Administration & Finance Committee

APPROVED MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE COMMITTEE VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS September 24, 2012 Trustee Scolaro called the meeting to order in the Terrace Room of the Village Hall at 6:30 p.m. On roll call, present were: Trustees Karagianis, Ciesla and Scolaro; a quorum was present. Also present: Trustees Heller, Israel and President Frum. Trustee Buehler arrived at 7:00 p.m. Call to Order Village Manager Nahrstadt began by reminding the Committee that earlier this fiscal year, it was announced that the format for the Village Manager’s Monthly Report would be changing and tonight there will be a PowerPoint presentation introducing this format. Manager Nahrstadt stated that this is a work in progress. In addition, he stated it was requested at the last Board meeting that tonight we would schedule a policy discussion in respect to a vehicle sticker program which Trustee Ciesla suggested. Trustee Ciesla then proceeded to explain the program to the Board members who were not present for the September 11 Board meeting. Finance Director Rowitz began by stating that before he presents the 1st quarter financial reports, he would give a brief overview of the 11/12 Fiscal Year (FY) as the audited final figures are in. He presented a summary of revenues and expenditures and reported that ending fund balance was 45% of revenues and within ½ percent of the March projections Included in the presentation was a snapshot of the major revenue sources indicating the following: Property taxes were nearly $200,000 under budget due to timing Sales tax exceeded budget by $400,000; Utility tax was nearly $200.000 less than budgeted Overall expenses were under budget by $242,000 for the year; Personal Services were over budget due to the retroactive salary increases granted in the union contracts. Since all contracts were expired when the budget was approved, no salary increases were included in the FY 11/12 budget. Trustee Heller questioned if there are any additional costs we will have from last year due to the raises. Director Rowitz indicated that those numbers were included in the budget numbers this year and that all funds were distributed to the correct fiscal year. Administration and Finance Committee Meeting September 24, 2012 Page 2 of 3 Trustee Ciesla inquired on the timeliness of the distributions from the State. Director Rowitz stated that payments were currently three months behind. President Frum questioned how the overtime came in as compared to budget. Director Rowitz stated he thought we came in under budget but will provide actual numbers to President Frum. Director Rowitz then proceeded by reviewing the reports for the 1st quarter of FY 12/13. He indicated that it looked like we are going to do better than what was estimated and attributes that to better revenue and expenses coming in lower. The reduced expenses are mainly attributed to vacant positions. Trustee Ciesla questioned how long a position is kept vacant before it is eliminated from the budget? Manager Nahrstadt responded by stating that each vacancy is evaluated to determine the impact on services. Depending on the impact, this may or may not result in a recommendation to eliminate the position. Trustee Israel voiced his concern of the amount of overtime for Fire and Police and felt it may be better to fill the positions. Manager Nahrstadt then explained the reasons for both the overtime and for the reasons not to fill the positions at this time. He continued by stating that at the next meeting, we will provide a chart of headcount open positions. President Frum stated that in addition to that information, she would also like pension information be presented at the next meeting. Director Rowitz then presented the Quarterly Comparative Overtime Report for each department. Assistant Development and Planning Services Director David Schoon then provided a presentation on Northbrook economic data for: Office, industrial and retail vacancies; unemployment rates; hotel market; housing market; and building permits. He stated that the office vacancy rates are up, while the industrial and commercial vacancy rates remain stable. In addition, Assistant Director Schoon reported that there is a slight decrease in unemployment in Northbrook, a slight increase in hotel tax revenue, and single family average sales prices are slightly below 2010 levels. President Frum questioned if we had as many maintenance issues on foreclosed properties as we did last year? Manager Nahrstadt stated that we did not, primarily due to the dry summer. Director Poupard added that banks are also doing a better job managing foreclosed properties. Assistant Director Schoon then continued by providing a brief report on the work of the Ad Hoc Development Committee. He stated that their preliminary findings were that they would not be recommending any alternative to the Class 6b. He stated that it has been thoroughly reviewed and they tried Administration and Finance Committee Meeting September 24, 2012 Page 3 of 3 to come up with an alternative but were unsuccessful. It was suggested that the Board review the use of an alternative tax incentive on a case by case basis rather than establishing a formal structure upfront. He added that the Committee is currently looking at ways to streamline the current 6b process and will continue doing so. He also mentioned that since the last meeting President Frum and staff met with industrial brokers to get feedback on refining the process. He stated that staff will present some ideas to the Board at an upcoming Board meeting. Manager Nahrstadt stated Assistant to the Manager, Kendal Maltas, will present tonight’s Manager’s Report in the new format he spoke about at the beginning of the meeting. It is his expectation that besides being a more effective way of reporting items, it will also reduce a significant amount of paperwork for individuals to review. Assistant to the Manager Maltas began by giving a brief three year history of each department. In summary the following was stated: General Government FOIA requests have dramatically increased due to a change in Illinois law; There is slight uptick in both the number of participants and ticket value in the Sr. Taxi program; Fire will continue to monitor incoming calls to ensure the department is appropriately staffed with personnel and equipment; Police continues to monitor routine patrol activity, crimes, traffic, 911 calls, counseling services caseloads and miscellaneous items; Public Works water main breaks are up, but staff has taken proactive measures to stabilize the system by bringing the old water tower back on line. Development and Planning Services Department single family building permits are up; GORequest citizen request has been launched on website. Manager Nahrstadt wrapped up the meeting by summarizing that revenue continues to show moderate signs of an economic recovery and service levels are remaining fairly stable. He then asked the Committee when they want to have the discussion on the vehicle sticker program. President Frum stated, and the other members of the Board agreed, that we will look at the idea as a component of the budget process in February 2013 Trustee Ciesla moved, seconded by Trustee Karagianis to adjourn the meeting. On voice vote, motioned carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:22 p.m. /s/ Judy Butch Recorder