Finance Committee

123 Madison Street Village of Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois 60302 www.oak-park.us Meeting Minutes Finance Committee Monday, October 11, 2021 6:30 PM Remote 1. Call To Order Village President Scaman called the meeting to order at 6:33 P.M. She authorized a statement be read providing that the meeting is being held remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines and that it is not prudent to have people present at the Village Board's regular meeting location due to public health concerns related to that pandemic. 2. Roll Call Present: Village Trustees Enyia, Parakkat, and Taglia; Village President Scaman Absent: None 3. Public Comment There was no Public Comment. 4. Approval of Minutes A. ID 21-306 Minutes from the September 27, 2021 Meeting of the Finance Committee It was moved by Village Trustee Parakkat, seconded by Village Trustee Enyia, to approve the Minutes. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 4 - Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, and Village Trustee Taglia NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 5. New Business B. ID 21-277 Finance Committee Review of the Draft Recommended FY22 Budget Interim Village Manager Lisa Shelley gave an overview of this Item and next steps in the budgeting process. She also mentioned there will be no meeting this Thursday (October 14), it will instead be next Thursday October 21. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 10/22/2021 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes October 11, 2021 Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on the 3% tax levy increase. Chief Financial Officer Steve Drazner responded it is calculated by the total levy for the current year and adds on 3% to the total. From that, he subtracts out the amounts needed to fund the police and fire pensions and the debt service. What ever is remaining is budgeted in the general fund. Chief Financial Officer Steve Drazner then provided an overview summary presentation. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification on how we compare to other communities in collecting sales tax seeing as we do not have many big box stores or car dealerships. CFO Drazner responded he has not done a comparative analysis with other communities, but generally we have stayed in the same range with a slight dip in 2020. We do collect tax from online purchases. Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on the lost revenue and the ARPA funds. CFO Drazner responded it appears our lost revenue will not be what was first anticipated, although there will be a significant lost revenue with the Parking Fund. Public Works Director John Wielebnicki then provided an overview of the Water & Sewer Fund. Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on the process of the leak detection surveys. Director Wielebnicki responded surveyors come out with sounding equipment that will try to find where the leaks are. Because of the responsibility for who maintains what service, it is not uncommon to find a leak that the homeowner has to maintain (rather than the village). Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification if the smart water meters enable the leak detection or offset any costs? Director Wielebnicki responded when the meters are accurately calibrated there is a better understanding of water usage. The meters will enable the customer to monitor their own water usage. Director Wielebnicki and Cameron Hendricks, the Environmental Services Manager, then provided an overview of the Environmental Services Fund. During the discussion regarding the Food Scrap & Yard waste services between Waste Management versus Lakeshore, Director Wielebnicki stated that multi-unit buildings will now be able to take part in the village Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 10/22/2021 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes October 11, 2021 composting program - commercial buildings will have to find their own waste management solutions. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification how multi-unit buildings could find out about the composting opportunity. Director Wielebnicki responded they can let the community know through the OP/FYI newsletter and social media. Village Trustee Robinson requested clarification on the leaf collection program and the green vs pink stickers used for yard waste and additional trash. Director Wielebnicki responded the pink stickers are for additional trash and the green is solely yard waste not being composted. The leaf collection program is not currently stickered. Village Trustee Parakkat asked if staff was concerned there were only two vendors to choose from for waste collection. Director Wielebnicki was not concerned. Many waste haulers make their money on the actual disposal of the waste, and Oak Park restricts them to using our own disposal site. Oak Park also has one of the most comprehensive programs in the state that includes electronic collection and not all the haulers can provide that service. Village Trustee Robinson requested clarification on the customer service program modification. Director Wielebnicki responded it includes both waste management and that Lakeshore would take all the customer calls when there was a missed pickup or something wrong with their cart, etc. Public Work used to handle those calls. Director Wielebnicki then gave an overview of the fall leaf collection program and the options provided by Waste Management and Lakeshore. Staff is recommending to maintain the current leaf collection program (residents raking leaves into the street). The Environment & Energy Commission concurred with this recommendation as well. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification on who pays for the bags for the option 1 alternative. Director Wielebnicki responded the resident. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification on the sustainability benefit for using bags versus raking it into the street. Director Wielebnicki responded the leaves go to a compost facility which is then repurposed for use in the spring in our composting material. Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 10/22/2021 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes October 11, 2021 Director Wielebnicki added the single family to 5 unit multi-family buildings are paying for all of the leaf collection for the entire community. Staff is suggesting including the multi-family buildings of 6 units or more and commercial properties to also pay for the leaf collection. Director Wielebnicki stated staff is recommending no increase to the 2022 rates should we move forward with the transition to Lakeshore. Interim Village Manager Shelley reiterated that the Board will need to select the current waste hauling vendor or move forward with a new vendor which will then set the rates and expenses for the Environmental Services Fund for 2022. Director of Development Customer Services, Tammie Grossman, and Parking & Mobility Services Manager Sean Keane then gave an overview of the Parking Fund and the Parking Pilot Survey. Village Trustee Robinson requested clarification if the revenue from vehicle stickers are not part of the parking fund revenue. Director Grossman confirmed they are not. Village Trustee Robinson requested clarification on the property taxes on the leased lots line item. Director Grossman responded the village leases one lot from a church and expenses, including property tax for the lot, are subtracted from the gross revenue, and then the net revenue is split between the village and the church. Trustee Taglia requested clarification on what types of outreach is being planned in the community regarding rate increases for parking. Director Grossman responded part of the outreach is through the Parking Pilot Program survey as well as working with the business districts to get the information out. Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification regarding the impact of having the parking spots repurposed for restaurants for outdoor dining due to the pandemic and what is the future of that program. Director Grossman responded they estimate the loss at $10 per day per parking space with about 30 spaces being utilized for outdoor dining. The continuation of outdoor dining will be part of the discussions during the parking meetings in Q1 2022 with the Board. CFO Drazner then gave an overview of the internal services and special revenue funds. Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 10/22/2021 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes October 11, 2021 Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on the Farmer's Market .5 full time employee (FTE) for a Farmer's Market Assistant and how that impacts the Farmer's Market budget. Interim Village Manager Shelley responded the Farmer's Market Commission made a recommendation to increase the number of hours for the Farmer's Market staff and staff agree with that recommendation. Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on if each of the special revenue funds will require an underlying resolution or ordinance. CFO Drazner responded it depends on the fund. Village Trustee Parakkat requested to get a listing of the origins or source of the special funds to give some context. Village Trustee Enyia requested clarification on the breakdown of funds for the architectural and structural needs for village hall for 2022. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on the reason for this year's budget being $14.2 million dollars more than last year. CFO Drazner responded it is in part due to the ARPA funds, the recommended CIP, and some smaller funds. The fund summary page gives a snapshot for where the differences are. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification if the general fund balance was tied into any ARPA funds. CFO Drazner responded the surplus was due in part to budget cuts, staff loss, deferred capital improvement projects, and an increase in sales tax revenue. Excluding the ARPA funds we had a starting fund balance of $16 million dollars. Any surplus from this year will add on to the $16 million. 6. Adjournment It was moved by Village Trustee Parakkat, seconded by Village Trustee Enyia, to adjourn. The Motion was approved. The meeting adjourned at 8:57 P.M., Monday, October 11, 2021. Respectfully Submitted, Deputy Clerk DeViller AYES: 4 - Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, and Village Trustee Taglia NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 10/22/2021