HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/28/1998 FC MinutesFinance Commission
Minutes of the Meeting
May 28, 1998
I. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Those present included Chairman John
Korn and Commissioners George Busse, Vince Grochocinski, Jim Morrison, Tom
Pekras, and Ann Smilanic. Also present were Mayor Gerald Farley, Village Trustee
Tim Corcoran, Executive Director of SWANCC C. Brooke Beal, Finance Director
Brian Caputo, and Deputy Finance Director Carol Widmer. Commissioners Newt
Hallman and John Engel were absent.
II. Approval of the Minutes from the April 30, 1998 Meeting,
The minutes of the April 30, 1998, meeting were approved as presented.
1I1. Discussion of the Operations of the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Gook County.
Village Trustee Tim Corcoran, who is the Village's representative to the Solid Waste
Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC), introduced C. Brooke Beal, Executive
Director of SWANCC. Mr. Beal presented a brief history of the Agency to the
members of the Finance Commission. Mr. Beal stated the Agency was formed in 1988
with the assistance of the Northwest Municipal Conference. The founding
communities wanted to have their own landfill and transfer station because land was
becoming scarce and many, landfills were closing. The communities also wanted to
respond to environmental concerns by constructing and operating a high quality
landfill and transfer station.
Since its formation in 1988, the Agency has issued debt as it proceeded with the
planned property acquisition, development of the landfill and transfer stations, and
other operating costs. Currently, the agency has $67.2M in outstanding debt to be
paid through the year 2015.
SWANCC is involved in litigation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for
issuance of a permit to develop the balefill site. Twice the Corps has denied the
Agency's request for a permit to develop the balefill site. In 1994, the Agency filed a
complaint in the United State District Count challenging the Corps' jurisdiction over
the balefill property and the legal and factual bases for the Corps' denial. Several
motions have been filed and the Agency is awaiting decision by the trial court.
IV. Chairman's Report
Chairman Korn relayed to the members of the Finance Commission some of the
actions taken at recent Village Board meetings. He reported that the Farmer's Market
will now be operated by the Lion's Club. Chairman Korn also reported that with the
deregulation of electric utilities residential rates for Commonwealth Edison customers
will be 15% lower in August. The Illinois General Assembly will permit municipalities
to convert the utility tax from gross receipts to kilowatt hours so as not to suffer lost
revenue because of deregulation. Other matters that came before the Board included
approval of a contract with Sprint to install an antenna on the Village water tower, an
increase in the 911 telephone rate from the current 30 cents per line to 75 cents to pay
for new equipment. The Fire Department reported that they were unsuccessful in their
plan to rechassis an ambulance this year. The company they purchased the ambulance
from will not be able to rechassis and other companies will only rechassis their own
equipment. The Fire Department will be developing specifications for a new
ambulance.
A discussion ensued regarding the upcoming budget process. As a result of that
discussion, the members of the Finance Commission recommend that departmental
budget presentations focus on changes in the number of employees, significant changes
in budget amounts, and all capital items. They further recommend that all pages be
numbered in the departmental information booklets and in those booklets reference
be made to pages in the proposed budget document for ease of locating those items
in the budget. Finally, the recommendation was made that the pages in the
departmental booklets be duplexed to eliminate excess paper.
V. Finance Director's Report
Mr. Caputo advised the members of the Finance Commission that Systems
Consultants, Inc. (SCI) will be recommended to the Village Board as the Village's
software vendor and that contract negotiations are underway. Originally the Village
had hoped to use the current hardware and operating system, but all of the vendors
indicated that new hardware would be necessary to run their software. The new
hardware, application software/licensing requirements, and vendor training and travel
costs will require approximately $100,000 more than was originally budgeted for the
project.
Several significant revenue sources were reviewed by Mr. Caputo. Sales tax receipts
and home rule sales tax receipts during the first four months of 1998 are 11% higher
than budgeted. Also, state income tax receipts are currently 10% higher than budget.
However, the real estate transfer tax revenue is lower than anticipated. Otherwise,
revenues are pretty much on target.
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VI. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for June 4,
1998, at 7:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol L. Widmer
Deputy Finance Director