Village of Libertyville Committee of the Whole Finance Committee met Sept. 22.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
A joint meeting of the Finance Committee and Committee of the Whole was held at 7:00pm virtually due to COVID-19. In attendance were Committee members: Chairman Moras and Trustees Carey and Justice. Also in attendance were Mayor Weppler, Trustee Johnson, Trustee Adams, Trustee Garrity, Clerk Kowal, Administrator Amidei, Deputy Administrator Engelmann, Fire Chief Rich Carani, Public Works Director Paul Kendzior, Police Chief Clint Herdegen, Village Attorney David Pardys, Community Development Director John Spoden, and Finance Director Mostardo.
Clerk Kowal called the roll.
PRESENT – Weppler, Johnson, Moras, Justice, Adams, Garrity, Carey
NOT PRESENT – None
Trustee Carey moved to approve the minutes of the August 25, 2020 Finance Committee/Committee of the Whole meeting and Trustee Justice seconded. After a roll call vote, the motion carried.
AYES – Johnson, Moras, Justice, Adams, Garrity, Carey
NAYS – None
NOT VOTING – None
Review of Monthly Reports
Trustee Moras offered some introductory remarks indicating that he was pleased with the financial results from August. Director Mostardo presented the monthly financial reports and provided an overview on the health of each fund. Echoing Trustee Moras, Director Mostardo indicated that August revenues continued to climb and were performing better relative to earlier in the fiscal year. Director Mostardo further indicated that several funds are still performing behind their historical trends and should be considered for a budget amendment.
Trustee Moras concluded the discussion of this item by expressing cautious optimism on the Village’s financial position moving forward.
Stormwater Updates
Director Mostardo provided the Committee with two updates related to the stormwater utility fee project. The first update pertained to staff progress with respect to coding utility billing data and matching to the impervious surface analysis. Director Mostardo outlined that while the Village’s GIS contractor was able to automatically match up a majority of parcel identification numbers (PINs) to the Village’s existing utility account database, there is still a non-trivial number of parcels and accounts that will need to be matched up manually by staff. Staff are endeavoring to spend the equivalent of at least one business day per week working through the manual coding process.
Director Mostardo also reminded the Committee that any trustee may contact him directly if they would like him to run fee projections on a parcel within the Village.
Director Mostardo then requested policy direction from the committee on steps subsequent to the completion of the billing database. Trustee Moras indicated he would like to see public outreach prior to the passing of an ordinance. Trustee Johnson agreed that public input prior to an ordinance being passed is a prudent measure. Director Mostardo asked the committee for feedback related to conducting public outreach virtually on account of COVID-19. Mayor Weppler did not have concerns with using a virtual meeting medium for stormwater utility fee public outreach. He further suggested utilizing the Village Views newsletter to communicate public outreach plans.
Budget Amendment (FY 2020-2021)
Director Mostardo facilitated a presentation pertaining to a proposed FY 20202-2021 budget amendment for the committee’s consideration. He walked through general purposes of the budget amendment process, the Village’s overall financial position, and personnel considerations. He then proceeded to walk through the individual Village funds. Upon recommendation of a reinstatement of the non-union cost-of-living adjustment, Trustee Johnson inquired as to whether or not the Village could afford to make such a move under the financial projections contained within the budget amendment. Director Mostardo noted that conservative assumptions were used in preparing the budget amendment. Even with these conservative assumptions, financial capacity was sufficient to allow for the reinstatement of the non-union cost-of-living adjustment.
Mayor Weppler asked about the staff recommendation to defer the tree trimming program for one year. He wondered about the mechanics of deferring that program with the third-party contractor. Director Kendzior replied that staff will be seeking an agreement with the contractor to defer the program for one year at the same price point as what would have been paid in the current year.
With respect to the General Fund, Director Mostardo indicated that even though revenues are project to be down significantly on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, staff were able to develop the proposed budget amendment to draw down fund balance reserves no lower than the fund balance policy amount.
Mayor Weppler inquired about the proposed operational changes in the Commuter Parking Fund. Specifically, he asked if the Village was prepared to accommodate people that decide to ride the training during adverse weather. If portions of the parking lots were closed as was recommended in the budget amendment, he was concerned that there would not be enough space in the lots. Director Mostardo said staff could make changes to the plowing schedule if needed and offset such expenses by higher commuter parking revenues that would be expected were ridership to increase.
A discussion ensued regarding the Non-Home Rule Sales Tax Fund. Mayor Weppler was okay with how the budget amendment reflected sharing non-home rule sales tax revenues with the Stormwater Sewer Fund in FY 2020-2021. Trustee Garrity indicated he preferred to avoid sharing these revenues with stormwater, preferring to have them dedicated solely to general capital needs; however, he understood the unique circumstances of the current situation.
After running out of time due to the Village Board meeting at 8:00pm, the committee decided to defer the remainder of the presentation to Tuesday October 13, 2020. Trustee Johnson made the formal motion, which was seconded by Trustee Carey. After a roll call vote, the motion carried.
AYES – Johnson, Moras, Justice, Adams, Garrity, Carey
NAYS – None
NOT VOTING – None
Other
None.
Adjournment
There being no other business, Trustee Johnson moved to adjourn the meeting and Trustee Garrity seconded the motion. After a roll call vote, the motion carried.
AYES – Johnson, Moras, Justice, Adams, Garrity, Carey
NAYS – None
NOT VOTING – None
The meeting was adjourned at 8:02pm
http://www.libertyville.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10132020-1497
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