Finance Committee

Finance Committee Meeting Council Chambers March 1, 2013 8:00 a.m. Attendance: Committee Members Present: Chairman Joe LoVerde, Mayor Robert Callero, Acting Village Manager Steve Vinezeano, John Johann and Finance Director Scot Neukirch Committee Members Absent: None Non Committee Members Present: Village Attorney Joe Annunzio, Asst Finance Director Laurie Nannini, Trustee Chris Hanusiak, Trustee Rosemary Palicki, Trustee Louella Preston Call To Order: Meeting opened at 8:03 a.m. Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the February 20, 2013 Finance Committee meeting were up for approval, motion made and all concurred. Accounts Payable Approval: The approval of the Accounts Payable register for 2/15/2013 was up for approval, motion made and all concurred. New Business FY 2014 Draft Budget Review: Chairman LoVerde read a prepared statement concerning the Finance Committee’s role in the budget process. He noted that the Finance Committee’s role is only advisory to the Village Board of Trustees and stated that possibly the Committee should just focus on the methodology and overall budget presentation. Chairman LoVerde also stated that the Committee falls short because 3 of the members have had an opportunity to meet more often before the Finance Committee has had an opportunity to review and discuss the budget. He also noted that the only Committee member that is not already going to attend the upcoming Budget Workshops is John Johann and maybe he should just attend the workshops and ask his questions there or just his questions should be answered at the Finance Committee. Chairman LoVerde was unsure if this role needed to be approved by the Village Board. John Johann commented that he felt the Committee’s role should involve presenting a balanced budget to the Board of Trustees. Finance Director Neukirch responded that the balanced budget objective can work as long as the planned use of reserves to balance the budget is acceptable. Neukirch also responded to Chairman LoVerde’s concerns about certain members of the Committee have had more of an opportunity to review the draft budget at this point in the process. Neukirch explained that is a normal occurrence just because the employees of the Village have worked on it much more as a function of their jobs. Chairman LoVerde asked questions concerning various budget variances and Neukirch responded. Neukirch explained the budget process and the line by line scrutiny that staff has already gone through to this point in the budget. The Committee also discussed why some line items that didn’t have a budget have a corresponding expense for the year. Neukirch explained that a budget is just a plan and there are always going to be unforeseen expenses during the year. The Village charges the expenses to the correct account, unlike other operations who may just charge those expenses to wherever there may be room in the budget. Neukirch explained that the method the Village currently uses is more transparent and reflective of the actual activity for the year.  The Committee also discussed whether or not the Village should be more aggressive with its budgeted sales increase for the fiscal year. Chairman LoVerde noted a projection for furniture in the Senior Center Department that needed to be increased. Neukirch will make the correction. Public Comments: Questions from the audience concerning the interest rate return that the pension funds received, if the Nordica SSA was being paid for by the ¼% 2012 sales tax increase and whether or not the Committee would be taking a vote to pass the document. Neukirch explained the recent interest rate returns in the pension funds, the Nordica SSA was funded by normal sales tax receipts and the Committee explained that no formal vote would be taken on the approval of the budget. Executive Session: None Adjournment: Motion to adjourn was made and all concurred at 10:10 am. Prepared by Scot Neukirch on 3/13/2013