Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/12/2005 COW minutes Minutes Committee of the Whole July 12, 2005 I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7: 1 0 p.m. by Mayor Irvana Wilks. Present at the meeting were: Trustees A. John Korn, Michaele Skowron, and Michael Zade!. Staff members present included: Village Manager Michael Janonis, Finance Director David Erb, Deputy Finance Director Carol Widmer, Information Technology Director Joan Middleton, Fire Chief Michael Figolah, Deputy Fire Chief John Malcolm, EMS Coordinator Wendy Seleen, Police Chief Richard Eddington, Deputy Police Chief of Administration Michael Semkiu, Public Works Director Glen Andler and Deputy Public Works Director Sean Dorsey and Deputy Community Development Director Ellen Divita. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of Minutes from June 14, 2005. Motion made by Trustee Zadel and Seconded by Trustee Skowron to defer approval of the minutes until the August 9, 2005 meeting. III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Kathleen Kowalski of 1818 E. Tano Lane in Mount Prospect asked for an update on the moving of fire station #14. Fire Chief Michael Figolah responded to the inquiry by stating that there are two items involved in the planning for the new fire station. The first item under consideration is the location of the station and that will not be decided until public meetings are held so that citizen input can be heard. The other item under consideration is the relocation of the fire mechanics to the Public Works Building. Chief Figolah said residents would be kept informed as process on the projects move along. IV. ANNUAL AUDIT OF VILLAGE FINANCES Finance Director David Erb reviewed the 2004 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). The Audit was performed by Sikich Gardner & Co., LLP for the Village for fiscal year ended December 31, 2004. Sikich has given the Audit of the Village an "unqualified opinion." This means that their examination found our financial statements to be fairly presented and prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The Village also received unqualified opinions on the Single Audit and the Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Audit. As part of the Audit, Sikich is required to present a management letter to the Village's governing board. The purpose of the management letter is to inform the board of any problems encountered during the audit and to report any deficiencies in internal controls uncovered during the course of the audit. The management letter from Sikich recommended the formation of an audit committee to be responsible for establishing an audit procurement policy as well as implementing and overseeing a fraud risk assessment program for the Village. Mr. Erb noted that a recommendation for a comprehensive audit policy is on tonight's agenda. Sikich also recommended marking all investments to market at year-end. Mr. Erb stated that investments are reconciled on a quarterly basis and controls are in place to ensure all investments are adjusted quarterly. Mr. Erb reported that the General Fund fund balance remains strong at 23.4%. He also stated that the 2004 audit report would be available at Village Hall, the library and the Village's web site. Mr. Erb introduced Lou Karrison, Partner at Sikich Gardner, who reviewed the management letter comments and confirmed Sikich's unqualified opinion of the Village's 2004 audit. The Village Board will formally approve the 2004 audit at its August 2 Village Board meeting. 1 v. RECOMMENDATION FOR A COMPREHENSIVE AUDIT POLICY Finance Director David Erb presented a recommendation for a comprehensive audit policy. The purpose of the policy is to assign oversight responsibility for the independent audit of the Village's financial statements from the selection of the independent auditor to the resolution of audit findings. It will also address procedures for monitoring compliance of the Village's fraud risk assessment program. The proposed make- up of the audit committee will consist of the following: Village President, member of the Board of Trustees, a member of the Finance Commission, a Mayoral appointee, and the Director of Finance/Treasurer. General discussion from the Village Board members included the following items: Several Trustees noted that the idea had merit. Manager Janonis stated that he would like to have the ordinance passed and the committee incorporated into Village Code by the end of the year. In response to a question regarding responsibilities, Mr. Erb said that the committee would be advisory and the Village Board would still be ultimately responsible for hiring the auditors. VI. 2006-2010 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PLAN Mr. Erb presented the Village's proposed 2006-2010 Capital Improvements Plan (CIP). It is the 9th year that staff has prepared a CIP. The CIP is comprised of projects that involve the purchase or construction of long- lived, tangible assets at a cost of $25,000 or more. The total cost of all requests for all years included in the plan is approximately $48.9M. Since the CIP is a planning document, inclusion in the CIP does not guarantee funding. A total of $2.2M in projects have been deferred in the past four years due to funding considerations. The fund currently has a $1.7M fund balance but the fund balance will be negative sometime in 2007 unless a permanent funding source is identified. Deputy Community Development Director Ellen Divita highlighted the items related to Community Development. Mr. Janonis stated that the proposed expenditure of $200,000 for corridor improvements for 2006 could be scaled down to $50,000 for the year by concentrating on two or three small areas. This is the second year that Information Technology has been included in the CIP. While many of the expenditures do not meet the $25,000 minimum threshhold, IT is included as a planning tool. Joan Middleton, Information Technology Director discussed several of the items included in the proposed 2006 expenditures of $113,540. Among the items Joan mentioned were the proposed network rewiring of the Police and Fire building and centralized backup for the Village's servers. Police Chief Richard Eddington reviewed the four items the Police Department included in the proposed 2006 CIP. One of the items is the replacement of the digital mobile video recorders in the amount of $156,500. Chief Eddington said the department wants to purchase all of the recorders at one time for consistency and ease of maintenance. The other items include a prisoner transport van and replacement of chairs for the department. The fourth item, a Iivescan booking station was moved back from 2005 to 2006 in hopes that the department can secure a grant to help pay for the booking station. The Fire Department has no items in the proposed 2006 CIP. Fire Chief Mike Figolah did discuss proposed expenditures for 2007 which include replacing fire&tati9n#~A, tn/3 Publiq Work& building expansion, and a video conferencing system which would allow for training at all locations at the same time. Chief Figolah also mentioned that the Department may receive a FEMA grant for the SCBA upgrades scheduled for replacement beginning in 2010. If the grant is received, the SCBA upgrade would take place in 2006 at a cost of only $32,000 to the Village and $128,000 from the grant. Some of the issues discussed after Chief Figolah's presentation included the cost of the new station, the timing of construction, and space needs of the Police Department. It was suggested that the Village hire a consultant in 2006 to study space needs, costs of construction and phasing or timing of the project. The proposed 2006 CIP for the Public Works Department includes projects totaling $7,788,998. Public Works Director, Glen Andler, highlighted several of the items. Mr. Andler stated that he is working with the Finance Commission on recommendations for funding for the first phase of the multi-year combined sewer 2 improvement project. A total of $2,000,000 is proposed for 2006. A water tank rehabilitation in the amount of $200,000 is being proposed as well as an unfunded mandate for the United States EPA and the Illinois EPA for Stage 2 Disinfection By-Products for the water distribution system. The George Street bridge, the last of the Village's bridges, is scheduled to be rehabilitated in 2006. Mr. Andler also mentioned that the Police and Fire Building deck rehab is estimated to cost $180,000 in 2006 not the $80,000 in the CIP. The Public Works parking lot originally scheduled for 2006 will be deferred to 2007. Mr. Chuck Bennett, Chairman of the Finance Commission, addressed the Village Board at the conclusion of the CIP presentations. Mr. Bennett presented the Finance Commission's recommendations for revenue enhancements for the proposed 2006 budget. In order to fund the combined sewer improvement project, the Finance Commission is recommending a $5.00 per month customer service charge for all water customers. This will produce approximately $600,000 per year and will minimize the need for a bond issue to pay for the improvements. The Finance Commission also recommends instituting the charge as early as possible in 2005. As far as revenue enhancements for the General Fund, the Finance Commission recommends billing residents for ambulance transportation at a Medicare-approved rate. This fee will result in about $900,000 net of fees for a billing service to perform the billing. It is recommended that there be no balance billing for residents of Mount Prospect. The Finance Commission proposes increasing the local motor fuel tax from one cent per gallon to two cents per gallon. This would result in an additional $150,000 for the Street Improvement Fund. At the same time the $225,000 currently going into the Street Improvement Fund from a portion of the vehicle sticker fee would be reallocated to the General Fund. Finally, the Finance Commission suggests increasing the gas and electric utility tax from 3.2% to 4.2%. This would bring an additional $465,000 into the General Fund. In total approximately $1,590,000 of new revenue would be available to the General Fund in 2006. Mr. Janonis summarized the discussion on the 2006 budget by stating that the issues that needed to be resolved are funding for the General Fund, finding a permanent funding source for the CIP, preparing a facility needs study for the Police and Fire Departments, and funding for the combined sewer improvement project. Mr. Janonis remarked that we might consider a $1 M per year expenditure instead of $2M for the combined sewer project. VII. VILLAGE MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Janonis mentioned the Harry Potter event, which will take place at Randhurst on July 15 and 16 when the book is released. Mr. Janonis also asked everyone to mark their calendars for the July 23 Midsummer Block Party downtown from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. VIII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Zadel recommended that a press release be sent out regarding the Lincoln Street bridge repair. IX. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:17 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ; ~oew~ Carol L Widmer Deputy Finance Director 3