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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/28/1995 COW minutes MINUTES' COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE FEBRUARY 28, 1995 CALL TO ORDER V~llage Manager M~chael Janoms celled the meebng to order at 6 24 p m He asked for Motions from the floor for Mayor Pro Tern Motion made by Trustee Skowron and Seconded by Trustee Hoefert to appoint Trustee Corcoran as Mayor Pro Tern Motion was unamrnous Present at the meeting were Trustees T~mothy Corcoran, Paul Hoefert, Michaele Skowron and Irvana Wilks Absent frorn the meebng were Mayor Gerald Farley and Trustee George Ctowes Trustee Hendncks arr,ved at 6 35 p rn Also present at the meeting were V~llage Manager M~chael Janonls, Assistant to the V~llage Manager David Strahl, F~nance D~rector Dawd Jepson, Assistant F~nance D~rector Carol Widmer, Human Services D~rector Nancy Morgan and Communicet~ons Administrator Cheryl Pasahc MINUTES Acceptance of the Minutes from January 24, '1995 Motion made by Trustee W~lks and Seconded by Trustee Hoefert Minutes were accepted unanimously CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Resident Tom Davies, 203 South Owen, spoke He requested the Board consider using the proceeds from the sale of the Pme/Wille property to lower taxes or for a purpose other than use on the V~llage Hall rehab~l~tatmn 'He explained a proposal whereby the short budget year provides an opportunity for Property Taxes to be reduced by reducing the Levy He felt that increases In Sales Tax would make up the d~fference dunng the short budget year whereby the proceeds from the Pme/Wille sale could be replemshed for use for Village Hall rehablhtatmn ~f necessary He also recommended the purchase of a Pohce substation w~th some of the money from the sale of the property IV. 1995 BUDGET DISCUSSION Mayor Pro Tem Comoran prowded general opening remarks outhn;ng the reasons for the change in the fiscal year The change ~n the fiscal year allows for early b~d release for construction projects, improves financial planmng, makes ~t eas~er for residents to understand the budgeting process and more closely matches the State and Federal funding cycle The major reason for the change ~s the Board will now have an opportunity beginning next budget year to estabhsh a Levy at the time the budget ~s prepared instead of passing a Levy assuming available funds pnor to the budget taking effect He stated that the budget ~s a policy document which prowdes a strategic rewew of pohc~es and services on an annual bas~s Manager Janonis prowded a budget overview stating th~s budget as proposed continues the goals outhned by Mount Prospect 2000 Among the goals of Mount Prospect 2000 was to rewse the budget to make ~t more responsive to service demands more understandable by the general public Th~s budget represents no new personnel and focuses on ma~nta~mng current services Some of the new items proposed ~n th~s budget include two add~bonal issues of the V~llage Newsletter to res;dents Under the proposed budget, the Newsletter will be s~x issues annually, funding for expanded downtown Holiday lighting and expanded downtown redevelopment Th~s budget also assumes a refuse sticker ~ncrease on July 1, 1995 This small increase ;s recommended so that large increases or b~g jumps tn the pnce of the refuse st~cker do not occur sporadically. Manager Janonis also prowded an overwew of the past fiscal year accomphshments The accomplishments from the previous year include increases tn Police activity whereby the fruffs of the additional personnel are beginning to show, the Pme/VVille Project ~s now under construction, seven Flood Control Projects have now been completed at a cost of approximately $11 million, the V~s~ons Group, made up of vanous Departments, has been involved ~n addressing quality of hfe issues ~n the multi-family complexes, a reorgamzat~on of the Planning and Inspecbon Serwces Departments and combining them into the Community Development Department, and the conbnued ~mplementation of the V~llage-w~de computer system Finance Director Dave Jepson prewded a general overview of the budget document ~tself He stated a budget ~s a complex and comprehensive document outhnmg the details of the cost of various services He stated that the V~llage ~s different than many other businesses because it does not produce a product, it only produces services An overview of the Revenues which are used by Mount Prospect for its operabng funds followed The Revenue m~x w~th~n Mount Prospect is d~fferent from other communities The m~x of Revenues must be adequate and equitable and based on the make-up of the community. For example, the four main items which affect Revenue m~x in Mount Prospect are Sales Tax, Property Tax, Permit Fees and Utility Taxes, He stated that Sales Tax dollars have been fiat for a number of years compared to the early 80s when Sales Tax was growing on a regular bas~s Permit Fees have also been fiat s~nce most of the avadable land w~th~n Mount Prospect has been filled in Without the growth of these Revenues through add~tmnal monies coming in, other Revenues were ~mplemented such as the Utd~ty Tax The assessment of property w~th~n Cook County affects businesses adversely due to the level of Property Tax they must pay compared to other Counbes Mr Jepson also pointed out that due to the favorable Refuse Contract, the V~llage Board has an opportumty for some uncommitted funds under the Property Tax Levy for 1995 Manager Janonls prowded a general overview of the Administrative Departments/D~ws~ons of the V~llage He provided an overview of the Public Representabon section of the budget and provided a detailed breakdown of the orgamzabonal memberships which are included In th~s hne ~tem A rewew of the V~llage Manager's office was prowded showing the three ma~r~ components that make up the Manager's Office They are Commumcat~ons, the V~llage Clerk and the V~llage Manager's office. The proJected ~ncrease ~n Personal Services is due to a shift of the intern from Finance to the Village Manager's office The funds to operate the Commumcat~ons D~wsmn come from Franchise Fees pa~d by cable subscnbers Dunng the upcoming summer, a c~t~zen survey w~ll be completed as part of the Franchise renewal process Cheryl Pasalic provided an overview of the accomphshments of the Commumcat~ons D~wslon which ~nclude the completion of the first phase of the phone system and the ehmination of the volunteer stipend A recognition d~nner and program w~ll supplement the Village's thank you for their services A survey of volunteers found they provided assistance through thmr desire to help and the stipend was not the motivating factor. Village Manager Janonls prowded an overview of the Vdiage Clerk's office which showed no s~gmficant changes in the budgetary figures except for the additional cost of two Newsletters annually Dave Jepson prowded an overview of the Finance Department's budget He stated that one of the ma~n objecbves for the upcoming fiscal year ~s to complete ~--~ the conversion to the new computer system He also stated that due to the conversion, there w~ll be an increase ~n contractual services for data processing He stated that he is also revolved in complebng a program which w~ll allow d~rect deposits for payroll checks to area banks He stated that the follow-up for vehicle hcenses has been hampered by the out of date records the Ilhnms Secretary of State's office provides to the Village Therefore, the large number of additional vehicle hcenses which were purchased the first t~me the review of the records was made has not been repeated because people are more aware of the follow-up not~ficabons He has requested the Legislature consider designating the Secretary of State as the collector of vehicle hcenses for communlbes who have vehicle I~censes thereby reducing the admin~stratmn costs ~ncurred by the Village of Mount Prospect Resident Tom Davies spoke He stated there seems to be an ~nequ~ty between the pnce of vehicle st~ckers He stated there is a d~fference between the charge for p~ck-up trucks and cars Mr. Jepson stated that the d~fference between cars and trucks attnbutes to the type of license which the State prowdes the vehicle due to the weight of the vehicle Typically, the heawer weight of a vehicle results m more damage to the road than a hghter vehicle hke a car He also stated that he hopes to have a GIS ~ system on hne some time after the mare components of the current computer system ~s completed Manager Janonis stated that the V~ilage Board in the past has taken one-time Revenues and used them for Capital expenses and not for operational expenses as proposed by Mr. Dawes He stated the repairs to the Village Hall have been deferred numerous bmes Soon, it w~ll be necessary to replace instead ofrepa~r the V~llage Hall ~f these mon~es are not available for rehab~htat~on Human Services Director Nancy Morgan provided an overview of the Human Services Department She stated that the Human Services Department prowdes general services to seniors and maintains a safety net of services which assist ~n rehewng the urban problems which affect many c~tlzens The ~ncrease m the hours for the bl-hngual Social Worker to full-bme in last year's budget has benefitted the Department through expanded services for non-Enghsh speaking residents She also stated that members of the Department are working dlhgently to ensure there is no service overlap between the services which Mount Prospect prowdes and other service prowders She also stated that there is a rewew regularly of the services which other organizations, such as churches, provide to confirm whether a need exists for the service to be prowded by e~ther the V~llage or someone else Dick Bachhuber, Chairman of~e Finance Commission, spoke He asked whether i; ~ Human Services goes out to recruit persons who need service or assistance or ; focuses specifically on walk-ins Nancy Morgan stated that not only does her staff look to assist individuals, they also get referrals from other Departments including the Pohce and Fire Department who they feel may need some assistance She stated the maJority of people who receive service are through self-referrals V. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Hendricks clanfied h~s request for a change in the Liquor Commission He stated that he is asking that a change ~n the L~quor Commission be added to the Deferred L~st of items for the Committee of the VVhole Agenda The change ~n the Liquor Commission would be from a single L~quor Comm~ssmner (Mayor) to a committee of three Commissioners VI. ADJOURNMENT ~ There being no further business, a Motion was made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Skowron to adJoUrn The meeting was adJourned at 1000pm Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL DS/rcc Assistant to the Village Manager