Finance Committee

Finance Committee Meeting Conference Room 212 June 17, 2010 8:00 a.m. Attendance Committee Members Present: Mayor Callero, Trustee Hynes, Trustee Weel, Village Manager Van Geem and Finance Director Neukirch Committee Members Absent: None Non Committee Members Present: None Meeting Opened Meeting opened at 8:05 a.m. Approval of Minutes The minutes from the May 20, 2010 Finance Committee meeting were approved. Motion made, all concurred. Review of Progress for Early Village Manager Van Geem updated the Committee on the progress that has Retirement Incentive been made on the Village’s plans to implement an early retirement incentive. George reviewed the options being considered and gave some background on his discussions with Village’s labor advisor. The options will be presented to the Village Board at the next Board Meeting. Update on Trustee Audit Finance Director Neukirch updated the Board on the status of the 3 audits that Requests were requested during this year’s budget process. The Finance Department has requested proposals from 4 different auditing firms to conduct the internal control audit that was requested. The IT Department has obtained one proposal so far and the Committee gave direction to proceed on getting 2 more proposals. The Committee felt that it would be best to hold off on the efficiency audit until after the early retirement incentive process and the other 2 audits have been completed since the operations of the Village could change depending on outcome of these audits and personnel changes. Finance Committee Organization Finance Director Neukirch requested further clarification of the format and voting procedures of the Committee. The Committee will continue with its current members including Mayor Callero, Trustee Hynes, Trustee Weel, Village Manager Van Geem and Finance Director Neukirch. Mayor Callero and Finance Director Neukirch are not voting members of the Committee. Trustee Hynes’ Report Requests Trustee Hynes’ had requested that staff provide the Board and public with quarterly updates on the progress with the Niles Free Bus, the salary reductions and the Family Services cut backs. Finance Director Neukirch explained how these 3 issues may not show any significant movement in the first or second quarters of the fiscal year because the necessary personnel and expenditure changes take time to implement. Staff assured the Committee that the Board will be updated as significant progress is made on these items. Expense Reduction Update Finance Director Neukirch updated the staff on two significant cost savings that the Finance Department has recently completed. Finance has just completed a 4 month transition of its credit card processing from Fifth Third Bank to Illinois Funds. In the first two months since the transition was complete, the Village realized savings of close to $5,000 in reduced credit card processing fees. This transition should translate in to a savings of about $25,000 per year. Finance Director Neukirch worked with Pace to get a reduction in the recovery requirement for our Free Bus System. Neukirch was able to get a 4% reduction from 40% to 36% which translates in to an annual savings of about $60,000 per year for the Village. Update on Vehicle Sales Finance Director Neukirch updated the Committee on the progress staff has made with the sale of its surplus automobiles. So far the Public Works Department and Finance have collaborated to sell 10 of the 14 cars targeted. Staff has utilized GovDeals which is an online auction platform. The service fee associated with using GovDeals is passed on to the buyer of the vehicle. Other Business Village Manager Van Geem said in upcoming meetings the Committee is going to need to focus on the Village’s plan to fund its pensions and discuss plans for financing the maintenance of the Village’s infrastructure. Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made, seconded and all concurred. The meeting adjourned at 9:25 a.m. Next Meeting The date and time of the next Finance Committee meeting will be determined at a later date. Prepared by Scot Neukirch on 6/18/10