Finance Committee Meeting

1 FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 2 Friday, August 15, 2025 3 (Approved Version) 4 5 1. Call to Order 6 The August 15, 2025 meeting of the Finance Committee was called to order by Chairperson Denise 7 Bhirdo at 11:00 A.M. 8 9 2. Roll Call 10 Present: Chairperson Denise Bhirdo and members Louise Howson, Mike Laszkiewicz and Andy Woerfel 11 Absent: Member Brigid White 12 Staff: Finance Director/Treasurer Vlad Gannik; Parks Director Erik Linczmaier (present for a portion of 13 item 6.a. only) 14 Other: Adam Ruechel of Baird (via Zoom) 15 16 3. Approval of the Agenda 17 Motion by Howson, seconded by Laszkiewicz, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried – all 18 ayes. 19 20 4. Approve Meeting Minutes: July 28, 2025 21 Chair Bhirdo requested several amendments to the July 28, 2025 meeting minutes: 22 ● On page 2, she questioned the accuracy of a statement attributed to Mike Laszkiewicz that "financial 23 experts" had advised raising taxes, noting that financial advisors typically do not tell municipalities 24 whether to raise taxes. 25 ● On page 3, she questioned whether Baird had specifically advised increasing taxes because of 26 anticipated negative impacts from the TIDs. Laszkiewicz indicated this was from a quote at a board 27 meeting but was open to adjusting the language. 28 ● On page 4, Bhirdo requested clarification regarding the statement about funds being transferred to 29 balance the budget, suggesting it should specify "from the general fund reserves." 30 31 A discussion ensued between Laszkiewicz and Gannik regarding the audit report's figures, with 32 Laszkiewicz noting that the auditor's report showed the village ended the year with a positive variance 33 to budget. Gannik explained how different accounting figures were reconciled. 34 ● On page 6, line 22, there was clarification that board members have village-provided computers, 35 while citizen members do not. 36 37 Motion by Laszkiewicz, seconded by Howson, to approve the minutes as amended. Motion carried – all 38 ayes. 39 40 5. Comments, Correspondence and Concerns from the Public 41 There were no public comments. 42 43 6. Discussion/Action Items 44 b. Wheeler Report 1  Minutes of the August 15, 2025 Meeting of the Finance Committee - approved 1 The committee reviewed the Wheeler Report subscription service on page 88 of the packet. Howson 2 suggested the need to establish a process for reviewing the subscription content efficiently. She noted 3 that multiple committee chairs might need to review the information and questioned whether a process 4 should be put in place to ensure the proper people are reviewing it. She acknowledged it would be 5 difficult to keep up with all the issues as they are published. Bhirdo suggested possibly discussing this 6 process at the board level. The committee discussed the proposed $1,600 annual subscription expense. 7 8 Motion by Laszkiewicz, seconded by Howson, to recommend to the Village Board approval of the 9 Wheeler Report subscription. Motion carried – all ayes. 10 11 c. Consumer Price Index Update 12 The Administrator had included the committee’s requested CPI information in the meeting packet. 13 Howson noted that the Consumer Price Index update supported the anticipated 3% step increase that 14 had been previously discussed. She indicated that while the numbers weren't as positive as one might 15 hope, they aligned with previous projections of approximately 2.7%. She mentioned that the Consumer 16 Price Index had come out that day and wasn't as favorable, but it wouldn't affect these figures. No 17 changes were made to the previously reviewed and tentatively approved COLA included in the draft 18 operating budget. 19 20 a. Review Draft Budget 21 Bhirdo praised the quality of the budget preparation work done by Gannik with Ruechel. Laszkiewicz 22 agreed, noting that the strategy to target the village budget at $2.4 million made sense and appeared 23 achievable based on current run rates. 24 25 Laszkiewicz commended the work done with WIDOR input to better understand the TID implications on 26 the aggregate budget. He questioned how the current budget might impact the 2027 budget year but 27 felt the village reserves would be in good standing if the budget is executed as planned. 28 29 Gannik emphasized the importance of being cautious with assessor information after previous 30 significant errors. When asked if he was satisfied with the state's responses regarding the significant 31 changes in TIDs due to the assessor’s correction. Gannik confirmed that the explanation matched what 32 Ruechel, and Amber from CLA, had concluded in December 2024/January 2025. 33 34 Laszkiewicz made several suggestions to improve future budget presentations: 35 ● For account changes that are substantial, he suggested using bridge chart summaries to easily 36 identify variances and their causes. 37 ● He noted unusual negative numbers in the debt service fund that could benefit from explanatory 38 notations. 39 ● He inquired about the CIP reserve fund audit that Gannik had previously mentioned. 40 41 Gannik explained that they had found the previous Finance Director’s spreadsheet detailing the reserve 42 account amounts but still needed to align it with auditor reports and the village's books. Ruechel 43 mentioned they had hired a new CPA who would help with the reconciliation process, starting by 44 reviewing records from 2021 forward. 45 46 Laszkiewicz inquired about debt service figures, and Ruechel explained how TID funds were now being 47 used to offset debt service, allowing room tax revenue to be redirected to the capital fund. This led to a 2  Minutes of the August 15, 2025 Meeting of the Finance Committee - approved 1 broader discussion about debt management and the implications of reallocating funds from the 2 broadband bond if that became necessary. 3 4 Bhirdo asked if there were any changes or comments about the draft budget. Committee members 5 offered no revisions. Chair Bhirdo expressed surprise that the committee seemed satisfied with a 6 proposed $0.20 per $1,000 valuation reduction in the mill rate, which would save approximately $100 7 on taxes for a $500,000 home. She had expected the committee to push for larger reductions after the 8 previous year's 10.8% tax increase after the atmosphere of abuse that was inflicted. 9 10 Bhirdo proposed reducing the budget from $3.19 million to $3.1 million, suggesting: 11 ● Moving the $150,000 Village Hall engineering project from 2026 to 2027 12 ● Working with Eric from Parks to adjust various items in his budget 13 ● Creating a contingency fund as discussed by the Parks Committee 14 15 She explained the challenge of reducing the levy further due to state limitations on levy increases in 16 future years, noting that municipalities are only allowed to raise their levy by the amount of net new 17 construction or through debt service. 18 19 The committee agreed with Bhirdo's proposal to reduce the budget further. Ruechel explained the 20 implications of reducing the levy, noting that it would limit future options as the village would only be 21 able to increase its levy through net new construction, debt, or referendum. 22 23 7. Administrators Report: Propane 24 The committee discussed the administrator's report regarding propane services. Andy Woerfel reported 25 that he had received quotes from different suppliers with significant price variations. He noted that 26 Gasco had quoted $1.45 per gallon while Ferrell was currently at $1.90, with the Co-op spot price at 27 $1.71. The committee discussed tank ownership versus leasing and the pricing implications. Woerfel 28 volunteered to reach out to suppliers to get consolidated quotes for all village buildings and tanks, 29 working with Gannik to gather the necessary information about the village's propane usage. 30 31 8. Matters to be Placed on a Future Agenda or Referred to a Committee, Official or Employee 32 No specific matters were identified for future agendas. 33 34 9. Next Meeting 35 The committee scheduled their next meeting for Monday, August 25, 2025, at 3:00 PM. The focus will be 36 on the Capital Improvement Plan, with additional discussion of the 2026 budget, as needed. 37 38 10. Adjourn 39 Motion by Howson, seconded by Laszkiewicz, to adjourn the meeting at 12:31 PM. Motion carried – all 40 ayes. 41 42 Minutes by Sarah Bertges, Administrative Assistant 3