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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/30/1989 FC minutesFINANCE COMMISSION Minutes of the Meeting November 30, 1989 I The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Commission members in attendance were Richard Bachhuber, Paul Davies, John Engel, Vince Grochocinski, Newt Hallman, Jim Morrison, John Mussar, Tom Pekras and Ann Smilanic. Also present were Finance Director David Jepson and Assistant Finance Director Carol Widmer. II The minutes of the November 9, 1989 meeting were accepted as presented. III Mr. Bachhuber began the discussion of the elevated tank rehabilitation by stating that. the Commission had two responsibilities regarding the storage tank question. The first was to make a recommendation to the Village Board as to whether the present tank should be repaired and brought into compliance with today's standards or torn down and a new tank erected. The second recommendation was whether the Commission feels the Village should enter into negotiations with the Water Reclamation District to purchase additional land at Melas Park for future use. The members of the Finance Commission carefully reviewed Herb Weeks' November 13, 1989 memo regarding Tank Industry Consultants report on the condition of the present water tank and all of the recommended maintenance and improvement to the tank. After considerable discussion by Commission members a motion was presented by John Engel to the effect that it was not economically feasible to replace the tank at this time and that the Village should follow the recommendations of the Tank Industry Consultants. The motion was seconded by Ann Smilanic and passed unanimously. The Commission asked that Public Works Director Herb Weeks attend the next meeting scheduled for January 4, 1990 and present the plans to implement the recommended repairs and rehabilitation to the present tank. The Commission then considered the topic of additional land acquisition at Melas Park. David Jepson said the current status is that we have a 20 -year lease on the property at Melas Park which is leased to the Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect Park Districts. We have first call on the property. Herb Weeks has informed the Water Reclamation District (WRD) that we may be interested in purchasing some land. The WRD acknowledged Herb's letter and said they would consider it but no negotiations have been entered into now. Mr. Jepson said we paid $732,000 for the seven acres we purchased for the Public Works facility but other land would probably sell for less because it doesn't have the frontage the Public Works property had. The Finance Commission agreed that since they had not recommended that a new water tank be built additional land acquisition at this time would not be necessary. Tom Pekras moved that land should not be purchased until a use is identified for the land and Vince Grochocinski seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. IV The next topic on the agenda was purchasing policies and procedures. Mr. Jepson gave some background on the Village's current system. It is a decentralized system with each department responsible for their own budget and purchasing. Current Village policy requires that each purchase order must be signed by the Department Director and the Finance Director. Purchase orders for $500 or more require the Village Manager's signature also. Purchases for items over $4,000 require a formal bid process unless waived by the Village Board. The purpose of the new manual, "Village of Mount Prospect Purchasing Policies and Procedures," is to provide guidelines and procedures for the departments to follow. The Finance Commission members made several recommendations they felt would strengthen and improve the proposed policy including changing the amount requiring the Village Manager's signature from $500 to $1,000. Also, it was suggested that instead of requiring formal bids at $4,000 we include a statement that we will conform to the state statute. This will raise the requirement to $5,000 and change if and when state statutes are amended. Mr. Morrison suggested we add a conflict of interest statement. Mr. Jepson said he would incorporate all of the suggestions and present a revised policy and procedure manual at the January meeting. V Mr. Jepson next presented a table of comparative information for 1988 on the 28 members of the Solid Waste Agency which was obtained from an Official Statement of the Solid Waste Agency. Mr. Jepson pointed out that the fiscal policy of the Village has been to maintain a General Fund balance of approximately 1590 of expenditures for working cash and contingencies. Only six communities have a lower percent of fund balance to expenditures. Also noted were expenditures per capita and general obligation debt per capita. In Moody's the average general obligation debt per capita is $453 and the Village of Mount Prospect's is $193. For each comparison, the Finance Commission members concurred thatthe informa- tion highlights the Village's conservative fiscal policy. VI The 1989 Tax Levy Ordinance was briefly discussed. The 1989 tax rate was expected to come down from $1.08 in 1988 to $.956 in 1989. The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, VZ Carol Widmer Assistant Finance Director CLW/sm