Finance Committee

Finance Committee Meeting Council Chambers August 17, 2011 8:00 a.m. Attendance Committee Members Present: Mayor Callero, Chairman Lo Verde, John Johann, Village Manager Van Geem and Finance Director Neukirch Committee Members Absent: None Non Committee Members Present: Trustee Hanusiak Meeting Opened Meeting opened at 8:03 a.m. Approval of Minutes The minutes from the July 21, 2011 Finance Committee meeting were approved. Motion made, Chairman Lo Verde abstained, the rest of the Committee concurred. Revised Purchasing Policy Manual The Committee discussed the revised purchasing policy manual. Chairman Lo Verde made several recommendations of changes. The Committee agreed that the revised manual will be given to the Ethics Committee to review the Purchasing Code of Ethics section of the manual in September. If the Ethics Committee is comfortable with their review, the manual will be submitted to the Village Board in October. Health Insurance Discussion Scot Neukirch summarized the meeting he and Kathy Barnat had on July 13, 2011 with Roger Biernacki from Gallagher Insurance. During the FY 2012 budget process Trustee Lo Verde had requested that staff look in to fully insured options for its health insurance coverage. Mr Biernacki confirmed what the current broker for the Village has been reporting for many years that fully insured coverage will be much more expensive for the Village since it would require the Village to pay in to a reserve plus a mark up for claims in process. Kathy Barnat explained that Corporate Benefits Consultants (CBC) do request a fully insured quote on an annual basis but the Village gets rejected most years because of its size and exposure with police and fire personnel. Other Business George Van Geem updated the Committee on the status of the law suit with the Village of Glenview. The possible impact this would have on the Water Fund’s assets and the Village’s water rate were also discussed. The Committee briefly discussed the return on investments that the pension funds are receiving and the methodology that the Financial Advisor, Gary Karshna, has during this difficult investment environment. Scot Neukirch informed the Committee that Gary Karshna is tentatively scheduled to be at the September Finance Committee meeting so he could answer these questions directly. Scot Neukirch presented the results of the request for quotes on CD rates that the Finance Department conducted on August 15-16. A CD with Leaders Bank matured on August 16. Leaders Bank offered the highest rate of return but Chairman Lo Verde didn’t feel we should purchase the CD with a bank that has a low rating with Bankrate.com. CDs are FDIC insured up to $250,000 which would protect the Village in the case of a bank default, but the Committee agreed to pull the funds from Leaders Bank. Staff will review the ratings of the next highest rates available and determine which institution to invest the funds with. The Committee felt the Village should give preference to banks in Niles. George Van Geem recommended that we include 1 or 2 non Niles banks in our future requests just to insure we are getting a competitive rate. It was decided that the Personnel Manual will be presented to the Ethics Committee first and then reviewed by the Finance Committee. George Van Geem briefly discussed how the Committee needs to work on a policy for property tax levies at a future meeting. Accounts Payable Approval The motion was made and all concurred to approve the Accounts Payable registers for July 22, July 29, August 5 and August 12 of 2011. Staff recommended that the Village Code Sec 2-59 Approval of Bills be revised to better reflect the current process. This code was approved in 1965 and does not accurately reflect the process today. The Committee reviewed the suggested revision presented by Scot Neukirch and directed him to prepare the change to be presented to the Village Board of Trustees for approval at a future meeting. Non Committee Comments Trustee Hanusiak asked a couple questions of the Committee regarding change orders of purchases and bidding out office equipment. Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made, seconded and all concurred. The meeting adjourned at 9.27 a.m. Next Meeting The next Finance Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 21, 2011 in the Council Chambers. Prepared by Scot Neukirch on 8/17/2011