February 2004

   Cheyenne, Little America

February 18

A Light-Hearted Approach to Change

Dr. James Law, Jan Law and Jennifer McDonald made a presentation about recognizing and positively responding to changes in all aspects of our lives.

Wyoming Retirement Counsel

Frank Bice with AIG spoke to the group about their program to provide retirement counseling for staff.  He also made a presentation on AIG retirement products.

February 19

State Department of Education

Fred Hanson, Brenda Long, Wayne Milton, Rob Bryant and Leeds Pickering of the WDE discussed many issues, to include:

School Level Accounting

Annual Training Sessions

Department of Audit requirements, materiality issues, timeline for payment of monetary findings, etc.

Routine Maintenance explanation

Transportation forms/requirements

Basics of 403(b) and 457 Plans

Gary Black and Marty Heffron of the IRS presented on differences and similarities between 403(b) Plans and 457 Plans as well as changes to the laws affecting these.  They also discussed the compliance issues.  

Capital Facilities/Major Maintenance Update on Forms, Calculations and Proposed Legislation

Ken Burnett and staff updated the group on the budget process for the SFC; demonstrated the new SFC-680 Form as well as timelines for completion.  As per Statute, the Five-Year Plan is due on July 1st.  There was discussion regarding changing Statute regarding the due date, to 9/1 instead of 7/1, so that Districts have ample time to complete the forms using their fiscal year-end data.  They also discussed the changes in the square footage amounts, as well as how the ADM are calculated, the Rules and Regs are currently being written and they will be seeking our input on those.   SF37 was discussed at great length.

IRS Requirements for reporting on employee compensation.

Marty Heffron and Dwayne Jacobs presented the key areas that they review when a school district or other public entity is audited by the IRS.

• One of the first areas they check is 1099’s vs. W-2’s to make certain employees are not receiving payment as contracts.
• Travel reimbursement plans are also an area that receives scrutiny.
• Housing allowances are checked to determine if the housing location is required for the job duties or is only additional compensation.

New COBRA Rules & HIPPA

Terry Sterling with First Administrators reviewed the changes resulting from HIPPA and COBRA rules.

• HIPPA’s purpose is to improve electronic data exchange to make it more standardized and to protect the privacy of personal health and insurance information.
• School Districts need to designate a privacy official especially self insured groups since they have a greater administrative responsibility within the District under HIPPA.
• The COBRA rules were reviewed:
• The 36 month period when it occurs within the 18 month window extends the period up to 36 it doesn’t add an additional 36 months.
• If an employee waives their COBRA option, they can rescind this decision within 60 days.
• COBRA participants have 45 days to make payments with a 31-day grace period if they are late before any penalty can be assessed.
• Proposed new COBRA regulations include required notification of family members not just the former employee of the COBRA option and that the notification period could be extended to 44 days and require much more information.

Business Meeting

Kay Watson, President called the business meeting to order.

Minutes and Treasurer’s Report

• Sandy Christie moved to approve the minutes Mike Wiggam seconded the motion, motion passed.
• Boyd Brown moved to approve the treasurer’s report as presented, Jeremy Smith seconded the motion, motion passed.

Old Business - None

New Business

Concerns with Senate File 65 were discussed since this bill has been resurrected in the House and needs to be killed. Further discussion on the ramifications of the Full-Kindergarten legislation and Small School Adjustment.

PRC Report

The PRC report was deferred until the summer meeting.

Trade Fair

The trade fair report was deferred until the summer meeting.

ASBO report

Kay Watson and other business managers who attended the Charlotte ASBO Convention reported that the sessions are very informational and learning from other business managers from around the country is very helpful.  They also encouraged the rest of the members who haven’t attended to go to Cincinnati in October 2004.

The business meeting closed with a call for volunteers for the summer meeting location, Jeremy Smith volunteered for Rancher/Sheridan in 2004, Sandy Christie volunteered for summer of 2005 in Cody.

Round Table Discussion

The WASBO members discussed the following topics; Projecting fund balances, payments for workers compensation, finger printing, annual certification for special education and transportation and OSHA reports and Retirement Planning Fairs.

February 20

Voc Ed Funding

Tom Martin and Brenda Long made a presentation on the reporting requirements and calculation for vocational education funding.  The WDE asked for volunteers to help them ascertain whether the calculations are working correctly.  Don and Boyd Brown volunteered to work with WDE on this.  Members were reminded of the course sequencing and approval necessary for a course to be approved as Voc. Ed.  Tom Martin agreed to send out reminders of the snapshots dates to the principals.

Legislative Update

Lawrence Anderson and Al Atkins provided insight into the bills that are moving through the 2004 Legislature

Procurement for Child Nutrition Programs

Susan Benning and Katie Mordhorst gave a presentation on the federal requirements and procedures for procurement in child nutrition programs.

Department of Audit

Rich Cummings presented and discussed a listing of the documentation that will be required for a district audit, as well as the process used in notifying districts of their audit and timelines.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ed Goetz, Secretary/Treasurer