President and Board of Trustees

123 Madison Street Village of Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois 60302 www.oak-park.us Meeting Minutes President and Board of Trustees Monday, July 27, 2015 6:30 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order Village President Abu-Taleb called the meeting to order at 6:35 P.M. II. Roll Call Present: 5- Village Trustee Barber, Village Trustee Brewer, Village Trustee Lueck, Village Trustee Salzman, and Village President Abu-Taleb Absent: 2- Village Trustee Ott, and Village Trustee Tucker III. Consideration of Motion to Adjourn to Executive Session to Discuss Personnel It was moved by Village Trustee Brewer, seconded by Village Trustee Barber, to enter into executive session pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) – appointment, discipline, performance or dismissal of specific employees of the public body. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 5- Village Trustee Barber, Village Trustee Brewer, Village Trustee Lueck, Village Trustee Salzman, and Village President Abu-Taleb NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 2- Village Trustee Ott, and Village Trustee Tucker V. Reconvene to Special Meeting in Room 101 and Call to Order The Special Meeting reconvened at 7:10 P.M. VI. Roll Call Village Trustee Tucker joined the meeting at 7:39 P.M. Present: 7- Village Trustee Barber, Village Trustee Brewer, Village Trustee Lueck, Village Trustee Ott, Village Trustee Salzman, Village Trustee Tucker, and Village President Abu-Taleb Absent: 0 VII. Agenda Approval It was moved by Village Trustee Barber, seconded by Village Trustee Brewer, to approve the agenda. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. VIII. Public Comment Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 9/9/2015 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 27, 2015 There was no public comment. IX. Regular Agenda A. ID 15-255 Preliminary Discussion Regarding the FY 2016 Budget Village Manager Pavlicek reviewed the budget process. The Manager's recommended budget will be submitted to the board and posted on the Village website in September. Meetings of the Finance Committee and Special Meetings for discussion are then typically held in October. The budget must be presented to the Board on or before their first Regular Meeting in November and adopted before the end of the calendar year. Chief Financial Officer Craig Lesner discussed how property tax dollars are divided and noted that the Village receives 15 cents per dollar paid. He also gave a breakdown of how the Village divides the tax levy; 54% goes to the General Fund, 16% to Police Pension, 13% to Fire Pension and 17% towards debt. He discussed revenue sources that go into the General Fund. He gave a breakdown of the General Fund expenses and noted that Police, Fire and Public Works make up 74% of that. Mr. Lesner discussed the unreserved General Fund balance and projected that it would increase now that the Parking Fund advance has been paid in full as of last year. He gave a summary of debt service going back to 2005 and an overview of anticipated projects and their estimated costs up to 2019. There was a discussion regarding offsetting revenue of debt payments due in 2016. Mr. Lesner noted, as this is a preliminary budget discussion, that there are several issues that the Village Manager and Department Heads are thinking about as they are putting these documents together. Staff is assuming flat revenue growth. The tax levy will be evaluated in the context of where the actuarials think the Police and Fire Pensions will be and what the demand for resources on the General Fund will be. In addition, it will be necessary to focus on improving the Villages financial position regarding pensions, health insurance and the self-insured retention fund. The FY 2016 Budget appropriation will not exceed 99% of projected revenues in order to continue improving the fund balance. They will continue to use their existing turnover calculation to offset projected personnel costs. In regards to the State Budget, Mr. Lesner stated that the Village will be prepared with the appropriate action depending on the outcome. Village Trustee Lueck commented that at the last I-Gov meeting, there was a discussion regarding issuance of debt and each taxing body taking into consideration what the other taxing bodies are doing. Village Trustee Salzman commented that there are a number of areas of uncertainty in terms of the State budget. He asked if there was a plan of action in the event that there is no State budget by the time the Village must approve theirs. The planning on the part of the Village goes beyond the future of certain grants that are frozen. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that the suspension of local government distribution funds and a freeze on home rule authority would be more catastrophic in terms of the day to day operations. She elaborated on how a freeze on home rule authority would affect the Village Board. Village Trustee Barber commented that although the Village's share of the overall tax burden is only 15%, it is still a lot of money. He wanted to have a conversation as to how they can lessen the Village's portion, possibly by not exceeding 98% of projected revenues versus 99%. He was aware that certain items, such as repairing streets and Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 9/9/2015 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 27, 2015 pension obligations were necessary but perhaps there were items or services that they could do without. Village Trustee Tucker agreed, adding that 3% cuts across all departments doesn't make sense. He would look to the Village Manager and her staff to look at avenues in which they can find those savings. Village Trustee Ott was interested in seeing how the personnel and benefit costs versus outsourcing costs have changed over the last three years. Having more discussion regarding that would be beneficial. Village Trustee Lueck noted that the Board has regularly approved contracts over the course of the year that has increased personnel benefits significantly. It is disingenuous to ask the Village Manager to bring the Board a budget with a 1% cut, as the contracts are in place and cannot be changed. This results in cuts being made based on only part of the budget. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that if the Board would like, she can give them options that are somewhat equivalent to 1% of the General Fund, which is approximately $500,000. This could give the Board a sense of how deep those cuts go. She added that in 2009-2010, approximately 25% of the workforce was cut. Now that the economy has changed, the Village's wages are not that competitive and they need to be careful not to lose good staff now that there are opportunities opening up in other areas. She stated that they would want to take time and be careful in making those recommendations to the Board. The General Fund is 78% personnel; however, you cannot keep all the staff but cut the tools they need to do their jobs. Village Trustee Brewer commented that the strategic plan should drive the budget, not the other way around. Village Trustee Salzman believes the area in which reductions can be made is not personnel but in the area of contractual services. He suggested that Mr. Lesner and Village Manager Pavlicek take a look at the Village's procurement process as well as looking at some of the larger contracts for services. Village Trustee Barber commented that the Village needs to look at what kind of sacrifices they are willing to make. He also noted that the Village needs to be the leader in cutting their budget in order for the other taxing bodies to do so. Village Trustee Lueck noted that the Board gets negative feedback from residents regarding high taxes. However, when services are cut in an attempt to reduce taxes, there is negative feedback for that. The bottom line is that the Village Manager needs to come to the Board with a budget that does not have any unintentional consequences.She will have to decide where cuts can be made in a way that doesn't negatively impact services. Anything greater than that is going to be hard to achieve without significant losses. She also noted that some of the other taxing bodies have taken some steps to decrease the tax burden. B. ID 15-256 Preliminary Schedule for Review of the FY 2016 Budget by the Finance Committee and Village Board Village Manager Pavlicek discussed the recommended schedule of meetings of the Finance Committee and Village Board for the FY 2016 budget process. Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 9/9/2015 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 27, 2015 X. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Salzman, seconded by Village Trustee Tucker, to adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 8:22 P.M., Monday, July 27, 2015. Respectfully Submitted, MaryAnn Schoenneman Deputy Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 9/9/2015