Village of Bourbonnais Finance Committee met Nov. 10.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
1. Meeting Opening
Meeting called to order at 4:00 PM by Trustee Bruce Greenlee (filled in for Trustee Rick Fischer).
Procedural: A. Roll Call – Trustee Bruce Greenlee
Members present: Mayor Paul Schore, Trustee Bruce Greenlee, Trustee Randy King, Trustee Jeff Keast, Trustee Jack Littrell, and Trustee Angie Serafini. Also in attendance, Treasurer Ron Riebe, Attorney Patrick Dunn, Administrator Mike Van Mill, Assistant Administrator Laurie Cyr, Finance Director Tara Latz, Chief Jim Phelps, Assistant Public Works Director Dave Herberger, Administrative Assistant Margie Beach, HR Manager Sue Pranskus, Accounting Supervisor Holly St. Germaine, and Engineer Joel Greer. Absent: Trustee Rick Fischer (present via telephone).
2. Review and Approve Committee Minutes
Action, Minutes: A. Finance Committee Minutes from October 27, 2021
Motion by Trustee Jack Littrell, second by Trustee Angie Serafini to approve the Finance Committee Minutes from October 27, 2021, as submitted.
Final Resolution: Motion Carried
Aye: Trustee Bruce Greenlee, Trustee Rick Fischer, Trustee Randy King, Trustee Jeff Keast, Trustee Jack Littrell, and Trustee Angie Serafini
3. Bill Lists
Accounts Payable: A. General Fund
> Trustee Littrell questioned animal control invoice regarding cats? Ms. Latz explained we signed a 1-year contract with Animal Control and paid a fee of $4,000, but it doesn’t cover cat removal. We received an invoice from County last week which covers from May 1 to current on every type of cat control call.
> Mayor Schore asked who calls Animal Control about the cats? Ms. Latz responded the residents.
> Chief Phelps explained there are two different charges from fire calls, which we will not pay. Chief Phelps reminded his Police staff to not call animal control on cats. Ms. Latz stated the invoice is on hold until they have a conversation with Animal Control about the charges.
> Trustee Fischer questioned Ms.Latz on the Slater Field electric bill – why it was so high? Ms. Latz responded it was for the month of October, last time it was that high was in June. Trustee King stated they had a travel ball tournament, that is possible why it was so high.
> Mayor Schore stated he thought we only split the electric on little league games with the BB Little League organization, not travel or other leagues. Ms. Latz responded there never was a formal agreement put together. Mayor Schore asked that we have another meeting with BB Little League board.
> Trustee Littrell questioned the street striping invoice fee, does it come out of the general fund? Ms. Latz stated yes it usually does under streets/drainage budget, unless it’s roads that are part of the MFT Road program. Ms. Cyr explained next year on a State road we will be able to get a reimbursement from IDOT through our new maintenance agreement with them.
The General Fund bill list was reviewed, and the Finance Committee agreed to proceed with payment of the bills at the next Regular Board meeting on Monday, November 15, 2021.
Accounts Payable: B. Special Fund
The Special Fund bill list was reviewed, and the Finance Committee agreed to proceed with payment of the bills at the next Regular Board meeting on Monday, November 15, 2021.
4. Other Business
Discussion: A. Review of IML Liability/Workers Comp Insurance Proposal
> HR Manager Sue Pranskus explained that administration met today with the IML Liability & Workers Comp Insurance representative and received their proposal for next year. We are waiting for a quote from our current insurance IMIC which we should receive next Tuesday, but that is after the Board meeting so requesting to have a Special Board Meeting by the end of this month once we get both proposals for Board Approval.
> Trustee Keast asked if IML proposal was lower than what we currently pay and Ms. Pranskus stated yes.
> Mayor Schore explained we had IML for 30+ years, and at some point switched to IMIC for cost reasons, but last year we saw a significant increase of 26% on their premium, that’s why we wanted to shop for coverage. We have a December 1 deadline to notify our current insurance if we are switching.
Discussion: B. Review of VEBA Participation Options
> Ms. Pranskus went over VEBA participation options. In 2018 the Patrol Unit with FOP adopted an agreement to allow us to convert some specified leave time into a medical savings bank for them to use in retirement, can be used for medical premiums once they retire until Medicare begins. Sergeants also adopted this program in 2020. Currently, we have 44% of our staff in this program.
> Ms. Pranskus went over the advantages to the employees involved in this program, and also went over the advantages for the Village (on Board Docs), This includes taking the leave time off the books, the Village will save by paying at today’s rate versus a future higher rate. Ms. Pranskus is requesting that this program be available in 2021 for all Village employees. Every employee has a one-time ability to opt out if they so choose, but then cannot opt back in.
> Trustee Keast questioned any downfalls? Ms. Latz responded only from a cash flow standpoint because of the time of the year, at the end of January we would transfer the funds so we will see a large payment at that time. But we do save on payroll taxes, now we pay 7.65% on this money.
> Mayor Schore explained it’s not a benefit for everybody especially those who plan to retire in less than 5 years. Ms. Pranskus explained there is a threshold that establishes that an employee must have at least a certain amount of sick leave in their bank so that they could use it for actual sick leave. For long term employees they do end up with an excessive amount of sick leave in this bank that sits around accumulating until they would leave.
> Trustee Littrell questioned the cost to the Village? Ms. Pranskus explained management fees are paid with the proceeds that are internal to the program. There is no additional fee that the Village would have to pay. We have a third party company IPPFA that manages the proceeds externally. If an employee leaves they take this with them, and can add additional monies as well. This is trending in employment now since health care premiums have increased so much, a way for an employee to start saving now.
Finance Committee agrees to allow all of Village of employees to participate in this VEBA program.
Discussion: C. Annual Bond Abatements
> Ms. Latz went over information on the annual bond abatements from our tax levy. What this does is make it so that our taxpayers are not paying property tax to us that we use to pay our bond debt down, we abate our bonds from the tax levy. Ms. Latz provided calculations based on the dollar level value of a home, what that saves from their property tax bill on the Bourbonnais portion only (on Board Docs). We will be putting four outstanding bond issuances for abatement on the next Board Meeting agenda.
Finance Committee agrees to move forward with legislation for Monday, November 15, 2021 meeting for four bond abatements.
Discussion: D. Tax Levy Discussion
> Ms. Latz reminded the Board every year we ask the County for an updated EAV report, we received it last Friday, it is constantly moving and is time sensitive. Ms. Latz explained we do subtract out new construction, which is part of the PTELL formula. It showed an estimated net EAV of $378,908,395 for the Village (on Board Docs). Ms. Latz went over what the levy could be based on calculations provided. Ms. Latz explained several scenarios on tax rates for tax levy calculations (on Board Docs). Using the same rate as last year of .4950 would not change the property tax of homeowners to the Village, the only way homeowners will see an increase in property taxes is if their value of their home increases (EAV).
> Recommending this year to go with a lower rate of .4703, we don’t actually always get what we ask for in the levy because of cap limits, after some discussion with the County it was realized that to increase more than 5% of the dollars received in the prior year is where the caps come into play. A rate of .4703 would create a 4.99% increase over the dollars received last year so we should not be limited this year and our request should be much closer to what we actually receive.
> Mayor Schore stated we are asking the County Collector for a dollar amount instead of a percentage for all properties in the Village of Bourbonnais, in this case some residents taxes could go down.
> Mayor Schore also reminded the Board, due to the census data results our population decreased, we will see a decrease in funds that are based on population, such as income and use tax.
Finance Committee agrees with the 0.4703 calculations, and legislation will be created for Monday, November 15, 2021 Regular Board meeting.
Discussion: E. Gaming Machine License Discussion
> Ms. Latz stated Mayor Schore questioned administration last week if we were charging for poker video gaming machines, and we are not. Ms. Latz provided the Village’s application for Distributors License showing the annual fees charged (on Board Docs).
> Mayor Schore stated State legislators are considering raising the fee from $25 to $250 per machine for non-home rule communities, and feels we should do the same, but we are not even charging the maximum allowed of $25 right now so we will need to start doing that. We have around 30 machines in the Village, which could provide $8,000-$9,000 in revenue. This increase still needs to be signed by Governor – change would happen May 1, 2022. This gives us time to let the machine owners know of this charge and increase this fee that we should start charging. We do have legislation for this license in 2012. Attorney Dunn will need to update legislation when the Governor approves this and the code department will have to start charging this fee. We will need to have an Administration meeting for further discussion.
Discussion: F. Potential Rebuild Illinois Projects
> Ms. Latz went over where we are at with the Rebuild Illinois grant money. The State gave all municipalities an allotment of money to be used over the next few years. Funds will be received in two installments per year for three years, so far we have received 4 of the 6 installments, the total will be $1.2M and has to be spent on capital nature items, roads and infrastructure that will last 13 years or more was the criteria. We have 3 ongoing projects already slated for this project and expenses to date total $240,000 committed so far.
> Displayed on Board Docs are a couple of Rebuild IL project ideas that we are proposing and will qualify for this grant. MG2A provided estimates for 5000 and 6000 (Bourbonnais Parkway) North Roads to be paved, we could use these funds to do this instead of tar and chip the roads each year.
> Ms. Cyr went over the maps and also the expenses that would be involved including fixing the storm sewer areas as well.
> Engineer Joel Greer went over MG2A’s opinions of cost, and displayed the savings we would get if we did a paving versus tar and chip. $35,000/mile for tar and chip we do it every year, so if we paved it we would save money since these roads would last 15 years. We would also have extra MFT funds for general maintenance and overlay for additional streets by not having to tar and chip each year.
> Ms. Cyr explained we will still need to go through the approval process with IDOT for these projects, and then we will go out to bid early next year.
> Mr. Herberger was asked if this makes a difference for snow plowing, and he responded it will be a lot easier to snow plow, and we would have fewer potholes to fill each year.
Finance Committee agrees to go ahead and move forward with applying for the Rebuild Illinois grant from IDOT to use the Rebuild funds for the paving of these roads.
Discussion: G. Collections Update
> Ms. Latz stated the new sewer and garbage past due collections number is down to $56,845 (on Board Docs), this number includes all groups, even old and inactive accounts as well.
> The next group we will be notifying of past due notices is the Landlord/Tenant properties, we plan to mail out letters next week. Commercial businesses we are only at 7 businesses who owe past due fees.
> Trustee King asked for numbers that are just for residents, Ms. Latz stated she will forward him that information.
> Trustee Littrell asked how many residents’ homes were actually shut off by Aqua, Ms. Latz stated about 10 water shut off, but many called and paid that day or the next day.
Discussion: H. Other
> Ms. Cyr stated that 5500 North Road, which is south of Cobblestone is expected to start construction in the Spring by Curwick Builders. One of the steps is an IDOT permit to create an intersection, and will need to name the road. Ms. Cyr is suggesting to name the road to Brooks Drive.
Finance Committee agrees to name 5500 N Road to Brooks Drive.
5. Old Business – None
6. New Business – None
7. Public Comments – None
8. Executive Session – Not applicable.
9. Adjournment and Time
Action, Procedural: A. Adjournment & Time
Motion by Trustee Jack Littrell, second by Trustee Angie Serafini to adjourn the Finance Meeting at 5:00 PM.
Final Resolution: Motion Carried
Aye: Trustee Bruce Greenlee, Trustee Rick Fischer, Trustee Randy King, Trustee Jeff Keast, Trustee Jack Littrell, and Trustee Angie Serafini
https://go.boarddocs.com/il/vobil/Board.nsf/Public
