Tuesday, April 12, 2005 President Scotty Penner called the meeting of the Taney County Ambulance District to order at 19:00 on April 12, 2005. Attendance: President Scotty Penner, Vice-President Kenny Nave, Treasurer David Rozell, Board Member Jackie Smith and Board Member Scott Novak present. Others Present: Steve Harris, Kevin Tweedy, Katie Sharpe, Melissa Stiffler, Jerry Blankenship, Jon Storey, Tim Ford, Kent Vanderpool, Jeff Hawkins and Pam Harmon. Scotty Penner welcomes Tim Ford. At the last Board Meeting Russ Russell resigned. Tim is here tonight to observe. APPROVAL OF PRIOR MINUTES Director Novak made a motion to approve prior Board minutes dated March 22, 2005. Director Smith seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote: Director Penner (Yes), Director Nave (Yes), Director Rozell (Yes), Director Smith (Yes), Director Novak (Yes). MOTION - MARCH FINANCIALS Director Rozell made a motion to approve March financials . Director Smith seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote: Director Penner (Yes), Director Nave (Yes), Director Rozell (Yes), Director Smith (Yes), Director Novak (Yes). Dr. Chase Steve advised legally Dr. Chase is able to ride with us but if he treats a patient then he will fall under his own malpractice insurance. Steve advised he has visited with Dr. Mire several times since the last board meeting. Dr. Mire advised that we have made several changes over the last year. Steve advised that Dr. Chase had forgotten about the last QA meeting but they did talk that morning and Dr. Chase did come to the meeting that afternoon. Steve advised he had talked to Dr. Chase about overseeing the EMT and Paramedic class that is required for our accreditation. Steve advised that we have been continuing with Dr. Mire. Penner advised that he understood that Dr. Mire was supposed to have talked to Dr. Chase. Steve advised he has. Steve advised he would like to talk to him about what we would like to see him do within the next month and see if he is still interested. Steve advised that Kevin and himself have been working closely with the ER to work out any issues. Jerry Blankenship - Audit Thank you for rescheduling your Board meeting. This is a different format due to some changes in the County. Pages 1 and 2 is an unqualified opinion. Pages 3-7 is to allow management and the Board to discuss events that are occuring within the District. We review it to make sure we do not have any problems with it. Steve advised with all the new development in the area we have to have a good plan to make sure we have enough coverage for the next 3-5 years. Jerry advised on page 8 is the statement of net assets. The cash balance is just over $951,000. That is only enough money for about 3 month. Jerry advised the amount of the District cash balance is a Board decision. However, he recommended we may look at having at least 6 months. He advised that sales tax revenues used to support a government entity is not constant and if we ever go into a recession it may be a problem. Steve advised right now there are some laws being introduced that would eliminate personal property tax for hotels and motels, so we would not have personal property tax to fall back on. Steve advised that currently there is a law being introduced that would eliminate districts being able to collect 50% of TIF taxes as we currently do. Jerry pointed out that notes payables are just under $600,000. Page 9 net revenue was $569,000 and the big expense item is payroll. Jerry advised the election expenses were close to $3000 higher than last year. Steve advised that it depends on how many others are on the ballot for that election. Jerry advised that there was a drop in accounts receivables, probably due to bad debt accounts being written off sooner. Jerry inquired if there were any questions. Jerry advised that we now have to look at fraud. Jerry advsied that the District had become complicated enough and due to the larger size, we would like to see a full time accountant doing the book keeping to increase internal control. Novak inquired about any minor changes that need to be made. Jerry advised we go to the bank to reconcile loan histories and there were some adjustments that need to be made. If we had a full time accountant then they would be able to do some of the adjustments. Steve advised that getting tax interest applied to the right account becomes a problem as well. Jerry advised we need someone with experience and ideally with a degree. Rozell inquired if he could give us an idea on salary. Jerry advised that probably $23,000 to $27,000 per year, depending on if they had a 4 year or 5 year degree. Jerry advised that Melissa needs to keep receivables and the accountant needs to keep the payables. Then ideally the accountant would not be able to enter information in the receivables program and Melissa would not be able to use the accounting program. That would allow for more segregation. Novak inquired about check dispersal. Jerry advised that is a Board decision. Jerry advised the book keeper would write the check but not sign it. The check would need to be attached to the invoice and given to someone for approval. Also he suggested that Kevin or the supervisors approve the invoice before the book keeper pays the invoice. Jerry advised they would also need to be involved in tracking all the fixed assets of the District. Novak inquired if the audit cost would be decreased due to less work. Jerry advised the work would just be simplified. Rozell inquired if the fraud audit was now mandatory. Jerry advised yest. He stated they keep a list of who they interviewed and we would interview different Board members and employees next time. Jerry advised For receivables we use the run log, look at charges entered in computer, follow it through Medicare, Medicaid and/or collections. Jerry advised we had a problem with notes payable and did not have a contract with the new building. Jerry advised the bank got it to us within a few hours. Penner inquired about his criteria for looking for an auditor. We look at their education. We make sure they have the skills with the necessary software. Then we look at if we like them and their ability to deal with clients. Penner inquired about background checks. Jerry advised that is a good idea. Rozell inquired about bonding. Steve advised we have an error and omissions policy. Jerry suggested we may have Jeff Long help us do a screening interview. Rozell inquired if Jerry could put some guidelines out as to what the Board should be looking for in a bookkeeper. He stated that Jeff Long would have advantages over him because he knows the area and Jerry has to be careful about making suggestions that might be considered consulting. Jerry stated the purchase of the new building is a big indicator of growth and this would justify hiring a bookkeeper. Rozell inquired about continuing to use Quick Books. Jerry advised that is still fine, a lot of District's are still using that software. He stated they always go back and check the previous year in Quick Books. Jerry advised that ideally a more detailed program would be great. Jerry stated our IT person is doing a great job keeping track of our hardware and software. Steve advised that we need to have the audit sent to the State in May, do we have to approve this tonight. Jerry advised we could send it now and if we have to make changes than we can send a letter stating that changes were made due to Board recommendation. Penner advised the Board would look at the audit and contact Jerry with any changes. Jerry advised he would be back April 29. Novak inquired about the bookkeeper and how we were going to pursue that. Discussion was held about getting recommendations from Jeff Long's office. Education building Steve advised that himself and Scotty Penner refinanced the new building at 4.4%. Novak inquired if the closing costs were $1300. Steve advised yes. Steve advised they would be here next week to install garage doors. Nave inquired about plans for the class rooms. Steve advised we are waiting on the mechnical & electrical engineer. Kent advised the mechanical & electrical engineer were here today to look at the building. Novak advised the parking lot and sidewalk are finished. Receivables Melissa advised receivables for March 2005 are just over $125,000. March of 2004 was at $118,000. This was an increase of just over $6,900. Year to date we are at $322,636. MOTION - MARCH WRITE-OFF'S Director Rozell made a motion to approve write-offs for for the month of March totaling $36,512.85. Director Nave seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote: Director Penner (Yes), Director Nave (Yes), Director Rozell (Yes), Director Smith (Yes), Director Novak (Yes). Melissa Melissa presented information about continuing to write off accounts for employees and their spouses and dependents. Melissa advised after speaking with Julie from Jeff Long's office that it is reasonable that benefits be given only to full time employees. Julie had stated that a write off for ambulance transport could be excluded from being reported as employee wages under No Additional Cost Services. This exclusion applies to a service you provide to an employee if it does not cause you to incur any substantial additional costs. Melissa suggested that we write off for full time employees but if the Board wanted to include part time also, they could. As long as once the decision was made, we follow that criteria and do not discriminate. After some discussion Steve stated that the write-off's were minimal and we should include all employees. Jeff inquired about retired employees. Melissa advised that the exclusion includes retirees, a widow or widower of an individual who died while an employee and former employees who left on disability. MOTION - WRITE OFF FOR EMPLOYEES. Director Smith made a motion to write off employee accounts for full time and part time employees, including eligible spouses and dependents. Director Rozell seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote: Director Penner (Yes), Director Nave (Yes), Director Rozell (Yes), Director Smith (Yes), Director Novak (Yes). Kevin He advised we have hired a couple of employees and they are going through orientation. We still need PRN medics. Rozell inquired about the shortage. Kevin advised that Cox and St. John's also have a shortage. Katie has us on GreatHires.org and we have advertised in the Springfield papers. Kevin stated that currently the Springfield services are on overtime and they are getting their hours they want there. Since they are on overtime at their full time job, their wage is more than it would be here. Kevin also stated that St. John's has a non compete contract and pays their employees extra so they will not work for any other service. Kevin advised that Eddie is currently doing his ride time and clinicals. Some discussion was held regarding the East car. Bob had a clinical save. He was able to arrive at the patient in 3-4 minutes to defibrillate a patient. Kent Kent advised he has 3 in training and he is calling 3 back for another interview. He would like to have 3 PRN employees to call from. The MMACC is back. Kent advised that we will be taking it to Bill Dailey to show him the results. It's first PR event will be April 30th, called Meet the Voice of 911. We are going to set the MMACC up outside the Sheriff's Department and let everybody meet the Dispatcher's and tour the bus. On May 7th we are planning on taking it to Branson. We will be using it for Operation Homecoming in June. Katie Katie presented the quotes for short and long term disability that was discussed last month. The quote currently is about $15,000 per year. A final quote will be presented when the employees turn in paperwork and will be based on health information. Katie advised she did check with Lagers for long term disability. It is only available for vested employees and will only be based on what has been paid in, so it may be minimal for newer employees. Katie advised currently this is a low amount based on the fact that we pay $300,000 to $400,000 per year for health insurance. Katie stated that this would be a helpful benefit. Rozell inquired if we had asked the employees. Katie says several have asked about benefits such as a sick pool. Jackie advised she is a firm believer in disability benefits. Katie stated that short term is 60% of your wage up to $750 and Long term is 60% of your wage up to $6000. Steve advised that we need to go through the application process to get a final quote. Rozell advised that we try to get the final quote before we decide. Katie advised that it is a very small percentage of employees that currently take advantage of our disability plan, probably 5% or less. MOTION - QUOTE FROM THE INSURANCE Director Rozell made a motion to pursue a final quote from the insurance company before we decide. Director Novak seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote: Director Penner (Yes), Director Nave (Yes), Director Rozell (Yes), Director Smith (Yes), Director Novak (Yes). Novak inquired about announcing that there is an open position for the Board. Penner advised that state statute advises the Board fills the position until the next election. The next election will be in April. EXECUTIVE SESSION Director Rozell made a motion to go into Executive Session at 20:30 to discuss personnel matters authorized by RSMo 610.021 and in compliance with RSMo 610.022. Director Smith seconded the motion. The motion passed by vote: Director Penner (Yes), Director Nave (Yes), Director Rozell (Yes), Director Smith (Yes), Director Novak (Yes). Vote -closed session Executive session adjourned at 21:00. A vote was taken during closed session. Penner advised he needs a vote to appoint Tim Ford. He requested a vote. Director Penner (Yes), Director Nave (Yes), Director Rozell (Yes), Director Smith (Yes), Director Novak (Yes). |