Finance Committee

Finance Committee Meeting Council Chambers June 20, 2012 8:00 a.m. Attendance: Committee Members Present: Chairman Joe Lo Verde, Mayor Robert Callero, Village Manager Van Geem and Finance Director Scot Neukirch Committee Members Absent: John Johann Non Committee Members Present: Trustee Chris Hanusiak, Trustee Louella Preston and Village Attorney Joe Annunzio Meeting Opened: Meeting opened at 8:03 a.m. Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the May 16, 2012 were up for approval. Motion made, all concurred. Accounts Payable Approval: The motion was made and all concurred to approve the Accounts Payable registers for 5/11, 5/18, 5/19(106), 5/25, 5/25(106), 5/25(115), 5/25(118), 5/25(124), 5/25(128), 6/1, 6/8. Chairman Lo Verde opened a discussion about the accounts payable approval process by making the recommendation that a list of payments that are proposed to be paid including the amount paid, payee and a brief description be submitted to the Board of Trustees in advance of the checks being sent out with some limited exceptions like utilities. Trustee Lo Verde is not sure if he is comfortable with bills being paid prior to receiving final Board approval. There was discussion concerning the restrictive approval process that is already in place at the Village of Niles. Mayor Callero explained how the Village’s current process is more restrictive than would be found in the private sector. Finance Director Neukirch will report at the July meeting as to how other towns handle their approval process and the Committee will review other options to address Chairman Lo Verde’s concerns at that time. Police/Fire Year End Investment Finance Director Neukirch reviewed the fiscal year end reports that were provided Report: by Gary Karshna, the financial advisor to both pension boards. Neukirch reported that the fiscal year end return for the Police Pension Fund was .93% and for the Fire Pension Fund it was .95%. There was discussion that since the investment rate of return did not meet the actuarial assumption of 7.5% that this would ultimately increase the Village’s required contribution. Chairman Lo Verde requested comparative data from other villages to see how Niles is doing relative to other communities. Local Debt Recovery Program: Finance Director Neukirch gave an update on the status of the Village participating in the State’s Local Debt Recovery Program. Neukirch explained that the Village as submitted a test file consisting of 5,138 different people totaling $1,431,899.86. The State identified a match with 27% of the individuals that were submitted. The amount of money available for collection of those individuals has not been determined. Neukirch explained that the Finance Department and IT Department have been working very hard to complete this. Unfortunately, when the State implemented the program, they didn’t give the Village’s the tools to use to submit their information. IT has been working with the State, but the State has been inundated with requests and getting a response has been slow at times. Financing of Fire Vehicles: Finance Director Neukirch explained the process and presented the quotes received for the financing/leasing of an ambulance and pumper truck for the Fire Department totaling approximately $800,000. Neukirch explained that the option of making annual payments at the beginning of the year provided the best interest rate. Of the 5 institutions that provided quotes, Fifth Thirds provided the lowest interest rate at 1.33%. The vehicles are being purchased through the Suburban Purchasing Coop (SPC) which satisfies the Village’s bidding requirement. The purchase of these vehicles is on the agenda for the June 26, 2012 Village Board meeting. Finance Dept Hiring Process: Finance Director Neukirch explained the hiring process that has taken place in an effort to fill a vacated position due to retirement. Neukirch explained that over 80 applications were received for the Accounting Clerk position that is available. Six candidates were interviewed. Of those six candidates, three are current employees of the Village. Neukirch explained that it is unclear as to who has the authority to approve the filling of the vacant position. Village Attorney Annunzio’s interpretation is that the Village Manager has approval to recommend someone to be hired but must get Village Board Approval. Therefore, Neukirch has prepared an agenda item for the June 26, 2012 Board Meeting. A lengthy discussion ensued as to whether the code has been interpreted correctly and if it makes sense for Village departments to be short staffed while they wait for Board approval. Chairman Lo Verde expressed his opinion that it doesn’t make sense to have to wait for the Village Board to approve the filling of a position that already exists in the budget. Various opinions on the interpretation of the code were expressed. Mayor Callero stated that there is an agenda item for the Village Board to address this issue at the June 26, 2012 Board Meeting. The Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the Village Board vote to give the authority to hire/fire existing, budgeted positions to the Village Manager after interviews and a departmental recommendation. LoVerde-Yes, Van Geem-Yes, Callero-Yes. Other Business: Trustee Hanusiak questioned a memo from Kathy Barnat authorized by George Van Geem to Sharon Panek concerning a bonus of $2,500 to be paid by Terry Gendola in 2009. Van Geem could not remember the specifics of why that memo was generated. Mayor Callero stated that it should have been called a retainer. According to Mayor Callero, Terry Gendola was going to be retained to help with snow plowing. Hanusiak questioned whether Van Geem has the authority to give a $2,500 bonus. Van Geem stated he needed a chance to look through his files to research the issue. Trustee Preston brought up the issue of the finances related to the Sister Cities. There was also discussion on whether the Sister Cities organization is run by the Village or is a completely separate entity. George Van Geem stated that Sister Cities is a separate 501-C-3 organization. Trustee Preston referenced section 2-320 from the Village Code that forms the Village of Niles Sister City Commission. There was discussion over the relationship between this Commission and the Sister City organization and how they are related and if this makes the Sister City organization a part of the Village. There was also discussion as to who should be making decisions for the Sister City organization. Chairman LoVerde expressed concern that current directors of the Sister City organization work for George Van Geem at the Village but were also required to vote on if Van Geem should be going to Pisa or not. Lo Verde expressed a concern of a conflict of interest with the current decision makers in the Sister City organization. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 9:20 am. Next Meeting The next Finance Committee meeting is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday July 18, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. in the Council Chambers pending the members’ availability. Prepared by Scot Neukirch on 6/20/12