Everest Metro Police Joint Finance Committee

Meeting Minutes of Joint Meeting of the Everest Metropolitan Police Department Joint Finance Committee and the Everest Metro Municipal Court Finance Committee, dated 09/13/2021 Present: Mark Maloney – President: Village of Weston Yee Leng Xiong – Trustee; Village of Weston Milt Olson – Chairman; Town of Weston Kregg Hoehn – Mayor; City of Schofield Kari Carroll – Alderman; City of Schofield Clay Schulz – EMPD Police Chief Jessica Trautman – Director of Finance; Village of Weston Jenna Trittin – Deputy Finance Director; Village of Weston Absent: Nathan Fiene – Trustee; Village of Weston Denny Richmond – Alderman; City of Schofield I. CALL TO ORDER A. Joint Finance Chair Maloney opened the meeting at 1500 hours. Roll Call. B. Approval of minutes from May 26, 2021 EMPD and EMMC Joint Finance Committee meeting. *M/S/P Milt/Hoehn II. NEW BUSINESS – EMMC A. Presentation on 2020 audit by Krisztina Dommer from Kerber Rose. Not much has changed since 2020. B. EMPD funding formula and municipal contributions percentages. There are seven factors that make up the funding formula. Chief Schulz was looking at averaging the formula to avoid large swings in contributions due increased activity levels in a municipality. Chief Schulz presented a 5 year average, a 10 year average and a fixed rate, as options for the Committee to consider. Kregg Hoehn recommended capping instead of formulas as they have no extra income coming in. Mark Maloney suggested to continue to look into merging services as finances are not improving. If an average is approved, the Everest Metro Public Safety agreement will need to be updated. Chief Schulz does not anticipate any major changes in the operations functions once the line items are completed. Suggested trying the average formula for a few years to see how things play out. Heohn made a motion to use the 10 year average of the funding formula for contributions by the City of Schofield and the Village of Weston, with the Town of Weston remaining capped. *M/S/P Hoehn/Xiong C. American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds. Suggested use of those funds was for premium pay for EMPD and SAFER, as well as a one-time purchase of a squad. The funds were created this year due to COVID and it is unknown if the funds will be available for future use. It was recommended to come up with a plan and breakdown for the next meeting. D. Approval of starting pay for Officer Joshua English at 90% of patrol officer rate, retroactive to start date of June 14, 2021, based on law enforcement experience. It was explained that some agencies start their new hires out at lateral pay and benefits from other agencies. It has been done in the past with previous employees coming from other agencies. *M/S/P Hoehn/Carroll E. Approval of starting pay for Officer Eric Soberg at 90% of patrol officer rate based on law enforcement experience as he has eight years of experience with the Merrill Police Department. *M/S/P Hoehn/Xiong  F. Discussion and possible action on audit contract for the financials ending 2021-2023 (occurring 2022-2024). Motion was to send out RFPs for audit services. *M/S/P Xiong/Olson G. Budget status report. It was explained with new hires that the uniforms cost has been increasing as more equipment is needed. Overtime is running over budget due to gaps in staffing. III. CHIEF’S REPORT Committee was informed there is one vacancy left. We have funding for 29 officers, however we are currently at 28. In the last three years EMPD has hired 12 officers, partly due to retirements or people leaving for other opportunities. The new hires going through the process are doing well. With Soberg having a background in law enforcement his training process should go fairly quick. IV. COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS: Kregg Hoehn – Schofield’s budget is tight as they have no money coming in. Kari Carroll – Budget is tight. V. DATE FOR NEXT MEETING: TBD VI. ADJOURN: Meeting was adjourned at approximately 1615 hours. *M/S/P Xiong/Hoehn