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Home My WebLink About12/08/1992 COW minutes . ' ~ '; f Minutes ~ , , ~ COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE . ,~-~, December 8, 1992 I. ROLL CALL ~t ~' ~ The Meeting was called to order by Mayor Gerald L. Farley at 7:35 p.m. Trustees present were Mark Busse, George Clowes,' Tunothy Corcoran.' Leo Floros, Paul Hoefert, and Irvana Wriks. Also present were: Village Manager Michael E. Janonis, Inspection Services Director Chuck Bencic, Fire Chief Edward M. Cavello, Planning Du-ector Dawd Clements, Finance Dn'ector Da,ad C. Jepson, Human Semces Administrator Nancy Morgan, Communications Division Adrmmstrator Cheryl L. Pasalic. Chief of Police Ronald Pavlock, Personnel Coordinator Donna Russell and Public Works Director Herbert L. Weeks. In addition Mr. Allen Saunders, Housing Consultant for Catholic Charities, Mr. Fidel Lopez representing Broadacre. Valerie Alexander, Mr. Ken Westlake, Chaim~an of the Solid Waste Commission; Mr. Richard Bachhuber, Chau~uan of the Finance Commission, Dennis Saviano representing School District #57 along with four members of the print media in attendance. II. MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 24, 1992 The minutes of the November 24, 1992 were accepted as corrected and fried Five (5) trustees voted to accept minutes and.there ~vras one (1) abstention. . III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD No citizens appeared before the Village Board. IV. DO~'NTOWN REDEVELOPMENT - BROADACRE AND CATHOLIC CHARITIES .:c ;, Mayor Farley introduced the continuation of the discussion held at the last Committee of the Whole Meeting on November 24, 1992, which had to do with the merits, advantages and disadvantages of incorporating into our downtown redevelopment project a facility that would house income ehg~ble senior citizens and be built by Catholic Chanties. Vrilage Manager Michael E. Janonis stated that the critical issue is to determine the status of Catholic Charities with respect to the Pine/Wille Redevelopment Plan that has been proposed by Bmadacre. Mr. Janonis reviewed information that was distributed at the meeting of the 24th. This information highlighted the ~impact the Plne/Wflle Development proposal had on that block. It was expected that a three fold increase In Equalized Assessed Evaluation,(EAV) from present levels would be realized through the Broadacre development in the Pine/WIlle block. There was approximately $400,000 anticipated lose in EAV if the Catholic Chanties component was Included in the Redevelopment scheme. He continued that there was additional information contmned in this evening's packet. This information is based on questions raised at the prewous meeting and during the ,week. Mayor Farley asked for comments by residents in attendance. Mr. Dennis Sawano, a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals and a recent appointee to the School Board of District #57, expressed concern about the Catholic Charities Senior Housing Development because of the effect that additional tax exempt property could have on District #57. Mr. Sav~ano commented that taking a,property off the tax roles was m direct conflict with the purpose of a TIF District. ~ Discussion continued on the concerns of District #57: ~ , _ , ~ ~ ~, ~ Mayor Farley stated the 'Board was very cognizant of the impact on Dmtnct ,#57 'and ~would' factor Distnct~57's concerns into ,their dehbemtions · ,'~ ' Mr Sawano clarified his position by stating his concern was hot so much for a TIF District, but for additional tax exempt property within the TIF District ' ~ ~ ; ~ Valene Alexander of 501 West Lincoln stated her understanding was that Catholic Chanties would be~using~HUD funds, She questioned how ehgiblhty could be restricted solely to Mount Prospect residents., Mayor Farley stated that Mount Prospect residents would.have pre~ference. Trustee Corcoran stated that he supports senior citizen housing and Catholic Chanties and he initially s~upported the Pine/Wille location, but after reviewing all the material and hstening to the comments, it is now h~s opinion that this is ,the wrong location and that we ought'to be looking at property that is already tax exempt. Trustee Clowes supports senior housing at the Pine/Wille location. ~ His reasoning is that based on best estimates the difference in EAV with the' senior housing wa without the s-enior housing would be approximately $400,000. Trustee Clowes ~later stated.that Catholic Charities is expected to pay $300,000 for the property they use.' The Village will get significantly more revenue from the sale of this property than they would from the incremental revenue ff they didn't build senior housing. Trustee Clowes ~ concluded by stating that he supporti senior housing'in the downtown area. He stated that he does not necessarily support the Tax Increment Financing District ' (TIF). Mayor Farley commented that the ~2 Village has not negotiated a dollar f~gure. The figure was sh-nply utilized by staff to give the Board some projection of the revenue in that area of the TIF Distr~ct. There has not been any negotiation w~th Catholic Chanties toward the price of the land. Trustee Floros asked if we were to consider the sale of the property to a private developer or to HUD, would the price of the land be the same? Planning Dn-ector David Clements responded in the affirmative. Trustee Floros-also inquired if it is possible that there could be' private, developers around who would be interested in that property to do there what was done at Centennial. Mr. Clements stated that he did not think there would be that kind of interest in today's market. Mr. Fidel Lopez representang Broadacre supported the comments made by Mr. Clements stating that if there had been private developers who could make a profit from such a senior development they would have already been knocking on the Village's door. Trustee Busse commented that h~ thinks that this is a very valuable piece of property and should be on the tax role He feels that we have ,, made a commitment in the past to have the property return to tax producing status and thinks we should fulfill that comxmtment. Trustee Busse stated he is sensitive to semors and supports Catholic Charities through his business on an annual basis. However, it is just too valuable a piece of property to be tax exempt. Trustee Hoefert expressed his reservations about the Cathohc Charxt~es port, on of the development because of comments that say Broadacre has downs~zed then- units and they now do not have the amenities required to someday be converted to condominiums. Trustee Hoefert restated his position by saying that we need senior housing in this town and that the Ptne/Wille s~te was a good place for it. Mr. Lopez stated that at this time even if Catholic Charities is not built ~ the size of the Broadacre units would stay the same. Mr. Lopez concluded his statement by explaining the difference in rental apartments and condominiums and how they are designed. Truste~ Hoefert concluded the discussion by stating that he would support the Catholic Charities proposal because it's something that the community needs. The Village has a good location in the Pme/Wille area and ~t would a mistake to forego the opportunity to bring additional senior housing to the Vdl~ge. Mr. Allen Saunders, Housing Consultant for Catholic Chanties, made brief comments about the program and the benefits other communities have derived from it. Trustee Wflks asked Mr. Saunders what would happen to his time table if the V~llage said to you tonight that we have reservations about the tax 3 exempt issues in our TIF District. Can the clock stall be ticking for · Catholic Chanties. can we stall apply and vail you do another project ~n Mount Prospect for senior housing in another locataonO ~, , ' :i Mr. Saunders replied that we would have to be given some assurance what the tame table would be. ) .... Trustee Wflks stated that she supports senior housing and Cathohe Charities She stated that she came to the meetnng to support putting the Catholic Chanties in this area, but ff we have some tn-ne, we can ask staff to investigate other locations. Trustee Wilks' stated that she would hate to see the·Village give away all of its options 'on downtown development.' However, Trustee ~Wllks saw some merit in a brief delay which would enable staff to investigate other locations. Trustee Wllks concluded her comments by stating it is important for the Vdlage to keep the tax base whole especially in this downtown area. IThe only way she would be able to support a tax exempt project for 40 years is if the Board made 'eertain that the other development in the area earned its 'own weight ~and that the senior housing component added to',the attraetaveness of the ove,rall project. Mr. Hal ,Predovmh Chairman of the Business District Development / Redevelopment ~ Commission stressed the n-nportanee of getting something started in the downtown. He stated that the Village can rnmntmn its cormmtment to senior housing and get something going. Trustee,Leo Floros after some discussion on the matter stated that he would support the request for senior citizens housing vath Cathohe Chantaes and appealed to the Board not to delay any longer. Trustee Floros stressed the n-nportance of getting something started downtown. Trustee Clowes, in rewevang the list of options provided by staff stated that there are no other good alternatives. He stated that this project would start the process mowng and that this is a plan that can · work and does get the project mowng. ~ - Trustee Corcoran brought the board back to his original issue that there are numerous properties that are tax exempt; such as Village owned parking lots in the downtown area. He proposed that vath the right mvestment the area over these parking lots could be better utilized. ~ At this point Mayor Farley polled the board to see ff there Was 'a consensus to let Cathohc Chanties build on that locataon. Mayor Farley polled the Board and there was consensus for further exploration bf~ potentaal sites as suggested by Trustee Con:oran. Mr. danoms after some discussion on the matter stated that he will bmug the lnfom~atton back to the B~o~ard ,~nleeUng of December~ ~:5th. / 4 V. · MOUNT PROSPECT 2000 - REVENUE/EXPENDITURE PLAN Mayor Farley in his opening comments s{ated {o the Board that thought it was prudent to prepare for something less than the possible~ economic turnaround. The Mayor stated that he would like the Board to arrive at a consensus this evening Since the last meeting ~t was stated that information was provided that enabled the Board to do hn analysis and make some computatxon on their own so that we can expedite this and move it forward rather quickly. Village Manager Michael E: Jaxionis began the chscusmon by identifying three important issues that needed to be resolved. · One is that we need to determine what the 1992 tax levy wdl be. He continued that at the~ meeting of the 15th, there would be a public hearing as well as the second reading of the ,Tax Levy Ordinance. Secondly, the deficit reduction plan for 1993/94. Hopefully decisions made for FY93/94 would set the tone for 94/95 and 95/96 and so on. The final item tonight for your consideration is to look at a rewsed schedule for the ., budget preparation. ~ Mr. Richard Bachhuber Chmni~n of the Finance Commission'addressed the Board by reading the report that was prepared by the Finance Commission at their last meeting , Mr. Ken Westlake Chah'nmn of the Solid Waste Commission began his discusmon v~th the review of the various issues pertaining to sohd waste disposal. He summarized by.stating that the solid waste commassion comes down pretty strongly on the side of increased reliance on user fees .... Trustee Hoefert could not see the wisdom of returning only a portion of the taxes from a sticker system. Trustee Hoefert stated he could support the transfer in the Water Fund and the ambulance fee. Trustee Hoefert commented that the Village Manager said he could find an additmnal $70,000 in reductaons. Mr. Hoefert stated that if his calculations were correct there would be a $59,000 deficit remaining and he thought it would be easy enough ~to lden,.tify $60,000 in service reductions. This would total $200,000 in reductions. He could not support the increase in sales tax or the gas tax. His plan would also utilize the General Fund Balance · ~ - Trustee Corcoran beg~ his discussion'b~, agreeing with many of the positions stated by Trustee Hoefert on garbage collection adding that there ~s a lot to be absorbed by households. He ~denttfled that some~ households are more resistant than others. His second point was that' there are no secondary markets developed for the recycled materials to speak of. Trustee Corcoran began Identifying the other options he would support. First would be the reductions totallr/g $139,900, the Water 5 Fund transfer of $500,000 and unlike Trustee Hoefert. he supported the 1/4% sales tax increase 'rather than ambulance~ feb. ~' He proposed that the sales tax be capped for three years The General Fund transfer is something that should be considered Given all those factors, ,Trustee Corcoran came up vath a $69,600 deficit.' ~ ~ -~ r - ;~- , ~, ~, Tr~ustee Wdks began by taking the position to wait finial 1994 for the new contract on garbage collection to make changes. In,respect to Vision 2000, Trustee Wflks stated that this wslon should be multi-faceted Trustee Wllks stated that the Board has only discussed one side of the issue. She stated the Board has not been given the,opportunity to see how the Village delivers services and that ff the Board were to explore every~possible option,' tax payers will see that the Board is doing its best to'cut unnecessary expenditures. On'the other issues, Trustee Wflks stated she would support the Water Fund transfer; not the sales~tax lncrease~or the ambulance fee or the gas tax ~At this point it has not been~prover~ that it is necessary. Trustee Wi!~s, finalized by,supporting using exc?ss General Fund balance. - ~ ~ ~ - At this point, Mr. Janonis offered that ff we can garner some dwechon based on this discussion the Board will see the reductions as part of the bu~dget presentations and they vall become very st~ecdic. .... Mr. Jepson offered that Trustee Wilks'~reductions left a deficit of~ $179,600 Trustee Busse stated that he was happy with the refuse disposal as crests. He supported the Water Fund transfer and was opposed to the property tax increase, as well as the sales tax increase. He also did not support he ambulance fee or the gas tax. Trustee Busse supported the General Fund and challenged staff to find ways to cut. The amount to be recovered was the same as Trustee Wflks, $179,600. ~, Trustee Clowes began by addressing the ,'tax levy. He supported the" recommendation to exclude~debt semee from the maximum increase of 5%. However, he said the maximum should not exceed inflation, or 3 6.1 Yo. He This approach w6uld result in a 1992 tax levy increase of o -- · would support going to the refuse~dlsposal system of one bag becau~se it is a fairer system to all; business 'and residents., Trustee Clowes said he supported the Water Fund transfer~ but that it shot~ld be spread over two years. He supported the amount of $270,000 for 93/94 and $230,000 for 94/95. He supported an ,ambulance fee and the General Fund transfer~of $143,850 in 93/94 and $143,850'1n 94/95: ~ He does not support the imposition of the 1/4% sales tax unless ther~ is a quid quo. Th~s pr~opos~ identifies a n~egaiave $71,450. ~ '~ ~, ' ~ Trustee Floros supported the exper/chture red{iciaon bf$139,900. ~He was~' also reluctant to make changes in the refuse disposal at this tune He supported the Water Fund transfer, but was 'opposed to the ambulance 6 fee, the 1/4% sales tax increase and the gas tax. He stated he had no problem with the General Fund transfer. Trustee Floros' plan left the same deficxt as Trustees Busse and Wflks and that was $179,600. Discussion followed on the various ddferences and options that were presented. Based on Board comment a consensus was reached that the 1992 Tax Levy be lirmted to a 5% increase including debt serwce. Lengthy discussion followed. This discussion included comments about methods for reducing the deficit further, about giv/ng direction to staff by looking at the s~tuation long tem~ because the problem gets worse in a few years. If not resolved, Trustee Corcoran stated it would neccesitate a change in the way the VillAge does business. Drastic cuts would need to be made in every department affecting even essentual sennces. Trustee Hoefert suggested that the discussion focus on 94/95. The basis of this discussion pertstned to refuse disposal and reducing the deficit. Trustee Wfiks asked Mayor Farley where he stood on the issues of gas tax, sales tax and other revenue. Mayor Farley stated he could support a change in the sales tax, however he was not in favor of the gas tax or ambulance_fee. Mr. Janoms offered his analysis of the situation and the direction given by the Board. He stated that he thought that service cuts would be necessary. He requested the Board review the schedule for the budget process because staff will need more t/me. Mayor Farley commended Mr. Janonis for the work that was done by staff and his summary. VI. MANAGER~ REPORT Mr. Janonis did not have any items for his report. VII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Mohon made to enter into Executive Session at 11:20 p.m. Another motion was made to come out of Executive Session at 11:55 p.m. VIH. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Edward M. Cavello Fire Chief 7