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Administration Minutes 2011 05-19-11 APPROVED W/ CORRECTIONS 6/16/11 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. City Hall Conference Room COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Carlo Colosimo, Alderman George Gilson, Alderman Rose Spears, Alderman Marty Munns, Alderman OTHER CITY OFFICIALS PRESENT: Bart Olson, City Administrator Bill Powell, Treasurer Rob Fredrickson, City of Yorkville CITIZENS PRESENT: Kathy Neddo Tony Scott, Kendall County Record Alderman Spears called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Citizen Comments: Ms. Kathy Neddo stated she is here for two things. She was advised by her alderman to attend to have the healthcare for alderman on the agenda. Ms. Neddo thinks that the people of Yorkville should vote on healthcare for the alderman. Ms. Neddo stated that she is struggling with the fact that the city is under financial stress and cutting all areas, but yet this item is costing us taxpayers a lot of money to do. Ms. Neddo stated that if the people are for it then okay. But she feels that it was a self imposed benefit. Ms. Neddo stated that she thinks it needs to be discussed in committee. She stated that she will get a petition to get a vote by the people if they don't address it. Alderman Spears stated that first it will go to committee then to council. Ms. Neddo stated that was fine. Ms. Neddo then addressed the senior garbage. Ms .Neddo stated that she knows that Alderman Spears wants to take care of the needs to the seniors. But Ms. Neddo stated that not every senior needs to have it. There needs to be some criteria. Ms. Neddo stated that the taxpayers continue to subsidize more than we need to. Ms. Neddo stated that our taxes went up 48% this year. Ms. Neddo stated that a criteria needs to be put in place for senior 1 garbage. Ms. Neddo addressed adding two more alderman. She said that we are only 1000 people over to add two more alderman. Ms. Neddo stated that she doesn't think it is a good idea to add two more alderman for only that many more people. Mr. Olson stated that the number is 921. Ms. Neddo stated that shifting the wards might be a better solution to make them more equal. Minutes for Correction/Approval The minutes were approved from April 21, 2011. New Business: 1.ADM 2011 – 17 Number of Alderman and Redistricting Ms. Spears stated the bill HB59 70. Alderman Colosimo stated that bill has passed and we are able to use it. Alderman Colosimo stated that he agrees with Ms. Neddo. We do not need two more alderman. We are at the bottom of the population and redistricting would make sense. Alderman Spears th agreed that 8 alderman is working fine. Mr. Olson stated that they can take that to the June 14 City Council meeting. Alderman Colosimo stated that they need to look at the map and the numbers. The numbers are a little skewed. The city administrator asked us what we value most on how we do the math. Alderman Colosimo stated that equally distributing the wards would be better and he said that he would like to keep the alderman in their wards. Alderman Colosimo stated that people know their alderman and feel comfortable with their alderman. Alderman Spears agreed that the top priority would be keeping them in their existing wards and population second. Alderman Spears stated that she doesn't think that boundaries are that important. Alderman Spears stated that we could have public hearings to let the people know what we are doing. Mr. Olson stated that you can, but you do not have to. Alderman Colosimo stated that we have to have maps prepared when we do this. He stated that you cannot have a session to get input without a map. Mr. Olson asked if the alderman wanted a public input session. Alderman Gilson stated that he thinks we get a map put together first. Mr. Olson stated that we are 11 months out and the redistricting we don't have to do for over a year. Mr. Colosimo stated that the sooner the better so that those interested in running have time to decide. Mr. Olson stated that he will type up something regarding the four wards stating that we want to even the wards and keep everyone within their ward. Mr. Colosimo stated that he would like to keep the same ward numbers. Mr. Olson stated that the resolution will go forward to city council and the maps will be worked on. Alderman Spears asked who does the maps? Mr. Olson stated probably in-house. Mr. Olson stated that the alderman can then look at the maps and decide on which one they want to use. 2.ADM 2011 – 18 Senior Garbage Subsidy Alderman Spears stated that this has been brought up several times. Alderman Spears stated that she has minutes of a city council meeting in April 2010 discussing the senior garbage. Alderman Spears stated that she had an e-mail she received from the Northeastern Illinois Group on Aging. They are deciding on what programs they are cutting. They are proposing on cutting benefits by 50%. The Meals on Wheels state funding will be cut by 9%. Alderman Spears stated there are a lot of community based services being cut by 20.8%. Alderman Spears stated that the senior help line will be cut by 44%. Alderman Spears stated other cuts are 60% to grandparents raising grandchildren. Over 60% to foster grandparents program. Alderman Spears stated that over 40 million in other funds. Alderman Spears stated that these cuts are really going to affect our seniors. Alderman Spears stated that she is worried 2 about how they are going to be affected. Alderman Spears stated that maybe we can get the seniors smaller cans since they don't have as much trash. Alderman Spears asked what the procedure is. Alderman Spears stated that it was to be left alone until April 2012 when the contract is going to be renewed. Alderman Spears stated that we should wait until then. Alderman Gilson stated that several seniors have contacted him personally. He stated that they stated they have fixed income and the standard of living is going up and incomes are staying the same. Alderman Gilson stated that the seniors want them to leave it where it is. Alderman Colosimo said the he is torn. He doesn't see it as you have the subsidy or you don't. Alderman Colosimo stated that there can be criteria and we can leave it until April 2012. Alderman Colosimo stated that maybe a tier system would work. He stated that getting rid of the subsidy would negatively affect many seniors in our community. Alderman Colosimo stated that everyone pays the same unless you bring in your tax return and see if you qualify for the subsidy. Alderman Colosimo stated that we can talk about options of bigger and smaller cans etc. Mr. Olson stated that you can do pay as you throw with stickers. Mr. Powell stated that we use containers. Mr. Olson stated that some places can do discounted stickers. Alderman Gilson stated that he doesn't want to get rid of the container program. Alderman Colosimo stated that the stickers could be a problem with a lot of complaints. Alderman Spears stated that she believes that there are smaller cans available. Mr. Olson stated that is the case, but you pay the same price. He stated that in the next contract we could recommend different price for different sizes. Alderman Colosimo stated that when the contract comes up we bring this back up. All alderman agreed. Mr. Olson stated that September or October would be a good time. 3. ADM – 2011 19 Budget Report for April 2011 Mr. Olson stated that his general comment on this is this is a cash basis even though they are posted in April 2011 they are dated back to January. He stated that for the expense side the April 2011 numbers are not final. There are others to approve in June, maybe July and August. He stated that if it th is before April 30 it goes in this fiscal year. Alderman Spears asked on general fund revenue for cable utility tax she said they need to know exactly how many AT&T boxes are in Yorkville because AT&T pays 1%. The consortium asked how many because that 1% comes back to us. Mr. Olson stated that is a 5% franchise fee and a 1% peg fee. He stated that we should be able to do the math on what they sent us. Mr. Olson stated that if they don't get anything, we have the authority to audit their books. Alderman Spears stated that the city will take care of it. Alderman Spears asked about Cobra insurance reimbursement. She asked for an explanation of that. Mr. Fredrickson stated that it has been broken down for greater detail. Alderman Spears asked if all employees are entitled to Cobra. Mr. Fredrickson stated yes for up to two years. Mr. Olson stated there is no subsidy from the federal government now. The former employees now pay 100%. Alderman Colosimo brought up the Rec Center numbers. He stated that we need to take a look at getting someone to take the lead on that department. There are many overages as far as what was budgeted and what was used. He stated that if you have someone full-time checking the numbers you will get more efficiency. Alderman Colosimo stated that Mr. Olson is doing a good job, but might be overworked. Alderman Colosimo stated that all things are going over budget. Mr. Olson said there are three people that should be held accountable, him, the park board, and the facility coordinator. We have 3 told them to talk to the employees when they go over budget on classes etc. Mr. Olson stated that in September and October we addressed it and he thinks that it is fixed. Mr. Olson doesn't think that there is a need to add someone. Alderman Colosimo stated that with any department there needs to be a go to person to hold accountable. Alderman Colosimo stated that not all people want it, but we have it and need to stay within budget. Mr. Olson stated that we are trying to keep costs in-house. Alderman Munns stated that Mr. Olson needs to make a presence there once and awhile. Mr. Olson agreed. Mr. Olson gets reports regularly on how things are running at the Rec Center. Alderman Gilson stated that he has several issues with expenses at the Rec Center. Mr. Olson stated that the Mayor asked him to get th together some information on the Rec Center for the June 14 meeting that way we can decide if we want to purchase the building versus paying for leasing it. Mr. Olson said that it was talked about at Park Board. Mr. Olson stated that it would be cheaper to purchase the building because we get rid of property tax. That is a financial threshold. It might be cheaper to run it. Alderman Colosimo stated that he doesn't know that it would be good to purchase, but he would like to see the numbers. Alderman Munns agreed. Mr. Olson stated that an appraisal would be $6,000 so the Mayor wanted to see if we wanted to spend the money on it. ADM 2011 – 20 Treasurer's Report for April 2011 4. Mr. Fredrickson read the numbers in budget. Alderman said the projected ending fund balance is positive. Mr. Fredrickson stated that it will probably be negative. There are expenses that need to be added and it will be closer to what you have in the budget document. 5. ADM 2011 – 21 Cash Statement for March 2011 Mr. Fredrickson stated this is a listing of all the bank accounts the city has. It is divided between cash operations and cash for special purposes. Alderman Gilson was pleased to see a report like this. Mr. Fredrickson said that we are fully collateralized in a tri party system. Old Second pledges government securities so that if they go into default, we are protected. Alderman Gilson asked is there are any ramifications of that? Mr. Fredrickson stated that maybe a day or so because we are fully covered and should be okay. ADM 2011 – 22 IMET Presentation 6. Mr. Fredrickson stated that IMET is a local government investment pool. We have funds coming in over the summer for our debt service. Illinois fund has a terrible rate right now it is one percent of one percent almost nothing. Mr. Fredrickson said that IMET offers us a better rate on return and liquidity. It is just as safe as keeping money in the bank. There is a one to three year fund. It has a five day liquidity. It is strictly U.S. Government securities. It is just a different investment tool that we can utilize as property tax money comes in this summer. We need to do a resolution at the June 14, 2011 meeting. 7. ADM 2011 – 23 Committee Meeting Date and Time Alderman Spears stated that the meetings are the third Thursday every month. Everyone agreed on the time and date. 4 ADM 2011 – 24 City Council and Committee Meeting Procedures 8. Alderman Spears stated that everyone agreed the governing ordinance was a bit too much. We had a lot of changes and amendments to it. It was difficult to follow in the meetings. Alderman Spears stated that she was in full agreement in repealing the ordinance and maybe we can come up with a different name for it. Alderman Gilson stated that it needs to be simplified and take the good things and clean it up. Alderman Munns agreed. Alderman Colosimo stated that it is a 10 page document and should be three. Alderman Colosimo stated that if we are not ethical we will not be in there for long and be in jail. The Aldermen all agreed that it is redundant and not needed. Alderman Gilson stated that the people put their faith in us and we are not unethical; the document just needs cleaned up. Alderman Colosimo stated that we might need some procedural things added. Alderman Colosimo believes that the Mayor appoints committees and could appoint vice chairman too. The Mayor would like committee reports first. The Alderman discussed the purpose of committees. Mr. Olson stated that the committees are used as a filter. Alderman Colosimo stated that if something doesn't clear a committee the four of us can still bring it up. Aldermen discussed what name to use for the new document. Aldermen agreed the Procedural Ordinance would work. Aldermen wanted to look at document when done. This document will return to committee. 9. ADM 2011 – 25 Account Signers – A/P Bank Account Mr. Fredrickson made the recommendation that the number of signers be reduced to four. He asked the auditors and they agreed that the fewer signers the better. Alderman Colosimo asked who else was able to sign previously. Mr. Fredrickson stated that all the Alderman could sign. Mr. Olson stated that it was helpful when there was an emergency situation. Mr. Fredrickson stated that the check number will be on the board report. Mayor or treasurer will need to sign all checks. Mr. Powell stated that signature sheets can be a big hassle. Mr. Powell is in favor of the new recommendation. All Alderman were in agreement. Mr. Fredrickson stated that the bank is already aware and the bank will issue new sheets. Mr. Powell stated that he thought we had to submit a letter to the bank as to who should be the new signers. Alderman Spears asked if we had to vote on this at committee level. Alderman voted and all were in favor. Old Business: There was no Old Business. Additional Business: There being no further business, the Committee adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Minutes Respectfully Submitted by: Lisa Godwin, Minute Taker 5