FINANCE COMMITTEE 2016/01/19 Minutes
The City of Lake Forest
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Proceedings of the January 19, 2016 Meeting
6:30 p. m. – City Hall Council Chambers
I. Call to Order and Roll Call
Mayor Schoenheider requested a motion to appoint Alderman Newman acting Finance
Chairman in the absence of Chairman Pandaleon. The motion was made by Alderman Beidler
and seconded by Alderman Waldeck. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Acting Chairman Newman called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Present: Mayor
Schoenheider, Aldermen Waldeck, Beidler, Newman, Reisenberg, Tack and Moreno. Absent:
Chairman Pandaleon and Alderman Adelman. Quorum present. There were approximately 15
present in the audience.
Staff present: Robert Kiely, Jr., City Manager; Elizabeth Holleb, Finance Director; Diane Hall,
Assistant Finance Director; Jim Held, Police Chief; Pete Siebert, Deputy Fire chief and Bob Ells,
Superintendent
Others present: There were nine people in the audience.
II. Consideration of Minutes from the Finance Committee Meeting Held on November 9, 2015
Alderman Moreno made a motion to approve the minutes from the Finance Committee meeting
held on November 9, 2015. The motion was seconded by Alderman Beidler. The motion carried
unanimously by voice vote.
III. Capital Budget (FY17 Budget Item)
Ms. Elizabeth Holleb, Finance Director stated at the November budget meeting, staff would
present a balanced capital budget through FY2021. She reviewed the changes made to
balance the outlying years. She stated additional information will be provided at the March
budget meeting.
The Committee discussed the line items that have been reduced to provide the necessary
funding reductions, which included capital equipment as well as street paving.
IV. Water Rates
Ms. Holleb reviewed the history of changes to the water rate structure with the addition of the
two tier structure. She stated this change has not generated the expected revenue mostly due
to weather over the past two years.
She reviewed the five year forecast for the Water Capital Fund, which includes the additional
expenses for the water plant improvement project and a $9.3 million bond issue in FY2018 to fund
the project.
She reviewed a number of options that would fund the project with a combination of variable
and fixed rate adjustments. She stated staff recommends funding the costs associated with
maintaining current capacity with fixed rate adjustments as all residents use the water plant and
to fund an increase in plant capacity with variable rate adjustments. The proposed FY2017 rate
would increase by 2.5% for operational costs only. Adjustments related to the water plant project
would begin in FY2018.
The Committee discussed the proposed options with the recommendation to increase FY2017
rates by 2.5% and to continue reviewing the options of fixed and variable rate changes to fund
the project as outlined in the staff recommendation.
Finance Committee Meeting
Minutes – January 19, 2016
V. OpenGov Demonstration
Ms. Diane Hall, Assistant Finance Director provided a demonstration of a new technology to
provide reporting options for City staff and residents. She stated reports will be used for the
FY2017 budget presentation and reports will be developed to post on the City website to provide
greater transparency.
VI. Other Business:
1) Core/Elective Service Analysis (FY17 Budget item) – Ms. Holleb stated recommended
changes have been highlighted on the enclosed document.
2) Draft Information Technology Five-Year Capital Improvement Program (FY17 Budget Item) –
no discussion.
3) Updated list of FY2016 Budget follow-up items – no discussion
4) December 2015 Flash Report – no discussion
VII. Opportunity for the Public to Address the Finance Committee: None
VIII. Adjournment
There being no further business, Alderman Reisenberg moved, seconded by Alderman Beidler, to
adjourn the meeting at 7:21 p.m. The motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Respectfully Submitted,
Diane Hall
Assistant Finance Director