Peoria Standard

City of Chillicothe Finance Committee met Sept. 9.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

The finance committee met on September 9, 2024, at 4:30 p.m., in the council chambers at City Hall. Present: Chairman D. White, Alderperson Sharp,

Mayor Hughes, Office Manager Passage

Also Present: Aaron Phillips, Auditor

Chairman D. White called the meeting to order 4:30 p.m.

PUBLIC COMMENT

No public comments

PURPOSE

Chairperson D. White requested that we move the presentation -City Audit - FY23-24 to first as the auditor was here. Seeing no objections this agenda item will be discussed first.

Presentation City Audit - FY 23-24

Aaron Phillips, Auditor presented the fiscal year 23-24 budget. He explained the audit process and that there were no corrective or misstatement findings. He advised that the city is in good financial condition. He stated that he has only the police pension report to complete. The consensus of the committee was to present the audit at the September 23 council meeting to be placed on file.

Budget Review

Office Manager Passage advised that the budget comparison was in the council packet. Over all budget looks good, some line items are over the percentage and should be monitored. She explained that the police department show slightly over the 33.32%, however; it is because we do not off set the labor expense from summer camp. We show it as revenue and expense for tracking purposes.

City Hall Radiators

Office Manager Passage advise the committee that she is working with Commercial Mechanical Inc. regarding to the options the city has in replacing two of the Cast Iron Steam Radiators upstairs at city hall that have cracked. They provided the following: a cost of $8,500.00 to $9,500.00 to remove the existing convectors, supply and install the new cabinet heater/convectors and provide new piping, valves, traps etc. for the two units.

2. The cast iron radiators are a much longer lead time and more expensive. A cost of $13,500.00 to $14,500.00 to supply and install new cast iron radiators along with the new piping, valves, traps etc. for the two units

Office Manager Passage advised that this was not a budgeted item, however; we do have money available for city hall renovation in the TIF Business Account.

The consensus of the committee was to present the recommendation to install the new cabinet heater/convectors and provide new piping, valves, traps etc. for the two units at a cost not to exceed $9,500.00 for approval at the September 23 council meeting, payable from the TIF Business Account.

OLD BUSINESS

Grocery Tax - HB3144 - Will present ordinance in next fiscal year

City Hall Renovation - Office Manager Passage advised that she can schedule times to go through the Busey Bank building any time Monday - Friday between 7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. After discussion, The consensus of the committee was to have office manager Passage see which elected officials would like to tour the building on Tuesday, September 24 at 9:00 a.m. or 4:30 p.m. or Thursday, September 26 at 9:00 a.m. or 4:30 p.m.

Tax Levy Ordinance

Office Manager Passage reported that the tax levy must be filed by the last Tuesday in December. The amount of the tax levy will be announced at the October 14 meeting, a draft of the ordinance will be presented at the October 28 meeting and a vote will be taken at the November 11 meeting.

Review - Concerns regarding water rate increase – McCosh

Office Manager Passage advised the committee that she received an email from Patrick Semtner, who was helping Ms. McCosh regarding her water bill. He advised:

On behalf of the laundromat owner and myself after much discussion and review would like to inform you that we have decided to temporarily put our request for a water subsidy on hold. The laundromat has recently implemented a price increase to help mitigate the impact of the recent water rate hike. We believe it is prudent to take some time to evaluate how these changes affect our sales and water costs before moving forward with our request.

We sincerely appreciate the time and consideration the council has already given to this matter, and we will keep you informed of any future developments.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

The consensus of the committee was to remove this topic as an agenda item.

SUMMARY

Council Agenda Items - Present Fiscal year 23-24 Audit

Replacement of Radiators - City Hall

Chairperson Action - nothing

There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m.

https://cms9files.revize.com/chillicothe/09.09.2024%20finance.pdf