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06/03/09: Minutes - June 3, 2009 - Budget Workshop
The Hillcrest Village Board of Trustees met Wednesday, June 3, 2009 for a Budget
Workshop at the Hillcrest Village Hall. Village President Richard Hicks called
the meeting to order at 7:03 P.M. Answering roll call were Trustees Jim
Mecklenburg, Rich Elliott, Randy Salsbury, Jim McMullin, Trevor Unger and Vicki
Stewart.
OLD BUSINESS
President Hicks asked Treasurer Kilmer to
address the Board of Trustees concerning the fiscal year 2009-2010
budget.
Treasurer Kilmer provided the Board of Trustees with a copy of
the budget as originally proposed, the budget cuts submitted by the Trustees, an
overview of the proposed budget with the budget cuts, a listing of all budget
cuts proposed by the Treasurer with explanation of each and a detailed listing
by line item number of all budget numbers including all budget
cuts.
Treasurer Kilmer explained the three different types of funds; the
motor fuel tax fund, the water fund and the general fund.
Treasurer
Kilmer discussed the projected revenues for fiscal year 2010. Trustee
Mecklenburg addressed the reduction in revenue the Village had experienced and
would continue to experience. Trustee Mecklenburg discussed the increase in
revenue the Village may receive if the Village were to have the sewer system
installed.
President Hicks addressed the Board of Trustees concerning a
letter he received from Illinois State Representative Robert W. Pritchard and
Illinois State Senator J. Bradley Burzynski. President Hicks stated the letter
explained in the new stimulus package being passed Illinois would receive
$110,000,000 to distribute to local municipalities through the motor fuel tax
fund. President Hicks went on to say the Village of Hillcrest may receive
$24,561 in addition to the standard motor fuel tax allotment for the 2010 fiscal
year. President Hicks stated he called the engineer (Steve Naber) for a
breakdown on what the motor fuel tax funds can be used for and he shared the
list with the Board of Trustees. President Hicks discussed some possible uses
for the motor fuel tax fund for fiscal year 2010. President Hicks suggested
Trustee Stewart and Trustee Unger have a meeting with the engineer (Steve Naber)
concerning the construction of the back parking lot.
Trustee Mecklenburg
reiterated the need for sewer to bring business to the Village.
Trustee
Salsbury asked about the new recycling place, the new junk yard. President Hicks
informed Trustee Salsbury the Board could not discuss the topic. Trustee
Salsbury stated one of his neighbors had called the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency. Trustee Stewart informed Trustee Salsbury it was not the type
of business the Village was after. Trustee Salsbury asked if the Village would
be imposing fines on the business. President Hicks informed Trustee Salsbury the
Board could not discuss the topic. Clerk Adams added the reason the Board could
not discuss the topic was because it was not on the agenda. Clerk Adams stated
the Board of Trustees cannot violate the open meetings act by discussing items
not on the agenda.
President Hicks addressed the Board of Trustees
concerning the cost of sewer. President Hicks informed the Board of Trustees
that in 1978 the cost of sewer would have been $41,000 but, the Board of
Trustees at that time denied the sewer project. President Hicks stated five
years ago the price was 3.5 million dollars, now the price is 10.4 million
dollars. President Hicks stated the cost only continues to increase.
President Hicks suggested cutting the elective projects from the budget
that the motor fuel tax fund might be able to pay for. Trustee Stewart informed
the Trustees the back parking lot had already been cut from her budget.
President Hicks suggested cutting the pricing for the curbing project.
President Hicks discussed the possibility of paying the health insurance
and a portion of the maintenance personnel salary out of the motor fuel tax
fund. President Hicks informed the Board he would be meeting with the engineer
(Steve Naber) to find out more information on using motor fuel tax
funds.
President Hicks discussed a few projects (shouldering and snow
removal) the street department would need to take care of after the sewer
project was completed therefore, leaving more projects open for the motor fuel
tax fund to cover.
Trustee Mecklenburg stated the Baxter & Woodman
Consulting Engineers bills were currently causing the Village problems. The
invoices were averaging $50,000 - $60,000 per month. President Hicks stated he
told the Treasurer to hold off on paying the Baxter & Woodman Consulting
Engineers bills for now, until he heard from the bank (concerning a loan).
Trustee Mecklenburg asked if Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers was
prepared to wait for payment until the bank responded. President Hicks stated
“Yes, Baxter & Woodman knows the situation the Village is in and will wait
for payment”.
President Hicks stated the budget cuts had brought down the
deficit from $73,900 to $38,700. Treasurer Kilmer stated the budget cuts would
cause very strict budget spending. The only way the budget cuts would work would
be to maintain a tight budget. Treasurer Kilmer explained all elective items had
been cut from the budget. Treasurer Kilmer stated the only items the motor fuel
tax fund could do to help relieve the general fund budget would be any portion
of salary or health insurance paid to maintenance personnel, if approved by
Illinois Department of Transportation.
Treasurer Kilmer explained the
Motor Fuel Tax budget. Treasurer Kilmer stated motor fuel tax funds had to be
pre-approved by Illinois Department of Transportation in order to be spent.
Treasurer Kilmer stated the motor fuel tax budget would always show deficit
spending due to the fact all money available to be used in motor fuel tax fund
has to be appropriated in order to be spent on a project.
President Hicks
asked if the safety issues concerning the water tower had been budgeted for.
Trustee Elliott discussed the possibility of being able to address the safety
issues concerning the water tower in 2013 and 2014.
Treasurer Kilmer
explained how to read the individual line items in the budget. Clerk Adams
suggested Treasurer Kilmer put together a cheat sheet for the Trustees so they
can have a better understanding of the accounting line item
numbers.
Trustee Mecklenburg discussed the finance budget. Trustee
Mecklenburg stated the majority of the finance budget had to do with the payroll
and taxes. Trustee Mecklenburg explained the different types of taxes and how
they had increased. Trustee Mecklenburg stated the only way to decrease the
finance budget was to reduce the work week for hourly employees, layoff
employees or the Trustees could decide not accept any pay for meetings.
Treasurer Kilmer asked for feedback on the budget cuts that had been
made. Treasurer Kilmer explained there was still a $38,000 deficit after all
budget cuts had been entered.
President Hicks suggested cutting $5,500
from the administration budget. President Hicks stated his unhappiness in
cutting the donations. Clerk Adams stated the Board of Trustees had been very
generous in the past few years, especially to Ogle County Sheriffs Department.
Treasurer Kilmer explained the donations that had been provided in the last few
years, a onetime donation to Ogle County Sheriff’s Department for the police
motorcycle and a $500 donation to C.A.N. (Community Action Network) for the
Needy Family Food and Toy Drive which is an annual donation. Clerk Adams stated
she would like to have the opportunity to notify C.A.N. (Community Action
Network) if the Board of Trustees chooses to cut the donation from the
budget.
Trustee Stewart expressed her concern on the utilities line item
being cut. Treasurer Kilmer apologized for listing the utilities in the
incorrect line item number. Treasurer Kilmer stated the utilities would be
placed back in the correct line item number and restored to the proper amount.
Treasurer Kilmer explained the budget deficit would increase by
$2,600.
President Hicks urged the Trustees to meet with Treasurer Kilmer
to go over the budget one on one.
Trustee Mecklenburg explained to the
Board of Trustees if only 50% of the street department’s salaries could be paid
from motor fuel tax fund the total deficit would be $38,000. Trustee Mecklenburg
stated finding out about the permitted uses of the motor fuel tax fund is very
important.
Clerk Adams informed the Board of Trustees the postage related
to the mass mailings had increased. Clerk Adams stated she would be checking
with the Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers to find out if some of the
expenses could be reimbursed when the funding becomes available. Clerk Adams
explained some of the different types of yearly mass mailings the Village has to
process, along with additional types of mass mailings Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency may mandate. Clerk Adams explained the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency can issue mandates at any time, such as the pump house
addition; the Village is unable to budget for those types of items.
President Hicks suggested that the Board of Trustees sit down
individually with Treasurer Kilmer to go over the budget.
The Board of
Trustees discussed different names for the water department to include water,
sewer and refuse. The Board decided the Water Department would be called the
Utility Department. Treasurer Kilmer explained the difference between the
enterprise fund and other funds.
Trustee Mecklenburg suggested the
Trustees meet with Treasurer Kilmer, one on one, within the next ten days to
discuss the budget. Trustee Mecklenburg stated the Board of Trustees could have
another meeting before the end of the month to review final budget numbers.
Trustee Mecklenburg stated the appropriation would have to be passed after the
budget. Trustee Mecklenburg explained the appropriation is the legal spending
limit the Village is allowed to spend. Trustee Mecklenburg informed the Board of
Trustees a supplemental appropriation would need to be passed for fiscal year
2009. Trustee Mecklenburg informed the Board of Trustees the appropriation
ordinance would have to be passed within the first quarter of the fiscal year;
Clerk Adams confirmed that. Treasurer Kilmer stated the tax levy would have to
be passed after the appropriation ordinance.
Trustee Mecklenburg asked
if there was any news from Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers on the
stimulus money. President Hicks stated there was still a lot of paperwork to
turn in. Trustee Mecklenburg asked President Hicks if he had any idea if the
sewer project was within the scope of 2009 or 2010. President Hicks stated bids
should start in September 2009 followed by the award, the construction and then
the money would be received. Trustee Mecklenburg asked if the Village would
receive the promissory letter and then the money. Trustee Mecklenburg asked
where the Village stood on the contract with Rochelle. President Hicks stated
Rochelle had the contract and was reviewing it. President Hicks stated he was
waiting on a date to sit down and discuss the contract with Rochelle. After the
discussion President Hicks stated he would bring the contract to the Board of
Trustees for approval and Mayor Olson would take the contract to his City
Council for approval. After the approval process the sewer project would
begin.
Trustee McMullin stated at the last workshop the Board of Trustees
discussed raising the sales tax. Trustee McMullin asked if the Board of Trustees
would still like to pursue the sales tax increase. President Hicks responded
“Yes”. Treasurer Kilmer informed the Board of Trustees the sales tax increase
would have to be a referendum on the ballot and passed by 2/3 majority of the
voters. Clerk Adams stated the next election would be in February 2010. Clerk
Adams informed the Board of Trustees it takes approximately 18 months to put a
referendum on the ballot. President Hicks suggested having a referendum on the
ballot for the following year. Clerk Adams asked President Hicks if he would
like her to look into the details of placing the referendum on the ballot.
President Hicks asked Clerk Adams to look into the sales tax increase when she
had time. Trustee Elliott asked if the Village would have to notify the
merchants and the State. Clerk Adams stated the merchants would be notified
after the paperwork had been filed with the County Clerk.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No public comment at this time.
There being no further business to
transact, a motion to adjourn was made by Trustee Stewart; Trustee Mecklenburg
seconded the motion. Vote was as follows: Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes,
Salsbury – yes, McMullin – yes, Unger – yes and Stewart - yes. The vote passed
unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 P.M.
Respectfully
submitted,
Sarah D. Kilmer
Recording Secretary
Posted: 6/3/2009 |
Updated: 6/3/2009