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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01_08_05_brw CITY COUNCIL January 8, 2005 ROLL CALL - PRESENT: Alderman Newman Alderman Tisdahl Alderman Wynne Alderman Rainey Alderman Bernstein A Quorum was present. NOT PRESENT AT ROLL CALL:Aldermen Jean-Baptiste and Moran ABSENT:Aldermen Feldman and Kent PRESIDING: Mayor Lorraine H. Morton A SPECIAL MEETING of the City Council was called to order by Mayor Morton on Saturday, January 8, 2005 at 9:15 a.m. in the Council Chamber for the purpose of conducting a workshop on the 2005-06 City budget. Aldermen Moran and Jean-Baptiste were present at this time. Citizen Comment: Junad Rizki, 2784 Sheridan Rd., said the toy pig he exhibited was symbolic of the City’s budget. During his 20-year residency, he has come to believe the majority of public officials are not interested in providing services to the majority of taxpayers. A recent outrageous example was the City giving $80,000 to affordable housing to renovate one dwelling unit. That $80,000 would have paid to inject 300 elm trees. They will discuss how they can come up with $1 million to inject the elm trees, but he did not think Council or staff was serious about coming up with this money except by raising taxes. He noted the budget will increase by $10 million this year with a 4% property tax increase. Yet the City wants to use property taxes to inject the elms, which is 2%. 33% of the increase would be used for the elm trees. That is a 6% tax increase when taken out over three years. So the City’s way to get this would be a property tax increase and to blame the elm trees for the increase. He suggested many positions at the City could be eliminated. Evanston doe not need a housing planner (200 elms), somebody to do fair housing (300 elms); the Health Department could be reorganized (300 elms) and the same in the Recreation Department, where things don’t make sense. $100,000 could come out. He suggested money could be saved on mental health. He thought the City could inject elm trees by cutting hidden pork in this budget, which aldermen know about but do nothing about. The only suggestion at the end of the budget cycle will be to raise taxes. He recalled an alderman said recently they would not raise taxes to inject the elm trees. He wants the elm trees injected and asserted they don’t need to trade off the environment for excessive taxation. He urged them not to blame the elm trees for a tax increase, which is really for operation of the City. Alderman Newman confirmed that the $80,000 referred to by Mr. Rizki came from HOME funds, which are restricted to be used only for housing. Interim City Manager Judith Aiello welcomed and thanked all who came; noted Council had received the proposed budget on December 30, 2004, named the reports they would review and the proposed meeting schedule. For the January 22 workshop, she asked that the schedule be amended to include an executive session from 9:00-10:00 a.m. to discuss litigation. They will review all outstanding litigation because some issues may impact the Capital Improvement Program. The public session would start at 10:00 a.m. The tree injection program would be discussed at the January 29 budget meeting. Ms. Aiello reminded all that the 2005-06 vehicle sticker deadline is midnight January 10. The Civic Center was open until 1:00 p.m. that day for people who wished to pick up their sticker. 2003-04 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Finance Director Bill Stafford reported the City’s financial report (CAFR) is above and beyond the audit required by law. The CAFR was started by former Finance Director Bob Shonk and done to provide more information and is up to industry standards. It is a report from an independent auditor to the City Council on the financial performance of the 2 January 8, 2005 City’s administration. There are three kinds of opinions from an auditor: unqualified opinion means the reports can be relied on, which is what the City has; a qualified opinion says the reports are okay except for some things and an adverse opinion is that the audit cannot be relief upon. He brought this up because in the past few years they have GASB 34, which is the government accounting standard for new principles and meant they had to change their financial statements and book all assets. Had they not booked assets, the City would have received an adverse opinion. The report contains a management letter that was provided to the A&PW Committee on any problems with the audit. TIF reports are also included. Last month staff appeared before the Economic Development Committee with a TIF report that they are required to send to the state controller. There is also a TIF audit letter. He raised this because there are two bodies, the state controller and an auditor, who have reviewed TIF records and reports, which provides due diligence to show that monies are spent properly. A single audit report was also provided. New in 2004 were financial reporting tests instituted by the federal Sarbanes-Oxley law for financial accountability. This came about due to Enron and other companies’ financial shenanigans. The law makes sure there are more tests for compliance and tests if anybody takes money. The City has discussed this with some elected officials. Auditors talked to Alderman Rainey due to her interest in financial matters and spot auditors went out on a random basis to field operations such as recreation and checked those with good results. Checks have taken place due to this law relative to internal controls and if operations are run in a proper manner. The report contains the GFOA award for excellence in financial reporting. Some 300 separate criteria are used for the certificate of achievement, which is awarded by an independent panel of judges from across the country. He noted chief accountant Mary Rodino and staff compiled this report of which they are proud. Evanston has received this award for more than 20 years. Mr. Stafford noted the GASB 34 format has changed to look more like industry standards. In financial statements there are two sets: industry standards which are geared toward how much an organization is self supporting. Even though Evanston’s budget is $164-166 million, when TIF funds are removed, it has an operating budget of $125 million. About half of the $125 million is supported through fees and the other half through taxes. A management discussion and analysis is included along with a statement of net assets and a statement of activities. Currently the City’s capital assets (streets, rights of way, street lighting, etc.) are $341,149,808. The income statement for the General Fund shows revenues of $75 million, expenditures of $73 million with a net increase of $1.3 million, which is 1.8% of the operating budget. Alderman Rainey noted that the $1.3 million is close to the extra $1.5 million generated by the real estate transfer tax. On the balance sheet they have a strong fund balance – unrestricted fund balance is $14 million (not cash). Unrestricted cash reserves are about $7.8 million, which is equivalent to 10% of the current operating budget ($78 million). The budget policy goal was to have 8.3%-10% for reserves. If the current operating budget comes in with more than 10% surplus, budget policy says any funds over 10% are to be re-appropriated to other funds that don’t have adequate reserves. He suggested allocating to the Insurance Fund. The Water Fund had a net positive change of $2.3 million. Cash increase for the year was $864,665. No rate increase is required and no new debt is anticipated. Depreciation is fully funded. The Sewer Fund had a net change of a positive $9.9 million, which is mostly due to new construction. Net cash increase for the year is $3.3 million. One last 5% rate increase is scheduled for March 1. This will complete the Illinois EPA loan and funding for the final stages of the sewer contracts. The Parking Fund had a net change in assets of a negative $528,289. The net cash decrease for the year was more than $1 million. This is the third year of deficits. Staff is working with the Parking Committee to develop increased rates. The Insurance Fund has claims for general liability and workers’ compensation estimated at $28.1 million. The City continues to provide more aggressive risk management. The potential financing of a portion of claims payments will affect the CIP financing strategy. That will be addressed at the next budget meeting. 3 January 8, 2005 The Fleet Fund has a net increase in assets of $784,501. The fleet is valued at $17.4 million. Debt service ends in 2006 and results in charges funding annual depreciation of $1.5 million. Pension Funds. The Police Pension Fund is 49.37% funded and could be better. One of the reasons it went down was added benefits and a poor stock market year. The Fire Pension Fund is 53.64% funded and went down due to HB 599, which doubled widows and survivors benefits this year in addition to poor stock market. Both funds are in decent shape. IMRF is in great shape and is 108.97% funded, which will decrease due to the five-year smoothing that IMRF does. Currently, it is probably one of the best funds in the state. In response to Alderman Rainey, Mr. Stafford explained that from year to year in pension funds there are factors that affect the fund. Investment income (7.5%) salary increases for employees (4.5%). Those key factors can be put into the actuarial formula that determines how much is funded annually. Depending on the markets, the fund can go up or down precipitously. A way to avoid that is to take the average of the past five years, which will be the increase. That smoothes the increase. He explained that next year, four of the five years were bad so that this number would go down. TIF Funds Downtown II - Property taxes continue to grow from $5.2 million in 2004 to $7.2 million in 2005. There is still $38 million in outstanding debt service to repay bonds. They will accelerate debt payments in the next three years. Southwest TIF - Property taxes continue to increase with $498,000 in 2004 and $600,000 this year. There is $1.2 million in outstanding debt. Repayment of bonds is on schedule and some money goes to the schools. Howard Hartrey TIF - Property taxes continue to remain steady with $1.1 million in 2004 and $1.2 million in 2005. $7.7 million remains in outstanding debt service. When bonds were issued, they issued one portion of the taxable bonds of $1.3 million with a callable feature after ten years. Because they were in good shape, they called those bonds and paid those off this year (2004) and are on target paying off the bonds. Washington National TIF - Property taxes continue to be steady with $1 million in 2004 and $1 million in 2005. They expect to see some dramatic increases. There is $48 million in outstanding debt, which includes $35 million in principal plus interest. A great deal of money will be spent to build the Sherman Plaza garage with significant payouts next year. Interim Manager Aiello thanked Bill Stafford, Barbara Zdanowicz and Mary Rodino, who have helped to keep the City’s fiscal condition strong, as well as former Finance Director Bob Shonk, who set the foundation. She reminded all that when former manager Roger Crum and Bill Stafford came to the City, reserve funds were not in good shape. The goal was to get the reserves up to 8-10% and the City is getting there. General Fund Review Ms. Aiello explained that the budget process starts in September with revenues. Currently the state economy rebound is slow but the Evanston economy is more stable due to diversification. No major programs, new hiring or service reductions are proposed in this budget. Staff was asked to identify areas where there could be new programs in future years as more funds come available. Many programs have been done for a number of years, which they need to look at in terms of changes in populations and needs. The property tax increase was kept to the minimum. City Council previously reviewed recommended major program cuts and did not recommend them this (fiscal) year. Real estate activity continues to be strong, but staff believes they are at a point where there will be smaller developments and significant in-fill projects unlike Sherman Plaza and other large developments in the future. Related to that is stabilization of building permits. This year they propose $3 million in permit fees - a record year and believe they will level off to $2 million in building permit fees. The sales tax is flat but remains solid. In talking to brokers, developers, Evmark and the Chamber of Commerce, she reported growing interest in retail space in Evanston. She thought they have to be careful with landlords who keep property vacant because they think they can get higher rents. They need to look at how and what they can do to assist independent merchants who want to come into town, national chains and brokers. 4 January 8, 2005 Ms. Aiello announced an Economic Development Committee meeting January 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the Parasol Room where they would continue the visioning process. Last fall they had a visioning session with citizens, Parking Committee, Plan Commission and Evmark. Subsequent to that meeting they commissioned a new parking/traffic analysis by KOLA and also a retail market analysis by Mid-America. That report will be presented to all that were involved and the public. Property Tax Levy Management & Budget Director Pat Casey stated that the proposed property tax levy increase is 3.98%. According to actuarial reports, no increase was needed in fire/police pension funds this year. General Fund expenditures for 2004-05 were $78,225,000. $2.1 million was added to that for wages and benefits in 2005-06. Nothing was added to medical insurance because staff found a provider that would give similar coverage with no increase. Utility cost increases are $163,800 mostly due to the higher cost of natural gas. Last May Council asked that more trees be planted, a cost of $97,000. 1.5 police positions have been added at a cost of $85,000 and one position in the Fire Department at $60,000. $428,400 was added for general expenses for tools, supplies, gasoline, etc., making the proposed budget $81,215,000. On the revenue side they started with $78,225,000 and a property tax increase of $916,400. They recommend a 1% food/beverage tax, which will generate $700,000. Staff is finally seeing an increase in the state income tax estimated at $500,000. An increase in the cigarette tax from 16¢ per pack to 32¢ per pack is recommended to generate $126,000. (Staff believes they can do this and not lose sales because Chicago has raised its tax from 16¢ to 48¢.) They propose raising the fine on those who don’t buy a vehicle sticker from $30 to $50 to get a better compliance rate, which will generate $70,000. (Alderman Rainey pointed out this is a fine to make sure the sticker is displayed.) Mr. Casey explained that a vehicle sticker must be displayed because police don’t know whether a person has one unless it is displayed, similar to the state license. Growth in other revenue is estimated at $677,600. Mr. Casey reported the proposed 2005-06 budget for the General Fund is $81,215,000, a 3.82% increase over the 2004- 05 budget. Salaries, benefits and overtime, utilities, police and fire positions and additional tree planting funds account for a 3.27% increase. Supplies, tools and equipment are a half percent increase. He reiterated that there is no increase in the employee health insurance rate because they have contracted with a new insurance carrier. They have allowed for a 3.75% cost-of-living increase, which most of the labor contracts call for and for normal step/merit increases. This budget contains 2.5 new positions. The first position added is a firefighter/paramedic. The Fire Department has asked that one firefighter/paramedic be added for each of the next three years. This will assist in manpower strength and reduce overtime costs. At the Police Department 1.5 new positions are being added. About two years ago the City put on hold a plan to get police officers on the service desk into the field due to budgetary concerns. They have four positions to effectuate that plan. They hired a civilian for the desk to take phone calls and walk-ins, which freed up a sworn officer for the field. In addition, they had a half-time racial profiling clerk. Illinois passed a law that requires a police officer who stops anybody on the street to record data about who they stop. It was thought this could be handled with a half-time clerk, but it was more work so this position will be full time. The tree inoculation program is the other large expenditure not included in the budget. A tree survey is underway that should be completed soon. Council needs to determine the funding and program structure they wish to implement. If Council decides to do the inoculation program in one year and continue every three years, $1.1 million is needed the first year to inoculate the trees and also $350,000 annually for the next three years and a revenue stream to fund it. At the Saturday January 29 budget workshop Council will discuss tree inoculation policy. Proposed General Fund Revenues Most revenue comes from taxes: sales, $8.2 million; home rule tax, $5.5 million; income tax, $4.8 million and property taxes, $16.73 million. They estimate $8.5 million in utility taxes (5% tax rate on electricity, natural gas except 6% on telecommunications.) The state income has finally started to grow. In 2000-01 the City received about $5.7 million from this tax, which has gone down every year until this year. They project $4.8 million, an 11.6% increase from the prior year budget, but are still 18.75% below 2000-01. The real estate transfer tax is budgeted at $3.5 million, the same as last year. Revenue to date is $3.8 million. In reference to the state income tax, Alderman Rainey asked if it was the economy in general or the state retaining more of that tax? Mr. Casey said the state put on a surcharge and retained $300,000. The City got that back and there is some growth. The state no longer retains some of those funds. This tax is based on a per capita formula and the 2000 Census. 5 January 8, 2005 Mr. Casey noted that building permit revenue has consistently averaged about $2 million annually and is based on what is being developed. It is budgeted at $2 million but staff expects $3 million this year due to the Sherman Plaza project. Parking ticket fines, library fines, false alarm fines and administrative adjudication fines are estimated at $4.4 million. Charges for service include recreation and library revenue, health department, ambulance and vital statistic records fees, which totaled $6.1 million, the same as last year. Mr. Casey reviewed the Insurance Fund, Police and Fire Pension Funds, Parking Fund, Water Fund, Sewer Fund, and the Fleet Fund. Alderman Rainey asked Mr. Casey to explain how no debt is incurred when the City buys vehicles? Mr. Casey explained the Fleet Fund is an internal service fund. The City charges all funds that have vehicles an annual dollar amount so that future vehicle purchases can be bought for cash. Every year various departments are charged for cost-to- replace/purchase, maintain and depreciate vehicles. The reason there was debt was in one year the City had to buy eight garbage trucks because they all broke down. The City’s policy is to buy equipment on a regular basis, as needed, before they get to a situation where equipment does not work. Every year they buy police cars, fire equipment and garbage trucks that replace a portion of the current fleet. There is a replacement schedule every year that is reviewed annually. Now they are at a $2 million level to replace vehicles on a timely basis. He noted the Motor Fuel Tax Fund has an operating budget of $3.8 million; Emergency Telephone Fund has an operating budget of $2.19 million, which is funded from wire and wireless surcharges. The CDBG operating budget is $2.85 million and the Economic Development Fund has an operating budget of $1.49 million, funded by the Hotel and Amusement Tax. Mr. Casey stated that staff will keep a close watch on the state economy especially, the local economy and monitor actions of the state legislature. The Insurance Fund/Major Litigation is the primary uncertainty. No major new operating or capital programs should be undertaken until major litigation is resolved. He stated that the Parking Fund is balanced as far as it can be but they have to go back to the Parking Committee and do a new rate structure. Discussion Alderman Newman explained that over the past few years the City has been unable to raise the parking permit rates in City garages and, instead, has raised the parking tax in order not to have City funds captured by Cook County with their parking tax. This means the General Fund has benefited from the increase in the parking tax to the detriment of the Parking Fund. Mayor Morton recalled the City was behind in funding police/fire pension funds at one time and asked the status of those funds. Mr. Casey explained the City has until 2030 to fund the pension funds at 100%. Every year an actuary looks at those funds and suggests a funding level. The City is on schedule to meet the 2030 date. Alderman Rainey asked about CDBG funds. She said when the committee prepares to allocate money to various applicants, they always estimate the amount of the grant (based on the prior year) and are never more than dollars off. This year they were notified the grant was short $140,000. The loss has mostly been made up from the revolving loan fund. City administration and public service applicants such as youth job center had to be cut $18,000. Mr. Casey stated that affects the General Fund and is a negative. Alderman Newman asked for comparative information on the proposed food and beverage tax to Skokie, Wilmette, Lincolnwood and Chicago. He was interested in knowing of any area of taxation where Evanston does not have the highest tax. It looks like every tax is as high as it can be. Evanston is a high tax community and what they are about to do is put on additional taxes. He noted the restaurant industry has been important in keeping the downtown vital. When more tax is put on, there is a disincentive to invest. Alderman Wynne asked if staff had looked at keeping the cigarette tax at 16¢ a pack in contrast to Chicago’s 48¢ a pack. She wondered if they would have more revenue if left at 16¢. Mayor Morton commented that projected revenues on cigarettes have not been met for the last few years. 6 January 8, 2005 Alderman Rainey confirmed the proposal is to reduce the liquor tax by 2% and asked for information on that. In looking at the sales tax, it reminded her of Skokie where revenue from sales tax is a greater percentage of the overall budget. She asked how Evanston’s sales tax revenue relates to Skokie’s total budget. Alderman Tisdahl noted that Cook County Board President Stroger proposed a 2% increase on food and beverages. She heard that was dead on arrival and asked how it would impact Evanston? Mr. Casey acknowledged that was proposed county-wide. Alderman Bernstein asked for a list of unspent funds and if funds were spent for what they were intended. Mr. Casey said they could give a fund balance. Mr. Stafford explained that this year the City came in $1.3 million to the good in the General Fund. Those funds go into the total cash balance. Alderman Bernstein wanted to see where individual funds were not spent. Ms. Aiello explained that is actually in the nine-month report. She noted, due to the new software program, staff was able to go back three-four years, look at every line item and see what was actually spent versus what was budgeted. Based upon that investigation, almost $500,000 was eliminated from this budget. As time goes on staff will be able to do more and improve the budget process. Ms. Aiello stated what was budgeted and what actually was spent, was put into this budget. Alderman Bernstein asked if funds were budgeted and not spent how they could have a level budget coming in for this year? Mr. Casey said they not only look at line items and decrease them but they looked at a three year trend and found items that were under-budgeted because they were needed to complete work. Because they have been through a major financial conversion, there is some confusion on how these accounts were budgeted and expended because the entire accounting structure has been changed. If they looked at the last ten years they would see that most budgets come in at 99% of what was budgeted -- most years they are on target. Mayor Morton asked for a three year report on expenditures on line items. Mr. Casey would provide a summary of aggregate expenditures. Mayor Morton asked if they could look at programs that have not come in on budget so that the Council can make recommendations to reduce some things in the budget. Alderman Rainey noted on the back page of budget memo #1, there is the answer to Alderman Bernstein’s original question. Information from the software, based on those categories, would be interesting. She noted that things happen in some years and not in others. The revenue/expenditure page is where they see overall the percentage is 73% after 75% of the year. She found that helpful. Alderman Jean-Baptiste asked for a list of projects that would generate some employment in Evanston. Mayor Morton thanked Interim City Manager Judith Aiello for all of the hard work and for the time she has served. Ms. Aiello expressed gratitude to the staff who worked on the budget. There being no further business to come before the Council, Mayor Morton adjourned the meeting at 10:33 a.m. Mary P. Morris, City Clerk A videotape recording of this meeting has been made part of the permanent record and is available in the City Clerk's office.