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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/16/1989 FC minutesMINUTES OF THE MEETING FINANCE COMMISSION March 16, 1989 I Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Members present were Tom Pekras, Newt Hallman, Richard Bachhuber, Ann Smilanic and Paul Davies. Also present were Village Manager John Fulton Dixon, Finance Director David Jepson, Asst. Finance Director Don Mazza, Human Services Administrator Nancy Morgan, and Assistant Human Services Administrator Jan Abernethy. II Community and Civic Services The presentation of this division of the 1989-90 Budget began with discussion of Social Agencies. While these contractual services are now situated in the Human Services budget, discussion was postponed until this session. Dave Jepson introduced Nancy Morgan, whose department oversees the social agency programs. This year for the first time, staff is reviewing the effectiveness of program requests and making a recommendation to the Village Board. The Village has a formal contract with the various agencies and is supposed to receive quarterly financial statements from them. The total recommended in the 89/90 Budget is $19,000 which is down from last year by $17,000. Omni Youth Services - This agency provides counseling and support groups for adolescents. Services are partially duplicated by the Police Depart- ment's program from Forest Hospital. Main funding comes from Wheeling Township and the United Way. Total spent on the 115 Mount Prospect residents/clients during 1988 was $15,163 or just over $175 each The Police Department has had some difficulty admitting their clients into the Omni program. The agency's request was for $6,000, last year's being $59000. Human Services is recommending $1,000 funding for 89/90. This reduction is primarily because of the high cost per client and the duplication of efforts. It is recommended that the Village continue with this program at a reduced level because of the possibility of loss of the program at Forest Hospital. Shelter, Inc. - This agency provides temporary shelter, foster homes and counseling for abused children and their families. Mount Prospect residents served by the agency in 1988 totaled 28 families resulting in 16 placements in foster homes. The unit cost per family was $285.71. This program is not duplicated. The budget request from the agency of $8,500 is recommended in total by the Human Services Division. Additional funding is provided by Elk Grove Township, Wheeling Township and the United Way. 2 Northwest Mental Health Clinic - This agency offers long-term counseling with a psychologist who can prescribe medication. This year's request for $1,500 is the initial request from this group. They serviced 339 Mount Prospect residents. The general feeling is that this request is a small one. The consensus is that the request for next year could be much larger. There is no duplication of services and, based on the number served, should be a worthwhile service. Salvation Army Family Service - This agency provides long-term emotional counseling and budget counseling. The agency served 292 Mount Prospect residents in 1988 with a unit cost of $20.55/client. This year's request of $7,000 is up $1,000 from last year. The Human Services division is recommending funding at the full request of the agency. The program is considered very good, with many referrals and networking. Co -funding is provided by Wheeling Township, Elk Grove Township and United Way. Resource Center for the Elderly - This agency provides a housing matchup between homeowners and seekers where at least one client is 55 years of age or older. The agency served only five new matches (and six from prior years) last year with a unit cost of $454.55/match. The agency is requesting $5,000 for the 89/90 budget, the same as the current fiscal year. Human Services is recommending a decrease in allocation to $1,000. While the service is non -duplicated and is an excellent program, staff feels that the relatively high unit cost outweighs the benefit received. Mr. Bachhuber asked how many matches were unsuccessful. Ms. Abernethy stated that about one in three matches failed. Northwest Community Services - This agency provides emergency housing for up to four weeks. Approximately 66 individuals and 15 families from Mount Prospect were served in 1988 through September. Village contribu- tions to this agency totaled $6,000 (originally $12,000; cut at mid year) resulting in a unit cost of $90.91 per individual and $400 per family. The program is duplicated by MERC and CEDA. Staff recommends against funding for this agency for several reasons. The agency has not responded to requests for information or financial reports. Plus, the other two agencies duplicating these services do an excellent job. The Finance Commission engaged in a lively discussion on the various agencies and their programs. The Commission was concerned that the affected residents might not be receiving the services and the Commission wondered whether the funds could be handled by the Human Services Division rather than by outside agencies. After the discussion,the Commission voted unanimously on a motion to recommend the acceptance of Staff's recommendation for the funding levels with the stipulation that the Village Board reconsider their commitment to these agencies next year to ensure that the contributions are used for Mount Prospect residents only. III Community and Civic Services The Commission engaged in a general discussion of the pros and cons of each of the individual community groups and the Village's commitment for funding them. 3 A. Historical Society - The Commission voted to recommend not to fund the request on a vote of 4 to 1 with a minority vote to reduce, not eliminate funding. B. Memorial Day Parade - The Commission voted to recommend funding on a vote of 4 to 1. C. Arts Council - The Commission voted to recommend not funding on a unanimous vote. D. Constitutional Bi -Centennial - The Commission voted to unanimously recommend funding. The Commission recommends that each of these organizations prepare an annual report of their activities, revenues and expenses to the Village. The con- sensus of opinion was that without such a report, the Village would not be able to track what was done with the contributions. E. 4th of July - The Commission voted to unanimously recommend the funding for this activity. F. Holiday Decorations - The Commission voted to unanimously recommend the funding of this activity. IV Summary and Recommendations The Finance Commission engaged in a lengthy and animated discussion of the Commissioners' report on their recommendations. Mr. Bachhuber was given the task of preparing the document. The report is attached hereto as attachment "A." V Discussion of the Role of the Finance Commission The Finance Commission has recently expressed a desire to expand their role to include such topics as the Annual Audit and Management Letter, Budget Review, Tax Levy, Capital Improvement Programs, Investment Policy, Risk Management Program and other such items. To accomplish this, the Commission would benefit by expanding its membership and appointment of a chair. The Commission decided to present their recommendations for this objective to the Mayor after the upcoming election. Adjournment followed at 11:00 p.m. Respect y submitted r Don Mazza Assistant Finan Director ADM/sm Enc Attachment A FINANCE 'CC'MMISSION BUDGET REVIEW REPORT POLICE. The Commission is in substantial agreement with the need expressed far~ additional personnel in rhe Police Department. The Commission does expect, However, that there will be n , further increases i n the immediate future (3 years). It is anticipated tnat these additional ernplc,yees will provide a more noticable police presence on the streets of Mount F'r-spect and sc, would slew to a significant degree the rising rate of crime and misdemeanors as shytwn by the statistics f:_.r the past several years. The Commission also felt that the proposed expenditure for- participation orparticipation in ,A local crime laboratory would be money well spent. With the forego.ng thoughts, the funding requested by Police was approved. FIRE: Assurnntion c -F the fire and emergency protection responsibilities for the 1_►nincorporated area dust south of the Village obviously will require increased fire fighting and medical service capabilities. The additional employees requested would serve this increased need. The proposed budget indicates that the added expense wr-,uld be covered by taxes levied in the area. This extra capability would also serve as a back._►p force to the existing Village Department. The Commission supports this proposed fire budget. However, the Commission felt that the information provided in this hearing wa= riot complete enough in some details to accurately determine the real manpowerneeds of the Department. HUMAN SERVICES: The requested Human Services funding was, in the Commission's opinicin, fully justified. This Village service is becoming more and more important as the resident make up � �f the Village changes. The information and recommendations provided by H. S. :_,n the funding of local social service agencies was well thought out and complete. This funding provides for, an important additional service to the Village residents. 1 A cont inuirig problem faced by H. S. is the i:,w cost -taxi ser^vice pr ,gram f r- senior citizens. This sltuati-Dn is being addressed and solut i _ins are being implernented. The Cc!np.m i ss i arj approves the f una i ng as r eq'Aest ed. INSPECTION SERVICES DEPARTMENT: The Commission perceived .=_erne problems in this Department. The several -cnousand of perm i t i aspect i _ins that have not been cc rnp l et ed indicated t the Commission that a poor ,fob was dcine in years past. There was considerable discussion after the department presentatic-ri about the operatiorr, ,F this service. "he esser+se of the discu.ssiori was to the effect that the 'Jiilage code smoula be studied and revised to make it more easily understood, accepted, and enforced so as to receive greater approval by the Village r—sidents. The budget r-equest was approved with the thought that improvements in the _oPeration if this Department would be effected in this coming budget year. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT: Ttie additional cast ..f the "two for four" replacement if personnel in the PW _organization drew some negative rear. t i c -ns ram the members f the Commission. Other thar, that, the proposed budget expenditures were generally appr^_,ved. There was c_nside-able discussion res-.ilting from the remarks riade by the PW director concerning the deteriorating infrastructure" of the Village. There seemed to be general agreement that a broad plan must be formulated to handle this very expensive program so that in future budgets funds will be available to begin this rest ructur_ng of the essential Village services - streets, water, s i dews 1 H.s, i i ght i rig, sewers, arid buildings, among ather•s. The Finance Commission offers its talent (') to explore possible additional ;'ending sources to begin this very important and expensive program. ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE: The C�,rnrnissior, supported strongly the pr ,posed addition of two people to provide a personnel .management function and a centralized purchasing office. The information supplied to the Commission indicated that these additional positions would generally save more than they would cast by way of improved service in the administration �n o f the Village gove-nment. CIVIC GROUPS: There was a general discussion by the Commission as to what responsibilty for funding is owed to these several civic groups and activities. Based upon this discussion, the recommendation of the Commission is to fund the VFW parade and the Bicentennial Commission only, feeling that the Historical and Fine Arts organizations should stand on their own. PLANNING AND ZONING: This department has, primarily, the ongoing responsibility to maintain the "looks" of the Village. A substantial share of its funds comes from the Community Development Block Grant Program. The Commission questioned as to how long CDBG funds would be available. The Commission was assured that this source of funding is in no immediate danger of being phased out. In all respects the funding request of this Department seemed to be in keeping with its duties, and the bugeted amount was approved. The Commission wishes to express its appreciation to all of the staff members who so patiently sat through your long sessions and answered all of our questions - even the ones that didn't ;Hake much sense - in a straight forward and expert manner. The observation of the Commission was that the Village is, indeed, in good hands. Current Commission members: Richard Bachhuber Paul Davies Newt Hallman Tom Pekras Ann Smilanic 3 The Commission did not support the addition of one person to the Cable -Television operation. The general feeling was that the Village should not be in the "television" business - there was no data shown as t, how many residents are connected to the cable system, and of that number, hew many do regularly watch the Village channel. CIVIC GROUPS: There was a general discussion by the Commission as to what responsibilty for funding is owed to these several civic groups and activities. Based upon this discussion, the recommendation of the Commission is to fund the VFW parade and the Bicentennial Commission only, feeling that the Historical and Fine Arts organizations should stand on their own. PLANNING AND ZONING: This department has, primarily, the ongoing responsibility to maintain the "looks" of the Village. A substantial share of its funds comes from the Community Development Block Grant Program. The Commission questioned as to how long CDBG funds would be available. The Commission was assured that this source of funding is in no immediate danger of being phased out. In all respects the funding request of this Department seemed to be in keeping with its duties, and the bugeted amount was approved. The Commission wishes to express its appreciation to all of the staff members who so patiently sat through your long sessions and answered all of our questions - even the ones that didn't ;Hake much sense - in a straight forward and expert manner. The observation of the Commission was that the Village is, indeed, in good hands. Current Commission members: Richard Bachhuber Paul Davies Newt Hallman Tom Pekras Ann Smilanic 3