McLean County Finance Committee met June 5.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
The Finance Committee of the McLean County Board met at 4:30 p.m. in Room 400 of the Government Center, 115 East Washington Street, Bloomington, IL.
Members Present: Chairman Jim Soeldner, Members Catherine Metsker, Chuck Erickson, Laurie Wollrab and Scott Murphy
Members Absent: Members Carlo Robustelli and Jacob Beard
Other Members Present: None
Staff Present: Ms. Camille Rodriguez, County Administrator; Mr. Eric Schmitt, Assistant County Administrator; Ms. Jessica Woods First Assistant Civil State’s Attorney; Ms. Julie A. Morlock, Recording Secretary;
Department Heads/Elected Officials Present: Ms. Kathy Michael, County Clerk; Ms. Rebecca McNeil, County Treasurer, Ms. Michelle Anderson, County Auditor; Ms. Marshell Thompson, McLean County Animal Control
Others Present: Ms. Susannah Filipovic
Chairman Soeldner called the meeting to order at 4:30 PM.
Chairman Soeldner presented the Minutes of the April 16, 2019 special meeting and May 1, 2019 regular meeting of the Finance Committee for approval.
Motion by Wollrab/Murphy to approve the Minutes of the April 16, 2019 special meeting and May 1, 2019 regular meeting of the Finance Committee.
Motion carried.
Chairman Soeldner confirmed there were no members of the public.
Ms. Kathy Michael; County Clerk presented her monthly reports. Ms. Michael indicated she would have a transfer for a microfilm viewer at stand up. Ms. Metsker asked if this was to replace a microfilm viewer. Ms. Michael indicated it was to replace a machine they could no longer get parts for. Ms. Michael indicated they are continuing to plan for the 2020 election. Chairman Soeldner asked if there were any other questions; hearing none, he thanked her.
Ms. Thompson, Director Animal Control presented her monthly reports. Ms. Thompson indicated things are going well during wildlife breeding season. She also indicated they are working on a kitten adoption day for the 30 bottle fed kittens they have right now. Ms. Metsker asked her to clarify her wildlife comment. Ms. Thompson indicated she was referring to breeding of wild animals such as bats, fox, coyote, etc. She went over the procedure for residents and wild animals in their yard. Mr. Erickson asked her to confirm procedure if the animals are in a resident’s home. Ms. Thompson indicated if the animal is in someone’s home Animal Control can go in and assess a rabies concern, but if they are in an area where they could be encouraged to leave, they would need to contact the Illinois Department of Conservation. She provided examples of how residents could discourage animals such as having plants the animals do not like. Chairman Soeldner asked if there were any further questions, hearing none, he thanked her.
Ms. Rebecca McNeil, County Treasurer presented her monthly reports to the Committee. She went over the tax revenue report and indicated numbers were up for the month of May. She discussed the PPRT revenue increase but noted there had been indications revenue may be decreased again so the State could balance their budget. Mr. Soeldner asked how they made a distribution before taxes are due. Ms. McNeil indicated make the distribution from the escrow amounts that come in before the tax due date. Ms. McNeil then went over the investment report. Ms. McNeil went over the Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance report and indicated costs are up compared to last year. Ms. McNeil next went over the Nursing Home Fund report including revenue and expenses through the month of April. She indicated revenue was up because of a payment from the State but next month would be different because expenses will be up as there was a 3rd payroll in May and two months of medical life expenses. She indicated she has concerns with the drop in cash. She indicated there would be another third payroll this year that will cause a similar drop in cash value. Ms. McNeil also summarized a report on the Community Development Fund.
Motion by Wollrab/Metsker to accept and place on file the County Treasurer’s Monthly Financial Reports.
Motion Carried.
Ms. Michelle Anderson, County Auditor presented the Popular Annual Financial Report (“PAFR”) to the Committee for acceptance. Ms. Anderson indicated they are required to do the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (“CAFR”), but she also puts out the PAFR, which is a summary of the CAFR and as it is user friendly. She went over revenues and indicated that those have not changed more than 2% over a multiple year period. She went over expenses and indicated change is due to the Law & Justice Center expansion. Ms. Metsker asked about typical expenses and Ms. Anderson provided those numbers. Ms. Anderson went over the nursing home fund. She indicated that fund is heavily depended on charges for services and that the cash and fund values have greatly decreased.
Motion by Metsker/Wollrab to accept and place on file the Popular Annual financial Report.
Motion Carried.
Ms. Anderson presented information on a new report required by the government – the Health Department Grant Report. Chairman Soeldner asked if there were any questions, hearing none, he thanked her.
Ms. Rodriguez presented critical hire requests and indicated Staff added a position in the Health Department and Regional Planning to the request.
Motion by Metsker/Wollrab to recommend approval of the critical hire requests.
Motion Carried.
Ms. Rodriguez presented for action a request to accept and place on file the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and the single audit report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018. Ms. Anderson introduced Ms. Susannah Filipovic, the Audit Manager at Baker Tilley. Ms. Filipovic indicated the Auditor puts together most of the information in the over 200-page document and Baker Tilly provides three pages. She indicated the County received an unmodified opinion, which is the highest level of assurance an auditor can provide on a set of financial statements. She indicated the public building commission’s statements are including in the County’s report but they are audited by a separate outside auditor. Ms. Filipovic stated the other audit firm provided an unmodified opinion on those financials. She went over the report on federal awards as the county is required to report federal expenditures if they have over $750,000 annually. She indicated they provide two letters for this report including the internal controls over financial reporting which had no material weaknesses or deficiencies. She stated the second letter is on the federal expenditures where they provide an opinion on a tested program, which was WIC this year, and all was in order. Ms. Filipovic also went over the final document they provide which is the communication to those charged with governments and managers. She then went over things that might be changing in federal requirements in the future. Ms. Anderson pointed out that this was the first year Regional Planning was included in the CAFR.
Motion by Murphy/Wollrab to accept and place on file the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for Fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and for the Single Audit Report for the Fiscal Year ended December 31, 2018.
Motion Carried.
Ms. Camille Rodriguez presented her report on recent employment activities. Ms. Rodriguez also provided an update to the Committee on the search for an Assistant County Administrator. Mr. Soeldner asked about timing for budget. Ms. Rodriguez went over timing of budget information into system and meetings.
Chairman Soeldner presented the Finance Committee bills for review and approval as transmitted by the County Auditor.
Motion by Erickson/Wollrab to approve the presented bills in the amount of $1,114,570.03.
Motion carried.
Chairman Soeldner asked if there was any other business to come before the committee. Ms. Wollrab indicated she had recently heard information on nursing homes in Illinois that indicated Illinois is 48th in the nation for reimbursement rates for Medicaid for nursing homes and that Illinois is using a schedule based on rates in 1999. She said we are working to assist nursing home, but seems there are larger issues affecting not just our nursing home but also others that have large Medicaid populations. She stated she felt members need to push this issue with representatives. Mr. Soeldner indicated he also hoped they would recognize the issues and work to fix them.
Chairman Soeldner asked if there was anything else, hearing nothing he adjourned the meeting at 5:20 p.m.
https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/6768
Alerts Sign-up