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Home My WebLink About2. COW Minutes 10/27/2015Committee the Whole Minutes October 27, 2015 CALL TO ORDER -ROLL CALL Mayor Arlene Juracek called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Village Board Room, Village Hall, Mount Prospect, Illinois. Trustees present included Michael Zadel, Paul Hoefert, Richard Rogers, Colleen Saccotelli, Steven Polit, and John Matuszak. Staff present included Village Manager Michael Cassady, Assistant Village Manager David Strahl, Finance Director David Erb, Interim Fire Chief Brian Lambel, Human Services Director Julie Kane, Deputy Human Services Director Jan Abernathy, Public Works Director Sean Dorsey, Deputy Finance Director Lynn Jarog, Fire Marshall Bryan Loomis, Community Connection Center Director Victoria Bran, Community Development Director Bill Cooney, Deputy Public Works Director Jason Leib, Deputy Community Director Consuelo Andrade. Motion made by Trustee Hoefert seconded by Trustee Rogers minutes were approved. Trustee Zadel abstained. KdRW__RLfflAAM None. Mayor Juracek provided welcoming remarks and outlined how the public can communicate live to the Village Board during this meeting to offer any questions or comments. She stated this is the first of two committee the whole meetings to discuss the 2016 budget. Final action on the budget is scheduled for the last two meetings in December. Finance Director Erb spoke. He provided a general overview of the budget. He stated this budget represents a baseline budget without actual reductions on any of the pending state shared revenues. The state revenues that have been delayed are accounted for in the budget; however, if these revenues do not return at some point in the fiscal year, staff has generated a five step reduction plan that could be implemented throughout the fiscal year depending on the severity of the revenue reductions. Furthermore, these potential reductions could be implemented in future fiscal years as revenues dictate. Among the five items are delaying purchases, reducing lease payments, reducing commodities, reducing forestry expenditures, review of existing programs for potential elimination, and the review of staffing levels. These options could be considered in descending order of least severe to most severe depending on the impact upon the budget. He stated the budget includes the SAFER grant funds along with a proposed pre -funding option to address the continued expense of the six firefighters once the grant funds expire. He stated the 2015 budget has a positive variance of $1.4 million in the general Page 1 of 3 Committee of the Whole 10-27-2015 H:\VILM\Cow\2015\MINUTES\Committee the whole minutes 10-27-15 (2).docx fund. He stated revenues are above projections for sales, telecommunications, and real estate transfer tax. These additional revenues will add to a general fund surplus of $1.1 million leading to a general fund balance projection of 27.5% at the end of 2015. The 2016 budget as presented includes a revenue projection growth of 4.8% and is balanced. The state revenue impacts upon the village includes funds currently owed annually of approximately $4000 in Charitable Game Taxes, $1.2 million in Motor Fuel Tax, $1 million in Use Tax, and approximately $49,000 monthly for E 911 expenses if the state continues to withhold the monies. He stated the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) could have a potential impact of anywhere from a 10% to 50% reduction in that funding source depending on the final outcome of the state budget. That financial impact could be anywhere from $535,000 to $2.7 million. The projected Property Tax Levy for 2016 as presented is 3.28%. This percentage represents a 1 % Levy devoted for SAFER grant funding in 2018. He stated the general fund could be under additional stress into the next year depending on the impact of the final state budget. There is a potential that the shared revenue funds may be held even after the budget is completed by the state and once that is known adjustments to the budget may be necessary. He would encourage residents to continue to reach out to the state legislators expressing their concern regarding the state's budget impact and the potential reduction of revenues normally provided to local governments that are currently retained by the state. The 2016 budget shows an expenditure decrease by 9.5% with the general operating budget increase of 5.1%. The CIP going down by 46.4% is due to the completion of a number of large projects in 2015. The budget also includes additional staffing of six firefighters, three lieutenants promoted from firefighter, two part-time community service officers, and two full-time community service officers. He stated staff is proposing pre - funding the SAFER related personal cost with 1% added to the property tax Levy the next two years in order to cover the costs incurred starting in 2018. Therefore, the property tax levy would be 3.28% which equates to a typical increase of $37 for the average household for the firefighter personal expense only. He is also recommending holding the general tax Levy flat and only increasing the Levy as it relates to additional public safety pensions and debt service requirements. He stated smoothing out the increase over several years and holding that money aside until needed in 2018 will reduce future increases beyond 2018 for firefighter personnel funding. General consensus of the Village Board was to concur with this funding option pending review of the remaining budget. Human Services Director Julie Kane spoke. She provided an overview of the Human Services budget highlighting the services that are provided by the Department. She stated the Department is in the process of gathering client satisfaction survey information and increasing its training program to make the staff more knowledgeable of the different service demands related to demographic population shifts. She stated her budget increased only by 3.8%. General consensus of the Village Board was that the service level provided through the Human Services Department is a good value for the investment. Page 2 of 3 Committee of the Whole 10-27-2015 H:\VILM\Cow\2015\MINUTES\Committee the whole minutes 10-27-15 (2).docx Community Development Director Bill Cooney spoke. He stated the changes in his budget relate to staffing modifications during 2015. He stated there is some remaining money that he is requesting to be carried over into 2016 so that it could be used for an economic development marketing position. This salary availability is the result of some consolidation of positions and a retirement of a long-term employee during the previous year. He stated among the 2016 projects that are underway include downtown redevelopment, Golf Plaza II redevelopment, Rand Road corridor study, wayfinding signage, Main Street pedestrian crossing study and business attraction efforts. Staff is also in the process of providing a survey of incentive packages related to business development comparison with other communities. He stated his budget increased 3.3%. W=10,�-MU U Interim Fire Chief Brian Lambel spoke. He stated his budget is projected to increase by 10.8% with the vast majority of the expense related to the new personnel as a result of the grant. Additional cost related to adding these personnel include the cost of turnout gear, training, and uniforms. He also stated that the budget reflects a new hire test that is necessary to reestablish a new hiring list. General questions from the Village Board regarding the budget included a discussion regarding response times and the staff diversity. There was also a general discussion regarding regional response systems based on station location. Finance Commission Comments: The Commission's comments will be provided at the next Committee the Whole meeting. V. VILLAGE MANAGER'S REPORT: Manager Cassady wanted to thank the Finance Commission members, Finance Department staff, and the various other Village staff for their efforts in creating the budget and the presentations provided. He also wanted to highlight the trick -or -treat hours on October 31 as 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. He also stated there is a fundraising event for the Mount Prospect Historical Society on October 29 called the Power of the Purse. There is also a Sister Cities winetasting event at the Wild Bird Shack on November 12. VI. ADJOURNMENT: Motion made by Trustee Hoefert seconded by Trustee Polit to adjourn the meeting at 9:55 p.m. Motion was approved. DAVID STRAHL Assistant Village Manager Page 3 of 3 Committee of the Whole 10-27-2015 H:\VILM\Cow\2015\MINUTES\Committee the whole minutes 10-27-15 (2).docx