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 Thursday, November 3, 2022 6:00 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order Village President Vicki Scaman called the Special Meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. II. Roll Call Present: 6- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, and Village Trustee Taglia Absent: 1- Village Trustee Wesley III. Agenda Approval It was moved by Trustee Robinson, seconded by Trustee Enyia, to approve the Agenda. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. IV. Non-Agenda Public Comment There was no Non-Agenda Public Comment. V. Regular Agenda A. ID 22-142 Review of the FY23 Proposed Budget Village Manager Kevin Jackson introduced Chief Financial Officer Steven Drazner. President Scaman noted that tonight is an overview and more information will be provided in the upcoming Board of Trustees and Finance Committee meetings. CFO Drazner outlined the remaining scheduled budget meetings: 11/7 Truth and taxation hearing 11/14 Review of police study 11/17 Detailed discussion for ARPA funding requests 11/21 Adoption of CIP document and budget public hearing 11/29 Tentatively scheduled for additional budget questions or concerns CFO Drazner gave a presentation on the proposed FY23 budget. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 Trustee Robinson requested descriptions on the proposed added FTEs, which CFO Drazner said can be provided. She asked why the Farmers' Market position is expanding to a full-time position. Deputy Village Manager Lisa Shelley responded that the proposed expansion was a recommendation from the Climate Action Plan and the Farmers' Market Commission. There is more work than a half-time position, including sending the applications, contacting farmers, conducting site visits, doing more programming throughout the year to address food insecurities, doing more food education, and the opportunity to have a longer market. She will provide that information from the commission and the report. Trustee Robinson asked why the Communications budget is not in the proposed budget. CFO said the Communications budget is combined with the Village Manager's budget. Trustee Robinson inquired about the delayed developer payments to the affordable housing fund, beginning in February 2022, as she thought developers were required to make payments in a specific time frame. Assistant Director of Development Customer Services Cameron Davis said he will double check and provide the Village Board more information. Trustee Robinson inquired if the $900K drawdown for 2023 assumes the Village Board will take all of Housing Programs Advisory Committee's recommendations. Director Davis noted that the applications have exceeded $900K and that HPAC is in process and will send a recommendation to the Village Board early next year. Trustee Robinson noted the hotel tax revenue has exceeded expectations with the implementation of AirBNB short-term rental licenses this year. She would like to see a consistent and/or secondary revenue stream to developer contributions go into the housing fund, to take a portion of the surplus hotel tax or identify a secondary revenue stream so the Village is not 100% reliant on developer contributions. She would like to avoid a situation where the Village cannot do the regular call for projects and make the fund do its job on an ongoing basis. Director Davis said the Village will break a record this year for hotel/motel tax, driven by 80 licensed AirBNBs. As a home rule community, the Village Board can decide where the hotel/motel tax money goes. The hotel/motel tax ordinance currently asks for the money to be spent on tourism so adjustments may be needed if the Village Board decides to spend it elsewhere. Trustee Robinson asked how she can request a piece of that tax revenue go to the housing fund. Manager Jackson suggested the Village Board Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 have a separate agenda item for policy discussion. There is no restriction on the hotel/motel tax usage and the money is currently supporting Visit Oak Park. Trustee Robinson said she is open to other possibilities. Her concern is drawing down the fund to a point where it can no longer do the work it was created to do. President Scaman asked if this discussion should come forward prior to budget approval or as a Study Session in early 2023. Manager Jackson said a Study Session can be scheduled. Trustee Parakkat noted a significant growth of FTEs beyond 8.75%. Last year's baseline was 382 FTEs. Through grant-funded dollars, the Village increased the Health Department by 3 FTE. FTEs are now increasing to 394, which is a 12 increase overall. Trustee Parakkat stated his concern that if the Village increases the FTE this year due to the sales tax increase and ARPA funds to cover parking deficits, the only option will be to raise tax levy significantly in 2025 or 2026 when the Village no longer has those additional funding sources. CFO Drazner said keeping the tax levy at 0% next year is possible because of a one-time actuarial change to the pension valuations to put that money in the general fund which changes the base to perpetuity. If the tax levy is not increased 3% next year, that 3% carries forward to all future years, unless a future Village Board doubles or triples the increase in any given year to make up for it. Trustee Parakkat said he sees reducing the base of taxation in perpetuity as a positive but he is still concerned with the FTE growth. Manager Jackson made the distinction between making structural commitments that live in perpetuity versus one-time commitments. The added positions supported by ARPA funds will end in 2026 whereas the three firefighter positions are structural commitments that will continue. It is a managed process and any new positions are being considered within that framework so as to not put the Village in a position of being over committed. Trustee Parakkat requested to see a distinction made within the budget between one-time and structural FTE commitments. He said he wants to avoid a future Village Board using 394 FTEs as the basis and growing from there. Trustee Taglia asked Manager Jackson what changed between July and now where the Village was previously concerned about service cuts and is now adding positions. Manager Jackson responded that keeping the levy flat means the base is not growing as much as it was previously. The Village always has to account for inflation and the possibility of a spike in pension costs in any given year. If the levy is kept flat, the Village may need to raise taxes to preserve existing services or it can reduce services to Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 account for the increased costs. Trustee Taglia agreed with Trustee Parakkat in terms of avoiding excessive increases in the future. Manager Jackson emphasized that the choices that have to be made can affect existing services that are valued and new services that may be desired. Trustee Taglia noted expenditures increasing by $2M in FY23 over FY22. He said there were six Finance Committee meetings last year and so far there have been one or two. He requested a rundown from each department for what the largest increases are related to. He said the Village Board used to go through line by line and he would like to see more detail. Manager Jackson responded that the base budget is not increasing services and the cost increases are related to inflation or labor costs embedded in the budget. There is still an opportunity to have those discussions but nothing has changed from the base budget other than the proposed new items. As a manager, he is trying to ensure the Village efficiently uses its resources and it would require a lot of staff time to do presentations line by line to discuss no changes to the budget. Trustee Taglia said there is a $2M change and he does not know from the information presented where it will all go so he would like that level of detail. Manager Jackson confirmed the staff can accomplish that efficiently. CFO Drazner added that most of the $2M is COLA and salaries. President Scaman said she would rather focus the Village Board's attention on the conversations that are meaningful toward the Village Board's goals. She asked if the sales tax increase is due to home deliveries such as Amazon. CFO Drazner said the law was changed on how sales tax is assessed and he believes that is the biggest amount of the increase. President Scaman asked if it will be the same in 2023. CFO Drazner responded that it is hard to predict the economy though he thinks the change in the law has the greatest effect on sales tax. Trustee Buchanan asked for clarification on the epidemiologist grant-funded position through June 2023 and whether it should be 0.25 FTE rather than 0.5 FTE for the full year. Deputy Manager Shelley confirmed that position is funded through June 2023 and there is a recommendation to use ARPA funds to extend it through December 2023. Trustee Buchanan noted the assistant to the emergency preparedness coordinator position is grant-funded through 2022 but appears on the FY23 budget. Deputy Manager Shelley said the ARPA-funded positions are included in the FTE counts. CFO Drazner added that a position is included in the FTE count no matter how it is funded. Trustee Buchanan asked what the funding would be once the grant ends. Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 Manager Jackson responded that the positions would end unless the Village Board decides to fund them another way. Trustee Buchanan again asked why they are listed as FTEs in the FY23 budget. Manager Jackson responded that these positions are classified as one-time temporary so when their funding ends, the positions ends. Trustee Parakkat said that was the point he was making that they are being included in the FTE count when they are temporary and he is concerned they would automatically be extended next year. Manager Jackson said the Village would not extend a grant-funded position without giving the Village Board the opportunity to choose if it wanted to and determine how it would be funded. ARPA-funded positions will end in 2026 when ARPA ends unless the Village Board chooses to put them into the general fund or another funding source. Trustee Buchanan asked again about the 0.5 FTE position that ends in 2022 but is showing in 2023. CFO Drazner listed the five grant-funded positions in the Health Department: 1.0 FTE assistant to the emergency preparedness coordinator, 0.5 FTE COVID-19 testing coordinator, 0.25 FTE COVID-19 testing intern, 1.0 FTE environmental health supervisor, and 1.0 FTE health education manager. The proposed budget recommends these positions continue being funded through ARPA in 2023. Trustee Parakkat clarified that it is currently in the general fund and the Village's recommendation is to fund it through ARPA. President Scaman said the Village Board will receive a memo from the IPLAN meeting and then have a discussion specific to that. Deputy Manager Shelley confirmed the Village's recommendation in the proposed budget to include those positions next year and fund them via ARPA. Trustee Buchanan asked if the $38M deficit between revenue and expenses for the proposed budget is for ARPA plus carryover. CFO Drazner said he put a $20M placeholder in the budget because the ARPA discussion hasn't happened yet, so $20M of the $38M is in the ARPA fund. Three other funds, including water and sewer and Rebuild Illinois were intentionally drawing down on the fund balance to pay for larger capital projects. Trustee Parakkat said his request stands to have the temporary positions not counted towards FTE and he would like it to cover all temporary grant-funded positions and be very transparent with their end dates. President Scaman said it is listed on the organizational chart and asked if he is asking to also see it on the front pages. Trustee Parakkat confirmed that is his request. CFO Drazner said that can be done. Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 Trustee Parakkat said the Health Department had 9 FTE pre-pandemic and is now at 15.75. He said he would like to see a transition back to the pre-pandemic model, understanding that the IPLAN needs to be managed. He would like to focus on specific strategic investments required from a community health perspective as opposed to holding onto a model that is residual from the pandemic. Manager Jackson responded that is exactly what the Village is intending to do by deliberating over the IPLAN to determine what the Village wants to do and how to align the Health Department to be responsive to those health needs directly or indirectly through partnerships. The Village wants to gracefully wind down its commitments to the pandemic so it is recommending maintaining the temporary staffing through 2023 while also determining what it wants to focus on to address those needs so that the Health Department staffing model can reflect that. Trustee Buchanan said she does not feel like the Village needs to go back to pre-pandemic staffing levels because the Village was bare bones and too low and she wouldn't mind some growth. She asked why only the Farmers' Market position is listed and why the epidemiologist, testing coordinator, and testing intern are not included in the recommended FTE changes. President Scaman responded that those are existing positions and not a change. Trustee Enyia agreed with Trustee Buchanan in looking at the FTEs going forward to enable the Health Department to address needs and concerns. He said he wants to fill a need and not chase a number. He mentioned Farmers' Market attendees noticing fewer vendors this year. Trustee Parakkat said he was not suggesting cutting the budget willy nilly but he would like to see justifications for additions or reductions to base decisions on that rather than personal feelings. President Scaman appreciated the feedback and said answers will come from the memo and future opportunities for discussion. She said she supports the expanded Farmers' Market Manager position. Trustee Taglia asked if Vision Zero falls under the Smart Cities initiative. He said he is in support of it as long as it is in conjunction with enforcement. Manager Jackson said Vision Zero gives the opportunity to look at the needs comprehensively across the Village and provide that information to the Village Board to decide policy direction on traffic safety needs. Technology involved might make it a Smart Cities initiative and it will include enforcement. Public Works Director Rob Sproule added that Smart Cities is one aspect of a larger Vision Zero plan and enforcement Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 will have to be looked at. Trustee Taglia asked if partner agency presentations are happening this year because he noticed some changed and he doesn't know why. Manager Jackson responded that the budgets have been kept flat from the previous year for the partner agency requests, with adjustments made to the Arts Council and the Regional Housing Center. The Village was asked to come back to the Village Board to discuss the scope of services before approving next year's Regional Housing Center contract which was staying status quo so the Village will do that on November 21. The Arts Council increase would be to bring back the Sculpture Walk. If the Village Board wants specific partner agencies present, the Village can schedule those. Trustee Taglia said the value of the presentations was to understand. The Village Board does not receive a lot of communications from partner agencies and if it continues to give money without asking questions it is not doing its job. Manager Jackson appreciated the feedback and said the conversations can continue with the Finance Committee about the budget process itself. President Scaman said she enjoys connecting with the partner agencies and suggested inviting an agency to a Village Board meeting in the new year when they have a particular success. Trustee Taglia requested the agencies give the Village Board quarterly summaries. Trustee Taglia asked about two different sales tax figures for 2021. CFO Drazner said one figure included the use tax and the other did not, or one included the home rules sales tax which is dedicated to the CIP Fund and one did not. Trustee Taglia noted the 1.0 FTE for graffiti removal. He said he receives a lot of feedback from residents and he believes it is good for it to be part of the budget but h envisioned it as a 0.5 FTE than a 1.0 FTE. Director Sproule said the Village had discussions on the best way to handle private property graffiti removal. They evaluated the option of hiring a contractor which would have a slower response rate. According to Development Customer Services, there were 200 incidents so far in 2022, which was more than could be accommodated by the Streets Department. The teamsters do not have an option for a half-time position. Director Sproule said he doesn't see one person being solely dedicated to removing graffiti but an additional team member can allow them to accommodate graffiti removal without sacrificing other core services. Trustee Enyia requested a better understanding of the positions that were retitled and reclassified. CFO Drazner said the Village Board will receive a memo. Assistant Village Manager and HR Director Kira Tchang the reclassifications are being driven by operational needs or changes to Village of Oak Park Page 7 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 responsibility or organizational goals. The adjudication intern would allow the Village to partnership with a university and provide the same level of service as a community service coordinator. The property maintenance community development inspector was reorganized from the environmental services control officer. The inspection work happening with environmental services aligns with the work of the Village's regular maintenance inspectors so it makes sense to diffuse that responsibility amongst multiple positions rather than one. That reorganization does not have a financial impact. The office coordinator retitle from the executive secretary is a title change only. The secretary title is outdated and may be something the Village looks at more broadly. The business intelligence officers are being reclassified from systems analysts that are responsible for coding, which has decreased significantly due to improved software. The Village needs staff who can use the business intelligence tools to extract data from our systems so the organization can be more data-driven. The Village struggles to hire and retain IT support and is trying to better align the scope of those positions with a marginal salary increase. The internal affairs sergeant retitle does not have a pay impact and will broaden that position to work within all of the internal affairs and not just youth and community policing, as is the same with the community policing unit sergeant title change from the youth and community policing unit sergeant. These title changes reflect the shifting needs of the Police Department. The sustainability one is to have a singular person who can drive the sustainability initiatives as a third pillar to the Chief DEI Officer and Chief Communications Officer and better align sustainability with the Village Manager's vision and the Village Board's goals and push forward initiatives set forth in the Climate Action Plan. That will have an incremental salary adjustment. Trustee Parakkat noted the $300K in the budget for a DEI assessment next year. He asked if the assessment will provide additional context on staffing needs and if the right sequence is to wait for that assessment before making staffing decisions. He said there is an overlap in DEI scope in the Community Relations Department and asked if synergies can be leveraged going forward. Manager Jackson responded that the DEI presentation is part of the budget process because it is a substantial change to the budget. Dr. Walker will explain the proposal to establish the staffing model throughout Village of Oak Park Page 8 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 the organization and the community. It is a multi-dimensional program and Community Relations does something very specific. The Village is proposing to go through the planning process, establish the racial action plan OP Cares, do community involvement, and collect data points specific to DEI work. Staff training is underway and the Village hopes to engage the Village Board as well. A substantial policy review will be concurrent with planning. Chief DEI Officer Dr. Walker confirmed that data is instrumental to understand and identify needs while thinking through what is needed at a micro level for DEI. The Village is not seeking to prolong the DEI programming. The macro goal is to view the assessment at a high level, to hear the community voice, and to be data-driven and informed around what is needed for DEI while also looking at what is currently happening within the Village internally and externally. Trustee Parakkat noted the $10K fund for the Community Relations Commission (CRC) to disburse which he feels is problematic because of past issues. He would like a model where the CRC makes the recommendations but the final decision is from the Village Board. President Scaman asked Manager Jackson if this should be discussed during the commissions work plan approval. Manager Jackson responded that DEI concepts are being merged into the CRC's work plan so it will look different than in past years and it will be included in the work plan discussion. Trustee Parakkat asked if the $10K is in this year's budget. Manager Jackson confirmed it is represented in the budget because the grants were fully allocated this year to serve that purpose and the Village expects a continuing demand from community groups wanting to do DEI work so the Village is committed to that. President Scaman asked if Trustee Parakkat's question was about the grants process or their existence. Trustee Parakkat said it is about the oversight of how the fund gets disbursed. The ultimate decision needs to be with the Village Board which has fiduciary responsibility. President Scaman said that doesn't necessarily change the line item in the budget. President Scaman asked what is being given up to achieve a 0% levy and what is the long-term effect of approving it for future budgets. Trustee Parakkat said unless the Village has specific guarantees on how the money is going to get spent, with $3.3M going into surplus funds this year and $700K next year, he said he doesn't see a reason to levy taxpayers to set the stage for anything. Village of Oak Park Page 9 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 President Scaman said she understands that every dollar counts for families and she wants to hear from staff on their professional recommendations and if there is room to put a small levy back into the budget that could potentially cost more next year. She said it is a potentially $50-$100 savings on a homeowner's tax bill. Increased vehicle stickers and parking fees can also be hard for a family to budget so she finds taxes more equitable because they are related to property values. Trustee Parakkat said levying anything extra would be going to 5%, 6%, 7%. He said the Village Board has had discussions about making the community more affordable and this is a unique opportunity to take a step in that direction and it is a time-bound opportunity because of the ARPA funding. President Scaman agreed the 0% levy is slightly misleading in terms of what it truly means. Trustee Buchanan agreed it is important to hear the potential adverse effects of a 0% levy. Manager Jackson acknowledged that lowering the base brings in less money over time. He said it is doable and the staff would have pushed back harder if it wasn't. The Village has significant capital needs and is fortunate to have the one-time ARPA funding to avoid issuing too much debt related to public facilities and infrastructure projects. The 3% commitment is a way to manage growth moderately over time. The ARPA funding will end and the Village does not want to be in a position of having to raise taxes to address future capital needs. CFO Drazner said he can see the benefit of wanting to do something for residents during this time of inflation but he understands it will eat away at the revenue over time. As a home rule community, the Village has the discretion to increase the property tax above 3% if really needed. His main concern is not knowing will happen with the pension funding which is dependent on the market and beyond the Village's control. President Scaman said she wants to be sure this decision is not condemning future Boards to a 5% levy, which would hurt residents more. CFO Drazner agreed that residents would have to come up with a greater incremental amount in a future year to make up for it. Trustee Taglia said forgoing a levy increase compounds annually and reducing an increase helps for many years as well. He said he is on the Fire Pension Board and there are mechanisms in place to mitigate bad years. He said the $50-$100 savings for residents will also compound. He said he thinks this is a calculated risk and he doesn't have any issues with it. Trustee Parakkat said large capital expenditures including the police Village of Oak Park Page 10 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 facility and water and sewer are being done for future generations as well. The cost of capital has come down. The Village has a great balance sheet and surplus so he does not see an issue at all. CFO Drazner said the Village will be fine with either scenario and it does not have to be all or nothing; it could be a compromise of 1.5%. President Scaman said 1.5% would be more in her comfort zone and she does not want to see higher than 3% in future years. Manager Jackson asked for clarification if the Village Board is asking staff to look at incremental change to affect the Village's ability to fund some of the capital costs that may get deferred. President Scaman said she is interested in the capital. CFO Drazner said 3% is about $1.2M and the Village has deferred several projects far exceeding that amount. President Scaman recommended saving the levy decision until after the staffing discussion which may have a bigger impact on the budget. Manager Jackson said additional analysis can be done and sent to the Village Board as a memo. Trustee Taglia said he does not support levying a tax against residents when there is a not a particular item. Trustee Parakkat again mentioned the surplus which is money that was levied from residents previously and is available in case something is needed next year. Manager Jackson said the Village Board goal is a 3% levy and it is a policy choice to go above 3% in the future or to cut services to account for increased costs. CFO Drazner added that there will be discussions on a new public facility that could run tens of millions and add a lot of interest and principal annually that the Village would have to pay down. President Scaman said her desire is to stick with the 3% levy if possible and many more conversations will be had, including an important discussion on parking. B. ID 22-364 Update and Discussion on the Process for the Next Round of Distributions by the Village of Oak Park for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds Deputy Manager Shelley said this discussion is about the process for how the Village Board wants to move forward on distributing the remaining ARPA funds. Staff recommendations will be presented. The November 17 meeting is for the Village Board to make its final decision. Deputy Manager Shelley gave an overview of the use of ARPA funds to date. Judith Alexander, chair of The North Avenue District. Has been working Village of Oak Park Page 11 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 since 2013 to revitalize North Avenue. Applying with Oak Park Area Arts Council for $100K to fund public art. This one-time investment will implement the Village Board's goals of economic development, sustainability, racial equality, and community engagement and help the district recover from the pandemic's impact. Urged the Village Board to award the grant because the district needs this investment now. Deputy Manager Shelley presented staff's recommendations for the ARPA funds. President Scaman asked if all trustees are in favor of sending the community requests to the Community Development Citizens Advisory Committee (CDCAC). Trustee Robinson said she is in favor and requested a separate column to identify the organizations that have already received ARPA funds from the Village. She asked if the opportunity for proposals is closed. Deputy Manager Shelley confirmed it is closed. With no further comments from trustees, President Scaman confirmed the Village Board is in favor of sending the community requests to the CDCAC. Deputy Manager Shelley said the Village will make the CDCAC referral a consent agenda item and the amount of available funds for the CDCAC to consider is $3,081,522. The Chamber of Commerce is requesting $16K, Housing Forward is requesting $300K, and the Collaboration for Early Childhood (CEC) is requesting daycare funds. These organizations will present directly to the Village Board on November 17 and not go to CDCAC. President Scaman requested justifications for those requests to be included in the agenda materials. Deputy Manager Shelley confirmed they will be and said the Village will wait until after November 17 to send the referral to the CDCAC. Trustee Robinson asked why there are two numbers for the sustainability capital improvement projects/parking fund deficit. Deputy Manager Shelley explained that one is for FY22 and one is for FY23. Trustee Robinson said she will need substantiation for the Health Department positions and the data she requested during the IPLAN discussion. She needs substantiation on why COVID-19 testing is needed on an ongoing basis for the Health Department to meet the needs of the community. Trustee Robinson thought the Village had set aside $300K for the alternative calls for service. Manager Jackson responded that the amount is $350K. Trustee Robinson thought the special event fee reduction was $6650 for FY23 and more than 10K for FY22. Assistant Manager Tchang confirmed it Village of Oak Park Page 12 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 was $6500 for FY22 and a $10K estimate for FY23, for a total of $16,500. Trustee Robinson said a better balance needs to be created between the community requests and these operational needs so the Village sets aside a fair amount to be directed by community organizations. She said that the Village does not need to allocate all of the ARPA funds this year. Deputy Manager Shelley said the Village summarized the ARPA fund distributions to date because some partners also receive CARES funds and CDBG funds. Trustee Parakkat compared ARPA funds to an addictive drug and he worries it will be difficult to wean the community off them. He said he would like to see the ARPA funds used up as early as possible because their dependence can be detrimental to the community in the long run. He agreed with Trustee Robinson's desire to create a better balance about their allocation. Trustee Parakkat called attention to the lost revenue of the parking fund deficit of more than $5.7M. He said if ARPA did not exist, it would have probably been taken from the general fund or some other fund based on tax levy. Trustee Parakkat asked if the $16,500 special event fee reduction figure had been finalized. Deputy Manager Shelley said everything is being proposed based on prior conversations. Trustee Taglia said he thought the $10K special event fee reduction estimate would be less than $6500. He said he sees Trustee Parakkat's point about ARPA being an ongoing obligation and he also sees Trustee Robinson's point that additional needs may come a year from now that could not be funded if all ARPA funds are distributed now. Trustee Taglia asked if all $3.5M has been disbursed to partner agencies. He requested feedback to know the outcomes of that funding. He asked if matching grants could be done where the Village gives half and the organization raises the other half. Deputy Manager Shelley responded that she can discuss what that structure would look like with the Finance Department and provide more information. Manager Jackson said it could be feasible to make it a criteria as part of the evaluation process but there are other timing practicalities required by ARPA for committing and expending the funds. Trustee Taglia gave the example of the Village giving $400K to the Community Recreation Center and the Park District had to get other organizations to pool the funds and it worked. Village of Oak Park Page 13 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 President Scaman said the CDCAC can add a question to the application that asks if the agency has the capability to identify a matching grant, which would inform the Village that its investment would go further. Trustee Taglia asked if any organizations suggested a matching grant to increase their likelihood of getting funded. Deputy Manager Shelley said the application asks if they have any partners but does not specifically ask about matching grants. Trustee Parakkat noted that some of the project costs were higher than what the organization was requesting. President Scaman said she anticipates the November 17 agenda to be extremely full and she requested putting the Chamber, Housing Forward, and CEC items on the consent agenda and then pull them if need be. Deputy Manager Shelley said the November 17 is a Finance Committee meeting to begin with ARPA and then move into the budget. President Scaman asked trustees if they wished to hear the organizations' presentations. Trustee Robinson said she hesitates to put them on consent because the Village has already given those organizations ARPA funds so she'd like to know which organizations have not yet received ARPA funding. She said she is willing to wait and see what supporting documentation is provided. President Scaman appreciated the feedback of wanting to spread the funding to new agencies. She asked Manager Jackson to make the decision as the information is brought forward in formulating the November 17 agenda. Manager Jackson said he doesn't foresee a challenge in putting it on the Regular Agenda. Trustee Parakkat agreed with Trustee Taglia's suggestion to have an additional meeting with the partner agencies before solidifying the budget, possibly next Thursday. President Scaman said she desires having a meaningful dialogue with agencies in the new year so long as the Village Board is getting the information and nothing has changed. She asked if the other trustees feel an additional meeting is needed to bring in all of the partner agencies and hear about their plans even if their budget is staying the same. Trustee Buchanan said she did not need an additional meeting. Trustee Taglia requested that the organizations provide a year-end summary to the Village Board. Village of Oak Park Page 14 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 Trustee Parakkat said his worry is rubber stamping it through. Even though nothing has changed, it is still millions of dollars to external agencies without any oversight or accountability. Trustee Enyia said he did not need an additional meeting. President Scaman said she enjoys hearing from the partner agencies but does not feel the need to put it into the budget season. Staff is hearing the request to more actively engage the agencies and for the Village Board to receive an annual or quarterly report in a time frame that works for the agencies. Trustee Buchanan asked if the report request would be for all agencies, which President Scaman. Trustee Buchanan said she knows the Village staff works with the agencies to disburse the funds so she relies on the staff to ensure the agencies are meeting the grant deliverables. Trustee Taglia said it shouldn't be too difficult to request a summary before the Village Board votes on December 5. Manager Jackson said the workload impact on staff would have to be assessed as well as how imposing that new requirement would impact the agencies when they have already been told what the process would be. Assistant Director of Development Customer Services Cam Davis said the Village Board set specific goals for the agencies to achieve with the ARPA funding so he understands the value receiving a report back. He said the regular annual contributions to partner agencies have a reporting mechanism to the Village which he is happy to share with the Village Board. President Scaman reiterated that the regular partner agencies already report to staff. The majority of trustees do not require an additional meeting for this purpose. Staff are hearing that any information that can be provided from the partner agencies to the Village Board at appropriate times and spaces will be helpful. Trustee Parakkat said it is a question of accountability and having a review process so that an organization does not receive funding simply because it has in the past. If staff is already doing that, he would like to see it before putting the Village Board's name behind it. President Scaman said that is being done and the Village Board needs to trust that the staff is fulfilling its responsibility under this Village Manager form of government. VI. Adjourn Village of Oak Park Page 15 Printed on 1/18/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes November 3, 2022 It was moved by Trustee Robinson, seconded by Trustee Enyia to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 9:10 P.M., Thursday November 3, 2022. Respectfully Submitted, Deputy Clerk Hansen Village of Oak Park Page 16 Printed on 1/18/2023