VILLAGE OF NORTH AURORA
FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
December 12, 2016
CALL TO ORDER
Trustee Laura Curtis called the meeting to order.
ROLL CALL
In attendance: Trustee Chris Faber, Trustee Mike Lowery, Trustee Laura Curtis, Village Administrator Steve Bosco and Finance Director Bill Hannah.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS – None
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. Approval of the Finance Committee Minutes dated October 10, 2016
Motion for approval made by Trustee Faber and seconded by Trustee Lowery. All in favor. Motion approved.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Budget Amendment #1 for FY 2016-17
Finance Director Hannah discussed the proposed budget amendment for the current fiscal year. The first item was the proposed closing out of the Village’s revolving loan fund due to notification from the DCEO that the funds on hand in the Village’s revolving loan fund no longer must be restricted for new loans and may be expended in any manner the Village wishes. The Village has approximately $338,000 in the fund. Finance Director Hannah said that the funds must be transferred to other funds and the fund closed out. After discussing options internally staff said two areas seem to make the most sense. One was a transfer of a portion of the funds to the Capital Projects Fund as long-term projections indicate that capital project needs such as roads and infrastructure may be greater than available funding over the next five years. Hannah said $213,000 could be transferred to the Capital Project Fund. The other area of need was funding for the Police Pension Trust Fund in order to make a contribution to the fund over and above the required contribution this year and help fund the Village’s net pension liability of $10,001,810 as of May 31, 2016. In order to do that the remaining $125,000 would be transferred to the General Fund and then expensed through the Police Department budget as an additional pension expense, then received in the Trust Fund.
Trustee Faber asked how the allocation of the two areas was developed. Finance Director Hannah said it seemed to be a reasonable allocation based on the needs of each area but that it could be modified either way. All were in favor of the proposed transfers.
Finance Director Hannah then reviewed the other areas of the budget amendment addressing staffing. One was the retainment of the part-time code enforcement officer for 10 hours a week at a cost of about $18,000 to provide some coverage during evening and weekend hours. The part-time previously worked about 22 hours per week and the position was initially combined into a new full-time code enforcement officer position that has been filled. Trustees discussed the need for the additional hours and if other options were available. Administrator Bosco explained the code enforcement issues that need to be addressed during non-regular working hours. After discussion, the Committee recommended that the need for additional hours be discussed and re-evaluated during the during the upcoming budget process.
Finance Director Hannah explained the other proposed staffing change which was the creation of a full-time Public Works Director position. This position would oversee both streets and water operations. The Water Department would now become a division under Public Works with day-to-day operations still overseen by the Water Superintendent. The vacant Streets Superintendent position will be filled by the employee currently in the Foreman position, and the Foreman position would be left unfilled. Total staffing numbers would not be changed with this position. The cost impact would be negligible as any increase in staffing costs would be offset by operational savings in other areas. Finance Director Hannah explained that an external recruitment process for a Public Works Director would begin if the change is approved. All trustees were in favor of the proposed change.
2. Modifications to the Village’s Human Resources Manual
Finance Director Hannah reviewed several proposed changes to the current Human Resources Manual that are resulting from law changes at the State level as follows:
Section 5.5 Sick Leave. The State passed the Illinois Employee Sick Leave Act which provides that employees may use up to ½ of their annual accrual for absences due to an illness, injury or medical appointment of the employee’s child, spouse, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent or stepparent. Full-time employees accrue twelve (12) sick days a year therefore effective January 1, 2017 employees would be able to use up to six (6) days for the above purposes under this leave. The Village already allows most employees to use their leave in this way for an employee’s spouse, parent or child, this would expand that use as outlined above.
Section 5.6 Bereavement Leave. The State passed the Child Bereavement Leave Act was passed. The Act provides for unpaid leave for the loss of a child of up to ten (10) days, and up to six (6) weeks of unpaid leave in the event a parent loses more than one child in a 12-month period. The Village already provides up to five days of paid leave for the death of a spouse or child so these new provisions and added to the policy.
Section 9.6 Social Media Policy. The Employee Social Media Account Privacy Act effective January 1, 2017 was passed which makes it unlawful for an employer or prospective employer to request or require an employee or applicant to authenticate or access a personal online account in the presence of the employer, to request or require that an employee or applicant invite the employer to join a group affiliated with any personal inline account of the employee or applicant, or to join an online account established by the employer. These provisions were added to the Village’s Social Media Policy.
Section 9.10 Travel and Expense Reimbursement. The Local Government Travel Expense Control Act was passed which effective January 1, 2017 requires most local governments excluding home rule units to adopt specific regulations, limits and requirements on the expensing and reimbursement of travel-related expenses. While the Village already has a policy, it required modifications based on the new regulations. All travel requires pre-approval ahead of time, and reimbursement of any travel expenses above the maximum allowable amounts must be approved by a vote of the Village Board. In addition, the new regulations forbid the reimbursement of any entertainment expense unless the entertainment is ancillary to the business-related event or program. Finance Director Hannah said that this Act will require new forms and processes for Village staff to follow which will be implemented over the coming months.
Trustees discussed the proposed changes and recommended approval at the next meeting.
3. Waterworks Bond Reimbursement Resolution and Debt Repayment
Finance Director Hannah indicated as the Village moves forward with the process of issuing bonds to construct a new water tower, two new deep wells, new watermain and other projects, the Village will begin to incur some costs for those projects prior to the sale of bonds. The Attached Resolution provides for the authority to apply future bond proceed revenues to expenditures already incurred. Although the Resolution indicates bond proceeds of $6,200,000 the latest estimate on the par amount of the bond issuance will be about $5,800,000.
Hannah also discussed repayment schedules for the bonds showing what the potential repayment schedule would be over a thirteen-year period and a fifteen-year period. The Village would not have to finalize a repayment term until later in the process. The Committee was in favor of moving forward with the Resolution.
OLD BUSINESS – None
OTHER INFORMATION – None
TRUSTEE COMMENTS – None
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn made by Trustee Faber and seconded by Trustee Lowery. All in favor. Motion approved.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori J. Murray
Village Clerk
