MINUTES OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

CITY OF COUNTRYSIDE – CITY HALL

FEBRUARY 25, 2013 – 6:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBER ROOM

1. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 P.M. Present: Chairman Steve Jasinski; Alderman Sean McDermott; Alderman Karen Michalczyk, Finance Director Steve Drazner. Also present: Mayor Krzeminski; City Clerk Sweeney, Aldermen Jasinski; Pondelicek, Von Drasek; Assistant Administrator Peterson, City Administrator Paul; Interim Chief Novak, Atty Peck, Deputy Clerk Bartelt, ESDA Director Norman; DPW Superintendent Essig. Absent: Ald. Musillami.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

2. The minutes of January 28, 2013 were approved as submitted.

PRESENTATION OF MONTHLY TREASURER’S REPORT

3. Finance Director presented the Treasurer’s Report for the period ended January 31, 2013. He stated that most General Fund revenues are at or above the prorated year to date budget. He explained that grant revenues are usually reimbursable upon project completion much later than contractor’s payouts. He further explained the relationship between the General Fund and the TIF fund. He spoke briefly regarding the proprietary funds which were contained in his memo. Committee recommended approval of the January Treasurer’s Report for the next City Council meeting.

ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION TO POLICE PENSION FUND

4. Fin. Dir. Drazner referred to his memo giving the background of the actuarial analysis regarding the contribution of $688,914 as the FY13 annual required contribution. The Committee recommended approval of the $688,914 contribution to the Police Pension Fund with formal approval sought at the next City Council meeting. It was noted that this contribution will come out of the General Fund and not appear on property owners’ tax bill. This pension fund is approximately 69% funded.

FLAGG CREEK’S PROFIT DISTRIBUTION

5. Pleasantdale Park District is requesting that the City return the excessive distribution related to the FY12 profit for the Flagg Creek Golf Course. Evidently, when computing the profit, the FY11 year’s disbursement was not subtracted from the total audited cash at 4/30/12. The City Administrator and attorney will again approach them with proposals to amend the Flagg Creek Intergovernmental Agreement to reflect acceptable practices. It was the consensus to hold the distribution until an updated agreement is negotiated between the City and Park District.

AT&T SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT RE: E9-1-1

6. Fin. Dir. Drazner stated that AT&T sent the City a letter informing that errors had been made in the 2011 collection of E911 surcharge fees and wants to make the city whole by remitting $855 in back revenue if the city signs an agreement and release that no further monies will be owed due to this oversight. It was stated that this probably would not have been discovered by the City and AT&T is doing the right thing by coming forward and trying to correct the error. He asked the Committee’s approval for Staff to execute the agreement. This agreement would also need to be formally approved at the next Council meeting…

FY14 COLA OF 1.52% FOR NON-BARGAINING EMPLOYEES

7. The Committee was asked to consider granting a 1.52% COLA to the 12 non-bargaining positions. This figure was based on 2012 CPI for the Chicago/Gary/Kenosha area. The cost of the FY14 COLA for 12 positions is estimated at $14K excluding step increases for those not at market rate. Step increases will be discussed at a future HR meeting. There was no verbal opposition to the COLA recommendation.

DISCUSSION ON REQUESTED FY14 BUDGET FOR GENERAL FUND

8. It was stated that the GF budget for the proposed FY14 is balanced. Some adjustments were made to expenditures since the last meeting to include $120,000 for the FY14 City police pension contribution; 1.52% for COLA for exempt employees and steps for those not currently at market rate totaling approximately $22K; and an adjustment of $50K to police wages to reflect a possible late start date with Southwest Central Dispatch. With these additions, the new net budgeted General Fund shows a surplus of $2,334. This also includes an abatement of $500,000 to property tax owners which will be reflected on tax year 2012 2nd installment bill, estimated to reduce by approximately $250 to $300 the average homeowner property tax bill assuming no change in a property’s EAV and also that other taxing agencies did not increase their levies. It was also briefly discussed that the Restaurant Tax is still in place and applies to only those establishments with seating and video Gaming revenue estimates are budgeted at $75K assuming at least 50 machines in operation at some point during the year. The HR Committee will be discussing salary increases at their next meeting.

It was noted that the next Finance Meeting will be to discuss the full budget on March 25, 2013.

DONATION TO HERITAGE CORRIDOR

9. A request from the Heritage Corridor CVB for a $2,500 donation was denied however the Committee approved a donation of $1,000 to the Rendezvous event. They reviewed other community requests for donations but none were approved.

OTHER BUSINESS

10. Fin. Dir. Drazner explained that the city started the testing phase under the State recovery delinquent account program but there were very few delinquent accounts. Of the small number of delinquent accounts submitted, there were only three matches, two of which were only partial matches. Most collections under this program would be from individual income tax refunds which in most cases limits the collection success rate to only about three months of the year. In addition, the amount collected under the State program is limited by the amount of the tax refund, if any. . If we send to the collection agency, the success rate would likely be much higher but they charge a fee whereas the State does not. . It was the consensus to pursue both avenues and if one of the collections is successful, the other will be notified to stop the collection.

11. The Council was informed that both of the ITEP Grants were denied. One requested grant was for beautification along Joliet Rd and the other was to complete the final section of LaGrange Rd. This round of grant applications was extremely competitive with 328 applicants requesting over $450 million, of which, only 54 grants were awarded totaling of $49 million

12. Beds Plus and the Prom Committee requested donations for their cause. It was the committee’s consensus to refrain from using tax money for these causes.

13. Asst. Adm. Peterson stated that Matt Fuller is requesting filing fees be waived to appear before the ZBA/Plan Commission to present another new plan for his Service Station. It was the Committee’s decision to require he pay the necessary fees.

ADJOURNMENT

14. With no further discussion, a motion was made and seconded to adjourn at 6:44 p.m.

Dated: ______________________ __________________________

Steven Jasinski, Chair