Kathryn L. Ciesla, Northbrook Village Board President | LinkedIn
Kathryn L. Ciesla, Northbrook Village Board President | LinkedIn
Village of Northbrook Committee of the Whole met Oct. 24.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
1. ROLL CALL
| Attendee Name Status | |
| Kathryn Ciesla | Present |
| Robert Israel | Present |
| Muriel Collison | Absent |
| Heather Ross | Present |
| Johannah Hebl | Present |
| Daniel Pepoon | Present |
| Joy Ebhomielen | Present |
2. MINUTES APPROVAL
A. Board of Trustees- Committee of the Whole – Meeting Minutes October 10, 2023.
| RESULT: ADOPTED [5 TO 0]
MOVER: Dan Pepoon, Trustee SECONDER: Robert Israel, Trustee AYES: Israel, Ross, Hebl, Pepoon, Ebhomielen ABSENT: Muriel Collison ABSTAIN: Kathryn Ciesla |
3. PUBLIC COMMENT TIME
None.
4. DISCUSSION TOPICS
A. Presentation of FY2023/2024 Q1 Financial Results, Schedule of Investments, Overtime Report Summary, Economic Indicators, and Financial Reporting Methods
Village CFO Drazner stated tonight’s presentation highlights the first quarter of FY 2024. General Fund First Quarter Year to Date Actual to Budget shows Quarter One numbers for revenue and expense are tracking on target with the budget. Revenue is tracking slightly under 25% primarily due to the delay in the county sending out property tax bills. Expenses for the first quarter are where they should be, approximately 25% of the annual budget.
Principal revenue sources excluding interfund transfers are retail sales tax, fees for services and state income tax. Property taxes are due to be collected in November/December and again in March/April before the end of the fiscal year. This is only a timing issue and there is no concern.
The Enterprise Fund includes waterworks, sewer, stormwater, senior housing and parking operations. Enterprise Funds, year to date shows that the Water fund budgeted a bond issue in the amount of $6.75 million. The recommendation is to not move forward at this time. The fund has a cash balance of $10 million which can be drawn down rather than issuing bonds. Due to increasing interest rates, it is recommended that foregoing or delaying a bond issue will save the Village interest expense. If anything changes with interest rates, a debt issuance can still be done later this fiscal year and typically takes two to three months from start to finish.
The Capital Projects Fund, shows the Facilities Fund at $4.8 million. This is from the excess surplus transfer from FY2022. The $5.9 million from FY2023 has not yet been posted. An overtime report is included in the packet. There is no area of concern. CFO Drazner stated that overtime should be considered a necessary cost of doing business for the Village. There were no questions.
Director Mendel presented on economic indicators with fiscal year to date information. General construction cumulative permits May 1 through September 30 are even with FY2022. Total building related inspections are 5,300 versus 6,581 in FY2022. The number difference is due to projects under review.
Nonresidential permits for commercial, office and industrial are 64, equal to FY2022. The number is greater than FY2020 and FY2021.
Residential market, new single-family permits issued through September is 15 as opposed to 19 last year. A slide showed that most new single-family permits were located in clusters.
Cumulative single family addition permits are 135 versus 147 in FY2022. The number indicates that people want to stay in their homes.
The Northbrook average 60062 home value is $576,000.
Gateway Townhomes ownership changed at the end of FY22/2023. The new owner is moving along. The multifamily market for 60062 shows the market vacancy rate is keeping low. The size of units in the marketplace and price point has moved up. Vacancy rates show Northshore 770 almost full at 2.9% and The Elaine at 100% occupancy. The 10-mile radius review is 6.4%.
Mr. Drazner closed his presentation with recommendations after reviewing the entire budget on the following actions:
1) Account for Tax Sharing Agreements - The Village does not budget an expense for tax incentive payments. Rather, incentive payments are currently posted against the sales tax revenue account. In FY2025 it is recommended to appropriate an estimated amount for the tax sharing payment expense. It is also suggested to have additional transparency with tax sharing agreements by keeping them separate from each other. The Committee was in agreement.
2) Budgeting for Public Safety Pension Expense – This is a separate Fund apart from the General Fund that includes the police and fire pension levy and employer pension contribution expense. The suggestion is to combine the separate pension contribution funds for police and firefighters with the General Fund. By including the public safety pension contributions in the General Fund rather than segregating into a separate Fund will allow for a true depiction of the actual cost for public safety services in those respective operating departments. The Committee agreed.
3) TIF Funds – There are currently two TIFs, pending outcome of tonight’s meeting pertaining to the Northbrook Court TIF, there will still be two TIF funds since the existing NC TIF will be terminated while a new NC TIF will be approved. Currently, the two TIFs are combined in a single Fund and CFO Drazner recommended that each be tracked separately in its own Fund.
4) Health Insurance Fund – Recommendation is to separate out health, life and dental into a separate Fund to allow for improved transparency and trackability. The Committee agreed. Trustee Hebl asked if other communities were handling police and fire budgets. Mr. Drazner answered that it is standard practice to include the pension contribution expense in the operating budget. The auditors have been advised of this and are also in full agreement.
Trustee Pepoon asked about the change of Calendar year to Fiscal Year. Mr. Drazner answered he supports changing from a fiscal to a calendar year. However, the timing will need to be carefully aligned with the upgrade to cloud based BS&A accounting software.
Kathi Quinn reported on behalf of the Northbrook Chamber of Commerce. She stated that Napolita Pizzeria will host a ribbon cutting on November 17th, from 2-4 p.m. An invitation is extended to the Board. Trustee Collison suggested that Napolita Pizzeria might like to promote itself that evening at Illuminate Northbrook.
The Chamber has been meeting with area retailers to promote holiday shopping. “Find it in Northbrook!” is a very popular logo. The Chamber is looking into window clings and other promotional material using the logo. A holiday kickoff is scheduled for November 1, 2023. Once again, folks will be able to send in their receipts and have their names added for a gift card drawing.
The Chamber hosted conversations and round table discussions regarding Village licensing, disability workshop, and the Village bag tax.
The Village is a regional partner with the Bureau of Economic Development. $350,000 in grant money is available from Cook County in the amounts of $20K and $50K for suburban businesses. Many applications were received. The grant money will be disbursed in January 2024. It is hoped that some of the grant money comes to Northbrook.
The Chamber is working on their 501C3 application in order to receive additional funding. The Chamber’s 2024 focus will be on supporting Northbrook manufacturers. Round table talks will be held to inform the manufacturers on current laws.
The State of the Village Address with President Ciesla will take place on Friday, January 26, 2024 at the Northbrook Public Library.
5. REMARKS FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER
None.
6. CLOSED SESSION
Trustee Israel moved, seconded by Trustee Ross to go in Closed Session at 6:37pm for discussion of: minutes pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/(c) (21) and Discussion regarding the purchase or lease of real property for the use of the public body, including meetings held for the purpose of discussing whether a particular parcel should be acquired pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/(c) (5).The motion passed by roll call vote.
7. ADJOURN
Trustee Pepoon moved, seconded by Trustee Ross to adjourn the COW meeting at 7:20 p.m. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote.
| RESULT: ADOPTED [5 TO 0]
MOVER: Dan Pepoon, Trustee SECONDER: Heather, Trustee AYES: Israel, Ross, Hebl, Pepoon, Ebhomielen ABSTAIN: Kathryn Ciesla ABSENT: Muriel Collison |
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