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Floyd County considers relocating social service agencies to courthouse

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

Floyd County officials are looking at the possibility of moving the county offices for the Department of Human Services, Mental Health and General Assistance into the courthouse as part of a renovation project.

County supervisors discussed the possibility at a workshop session Monday morning with representatives of the various agencies. No official decisions are made at workshop sessions.

The county is doing updates and relocating offices within the courthouse as part of a $13.5 million voter-approved project whose main component is the construction of a law enforcement center including a new county jail.

Relocating the various social service agencies was not part of the original plans for the courthouse updates, and Supervisor Chairwoman Linda Tjaden said if the agencies want to make the move it might have to be considered separate from the $13.5 million project that will be funded by the sale of general obligation bonds.

Two factors that the groups are considering are the space available in the courthouse and the savings that might be possible by no longer needing the building at 1206 S. Main St. where the agencies are currently located.

Bob Lincoln, CEO of County Social Services (CSS), the 22-county mental health and disability services agency that includes Floyd County, said he would like to move his office to the courthouse because he would be near Floyd County Veterans Affairs, which is in the courthouse, and the Sheriff’s Office, which will be in the adjoining law enforcement center.

CSS interacts with both of those offices as it serves clients, he said.

Vicki Hendershot, a manager with the Iowa Department of Human Services, who is located in Black Hawk County, said she had some concerns whether there would be enough space in the courthouse for the Floyd County DHS staff, especially if that staff expands in the future.

The groups looked at two possible floor plans drawn up by the architects working with the county on the courthouse and law enforcement center project. Both showed ways that the Department of Human Services, Mental Health and General Assistance could be located on the first floor of the courthouse, along with the Veterans Affairs office, which is currently on the ground floor.

They would take space currently used by the County Attorney’s Office and County Assessor’s Office, which would be relocated to other areas in the courthouse as part of the updates.

Tjaden said, “We’re not saying this should be part of the $13.5 million. We’re just asking, does it make sense.”

She said the discussion would be a worthwhile exercise looking at the possibilities, even if it doesn’t go any further.

Lincoln said one positive aspect of locating the agencies in the courthouse would be reducing the stigma sometimes attached to people who use social services agencies.

Now, anyone who is seen going into the offices at 1206 S. Main St. is known to be going to see the agencies located there, he said.

If those agencies are located in the courthouse then clients “become part of the regular courthouse traffic,” he said.

The supervisors will hold a special meeting at 9 a.m. Friday to discuss the latest law enforcement center and courthouse designs with the architects from Prochaska & Associates, and see a 3D model of what the exterior of the new law enforcement center and an atrium joining it with the courthouse could look like.

The architects will also present the latest cost estimates that include proposed changes and office relocations in the courthouse.

Also at the meeting Monday morning, the supervisors discussed a proposal by Floyd County Treasurer Frank Rottinghaus to create a specialist position in his office to manage the motor vehicle and title division and increase the pay of the clerk currently doing those duties by a little less than $9,000 a year.

Rottinghaus made the proposal to replace a deputy position that was eliminated when Judy Hughes retired.

In 2013, the Board of Supervisors set a policy to reduce the number of deputies to one in each office by replacing them with clerks when current deputies left or retired.

Tjaden said she wanted to check with the county’s human resources agency as far as procedures, and she was concerned about setting a precedent with other departments.

County Recorder Deb Roberts said when she replaced a deputy with a clerk the clerk took on all the deputy’s duties and has even added more responsibility as the office’s requirements have changed.

She said she has increased that clerk’s pay as much as she can within county guidelines, “but she is not making what she deserves.”

Roberts said if the supervisors approve a specialist position in the Treasurer’s Office she will rewrite job descriptions in her office and request something similar at budget time.

County Auditor Gloria Carr said she, too, had clerks who had taken over deputy duties and were performing above what they should be paid.

“My clerks are doing a fantastic job, doing as much as deputies for a clerk’s pay,” she said.

Carr said she had clerks who were “probably paid $11,000 less” than they would be if they had deputy titles.

“I would make them all specialists if I could,” she said.

One difference between deputies and clerks is that deputies are paid a percentage of the office elected official’s salary, usually 80 percent or 85 percent. Clerks are paid an hourly wage set by the Board of Supervisors.

Rottinghaus said his concern is that his staff be paid appropriately. The clerk who took on the motor vehicle and title duties has management responsibilities that other clerks don’t have, he said.

“We don’t want to see people with a lot of experience go out the door,” he said.

Supervisor Mark Kuhn said the supervisors had approved additional pay increases for other departments.

“I think these do have to be looked at individually, and we have done this in the past to keep people in positions,” Kuhn said.

Supervisor Doug Kamm said one of his concerns with Rottinghaus’ proposal was that he asked to make the pay increase retroactive to the beginning of the fiscal year when the clerk took on the new responsibilities.

Tjaden said the board would need to discuss the item at a regular meeting, but she said again that she wanted to get some guidance from the county’s human resources agency first.

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