McLean County Times

McLean County Unit School District 5 Board Finance Committee met Oct. 11.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

COMMITTEE ATTENDEES: Stan Gozur, Dr. Kristen Weikle, Marty Hickman, Tommy Hoerr, Alex Williams

COMMITTEE ABSENTEES: none

OTHER UNIT 5 ATTENDEES: Dayna Brown

1.HEALTH INSURANCE FUND UPDATE

● Mr. Hickman updated the Committee on the status of the Insurance Fund. The fund balance at 9/30/2024 was -$1.1 million. The Health Insurance Committee is meeting next Thursday to discuss ways to stabilize the fund. Mr. Gozur asked if the increase in expense was attributed to cost increases in services or increased utilization of insurance. Mr. Hickman said that the district would need to look more in depth to see if utilization has increased, but the cost for healthcare services has gone up. Many other districts are experiencing an increase of costs and premiums with their employees’ healthcare plans as well.

2.FACILITIES FUNDING DISCUSSION

● Mr. Hickman provided examples of how the district could fund facilities improvement projects with Health Life Safety Bonds. Should the Committee want a proposal for issuing bonds, it would be discussed at a future meeting.

3.BUS BID TIMELINE

● Mr. Hickman updated the Committee on the electric bus bid timeline. The district plans to advertise on 10/21/2024, while the bid opening would be on 11/12/2024. Recommendation of award would be presented to the Board on 11/20/2024. Mr. Hickman reminded the Committee that the grants are expected to cover the entire cost of the buses and charging equipment. The only expense the district would be responsible for would be installation costs of the charging equipment.

4.QUARTERLY BUDGET UPDATE

● Mr. Hoerr briefly talked about the first quarter update of FY2025. For the most part, actuals are tracking with budget. There are a few variances to note, namely, the district hasn’t received the first state transportation claim payment as of 9/30/2024. Federal revenue is quite a bit higher than previous years due to the district receiving ESSER revenue earlier than past years. Finally, employee benefit expense is quite a bit higher than last year due to the timing of when health insurance contributions were paid into the Insurance Fund in past years.

5.PUBLIC COMMENTS

●No members of the public were present for comment.

The meeting adjourned at 3:53 PM

The next meeting is November 15, 2024 at 3:00 PM at the Unit Office.

https://meetings.boardbook.org/Documents/CustomMinutesForMeeting/1482?meeting=658675