Peoria Standard

The Peoria County Ways and Means Committee met July 26 to extend the budget amendment deadline.

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

Approved 9/27/16

MINUTES

Ways and Means Committee

July 26, 2016

@ 1:00 P.M.

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Mayer at 1:00 p.m.

Call to Order

A motion to approve the minutes of June 28, 2016 was made by Ms. Trumpe and seconded by

Approval of Minutes

Ms. Pearson. The motion carried.

Informational Items/Reports/Other Minutes/Updates

County Auditor

No report. No questions or comments from committee.

No report. No questions or comments from committee.

County Clerk

Mr. Bride advised that June saw 1,820 updates and new registrations. He commented that there

have been 5,565 new registrations and 12,540 updates in 2016 to date. He stated that as 2016 is a

presidential election year, those numbers should begin to increase later this summer.

Peoria County Election Commission

Mr. Bride advised that an outing for election judges was held recently in which 92 judges attended.

He stated that certificates for service were distributed, and noted that one election judge has served

for 45 years. He also advised that two Bradley University interns are developing training videos,

which will be available on both DVD and the election website. He anticipates that election judge

training will begin mid-September. Ms. Trumpe asked if a finalized list of judges will be

distributed to precinct committeemen, and Mr. Bride responded that the list could be sent after it is

certified.

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

Trumpe, William Watkins, Jr., Sharon Williams - Committee

Members

MEMBERS ABSENT: Paul Rosenbohm

OTHERS PRESENT: Scott Sorrel - County Administrator; Shauna Musselman -

Assistant County Administrator; Steve Giebelhausen - State's

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

Morris - County Board Member; Eric Dubrowski - Chief Financial

Officer; Randy Brunner, Kim Hudson - Finance; Elizabeth

Derry - Regional Office of Education; Jason Hauer, Marsha

Livers - Recorder of Deeds; Gretchen Pearsall - Director of

Strategic Communications; Carol Van Winkle - Auditor; Steve

Sonnemaker - County Clerk; Tom Bride - 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; Jason Coyle - Baker Tilly

Mr. Hauer advised that the pilot has been finalized and images will be imported into the system by

the end of October. He stated that after import, all information back to 1964 will be available to the

public online. He commented that the office has been on the new internet-based system since July

2015, with 171 users in 26 states.

Recorder of Deeds

Regional Office of Education (ROE)

Ms. Derry advised that the office has until this Friday to amend budgets for the year already past;

however, an extension has been granted until December 31, 2016 for expending the funds. She

stated that an assistant has been hired and will begin August 1, 2016. She advised that the GED

Program is back up and will be fully operational within a month.

Ms. Derry advised that, in cooperation with the Sheriff's Office, a "safety day" will be held on

August 10, 2016 at Dunlap Valley Middle School for all Administrators and their teams. She also

advised that the ROE will be hosting "Googlepalooza Peoria" on September 2, 2016 at Chillicothe

High School, an event showcasing ways of integrating 21st century technology learning

environments as part of the school system.

•

Supervisor of Assessments/Board of Review

Mr. Ryan advised that the 2016 values should be completed in approximately 3 weeks, and noted

that residential values could range from flat up to a 4% increase depending on the township.

Tax Cycle

Mr. Ryan noted legislation allowing the State to send information electronically and allowing their

office to send information to school and taxing districts electronically as opposed to certified mail.

Mr. Ryan advised that sketches for all properties in Peoria County are now online. Mr. Little stated

that 2015 maps are online as well.

•

Ms. Clore advised that several large appeals are currently being reviewed, most of which have had

extensions filed. She stated that staff is working with school districts on obtaining appraisals on

those properties. She noted that one of those properties is the Shop'n Save on Big Hollow Road, for

which District 150 has obtained an appraisal; other properties include Best Buy, Bergner's,

Extended Stay and RLI.

Board of Review

Treasurer

Ms. Demetreas advised that the second distribution has gone out as scheduled, with a total $160

million and $159 million distributed. She stated that the next distribution will be August 7, 2016.

Mr. Brooks advised that $3.2 million in VA compensation has been paid in 2016 to date. He stated

that the Assistance Coordinator position has been filled, pending final documentation.

Veteran's Assistance Commission

Mr. Brooks advised that he and his staff attended a Veteran's Treatment Court graduation, and he

has requested to be added to the list for weekly meetings, as Veteran's Assistance has been added to

the statute for Veteran's Treatment Court Program.

Mr. Brooks advised the Goodwill Homeless Stand Down will be held at Dozer Park on October 8,

2016.

•

Resolutions

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

Monthly Delinquent Taxes

•

A motion to approve was made by Ms. Pearson and seconded by Ms. Williams. Mr. Dubrowski

advised that earlier in the year the Recorder's office changed the manner in which it handled

Revenue Stamps. He stated that in the past the Stamp was purchased and the revenue was

reflected as a gross amount, while Stamps are now purchased electronically in real-time and there

is no expenditure line item. He advised that, as a result, the County no longer recognizes the gross

amounts for both revenues and expenditures for Revenue Stamp transactions. The budget

amendment decreases both revenues and expenditures to reflect current, actual practice.

Budget Appropriation - Reduction of Revenues & Expenditures for Revenue Stamps

The motion carried.

•

Discussion

Mr. Mayer advised that there has been discussion with Chairman Rand, as well as other Board

Members, regarding the acute need to take care of expanding needs at both the Veteran's

Assistance Commission and the Care & Treatment Board. He stated that both are quasiindependent

groups with own levies that can be increased up to a statutory maximum, and said

that an Advisory Referendum would take the question of an increase to the amount levied to the

voters. He advised that a draft resolution proposes a 0.5¢ increase for the VAC and 1.0¢ for the

Care & Treatment Board. Mr. Sorrel advised that the proposed increase for VAC would take their

levy from $125,000.00 to just under $400,000.00, and the Care & Treatment levy from

$335,000.00 to $671,000.00. He also stated that the total tax rate would increase from 80.5¢ to

82.00¢.

Advisory Referendum

Mr. Sorrel advised that the VAC has a statutory maximum of 3.0¢ for every $100.00 of assessed

value, with the current levy at the equivalent rate of 2/3 of a penny. He stated that the statutory

maximum for Care & Treatment is 10.00¢ per $100.00, with the current levy at just under a full

penny. Mr. Sorrel stated that the workload of the VAC and the ability to leverage their work and

obtain Federal veteran's claims is seeing yearly double digit growth, and the capability to further

expand that service is hampered by the current minimal operation of the VAC. He advised that the

over the past five years the amount of funding through the levy that goes to community services

providers, of which the Care & Treatment Board is the pass-through agency, has decreased by more

than half. He added that those service providers are some of the agencies that have been affected

the most by the fiscal crisis in Springfield.

Mr. Brooks commented that an increase in their levy would allow staff the time and ability to better

promote the services of the VAC within the community, as well as the ability to more thoroughly

assist veteran's in-office.

Ms. Trumpe asked how the Board could best balance these two issues in addition to the potential

Referendum on road funding. Mr. Harding stated that although both the VAC and Care &

Treatment Board are worthwhile causes, he expressed concern over the issue being brought to

committee members within days of the deadline, and requested additional information so that he

may take accurate and timely information to his constituents.

Mr. Morris asked the rationale for putting the VAC and Care & Treatment Board on the same

Advisory Referendum. Mr. Mayer advised that each has their own separate levy, and also

commented that an Advisory Referendum, and as such may be framed according to the County

Board's preference, as opposed to a binding referendum. He also commented that there is a limit

on the number of Referenda that can be placed on a ballot. Ms. Pearson advised that she would

prefer that the VAC and Care & Treatment Board were split into two questions.

•

Mr. Dubrowski advised that no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies were found. He

highlighted two previous significant deficiencies, segregation of duties related to payroll functions

and segregation of duties on Heddington Oaks financial issues, have both been addressed.

FY 2015 Audit

Mr. Dubrowski advised that the minor control deficiencies are the same deficiencies seen in recent

years, those of segregation of duties over the real estate tax receipt cycle and the purchase order

system. He commented that the former necessitates a balance between proper segregation and

duties and available staffing. He stated that the purchase order policy has been clarified,

mandatory training has been held and staff will re-evaluate compliance.

Mr. Coyle advised that a new reporting standard issued by GASB related to pensions has gone into

effect this year. He stated that the change regards the net pension liability, in that the three

pensions under the IMRF umbrella are now placed on the entity-wide statements. He advised that

IMRF is one of the better funded plans in the State, and the net pension liability for the three plans

is nearly $23 million this year. He noted a new, minor GASB change for next year will adjust some

of the disclosures related to cash and investments.

Mr. Sorrel asked how many Baker Tilly clients prepare their own financial statements, and

Mr. Coyle advised that the figure is 5% to 10%, of which Peoria County is one. Mr. Mayer

commented that it is rare for a public body that prepares its own financial statements to have no

material weaknesses and no significant deficiencies.

A motion to go into executive session to discuss Internal Audit was made by Ms. Trumpe and

seconded by Ms. Pearson. The motion carried.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Regular session resumed upon a motion by Mr. Watkins and second by Ms. Pearson.

The meeting was adjourned at 230 p.m. by Chairman Mayer.

Adjournment

Recording Secretary: Jan Kleffman