Kendall County Budget and Finance Committee met Sept. 27.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
Call to Order: County Board Chair Scott Gryder called the meeting to order at 9:15a.m.
| Attendee | Status | Arrived | Left Meeting |
| Scott Gryder | Here | ||
| Lynn Cullick | 9:22a.m. | 12:02p.m. | |
| Bob Davidson | Yes | 10:11a.m. | |
| Elizabeth Flowers | Absent | ||
| Tony Giles | Absent | ||
| Judy Gilmour | 9:24a.m. | ||
| Audra Hendrix | Here | ||
| Matt Kellogg | Yes | ||
| Matthew Prochaska | Here | 10:35a.m. | |
| John Purcell | Yes |
Approval of Claims - Member Hendrix made a motion Approval of Supplemental Claims in an amount not to exceed $719,015.62, and Coroner Claims in an amount not to exceed $1,269.89, second by Member Prochaska. With eight members present voting aye, the motion carried by a vote of 6-0.
Budget Presentations
Highway Department – Highway Engineer Fran Klaas reviewed the three property tax funds that are handled by the Highway Department, and showed a comparison of the past several years, indicating that the department continues to run fairly lean, with no new employees in over ten years.
Mr. Klaas reviewed the nine department budgets including the County Motor Fuel, Highway, Land Acquisition, Township Bridge, Transportation Sales Tax, Transportation Alternatives Program, Salt Storage Building Maintenance, and Capital requests with the committee.
Facilities Management Department - Jim Smiley explained the proposed department budget cuts, achieved by re-bidding contracts, fewer cuttings with the landscaping contract, and the proposed new electric contract with etc.
Mr. Smiley also reported that he has one employee that has indicated his retirement in early 2019, which would result in a lower salary to replace that position.
Mr. Smiley also reviewed the utility budgets including water, natural gas, and electric service, as well as department capital requests throughout the County.
Mr. Smiley also highlighted some of the energy savings projects that Facilities Management has implemented in recent years.
Circuit Clerk’s Office - Robyn Ingemunson explained that with the required changes coming for fines in July 2019, it was difficult to predict revenues this year.
Ms. Ingemunson stated that she moved one salary into the Child Support fund, and increased some salary increases $1400.00 or 4 percent to match the County Clerk’s union contract increases, although Ms. Ingemunson stated that the clerks have again unionized. Discussion on other options for increases.
Ms. Ingemunson said that she increased the Court Automation expense line because of potential state mandated requirements in upcoming years.
Public Defenders Office - Vicki Chuffo announced that after she submitted her budget, that one of her Assistant Public Defenders is leaving the County, and that that salary line will be reduced for the replacement.
Ms. Chuffo stated that she decreased her budget by two percent, and gave her employees a three percent increase.
County Clerk, Recorder, and Voter Registration - Debbie Gillette said that she decreased or kept the County Clerk and Recorder budget the same as this year.
Ms. Gillette stated that she reduced or kept Election Costs the same as this year because of only one election next year. Ms. Gillette also reported that she has taken two employee salaries out of the General Fund and put them into other funds.
Admin Services, EDC, County Board - Scott Koeppel stated that revenue has increased in Compost Fees for this year. Mr. Koeppel stated that his raise is contractual and the other positions in the office received three percent.
Mr. Koeppel said that postage remains about the same as this year, and that Notaries and Bonds will increase slightly, although we hope to get a good partnership with our new Property and Liability Broker.
Mr. Koeppel reported the Kendall Area Transit fund has increased, but that the cost to the County is the same.
The cost for Employee Healthcare is projected to increase, but could possibly change if the Broker gets a lower quote from the current or potential Healthcare provider.
Mr. Koeppel said that the reimbursement from the Health Department is included in the Health Insurance budget from the County Board, although it was not included in the Health Department budget.
In the County Board budget, the Liquor License Revenue line was decreased, and the Dues & Memberships line was increased due to the contributions to ISACo, and includes NACo, UCCI, the Illinois Association of County Boards, and NWPA. The increase does not include the additional ISACo request for $4000 for the large counties caucus because the County did not pay that amount in FY2018.
Mr. Koeppel reviewed the other County Board budgets with the committee and indicated a two percent decrease in mileage and miscellaneous expenses. The Per Diem line remained the same.
Mr. Koeppel reviewed the KenCom Intergovernmental agreement Sheriff’s fees increase. Member Gilmour stated that the increased number is based on the percentage of call counts and other shared expenses.
Mr. Koeppel also reviewed the Social Services for Senior Citizen fund lines and said predictions are to be the same as current year. Mr. Koeppel also reviewed the liability Insurance fund which covers Kendall County and the Forest Preserve., the Economic Development fund, and the Economic Development Grants fund.
Treasurer’s Office – Treasurer Jill Ferko reviewed the Treasurer fees and said they remain the same, the Property tax penalty line was decreased due to having the Tax Sale earlier in October, eliminating am additional penalty, the Interest was increased due to better rates and changing the type of funds they are in based on activity hoping for a better return, and Miscellaneous revenue will remain the same as well.
Ms. Ferko also reviewed the Treasurer’s budget which is increasing by $6,596 due to security, salaries and postage increases. There are decreases in conference and mileage lines. The Treasurer is also requesting an additional $500 for HR expenditures to assist with costs during open enrollment. Ms. Ferko also requested that the EAP line be moved into the Treasurer’s budget instead of the Administration department since benefits are now handled by her office.
Ms. Ferko reported increased revenues 7.8 percent, expenditures increased 1.4 percent, but an overall decrease in her budget by 6.4 percent.
Member Kellogg asked about the Treasurer’s capital request of $382,000 for a new County Accounting and Payroll system, and whether personnel or man-hours would be reduced with the addition of this system. Ms. Ferko stated that she isn’t sure at this point, but that she was planning to ask for the 1⁄2 position back in next year’s budget because Mr. Jones is now contributing 85 percent of his time to HR benefits, which is more time than expected, and although the rest of the staff are assisting, they are feeling a strain because he is unable to assume some of his responsibilities prior to assuming the HR responsibilities.
Ms. Ferko stated that once we get past the initial cost of this new system (time clock, budget, that it would eliminate the need for the Gradience and Kronos systems, and possibly eliminate the Questica budget system. Ms. Ferko said that the costs for annual fees for all of the other systems would be decreased with this new system as well.
Discussion about the stipends for the additional benefit responsibilities (rolled into some of the Treasurer’s staff salaries this year), the Treasurer stating that the benefit responsibilities are more than she expressed or realized before they agreed to taking the responsibility, the number of Treasurer’s Office staff receiving stipends for the new benefit responsibilities, the request for continuing stipends this budget year, and the office stipend for KenCom responsibilities.
Board of Review - Pam Geigenheimer explained that she reduced the budget by two percent in supplies, postage, capital equipment and contractual services, and increased Board Member salaries by 2.6 percent and the Chair salary by 1.4 percent.
Member John Purcell recused himself from the Coroner’s presentation.
Coroner’s Office – Coroner Jacquie Purcell reported that she only increased her salary by one percent, and the Deputy Coroner salary by 1.92 percent. Coroner Purcell decreased the office supply line item, the training line, clothing allowance, Autopsies line item, and Toxicology Testing line item. Coroner Purcell also clarified the office expenditures, and the revenue from fees, for the committee.
Planning, Building and Zoning - Scott Koeppel explained that they had a decrease of 2 percent in the budget for the department, and salary increases of 2 and 3 percent for the current department staff. Mr. Koeppel reported that they hope to replace the part-time Zoning office assistant position at the same rate of pay. The Department decreased the mileage, conferences and cell phone budget lines, and increased the ZBA per diem because that Committee has taken on the duties of the Special Use Hearing Officer, and they anticipate an additional Special Use Hearing meeting for the year. The Department also reduced the consultant, the Regional Planning Commission, Historical Preservation Committee, and the Ad Hoc Zoning budget lines in an attempt to cut expenses as requested. The Department also switched the Code Officials cell phone from AT & T to Verizon lowering that expense, and they eliminated micro-filming and reproduction due to the purchase of a scanner last year, eliminating that budget line.
Animal Control - Scott Koeppel briefed the committee on an increase in the Animal Control fund line due to the increase in Health Insurance increased costs, the department decreased overtime line, fines & fees, intact registration fee, equipment, vehicle expense and gasoline, and transportation/board & care, and increased full-time staff salaries by 2 percent, as well as increasing the starting pay for new part-time staff after 6 months employment.
Discussion on transferring State Pet Population fund to the County Animal Population fund, and the Animal Control Committee recommending amending the standard operating procedures to reflect this change, and conducting a County-wide department/office analysis to track the percentage of costs for all additional services provided by the County.
708 Mental Health Board - Terry Frisk stated that the budget remains relatively unchanged for several years. Ms. Frisk highlighted the Association for Individual Development, an agency that serves 6,000 children and adults throughout the Fox Valley area, including 720 individuals from Kendall County. The organization has a new group home, as well as a day treatment program in Yorkville, focusing on behavioral health and developally disabled individuals.
Other Business – Latreese Caldwell also reviewed the totals for all of the budgets, and Mr. Koeppel also offered other options such as a hiring freeze, and voluntary retirement.
Executive Session – Not needed
Adjournment – Member Kellogg called for the meeting to adjourn due to a lack of quorum.
With all in agreement, the meeting adjourned at 12:39p.m.
https://www.co.kendall.il.us/wp-content/uploads/09-27-2018-Budget-Hearing-Minutes.pdf
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