Finance Committee

Finance Committee Meeting Council Chambers November 13, 2013 8:00 a.m. Attendance: Committee Members Present: Chairman Joe LoVerde, John Johann, Robert Callero, Village Manager Steve Vinezeano and Finance Director Scot Neukirch Committee Members Absent: None Non Committee Members Present: Trustee Hanusiak, Legal Secretary Kathy Thake, Economic Development Coordinator Ross Klicker, Community Development Director Chuck Ostman, Asst Finance Director Laurie Nannini, Auditor Dan Berg and Louella Preston. Call To Order: Meeting opened at 8:04 am Roll Call: Finance Director Neukirch called the roll. Committee members present were Village Manager Vinezeano, Bob Callero, Chairman LoVerde and John Johann. Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the November 7, 2013 Finance Committee meeting were up for approval, motion made and all concurred. Accounts Payable Approval: The approval of the Accounts Payable registers for 11/1 and 11/5 were up for approval, motion made and all concurred. Chairman LoVerde asked a question concerning the payment made to DSW Homes, LLC. Village Manager Vinezeano explained that these were disaster recovery funds provided to the Village to help residents recover from flood damage. The Village was just a “pass through” with these funds. New Business Water Bill Appeal 8000 Ozark: Jeff Stack came to appeal his outstanding water bill. Finance Director Neukirch explained that the water account for 8000 Ozark has not provided a payment or a reading since 2008. To date all notifications by the Village have been ignored. Mr Stack briefly explained that someone was paying the water bill from when his dad died until 2008. A reading was provided which increased the amount due by $52 to $1,269.30. $740 of this balance is the accumulation of $20 late fees over the years for preparation and delivery of the monthly shutoff notices that Mr Stack has not responded to. $19.72 was attributable to late fees. Finance Director Neukirch explained that in hardship situations, the Village will typically reduce the number of shutoff charges to one per year depending on the circumstances. Chairman LoVerde proposed that all the fees be removed and that the customer be put on a weekly payment plan of $100 per week until the balance is removed. If the payment plan is not adhered to all of the late fees will be reinstated and the property will have its water service discontinued. Motion made and all approved. RM Manufacturing IRB Bond Amend: Finance Director Neukirch briefly explained the request by RM Manufacturing for the Village to pass a resolution amending the previous 2007 agreement whereby the Village issued industrial revenue bonds for the business. Neukirch explained that these bonds are not debt of the Village and do not impact the Village’s allotment of bank qualified debt or allotment of private activity bonds for the year. Matt Lewin a representative from for the RM Manufacturing agreement was present and answered a few questions. Motion made and all concurred to send the resolution to the Village Board. FY 13 Audit Review: Finance Director Neukirch gave a brief overview of the audit process and then introduced lead auditor Dan Berg who gave an overview and answered questions from the Committee on the audit and audit process. Mr Berg explained that Sikich has rendered a “clean” opinion which means the audit report is free from any material misstatements. There were questions from the audience concerning how an auditor looks in to “parachute payments” and how staff stays up to date on training required with this process. The auditor and staff responded to these  questions. Mr Berg explained that the staff was cooperative and professional. The only issue arose with the timing of grant information received by the Finance Department from other departments. Staff will work to correct this issue for the next audit. Neukirch recognized Laurie Nannini and the Finance staff for all of their hard work that goes in to the audit process. Chairman LoVerde also recognized Neukirch and his staff for all the hard work that goes in to this process. FY 13 Joint Review Board Reports: Finance Director Neukirch briefly explained the annual reporting requirements for the Village’s TIF districts which require an annual Joint Review Board (JRB) meeting. The report formats are set by State Statute and have been filed with the State as required. The annual JRB meeting will be Friday, November 22, 2013 in the Trustee’s Conference room at Village Hall at 10:00 am. Neukirch also answered questions on the process for amending the budget for Milw/Thy TIF if necessary. Crime Free Housing: Community Development Director Chuck Ostman returned to the Finance Committee to clarify the fee schedule that was proposed at a previous Committee meeting. After the further clarification on the fee structure the Committee members asked several questions of Mr Ostman. Other Business: Chairman LoVerde requested that the budget requests from the 2030 Plan Committee be brought to the Finance Committee. John Johann requested that staff research what other communities are paying in regards to their percentage for workers compensation and for their short term and long term non work related disability payments. Additional discussion ensued concerning how the 100% workers compensation benefit originated and the difficulties involved with negotiating this out of the union contracts. Other Business: Louella Preston asked how the flow of budget requests should work with the various committees. Neukirch explained that the process is the same as it always has been. The committee staff liaison should obtain all of the requests from their respective committee and incorporate them in to their initial budget requests. These requests will then be subject to the same procedure as all other requests. It is the responsibility of each liaison to report back to their committee on the status of these requests. Public Comment: None Executive Session: The Committee went in to executive session at 9:30 am. to discuss a proposed investment contract. Return From Executive Session: The Committee returned from executive session at 10:07 am. A motion was made for staff to continue discussions for property acquisitions with a potential business. All approved. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn was made and all concurred at 10:09 am. Prepared by Scot Neukirch on 11/13/2013