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Home My WebLink About03/07/1991 FC minutesFINANCE COMMISSION Minutes of the Meeting March 7, 1991 I Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Commission members in attendance were Richard Bachhuber, John Engel, Vince Grochocinski, Jim Morrison, Tom Pekras, Ann Smilanic, and Earl Sutter. Also present were Village Trustee George Van Geem, Village Manager John Dixon, Human Services Administrator Nancy Morgan, Assistant Human Services Administrator Janet Abernethy, Fire Chief Ed Cavello, Deputy Fire Chiefs Del Ulreich and Lonnie Jackson, Police Chief Ron Pavlock, Deputy Chiefs Tom Daley and Ron Richardson, Assistant Finance Director Carol Widmer, one Village resident and one member of the press. II Approval of Minutes The minutes of the February 21, 1991 meeting were accepted as presented. III 1991/92 Budget Review A. Human Services Division The Human Services proposed 1991/92 budget of $334,430 was presented by Nancy Morgan. The proposed amount represents a 4.5% increase over 1990/91 budget of $319,975. It should be pointed out that during the coming year, Human Services is expecting to receive $23,000 in grant money from Elk Grove and Wheeling Townships for the Network 50 program and approximately $5,000 from various programs as well as donations for specific improvements. The Human Services Division acts as a support service to the Village's many senior citizens and for those other Village residents in need of social service assistance. Nancy then explained some of the programs provided by Human Services. They include health screening, annual health fair, nurses lending closet, home delivered meals, Network 50 employment, case management, short- term counseling, support groups and many others. Several new programs were instituted during the past year including the VIP (Volunteer Insurance Program) which assists senior citizens process Medicare claims, What's Up Week in Review, a current events discussing group, and Senior Beat, a monthly cable television show. As Nancy explained, over the past several years new services and programs have been added to the Human Services Division in direct response to the community's needs but support staff has not increased. The proposed budget requests a part-time clerical position to provide relief to both the office supervisor and the professional staff who have been assisting in the volume of work at the front desk. Nancy responded to several questions from the Commission members. In response to Dick Bachhuber's question regarding hours of operation of the Senior Center, she explained that the Senior Center is staffed and operated by Volunteers on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Earl Sutter asked what needs in the Community are not being met and Nancy responded by saying that affordable housing and home care programs both come to mind. B. Fire Department Chief Ed Cavello presented the proposed 1991/92 budget for the Fire Department. The budget for 1991/92 is $4,828,915, an increase of $202,475 or 4.4% over the 1990/92 budget of $4,626,440. This represents 11.96% of the overall Village budget. This year the budget is broken down into seven program areas. The Fire Training Academy has been added as a separate program in addition to Administration and Support, Fire Department Operations, Fire Prevention, Communications, Equipment Maintenance, and Emergency Preparedness. In 1990 the Training Academy hosted 22 courses which instructed 632 students, some of whom were Mount Prospect personnel who were trained at a very minimal cost to the Village. One major issue that has been discussed in the past is overtime expenditures. The largest dollar amounts spent on overtime have been for the maintenance of a minimum shift strength of 16 men on duty across the total of our three fire stations. Currently there are 21 men per 24 hour shift to fill the 16 positions that are necessary to operate the Fire Department. This is necessary because of scheduled vacation days and workweek hour reduction days. Sick and duty injury days also reduce available staffing. There were 18,821 overtime hours in 1989 and 8,803 in 1990. During most of 1989 the Department had 20 men per shift to fill the needed 16 positions while in 1990 there were 21 per shift. The 21 man per shift staffing will provide at least the same level of service as in previous years, allow for an occasional supplemental man for firefighting duties, help to maintain the ISO Class two rating and present the lowest overtime exposure. Chief Cavello then explained the types of equipment and staffing at each of the three fire stations, the areas they are responsible for in the Village, and how requests for assistance are handled. John Engel inquired about the status of the new contract. Chief Cavello stated that a settlement has been reached calling for a 5% increase this year and 4-1/2% in each of the next two years. The Village of Mount Prospect ranks in the upper third as far as salary and benefits for their firefighters. There were several other general questions regarding equipment. C. Police Department Chief Pavlock presented the Department's proposed 1991/92 budget. The budget of $5,505,460 is 6.8% higher than the 1990/91 budget of $5,156,355. The increase is largely attributable to increases in personal services and employee benefits, an increase in gasoline costs, squad conversion costs and a proposed renovation to the police pistol range. P� Police Department overtime costs have also decreased over the last few years. This reduction is due mainly to full staffing and internal procedures that have reduced overtime situations. Under Contractual Services, there is an increase of $47,760 anticipated. This is due to an increase of 13.6% in Medical insurance costs and the squad car conversions. The police patrol fleet of 17 cars will be replaced in 1991/92 and about $14,000 will be spent to transfer emergency equipment from the old cars to the new ones. Under Commodities, gasoline and photo supplies will account for most of the anticipated $17,400 increase. Evidence photography has become an increasingly important part of police investigative procedures for use in criminal investigations and trials. Also, an increasingly larger amount of the photo budget is being used to reprint photographs to meet the requirements of court subpoenas or to document actions as a defense in future civil liability actions. There are two Capital Expenditures in the 1991/92 Police budget. The Department has requested $35,000 to renovate the pistol range. The repairs include a new range control console and target carrier. The mechanisms have deteriorated over the years and repairs are needed. Additionally, the range design is obsolete and replacement parts must be custom made. The second Capital Expenditure is a provision of $5,000 to purchase a new Records Section microfilm machine. The current machine is over 11 years old, breaks down frequently and provides low quality copies. Ron then responded to additional questions regarding the Personal Services budget, false alarm revenue and gang crime activity. Dick Bachhuber advised Finance Commission members that at the March 21 meeting final discussion on the proposed 1991/92 budget would take place. He suggested that everyone write down their thoughts prior to the meeting. Questions regarding revenues and department expenditures will be discussed and recommendations will then be made to the Village Board. IV The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 p.m. CLW/sm 3 Respectfully Submitted, I "/U'zd� Carol L.Widmer Assistant Finance Director