[0:00] There you go.

[0:06] » You got it. Yep. >> All right. I guess just to uh get

[0:13] started again here, we had some trouble with the microphones. Uh the first item

[0:16] we have is an update on the NES playground and Dr. Leslie is here this

[0:21] evening. [clears throat] >> Thank you. Good evening. Are you able to

[0:25] bring my PowerPoint up? Um because I have a lot of numbers in it. So, I'll go

[0:29] ahead and give you some broad strokes on the playground update, but I'm what I'm

[0:32] really here for um is to request that we're able to make a 50% payment towards

[0:38] the phase 2 of the playground. We have already made the 50% um payment for

[0:43] phase 1. Um we are slated to hopefully break ground September 14th or within

[0:49] that vicinity on phase 1. Phase two, of course, would be later. The reason I'm

[0:53] here today is we're hoping to get the payment in for phase 2 as soon as

[0:57] possible because at the end of the month, some of the running deals and

[1:01] some free shipping will run out for that phase two. So, we were trying to get the

[1:04] most bang for our buck. Um, if you're able, could you bring up the PowerPoint

[1:08] or the it's in a PDF file that I brought that has the numbers in it. It's not in

[1:13] this file.

[1:27] I would do an interpretive dance, but I'm under the weather, so I'm going to

[1:32] skip it for today.

[1:41] Long as we don't get no artwork, we all right.

[1:47] » Actually, I think Dr. Pica said she would try to be the dance.

[1:58] » Well, uh, without the PowerPoint, I don't know if gentlemen, you have a copy

[2:02] of the PowerPoint in front of you, but I do not have the numbers in front of me.

[2:07] » Thank you. Um, thank you. So, in a nutshell, what I put together

[2:14] here was really just um some of the math to take you through where we are and

[2:19] where we're going um with the playground project. So, um of course, the board of

[2:24] supervisors had approved the funds of $310,56524.

[2:30] Um and we had an original phase 1 uh invoice for $325,789.

[2:38] And as I stated, thank you. Yeah. Um if you could

[2:42] you know what go keep going we'll we'll go past that one and come back. Okay

[2:46] we'll start here. Um so we had made that payment of the 164854.

[2:51] Um bringing the balance down in that CIP account to 147710.

[2:57] Um since that I have a limited list here. I want to be clear that I will

[3:00] include all of the names of all of the donors. Um but I just wanted to give you

[3:04] an overview. the boosters, the community, the women of the moose, the

[3:07] Rachel Bechum, um, WY Foundation, some anonymous donations. We've received so

[3:13] many donations from the community boosters and from a grant um that the

[3:17] boosters took care of. So, we have an additional $78,000,

[3:20] $78,258 um that has been added as of right now

[3:25] um to that or actually it hasn't been added right as of right now. U Mr. Tlock

[3:30] is going to ask to transfer those funds into that account, but that's what's

[3:33] physically here. Could you click the next slide, please? So, um, what we are,

[3:39] you can go back up. Okay. So, what we're requesting today would be, um, a payment

[3:44] of 50% for the phase 2, which is $41,998.96.

[3:50] Um, as I stated, that would get us started on phase 2. Otherwise, if we

[3:54] wait after the end of August, some of the prices will go up. the free shipping

[3:58] will probably go away and we'd be waiting until spring for phase two if we

[4:04] can get it in sooner. The plan is to get it in um before winter. So um that's why

[4:09] there's such a rush on that. So that is our request for this evening, but I

[4:13] would like to take you through the rest of the finances really briefly just so

[4:16] that I'm transparent about everything that we're doing. Next slide, please. So

[4:21] we do have in hand a check as of today for $20,885.60

[4:26] 60s from North umberland Elementary School. This is comprised of funds that

[4:30] they had from doing from some fundraising. Um we did have a shortfall

[4:35] of $88,516 and NES was willing to post that from

[4:39] their school activity funds. However, they were even contacted today with

[4:43] somebody that wanted to make a further donation. So, we're at we're um going to

[4:47] pay back the money that they had used to give us that 8.8.8516 to finish out the

[4:52] project. In any event, that would bring our total to $24,85546.

[4:58] I want to clarify that is not in the account currently. I received the check

[5:02] today. So, it will need to be submitted to the school board for approval for

[5:05] donation. Um, and once that happens, then we'll go ahead and bring the check

[5:09] over to have it deposited, but I just wanted to be clear that it's not

[5:12] physically in that account right now. Um, so just to kind of bring you up to

[5:15] speed, that's going to bring our balance back up to 204855. Next slide, please.

[5:21] Um, and that would mean when we go ahead and pay the remaining balance for phase

[5:25] one of that 162854 again, it'll bring us our balance back

[5:30] down to $42,01. Next slide, please. And when the time

[5:34] comes, we'll pay the final balance for phase 2, which is $41,9.98.

[5:38] And we're going to have somewhere between $25 and $29 left over. And of

[5:44] course, those are rounding errors from when we split those payments in half to

[5:47] be able to make them. So, I actually had given you an overview first, but since

[5:51] it took us a minute to get the slides up, this is the detailed account um of,

[5:55] you know, the exact dollars that we have going in and out um for the playground

[5:59] project as a whole. >> So,

[6:04] what are your plans for the $25? >> You know, I was thinking it wasn't quite

[6:09] enough to get coffee nowadays, so um not sure. [laughter]

[6:16] Maybe some streamers.

[6:20] Very good. >> Are there any questions? I did include

[6:25] the the um 3D phases um the 3D um images for phase 2 um as well as the schematic

[6:31] drawing for phase 2 uh as well as the invoice that we received for phase 2

[6:36] which is signed off on. So you'll be able to see those. Of course in past

[6:40] meetings we have presented the phase one invoices as well as the 3D drawings. Um

[6:45] the thing is we have a really [snorts] full playground with these two phases

[6:49] combined. We have a lot of play equipment. We have climbing equipment.

[6:52] We have bars. We have swings. We have um I don't know when we were young they

[6:57] used to call them merrygorounds but like spinny things. Um it is ADA compliant.

[7:02] We actually did include with the phase 2 we had had a piece of equipment that was

[7:06] donated to the school a couple of years ago. It was installed in a different

[7:10] location, but the intention of the donor was to have it in the playground, and

[7:13] we've been able to incorporate that um with this phase 2 as well. So, lots of

[7:17] fun stuff for the students to play on.

[7:22] » So, total donations 204,800. >> So, the total donations um really are

[7:30] going to cap out at n just about 99,000 and change. Um, if we take the 78258 and

[7:36] add the 20,886,

[7:39] and there's really only $2 left because when I was originally doing the math to

[7:43] calculate, I used 84,83 instead of $83,998.

[7:48] So, that's where that came from. >> Any questions, board members?

[7:57] » And you ask today, is it 41,99848? Yes, that we'd be able to make that 50%

[8:04] payment as soon as possible um so that we can secure the equipment. I've

[8:09] learned through doing this project that the biggest issue for time management,

[8:13] just like last time, as soon as we got approval, we ordered the fabrication

[8:17] takes some time um in order to have the playground equipment fabricated and then

[8:21] shipped to the person who will install it. That is where um the biggest time

[8:25] is. So, the sooner I can get the order in, the better. Good.

[8:30] Board members have any discussion on this?

[8:35] » If not, how would y'all like to proceed? >> I'd just like to note that the boosters

[8:40] did a wonderful job and y'all did a wonderful job raising that money to

[8:43] raise $78,000, I believe, what you had up.

[8:46] » Absolutely. >> That amount of time is just

[8:49] » And as I said, there are still people calling in offering to donate it. The

[8:53] community has just been a huge part of this project, really getting us where we

[8:57] needed to be.

[9:10] Yes, >> I've got uh actually three different

[9:12] motions if that's all right. Uh if the board whenever you all are are ready.

[9:16] » We're ready. Um, the first motion I would need is authorization to transfer

[9:21] from the school refund account to the school CIP VIP account in the amount of

[9:27] $78,25844.

[9:31] So second >> all in favor.

[9:34] » Any opposed? Okay, that's approved. All right. The second motion we'll need is

[9:40] to transfer from the school CIP um VIP account to 10-9103-7030

[9:49] in the amount of 41,998.96.

[9:53] » So moved. >> Second.

[9:55] » All in favor? >> I. Any opposed?

[9:58] » That's approved. >> Thank you.

[10:00] » And then the last motion is to authorize to proceed forward with payment as soon

[10:04] as possible. >> So moved. Second it.

[10:08] » All in favor? >> I I

[10:12] » All right, that's all I have for that one.

[10:14] » Thank you. So hopefully in the first full week of October, we'll be able to

[10:17] invite folks out to see phase one being completed. Of course, phase two wouldn't

[10:21] quite be completed yet. Um but keep your ears open. As soon as we have a finished

[10:25] state, we'll we'll make sure we get that out. Thank you very much.

[10:29] » Certainly will. Thank you. Thank you.

[10:33] All

[10:38] right. The next item we have is regarding the school CIP for the school

[10:43] bus. Uh they have received the school bus and we do have the invoice. Uh so

[10:48] what we are asking for is the transfer with supplemental appropriation

[10:54] um from the school CIP VIP account to the 9103-7030

[10:59] in the amount of $161,684. >> Motion to approve. Second.

[11:06] » All in favor? >> I.

[11:08] » And also a motion to authorize uh to proceed forward with payment as soon as

[11:13] possible. >> Motion to approve. Second. All in favor?

[11:18] I

[11:24] » uh next item we have uh Davenport here to talk to us further regarding the

[11:31] revenue anticipation note.

[11:41] » Very good. Members, uh Mr. Chair, members of the board, nice to see you.

[11:44] Um, as always, Kyle Ls with Davenport. Um, we've got a book in front of you

[11:50] that we'll walk through. It's the same thing that's up on the screen for

[11:52] anybody watching in the uh audience or in the public. Um, but we're really here

[11:57] this evening uh with a discussion of revenue anticipation note. So, um, a

[12:03] little bit of background though before we get into those details. um again in

[12:07] our role as your financial adviser and certainly members of the board that have

[12:12] been on for a while. Good to see you and a new member. Um nice to meet you maybe

[12:15] for the first time in person. Um, but where we've really been in the last 12

[12:21] to 18 months is in this process of kind of working uh our way, when I say our, I

[12:28] mean the county way uh through what was really the end of fiscal year 24 and

[12:33] really fiscal year 2025 when your fund balances and your cash

[12:38] levels had declined to a point um where you found yourself in a position where

[12:43] those had just dropped too too low. Um, and they were low enough that given your

[12:48] cash flow cycles, knowing we collect taxes once a year, which will show you a

[12:52] graph that you've seen before of what that looks like, uh, really needed to go

[12:57] through a variety of steps to make sure we could rectify that and make sure you

[13:01] can get the county back on a better financial footing going forward. Um, and

[13:07] knowing all that, a lot of that was the activity last year, about this time last

[13:10] year, uh, in the summertime, and you as a county have taken a bunch of those

[13:15] steps that needed to happen to get yourself back on [snorts] a much more

[13:20] solid financial footing. Um and so we're here roughly a year later after those

[13:24] initial discussions um looking at numbers, seeing your budget, so forth

[13:28] and so on, knowing that you've taken a number of steps, uh to make sure that

[13:32] you as a county, um again, uh get yourself back into good standing

[13:37] financially. Um and we think you're well on your way there. Um but we're not

[13:41] entirely there quite yet. And so given our cash flow cycles, given that it's

[13:47] August right now, we're really here uh with a revenue anticipation note. Same

[13:52] thing we did last year. Um as county staff had reached out to us and as we

[13:56] looked at those numbers, we agreed and said, you know what, the cash levels are

[13:59] just at a point where they're they're getting too low uh during the July,

[14:04] August, September, and October time period uh to feel comfortable with the

[14:08] day-to-day cash flows that you have. And so I'll just give you that as

[14:11] background. Um but again what we're talking about here this revenue

[14:14] anticipation note is very much the same process we went through last year. Um we

[14:21] would really like to be as your adviser in a position whereby next year at this

[14:25] time we're not having this discussion. Um and I think you're on your way there.

[14:29] Uh I think out of an abundance of caution though the thought process is

[14:32] let's make sure you're really truly out in the clear uh before we sort of get

[14:36] out of the cycle of of doing these rants. Um so with that maybe we can go

[14:42] to page number one. Um again uh you know us in terms of uh advisor. Um our role

[14:49] here is to be just that an adviser sitting on the same side of the table as

[14:52] you. And so as we look at these numbers, we're looking at those with you. We're

[14:56] not a bank. We're not here to lend you money. Uh so forth and so on. Uh we know

[15:01] at the bottom of the page there, we went through this process last year. um given

[15:04] some of the uh things that happened in FY25, we did a $5 million RAM last year

[15:11] at about the same time period that was paid off early. And so what we think we

[15:16] see at this point is a time period and a situation we'll probably be in the same

[15:21] position whereby if we borrow 5 million on a short-term basis right now um what

[15:26] it looks like should happen we don't know for certain is we should be in a

[15:30] position to pay that off even earlier than the balance of the calendar year in

[15:34] December. Uh but again part of our thinking here is to act out of an

[15:37] abundance of caution. [clears throat] Um so we'll go to the next page. [snorts]

[15:42] Um you may recall members of the board uh that late last calendar year in about

[15:48] the December time period um county did do a borrowing on a long-term basis and

[15:54] so that borrowing was about $2 million about 2.3 million um and that was

[16:00] primarily to reimburse yourself for prior [snorts] cash funded capital. what

[16:05] that basically means. In some of his old years, we fronted some cash for capital

[16:09] projects uh that ended up being too much and drew the cash levels down too much.

[16:14] And so part of the process last year was to borrow on a long-term permanent basis

[16:19] um spread those payments out on those capital projects like you might with

[16:23] your home or home equity line. Um and make sure that we get the cash back into

[16:27] the bank. And so we've gone through that process. um that should be over time

[16:31] clearly helping the cash and making sure you get back to a point where uh likely

[16:36] a year from now uh we will not be having the same discussion here. Um, also the

[16:42] bottom of the page there will note kudos to the board. Um, obviously I'm making

[16:46] tough decisions, uh, but making sure that you are putting some dollars back

[16:51] into the bank, so to speak, of the county via your budget process that is

[16:56] just further helping, uh, to make sure that your cash flows, your reserves are

[17:01] back into a good solid position going forward. But again, we're standing here

[17:05] in August. You collect taxes here in a couple months. We haven't really seen

[17:09] that cash come through uh the county's coffers quite yet. And so that's why

[17:14] we're talking right now at the end of August. Basically trying to bridge that

[17:17] gap comfortably between August, September into October and November.

[17:24] So you go to the next page.

[17:28] Um so on page number three, this is our uh graphical depiction, if you will, of

[17:34] the county's monthto-month cash flows. And so there's a very pronounced trend

[17:38] here. So what this is looking at, um, think about this as your checking

[17:42] account in your personal life. Uh, you've got certain dollars that go in

[17:45] and out on a repeat cycle. Maybe it's your mortgage, your utilities, so forth

[17:49] and so on. Um, the county operates in a similar fashion with one major major

[17:54] exception. And that being that we as a county collect taxes once a year, and so

[17:59] our primary revenue source comes in one time a year. What that means is that we

[18:06] see these very pronounced uh es and flows or peaks and valleys in

[18:12] the amount of cash you have in the bank. Um the peak typically occurs late in the

[18:18] calendar year. So that would be in November, December and January. Those

[18:23] are the peaks. You can see that those have been going up. That's a good thing.

[18:27] What we worry about though and the real problem is the valleys on the graph

[18:31] there. And that is when uh we've got to make it from basically the fall when you

[18:36] collect tax revenue all the way for another 12 months. Um and what's

[18:41] important in that is that your expenditures as accounting do not follow

[18:45] the same cycle. And so your payroll, the various uh other taxes, utilities, so

[18:50] forth and so on you need to pay just like in your personal life, those are

[18:53] basically coming out on maybe a bi-weekly, maybe a monthly basis. Uh you

[18:58] have certain other cyclical expenditures like debt service. Um, and so those are

[19:02] coming out over time, meaning over the year, uh, versus the revenues that are

[19:07] coming in basically in in big shots, if you will, uh, at the end of the calendar

[19:12] year when you collect real estate taxes. And so, we've seen this cycle. Um,

[19:16] again, it's not unusual for a local government that collects taxes once a

[19:19] year, but what we really worry about here is the low periods where by the

[19:24] cash gets just so so low, um, that we need to make sure you got sufficient

[19:29] dollars to operate, to pay payroll, to do those various things that are

[19:33] basically obligations of of the county itself. One other point I'll make here,

[19:37] it's maybe a little nuance on this graph, uh, but if you look at the

[19:41] valley, meaning the low points in those graphs in 23, meaning 2023 and 2024,

[19:48] um, they were in and around $35 million. It's not a lot of dollars for a county

[19:53] of your size, but much more comfortable levels. What we saw as you got into

[19:58] 2025, a year ago, is that valley was down around a million dollars. So, it's

[20:03] a very low level for a county of your size. And so, just kind of keep that in

[20:07] your mind. Part of what you've done is to take some steps to start to rebuild

[20:14] such that those low periods aren't quite as low. Um, but again, those haven't

[20:17] fully taken root just given the cycle of when you collect taxes.

[20:26] So, we flip a page to page four. And so on page four, we're taking the

[20:31] same information that we've gotten from the treasur in terms of cash on hand,

[20:34] and we've just blown that graph up a little bit so it's a little easier to

[20:38] see. And we're basically tracking about the last two or so years. Um, and so you

[20:43] start on the left hand side, June of 2024, you're about $6 million, trends

[20:49] down a little bit to a low of maybe 4 million and some change. You collect

[20:54] taxes again beginning in that October, November time period. you get up to a

[20:57] much more healthy level and you see that first red arrow that is a very

[21:01] pronounced downward slide. Um that's not necessarily a surprise. It's not unusual

[21:06] just given your your tax collection cycle. Um but the problem and the worry

[21:12] is that there's a little bar there um 81 of 2025. We've drawn an arrow. That's

[21:18] the low period last year of the cash. It's basically about a million dollars

[21:22] plus or minus. Um >> can I stop you right there to ask a

[21:26] question? You might not be able to answer this,

[21:29] » but it's an anomaly to me that 61 to 71, we dropped that much money last year.

[21:34] » What caused us to drop that much money? If you look at it last year, all the

[21:38] other years aren't that big of a drop. What happened to county

[21:44] errors and emissions that went correct? Was it we spent a lot of money from 61

[21:49] to 7125 last year? Look at that drop. And if you look back at the history of

[21:54] what you showed, we don't see that drop. >> Yeah, we're we're working with just pure

[21:59] cash dollars that were given to us. Um I think there's probably a couple things

[22:02] that could be. Um we we're not the auditors per se. We know there's a

[22:07] variety of things that were kind of coming and going last year with some of

[22:09] the ARPA dollars and some things that have gotten cleaned up as we understand

[22:13] it as the adviser um during that time period. So my my hunch, I'll use that

[22:18] term broadly, is it was some of those kind of things. Um, but again, we'd need

[22:22] to dig into that a little bit further in terms of exactly what that would be.

[22:27] But I [snorts] think to your point, what we see right now, it's August 24th, is

[22:31] as you look at where the graph was in uh, it's labeled as June of 2025, and

[22:38] then take your eye to the right, June of 2026,

[22:43] we're about in the same spot we were a year ago, roughly speaking, in terms of

[22:49] the ending cash of that time period. So, um, as we sort of think about the

[22:55] typical cycles of things, stands to reason that we will likely be moving

[23:01] downward in that same general trend between July and August where we are

[23:06] right now. We've been talking to staff, talking to the treasur a little bit. It

[23:09] seems like that is indeed occurring. Um, wherein we've got a certain debt service

[23:14] payment that occurs in July, that's a big number. You've got payroll that

[23:17] comes through. Those are cyclical things. And so as we look at this with

[23:21] staff, um the the thought process here in terms

[23:25] of this rand is the cash levels are at about the same place they were last

[23:29] year, plus or minus. Um they should clearly be improving as your tax

[23:34] collection cycle goes through this fall. Um it doesn't look like they're there

[23:38] yet given the information we have. And so out of an abundance of caution, let's

[23:43] make sure we get some dollars in place. You can continue operating the way you

[23:46] have been. Um and make sure that uh again you've got those operating dollars

[23:51] knowing we'll get to those. You can pay those back very very easily and very

[23:55] flexibly. >> Graph is nice but on 6126. What is the

[23:58] cash on hand? >> 61.

[24:01] » It's about 7 million. Austin, do you have that exact number?

[24:05] » 78 >> about 7.8 million.8 million. Yep.

[24:09] » Thank you.

[24:20] So that then takes us to page number five.

[24:24] Um so what we've done uh similar process as last year is we've gone out surveyed

[24:29] banks done a competitive bidding um gotten bids back and so Blue Ridge Bank

[24:36] um give a proposal um their local branch uh for again revenue anticipation note

[24:42] sometimes shorten it to Iran up to $5 million

[24:46] um interest rate here of a 6.23 23. Um, importantly, and this is I think the

[24:52] really critical point here, the prepayment provisions on this are very,

[24:57] very flexible. What that means is if we were to borrow these dollars and you get

[25:01] that in hand to make sure your cash flow is in good shape again for the next

[25:05] couple months, you can pay this off early and in pieces, meaning you can

[25:10] partially prepay this. And so if you find yourself as a county into

[25:15] September, into October, into November, saying, "Hey, look, the tax collections

[25:19] have come in and we feel like we're in good shape, then you can pay this off um

[25:24] even before you get to December, which is the final maturity here." Um that's

[25:28] one of the things we really really like about this option is you're in the cycle

[25:33] whereby things should be improving from a cash position. Um we don't pretend to

[25:37] have that crystal ball of exactly what that's going to look like over the next

[25:40] couple months. And so if we can get something in hand that is a fixed rate,

[25:43] we know we can prepay it um even in increments, meaning partially prepay it

[25:48] as you work your way through the next couple months. That seems to give us the

[25:52] uh comfort, give you the flexibility to manage your way through September,

[25:56] October, November, December. Um and uh again, make sure you got those dollars

[26:01] in hand. >> Sir,

[26:04] » uh quick question just for comparison purposes. What was the rate that we

[26:07] borrowed against last year? The rate we were last year was 4 um was that exact

[26:13] number? >> Yeah, about 4.09. The difference this

[26:17] year is this will likely be done on a taxable basis. So last year was on a tax

[26:23] exempt basis. This will likely be done on a taxable basis. In order to uh

[26:29] borrow on a tax exempt basis, there's a variety of other

[26:33] projections that we're going to need to show. And I say we the county in terms

[26:37] of how those cash flows are going to trend. Um and on top of that um to my

[26:45] left here Chris Kulp with uh Hunters K through bond council um has to certify

[26:49] some of those things in terms of providing a tax opinion to that. And so

[26:54] to do it on a taxable basis while the rate is higher it's going to be a little

[26:57] more straightforward in terms of what you're going to need to show for the IRS

[27:00] purposes in terms of documentation. Um, it's also more straightforward and less

[27:05] costly for Chris to document um, in terms of uh, the tax opinion with it.

[27:11] » And, and who was it we borrowed from last year?

[27:14] » Last year we borrowed from First Citizens Bank. Um, who during that time

[27:18] period is now out of the business of governmental lending. Um, just kind of

[27:22] left the business >> and nobody has taken their immediate

[27:26] replacement. >> No. No. We would like that they would.

[27:29] They're a good bank to work with, but they just they haven't.

[27:36] So on the next page

[27:42] um some details and some numbers related to the proposal itself. Um again so up

[27:48] to 5 million uh would be what is what is authorized.

[27:53] Doesn't mean you have to borrow the full 5 million but uh we've got up to 5

[27:57] million as as your ability to borrow in that way. Uh the interest rate is 6.23.

[28:03] Um so the interest cost if that went the entire 5 million from closing which we

[28:09] would expect to be next Tuesday through December 18th which would be the final

[28:14] maturity is about $92,000. Um

[28:19] » are there any other costs associated slow?

[28:22] » Uh there will be some closing costs associated with it. Probably about

[28:26] 65,000 in the aggregate. >> How much? about 65

[28:30] » in closing cost. >> Correct.

[28:32] » We're going 100,000. So we're gonna pay $100,000 for this note

[28:35] » roughly. Yep. Yep. But could be less if you pay it off quicker.

[28:39] » Number two, as a business, I've always used the open

[28:43] note. We take the money as we need it. Is that available for county? Can you do

[28:48] this with this rand? Is there any legality that says we can't do it as a

[28:52] county? I know the interest rate would be higher, but we wouldn't have to

[28:56] borrow 5 million on it to get a pool as we need.

[28:59] » It's a good question. Um, those legally are much more difficult to do, if not

[29:05] impossible, just the way local government finance works. Um, I get

[29:08] exactly your point where maybe even a personal finance, if you've got like a

[29:11] home equity line or something like that where you can borrow a little bit, pay

[29:14] it back, um, that revolving nature of things, um, just from a tax code

[29:19] perspective and the legal structure of it is much more difficult. um again to

[29:23] to get done. And so to your point though, I think what we've tried to

[29:28] accomplish here is get you up to 5 million to borrow, but also be able to

[29:32] pay it down very quickly. If indeed you work your way over the next couple

[29:36] months, meaning into September, October, and you find yourself collectively with

[29:40] the treasur in a good cash flow position, you just pay it down. That

[29:44] makes that 92,000 uh much smaller. So that 92,000 assumes

[29:49] that goes all the way through December of final maturity. Um if you can pay it

[29:54] off quicker, that number gets smaller. The other piece of it is um those

[30:00] dollars, we recommend at least you put those in uh the local government

[30:04] investment pool called LGIP um operates like a money market run by a state

[30:09] treasurer. Uh that's earning right now about 3.8%.

[30:13] And so while you're paying out about 6.2, two, you're also earning up the net

[30:17] that money about 3.8. So on a net basis, if this went all the way from again

[30:22] closing next week through December, the net interest cost would be about

[30:27] $36,000. Um, so that's important to keep in mind

[30:31] as well. Rates are higher, meaning on the borrowing side, but also on the

[30:35] reinvestment side. And so when you take those two into account, um, the net cost

[30:41] of that is about $36,000 in that range. And if you can pay it off quicker, both

[30:46] those numbers get smaller. >> I'm I'm a little bit confused. So,

[30:51] » if we follow through this, we'll have the ability to borrow $5 million.

[30:55] [clears throat] >> What What are the determining factors in

[30:59] what we actually borrow? Are you recommending to county staff and then

[31:03] they're going to come to us with a number that we're actually borrowing or

[31:06] or how do we come to that number? >> Well, you've got we've got a proposal to

[31:11] borrow up to five. the resolution that Chris has prepared allows you to borrow

[31:15] up to five. Given the numbers that we've seen in the last couple pages, it seems

[31:20] to us that borrowing five and just knowing you can pay it off early is the

[31:26] safest way to go. Um, and so our recommendation given the numbers that

[31:30] have been given to us is to go ahead and borrow the five and then again if you

[31:35] find yourself in a position very quickly to be able to pay it down, then just pay

[31:39] it down.

[31:51] 6.23. Is that where is that in relation to current prime?

[31:58] » Um, municipal rates aren't ne based on prime per se. Um, they're based on

[32:03] different indexes. Um, it's a little bit above prime. Um

[32:07] uh but again it's a taxable rate on a shorter term basis.

[32:12] » So it's a little bit above prime. >> Yeah.

[32:29] We have 7.8 million now. in let's say

[32:36] » well I think an important point here just talking to Treasury you don't have

[32:39] 7.8 million now you have that in >> June

[32:42] » June >> I think what you have now and I might

[32:44] turn around here you've got [clears throat]

[32:47] » 3.8 you got about 3.8 >> that blows my question

[32:52] » you got payroll coming out that's about two or thereabouts

[32:58] » 1.5 so uh again these aren't our numbers but you're 3.8 8 you got about a million

[33:04] five coming out in payroll on Friday. Um you know so at that point you're down in

[33:10] the two plus million dollar range. Um, and so again, that's a pretty narrow

[33:16] margin for a county of your size.

[33:21] » What is the perception

[33:26] of Northland County by the financial world that we have we have taken out of

[33:30] and ran? We took one last year and we're considering doing it again this year. Is

[33:34] that a black eye? >> Um,

[33:38] it's it's not necessarily a good thing. Um, you know, I think we and as I said

[33:42] at the beginning, we really not want to not be in this in this cycle of doing

[33:46] RANs. Um, the other element we have here is your 2025 audit isn't done yet. And

[33:52] so part [snorts] of the challenge here and going to get this RAND and work

[33:55] through this process is we're still waiting on the 2025 audit. And so as

[33:59] we're working with these banks and bidding these things out, they want to

[34:02] see your most recent financial information. Um, and 6:30 of 2025 was a

[34:08] year plus ago. Um, and so you're clearly working your way through. You're getting

[34:13] there. Uh, but we got a challenging series of discussions we think with the

[34:18] rating agencies. We got a Moody's rating. We've talked about that in the

[34:21] past. I think with that 2025 audit, that'll be a challenging discussion with

[34:25] Moody's in terms of the trend, especially on the reserves and the fund

[34:29] balances from 24 to 25. Um, we're hopeful maybe as we get to 2026 that's

[34:37] going to be a better situation. It seems like it should be 2027. [snorts]

[34:40] You've done some things in terms of the budget to make things just that much

[34:43] better. But I think the numbers we've got right now, um, you got a challenging

[34:48] picture in terms of what 2025 look like. Again, we don't even have the final

[34:52] audit yet. So, um, [clears throat] you know, your term black eye in the short

[34:56] run, you got a black eye. Um, again, we'll make sure we note publicly that

[35:01] you're doing things as a county to rectify that. U, but we're still in that

[35:05] position. We got a little overhang from that 2024 and 2025 time period.

[35:10] » I guess on top of his question, the black eye,

[35:14] what is it in regard to our credit reference credit rating? Does it does it

[35:19] affect our credit rating? >> It it likely will. It likely will. Um,

[35:23] » next year's probably affected it, no doubt.

[35:25] » Yeah. >> By making it slow in this year, it's

[35:28] going to affect it again. >> Yeah. So, I mean, a couple things with

[35:31] the rating agencies. So right now we're actually on a watch list with our rating

[35:34] with Moody's because we haven't yet delivered a 2025 audit to them. So what

[35:39] they really rely upon when they're giving these assessments is they like to

[35:43] look at your audit information and they also look at your budget. And so we have

[35:47] budgets. We don't have an official audited set of financials to give them

[35:52] for 2025. So those discussions that we'll likely have with the folks from

[35:57] Moody's will probably happen this fall coming up. We need that 2025 audit to do

[36:02] that. Um, but we could see those being definitely challenging negative

[36:07] discussions. We got some explaining to do on what happened then uh in terms of

[36:11] 2024 fiscal year in 2025.

[36:16] » So, and I think you're all you're making very good points which are all rooted in

[36:19] the fact that we'd really rather not be doing Iran right now. Um, it would be

[36:24] much better. I'll just say that very publicly if we were standing here next

[36:27] August not doing Iran. Um but again as your staff treasur have come to us and

[36:32] said look our cash levels are just where they are. Uh the tax collections by

[36:36] virtue of this year's budget being 2027 don't come in uh for a couple months.

[36:41] And so as we look at those numbers uh our you know sense of things is better

[36:48] safe than sorry. Make sure you got the cash to continue operations. you get a

[36:52] surprise, you get an emergency, something, make sure you got that cash

[36:55] flow. And again, pay the dollars off as quickly as you can over the next couple

[36:59] months. [clears throat]

[37:11] » So, we'll go to the next slide here and certainly happy to answer any other

[37:14] questions that we can. >> Um, in terms of time frame, we're really

[37:18] here this evening. Chris Culp again to my left has a resolution that can be uh

[37:23] adopted by the board. It's the only action you as a board need to take. Um

[37:27] and then we really be looking to close within a week uh again to make sure

[37:31] those dollars are in hand um and available for funding of of the county's

[37:36] operations. So with that certainly happy the questions

[37:40] that you have um Mr. chair, members of the board,

[37:45] » are those interest rates that were uh the reinvestment rates and the interest

[37:48] rate that we're borrowing against a firm now. And

[37:54] when you close on the >> the interest rate on the rand is fixed.

[37:59] We know that rate. The interest rate on the reinvestment is also known today. It

[38:04] varies with the market and so that functions like a money market. It'll

[38:08] vary week to week. Um, you know, we've seen those rates going up a little bit,

[38:13] but that is the most current information in terms of where that is. It held GIF

[38:16] about 3.8%. >> How was there only one bank that

[38:19] responded too short of notice? I mean, that's

[38:25] » Well, I think uh I think a couple things. I think the fact that uh some of

[38:30] our again financials aren't up to date makes it just that much more challenging

[38:34] when we're talking with banking institutions.

[38:40] And my question is why are we up to date?

[38:50] I know that should something you can't answer, but we should be up to date.

[38:53] That that that kind of bewilders me talking about asking us not you, but

[38:57] we're looking at borrowing $5 million of the taxpayers's money and we're not up

[39:01] to date with some of these numbers and we only get one bank to respond.

[39:11] Yep. For context, what I mean what what we do

[39:15] know is your adviser will not the auditor is uh I think you're close to

[39:19] having that 2025 audit. Um you are not alone in being uh challenged in getting

[39:27] those done on time. Um that's something we're seeing across a lot of local

[39:30] governments. It's not a good thing. Um but it is something we're seeing across

[39:34] a lot of local governments, especially smaller ones. Um, and [clears throat] so

[39:38] that may not help in the short run. Doesn't mean that's a good thing, but

[39:40] just to give you that context. Um, and we do know that what what you as a

[39:45] county have done roughly the last 12 months takes a long time to kind of get

[39:48] caught up in a relative time period. Um, and so, uh, you've had about a year plus

[39:55] of call it cleanup. Um, and so I think our hope and expectation is you get

[40:00] yourself out of that and you'll be back and running again. uh the county prior

[40:03] to that time period um was not in that situation.

[40:08] We don't know exactly why that happened, so to speak, but um get some of those

[40:12] processes updated, so forth and so on. Um again, you've been doing things as a

[40:17] county to to not be in that cycle anymore.

[40:26] » I got one more question, but it kind of pertains to this. for now discussions to

[40:31] have our taxes paid twice a year.

[40:35] » How will that help this county if we are unable to enact that in the next year or

[40:39] two to get our money coming in every six months

[40:41] » so we can avoid this kind of what I consider a waste of taxpayers money put

[40:46] $100,000 in the borrowed money. >> It's upsetting to me.

[40:49] » Absolutely. So if we can go back a couple slides,

[40:55] go back one more if you don't mind. So, so you see that very pronounced eb and

[40:59] flow peak and valley. Um, what would happen if you would collect taxes twice

[41:05] a year is that would all even out. So, the real problem that you have is not

[41:10] the peak, it's the fact the valley is so low. And so, if you collected taxes

[41:14] twice a year, the peaks get smaller, but the valleys get that much higher. And so

[41:20] your day-to-day cash flow in terms of paying payroll, paying debt service,

[41:25] paying utilities, all those things that come through, just like in your personal

[41:28] life and a routine cycle, um in the low months right now, which is right now in

[41:34] your in your cycle, um you'd have just that much more cash flow. You would have

[41:38] collected probably in June. And so if we're sitting here in August, we're

[41:42] probably not having this discussion. June, you got some dollars. You work

[41:45] your way through the summer, the valley comes down, but not nearly as low as it

[41:49] is there. You probably don't need a ran. [clears throat] Um the peak of it comes

[41:53] down a little bit, but that's not really the concern right now. And so it just

[41:56] smooths that whole cash flow um situation out, makes it much more

[41:59] resilient. Um because the other thing you worry about is

[42:04] we're in a pretty, you know, normal cycle right now, but if you had a bad

[42:07] storm go through and you've got a million dollars in the

[42:11] bank as a county and you had to go out and clean up trees or, god forbid, hit a

[42:15] school or something like that, that's the other thing to worry about is where

[42:20] where are those dollars going to come from if you really have a problem. It's

[42:24] sunny outside right now. Hopefully, it stays that way and so forth and so on.

[42:27] You get a bad storm, a tornado, that's the other thing that that we tend to

[42:30] worry about. That's a really challenging phone call to get in terms of we got a

[42:34] problem, we got to fix it, we don't have access to funds. Um, that's just that

[42:38] much more challenging to do. And so, it's both having dollars for your your

[42:43] typical recurring business, your payroll, so forth and so on, but also

[42:46] making sure you got some dollars for a contingency that um could happen. I just

[42:50] use a storm as an example, but to answer your question specifically, would twice

[42:55] your tax collection help your situation? It would absolutely help your situation.

[42:58] There's no nuance to that. would be helpful to you in terms of cash flow. It

[43:02] would help your reserve levels. We've seen that in lots of other counties that

[43:05] have done that. Um it just makes your finances that much more resilient.

[43:10] » Hypothetical question. I don't know if this is the letter or who it is, but

[43:14] suppose we were on a 2-year cycle I mean twice a year tax collection now

[43:20] hypothetically and we were borrowing this money.

[43:25] Would we have enough money in December to pay this loan back?

[43:29] If we were on a twice a year cycle, >> well, I think Mr. Fischer, if you were

[43:33] on a twice a year tax collection cycle, you probably wouldn't be borrowing this

[43:36] money. You wouldn't have to do this. >> Should have cash on hand.

[43:40] » Yeah, you got it. >> Not a question of how much cash flow the

[43:44] county is dealing with. It's when we have it available to us. [clears throat]

[43:47] » Very well stated.

[43:54] I'm just thinking we'd have less available if we got part of it in the

[43:57] fall and the other part February, whatever. You'd have more

[44:02] available. You can be consistently around a number and you're going to have

[44:06] the carryover from the year. We should have like five or six million dollar

[44:09] carryover that's sitting there for this county

[44:13] where something major happens or if we need new software, we need anything we

[44:17] have the cash to do with it going back to the taxpayers and saying we need

[44:19] another two, three, four, five cent. >> Mhm. [clears throat]

[44:23] » Yeah. I think Mr. Williams, I would echo your point that was very well stated.

[44:26] It's a timing problem is what you really have as we've looked at your 27 budget.

[44:30] you've done some certain things in that that are good, that are positive from a

[44:33] financial situation. You've put some dollars in there to make sure you're

[44:36] burn you're you're adding to your reserves. That's going to help this

[44:39] whole picture here. Um, but I mean, the whole reason we're talking right now is

[44:44] not because the 2027 budget wasn't set up properly. It was. It's because you

[44:49] just haven't collected taxi as a timing problem. Um, and so we just got to

[44:53] bridge the gap this year to get you from August through until when those tax

[44:58] collections start to come in. Uh but again to answer that again specifically

[45:02] and I'll repeat myself. If you went to twice your tax collection, it would

[45:04] definitively it would help. It would make all of this likely a moot point in

[45:09] terms of having to borrow dollars to make it through from uh the lean months

[45:13] which are right now

[45:20] in this loan. If we bought 2.5 million, can we go back in

[45:25] October and borrow the other two and a half? Does it all have to be one time $5

[45:29] million loan? >> It's all got to be onetime $5 million.

[45:33] Um yeah, there's I don't think there's a

[45:38] way we could set it up so you can kind of do one piece and then the other. Um I

[45:44] mean so you could borrow less than 5 million right now. You could. Um our our

[45:50] our recommendation here is really just rooted in the fact that as we looked at

[45:53] if we go one more slide >> you have to ask like equity or something

[45:58] of that nature do that. >> Yeah the the 5 million is really rooted

[46:03] in the fact that our cash levels as of June most of recent information we have

[46:08] outside [snorts] of just sort of our conversation with treasure here about

[46:10] the same place they were last year. Um, we borrowed 5 million last year and so

[46:15] kind of keep ourselves in that same cycle knowing we can pay it back early.

[46:19] » How much of the five did we actually use last year

[46:23] to the best of your knowledge? I mean, we're already later than what we were

[46:25] this time last year. I think we had already borrowed on the board, but I

[46:29] think we had already borrowed. Now, we're looking at September, October

[46:32] those two months. Do y'all know? >> I I don't know, Pam. Do you know as far

[46:39] as of that five?

[46:46] I know initially it was 2 million um

[46:54] September October time frame and then then the the tax money started

[46:59] coming in what October well September and then October

[47:08] » that's what we actually used it in that to 5 million last year.

[47:13] » I know that in that VIP account there was what 2 million that that came out

[47:19] » uh in that September time frame >> because I know we paid ourselves back

[47:25] different >> that was a different that that was a

[47:28] separate that was different that was a separate borrow.

[47:32] » Mr. Chairman, I'm I'm new at this so please deal with my ignorance here but

[47:36] county has other monies correct. Can we borrow from our other money or is

[47:41] that illegal

[47:49] pay and back in November? I I don't know, but I know we just have we Am I

[47:52] correct on that? >> A lot of our other monies are in the

[47:56] reserve fund. That's why it's >> Well, you do have other monies like your

[48:02] opioid abatement funds. I would not touch those because they're very

[48:06] specific as far as what they are to be used for. Um, you do have your EMS

[48:13] billing monies. Um certain things like that that uh

[48:28] but I don't know that you've got enough to as far as covering that type of of

[48:33] cost. >> That answered my question. Thank you.

[48:35] » What what well for years we went uh what for years we went we didn't have this

[48:43] type of problem. what uh what brought it about?

[48:48] » Um Mr. Long, if you recall, Mr. Long, as we were talking last year, between

[48:54] fiscal years 23, 24, and 25,

[49:00] the county really ended up drawing down its reserves. And so if you go back and

[49:05] look at those audits and you compare the revenues to expenditures, there's a

[49:09] couple years in there we had more expenditures than revenues. And so to

[49:13] your point, the number of years where, and I think you can see this, go back

[49:16] one more slide if you don't mind. Uh, so if you see those, you know, like

[49:22] 2023, 2024, the low periods aren't nearly as low.

[49:27] And then you get to 2025, and that really is the year, meaning

[49:31] fiscal year, uh, that we would argue sort of caused the situation whereby the

[49:37] revenues were just not sufficient to cover the expenditures. And so, uh, the

[49:42] reserves were drawn down. Um, so you're basically in a position to be

[49:46] replenishing those, which is what you started to do last

[49:50] year's budget.

[49:54] » Say earlier that the cost of issuing the loan was $65,000

[49:58] » roughly in the range. >> How was that determined?

[50:01] » Uh, that's just that's us. That's uh on this through you guys, not

[50:06] [clears throat] not the bank. Correct. Correct.

[50:18] That's 65,000. If we bought 2 and a2 million, it's still 65,000. That's

[50:23] correct.

[50:36] Any

[50:50] further questions? Got any questions? Mr. Tadlock, Mr.

[50:54] Basy? >> I don't.

[50:58] » Anything else? Mr. Leaves think so. >> Mr. Fisher, Mr. long.

[51:06] How much money will it take us to run the next two months?

[51:11] We don't take any collections in September and October. How much money

[51:15] will it take us to run? Best estimates.

[51:25] » About $2 billion,000.

[51:33] Four million. We got a million and a half after payroll. Like a million

[51:37] something. I think it was after payroll coming out. You say next next week that

[51:42] no next payroll comes out >> Friday. Friday.

[52:02] tough way to look at it. We don't know that that $2 million is constant though

[52:07] because it's been the last couple of months doesn't mean it will be.

[52:10] » According to that chart, it's not. I don't know why, but according to that

[52:14] chart, there's big drops in July from last year. I don't know

[52:18] what happened, but there's a huge

[52:23] If it's 2 million, it's two and a half. We need a bar. That puts us in

[52:28] worse position than we were last year at this time cuz we only borrowed 2

[52:30] million. Am I missing something? Maybe we paid

[52:34] off some loans. >> Say that again that time.

[52:36] » Say that again. >> We borrowed $2 million last year.

[52:38] » No, we borrowed five. >> Five. You used two.

[52:43] Now you talking and needed two and a half.

[52:49] Am I missing something on that? I know you say we're going in the right

[52:52] direction, but that doesn't seem like the right direction to me.

[53:01] This is why we need to build the reserve fund back up to the percentage that been

[53:06] recommended to us. >> And once we get it there, we need to

[53:10] leave it alone and start putting money in another account for capital

[53:14] improvements and be done with it. We can't keep

[53:22] operating like this. Got to be built back up when we have

[53:26] enough money to sustain the little months.

[53:39] And how do we do that? Keep raising taxes on their citizenry.

[53:45] They can't handle it much longer.

[53:50] That's what worries me. Got to come up with a better plan

[53:54] somehow someway. But you they got to raise taxes

[54:00] or cut services.

[54:04] See one without the other. >> Yeah. If I could I'll I'll jump in then

[54:09] you'll cut me off. But to solve this cash flow problem,

[54:14] the twiceear tax collection does that. You don't have to raise taxes. You don't

[54:18] you've got the revenues and expenditures on an annual basis. Twice your tax

[54:21] collection solves that whole problem. And I get the math. It's we borrowed

[54:25] five, maybe we use two. We're kind of crystal balling that a

[54:29] little bit. And so has we don't have any better

[54:32] information. If we had better information, we' we'd share it with you,

[54:35] but that's the information we have. And so that what our recommendations based

[54:38] upon abundance of caution. But the twice a year tax collection would it would

[54:42] solve this whole this whole sort of ran cash flow timing.

[54:49] Um that would make this concept should make this concept be largely.

[54:58] Anything

[55:04] else? >> No, thank you. Appreciate you

[55:08] explanation here. >> Yep. Thank you, sir.

[55:22] » Where's the end? Where's the end to it?

[55:30] How soon we got to I know they got a timeline on this September 1st, but

[55:36] how soon you looking tonight? >> Uh, preferably.

[55:41] » Yes. Um, just from the standpoint of knowing that it's going to take some

[55:50] time to go through the closing process as well.

[56:06] Okay.

[56:11] » Any further discussion on this? >> Yeah. The figures we have here, I do not

[56:14] feel comfortable. This ought to be updated to now instead of 61.

[56:21] That's what I'm uncomfortable with right here. where we actually stand.

[56:27] Figured we're using this two months ago and we're going to take it another

[56:29] payroll.

[56:33] I just >> we're at 3.8

[56:38] » 3.8. Then you had a payroll 1.5 coming. Um

[56:44] so that puts you at 23

[56:49] two men. Come on. That gets us through September.

[56:55] » Yeah. >> Then October comes. So you're looking at

[56:58] maybe two million there like last year. Maybe a little less because you start

[57:02] getting some income back in. You start getting some tax money in in October. As

[57:06] you said, I think you got a little bit September.

[57:09] That's good thing.

[57:24] What you think? Do y'all see anything on the horizon

[57:29] that's going to help out and bite us in the butt next

[57:32] two months? Any bills coming that we don't foresee or something looming? Some

[57:37] payments we've got to make?

[57:41] » A lot of our debt service payments uh have already gone out for July. Um,

[57:49] so as far as any large expenditures on the county side, uh, I don't know if you

[57:54] know of anything different, but, uh, our debt service payments really hit us in

[57:59] the July time frame. So,

[58:16] which that's been [clears throat] back within her 3.8

[58:20] I'm >> which which that has already been taken

[58:22] out >> other that three

[58:24] » but you're still looking at two million to run this county in each month

[58:28] » right >> we don't have

[58:31] so yeah [clears throat] I hate saying it but yeah you already know the decision

[58:35] you're going to have to make tonight whether you want to make it or not you

[58:39] know what the decision is going to be we're going to have to bar

[58:42] the decision is on how much we bar number one

[58:46] » that that's to bar five men to or 5 million. What

[58:50] are we doing? We might be wasting $10,000 taxpayers money cuz it's $65,000

[58:55] for the loan. >> This will borrow to 5 million to pay it

[58:58] back.

[59:02] » I don't have any trouble with borrowing the money tonight, but we need to make

[59:06] efforts to start billing taxes twice a year. That would alleviate

[59:12] this issue. We wouldn't be here tonight. Well, we don't need to be here next year

[59:18] because

[59:30] well, it would it wouldn't go in place

[59:37] taxes out

[59:42] talking years.

[59:47] I'll offer just one one additional point. Chris can correct me if I'm wrong

[59:50] here. I think the the resolution authorizes not to exceed 5 million. So

[59:55] that's your that's your top level. So you're obviously here as a board this

[59:57] evening. Um one path you could take is you could approve that resolution not to

[1:00:03] exceed 5 million and then ultimately the discretion as to exactly how much is

[1:00:07] borrowed is and Chris correct me if I'm wrong here is really vested in the

[1:00:11] county administrator to finalize that. And so if we're here on Monday evening

[1:00:17] and there's some additional discussions, numbers, so forth, you can authorize up

[1:00:21] to five, not going to be more than five. Everything we've shown you is up to

[1:00:24] five. And then to the extent there's some information, you look at treasural,

[1:00:30] so forth and so on and say it's a different number we're comfortable with

[1:00:33] that's lower than five, um, that decision could be vested with with Lal,

[1:00:39] I think, and and Drew, but [clears throat] I think Laly, the county

[1:00:41] administrator, Chris, you can correct me if I'm wrong. That's correct. That's the

[1:00:44] way the resolution was done. If if the board is um comfortable with that, it's

[1:00:48] an authorization of up to five with the delegation to the cat administrator to

[1:00:53] approve the final details within those parameters of the 5 million uh the

[1:00:59] repayment term, the end of December, and then uh the interest rate uh at the at

[1:01:04] the taxable rate. Uh, one one additional piece of information that may be helpful

[1:01:10] for you to at least know is that um it's not as if you could borrow, you know, 2

[1:01:16] and 1/2 now and then find out that that's not enough and then go out and

[1:01:20] borrow an additional 2 1/2 or 2 million. You can't have more than one uh tax and

[1:01:27] revenue revenue anticipation note outstanding at a time. You'd have to pay

[1:01:30] back the first one before borrowing the second. So that's a reason why you may

[1:01:36] want to sort of on the side of adding some cushion.

[1:01:40] » If you do do less than five, would the interest rate change?

[1:01:47] » We could ask the bank, but I wouldn't expect that it would.

[1:01:50] » Okay.

[1:01:53] [clears throat]

[1:02:28] How long does it take to get this loan set up?

[1:02:31] » All right. Let's just say for a sec. We said let's

[1:02:36] wait 3 weeks from now. How long does it take you to get this loan set back up?

[1:02:41] » Oh, um it'll just take me five business days. we got to work out with the bank

[1:02:46] uh and get the papers prepared. I don't want to incur costs if you know

[1:02:51] unnecessarily obviously from standpoint. >> Um but it take five business days. We

[1:02:56] got to prepare them and then get them signed and get them to the bank. So a

[1:03:00] week's time uh would be important. I don't know how quickly uh the money is

[1:03:07] needed from a cash flow standpoint with you.

[1:03:11] » Thank you for that answer. Appreciate it. Thank you.

[1:03:16] Mr. Tadlock, what basically not I see the treasur what would be the increase

[1:03:24] in revenue this year on the new tax rate approximately?

[1:03:29] » Well, we go 4 cent 400,000 cent, wasn't it? 1.6 million

[1:03:35] or am I wrong? >> Um, no. I can look it up for you real

[1:03:40] quick. a rough I don't need a complete just a

[1:03:43] rough number.

[1:03:50] [clears throat]

[1:03:55] Okay.

[1:03:59] How would y'all like to proceed with this?

[1:04:06] What I'm seeing and where I'm sitting, we don't have much choice.

[1:04:16] That's by taking two.

[1:04:29] Well, gives me heartburn to do this, but

[1:04:35] I'll make a motion that we move forward with the ran up up to the $5 million

[1:04:43] second

[1:04:47] » and and that's to approve the resolution as set forth. Is there any other

[1:04:52] specific language that you need uh for that approval?

[1:04:57] No, just the resolution as presented unless there's an amendment.

[1:05:01] Okay. >> All right. All in favor?

[1:05:06] » I I Any oppose? It's approved. And gentlemen, we thank

[1:05:12] y'all for your time, but it's going to be our goal not to have this meeting

[1:05:17] with y'all next year. And and please don't take offense to that.

[1:05:23] Right.

[1:05:32] Thank you.

[1:05:37] » All right. The next item we have is uh discussion on the county convenience

[1:05:41] center decals. Uh we did receive another quote for uh decals to be sent out in

[1:05:48] 2027. total cost uh for the decals and to mail

[1:05:53] those and to have extra is going to be $5,743.75.

[1:06:00] Um there's also some discussion as far as what have we seen uh to date compared

[1:06:08] to this time last year. Um so you do have a comparison for January through

[1:06:14] July comparing 25 and 26. Uh overall the tonnage has decreased by approximately

[1:06:23] 158 tons. Uh if you break that out uh over the three sites, it's approximately

[1:06:30] $15,246.93

[1:06:34] as far as savings over the 7 months that >> again, excuse me,

[1:06:38] » uh $15,246.93.

[1:06:45] uh in the documentation that you have and it's posted in um Diligent as well.

[1:06:50] It breaks it down by each of the sites. Um now keep in mind this does not uh

[1:06:57] this is just for 7 months. We don't have a full year of [snorts] comparison yet

[1:07:01] with the decals only went into effect January of this year.

[1:07:06] Um, as far as

[1:07:10] the the tonnage, uh, we did see a decrease from 24 to 25 as well, but

[1:07:17] [clears throat] there's a a graph, uh, that shows the tonnage by site, and

[1:07:22] there's a table that also corresponds to the 25 and 26. Uh we broke down the open

[1:07:29] tops um versus the closed which was the the compactor. And where that makes a

[1:07:35] difference is that your compactor you can get about approximately 9 tons on

[1:07:40] average whereas the open tops you're running more along the lines of about 2

[1:07:44] and 1/2 three tons uh per pool. So that's why I broke those numbers down

[1:07:49] for you as well as uh the number of pools. Um, and you'll see that graph to

[1:07:56] the right of that, but the corresponding table to that is uh at the top of the

[1:08:01] second page there. Um,

[1:08:05] and then we also broke down I ran some numbers for you all for the total

[1:08:10] tonnage from 2019 through 2025. I thought that might provide you some um

[1:08:18] clarification as uh what we did prior to CO, during CO and then coming out of CO.

[1:08:26] So um I I ran those numbers for you all. And then the bottom graph there is just

[1:08:34] it I wanted to show what it was doing over the course of the year. So, of

[1:08:39] course, during the uh winter months, your tonnage is lower, but then uh

[1:08:44] increases during the summertime. And then, of course, the 2026

[1:08:51] line drops to zero because we don't have that data from August to through

[1:08:56] December. Our projected

[1:09:01] fiscal year savings got yours for uh 7 months, right? Right.

[1:09:08] That that is just the 15,000 is just for the seven months. Um we did not project

[1:09:14] it out as far as the the rest of that time frame.

[1:09:17] » And the the total cost of this decal project if we were to move forward with

[1:09:21] it again is how much? >> Uh $5,743

[1:09:26] » everything. >> That's that's just the the print and

[1:09:30] mail and then ship the remaining of those decals to us. It does not include

[1:09:34] staff time or anything like that. This is just the $5,700 is just to print

[1:09:40] print the decals. >> Is staff time a cost?

[1:09:44] » Um, >> extra cost?

[1:09:47] » Not not anything measurable that we could

[1:09:51] grab on to. I mean, it's staff is there already

[1:09:57] during the day. So,

[1:10:00] we don't know that any of those savings could be attributed to the decal

[1:10:05] program, although they they all could be, but we've saved

[1:10:12] $1,000 over 7 months. >> The building has dropped in the county

[1:10:16] the past two years, too. >> And corresponded to that. And the one

[1:10:21] thing that catches me is uh what was it? uh Lotsburg and

[1:10:26] Horsehead were

[1:10:31] dropped compared to digitally wasn't much difference and I would have

[1:10:35] thought that would have been different. >> Well, you got to keep in mind now

[1:10:38] gentlemen, keep in mind there is absolutely no enforcement here. I mean

[1:10:43] none. >> How can you even how can you

[1:10:46] » stuff into the dump? Nobody said anything about it. You're right. Wasn't

[1:10:50] the the understanding that if there was somebody abusing our system, it was it's

[1:10:54] being done at the digitally >> in any way, right?

[1:10:57] » I think >> more so than others. I think

[1:10:59] » I presume that. I don't know it, but I presume that. And the the the people who

[1:11:04] are working these sites are being paid as we speak to enforce the decals.

[1:11:11] They've been paying for it every for years and years. there had been decal

[1:11:15] but to my knowledge nobody has nobody has uh instructed them even to

[1:11:23] look at the decals cuz we don't have a set enforcement at at present time maybe

[1:11:29] we have something now we can put in place I hope but for the last 6 months 8

[1:11:35] months since the decals have been uh I've got three vehicles and I haven't

[1:11:41] put a single decal on the here. I mean, I don't mind telling you. I go into it

[1:11:45] and I keep it log and and nobody ever checks it and I I can

[1:11:51] see why they've never been told to check it.

[1:11:54] Well, I I think we need to inform the u the public that we're going to start

[1:12:00] this, but we got to get the word out there. You know, it makes a big

[1:12:03] difference. A lot of people would follow that if they knew that the people were

[1:12:08] enforcing, you know, but we got to get it in paper, get get it other ways to

[1:12:16] the public and majority of them going to do a disposal. My one of my problem is

[1:12:22] the potholes, you know, in these sites. I mean,

[1:12:27] they're complaining. I mean, people complain that it's is it's damage

[1:12:33] to a lot of vehicles still. People running over these ples within uh within

[1:12:39] the sites. >> One of the easiest ways to notify the

[1:12:43] public of the purpose of the decals and is to do the enforcement.

[1:12:50] » Absolutely. Yeah. But you're contradic.

[1:12:57] » But you still you still need to get the get the word out other ways too because

[1:13:02] if you get it to some people, they're going to inform others. No,

[1:13:08] but uh that's something we need to do

[1:13:13] because it's not being enforced. Not >> have a bar code with a bar reader. When

[1:13:18] you pull up, if it don't click, you don't get to double.

[1:13:21] Well, then you got then you got a problem with who's going to enforce

[1:13:23] that. >> Who's going to enforce that?

[1:13:26] » Well, then why are we doing it? See, >> why are we doing it? Why are we spending

[1:13:29] the taxpayer money to do it? >> Well, maybe maybe because maybe we did

[1:13:33] it because we did save some taxpayer dollars.

[1:13:36] » You might be correct. >> Mr. Hy would be correct. [clears throat]

[1:13:40] » Put a big sign up there say $500 fine if you caught dumping their decal. That

[1:13:44] might turn their hits a little bit. >> Yes, it would. It turned mine. I' I'd

[1:13:51] put mine on right quick. [laughter]

[1:13:59] » So, you're looking for a motion to do this again is what we're looking for

[1:14:02] right now. What are we looking for? >> Um,

[1:14:04] [clears throat] we got to go into close session, too.

[1:14:09] » Yes. >> Let's decide on this one. We come into

[1:14:12] close session. I want to think on it a little bit. Yep.

[1:14:17] if that's okay with everybody. Well,

[1:14:22] my uh being a school teacher

[1:14:28] I

[1:14:32] classroom kids come there and behave like they're supposed to.

[1:14:37] One reason you you give them the rules at first,

[1:14:42] you know, and expect them to help you follow them and a lot of them will. And

[1:14:46] [clears throat] that's reason I think we should find ways to

[1:14:51] inform the public. This not put something on them and they work in that.

[1:14:56] Well, I didn't know this, you know, but we need to find ways to get that word

[1:15:01] out and I guarantee you have a judge of them following.

[1:15:08] » Well, I will say we've had a steady flow at the the window of individuals coming

[1:15:13] in to get decals um at the county administrator's office.

[1:15:17] So, I word is getting out somehow that the decals are are required. We did put

[1:15:25] signage up at all three sites um that decals are required as well.

[1:15:30] » And that same wordage, mark my words, that same wordage will get it as time

[1:15:35] goes by. They ain't doing nothing to voters don't worry about. Mark my words,

[1:15:41] » and while people can actually see

[1:15:47] I am on the fence, it depends. It's on all

[1:15:52] three places. All

[1:16:02] right. What you got? >> Uh, next item is uh for the anti-litter

[1:16:06] committee uh district 5. We have an appointment. Mr. Andy Hall has indicated

[1:16:12] that he's interested in sir. >> I'm make a motion that we appoint Andy

[1:16:16] to the entire second. >> All in favor? I I stalls on the anti

[1:16:23] committee.

[1:16:44] All right. Uh, next item we have is a closed meeting. If y'all are ready to go

[1:16:50] into >> Yes, sir. We're ready.

[1:16:53] » I need a motion that the Northland County Board of Supervisors convene and

[1:16:56] close meeting pursuant to Virginia Freedom of Information Act section 2.2

[1:17:00] 3711A1 for the discussion and consideration of personnel matters. In

[1:17:05] section 2.2 23711A29. Discussion of the award of public

[1:17:09] contract involving the expenditure of public funds, including interviews of

[1:17:13] biders or offers and discussion of the terms or scope of such contract where

[1:17:18] discussion in open session would adversely affect the bargaining position

[1:17:22] or negotiating strategy of the public body. invited to attend closed meeting

[1:17:26] as necessary or the county administrator and assistant county administrator as

[1:17:30] they are deemed necessary and the presence will reasonably aid the board

[1:17:33] in his consideration of topics to be discussed pursuant to Virginia Foy

[1:17:37] section 2.2 3712F

[1:17:44] all in favor [snorts] I

[1:18:24] a motion that the Northland Board of Supervisors return to public meeting and

[1:18:28] certify by roll call vote that only public mis business matters lawfully

[1:18:32] exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia Freedom of Information Act

[1:18:36] and as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard,

[1:18:40] discussed, or considered during the closed meeting.

[1:18:43] » So moved. >> Second.

[1:18:45] » Okay. Roll call vote. Mr. Harris. >> I.

[1:18:48] » Mr. Long. >> Mr. Fisher.

[1:18:50] » I. >> Mr. Williams.

[1:18:51] » Hi. >> Mr. Breen's eye.

[1:18:55] » Great.

[1:19:01] Ready for? >> Yes sir. Several motions here. Um the

[1:19:04] first item is uh motion to approve a salary adjustment increase for employee

[1:19:11] number 10374 in the amount of $8,756.50

[1:19:17] effective August 1st, 2026. >> So move.

[1:19:21] » All in favor? I

[1:19:26] » next close meeting item uh was a motion to authorize the county administrator to

[1:19:32] further negotiate and sign the engagement of pre- auditing services

[1:19:36] with Cherry Beckard through the Fairfax County, Virginia Cooperative Procurement

[1:19:40] Contract for professional auditing services.

[1:19:43] » So move second. >> All in favor?

[1:19:47] » I. >> All right. Uh last item that we had, we

[1:19:53] had previously discussed earlier in the meeting and open meeting about the

[1:19:58] county convenience center decals. Um just if the board's wishes to move

[1:20:03] forward with that, I just need authorization to your

[1:20:06] » motion made to move forward. >> Second.

[1:20:09] » All in favor? I got >> and that is with the American Solutions

[1:20:15] uh for business uh in the amount of $5,743.75.

[1:20:21] So,

[1:20:26] » um we recently done our coverage testing

[1:20:30] for the new radio system. I'd like to be able to and the rest of

[1:20:35] the board have um a review of the coverage testing

[1:20:42] maps for the new radio system.

[1:20:48] And basically what that will do, it will show us the coverage of the county of it

[1:20:53] with the new system. I think that's something we need to look

[1:20:56] at and um make sure we're getting what we paid for before we approve

[1:21:03] the system. >> Percentage of counter do you think we're

[1:21:08] going to get coverage on? [clears throat]

[1:21:09] » I think it was we were guaranteed 96% 94%.

[1:21:15] And that was on

[1:21:20] believe that was on a portable um with a pel mic.

[1:21:26] » I hope uh hope the majority of your coverage lease is located below the

[1:21:31] suffix scar throughout this county. >> And that's what I want to see the um

[1:21:36] results on too. We know what the dead spaces were in the county with the old

[1:21:40] system. I want to see how much the new system has improved the coverage in

[1:21:45] those areas because now is the time to address it if

[1:21:51] we don't see any uh progress with the new system to it's

[1:21:57] it's got better coverage. It's too late after you accept the

[1:22:02] system. >> Are these are these more powerful units?

[1:22:05] Is that is that how they're going to overcome this?

[1:22:09] I >> was no no no no reception transmission

[1:22:12] no reception >> Mr. fish. I wouldn't say it's what will

[1:22:16] how in the unit. It's it's basically by design. [gasps]

[1:22:20] So, it's a loop system. So, if you don't have coverage in one

[1:22:25] area, you got another tower site that it can ping off of or hit off of to cover

[1:22:32] that those dead spots. And with the antenna sites being closer,

[1:22:37] um that should help eliminate some of the dead spots.

[1:22:41] » That's what I'm looking for. >> Right.

[1:22:42] um when they proposed the system to us, I believe a coverage map was presented

[1:22:49] to the county and some of the site some of the area that you um got in you have

[1:22:54] in question um did have a whole lot better coverage according to their

[1:23:00] coverage map. But since they've actually used the system to go and test those

[1:23:08] grids, I want to make sure that the grid testing matches up with the original

[1:23:14] coverage map. >> Amen.

[1:23:16] » If that makes sense. >> That would sense.

[1:23:19] » Yeah. >> So that's I would like to see that

[1:23:22] » in the near future. [snorts] >> Heard anything from Verizon

[1:23:26] [clears throat] on the two issues? Um actually the gentleman called today um

[1:23:33] and I had stepped out of the office so I'll give him a call um related to the

[1:23:38] the lines. Um I the the letter drafted um getting ready to send that out. So

[1:23:50] » okay what else you need sir? [clears throat and cough]

[1:23:53] » Well that's all we need. >> Motion to adjurnn.

[1:23:55] » I been a second. Second all

[1:24:01] » [clears throat]

Northumberland Board of Supervisors - Special Called Meeting - 8/24/26

Transcript