Lake County Gazette

Ogle County Finance, Revenue and Insurance Committee met Dec. 10

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

1. Call Meeting to Order: Chairman Billeter called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. Present: Daws, Griffin, Larson, Nordman, Youman and Billeter Absent: Miller Others present: HR Director Amanda

Jacinto, Treasurer Tiffany O’Brien, County Engineer Ciesiel, Public Health Administrator Spangler, Heuer, Janes, John Finfrock, Arlene Sangmeister and June Jacobs

2. Approval of Minutes: November 12, 2024 – Motion by Nordman to approve minutes 2nd by Youman.

Motion carried.

3. Public Comment: None.

4. Approval of Bills

● County Clerk: $19,105 Motion by Nordman to approve, 2nd by Griffin. Motion carried. Billeter shared the reason those are high is because $18,000 is charged quarterly for elections services.

● Treasurer: $300 Motion by Griffin to approve, 2nd by Youman. Motion carried.

● Finance: $15,737.38 Motion by Nordman to approve, 2nd by Larson. Motion carried.

● HR: $3,775.45 Motion by Nordman to approve, 2nd by Griffin. Motion carried.

● Department Claims: County Clerk for $3,192 were reviewed.

5. Insurance:

● Insurance and Aggregate Report – Billeter stated there was not aggregate report at this time but last month came in at 85% which is an acceptable rate. He shared open enrollment will be coming up soon and he is happy to report that the Healthcare Planning Committee voted to also include BCBS Dental and Vision and that in turn is providing us with a bundling discount on the health premiums. Billeter expressed his appreciation in the committee’s commitment to making things better for all employees.

● Property Casualty - CIRMA Update: Billeter stated that they have decided to renew our contract for another year since they have really picked up their awareness to our concerns and picked up on the property casualty side. He stated if we are not satisfied after the year we can go out for bid for another representative. Billeter also informed the committee they were able to change the deductible rate from $5,000 to $1,000 which he thinks is worth the change. Youman asked if there is ever a report provided on the accident history each year and is that something we can see.

● Insurance Program – Adam Heal, Crum-Halsted (Work Comp) – Heal reviewed our numbers last year and presented the numbers for renewal to the committee. Griffin asked if all the cases are real and true cases and Heal stated each situation is investigated and if there are concerns their legal teams are then enlisted but he couldn’t speak to it directly. Billeter asked if there is anything the County can do to reduce premiums and Heal shared there is training that can be done but he believed that we were already participating in those efforts. Youman made a motion to renew our contract with Crum-Halsted for $335,759 and Griffin seconds. Motion carried.

6. Department Reports:

County Clerk and Recorder: Sick and not present.

Treasurer: O’Brien commented that she needs the audit letters back and they should have been received by now. She also shared that the auditors will be on site next week. 

Human Resources: Jacinto stated she is working out the final details for Open Enrollment and that should be starting soon. She shared she is currently in the process of updating annual increases and a payroll that is paying out at two different rates. This has to be manually adjusted for each employee which is making the payroll more time consuming. She also shard there has been a recent uptake in workmen’s comp and FMLA claims that have taken some time.

Economic Development: None

Finance: None

7. Budget Review – FY 2024 Budget: Billeter we closed out the year and came in at 97% on expense and revenue.

8. Old Business: None

9. New Business:

● Bond Abatement: Billeter explained that O’Brien had sent out the document and this is something that is done each year to address our bonds. O’Brien stated we don’t approve the dollar amount but you approve the abatement. Griffin made a motion to send the Bond Abatement to full County Board and Nordman seconds. Motion carried.

● FY 2024 Budget Amendment – Salary Contingency: O’Brien shared prior to ADP we never used Holiday lines for certain departments and she forgot to do that and now has to adjust the salary lines to reflect that. Larson made a motion to send the Salary Contingency amendment to the fully County Board and Nordman seconds. Motion carried.

● FY 2024 Budget Amendment – Appropriations: O’Brien state these are places where they spent more than what they were allowed and now we have to transfer funds to cover the overspend. Nordman made a motion to send FY 2024 Budget Amendment – Appropriations to the fully County Board and Griffin seconds. Youman asked why we cover the costs when these are overspent when the individuals in charge know there is a budget set. Billeter stated this is asked every year and there isn’t a good answer. Youman commented this is something that continues to happen and they are always bailed out so the spending is constrained by the offenders since they county always covers it in the end. Larson shared it is our hope to be able to better track this and address the issues now that we have ADP. Motion carried.

● East Fiber Project: None

● ARPA Requests/Recommendation(s): Nordman explained the remaining funds from ARPA need to be disbursed. Nordman shared we know we are doing it but the decision needs to be made on where it is being disbursed to. Nordman shared that the Treasures’ office has done a great job of logging the use of this money and it is available for review if anyone has questions or concerns. Motion by Griffin to move the remaining funds to Finance contingencies and Youman seconds. Motion carried.

● Economic Development/Grant Approval: None

● Hiring Freeze Position Review/New Requests: None

● ADP Training Consultant: Jacinto shared that we have reached out to ADP to make sure that we are using the software to it maximum ability. Jacinto shared there have been concerns form different departments and Jacinto just wants to make sure that we can provide support to our department heads and supervisors and that we are capturing all of the nuances in our payrolls in the best way possible.

After some discussions with multiple parties it is understood that having a consultant come and asses. our processes and provide some virtual training maybe in the best interest of all parties involved. 

Jacinto shared IT has offered to cover $15,000 of the costs within his budget and it has been suggested that possibly $5,000 could be used of the ARPA funds to pay for the services. Jacinto went through the scope of work and what the process looks like. Billeter expressed his concern is how much are we needing to add on to ADP when we paid for a service already and Jacinto replied she understands his concerns but feels there is a need for this service. She shard there are continual problems with departments and she has been working tirelessly to capture and correct each issues that comes up but since she doesn’t know the ins and outs of the all of the different payroll circumstance we are not aware of things until it comes up as an issue. She also shared she has made the efforts to meet with departments one on one and made herself as available as possible but some issues are reoccurring and have to be done with every payroll so she is hoping training form an outside individual may provide a new perspective and understanding as to why we have to do things the way they are being done.

Jacinto stated she is very happy to provided better ways of doing things if the consultant can provide us with that direction. Larson shared the third party will be a benefit to all because it will make sure on the payroll side all avenues have been grasped and on the entry side some additional training can be provided wherever it is needed. Griffin moved to approve the ADP Scope of Work proposal and pay $5,000 with ARPA funds and Youman seconds. Motion carried.

Nordman stated she would adjust the ARPA final balance disbursement to $221,984 with the approval of the $5,000 from ARPA funds.

10. Other Business for consideration: Youman stated he wanted to make the committee aware that the Assessment Office has an issue with their copier. When they called to have it repaired they were informed that the copier is so old they cannot find parts for it. Youman clarified they were able to make a patch to get it working but wanted to make the committee aware that there may be a need for funds in the near future.

11. Closed Session: None

12. Open Session: None

13. Adjournment: With no further business, Chairman Billeter adjourned. Time: 4:52 p.m.

https://www.oglecountyil.gov/document_center/County%20Board/Committees/Finance%20and%20Insurance/2024/Finance%20and%20Insurance%20Committee%20Minutes%20December.pdf