McLean County Finance Committee Met July 1.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
The Finance Committee of the McLean County Board met at 4:30 p.m. in Room 404 of the Government Center, 115 East Washington Street, Bloomington, IL.
Members Present: Chairman Jim Soeldner and Member Josh Barnett (in-person),
Members Catherine Metsker, Chuck Erickson, Laurie Wollrab, Carlo Robustelli and Jacob Beard (by remote attendance)
Members Absent: None
Other Members Present:
Staff Present: Ms. Camille Rodriguez, County Administrator; Ms. Cassy Taylor, Assistant County Administrator, Ms. Cathy Dreyer, Assistant County Administrator; Ms. Julie A. Morlock, Recording Secretary; Ms. Jessica Woods First Assistant Civil State’s Attorney (remote attendance)
Department Heads/Elected
Officials Present: Ms. Becky McNeil, Treasurer; Ms. Kathy Michael, County Clerk
Others Present:
Chairman Soeldner called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. and declared a quorum
Chairman Soeldner presented the Minutes of the May 19, 2020 special meeting, June 3, 2020 regular meeting and June 8, 2020 special meeting of the Finance Committee for approval.
Motion by Beard/Metsker to approve the Minutes of the May 19, 2020 special meeting, June 3, 2020 regular meeting and June 8, 2020 special meeting of the Finance Committee.
Motion carried.
Chairman Soeldner confirmed there was no members of the public to appear before the Committee.
Ms. Kathy Michael, County Clerk presented for action a request to approve the List of Election Judges. Ms. Michael went over the process that occurs every two years. Ms. Wollrab thanked all the election judges that have stepped forward to do the election work.
Motion by Erickson/Beard to recommend approval of the List of Election Judges.
Motion Carried.
Ms. Michael presented her monthly reports. Mr. Beard asked about delayed results from mail in ballots and her planning for that. Ms. Michael confirmed they should expect late results as they do not know how many mail- in ballots there will be. She also indicated that mail delivery can be delayed as it goes through a mail service out of Champaign. Mr. Robustelli thanked her on behalf of a constituent with their assistance in getting a marriage certificate. Mr. Robustelli also indicated that he appreciated the report. He stated that some information was based on Peoria County and asked if COVID funding would cover much of the cost. Ms. Michael indicated she was not sure at this time as she is not sure how much it will cost and there might be more funding available from the State or Federal government. She indicated they would have a better understanding once the applications start to come back in for ballots. Mr. Soeldner asked when they would be able to send out ballots. She stated they can send out ballots starting September 24th until 5 days before the election. Ms. Michael also went over process and limits of bringing ballots into the polling place. Ms. Michael indicated they would be getting the word out as best they can about those limits. Mr. Soeldner asked if he could request a mail in ballot and then decide to go in and vote. Ms. Michael indicated you would not need to bring it in as there are electronic checks and balances in place. Ms. Metsker asked for more information about the vote center. Ms. Michael indicated the new mandate said that each jurisdiction must have a vote center, so cannot have same center for both Bloomington and County. She stated she felt that will cause further confusion.
Ms. Metsker thanked Mr. Mark Bounds in the Recorders office for his assistance in providing information she needed. Ms. Metsker also thanked Tish McKinney with her assistance on Township levy process during COVID. Ms. Michael thanked her. Mr. Soeldner asked if there were any further questions for Ms. Michael, hearing none, he thanked her and moved to the next item on the agenda.
Chairman Soeldner indicated that Ms. Marshell Thomson of Animal Control was not present, but her monthly reports were in the packet. Chairman Soeldner asked if there were any questions, hearing none he moved to the next item on the Agenda.
Mr. Soeldner indicated next on the agenda was the Auditor and there was nothing to be presented. Mr. Soeldner moved on to the next item on the agenda.
Ms. Becky McNeil, County Treasurer presented for action a request to approve a Resolution Authorizing the County Board Chairman to execute a Deed of Conveyance for two parcels (17- 03-281-002 and 17-03-281-003). Ms. McNeil provided history on these parcels.
Motion by Metsker/Wollrab to recommend approval of a Resolution Authorizing the County Board Chairman to execute a Deed of Conveyance for two parcels (17-03-281-002 and 17-03-281-003).
Motion Carried.
Ms. McNeil presented her monthly reports. Ms. McNeil indicated that in June her office started to see the impact of sales tax of COVID and went over those sales tax numbers. She also went over shared sales tax, motor fuel tax and property tax numbers as well. Ms. McNeil went over the investment report and indicated that because it was the first of the month, they were not able to pull the Blue Cross Blue Shield information. She then went over Nursing Home Fund information. Ms. Metsker indicated the report from the Health Committee on the Nursing Home did not match the report from the Treasurer’s office. Ms. McNeil indicated she would follow up with the Nursing Home.
Motion by Wollrab/Erickson to accept and place on file the County Treasurer’s Monthly Financial Reports.
Motion Carried.
Ms. Camille Rodriguez, County Administrator presented for action a request to approve a Second Amendment to a Settlement Agreement with State Farm. She indicated that Ms. Woods and Mr. John Pratt, Attorney for District 87 were both present to answer any questions. Ms. Wollrab asked for clarification on item number 10 of the agreement. Mr. Pratt provided history on this agreement including that agreement locks in the assessed value for State Farm and the second part of the agreement spreads the levy over the assessed value to limit each taxing body’s potential growth to 1% per year.
Motion by Wollrab/Barnett to recommend approval of a Second Amendment to Settlement Agreement with State Farm.
Motion Carried. Members Beard and Metsker abstained from the vote.
Ms. Rodriguez presented the update from the Economic Development Council. She indicated that as of today there had not been any new applications for the Micro Bridge Loan or the Recovery Loan Programs. She indicated Mr. Hoban believes this is due to the replenishment of the paycheck protection program funding and the introductions of two new grants from the State of Illinois. She also provided an update on the marketing side indicating there is a campaign for the loan recovery programs. Mr. Robustelli asked about other ways we can support small businesses generally. Ms. Rodriguez indicated she would touch base with Mr. Hoban and bring back some information to the Committee. Mr. Soeldner stated that they should also reach out to Charlie Moore for further input.
Ms. Rodriguez presented her report on recent employment activities. Ms. Rodriguez indicated they hoped to bring a more detailed human resources report to future meetings. Chairman Soeldner asked if there were any questions, hearing none, he thanked her.
Ms. Rodriguez provided a financial update including the general fund, revenues and expenses for the County. Ms. Wollrab thanked her for information. Mr. Beard also thanked them for information and felt they were doing right thing by being conservative in expenses. Mr. Soeldner asked about CARES Act Program and if department heads are keeping track of expenses, they are spending on COVID. Ms. Rodriguez confirmed they are keeping track of expense and keeping receipts. Mr. Soeldner stated he felt it was a good thing we are more reliant on real estate taxes and not sales taxes like other counties.
Ms. Rodriguez provided an update on the EJUS system. She went over options provided by the consulting firm including build ourselves, purchase something off the shelf or a mix of both. She stated that based on report and the conservative nature of expenses we are trying to follow; they did not want to come to the Committee with a large price tag. She stated they would next like to put out a request for information for pieces of the system instead of getting price for entire system. She indicated she felt it was not a good plan to bond out for cost of system when it would take 7-10 years to pay bond and systems only tend to last 7-10 years. She indicated Courts have agreed to pay for request for information. Ms. Metsker asked if we have resigned to the fact there would not be an integrated system. Ms. Rodriguez indicated they have unhappily acknowledged and stated other governments do not have integrated systems because of the cost. Ms. Metsker asked if there was an overall project plan, such as starting with case management and then update other parts one at a time. Ms. Rodriguez indicated they have considered hiring a project manager. Ms. Metsker asked if this would be a temporary position. Ms. Rodriguez stated she felt it would be more contractual. Ms. Wollrab asked about process of moving files from system to system and the workload that would incur vs. cost savings on system. Ms. Rodriguez indicated may not have systems that talk to each other but did not feel work required to pull reports from different systems would out way cost of new system that would only last 7-10 years. Ms. Metsker asked her if they would be able to implement an integrated reporting system. Ms. Rodriguez indicated that would be a question they would be putting out with the RFI.
Chairman Soeldner presented the Finance Committee with bills for review and approval as transmitted by the County Auditor.
Motion by Metsker/Robustelli to approve the presented transfer and bills with prepaid total and fund total amount of $1,018,871.22.
Motion carried.
Ms. Wollrab indicated she had looked at the Auditor’s part of the website for previous bills paid report and noticed the list ended in September of 2019 and asked if that could be updated. Ms. Rodriguez indicated she would follow up with the Auditor. Mr. Beard asked if minimum wage increase had been processed. Ms. Rodriguez indicated that it had been processed and went well.
Chairman Soeldner asked if there was anything else, hearing nothing he adjourned the meeting at 5:43 p.m.
https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/7638
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