Finance Committee

Finance Committee Meeting Council Chambers March 18, 2015 8:00 a.m. Call To Order: Meeting opened at 8:00 am Roll Call: Finance Director Neukirch called the roll for Committee members. Committee Members Present: Chairman LoVerde, John Johann, Al Weel, Robert Callero, Village Manager Steve Vinezeano and Finance Director Scot Neukirch Committee Members Absent: None Non Committee Members Present: Mayor Przybylo, Attorney Joe Annunzio , Assistant Finance Director Laurie Nannini and the Directors from most of the Village’s departments Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the February 18, 2015 Finance Committee meeting were up for approval, motion made and all concurred. Accounts Payable Approval: The approval of the Accounts Payable registers for 2/13, 2/20, 2/27, 3/6 were up for approval, motion made and all concurred. New Business Mayor’s Opening Comments: Mayor Przybylo addressed the Committee. The Mayor addressed the major issues impacting the FY 16 budget such as pension funding, capital costs, labor costs and the State’s plan to reduce the Village’s income tax allotment. The Mayor also discussed the proposed cuts to be discussed by the Committee later in the meeting. The Mayor expressed his desire to build value by making resident’s homes more valuable, making Niles safe and maintaining affordable services. The Mayor also explained his feeling on the importance of branding for the Village. Annual Volume Cap Ordinance: Finance Director Neukirch presented the annual volume cap ordinance to the Committee. This ordinance reserves the Village’s allotment of volume cap until the end of the calendar year. If the Village does not reserve its allotment, it will go to the State for its use. Neukirch explained that due to the current low interest rate environment for borrowing there has not been any interest in the Village’s allotment, but it just makes sense to reserve it in the event a local business does come forward. Motion made and all concurred to recommend approval by the Village Board. Auditor’s Engagement Letter: Finance Director Neukirch presented the engagement letter with Sikich for auditing services for FY 15. Neukirch briefly explained the major changes to the letter which th were highlighted for the Committee. Neukirch explained that this was the 5 year of the 5 year contract, therefore staff is planning on conducting an RFP process for the next fiscal year. Motion made and all concurred to recommend approval by the Village Board. FY 16 Draft Budget Discussion: Finance Director Neukirch updated the Committee on changes that had been made to the General Fund balancing options spreadsheet since they last reviewed it at the February Finance Committee meeting. Neukirch thanked Chairman LoVerde and Bob Callero specifically for their help in making the tool more useful and for additional items that were added to the list. Neukirch and the Committee reviewed each item. The Committee gave staff direction on additional information to add to the options to clarify some of them better. There was discussion on the impact of the State’s proposed cuts to the Village’s allotment of income tax and staff answered various other questions from the Committee. Bob Callero gave additional comments expressing the need for the Committee to balance the budget with the acceptable draw on reserves for the pensions and retro pay due. Callero made a motion that was seconded by John Johann to recommend that the Village Board balance the budget with the draw on reserves for pensions and retroactive pay as presented.  Steve Vinezeano abstained, but no official approval of the motion was given by the Committee. Public Comment: Louella Preston had a question on how the FY 15 surplus worked. Preston commented that she was at the meeting where the $20,000 special initiatives account was discussed and she stated that no specific direction was given on what it would be spent on. Preston also stated that she felt the money received for the VRAD landscaping should be used for the landscaping. Chris Hanusiak recommended staff should reach out to the vendors that the Village is paying with American Express and see if the vendors will agree to pay the Village more than the Village is currently receiving in points but less than the vendor is paying in fees to American Express if the Village agrees to go back to paying the vendor by check. Executive Session: None Return From Executive Session: None Adjournment: Motion to adjourn was made and all concurred at 9:35 am. Prepared by Scot Neukirch on 3/20/2015