Kankakee Times

Kankakee County Finance Committee met July 26.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

Members Present

Mr. Johnson, Mr. LaGesse, Mr. Washington, Mr. Vickery, Mr. Hess, Mr. Mulcahy, Ms. Webber,

Mr. Payton, and Mr. Ritter

Members Absent

Mr. Skutt, Mr. Sirois, Mr. Hildebrand, and Mr. Einfeldt

In Attendance

 Board Members

Mr. Wheeler, Mr. Liehr, Mr. Olthoff, and Ms. Parker

Department Heads

Delbert Skimerhorn, Mark Rogers, Nick Africano, Steve McCarty, Lori Gadbois, Jake Lee, Sandi

Cianci, Erich Blair, Brian Gadbois, Sheriff Mike Downey, and Tom Latham

 Media

Present

1. Call to Order

 Roll Call

The meeting was called to order by the Committee Chairman, Mr. Johnson, at 9:00 a. m.

Quorum present.

2. Public Comment

None

3. Presentation

None

4. Approval of Minutes: June 28, 2017

Mr. Hess made a motion to approve the minutes, and Mr. Vickery seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

5. Highway – Mark Rogers

 County Engineer’s Pay Estimates

Mr. Rogers reviewed and discussed the pay estimates with the committee. Mr. Wheeler made a motion to combine and approve the pay estimates, and Mr. LaGesse seconded it. Motion carried with a roll call vote of 10 ayes and 0 nays. Voting aye were Mr. Johnson, Mr. LaGesse, Mr. Washington, Mr. Vickery, Mr. Hess, Mr. Mulcahy, Ms. Webber, Mr. Payton, Mr. Ritter, and Mr. Wheeler.

6. County Auditor’s Office – Jake Lee

 Monthly Claims

Mr. Mulcahy made a motion to combine and approve the monthly claims, and Mr. LaGesse seconded it. Motion carried with a roll call vote of 10 ayes and 0 nays. Voting aye were Mr. Johnson, Mr. LaGesse, Mr. Washington, Mr. Vickery, Mr. Hess, Mr. Mulcahy, Ms. Webber, Mr. Payton, Mr. Ritter, and Mr. Wheeler.

Mr. Lee reviewed and discussed the monthly claims with the committee.

 Auditor’s Statutory Duties

Mr. Wheeler stated that we have asked the Attorney General’s office for an interpretation of one main statute of the Auditor’s office regarding the general accountant and the keeper of the County’s account. There are different opinions on the narrowness of that. We looked at back when the Finance Department was established, and it actually gave one of the duties to the Finance Department that says the “general accountant”. That’s against that statute. Ever since December, he and Mr. Lee have been wanting clarification on that, and that is the path that we decided to go and look at that as a positive resolution how to divide those duties up within the statute. Hopefully, the Attorney General’s office will provide that clarity, but we don’t know if it will be tomorrow or it could be January. He just wanted to let this committee and everyone else know that we are working towards that end, and that end really begins when we get that opinion from the Attorney General.

7. Insurance/HR - Lynn Mackin

 Staffing Levels Report

Ms. Mackin reviewed and discussed the report with the committee. The current staff level is at 510.

8. Treasurer - Nick Africano

 County Treasurer’s Report – June 2017

 County Collector’s Report – June 2017

 Monthly Resolutions for August 2017

Mr. Washington made a motion to combine and approve the reports and monthly resolutions, and Mr. Ritter seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Africano stated that the mobile home bills are being sent out this morning, and the first distribution was also sent out. The next distribution should be around August 10.

Mr. Africano reviewed and discussed forfeitures with the committee.

Mr. Africano stated that, as he told the committee last month, the escrow company has been told that they owe us the $171,000. He thinks that right now they are saying they don’t, and the State’s Attorney’s Civil Division is working on it. Hopefully, we’ll have a positive outcome on that.

9. Finance Department - Steve McCarty

 Miscellaneous Financial Reports & Discussion

Mr. McCarty reviewed and discussed the reports with the committee.

 Cash Flow Update

Mr. McCarty updated and discussed the cash flow with the committee. He stated that we have a call with Moody’s on August 15, so they will be interested in this information. The banks will also be interested in this as we start discussion of another round of TAW’s for next year. We’ll take this out even further here soon when that conversation is about ready to start and we’ll be discussing next year’s levy even before this year’s levy is done for that purpose.

10. Sheriff’s Department - Sheriff Mike Downey

 Monthly Update

Sheriff Downey stated that we are staying fairly consistent on the ICE numbers. About a month ago, because of our inspection, we were approved by ICE to be able to take new arrests. This past weekend was the first time that it really hit us significantly as 15 new detainees were brought in who were picked up over the weekend. He imagines that number will increase. The advantage we have is our location.

Sheriff Downey stated that the VCT, which is the video connection from Jerome Combs to the Chicago ICE office, has finally happened after an eight month wait. We are now hooked up with the courtrooms in the ICE buildings in Chicago, so we are now seeing our individuals go to Court right from our building. What that does is we don’t have to transfer those individuals to McHenry County any more. They can stay here, which obviously benefits us money-wise.

11. Other Business

Mr. Wheeler stated that this will be Mr. Johnson’s final meeting with this committee and this board. To his credit, Mr. Johnson informed him that he is completely involved with the business of his current real employment, and his time has been suffering on this end to be able to commit the time necessary, so he feels it’s best to move on and focus on his day job and family. This will be effective August 1. Mr. Wheeler thanked Mr. Johnson, and told him it’s been a pleasure to work with him and have his help and financial acumen on this committee and the board in general.

Mr. Johnson stated that he hasn’t been here very long, just a little over two years, but appreciated the time on the board and learned a lot. As Mr. Wheeler said, it’s a tough decision, but the final decision was that he didn’t feel he could commit the time necessary to be successful in this position or even on the board when he first was up to be appointed. He appreciated the opportunity, and maybe, at the time, didn’t fully realize the time commitment it would take. For the County employees, the Board members, and the rest of the community, he didn’t think it was fair to serve in the role when he was unable to give it the time and effort necessary to do a good job. He appreciates the time here, everyone’s support, getting to know everyone, and he’s enjoyed the experience.

12. Old/New Business

 Pembroke Township (Hopkins Park) Revolving Loan

Mr. Wheeler stated that, at the last board meeting, we brought up a few things about the revolving loan. We were going to write that off for Hopkins Park. He provided the committee with copies of invoices, claims, and everything associated with that which was part of the revolving loan fund file that he received when he became chairman. This is public record, so he just wanted the committee members to have this documentation to think about. At a later time, this will come back up for various reasons, and will be brought back to Finance when a few other situations are resolved.

13. Adjournment

Mr. Ritter made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:17 a.m., and Mr. Payton seconded it. Motion carried.

http://www.co.kankakee.il.us/files/committees/finance_726171.pdf