Kankakee Times

Kankakee County Finance Committee met July 24.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Members Present

Mr. Liehr, Mr. LaGesse, Mr. Washington, Mr. Olthoff, Ms. Webber, Mr. Payton, Ms. Parker, Mr. Kinzinger, Ms. Haas, Mr. Swanson and Mr. Dunnill

Members Absent

Mr. Hess, Mr. Byrne, Mr. Zenz and Ms. Zuccollo

In Attendance

 Board Members

Mr. Sirois

Department Heads

Erich Blair, Anita Speckman, Nick Africano, Mike Downey, Steve McCarty, Mark Rogers, Delbert Skimerhorn and Lori Gadbois

Media

None

1. Call to Order  Roll Call

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

2. Public Comment

No Public Comment

3. Presentation

None

4. Approval of Minutes: June 26, 2019

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

Mr. LaGesse made a motion to amend the agenda allowing the Sheriff to review his monthly update first, and Mr. Olthoff seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

7. Sheriff’s Department – Sheriff Mike Downey • Monthly Update

Sheriff Downey reviewed the monthly report with the committee.

Sheriff advised the committee that there are 13 correctional officers off on either medical and/or military. There are 3 of our officers that have been deployed to serve our country.

Sheriff added that he has spoken with Mr. McCarty regarding the leases on the vehicles and reviewed some numbers with him. The goal is to get a lease paid off; this way the lease rolls right into another lease. We do not want to double the expense. Sheriff has added that his department is mindful of mileage and getting the most out of the vehicles.

Sheriff stated that there is an empty 32,000 square feet of space that has had some inquiries. The inquiries have been verbal, nothing official and they are inquiries other than ICE. Sheriff stated that his preference is to have someone purchase the space.

Sheriff commented on today being speed awareness day and they are out in full force. There were no questions from the committee.

5. Finance Department – Steve McCarty

• Miscellaneous Financial Reports & Discussion

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

Mr. Olthoff asked if the increase in gas tax helps the county.

Mr. McCarty advised that it doesn’t help the general fund at all, but he would assume it helps the Highway Fund. That would be a question best answered by Mark Rogers.

Mr. Rogers stated that the county received an increase in Motor Fuel Tax, not what we were hoping for. The numbers are unclear as they just started to collect the tax on July 1st, 2019. The first installment will be in August. Mr. Rogers advised that he will have a presentation at the next Highway & Buildings meeting to show what the increase will mean for the County.

• Cash Flow Update

Mr. McCarty reviewed the cash flow update with the committee.

Mr. LaGesse asked when we will know for sure if we are not going to need a TAW for this year.

Mr. McCarty advised it will be the November or December area. In the past, we have taken the TAW in February.

Mr. McCarty said the timing will be looked at in the November/December area to make the decision.

• Claims Recommended/Not Recommended for Approval

Mr. McCarty advised he does not have claims.

 Cyber Security Policy

Mr. McCarty advised that this was added to the agenda as an “FYI”. This currently has been an August 1st to July 31st policy, there has been discussion to move the policy to match the current insurance with the dates December 1 through November 30. The insurance company is working on that, so the policy renewal will be prorated from August 1st through November 30th. The cost will be roughly $2,000.

Regarding the annual change, it was $6100 last year and will be just over $7,000 for this year and it is budgeted in the tort fund. This is just the information to pass along to you.

There were no questions from the committee regarding Cyber Security.

Mr. McCarty added that currently, the Finance department is working on the FY19 budget. Any budget amendments will be brought to committee next month. The have started the conversation for the FY20 budget process. They are also working on the Tax Levy for next year. More information will be available in the coming months.

6. Administration – Anita Speckman

 Review of SKDO Agreed Upon Procedures Report

Ms. Speckman advised the committee that the report is available in the committee packet. This is regarding the Chase credit card and the issues from last fall with interest charges and application of payments. SKDO was contracted to review the process and determine what happened and what went wrong.

SKDO outlined the issues that were found and that allowed the county to review the internal control procedures that will eliminate this happening again.

This review is not meant to point fingers, but to see what needs to be done in order to make certain this doesn’t happen again. The next step is to be certain that we have the proper procedures in place.

Mr. Olthoff stated that it should be a policy to pay these off and if there is a discrepancy as to if it is warranted or not, then we could do that after the fact, rather than before.

Ms. Speckman advised that is correct and is part of what they want to put into the policy. Not only that, but who is responsible for that documentation. SKDO did state that there was communication to Chase, but the communication didn’t include sufficient support. We need to define who is responsible for checking the balances and submitting the proper documentation so those errors can get corrected.

Mr. Olthoff asked if we got any relief from Chase on the interest charges.

Ms. Speckman advised not on the $2300. There was interest from an oversight last month and we called the same day and Chase immediately removed it. That credit was verified through Mr. McCarty that the credit did come through. These issues require immediate follow up and immediate documentation, so you want to be sure that it’s taken care of timely.

Mr. Kinzinger wanted to confirm that after September 26, 2018, the finance department determined the payments to be paid on each payment. Do I interpret that to say that after September 2018, the finance department is now making certain that this gets paid? Until the procedures are in place and we no longer have this problem?

Ms. Speckman referred the question to Mr. McCarty.

Mr. McCarty stated the current process was that the auditor’s office was reviewing and creating the claim for payment. Then there were issues with the way the checks were being applied with Chase. As we started to look into things on the check side, the late payments and interest was exposed. Mr. McCarty stated he made a phone call and was able to go back through April of 2018 and get all of that reversed. Since then, we have kept an eye out and double checked things. Once the issue became aware to us, we jumped in to help and get things taken care of, as much as could.

There were no other questions from the committee.

6. Treasurer’s Office – Nick Africano

• County Treasurer’s Report – April 2019

• County Collector’s Report – April 2019

• Monthly Resolutions for June 2019

Ms. Parker made a motion to combine and approve the reports, and Mr. LaGesse seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

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

The first distribution was made on Friday, about $85 million. There is 2.24% interest being made on the money in the bank.

There are many features online that is helpful. Mobile home payments can be made online as well as printing duplicate bills.

Mr. Kinzinger complimented Mr. Africano on his money management skills and earning money in interest. That is much appreciated.

Mr. LaGesse asked about interest money earned being shared.

Mr. Africano confirmed that it was shared proportionally.

There were no other questions from the committee.

8. Auditor’s Office – Jake Lee

Mr. Lee was not present at the Finance Meeting.

Mr. Liehr stated that in the report, there were references to some generic items that will need to be acted on. Mr. Liehr stated that he would assume that is being done from within the office.

Mr. Liehr advised the committee that if there are questions from the committee on the generic items mentioned in his report, then the committee could ask Mr. Lee at the next Finance meeting.

Ms. Parker asked why the auditor was not present at the Finance Committee meeting for his report. Mr. Liehr stated that he could not answer that.

 Monthly Claims

Mr. Olthoff made a motion to approve the monthly claims report and Mr. Swanson seconded it.

Motion carried with a Roll Call Vote of 12-0. Voting aye were: Mr. Liehr, Mr. LaGesse, Mr. Washington, Mr. Olthoff, Ms. Webber, Mr. Payton, Ms. Parker, Mr. Kinzinger, Ms. Haas, Mr. Swanson, Mr. Dunnill and Mr. Sirois

There were no other comments or questions from the committee.

10. Other Business

 Intergovernmental Agreement between the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the County of Kankakee

Mr. Skimerhorn stated that over a year ago, the county was approached by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and had a program available that would allow the county to buyout and demolish severely flood damaged property. There were some properties eligible for that program. Last July, we took the program to PZA to apply for the money, and that was granted and approved by DNR.

Mr. Skimerhorn advised the committee that a copy of the contract was in their packet. They will reimburse up to $500,000. There are 4 houses. This will pay 100% of the cost, but it is a reimbursement. The County must spend the money first and then get the reimbursement. In past experience, the check is received within 30-40 days. It isn’t a long wait and there have been many indications that this case would be similar.

Mr. Skimerhorn advised that we do not have to do all the houses at one time.

Mr. Sirois asked if we have to do letting for the demolishing of the properties.

Mr. Skimerhorn confirmed that we do.

Mr. Sirois stated that by doing those all at the same time, there could be cost savings there.

Mr. Skimerhorn agreed there is probably cost savings with doing them all, but if the committee is not comfortable with doing them all at once, we could do that too.

Mr. Skimerhorn continued to review the properties with the committee.

Mr. Kinzinger stated that we have until July of 2021. Mr. Kinzinger proposed that we structure something as to doing 2 houses at a time to eliminate some risk.

Mr. Skimerhorn estimated the total cost to be $432,000. Those are based on fair market value and cost of demolition. It is likely going to be cheaper. If we accept the agreement, the first thing we do is make sure the owners want to sell. Then, the appraisal is done. That Appraisal is going to determine what the cost is minus any flood plain payments that they received. Since three of them are sever repetitive loss, you may have an $80,000 house that has received $60,000 in payments. So our offer would be $20,000.

Mr. Kinzinger stated that with his experience of appraisers, he would recommend that there are at least 2 appraisals.

Mr. Skimerhorn advised that we have to follow the state guidelines for the appraiser. Mr. Liehr asked if he wanted to make that a motion.

Mr. Kinzinger made the motion that he would like to see at least 2 appraisals on each property. He would like to see the procedure pursued mitigating the risk to the county while working with Mr. Skimerhorn and the legal department to structure this as to where the risk is $250,000 at one time.

Mr. Skimerhorn stated that he would check with the program to make sure 2 appraisals can be done. He knows they will reimburse for one, not sure the second would be reimbursed. An appraisal is about $400-$500.

Mr. Kinzinger made the motion to approve the agreement while not putting the county at risk for more than $250,000 at a time and that the deal is structured to do all of it, and Ms. Parker seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote.

Mr. Skimerhorn advised that we will need a motion to authorize the Chairman to sign the agreement and that will require a roll call vote.

There were no questions or comments from the committee.

Mr. Olthoff made a motion to approve the authorizing the County Board Chairman to sign the agreement and Ms. Haas seconded it.

Motion carried with a Roll Call Vote of 12-0. Voting aye were: Mr. Liehr, Mr. LaGesse, Mr. Washington, Mr. Olthoff, Ms. Webber, Mr. Payton, Ms. Parker, Mr. Kinzinger, Ms. Haas, Mr. Swanson, Mr. Dunnill and Mr. Sirois

11. Old Business/New Business

None

12. Adjournment

Mr. LaGesse made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:39 a.m., and Mr. Olthoff seconded it. Motion carried with a voice vote. Meeting Adjourned

http://www.co.kankakee.il.us/files/committees/finance_72419.pdf