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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/24/1998 COW minutes MINUTES ~ COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE NOVEMBER 24 1998 CALL TO ORDER ~Mayor Fade called the meebng to order at 6'27 p m Present at the meeting were Trustees George Clowes, Paul Hoefert and R~hard Lohrstorfer. Absent from the meeting were. Trustees Daniel Nocchi and Irvana Wllks. Trustee T~mothy Corcoran "amv~d at th6' meeting at approximate y 6 40 p.m Staff members present included ' ~.Vlllage Manager Michael Janoms, Pubhc~Works Director Glen An~ller, Deputy Public ~W°rks D~rector Sean Dorsey, Village. Engineer Je~Wulbecker, Vehicle Maintenance Superintendent Jim Guenther, Forestry Superintendent Sandre Clark, Budding Superintendent Paul Bures, Admlnistret~ve Aide Dawn Wuckh Fire Chief M~chael Figolah, Deputy Fire Chief John Malcolm, Community Development D~rector Wllham C HU yM coney, Police Chief Ronald~ Pavlock, man Services Director Nanc organ, Finance Director D(Suglas EIIsworth and Deputy Finance D~rector Carol Wldmer Aisc present were several members of the Finance Commission, APPROVAL OF MINUTES ,. · "The M~nutes of the November 10, 1998 Committee of the Whole meeting were app'ro~/ed without char~ge on a Motion made by Trustee~Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Clowes CITIZENS TO BE HEARD ~ ..... None. '1999 BUDGET DISCUSSION ,-L ~ ,~ Mayor Farley provided a general overview e Bu et Heanng process Mayor Farley noted that there would be a formal Public Heanng on December 1 at which time residents could officially comment on the V~llage Budget and the Library Levy request. Mayor Fadey explained the sem~-independent relationship between the ,~ Village Board and the Library Board as well as the Statutory constraints placedon the V~lla~e Board with regard to the Library',s Levy request ~, Public Works Department_ ~ ,' ,. Public Works D~rector Glen Andler reviewed with Committee members the Pubhc Works' Budget that totaled $16,028,000 and represented a 4.5% increase over the 1998 Budget Mr. Andler noted that the proposed Budget did not include any add~bonal personnel Several s~gn~ficant accom, phshments ~n 1998 were rewewed. It was noted that three redes of Village streets were r~con~tructed ~{r~d 5 6 mdes of streets were resurfaced as part of the second year of the V~llage's ten-year accelerated road improvement program Total road ~mprovement expenditures for 1998.were253 6 mdl~o,n Mr. Andler also noted that the Weller Creek Bank:Stab~zat~(~n Project was completed and that the V~llage had successfully assisted residents ~n the northeast ,, Section of to~vn in the)r'~)peal fr~)~ ~ha~n'~es to th~ FEMA Flood Plain Maps ..... For 19~9,' ,,v , , - ,,,,; , - - -, ..... Mr. Andler noted several slgmficant capital,projects including' An :,,,expanded Road Crack.,Seahng Progam desgned to ~eep.pace,w~th the "~Acceler~tbd Road Improvement Pr~gram"($52,000), new. sidewalk construction ($50,O00),'Shared Cost SIdewall~ Program ($80,O00),'Water Main Replacement ~ Mr. Andler also discussed a new initiative designed to save money, and increase 'convemence to residents ' Approximately every ten years, the Vlllage)s mandated to review residential and business san tary connect ons n the separate sewer area Ail illegal (~onnect~ons~allowlng Stor~n'waterio e~ter the'~ystem must be removed Mr. Andler proposed contracting out for a combination of wareE meter reading services and inspection services for dlegal connections ~-W~th a single-ws~t to a home or business, both items wdl be reviewed and comphance achieved This ~ ~ mt~at~v~ wou d allow f(~r th~'reddct~on'of two seasonal employee~ ~ho normally'--'- ,' ,,~ handle water meter reading tasks' - ,~ o ... ,~ .... Mr Andler also reviewed ongoing initiatives involving the vanous D~wsions of Pubhc Works Village Board members engaged in' general d~scuss~on r~a~'dlng the proposed Pubhc Works Budget _~.~ :, ~ Trustee Corcoran asked whether the Village's water~dehvery ~nfrastructure was Year 2000 compliant. Mr. Andler and Mr. Janonis rephed that both the Pubhc Works Department and the Joint Action Water Agency were in the process of ehm~nat~ng '" any Y2K problems. -~ ~ '' ' ~' "~' ~ .... · ~'"" ~ · Trustee Ho~fert I uded the Vehicle Maintenance D~vls~on for their efforts to extend m. the useful life of, pogl ca,rs and trucks Trustee Ho,efert ind, lcated that this effort had z ,,~: save~d (~itlzens cor~lderable sums of mbney~ as w~ell a~ impr~)ve the overall health of the Veh cle Replacement Fund. Trustee Clowes asked about the v[abdlty of a Blue-Bag Recychng Program similar to that used in Chicago 2 Public Works Director Glen Andler noted that the current Sohd Waste Contract would be exp~nng eady in 2000 and that staff would begin undertaking the development of new bid spec~flcabons in 1999 · A variety of opbons for recychng, commercial wa'ste pick-up and other innovations would be considered as part of the b~d specifications ,.,. ,, ~ . , There was general support by Comm~tte~ members for the proposed Pubhc Works Budget Non-Departmental Expenditures .~- Finance rector Douglas EIIsworth,revewed with Comm~tte&:x''' members the ,Vdlage's current Debt posit~on and Debt service requirements. Mr. EIIsworth noted that the,Wllage has a very sound~pohcy of issuing debt'for the shortest term possible~ thereby, ensunng the rapid retirement bf debt over brae. Mr. EIIsworth noted that this polic~y has a positive influence on th'e debt rating .agenc~es and r~su!ts in favorable rates for Vdlage Bo, nd ~ssues. Mr. EIIsworth also rewewed with Committee members the vanety of funding sources that have been committed to different types ,of debt ~ncludlng the use of Property Taxes, Home Rule Sales Taxes and Tax Increment Mr. EIIsworth noted that the Vdlage's debt posibon is ~n keeping with sound financial practice Finance D~rector Douglas EIIsworth then rewewed the Village's Insurance Program with Committee members Mr. EIIsworth noted that the main components of the Village's I,nsura~ce Prog~arh in'clu'ded pmtectlor~ for damage to property, casualty losses and employee medical insurance. It was noted that the V~llage was the beneficiary of a favorable insurance market and that particular savings had been reahzed by moving employee hea th insurance from a self-funded program to the Ilhnois Public Employee Benefits C0operat~ve, .Finally, Mr. EIIsworth reviewed the structure of Vdlage ~nsurance' programs including ,self-~nsured retention levels (deductible) As well as mid and upper level umbrella cove{age. Mr. EIIsworth noted that Mount Prospect was a member of the H~gh Level Excess Liability Pool (HELP), a joint venture among 15 munic~pahbes that providers general liabdlty coverage in excess of $1 mdhon in losses This joint venture has been a tremendous success over the last decade~ in providing memb.er, mun~pahbes ,with Iow-cost, hlgh-quahty catastrophic loss coverage Mr EIIsw0rth completed his presentation by reviewing the status of the Village's two local Pension Funds. He noted that the Village has a long-standing practice of fully funding pension requirements for the police and Fire Pension Funds Currently, the ~ Pohce Pension Fund is 95% funded and the Fire Pension Fund is 103% funded. 3 Mr EIIsworth noted that Fund expenditures have been ~ncreas~ng over the past /~- several years due to the accelerated rate of retirements m these two Departments ~' Th~s h~s resulted ~n the requirement for increased funding levels on the part of the Wllage He noted that both Funds are in excellent cond~bon ........ [;iwc ano Community Services Village Manager Michael Janonis reviewed w~th ,eom, m~ttee members the Budget for C~vic and Community Services. The Budget totals some $20g,000 and covers expenses for events such as the 4th. of July,Parade Hohday decorabons the Commumty Blood Donor Program, .contnbubon ,to the Mount Prospect Historical ;t.,Soc~ety ahd tl~e Pr~pe,rty~Tax R&bate' Pro,ram 'It was noted that some of the ,,: expenses a~e for overtime costs ass&c~ated with Pu'b ~c Works and Police personnel : assistance in the 4th &f July Parade and Carn va. Mr 'Janoms noted that $5,000 ""h~d beer~'added to the 1999 Bu~lget as potenbal seed mohey for the i'estart of Hometown Days This wa~ an annual event that promoted the downtbv~ but had been d[sconbnued several years .ago:,. *' The V~llage Board had no questions regarding the Debt Service, Insurance, Pension .... ' '*'d cS'e'''' dget ~ ' ~ ' ' ~' ,,' land Commumty an C~w rvlce Bu s Finance Commission Final Recommendations F,n~&e Commission Chairman John Kom rew e nal r m ndat~ons e Con~ ~ W 'C&rn'mit~e "' The F 'e Cc~' ........ of the Fmanc m~ s~on ~th members manc mm~ss~on "W~s' geher~ll~sup~ortive ~f the"~ a~e Budget a~ submitted ~AII of the V~llage .?Board m~mbers thanked the Finance Commission for their pa~lcipabon and hard - work in rewew of the Budget. There was some d~scuss~on ab'out the appropnate prep ~ role of the Finance Commission n the arat on and rev ew of the' ' ' ' ~ ' ' Budget It was ' ~' ~g ~1 th ~ m i~'s r" agreed that a follow-up d~scus, s~?r ard~n eFma ceCo m ~on's future role Discu~sioh Re&~:dinc~ Budget ¢'*'.~ Committee members revib,~,ed a number of open items W~th regard to the Budget It was the consensus of Board members to apprs,~(~ the t~ar~sfer of $1 3 m~ll~on from General Fund surplus to the Vehicle Replacement Fund and the Capital ~'~ - Iml~rover~ent Fur~d· All Board m~mbers present except for Trustee' Ho~fert agreed ?'~ that the'salary line item for'Pubhc R~p~sentatlon should b~'~ncreased by $1,500 ~ to reflect recent y enacted changes to Board member compensabon There was a '/ ~hff~rence'of dpmlon among'Board ~ner~bers regarding the allocabon of $87,0000 m uncommitted General Funds Several Trustees md~cated a desire to maintain sa~d funds ~n a conbngency for possible use should unforeseen needs arise or to reduce the potenbal need for the Property Tax ~ncrease in subsequent years 4 Other Board members wanted to take the surplus and reduce the current Property Tax Levy from 3 5% to 2.5% It was determined that no decision could be made until the entire Board was present and all ~ndlcated their pos~t~on Board members voted unanimously to reduce the Budget in two other areas Trustee Hoefert asked that the Board consider raising the current Fa(;ade J~provement Grant amount from $5,000 to $10,000. Trustee Hoefert indicated over bme the relative value of the Grant d~mimshed with mflabon Board members Ind~cated a wdhngness to look at this item Mayor Farley asked Board members to consider implementation of a program whereby ehgible residents might be e~empted from Utd~ty Tax. Mayor Farley used as an example someone who, because of medical cond~bon, needed to operate equipment that required above-average electrical usage ~ ~ ' Board members ind~cated concern about how such a program could be administered and how ehgibd~ty would be determined. After bnef d~scuss~on, Board ~. members agreed to have staff look at the possibihty of such a program Mount Pr~s_oect Public Library- Levy_ and Budoet ~ ~ ~ Mount Prospect Public Library Board President Jackie Hinaber prowded an overview of the Library's requested Property Tax Levy and Budget Ms Hinaber ~ stated that as a result of a comprehensive financial review, it was determined that the Library would run out of operating funds by early 2000. Therefore, the Library Board Levy included a one-bme.5¢ working cash fund levy and a permanent 5¢ increase on the operating fund levy. ~While the 5¢ working cash fund levy would drop off in 1999, she noted that another one-time 5¢ working cash levy would I~kely be needed in approximately three years The Library's operating levy would be maintained ~at approximately 28¢ per $100 of EAV. ~ ~ ~ · ' ~, Ms Hinaber stated that the Library Board had done everything in its power short of drastically cutting back on services to stay within its financial means. However, since the Library rehed on Property Taxes for approximately 95% of ~ts Revenues, the mabihty to raise rates had resulted in a Revenue/Expenditure imbalance Over the past several years, the Budget for such items as building maintenance and materials acquisition had been reduced s~gmficantly. It was noted that for a Library - the s~ze of Mount Prospect's, the acqu~s~bon Budget was materially Iow Mayor Farley noted that whde the V~llage Board adopted the Library's Levy request ~ through its own, the Vdlage Board was legally prohibited from altering or refusing 'to adopt the Library's Levy request He noted that any discussion regarding the L~brary's Levy request and the desire by the Village Board to see it reduced was largely rhetorical ' - ~ 5 Mayor Farley ~nqu~red about the, a ~blhty to ~n~'rer~entalb; ~aise ,ti~e Oper~t-~ng Levy 'res opposed to insbtut~ng a 5¢ increase all at once Ms. Hinaber ~nd~cated that their financml projectmns indicated the enbre amount was needed ~mmed~ately. She also p~inted 6ut that due to the f~t that the Prope~ ' Tax Lew was a~ually a year behind, the L~bm would ~ot s ny m Levy ncrease unt I the second half of t999 Trustee Paul Hoefe~ asked if the Libra~ Board had looked at.oppo~umtles to }reduce expense~includlng ~losing t~ Libra~ on its.slowest nigh~{ President H~naber responded that the L~bra~ Board had reviewed ~u t~ons but even closing the bbra~ on slow evemngs would not make ~ the anbcipAted deficit they were facing. .Trustee Clowes indicted that It was' his opimon that t~ L~b~a~'*Boa~d needed to go to Referendum on a rate increase 'regardless of wh~ther or not they had the power to do so under the Wllage's Home Rule authon~. He also indicted that until such a Referendum ~assed, the L~bra~-sh~uld balance tts~Budget through expenditure reductions Trustee Corcoran indicated that he felt the L~bra~ had ~ad~ ~ts case~He noted that former Mount Prospect Fman~ D~rector Da~ld ~Jepson had dohe the financial : rewew of the Libra~ ~nd that hm repoK was ve~ clea~ as to'what ~as*needed sTmstee Cor~ran ~uboned the LIbra~ to take eve~ oppo~un~t~ ~to'c6ntmue to v, ~nform residents and businesses ~f their fine,cml s~tuabon and what was needed ~to alleviate same. ~ ~ ~ { ......... Resident J~m Viffi, 1721 Catal~a,:spoke ?ega~ng'the L~bra~'s Le~ request He felt that ~t was too much and felt that the Village should take steps to reduce same ' He felt the L~bra~ should reduce expenditures rather than raise the Leg9, '~es~dents asked to speak 5n the subject Noother ~ ' ~' m~ c ~ ..... BudgetWra~-U~. _ ~:" ~,~:::a~'-,~* Wllage Boa~ membe~ ma~e the following ~mments?egard~dg the proposed 1999 Budget 'Trustee Clowes indicated he felt the Village Board ~nd Finance Oommlsslon ,",:, should be involved eadler in the Budget development process' ~He wanted more ,input into many of the Budget assumptions that are used In developing same. He asked for an update to the Mount Prospect 2000 Plan that the Board 'endorsed approximately five years ago While he did not generally suppoA the addition of new staff, he was suppodlve of the overall Budget 6 Trustee Hoefert indicated that he felt the proposed Budget was conservative, yet ~ forward thinking He noted that Mount Prospect was again at the bottom of the Park R~dge Survey with regard to cost of government per capita He also noted that staffing levels were substantially lower than in other communities W~th regard to the excess Fund re~,enhes; he felt that they ,should be ~h~ld as contingencies so as to avoid peaks and valleys in future Property Tax Lewes Trustee Hoefert felt that the new poslt~ons being requested were reasonable and were requested ~n an effort to be pro-active rather than reactive to changing conditions w~th~n the V~llage Trustee Cor¢oran indicated that the Budget was forward th~nking. He felt that the Village needed to remain competitive if it was going to see a constant influx of young people who would serve a~ the future population base of the V~llage He indicated that M(~unt Prospect is ~n competition w~th other communities and that in order to compete, capital imp¢ovements such as street reconstruction, flood control projects and downtown redevelopment were cnt~cal to the continued success of the V~llage Trustees thanked Mr. EIIsworth and V~ilage staff for preparation of the Budget Mr Janonis noted staff's appreciation for the V~llage Board's strong support for staff's efforts Finally, Mr. Janonis announced that Assistant V~llage Manager David Strahl and h~s wife, Juhe, were the proud parents of their second daughter, Sara, who was born this mormng at 8.30 a m Mr. Janon~s reported that everyone was do~ng well V, ANY OTHER BUSINESS None. SE S A Motion was made by Trustee Hoefert and seconded by Trustee Corcoran to enter into a Closed Session to d,scuss property acquisition Motion approved The meeting was adjourned into closed session at 9:40 p m The Committee of the Whole was reconvened in{o open session at 10 17 p m VI, ADJOURNMENT ~ Mayor Farley noted to V~llage Board members present that he had on th~s day revoked the Liquor License for AIvee's Liquors in Mount Prospect Plaza based on a number of repeated violabons of the prohibition of sales to minors Board members were support of th~s action Mayor Fadey noted that a Heanng on the ~ revocation was scheduled for the week of November 30 7 Ther~ was no Trustee Lohrstoder made a Motion, seconded by T~stee Corcoran to adjourn the .... adlo~rn~d at 10 2p p meeting Motion approved The meettng was m H ~GE~,nutes~112498 COW Budget M,nutes doc '