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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/22/1996 COW minutes "·MINUTES ~ ~ '~ , ~ COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE ' ~ ~' ~ OCTOBER 22, 1996 CALL TOORDER ~ ' ~1 In the absence of Mayor Farley, village Manager M~chael Janonis called the meebng to order at 6 25 p m Present at the meebng were Trustees George CIowes, T~mothy Corcoran, R~chard Hendncks, Paul Hoefert, Arlene Juracek and Irvana W~lks Absent from the meebng was Mayor Gerald Farley ~ Also present were village Manager M~chael Janon~s, Assistant village Manager Dawd Strahl, Finance Director Brian Caputo, Assistant Finance D~rector Carol W~dmer and Human Services D~rector Nancy Morgan Village Manager Janon~s requested nominations from the floor for May~)r~Pro Tem Mobon made by Trustee W~lks to appoint Trustee Corceran Mayor Pro Tem and Seconded by Trustee Clowes Motion was approved unanimously. MINUTES ~ ~ ~ ~ Approval of M~nutes of September 24,' 1996. Motion made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee W~lks to accept the M~nutes Trustee Hendncks stated that a reference ~n the Minutes of September 24 stated that the pedestrian crosswalks had not been stnped and he wanted to report to the village Board that the walkways had been stnped as of th~s meeting He also stated th.at a tra~ler at 1510 East Emmerson Lane has not moved for a number of years and ~s requesbng follow-up from the Village Manager concerning the anonymous letter he had submitted to the Village Manager at the previous meeting Trustee Clowes requested modifications on pages 3 and 5 of the M~nutes concerning his comments regarding the Rand Road Study.~ Trustee W~lks requested a rews~on to the M~nutes concerning the Century Tile property Trustee Corcoran requested a mod~ficabon to the M~nutes regard~ng'the'Kens~ngton/Rand triangle' as a prime site for real, estate redevelopment M~nutes were approved w~th the changes CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Tom Davies, 203 South Owen, spoke He quesboned the amount allotted to the H~stoncal Society as a quasi-governmental organ~zabon and asked if the V~llage should set up the H~stoncal Society as a non-profit corporabon or whether the Village Board appoints Board members to run the orgamzabon He asked whether parameters had been estabhshed by the Wllage Board to determine if tax money is to be used or donated to non-profit organizabons He also suggested that an add~bonal schedule be included in the Budget showing the amount of revenue growth as a percentage from year to year compared to the rate of mflabon .He also recommended the Village rewew the health ~nsurance costs and pursue alternabves to reduce the costs ,, ~ , ~ ~,~, ~,, ,, ~, - ~ ~, ,,~ Trustee Hendrick~; stated that there are numerous traffic back-ups at Rand and Central and Central and Mt. Prospect Road and would request that staff determine if Police personnel can assist in resolwng the s~tuabon ~~, , ~,~ Trustee Hoefert stated that Trustees should speak under Any Other Bus~ness at the end of the meebng ~"~1997 BUDGET DISCUSSION , ,,~ ~ ~ ~ :~: ~, Village Manager Janonis prowded a gene~ral Budget overview to the V~llage Board He stated the process was started at the six-month review ~n July of 1996 and many of the parameters which were suggested by the Board at that t~me have been put into the document which has been presented to the V~llage Board December w~ll start the official acbon necessary fo approve the Budget for 1997 after three Committee of the VVhole meetings take place to d~scuss vanous budgets ~n the vanous operabng Departments The Budget ~s also presented to the Finance Commission pnor to the Committee of the Whole meebng for their input and r(~commendatlons ~ ~ ~ ,~ ~ Village Manager Janonis prowded a general review of what has occurred m 1996 and highhghted the efforts of,economic development ~ncluding U S Robobcs, Home Depot and the Jewel at Randhurst, the new c;nema and the re-use of the Eagle Grocery Store at Golf and Busse ~ H,e stated that a number of imt~at~ves which have taken place has generated more staff acbwbes ~nclud~ng the work by the V~s;ons group He also pointed out that a partnership has developed between c~tlzens and the Village Board concermng specific issues He stated the Budget ~tself of $52 m~lhon shows a modest increase of 1 7% ~f the expanded road recenstruct~on is separated from the percentage of increase He stated that there are a number of m;t;at;ves that are under way whmh the V~llage as offsetbng revenue but still must show the expenditure and then match the expenditure to the revenue received He stated most revenues are meeting projecbons ~n the 1996 Budget 2 He stated the Village ~s hwng well within the means e,stabhshed by the village Board General Fund is increasing approximately 5 9% and ~ncludes new services which have already been approved by the Wllage Board ~nclud~ng a new Housing Inspector which has been in place s~nce the summer, an additional resource officer . and community pohcmg officer. Much of the increase Is due to the new computer ' lease payments charged to each Department to fund technology ~mprovements A -. Merit Compensation Plan Is being proposed as an opportunity to provide cash bonuses as incentives for pe~ormance Also an expansion of the Human Services ~' Internship Program which has become necessary due to increased service -demands generated by staff m~tlatlves Legal services are up approximately $100,000 due to numerous lawsuits and ~ncreased prosecution, again, due to the increased ~nit~at~ves Health insurance has risen approximately 11% and Pension contnbutlons are increasing to maintain the 100% funding level and the additional ,. demand that retirees are beglnmng to place upon the system ~ Personnel increases are approximately 3, 5% general wage ~ncreases Other ,terns include a change ~n the computer financial soft, rare plus the development of a multi-year capital budget to be ~n place by next budget cycle and a modest increase in water rates to avoid large changes over t~me There are five general areas in the Budget. 1 The General Fund which provides the operating expenses for the majority of services prowded ~ 2 The Capital Budget which provides funding for large dollar ~tems ~ncludmg Pubhc Works projects and equipment 3 ~ Pensions which is the demand for funding Pensions for IMRF and Pohce/Fire personnel ~ 4. Debt Service used to pay off the ~ndebtedness of the Village 5 internal Services which includes vehicle maintenance and the computer lease payment .~, The 1996 Park Ridge Survey hsts Mount Prospect as number 15 out of 15 , Finance Director Brian Caputo provided a general overview of the Revenues as outhned ~n the proposed Budget He stated that the budgeted items also ~nclude a 1998 forecast budget so that people who review the budget have some idea of where various funds may be going Worksheets were submitted by the Departments and rewewed by the Village Manager during the month of September which eventually led to the mformat~on presented th~s evemng Major revenue sources for the Village are Property Tax, Sales Tax, Intergovernmental Funds, Permits and L~censes, Service Charges, etc Property Tax increase ~s proposed at 3%. He stated that he is requesting a D~saster Response Contingency be set aside and there ~s flex~bdlty to set aside 3%, or $300,000 for d~sasters The Contingency can be funded creating an additional fund for emergencies but that ~s typically not recogmzed under general accounbng practices Another option would be reserve funds which are undesignated but are stdl ident~fied for contingency or emergency 3 ,',' General comments by the Vdlage Board concerning the overall Budget document included the following ~tems ' ~ · ', F' ~ 'There was extensive d~scuss~on concerning the Disaster Conbngency, fund of $300,000 and how ~t wdl be accounted for in the Budget ,There was also some d~scuss~on concerning the Computer Replacement Fund and what would happen to the charges to the Departments if the computers or equipment had to be replaced 6~ther earher than projected or did not cost as much as projected There was also a d~scuss~on concem~ng the t~me frame for reimbursement of d~sasters from the Federal government as an opportumty to replace any money that may be utilized from the Emergency Conbngency Fund :~ , , ~ ' , ~; }; Trustees also requested the Budget document be rewsed to reflect p~rcentage changes ~n each Revenue source or expenditure from year to year and to net out the Interfund Transfers from year to year. ,, ", , ..... ~. . Generally,'~the Village Board members were pleased w~th the document as presented~, ,, ,, General consensus of the Village Board was to support establishment of a Contingency Fund of approximately $300,000. Village Manager Janonis answered a question which was phoned ~n concerning -' Property Tax ~ncreases He stated that many of the ~ncreases may be attributed to other taxing bodies or reassessments in the community: He stated the Mount Prospect property tax only amounts to approximately 9% of the total bdl of the average homeowner and the Mount Prospect level has only increased approximately 3% for the last several years ,~ b ,. - ~ ~ ~,~ Human Services Department Overview ~, ~. ~luman,Services 'Director Nancy Morgan stated ,that the Human Services Department has a budget of approximately $519.000 She prowded an overview of the services prowded and some informabon concerning the work the Visions Committee has been involved w~th over the past year. Additional referrals which have taken place through contacts w~th other Departments has necessitated an enhanced Social Work Intern program throbgh the use of part-bme interns The ' computenzabon of the Human Services Department ~s currently under way and this past year can be considered as a trans~bonal year but benefits will soon become realized " ' ~ ~, ~, ~/~ General comments from the Wllage Board members ~ncluded the following ~tems A gene~ral' ov~iew of the Northwest'Community Senior Services 'wh~ch are prowded through the spa~.e provided by the Human Services' There was also an overview of the revenue pass-throughs which the Department has been reahz~ng There was also d~scuss~on concerning the umts of servme Hum&n Services prowded and how those are calculated for comparabve purposes There ~was also d~scuss~on concerning the use of computers by Human Services personnel to track ~ services provided to residents There was also d~scuss~on as to what funds from the visions Committee are usea for m te~ms of services ~ Human Services Director Nancy Morgan responded to a number of the items by the Village Board and stated that the Northwest Community program Is not duphcabng Human Services' related services She also stated that the funds used _ out of the Visions are typically used as seed money and not as a conbnual funding -source for programs~ ' ' ' ~ 'Village Administration Bud,qet ' ~ ~ '~ ; ~ Village M~nager Michael Janonisl provided a general overview of the Pubhc Representation Budget which includes the Mayor, Village Board and Adwsory Boards and Commissions The Budget amounts to approximately $83,000 and there is a projected increase of 6 2% Majonty of the increase is due to the projected replacement of the chairs for the village Board members at a cost of $3,600 He stated that there ~s no increase in ~vages for elected officials and many of the large expenditures are for member_sh~ps in the Northwest Municipal ~Conference. U S ~Conference of Mayors and Northern Ilhnois Planning Commission General d~scussion by the village Board members ~ncluded the following items Two Trustees stated that the chairs for tl~e Trustees d~d.not need to be replaced whde two other Trustees stated that they wdl lake the chair issue under advisement There was also a suggesbon that the V~ilage Board review the Vdlage Code to ~ determine that ~tems can be removed and what ~tems are out of date Village Manaqer'sOffice ~, ~ Village Manager Janonis stated that the B~dget in h~s Department amounts to a 36 5% ~ncrease He stated the majonty of the increases are due to ~ncrease in legal ~ services of approximately $100,000 over the previous year, the add~bon of a Ment Pay Plan~ pool of $40,000 and management tr~a~n~ng ~n the amount of $15,000 Both the management training and merit pool are new items for th~s budget year General d~scussion b¥'~he village Board members ~nc[uded the following items 5 There was d~scusmon concermng the goal for 1996 and, agmn, C~bzens' Surveys D~scusmon focused on tt'{e type of stJrveys and what the benefits of such a survey would be There'was also'a suggesbon that a Committee of the ~* Whole meebng be des~gnate'd to dmcuss' the bse of c~bz~ens surveys pnor to the instruments be~,ng d~stnbuted to the c~bzens Village Manager Janonis responded to a n~umber of th quesbons concermng mbzens' surveys ~ He stated that as th~ Vdlage continues to progress towards performance-based budgebn~,'there is a need to measure how services are being prowded to the general pubhc based on the amount of funds allotted to the service Communications Division , Village Manager Janon,s prowded a general overview of the Commumcebons Division Budget He stated that the Budget shows an 8 6% increase The increase ~s largely due to the cost of Franchise negot~ab?ns He stated that he is m the process of d~scuss~ng the posmbd~ty of combining w~th other towns ~n the area to negotiate jointly w~th TCl for the upcoming Franchise negotlabons He also stated that the status of the Communicabons Administrator pombon is stdl under rewew and the pos~bon will most hkely be reconfigured to focus on,broader acfiwbes and ' " and cable on specific, areas of telephones less. .... Vdlage Boar,0 foll(Jwed General d~scusmon of the There was d~scuss~on, concerning whether the Franchise fee covered the cost of operating the Commumceflons Dw~mon There was also'd~scusmor~ concerning previous recommendabons of the Finance Commission regarding the future of this D~wmon Village Manager Janonis responded to a number of q.uesbons from the Wllage Board members He stated that Franchise fees are fiat and are creating a ~hortfall of, approximately $25,000 over the ,previous year Therefore, the Village ~s supplemenbng the D~v~mon by ~prowdlng approximately $25,000 through the General Fund He als0 stated that subscnber base may shnnk or ~emam fiat over time and ~f the Diws~on ~s ehmmated, there would be an impact on servmes d~rectly to the clbzens concerning commumcat~ons Villaqe Clerk , ~, ~ ~ ~ Village Manager Janonis provided a general overview of the Wllage Clerk's .budget He stated that budget includes an increase of approximately 5 7% The increase is pnmanly'due to the ~ncreased cost of codification due to some expected changes in the ,Codes concerning fire prevention and budding. He also stated that staff ~s re'wew~ng the psss~b~hbes of using technology to make the Code ~nfo}'mabon more readdy avadable and minimize Codification costs where possible Finance Department Overview Finan~:e Director Brian Caputo provided a general overview of the Department Budget and prowded a hst of funcbons the Department prowdes The Budget is approx~mate, ly $1.1 m~lh(~ for 1997. He provided a general overview of the 1996 , accomphshmen!s Major impacts to the ~ncrease of h~s budget ~nclude a'proposal to ~change §nanc~al accounbng software and to add an add~bonal part-time position The part-time pos~bon w~ll not ~ncrease head count because ~t ~s a transfer of a part- bme posibon previously'approved in Communlty'Development He also is recommending that one of the account clerks be designated as a supervisor for customer serv~cas to relieve the Deputy D~rector of some of the supervision duhes of the customer service personnel The projected cost for a supervisor would be approximately $3,000-$4,000 more than budgeted the previous year ~ He sa~d there ~s money available for Vlllage-w~de computer training and approximately $10,000 for a computer consultant He stated the need to change to new financial software ~s pnmarily due to thb fact that there are very senous deficiencies w~th the software the Village purchased in 1994 He stated the Iow b~d of $111,000 for the system has not all been spent and when the seriods defl=en~es were idenbfied, the V~llage staff promptly terminated future programming modifications. He provided a general overview of the problems associated w~th the software and has requested a budget of approximately $250,000 for new software based on the known vendors that are currently available and that have proven packages which have been purchased by other mun~clpaht~es He stated he is requestlr~g the use of a consultant to assist ~n the process of changing to new financial software General comments of the Village Board ~ncluded the following ~tems Some Trustees requested whether there was any opportumty for pursuing vendor hab~hty in terms of not dehvenng the product intended There was also some discussion concerning the charge for ambulance servlce,,i and whether the Village ~s subsidizing ~nsurance compames for th~s service There was also general d~scuss~on concerning future evaluabon of computer needs and software Finance Director Caputo responded to a number of questions by the Wllage Board by stating the complexity of the payroll system and other systems within the Village require the payroll task to remain ~n-house and he is confident that with the proper resources, the system can be improved ' Village Manager Janonis stated that these overviews are provided as part of the final dec,sion process by the Village Board He stated that he w~ll attempt to get the Finance Commission M~nutes to the V~llage Board prior to the next budget d~scusslon of the Village Board on November 12 ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Wilks stated that there numerous election s~gns ~n the nght-of-way and on telephone poles throughout the commumty '7 V,Ilage Manager Janonis stated h~ has nobfied all of the candidates of the regulabons and staff is remowng s~gns on an a~cbve bas~s Trustee Hendricks stated tl~at he has recently had a meeting w~th the Dady Herald "Editorial Board and has been accused by them of te!hng Wllage employees what 'to do He stated that he has talked to the Wllage Manager and the,,Ass~stant V~llage Manager as to the bas~s, for these allegabons and has found ~o co~firm~r~g~e?dence from'e~ther person that such d~recbon ~s taking place He also stated that he aw~lt,ng~_,b ,, , ha responSeeast Centralfr°m theRoadVillage Manager c.~,n~, m,~g ~,gr~s p'r~s~nt ~n the right- ADJOURNMENT ~here being no further bus!ness, meebng was a ourned at 11 p m . Respectf Ily subm tted,.-.' ~ .' ~ · DAVID STRAHL DS/rcc ,~ _ . Assistant villag~ Manager 8