Finance Committee

123 Madison Street Village of Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois 60302 www.oak-park.us Meeting Minutes Finance Committee Thursday, October 26, 2023 6:30 PM Room 201 1. Call To Order Village President Vicki Scaman called the Finance Committee Meeting to order at 6:33 P.M. 2. Roll Call Present: Trustee Parakkat, Trustee Robinson, Trustee Wesley (joined the meeting at 7:19 P.M.), and President Scaman Also Present: Trustee Buchanan, Trustee Enyia, Trustee Straw (via remote participation) 3. Public Comment There was no non-agenda public comment. 4. Approval of Minutes A. ID 23-484 Minutes from the October 10, 2023 Meeting of the Finance Committee It was moved by Trustee Robinson, seconded by Trustee Parakkat, to approve the Minutes. A roll call vote was taken and the motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 3 - Trustee Robinson, Trustee Parakkat, President Scaman NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1 - Trustee Wesley 5. New Business B. ID 23-486 Review of the Fiscal Year 2024 Proposed Budget Village Manager Kevin Jackson introduced the Item and Interim Finance Director Donna Gayden. Village Clerk Christina Waters read a public comment into the record: Alicia Chastain: Resident, thanked Village for funding an Alternative Response Pilot Program for 2024, though said it should be housed in a department with experience providing care services, not the police. In the Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 9/27/2024 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes October 26, 2023 meantime, the $1.1M in funding can be earmarked in the Village Manager Office's budget. Manager Jackson confirmed the initial review of the proposed pilot model is scheduled for the November 20 Village Board meeting. Oak Park Fire Department (OPFD) Fire Chief Ron Kobyleski presented the 2024 proposed budget for OPFD. Trustee Parakkat asked if the cost of overtime is expected to decrease. Chief Kobyleski responded that spending has been close to $1M so the hope is $850K will be enough for 2024. Trustee Parakkat said his preference is for a lower base with an amendment if needed. Trustee Robinson noted the Village would potentially be looking at larger amendments. Chief Kobyleski said OPFD is not fully staffed. Trustee Parakkat requested detail for the External Support line item. Chief Kobyleski explained the TeleStaff scheduling, Metro Mortuary Transport, and firehouse report writing software. Oak Park Police Department (OPPD) Police Chief Shatonya Johnson presented the 2024 proposed budget for OPPD. Full strength is 118 sworn officers and 29 civilian staff. The department currently has 88 officers and 19 staff. Trustee Robinson noted the roll-out date requiring body cameras for all patrol officers. Chief Johnson said the date is January 2024 and OPPD already has it implemented. OPPD searches for grants for the software and she doesn't anticipate a budget increase for that. Trustee Parakkat inquired if the $2.137M increase includes the alternate response pilot, which Chief Johnson said it does not. He inquired about the increase in personnel costs when there is a deficiency. Chief Johnson explained it is contractually by the collective bargaining agreement. He asked if some of the costs will flow back into the contra account and the Village's reserves if positions are not filled. Interim Director Gayden confirmed it is in the $2.2M turnover savings this year for the entire Village. Trustee Parakkat said there is a conversation to be had about the progression from $33M to $38M to $43M and what elements contributed to it and how we are drawing down from it. He said in the last conversation, the reserves was $33M and he is now seeing $38M so he would like an explanation for the difference. Manager Jackson said at the time the Village adopted the budget last year, we anticipated $33M. In the first quarter after reconciliation, it was a little more than anticipated. He said staff can follow up with the explanation. Interim Director Gayden noted the $38M is the audited number. Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 9/27/2024 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes October 26, 2023 Trustee Buchanan asked if the budget includes all of the unfilled positions, which Manager Jackson confirmed it does. Trustee Robinson noted some union contracts are ongoing and can increase the amounts even if the positions are not filled. Trustee Parakkat inquired if crime reduction includes increased enforcement as a priority, which Chief Johnson confirmed it does. Trustee Parakkat noted the costs associated with alternative calls for response pilot program should be $750K instead of $1.1M because $350K was already apportioned in the 2022 budget. Manager Jackson confirmed that is correct. The $350K is still there to allocate toward the pilot though the budgeted cost is still $1.1M. Trustee Enyia inquired about police staffing in surrounding neighborhoods. Chief Johnson said departments are doing both laterals and recruitments for new hires and she thinks Oak Park is facing different challenges than our surrounding communities. Public Works Public Works Director Rob Sproule presented the 2024 proposed budget for the Public Works Department. Trustee Enyia inquired how the department prices out when it has to cut down a tree or deal with a lot of debris. Director Sproule said the Village has a small forestry staff doing daily maintenance and all staff are cross-trained to support the forestry division in those cases. The Village also has emergency contracts with pruning and tree removal contractors at hourly rates and they have cranes the Village does not have. Trustee Robinson noted street lighting is the highest increase of all divisions and inquired about the possibility of charging for EV stations. Manager Jackson said the Village Board has provided direction and Development Services is working to bring that back to the Village Board. Director Sproule clarified that for the costs associated with the Transportation Commission petitions, the consultant is funded through the engineering division and the resolution of the petition is funded through the Capital Improvement Project (CIP). Trustee Buchanan inquired about leaf collections, which Director Sproule confirmed was decreased from 8 to 6 and will remain at 6 for 2024 for $203,700. If the Village Board wants to decrease it to five collections, the Village would work with the consultant to determine the new cost. Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 9/27/2024 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes October 26, 2023 Trustee Parakkat inquired if the 1.4% increase for fleet services should decrease based on fuel prices. Director Sproule responded the Village shops the market and can get better long-term pricing without an agreement because of natural market fluctuations. Fuel for next year is budgeted for $50K less. Trustee Parakkat noted the Village is servicing the Park District (PDOP) fleet and wondered if there is an opportunity to trade for forestry services. Director Sproule said the Village has attempted to engage PDOP and D97 about that and they have not been interested. Trustee Parakkat inquired about the 57% increase in street lighting. Director Sproule responded they are emergency repair contracts and would only be utilized if needed. The intent was to increase what we think we will spend so a budget amendment is not needed later. Trustee Parakkat said his preference is to start lower and then adjust if needed. Trustee Wesley inquired about extending the compost program to multi-unit buildings. Director Sproule said that is a separate initiative. Multi-family properties over five units need to have commercial service. If their hauler does not provide composting, LRS will provide commercial composting services with a contract between LRS and the building itself. The Village also has five free compost drop-off locations throughout the community. Trustee Wesley asked if the censor-based weather data can be shared on the Village website, which Director Sproule said the Village can look into. The Village is also working with MGP to include a street plowing dashboard on the Village website. Trustee Wesley said he loves seeing the increase in electric vehicles in relation to decreased fuel costs. Development Services (DS) and Neighborhood Services (NS) Deputy Village Manager Ahmad Zayyad and Interim Development Customer Services (DCS) Director Cam Davis presented the proposed 2024 budgets for Development Services and Neighborhood Services. Trustee Parakkat noted the Parking Fund and Parking Mobility Fund last year was $8.8M and this year is $9.3M. Management Analyst Noemy Diaz said the increase is because projects were deferred to next year, which was presented to the Village Board in a memo that she can share again. Trustee Parakkat said he would like see more detail. He inquired how the OPEDC 2023 budget compares to the Neighborhood Services 2024 budget. Analyst Diaz said the total DCS budget last year including OPEDC was $5.7M. The 2024 proposed budget for DS and NS is $6.4M. Trustee Robinson said it looks like a big increase but there are some reclassifications and offsetting from the OPEDC. She noted the sharp decrease in licenses, permits, and fines. Interim DCS Director Davis said Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 9/27/2024 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes October 26, 2023 licenses are increasing but there are not a lot of significant projects. Trustee Robinson inquired if the Village is providing assistance in funding and capital resources during the economic vitality meetings. Interim DCS Director Davis said the main focus is what the business needs to get set up and it depends on the experience level of the business owner. The new director will be able to give economic vitality much more attention. Deputy Manager Zayyad clarified the grants consultant it is a Village-wide position funded out of the Village Manager's Office. Trustee Wesley said he views economic vitality as an investment rather than a expense and asked what more is needed. Interim DCS Director Davis said the new manager will be 100% focused on economic vitality and he expects to see a lot of activity. He clarified the parking meter technicians do everything from replacing signs to maintenance of the coin-operated machines and garages. Trustee Wesley requested to see the original Roosevelt Road corridor plan to see what was executed. Interim DCS Director Davis said the Village is working on providing that. Public Health Public Health Director Dr. Theresa Chapple presented the proposed 2024 budget for the Health Department. Trustee Parakkat inquired about the $500K increase between 2022 and 2024. Dr. Chapple said it is probably from the general fund because 2022 had a lot more grants. The overall operating budget is not that different. Trustee Parakkat said it was 8-9 FTEs, not 13. Dr. Chapple clarified that was the FTE count in 2020, not in 2022. Trustee Parakkat said he would like to see the trend line from 2020 to present. He asked if the COVID contingency that was kept from the ARPA funds is now fully released. Dr. Chapple responded that contingency never made it into her budget. It is still in the ARPA funds and the department will not be using it. Trustee Robinson inquired about the possibility of reinstating the Health Department's partnership with the Collaboration for Early Childhood (CEC), which may be able to tie in support for the asylum seeker families. Dr. Chapple said the collaboration still exists but has changed in part because there is no longer the $4K state grant for the Family Case Management Program. CEC gives the Health Department $10K annually to support the Village's nurse who provides clinical support to their centers, daycares, and home care centers. Trustee Robinson said the Health Department's previous partnership with CEC provided an important pipeline for families to engage with CEC. Trustee Buchanan referenced a recent written response from the Village to a resident and inquired whether any asylum seeker families are housed in Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 9/27/2024 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes October 26, 2023 Oak Park. Chief DEI Officer Dr. Danielle Walker responded that at the time of the response, it was staff's understanding that there were no asylum seekers staying on public property in Oak Park. Dr. Chapple said the Health Department has vaccinated 23 children and some are being housed with families in Oak Park and attending Oak Park schools. Each year the schools sends the Health Department a list of children who would be excluded from school if they did not get their vaccinations. This is the first year the Health Department has been able to vaccinate these children. Trustee Buchanan questioned Trustee Parakkat's request to compare the budget from 2020 and said the Village Board has never discussed or agreed to shrink the Health Department back to pre-COVID FTE numbers. Trustee Parakkat clarified that his ask was to see the numbers and he asked to see 2022, not 2020. Trustee Wesley said he is hearing from residents about increased rodents. Dr. Chapple said she is hearing the same and the Village has doubled the amount of rodent control support. She thinks an education component is also needed, to explain that it is rodent control, not rodent elimination, and it requires the community to maintain the environment in addition to extermination. Trustee Wesley said he would support finding additional funds to do that education. Trustee Wesley inquired about lead water screening in schools. Dr. Chapple said children get tested for high lead levels at their doctor's offices. The cases are reported to the Health Department which investigates their homes. In 100% of the cases the cause of the high lead is found in the home. Schools have not been tested and she said she is not aware of an ordinance requiring it. Village Attorney Stephanides said the Village can look into the possibility of creating an ordinance. Trustee Wesley said he might make a motion in support of that. Trustee Wesley said he supports creating safe pathways for kids to get to and from schools and would like to know if anything else is needed. Trustee Enyia expressed his gratitude to the Health Department for presenting a lower budget, finding additional grants, and keeping the community safe and healthy. 6. Adjournment It was moved by Trustee Wesley, seconded by Trustee Parakkat, to Adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned on Thursday, October 26, 2023, 9:23 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Deputy Clerk Hansen Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 9/27/2024