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04/21/10: Minutes - April 21, 2010 - Budget Workshop
The Hillcrest Village Board of Trustees met in special session Wednesday, April
21, 2010 for a Budget Workshop, at the Hillcrest Village Hall. Trustee
Mecklenburg stated that Clerk Adams had advised him prior to the meeting that
President Hicks and Trustee McMullin would not be in attendance tonight due to
work conflicts. Trustee Mecklenburg stated that Trustee Stewart is absent for
unknown reasons. Clerk Adams advised the Board of Trustees that they needed to
make a motion to nominate a President Pro Tem. Trustee Elliott made a motion to
nominate Trustee Mecklenburg as President Pro Tem for the meeting; Trustee
Salsbury seconded the motion. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg called the meeting
to order at 7:21 p.m. answering the roll call were Trustees Jim Mecklenburg,
Rich Elliott, Randal Salsbury and Trevor Unger. President Hicks and Trustee Jim
McMullin was absent due to a conflicts with their places of employment and
Trustee Stewart was absent for unknown reasons.
President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated the purpose of the workshop is to discuss the budget for
fiscal year 2010 – 2011. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated that he analyzed
all of the information that he received from the Trustees and when he added up
all of the projected expenses it totaled $472,034. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg
stated when he totaled up all of the expenses they came to $533,000 with the
total project revenue comes to $293, 354 including MFT and water department
revenue. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated at this point in time it appears
as if the Village will have $148,000 more in projected expenses than we have in
projected revenues.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated the first thing
he would like to address is the general fund balance of $293,354. President Pro
Tem Mecklenburg stated that he took the top eight revenue sources for fiscal
year 08-09 and determined that the revenues were lower in the last half of the
year so, he took that figure and multiplied it by two to determine the projected
revenue for fiscal year 2010 – 2011. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated the
reason he used the top eight sources of revenue is because that makes up ninety
percent of the Village’s income plus motor fuel tax revenue and the water
revenues for a total figure of $293,354; this is an educated guess. President
Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated this figure maybe correct or it may be too low and it
may be high it just depends on what the economy does the one thing we do know is
that this economy is lower than the great depression.
President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated that when he was on the Board of Trustees in the 1990’s the
Village had revenues somewhere between $350,000 to $375,000 and at that time
there was no police department, there was only one maintenance man and the Clerk
and the Treasurer were only in the office one night a week. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated there were very few projects the Board of Trustees only spent
money to maintain the streets and the water system, we ran things as close to
the bone as possible and the way things are looking right now that is where we
are headed. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated if you have ideas about
projects such as a new salt bin we will have to table that and do the best we
can with what we have.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated as far as the
finance department goes the finance department is responsible for the payroll
and the payroll taxes. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated that President Hicks
in the budget that he submitted included $35,000 for a police officer and
$36,000 for a maintenance man for a total of $71,000 nowhere else in the
Village’s expenses can we save $71,000. Clerk Adams stated that when Officer
Messer discovered that the Village is an Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund
employer he was not very happy because if he works one quarter of an hour over
the 600 hours maximum his pension will be in jeopardy due to this new
information Officer Messer has decided that whatever come first June 30th or the
600 hours he will have to leave at that point. Clerk Adams informed the Board of
Trustees that the legislature is proposing a change in the law that would not
allow retired police officer to work in law enforcement because that is
considered double dipping and if that law passes effective January 1, 2011 the
Village’s theory of hiring retired officers in order to save money on training
will go right out the window. Clerk Adams stated even if the Village has a
retired police officer on board as soon as this law passes they would have to
resign so, this is something that you might want to consider when you are
hiring.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated the Village has had some
negative experiences with the hiring of police officers and there is the expense
of outfitting them, maintaining the squad car, problems with retirees and
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. Trustee Salsbury stated that he thinks the
Village should have an officer but, only if they work peak hours and not the
same hours every day. Clerk Adams stated that right now Officer Messer is
working with the State Training and Standards Board to get paperwork submitted
and things back on track. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated that he would
like to have a police department; he would like to have a lot of things he would
also like to be able to afford those things as well. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated that the blue squad car needs $1,300 worth of repairs
however; the main problem can be fixed for $350. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg
stated the department manager; President Hicks would like the Boards opinion on
which option is the best option at this time due to budget constraints; it was
the consensus of the Board of Trustees to fix the main problem which is
estimated to cost $350. There was a brief discussion of the pros and cons of
having a police department.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated that the
Board of Trustees needs to cut $160,000 out of the budget and we can do that by
taking the police officer and one maintenance man being taken out of the budget.
Trustee Elliott stated whatever happened to the discussion we had about
instituting a Hillcrest sales tax. Clerk Adams stated that Attorney Temple has
the some paperwork concerning that issue however; he has not had the time to
really research the issue due to the fact that the law offices of Dennis
Schumacher were dissolved and the Village has been giving him plenty of other
issues that need to be addressed. Clerk Adams stated that after Attorney Temple
has had time to research the issue then we will have to see what procedures the
Village will have to follow in order to make that come to fruition. Trustee
Elliott asked how long it would take to get the ball rolling. Clerk Adams stated
that she is under the impression that the issue has to pass by referendum and
that would not be possible until next April and if it is voted down the issue is
dead. Clerk Adams stated she thinks the process will take about eighteen months
so; there would not be any immediately relief; is it going to help, yes, will it
take time definitely.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated the Village’s
main revenue sources are sales tax, income tax and real estate tax. President
Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated the largest revenue is sales tax which is affected by
the economy people are not spending money; there are losing their jobs and they
don’t know how long they will be unemployed so, they are not spending money.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated real estate taxes are affected by the poor
housing market, people owe more on their homes than they are worth and
properties are in foreclosure. Clerk Adams stated at this current time there are
over one hundred properties in Ogle County in foreclosure. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated that income tax is related to jobs which we all know that
unemployment is high and the Governor wants to reduce the income tax that is
paid to the municipalities by thirty percent which is approximately $28,000 for
Hillcrest.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated when he forecasts
revenues should he take the last months revenue, should he take the last four
months revenue or should he take the last six months; that is the judgment call
that needs to be made. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated the $394,000 the he
projected could go higher or it could go lower. Trustee Elliott stated figure
revenues on the low end and expenses on the high end. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated that he would prefer to figure revenues low and expenses high
that way if he is wrong that means the Village will have a little extra in the
budget instead of the other way around.
Clerk Adams stated that building
permits will be impacted; the biggest project last year was the addition on her
home; the remaining permits consisted of decks, porches, fences, sheds or pools
and those are usually thirty dollar permits. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg
stated but we still have to have a building inspector. Clerk Adams stated the
biggest building permit to be issued this year is a permit for the building that
Tru Green is leasing and that permit was for just over $300 for a two thousand
square foot addition.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated the next part
of the packet is all of the expenses that relate to your individual departments
and if you left a line item blank it was filled in for you based on last year’s
budgets. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated look at your budget, take a look
at everyone’s budget and if there is a big number there or something that
doesn’t make sense ask so, we can look at it and discuss it. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated it is good to have fresh eyes and we always budget for the
bare necessities. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg summarized the major expenses.
Trustee Elliott stated that he thought the garbage had been moved from Health
& Welfare to the Utility Department. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated
that the change has not been made yet. Trustee Elliott stated to Clerk Adams
didn’t you make a suggestion that the Village charge $1 for recycling. Clerk
Adams stated yes, that is something we can do to offset that costs and that will
save approximately $3,000 but, you can’t vote on that this is a workshop. Clerk
Adams stated when recyclables were doing well the Village did make a little
money on them but, we have never broken even.
Clerk Adams state that
there are a number of things that need to be addressed in the water department
such as the new rate structure is not doing what it was designed to do by
dropping the base rate a number of our customers bills have actually decreased
so, you need to decide if you are going to reinstate the base rate and if you do
are you going to keep the price and the number of gallons the same. Clerk Adams
stated it was also suggested that the Village institute an availability rate for
residential customer as well as non-residential customers. Clerk Adams stated
that she had done a little research to see how other communities are handling
their fee structures and Pecatonica charges a onetime non-refundable application
fee of $100 for water and garbage services to all new residents. Clerk Adams
stated that the current water deposit is sixty-five dollars and she is
recommending to the Board that it be raised to one hundred dollars. Clerk Adams
also suggested that a larger portion of her salary be taken out of the water
department. Clerk Adams explained the process that she has to go through when
the rate structure and the water route are changed. Trustee Elliott stated that
if the Board of Trustees institutes an availability fee then they will not have
to reinstate the base water rate. Clerk Adams stated the whole point of having a
rate study done was to build up cash reserves for water main replacement
however; we are actually losing money if you only reinstate the base rate you
are right back where you started you are not ahead. Clerk Adams stated that
there are some residents that are not using a thousand gallons a month so; they
are only paying for garbage. Clerk Adams stated that Jim Sparber of Baxter &
Woodman Consulting Engineers asked about the water billing and she told him what
had happened and his response was that he was totally shocked that some people
were not even using a thousand gallons of water a month. Clerk Adams responded
that we live in the Midwest where people are naturally frugal, we are in a
recession and people are doing everything they can to save
money.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated after that conversation we
definitely have a better handle on how the water department is operating, now we
need to start in the utility department and make that self sufficient. Clerk
Adams stated we need to get the utility department to where we can replace one
block of water main a year at $90,000 a year and as it stands we cannot do that.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated the water department is self sufficient for
the most part but, at some point we are going to have to replace water meters.
Clerk Adams stated we are going to have to start replacing batteries soon and
put together a contingency plan to replace gate values, buffalo boxes and fire
hydrants. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated we need to make a concerted
effort to make the water department financially sound. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated when those water meters were installed we took $155,000 from
the general fund to do that and it has not been paid back; that is why the water
department is not self sufficient. Clerk Adams stated the Village needs to
reinstate the base rate and institute the availability fee. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated we really need to compare how many communities pay $20 for
water and garbage service.
Trustee Unger asked about money for repairing
streets. Clerk Adams stated at the May meeting Mr. Sparber will come before you
with a MFT resolution for this calendar year for road salt and cold patch.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated that he appropriated money for a
part-time treasurer because he is not suppose to be doing that job and I figured
just a little high. Clerk Adams stated that if the Board hires a part-time
treasurer that $300 a month for insurance is off the table. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated the first pass at the budget is the scariest because that is
where your revenues and your expenses are the farther apart.
There being
no further business to transact, a motion to adjourn was made by Trustee
Elliott; and was seconded by Trustee Unger. Vote was as follows: Mecklenburg –
yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes and Unger – yes. The vote passed unanimously.
The workshop adjourned at 8:42 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Teresa J.
Adams,
Village Clerk
Posted: 4/21/2010 |
Updated: 4/21/2010