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2008-10-13 - Finance Committee - Minutes Board or Commission: ❑ Finance Committee Document Type: 0 A e g nda 0 Minutes Meeting ate: 10/13/2008 Type of Meeting: ❑ Regular Meeting The meeting was convened at 6:1Opm in the lower level conference room. Present were President Hartstein, Trustees Jeff Braiman, Jeff Berman, Bruce Kahn, Steve Trilling, Brian Rubin, Village Clerk Jan Sirabian, and Treasurer Joseph Tenerelli. Staff present were Village Manager William Brimm, Deputy Village Manager Ghida Neukirch, Finance Director Scott Anderson, Director of Public Works Gregory Bosen, Superintendent of Utilities David Haisma, IT Manager Robert Giddens, Assistant to the Village Manager Leisa Niemotka, and Assistant Finance Director Katie Skibbe. Guests included Baxter& Woodman Company representative Carolyn Grieves. Comprehensive Water System Study—Baxter& Woodman - Carolyn Grieves, from Baxter& Woodman presented an update of a comprehensive study of the Buffalo Grove waterworks system. The current water system is in good shape and very well maintained. In the future, another well may need to be added or additional storage to meet the target of two to three days of continued service if a problem arises with the Northwest Water Commission. No pumping improvements are necessary and a pressure evaluation was completed throughout the Village. A recommendation was made to increase the water pressure by 5 PSI which Greg Boysen stated had already been done. Currently the system has 10 million gallon capacity and the goal is to move towards 11 million, but the Village has no problems and should have no problems meeting demand. Staff Review of Web-Based Video Streaming was presented by Leisa Niemotka. The trustees had previously requested information regarding the possible future implementation of web-based video streaming of all Village Board Meetings. Staff presented a survey of surrounding communities showing which communities currently use web-based video streaming and how these videos are produced. Staff also included quotes from several different vendors which ranged in price and service level. Options available included breaking down the board meetings by agenda item, using voice streaming, and using a high-end product that would enable users to search the video for specific words. Currently, Mokena, Glenview, and Highland Park use Granicus, a high-end product, to create web-based video streaming. Highland Park receives an average of 25 hits per month on these videos. The current Buffalo Grove website receives approximately 2,000-4,000 hits per month. In addition to the incremental cost for each board meeting, a capital outlay of$12,000-20,000 would be necessary. Currently, when a copy of the Board meeting is requested, a DVD is created which costs $5 per DVD. Trustees questioned whether we could make the board meetings a programmed segment on channel 6 so people could record it with their DVR's. Niemotka said it was doubtful that Comcast would do that for us. The board meetings currently run at Sam and 8p and Niemotka volunteered to add additional slides with the channel 6 schedule to keep people aware of when the board meetings will be shown. She will also put the schedule on the website. President Hartstein suggested we talk to Comcast about possibly putting the board meetings on the On Demand menu. A consensus was reached that the benefit does not yet outweigh the cost and we should put this project on hold. FY2009 Capital Improvement Plan was presented by Scott Anderson. This year 29 project requests were received for a total of ten million dollars. After an intensive review of budget capacity, nine proj ects were deferred until 2010. The remaining 20 proj ects were divided into customer facing, non-customer facing, and obligated projects. Corporate fund balance is being drawn down for 11 projects totaling $700,000, each project an appropriate use of fund balance as we are investing in the Village. A question was raised about the Dundee Road Streetscape Improvement project and Trustee Braiman requested additional information about this project. Trustee Berman questioned how we could bundle the Public Service Center Expansion and Fire Station #26 Improvements into one debt service if we were not completing them in the same year. Bill Brimm responded that the Public Service Center will only move forward with debt financing and Fire Station #26 would no longer be bundled in the same debt service. The question was raised as to whether we should defer the Public Service Center Expansion and complete the deferred projects instead, but Brimm stated that the deferred projects are not as important as the Public Service Center Expansion. Trustees also expressed reservations about drawing down on fund balances when we are not confident in our projected revenue numbers for next year. Staff responded that our fund balance is extremely adequate and all projects will come to the board through the normal approval process. If revenues come in under projections, the board could then defer a project at that time. Staff will take another look at the CIP prior to Monday's board meeting. Calendar 2008 Property Tax Levy was presented by Scott Anderson. Based on long-range financial planning we are targeting 2.39 % growth in the Corporate Fund (approximately $200,000). When combined with the growth in the levy attributed to all employee pensions (1MRF, Police, and Fire), the growth rate exceeds 5% and therefore requires a Truth in Taxation hearing. For the first time in the history of Buffalo Grove the following year revenue budget (2009)will be less than the current year revenue budget (2008). A discussion arose concerning the crossing guard program and whether the schools should be responsible for a portion of this cost or the entirety of this cost. Neukirch said a proposal to eliminate five crossing-guard positions was brought before the board previously and we could re-examine this again. The Trustees agreed that this would be a good idea. Refuse Rate Adjustment was presented by Bill Brimm. Based on the projected budget, it will be necessary to raise both the single-family and multi-family monthly surcharge by $.65 and $.50 monthly, respectively. Staff was asked to proceed with the rate adjustment. Health Insurance Recommendation was presented by Bill Brimm. Health insurance costs continue to rise and will increase approximately 5% in 2009. Trustees expressed a desire to increase employee contributions from 10% of the total cost to 15%. Brimm said that the overall objective was to get to 15% gradually, by picking up an additional 1% each year. Another question was raised as to whether we could offer insurance to part-time employees at cost which may help the Village recruit and retain employees. As a self-insured entity, the Village is able to offer that option, but concerns were raised about the true cost of the plan since a part-time employee could drain the reserves and complications might arise from the employee not having enough income to pay for the cost of insurance out of payroll. Staff will look into this further. FY2009 Street Maintenance Program was presented by Bill Brimm. Motor Fuel Tax revenue has been low this year and September was the worst month ever. Home Rule Sales Tax also continues to decline. The Village's historic goal has been to provide for a 15 year maintenance cycle, but with reduced revenues and increasing material costs this may need to be increased to a 24 year maintenance cycle. General Obligation Bonds could be used, but high current prices for asphalt may be an incentive to postpone this option. Currently, there are an extraordinary amount of streets being pushed back, but without additional revenues there is little choice. Some trustees feel that a gasoline tax should be paying for this because the streets deteriorate based on usage. Home Rule Sales Tax—Annual Review was presented by Bill Brimm. A recommendation to continue was received. E-Packets was presented by Robert Giddens. Giddens discussed options for a better medium to deliver packets to the Trustees. A quick survey showed that three of the nineteen communities Giddens spoke to were doing e-packets. A discussion followed concerning whether the board wants their board packet e-mailed to them, if they like the paper, or if they'd like to see a little of both. Trustees said they liked having things available on the website and Leisa Niemotka said that 90% of the board packet would be available on the website in the next two weeks. The trustees then said that they would like to continue receiving paper packets, but they would like the Water Commission Report e-mailed to them. Stormwater Management Initiatives was presented by Bill Brimm. Everything is moving forward with the detention at Lyons Park. Brimm has spoken to the park district and they are amicable to providing detention. Bill Raysa has said that we might also have legal rights to an easement on this property. The meeting adjourned at 8:15pm.