Village of La Grange Village Board of Trustees Met March 13

By Kristine Gonzales-Abella

May 4, 2021

Village of La Grange Village Board of Trustees Met March 13.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

A Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of La Grange was held and called to order at 8:09 a.m. in the Village Hall Auditorium. The room was modified to allow for social distancing as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On roll call, as read by Village Clerk John Burns, the following were present:

PRESENT: Trustees Augustine, Gale, Kotynek, McCarty, and McGee with President Kuchler presiding.

ABSENT:

Trustee Holder

OTHERS:

John Burns, Village Clerk Andrianna Peterson, Village Manager Lou Cipparrone, Finance Director Charity Jones, Community Development Director Rob Wardlaw, Deputy Police Chief Ryan Gillingham, Director of Public Works Terry Vavra, Fire Chief Joe Munizza, Assistant Finance Director Shaun O'Connor, Management Analyst

II. BUDGET WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

President Kuchler opened the meeting by thanking the Board of Trustees and members of the management team for their leadership and considerable efforts in the development of the Village budget. He noted that the Village Board meets to discuss the Village budget in order to implement an effective five year plan.

President Kuchler asked Village Manager Peterson to introduce the proposed budget.

Village Manager Peterson remarked that the development of the budget is essentially a nine month process. While the entire budget is carefully evaluated annually, additional effort is focused on the largest components of the budget beginning in the fall with a review of last year's comprehensive annual financial reports, a preliminary review of the property tax levy and pension levies, a workshop dedicated to capital projects, and the Budget workshop, focusing on revenues and operations.

The proposed budget demonstrates the Village's continued emphasis on the maintenance and investment in our public assets and focus on providing outstanding services to residents, as well as strategic priorities.

The management team has developed and proposed a generally status quo budget with few exceptions which, within our conservative revenue projections and proposed expenditures, allows the Village to continue to: 1) deliver high quality Village services; 2) across all funds; and 4) continue to advance the Village Board's strategic priorities of economic development, public safety and capital improvements.

It has been a unique and challenging year requiring the Village Board and staff to pivot in order cities of a global pandemic both as a local government and as an employer.

Recognizing that the pandemic would impact households and businesses financially and in unexpected ways, the Village Board moved quickly to provide relief in many ways including: 1) postponing planned increases in parking fines; 2) postponing planned increases for commuter / residential parking decals; 3) extending the due date for vehicle and animal licenses; 4) postponing the payment of business and liquor licenses; 5) waiving the cost of sidewalk café permits; 6) waiving penalties on past due water and sewer bills; 7) and opting not to pass the water rate increase assessed by the City of McCook onto resident and business customers last year.

The proposed fiscal year 2021-2022 budget anticipates a surplus of approximately $31,000 at the end of the year and a reserve level of 59.38%. Modest surpluses are anticipated for three of the four remaining fiscal years, with a fund balance still above our 50% targeted reserve range at the end of the five year period.

III. REVIEW OF GENERAL FUND REVENUES

Finance Director Cipparrone reported in detail on each General Fund revenue line-item. Several short and long term plans and cost saving measures had been identified to manage the unknown revenue impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which the Village initially thought could be $750,000 under budget. On a positive note, revenues were not as severely impacted as anticipated. The Village received $230,000 in stimulus funding, and may be eligible for additional funding. Director Cipparrone cautioned that while the economy is expected to regulate once vaccines are more readily available, it may be some time before that occurs. For example, it is not known when or if commuter parking trends will return to pre-pandemic levels.

Department Heads were then invited to present their respective departmental budgets to the Village Board for review and comment. Each Department Head was asked to describe budget variations, if any, and to provide a report on progress being made to achieve strategic goals and priorities within their respective areas of responsibility.

IV. REVIEW OF GENERAL FUND AND OTHER FUND BUDGETS

Administration, Legal, President & Board and General Ledger

Village Manager Peterson explained the administration budget is anticipated to be under budget for the current fiscal year due to temporary vacancies in two of the four administrative staff positions which have been supplemented with contractual employees. Hiring of at least one of the two vacant positions is proposed at this time. A portion of the salary budget is being used to fund a portion of the Management Analyst position in the Police Department.

The Village's health insurance renewal is anticipated to reflect a -7.5% decrease which will result in budget savings of approximately $125,000. The final budget will be adjusted to reflect the final renewal.

The Village Board asked questions regarding the current Village Attorney retainer agreement which expires in 2022. It was the general consensus that there is still value in retaining the mailed version of the Spokesman, adding additional branding. Staff was asked to evaluate concerns that some bulk mail is not being received.