|
 Ruben said currently the budget provides $5,000 for Logan
County's Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and
$25,000 for the Economic Development Partnership (EDP) that comes
from the Airport Fund. He noted that last year the board also
approved $30,000 for the Enterprise Zone, but this year the county
does not have to expend that $30,000 for Enterprise Zone.
Ruben recommended taking $30,000 out of General Fund for the
Economic Development Partnership because they need another year to
get things going and have gotten good support from other communities
in the county.
Bill Thomas who serves as the executive director of the EDP was
present. Ruben asked Thomas to share what the EDP is doing.
Thomas said they started working a year and a half ago on a plan
with five strategic areas that have been paying off in terms of
creating new jobs, helping sustain existing businesses, and helping
all the communities in the county that are interested create their
own economic development commissions (in Mount Pulaski, Atlanta and
Elkhart).
 There was a specific business that he has been working with that
would serve Mount Pulaski and other remote areas of the county,
though he preferred to do a joint news release on details hopefully
later this week.
Thomas also mentioned that there are discussions about the medical
marijuana facility and the grain elevator across the highway sharing
the costs of (extending a) natural gas line.
Ruben said the EDP would need $95,00 next year, so he asked for a
motion to put the additional $30,000 in economic development
bringing the Logan County portion to $55,000, which was approved by
all.
Health Department
Ruben next asked Don Cavi of the Logan County Health Department to
speak about his budget.
Cavi discussed the proposed $335,000 tax levy and noted that in the
previous year it was at $372,000, so they are looking at almost
$40,000 dollars less from the tax levy. He said the Health
Department has been faced with many challenges in the last couple
years and has been in the red. Cavi asserted that his goal is to
present a balanced budget every year and plans to sit down with the
finance director in March to see where they stand.
Cavi is looking at ways to expand services down the road, which he
will discuss with the Board of Health next week.
Cavi asked about keeping the levy where it was in the past year
since it is a challenge to start the fiscal year with nearly $40,000
less.
Ruben said it would take $37,357 to get it back to where it was last
year and when committeeman Andy Anderson asked why it was cut? Ruben
replied that he had hoped to start everyone out at where they were
for last year's levy, so he believed it should stay the same this
year. Ruben's motion to keep the levy the same as last year was
approved by all the members.
IMRF Audit Ruben next asked treasurer Vicky Dugan to
explain Logan County's first Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF)
Audit.
Dugan said the audit went well with the field representative looking
at accounts payable and how the county pays people that are
employees. She explained that some of the part-time employees should
be getting a revenue rather than a 1099 or W2, and when they are not
the county has to include them as part of their IMRF liability with
both employee and employer contributions.
Dugan said that to comply, there were two 2014 employees that would
have been considered IMRF liabilities that would have had to pay 4.5
percent on all of their income. She wondered whether the county or
the employee should pay that percentage.
Ruben noted that since it was something these employees were not
counting on at the time, that the board would pay it this time, but
going forward the employees would pay. He made a motion that the
$145.36 amount would be paid for by the county and all approved.
Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Draft
Ruben then began a review of next year's budget. He explained a
shift in where money is placed in funds. More of the property taxes
would be placed in the General Fund because they were reduced in the
IMRF. This change was prompted because of the IMRF Audit.
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Dugan said that IMRF has restricted funds and it has to be stand
alone. She said it will make some of the costs from each more
transparent with two different expense lines in the budget.
Aylesworth asked if county offices would reimburse the IMRF and if
they would have a line item in there for that. Dugan said that the
expense line items would be separate.
Therefore, IMRF and FICA have been separated for more easily
interpreted IMRF. FICA will now be paid out of the General Fund.
In reviewing old business, Ruben also stated that the education
service for the Regional Office of Education next year will be
$48,600.
A couple of years ago in attempt to cut expenses, under then
Governor Pat Quinn, the State of Illinois tried to close all of the
Regional Offices of Education. But it was found that this could not
be done without losses of federal grant dollars and important
programs and services impacted. Instead, following an assessment of
populations served, Illinois reduced the number of offices by
combining several offices based on population served. Given options,
Logan County joined with the McLean County Regional Office and the
local office was closed.
In comparison, the last full year in 2013-2014 under the prior ROE
service and costs to Logan County was was $67,500; so the county is
saving almost $19,000.
Ruben said the current draft is showing a fund balance of $105,000,
but they have to subtract $67,357 from that amount, so the balance
will be $38,186. He noted that it counts $265,523 in windmill
permits, so hopefully that comes. There is a contingency plan to
cover for the year from several savings pools if the wind farm would
not begin taking out building permits this coming year.
Ruben said capital outlay is the line the committee will be
adjusting throughout the year, taking it out of the lines it was
paid out of and putting it into capital outlay. He said auditors
throw various expenditures like having the roof fixed on the Safety
Complex into capital outlay instead of taking it out of Building and
Grounds.
Ruben said the numbers have been put in for employee raises with a
few adjustments in line items, but the same ending budgets. He asked
if others had anything they would like to see changed.
Aylesworth asked if Cavi if the Health Department was still looking
at a $200,000 deficit after putting their full levy back and Cavi
said it would be "right in that ballpark."
Ruben reminded them that he put in $50,000 in revenues for the
medical marijuana facility and said he is still hoping for the wind
farm permit fees.
Ruben said that with no further changes, he'd ask the committee to
send the draft to the board with unanimous opinion. Should the board
approve the draft, it will go up on display for 30 days beginning in
September, a full month earlier than prior years. The county fiscal
year begins Dec. 1.
In other new business, Aylesworth reported that the revenues are 66
percent overall and the county clerk fees are 42 percent. He asked
if the county got the four percent Workforce Development all at
once, and was told they would.
The next finance meeting will be October 13, 2015 at 5:30 p.m.
[Angela Reiners/with contributions by
Jan Youngquist]
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