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FINANCE COMMITTEE 2011/07/18 Minutes The City of Lake Forest FINANCE COMMITTEE Proceedings of the July 18, 2011 Meeting 6:30 p.m. – City Hall Council Chambers I. Call to Order and Roll Call Chairman Pandaleon called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. Present: Chairman Pandaleon, Aldermen Novit, Waldeck, Moore, Morsch, Schoenheider and Palmer. Absent: Mayor Cowhey and Alderman Adelman. Quorum present. There were nine people present in the audience. Staff present: Robert Kiely, Jr., City Manager; Kathleen Reinertsen, Finance Director; Louise Breckan, Assistant Finance Director; Carina Walter, Assistant City Manager; Ramesh Kanapareddy, City Surveyor and Engineer; Diane Hall, Senior Accountant and Victor Filippini, City Attorney. II. Consideration of Minutes from the Finance Committee Meeting Held on May 16, 2011 Alderman Palmer made a motion to approve the minutes from the Finance Committee meeting held on May 16, 2011. The motion was seconded by Alderman Novit. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. III. Potential General Obligation Bond Refunding Ms. Kathleen Reinertsen, Finance Director stated that city staff and Speer Financial have been monitoring interest rates since the City’s April 2010 bond issue to determine the ideal time for a refunding. Bonds can only be refunded one time. The earliest sale date is September 6, 2011. Rates used in the analysis are based on an Aa1/AA+ rated recent bond issue of the Village of Palatine adjusted for non-bank qualification. There are two potential refundings. Current Refunding-(Portions of 1999, 2000, 2003C and 2003D issues) (Cemetery, Old MS, Water, Storm Sewer) The City has $2,900,000 of bonds that are currently callable that would prove beneficial to refund. Ms. Reinertsen stated that the net present value benefit is estimated at $122,000 or about 4.2% of the refunded principal. This is after issuance costs. To save even more dollars and staff time as this issue would be Bank Qualified, an offering to “local banks only” can be considered as the City has done in the past for a few of the Special Service Areas. The only caveat is that there might be a risk of a slightly higher rate. Advance Refunding-(Portions of 2002A, 2004A and 2004B issues) (Water Plant, Golf, Storm Sewer) If done at the same time as the above, both issues would not be Bank Qualified and a local offering could not be done. There are about $23,655,000 of bonds that could be advance refunded for savings. This means that the bonds are not currently callable but the City could issue now and put the dollars in escrow until the call date at the end of 2012. The net present value benefit is estimated at $1,127,000 or 4.8% of the refunded principal. If we wait one year to when the bonds can be called, we can save another $800,000 if rates remain the same as those in the current market. A conference call with Mayor Cowhey and Chairman Pandaleon, as well as an email exchange with former Finance Chairman Grumhaus, resulted in the same recommendation: Proceed with the current refunding. Begin the process for the advance refunding but monitor interest rates. If rates move out of favor, a decision can be made by the Mayor and Finance Chairman to pull the sale no later than August 23rd. Mayor Cowhey entered the meeting at 6:45 p.m. Following discussion, Alderman Palmer made the motion to proceed with the Current Refunding, begin the process for the Advance Refunding but monitor the interest rates. If rates move out of favor, a decision can be made by the Mayor and Finance Chairman to pull the sale not later than August 23rd. The motion was seconded by Alderman Novit. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. Finance Committee Meeting Minutes – July 18, 2011 2 IV. Purchase of the FY12 Computer Workstations Ms. Reinertsen stated that staff is requesting waiving the bid process and approving the purchase of Dell computers. The project is to replace the desktop computers and laptops that have aged beyond the City’s six (6) year replacement program. This purchase encompasses both FY11 and FY12 replacements as FY11 was a year of transition and the replacement methodology was not finalized until recently. The City standardized all desktops and laptops with Dell products 11 years ago. The standardizations help staff to efficiently deploy, troubleshoot, and maintain the systems. Dell provides the City with government contract pricing based on the Midwestern Higher Education Consortium (MHEC) contract pricing. MHEC is an instrumentality of state government. Illinois is a member of the consortium. Contracts must adhere to the purchasing policies of the MHEC member states. Following discussion, Alderman Palmer made a motion to waive the bid process and approve the purchase of 67 desktops and 6 laptops from Dell, Inc. in the amount of $50,313. The motion was seconded by Alderman Schoenheider. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. V. Discussion of Purchasing and the Payment Approval Process Ms. Reinertsen stated that In 2007, the City performed an extensive review of its purchasing policies. During a staff review of the current policy, a few areas emerged that require City Council direction. 1. Currently, the Finance Committee Chairman reviews the monthly check register and grants the approval of all bills paid. Would the entire Finance Committee like to review the monthly check register? The consensus of the Finance Committee was to continue current practice. 2. Currently, the City Council approves a summation of the General and Water Fund payments on a monthly basis. With the July payments, it will be expanded to include all City Funds. 3. The City utilizes about 6,500 vendors. Currently, the City Council approves any single purchase over $20,000. There are 27 vendors (0.4%) that have fallen into a “gray” area. Some of the vendors were approved by the City Council long ago, some started out as small payments and grew larger over time, and most are multiple purchases that are forecast to be over $20,000 for the fiscal year. Ms. Reinertsen stated that staff has four recommendations under the “Action” column of the spreadsheet in the meeting packet. Approve by City Council with May Budget – These vendors would be approved each year at the first meeting in May when the budget is approved. Bid every 3-5 years- These vendors would come back to the City Council every time they are bid. City Council approval- December 2011 -These vendors would be approved each year at the December meeting since they are based on a calendar year. City Manager- These vendors or types of vendors (supplies, parts, sole distributors, Recreation instructors) can be approved by the City Manager up to $75,000/fiscal year. Ms. Reinertsen asked the Finance Committee if they would like the appropriate code amendments from the above recommendations brought back to their September 19th meeting or should all vendors on this list be brought back on an individual basis for approval? Following discussion, Alderman Palmer made the motion to have the appropriate code amendments for the recommendations brought back to the September 19th Finance Committee meeting and have an annual report comparing year to year of the aggregate total for every vendor paid over $20,000. The motion was seconded by Alderman Morsch. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. Finance Committee Meeting Minutes – July 18, 2011 3 Ms. Reinertsen stated that also included in the meeting packet was a copy of the City Manager’s approved list of vendors that are paid between $5,000 and $19,999 annually. VI. City Fees and Charges Approval Process Mr. Robert Kiely, City Manager stated that annually the City Council approves user fees. He stated that there are some fees and charges that are in the “gray” area. Mr. Kiely stated that fees and charges for Recreation, Senior and CROYA programs are not included in the user fee schedule. Staff is working with the city attorney and the approval process will be discussed at the September 18th Finance Committee meeting. VII. Opportunity for the Public to Address the Finance Committee: None. VIII. Other Business: None. IX. Adjournment There being no further business, Alderman Palmer moved, seconded by Alderman Novit to adjourn the meeting at 7:10 p.m. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote. Respectfully submitted, Louise Breckan Assistant Finance Director