, our new forensic pathologist, and Kevin LoPiccolo, the new director of our Development Services Department, who just started with the county on Monday.
I’d also like to recognize all the county department heads and staff in the audience today. Please stand, all of you.
Also in our audience today, Nampa Mayor Tom Dale, Caldwell Mayor Garret Nancolas (ill and not in attendance), Middleton Mayor Vicki Thurber, Ada County Commissioner Sharon Ullman, Meridan Mayor Tammy DeWeerd, Gem County Commissioners Michele Sherrer, Representing Sen. Crapo is Bryan Ricker, representing Sen. Risch is Matt Ellsworth, and from Rep. Pat Takasugi’s office, Gayle Batt.
We would also like to thank the Nampa and Caldwell Chambers for all their help in putting this event together.
On to the business at hand.
The budget for Canyon County is just over 69 million dollars this year, down from our approved fiscal year 08 budget by 14 million dollars. You might remember, during the 08 fiscal year, we asked department managers to hold back 6 million dollars from the approved budget. Had we not done that, we’d really be struggling right now. In planning the current budget, we wanted to be as frugal as possible while still maintaining a high level of service, and let taxpayers keep more money in their pockets.
About 47 positions which had been filled a year ago are currently open, and we continue to look at places where we might save.
There are many programs and offices that we are required to operate by state or federal law. You see from your handout that Canyon County paid close to 2 million dollars last year for indigent medical care. We are also required to pay for both prosecution and defense of accused criminals.
County employees and elected officials took a 2.5 percent pay decrease beginning in March of last year, and we were very happy that we were able to find the money to restore that pay beginning in October. We know this was a sacrifice on the part of employees, but it was one which enabled us to continue the mission of the county.
So far this year, revenues are coming in close to our estimates, so we are hopeful we can operate the rest of this fiscal year without making major changes. Assessed values are going to decrease again this year, so we’ll begin talking very soon about what that will mean for next year’s budgeting process.
The county couldn’t operate as efficiently as it does without a number of dedicated, hard-working employees. Some of those employees will reach milestones in their employment with the county this year. Please watch the screen as we recognize those people.
Slide show
Commissioner Steve Rule:
With help from an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant from the federal government, Canyon County’s Fleet Shop is becoming greener by the day. Mark Tolman and his staff have been working for years to make their services more environmentally friendly, and the EECBG additions have helped make the fleet even more efficient.
This grant is helping Canyon County become energy efficient in a number of ways. The largest project is a solar retrofit at Celebration Park. When the new Transportation Museum is built at the park, it will be powered completely by the sun. The goal is to take the entire park off the power grid, and save on electrical costs, and educate the thousands of school children who visit the park each year about alternative energy.
The grant has also funded lighting retrofits at the Fleet Shop, Landfill and Fairgrounds. Buildings in those locations have been converted to much more energy efficient lighting, and cost savings are already being seen.
Three more items funded by the grant are now in place at the Fleet Shop, and are having a major impact on fuel efficiency and financial savings.
The grant allowed us to pay the difference between two hybrid vehicles, and their non-hybrid equivalents, so two vehicles which had been budgeted for purchase this fiscal year were upgraded to Ford Fusion Hybrids. These vehicles are being used as flex cars, for county employees or elected officials to use while on county business. They provide a significant savings in fuel mileage, which results in money saved for the county.
A Purigen Nitrogen Generator purchased with EECBG funds is being used to fill tires of fleet vehicles. The nitrogen has been proven to increase tire life, as well as improve gas mileage on the vehicles. Fleet Manager Mark Tolman has reported savings are already being seen as a result of the nitrogen. Additionally, road deputies have reported to Mark their cars are driving more smoothly on tires filled with nitrogen.
Mark is improving the fleet in other ways, as well. A majority of vehicles in the county’s fleet have been converted to run on E-85 fuel, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. When newer vehicles are purchased, they are E85 compatible, and some of the older vehicles have been converted using Fuel Flex kits. A pilot program in Canyon County started with 25 kits on sheriff’s patrol cars. Running E85-compatible vehicles enables Canyon County to save money when refueling, choose the type of fuel to run at a given time, and reduce emissions. Running E85 fuel has also been estimated to increase the life of a patrol car by at least one year.
Several months ago, we also installed two 12,000 gallon fuel tanks, plus a dispenser for ethanol blending. This allows us to purchase fuel at lower costs, as well as fill the vehicles with the appropriate mix of fuels, based on temperature and other factors.
While meeting our 30-day emergency preparedness needs, the estimated savings in fuel alone is $165,000 a year. Hopefully, next year, we’ll be able to come back and report major successes in this initiative.
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After our news conference to announce that we were seeking community volunteers to help promote a jail bond, 18 people have volunteered to serve. The chairman will be Steve White of ElDorado Development. Since this is a citizens group, and not county-led, from here on out, you’ll be hearing about their work from Steve and his committee. As you all know, we desperately need solutions for our jail situation, and we hope this group is able to help us with those solutions. Every day, between 10 and 20 Canyon County inmates are being housed in jails in other counties, at a cost of 42 dollars per inmate per day. This is a very costly solution, which we can’t afford to continue indefinitely.
Hugh Dimauro, an employee of the Sheriff’s Office, has created the following video, showing some of the Sheriff’s Office highlights from 2009.
Video from Sheriff’s Office
Commissioner Kathy Alder:
At this event a year ago, we announced that we had begun a program, in cooperation with the National Association of Counties, to offer prescription discount cards to the residents of Canyon County. Thousands of cards were distributed to pharmacies and other locations in the county, and we are happy to say the cards have been used almost 16,000 times by residents who have saved more than 140 thousand dollars. This program is saving people 23 percent on their prescription costs, and we’d like to see even more people utilizing the cards. We’ve brought some with us today, so please take them and put them in your businesses, or give them to your family and friends. They’re free, and anything that saves money on prescriptions is a good thing. Please, if you don’t already have a card, take one on your way out today.
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Last spring, we as commissioners decided there might be a better way to handle our public defender responsibilities, and after a long process, selected Mark Mimura as the new public defender. He had kind of a rough transition into the program, but has done an outstanding job. People who’ve been accused of crimes are getting through the process more quickly than in the past, and we’re able to solve problems more efficiently and in the best interest of all parties.
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This year, the Fair Board purchased 81.15 acres of land in the rural area between Caldwell and Nampa, for a future home for the fair. With 40,000 people attending the fair each year, the current site is bursting at the seams, and if you attend the fair, you know how hard it is to find parking during the peak hours. The Fair Board will continue to save money for the next several years, in hopes of building the fairgrounds at the new location. Once that happens, the current site will be used year-round for events, and the new site will bring in even more events throughout the year.
The land was purchased for just over 1.5 million dollars; money that had been saved for a land purchase, and is currently being leased to an ag producer. Hopefully, we can continue to lease the ground and raise some revenue, until such time as we’re able to build on the property.
Now, if you’ll turn your attention to the screen, we have a slide show of some of the county’s major events from the past year.
Year in Review Slide Show
Commissioner Ferdinand:
When you think of the Prosecutor’s office, what probably comes to mind is the work they do in court to prosecute criminal cases. They’re doing great in that regard, but it’s just one part of their mission.
On the criminal side, the PA’s Office also collaborates closely with the Sheriff’s Office and Courts on alternative sentencing options; and they work with a number of state and local agencies to prosecute gang crimes and other offenses. We are particularly proud of the county’s relationship with the US Attorney’s Office, and the fact that we now have a Special Assistant US Attorney operating out of our Prosecutor’s Office.
In the interest of time, we’ve created slides which you’ll see on the screen that detail much of what the Prosecutor’s Office does.
One of the biggest changes the Office has seen this past year is the arrangement of attorneys into specialty teams, where a team of attorneys handles every case in their area of expertise from start to finish. The office has also recently taken on infraction and misdemeanor prosecution duties for the City of Nampa.
In addition to prosecuting crimes, our Prosecutor’s Office also functions as civil counsel for the County. The Civil Division works behind the scenes, defending the county against the ACLU, reviewing every contract the county signs, identifying and preventing potential lawsuits, and ensuring county officials comply with the law.
The Prosecutor’s Office is the second busiest in the state, and accomplishes all this with just half the attorneys that Ada County has. That’s 20 attorneys handling 2,380 felonies and 11,126 misdemeanors and infractions in 2009, and four attorneys in the Civil Division representing more than 20 departmental clients in the county. More statistics from the Prosecutor’s Office are on your program.
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Last week, when I was out of town, my fellow commissioners held a news conference. Here are some of the highlights:
Video highlights of press conference
Let me be clear: we absolutely want the Treasure Valley’s air to be clean. We have implemented several things in the county to become more eco-friendly, and are working with the Treasure Valley Partnership to educate the public on easy ways to help. We believe the legislation which caused the DEQ to implement vehicle emissions testing is flawed, and that’s why we’re supporting legislation introduced by State Representative Steven Kren which would make emissions laws far more palatable. We are still very hopeful that all parties can come to an agreement which is in the best interest of Canyon County residents.
Auction of two raft and/or kayak trips for two donated by Swan Falls Excursions to benefit Lighthouse Rescue Mission. Purchased for $250 each.
Commissioner Rule:
Two last announcements: Monday, we received an email from the Boise Valley Economic Partnership announcing that Origin Energy Limited and Micron Technology are joining together to develop and produce photovoltaic solar products. This venture will be located at both the fabrication plant in Boise and the Spec Tech plant in Nampa. We have no details of job creation numbers or a timeline, but we’re very excited about this great sign of economic growth in Canyon County. To encourage economic growth, we are looking into rezoning parts of the county where industrial development makes sense, to make it easier for industry to come into Canyon County and create jobs.
Second, the City of Caldwell and Treasure Valley Community College invite all of you to a “topping out” ceremony this afternoon at the construction site in downtown Caldwell. The ceremony, at 3:30 today, celebrates the completion of the building’s external structure.
Thanks to all of you for coming today, we appreciate everything you do to make Canyon County great.