74th Legislative Session -- 1999

Committee: Joint Appropriations Subcommittee #2

                                            P - Present
                                            E - Excused
                                            A - Absent

Roll Call
P      Sen. Dennert
P    Rep. Burg     
E      Sen. Lange
P      Rep. Klaudt
P      Sen. Bogue
P      Sen. Hainje
P      Sen. Kleven
P      Rep. Derby
P      Rep. Putnam, Vice-Chair
P      Sen. Frederick, Chair


OTHERS PRESENT: See Original Minutes

The meeting was called to order by Chair Frederick.

South Dakota Bureau of Administration

Ms. Annie Mertz, Senior Fiscal Analyst, LRC, presented the committee with budget information ( Document #1).

Mr. Tom Geraets, Commissioner, Bureau of Administration (BOA), presented the committee with a budget summary ( Document #2). He also provided a report on maintenance and repair of state buildings ( Document #3) and of the Capitol building ( Document #4). Mr. Geraets further provided an overview of the Bureau and of the process whereby General Funds from one agency become Other Funds in the Bureau.

Senator Bogue requested an explanation of the sale/lease back process. Mr. Jim Neiles, Finance Officer, BOA, presented the committee with this information ( Document #5). The state owns 3,500 vehicles. The liability figure cited in the budget covers all vehicles.

Commissioner Geraets provided an overview of Central Services. Representative Putnam asked for an explanation of the imaging system request from Bureau of Personnel. Commissioner Geraets responded that the request is related to technical imaging standards set by the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications (BIT).

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Senator Frederick inquired about the number of counties and/or schools who buy off the state contract. Several do, but the Bureau does not know if there has been an increase or a decrease.
Senator Frederick asked whether the Bureau searches county purchase lists. They do not, but they could. The Bureau is working with BIT on the idea of an electronic mall. The electronic mall would be comprised of eight states in addition to South Dakota. Each state would be required to bring a major vendor to the list, and everyone could purchase from it.

Representative Klaudt questioned if 3,500 vehicles is too many for state use. Commissioner Geraets responded that approximately 3,000 are assigned, and the other 500 are placed in car pools.

Senator Bogue asked how the Bureau keeps bids up-to-date on the contract list to receive the best price. The Commissioner explained there is a provision in the contracts with businesses stating the bid to the state must be the lowest offered to any client.

Representative Klaudt requested a breakdown of expenses per vehicle per year from the Bureau.

Chairman Frederick turned the gavel over to Senator Hainje at 9:50 am.

Commissioner Geraets reported on the State Engineers program. There are no changes. The cost of a new state building remains with the agency receiving the building.

Commissioner Geraets reviewed the Maintenance and Repair program.

Senator Frederick resumed the gavel from Senator Hainje at 10:02 am.

The Bureau reports there are no changes to the budget for maintenance and repair of the Capitol Complex. The Bureau is requesting a $450,000 increase in federal fund authority to expend Department of Human Services grant funds for Title XIX maintenance and repair. The Bureau is requesting $1.8 million in other fund authority to expend $1.8 million remaining from the 1996 special appropriations bill in which $9.1 million was appropriated. Although a 1999 Letter of Intent reports the Bureau testified in 1998 that the Statewide Maintenance and Repair funds from the special appropriations bill would be depleted by FY99, this has not happened due to construction delays. If the Bureau receives the $1.8 million it will have FY00 and FY01 in which to spend it.

Senator Frederick requested a copy of the criteria for buildings to be included in the statewide maintenance and repair program. The current value of all state buildings is $1.4 billion. The Senator also requested that BOA track the hours of inmate labor used for maintenance and repair. The Commissioner estimated that sixty percent of estimates for repair are at or above the final cost. Senator Dennert asked why money was not saved on repair projects for which inmate labor was used. The Commissioner responded that in many cases the inmates completed additional repair projects on the campuses.

The Commissioner summarized the Office of Hearing Examiners program. There are no changes to the budget, which is comprised 100% of general funds. There are fewer than 400 cases filed per year. Hearing a case may take from ½ hour to 1 week, with an average time of 2 hours. Representative Klaudt noted that the average cost per case appears to be $406/hr and that the figure

seems high. The Bureau responded that there is additional time involved beyond the actual hearing time. Currently there is no backlog of cases.

Commissioner Geraets reported on the Public Entity Pool for Liability Fund Administration. There is a decrease of $1 million in other funds due to a new insurance contract.

The committee requested information on the Best Foods contract which will be provided in depth at a future meeting to be determined.

MOTION:      ADJOURN

Moved by:      Representative Klaudt
Second by:      Senator Dennert
Action:      Prevailed by voice vote.

Deborah Rumrill

Committee Secretary