Administration Minutes 2013 06-20-13
APPROVED W/ CORRECTIONS
7/18/13
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING
Thursday, June 20, 2013 6:00pm
City Hall Conference Room
Committee Members In Attendance:
Vice-Chairman Jackie Milschewski
Alderman Chris Funkhouser
Alderman Joel Frieders
Absent: Alderman Rose Spears
Other City Officials In Attendance:
Bart Olson, City Administrator
Rob Fredrickson, Finance Director
Jeff Weckbach, Administrative Intern
Guests:
Tony Scott, Kendall County Record
The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm by Vice-Chairman Jackie Milschewski.
Citizen Comments:
None
Minutes for Correction/Approval:
April 18, 2013
Approved as presented.
New Business:
1. ADM 2013-33 Monthly Budget Report for April & May 2013
Mr. Fredrickson said the April report is the last budget report for 2013 and is on a cash
basis and therefore will not match the audit which is on an accrual basis. He also said
there is nothing significant for the May report.
Alderman Funkhouser questioned some items being at 200% and why others are so high.
1.Page 17: police commission at 216%: additional testing was done (this is not
coded under training and conferences unless it is an existing employee)
2.Operating supplies at 202%
3.Page 18: telecommunications, dues & subscriptions both for community
development
4.Page 20: engineering services, reimbursible repairs at 469% (Rob said these will
be reimbursed and will research further). Jeff Weckbach added that a February
report shows an $11,000 expense to fix a squad car and guard rail.
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5.Page 23 police capital expenditures of $100,000 were for weather warning and
lightning detector purchases
6.2 line items on investment earnings doubled the projected amount: this was prior
to investing in IMET and also conservative budgeting estimates
7.Mr. Olson said there were 4 ways to code engineer invoices: 1) normal items
including base charges, 2) development reimbursible items, 3) inspections for
infrastructure, 4) outsourced expenses. He added that is is still more cost-
effective to have EEI unless building increases.
8.Alderman Frieders inquired about page 15, line items for filing fees that are not
consistent. These are for random liens, mostly water liens. Rob will research the
$154,000 lien.
9.Page 17: Wearing apparel at 100% for police was questioned by Mr. Frieders.
The police are allowed certain amounts each year and is also based on hires made.
10.Page 22: salt storage done at Tower Lane. Have a long-term contractual
obligation with Kendall County
11.Page 26: bulk water sales. This is for filling pools/Raging Waves park etc. Staff
to check further.
12.Page 36: Alderman Frieders questioned the Library receipts in June and
September—these are property tax receipts
13.Memorials for Library, this money goes into the account, then is spent
14.Page 40: non-home rule sales tax--sales tax authorized by Rob Roy bonds
15.Page 42: $23,473 for supplies for the year at 469% additional. These are
reimbursibles.
No further action needed at this time-for information.
2. ADM 2013-34 Monthly Treasurer's Report for April & May 2013
Finance Director Fredrickson reported the following:
Ending 4-30Ending 5-31
Beginning Fund Balance$8,767,955
YTD Revenue$24,091,282$1,552,501
YTD Expenditures$19,442,872$1,327,175
Ending Fund Balance$13,416,365
No further action—this moves to the Council consent agenda.
3. ADM 2013-35 Cash Statement for February, March & April 2013
Mr. Fredrickson said these are informational at each meeting and noted there is $3.1
million in cash in the April report. No further action needed.
4. ADM 2013-36 Bills for Payment
Mr. Olson said this is the detailed report for bills already presented at Council and opened
the floor for any questions. Alderman Frieders asked about the $5,900 per month charge
for elected officials' health insurance. This figure is for Blue Cross only and dental is an
additional $550 per month. Bart Olson said it is $70-$80,000 per year total. Mr. Frieders
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asked where this money would go without the charges. It would go into the general fund
without these costs. No further action at this time.
5. ADM 2013-28 EEI Hourly Rates for FY 14
Mr. Olson said there are 2 things to consider: a contract revision and an actual adoption
of the FY '14 hourly rate. He did an analysis to determine if the City should go in-house
or outsource. The alternative to not approving the hourly rate would force him to
eliminate items for EEI to do. He said $240,000 is the cap and is still a savings over in-
house. The hourly rates did increase in this contract revision, with an increase last
approved in 2011. Bart said the EEI rates are in line with other engineering companies.
The committee moved this item to the Council consent agenda.
6. ADM 2013-32 Utility Billing Process
Mr. Fredrickson said 4 options to the utility billing process were identified in a memo in
the packet and they are: 1) re-program existing module to allow for separate invoices, 2)
purchase a separate billing module, 3) re-format existing City utility bill, 4) make no
changes at all but, revise the existing bill. He said there is another possibility called
I-Connect that allows customers to view their history and obtain an email bill.
Ms. Milschewski asked why changes were proposed. Mr. Olson said it was brought up
during the vehicle registration discussion and all City rates (water, sewer, garbage) were
examined along with the YBSD rates. The City rates were lower than other towns,
however, the YBSD rates were slightly higher. The discussion was to either split the
bills or allow YBSD to do their own bills. YBSD pays the City approximately $120,000
yearly to do their billing. Alderman Frieders said unless there was an actual reason to
split the bills, it did not make sense to do so and that a re-design of the back page seemed
like a better solution.
The price of an electronic billing module to do the YBSD billing is approximately $6,200
for the first year with a start-up cost of about $1,800. Following the start-up, it would be
about $2,200 per year. Administrator Olson recommended moving forward with this
solution to bring e-bills on board.
Alderman Funkhouser favors the electronic bills, but also recommends re-formatting the
back of the bills to clearly identify the separation of charges. He said Montgomery has a
good example that is very simple. Mr. Olson said options for the front and back can be
brought back for committee consideration. Ms. Milschewski said if the back is changed,
it will be clearer to read and asked that it be changed first if there is no cost.
The committee discussed how many citizens would choose an e-bill. Only 15% of
citizens now have direct debit according to Rob. Alderman Milschewski said she has
direct debit, however, she still receives a bill. She said if the City moves forward with e-
pay options, the City should not spend $4,000 on a front page revision. Mr. Frieders said
he prefers option #4 first. Committee consensus is option #4 and e-bills. This will be
brought back to the next meeting with revisions. A 2-year payment history will also be
available on-line. This item moves to the Council consent agenda.
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7. ADM 2013-37 Prevailing Wage Ordinance
Mr. Olson said this is a yearly requirement which will be put into an ordinance. This
item will be on the regular agenda at the next City Council meeting.
8. ADM 2013-38 FY 13 Budget Adjustments
Mr. Fredrickson presented documents showing amendments to the FY '13 budget. None
of the major funds such as water, etc need adjustment, but small changes are needed on
Sunflower, municipal building fund, police capital fund (due to large equipment
purchases), Countryside downtown TIF and some smaller operating funds. This will
move to the consent agenda.
9. ADM 2013-39 Senior Garbage Subsidy
Administrator Olson gave an overview stating that senior citizens currently pay 50 cents
for their garbage service. Staff considered different options for FY 14 & 15 and decided
to leave it status quo and decide at a later time. He discussed the “circuit breaker”
program and said it is easy to understand and administer. The City could set whatever
additional parameters they wish. He thinks the overall subsidy would be less than
$50,000 a year compared to the current $150,000. There are approximately 600-650
senior accounts at this time.
Alderman Funkhouser suggested including a notice in the utility bills of this change. Ms.
Milschewski said the notice should be close to the implementation date to eliminate calls
from those who have forgotten. Residents would show their circuit breaker eligibility to
continue discounts. Residents who do not participate in that program would still be
eligible for a discount based on being a senior. This would create 2 tiers of charges.
Alderman Milschewski asked if this would be difficult from an accounting standpoint and
said it needs to be kept simple. Chris Funkhouser said this should be phased in over time
and also noted the garbage rates also increase for the City each year. Alderman Frieders
commented that other City fees have just been added to the bill and felt it is better not to
prolong it by phasing. Discounts were discussed for each of the next few years.
The proposed rate structure is as follows:
FY 14FY 15FY 16FY 17
General Cost17.6118.1418.6919.25
Current Senior Price0.50.50.50.5
Proposed Senior Discount0.59.0714.9515.4
Proposed Senior Circuit Breaker Discount0.54.5359.349.625
50% rate decrease in FY 15, 20% rate decrease every year after
75% rate decrease in FY 15, 50% rate decrease every year after
Mr. Olson will draft this as an ordinance and it will be brought back to this committee for
further consideration. It was felt a Public Hearing would be appropriate as well.
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10. EDC 2013-19 Countryside TIF Refinancing
Mr. Olson explained the options of the refinancing. The City has approved the
development agreement amendment and $1.8 million will be paid out when the theatre
opens.
The City must now decide how much long term debt to assume. A decision must be
made whether to possibly jeopardize the financial health of the City vs. freeing up short
term cash would that would help the City's general fund according to Mr. Olson. There
would be a savings of $183,000 now for the next 5 years as opposed to adding 3 years to
the term at $470,000 and in between those terms, the City would be adding $51,000 in
debt service payments.
Mr. Olson said the TIF expires in 2027. He said the next few fiscal years will be
somewhat financially difficult and he added there are drainage issue projects in town,
road maintenance, etc. with no good solutions to fund.
Alderman Funkhouser noted that it will be some time before the City receives revenues
from any potential outlot development and feels the City should not do the re-finance
even though it makes sense, but ultimately the City should go ahead with it. The other
committee members agreed. Mr. Funkhouser said the risk lies in the big balloon
payments that will come due. Mr. Olson said the City can expect $100,000 in tax
increments from the theatre later on. The City is not legally near the bond capacity
according to Mr. Fredrickson, when asked by Mr. Funkhouser.
Mr. Olson said the first step is to get the Council consensus, then obtain an underwriter's
agreement. There would then be a bond ordinance and Public Hearing by the end of
summer or early fall. Alderman Funkhouser asked if there would be any problems with
early paybacks if those are possible. Higher interest basis points could result according
to the Finance Director.
th
This item will be put on the July 9 Council regular agenda. Staff will be directed to
bring back the underwriter's agreement.
Old Business:
none
-
Additional Business:
Alderman Funkhouser referred to the goals on the bottom of the agenda and said a
community outreach meeting had been held with IDOT and was very beneficial. He said
the IDOT representative is very accessible. He also addressed the Council Chambers
technology and asked if the City could pursue live video of Council meetings and
research the cost. Mr. Olson said Oswego just implemented this technology and it
bookmarks all agenda items. He would like to get some proposals for this. This will be
on the August agenda. Alderman Milschewski asked if the audio is clear. For now,
Council members should speak directly into the microphone and Jeff Weckbach said the
closer the microphone, the better the clarity. Bart asked Jeff to spearhead audio-tech
responsibilities.
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There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned at 7:17pm.
Respectfully submitted by
Marlys Young, Minute Taker
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