Peoria Standard

The Peoria County Ways and Means Committee met June 28 to review 2015 tax bills.

Here are the meeting's minutes, as provided by the committee:

APPROVED 7/26/16

MINUTES

Ways and Means Committee

June 28, 2016

@ 1:00 P.M.

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Mayer at 1:03 p.m.

Call to Order

A motion to approve the minutes of May 24, 2016 was made by Mr. Rosenbohm and seconded by

Mr. Watkins. The motion carried.

Approval of Minutes

Informational Items/Reports/Other Minutes/Updates

County Auditor

No report. No questions or comments from committee.

Mr. Sonnemaker advised that this year's tax bills increased by nearly 8%, or $22 million over last

year. He added that $5 million of that increase is due to the addition of City of Peoria garbage fees

to the bill. He noted due to the uncertainty with the state budget, school districts were advised to

raise their tax rates as much as possible, and those who were already at their maximum rate

bonded up.

County Clerk

Mr. Sonnemaker advised that in keeping the Efficiency Study and the referendum merging the

offices of County Clerk and Recorder of Deeds, staff has been working with an architect on

remodeling the current County Clerk's office in a way that will utilize staff and the available space

more efficiently, as well as being more convenient for the public. Mr. Deluhery presented both the

current layout of the County Clerk's office and a draft of the revised layout, which addresses the

proper divide of public and private records, employee visibility and public access. Mr. Sorrel

advised that the remodel is anticipated to be a capital request in the 2017 budget.

Ms. Gannon advised that there were just over 1,000 new registration processed in May, and over

3,000 updates within the system. She commented that two interns through Bradley University's

Communication Department will assist in filming and editing election judge training instructional

videos over the summer. The training videos will be incorporated into training, and will be

available via hard copy and/or an upload onto the Poll Books.

Peoria County Election Commission

MEMBERS PRESENT: Allen Mayer - Chairman; Brad Harding, Lynn Pearson, Paul

Rosenbohm, William Watkins, Jr. - Committee Members

MEMBERS ABSENT: Carol Trumpe, Sharon Williams

OTHERS PRESENT: Scott Sorrel - County Administrator; Steve Giebelhausen -

State's Attorney's Office; Andrew Rand - County Board Chairman;

Eric Dubrowski - Chief Financial Officer; Randy Brunner -

Finance; Jennifer Yoder - Regional Office of Education; Jason

Hauer - Recorder of Deeds; Carol Van Winkle - Auditor; Steve

Sonnemaker, Mike Deluhery - County Clerk; Elizabeth

Gannon - Election Commission; Michael Brooks - Veteran's

Assistance Commission; Mark Little - Chief Information Officer;

Nicole Demetreas - Treasurer; Dave Ryan - Supervisor of

Assessments; Kristina Clore - Board of Review

Mr. Hauer advised that the office is running a pilot of searchable data, and have purchased an

extension of module for the software.

Recorder of Deeds

Regional Office of Education (ROE)

Ms. Yoder advised that the Regional Superintendent, Beth Derry, sent a letter to both

superintendents and principals and the Peoria Journal Star regarding the affect the current lack of

a state education budget is having on the Regional Office of Education. The letter details the

limited amount of programs that will be able to continue functioning beginning July 1, 2016.

•

Supervisor of Assessments/Board of Review

Mr. Ryan advised that 2016 information (payable 2017) will be sent out mid-August. He stated

that currently a 2% to 2.5% increase is tracking countywide for assessments. He commented that

sketches will be available on-line for the August roll-out.

Tax Cycle

•

Ms. Clore advised that the Board of Review has been focused on PTAB cases, with several of the

larger cases remaining. Staff has requested extensions on those cases, with discussions ongoing

with the City Assessor and school districts on obtaining appraisals. She advised that 325 PTAB

cases for 2015 have been received in the past week.

Board of Review

Treasurer

Ms. Demetreas advised that the first distribution of $121 million went out on June 21, 2016, with

the second distribution scheduled for July 6, 2016.

Mr. Brooks advised that $2,658,000 in benefits have been paid in 2016 to date, which averages to

approximately $443,000.00 in VAC benefits per month. He stated there are currently 119 active

claims awaiting a decision, and 64 appeals.

Veteran's Assistance Commission

Mr. Brooks advised that the Assistance Coordinator and Veteran's Service Officer has resigned and

interviews to fill the position will take place in the next several weeks.

•

Resolutions

A motion to approve was made by Mr. Rosenbohm and seconded by Ms. Pearson. The motion

carried.

Monthly Delinquent Taxes

•

A motion to approve was made by Ms. Pearson and seconded by Mr. Watkins. Ms. Van Winkle

advised that an internal auditor within the office retired and was not replaced. She stated that the

County Board approved $20,000.00 to retain internal auditors on a contractual basis, and a

Request for Proposal was submitted for the services with the intent to utilize a pool of Internal

Auditors. Ms. Van Winkle advised that three firms submitted bids, those being Brown Smith

Wallace, Plante Moran and RSM. Mr. Mayer commented that the top priority of the contractual

audit would be a review of employee timekeeping systems within the county. The motion carried.

Contractual Internal Auditor

•

Committee Action

Mr. Giebelhausen recommended that those closed session minutes that are currently being held

continue to be held as the need for confidentiality still exists. A motion to accept the

recommendation of the State's Attorney's Office was made by Mr. Rosenbohm and seconded by

Review of Executive Session Minutes

Ms. Pearson. The motion carried.

Mr. Dubrowski advised that a draft of the CAFR and Management Letter has been received, with no

significant deficiencies or material weaknesses noted. He commented that minor control

deficiencies noted in last year's audit remain. He added that one of those deficiencies, that of

purchase orders, is currently being addressed and a response is in place.

Miscellaneous

Mr. Dubrowski advised that GASB 68 and 71 have been implemented; as a result potential

liabilities will be on the face of the financial statements. He stated that the independent reviewers

are performing their review of the materials so that a draft may be finalized. The auditors will be

present at the July meeting of the committee. He noted that Peoria County is in the final year of its

contract with Baker Tilly, and staff is in the process of preparing an RFP for the service. He said

that due to potential upcoming legislation, he recommends a 5-year contract with a partner

rotation.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:36 p.m. by Chairman Mayer.

Adjournment

Recording Secretary: Jan Kleffman