Admin Committee Minutes 2005 05-05-05 Page 1 of 4 APPROVED 6 -2 -051
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2005 6:30 PM
City Hall Conference Room
CITY OFFICIALS IN ATTENDANCE:
Mayor Art Prochaska (6:45pm) Police Chief Harold Martin
Alderman Paul James Finance Director Traci Pleckham
Alderman Joe Besco City Treasurer Bill Powell
Alderman Larry Kot (6:40pm) City Administrator Tony Graff (6:45pm)
GUESTS:
None
The meeting was called to order at 6:30pm by Alderman Paul James.
PRESENTATIONS
None
OLD BUSINESS
1. Minutes for Approval/Correction: April 7, 2005
The minutes were approved as read.
2. Monthly Budget Report for March 2005
It was noted that the City revenue collected thus far is at 82.42% and the expenses are at
71.68 %. Ms. Pleckham added that the state revenues are delayed about 3 months and
these will catch up at audit time. She added that the City could be over 100% in revenues
and the numbers will be "trued up" after the audit. There was a very brief discussion of
the revised budget and whether or not the revenue and expense projections were on
target. Ms. Pleckham added that $400,000 was added to the Fund Balance last year.
3. Treasurer's Report for May — November 2004
Ms. Pleckham said these reports will be presented on a more timely basis in the future.
May through November reports do not include the Fund Balance, however, December
does. Mr. Powell said that the City Council has already approved these billing
expenditures for the budget and these reports are a tally of expenses and match the audit.
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Mr. Powell said that the December report showed the Fund Balance reserve for the first
time and that he and Ms. Pleckham have been considering two methods of calculating the
Fund Balance percentage of the budget. Those methods are:
1. Take a percentage of the entire budget to hit the 15 -20% amount desired, which
would put the Fund Balance at 21 %.
2. A more conservative method is to review each line item or the everyday expenses,
however, this is very time - consuming.
Ms. Pleckham added that she had spoken with auditors on this date and the City's S & P
bond rating is at 23.8% as of April of last year. Ms. Pleckham said the Fund Balance
amount could also be calculated by figuring 15 -25% of the total expenses. Ms. Pleckham
will monitor the percentage.
Yorkville is one of only a few cities which have Fund Balance policies in place according
to Finance Director Pleckham. She further stated that even though the City is growing,
the fact that it has a Fund Balance at the 23% range, is viewed as positive. If there were
to be a dip in the Fund because of a capital expenditure, it would not be viewed as
negative since the expenditure would benefit the community.
Alderman Kot recommended that the current accounting methods be continued and that
the City Council be updated with the Fund status on a regular basis. If there is a problem,
then it should be addressed. The Mayor concurred and added that the 15 -25% range in
the policy was sound. The City is not penalized for exceeding the 25 %, rather the excess
is rolled over into next year's budget. If the Fund falls below 15 %, it will be reviewed by
the Council. Administrator Graff asked Ms. Pleckham to plot a trend chart and include
the previous month for comparison.
Treasurer Powell noted that Yorkville's investment policy was used as a model by the
Treasurer's Association.
These reports will move to the City Council consent agenda.
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4. Senior Engineering Technician Job Description
It was noted that this description was approved in 2001 and is budgeted, however, a
salary range must be established. Intern Bart Olson is gathering salary information for a
position of this type. Alderman Besco stated that he felt the education was very lenient.
It was suggested by Mayor Prochaska that the job description should list specific college
courses to insure that the applicant possesses the knowledge needed. A management
course was suggested by Alderman Besco while Mr. James preferred an Associates
Degree or equivalent experience.
It was noted that Mr. Wywrot wishes to promote within the department and is seeking
someone to supervise the other engineering techs, thus the "Senior" Engineering Tech.
Revisions to the "Minimum and Preferred Experience and Education" will be made and a
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salary range will be presented at a future C.O.W. Mr. Kot said a revision to the
organizational chart should be made as well.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Collateralized Single Family Mortgage Revenue Bonds
Administrator Graff said this is an annual program and is for first time homebuyers. Ms.
Pleckham has requested a list of the banks participating in this program. There is no cost
to the City and this program allows first time homebuyers an opportunity for a better
mortgage for a home in Yorkville. These funds are bond proceeds which the State
allocates for this program.
This item moves to the C.O.W. consent agenda. Alderman James also asked for a list of
the number of people who participate.
ADDITIONAL BUSINESS
Mr. Powell said that a CD ladder with $200,000 (4-- $50,000 CD's set up for 3, 6, 9 and
12 months) was set up at the Earthmover Credit Union. This was done to increase
revenues for the City. This information will be included in the progress report.
Retiring Alderman Kot said that he had enjoyed serving the community. When asked
what improvements he would suggest, he said the City Council should examine the
committee structure and the length of meetings. Mr. James concurred with this
suggestion. Mayor Prochaska added that it might be beneficial for committees to make
recommendations before moving items on to C.O.W. Another suggestion, by Alderman
Besco, was to have two committee meetings per month and the Mayor added that perhaps
one City Council meeting per month would be sufficient.
Timely payments for the bill list were discussed as being an issue to consider if changes
were made in meeting schedules. Alderman James said a recommendation should be
brought back to this committee regarding the procedure to follow for the bill list. It was
suggested that "Treasurer's Authority" could be used for bills to be paid on time.
The City Administrator and Finance Director had previously discussed a Finance
Committee be set up to discuss future budgets. This will be discussed for next year.
Another idea was having two committees report at one C.O.W and the other two
committees would report at the second C.O.W. of the month.
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Mayor Prochaska requested that the City Council re- appoint Attorney Wyeth for an
additional year of service. He added that a time requirement for an attorney is not clear
yet since the former attorney is finishing up on some items. Currently, Attorney Wyeth
is working for the City about 20 hours per week. Discussion regarding the attorney
position will continue at future meetings.
There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned at 7:30pm.
Respectfully submitted by
Marlys Young, Minute Taker