Ogle County Finance, Revenue and Insurance Committee met April 2.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
1. Call Meeting to Order: Chairman Sparrow called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. Present: Finfrock, Nordman, Smith, Typer, Whalen (via audio) and Youman (via audio). Others: Griffin (via audio), Janes (via audio), Treasurer Linda Beck and County Clerk & Recorder Laura J. Cook.
2. Public Comment: None
3. Budget Review: Sparrow went through the budget report; discussion was held. Youman sent an email on March 19th; he reviewed the potential savings. Sweep the Revolving Vehicle Fund and cut back on travel expenses. Youman put together a list of 18 items to look at with Department Heads. Youman anticipates approximately $900,000 shortfall. Sparrow stated they need to look at not only the jail boarding revenue, but also income tax, sales tax, etc. due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sparrow also questioned the due dates for property taxes. There is $719,128 remaining in the Revolving Vehicle Fund. The sale of Focus House Annex ($56,833.78) was previously discussed that a portion would be used to pay back their vehicle loan of $25,000. Griffin stated they previously discussed some money from the Revolving Vehicle Fund go back to Long Range but at this time he does not suggest that. Griffin would put it all in the General Fund and look at repaying Long Range Fund at another time. Finfrock and Nordman agreed along with Janes and Whalen. Sparrow asked about the repayment of Focus House vehicle loan; Nordman recommended paying the vehicle loan off. Smith pointed out that if the payment is made; then we need to change the Focus House Vehicle Purchase expense line 4755. Motion by Nordman to use the proceeds from the Focus House Annex Sale to pay off the Focus House vehicle loan of $20,965 and transfer the balance ($740,693) of Revolving Vehicle Fund into the General Fund, 2nd by Whalen. Smith requested a roll call vote. Roll Call: Yes-Finfrock, Nordman, Smith, Typer, Whalen, Youman and Sparrow. Motion carried.
Sparrow thanked Youman for his list of suggestions. Sparrow does not believe we can do anything with the Highway budgets because State/Federal law dictates them. He also doesn’t think we should do anything with Solid Waste because we are still trying to repay an IMRF loan we took a few years ago. Sparrow suggested that we meet with the Dept. Heads before cutting their budgets. Typer has identified some more cuts but how much more do we need. Sparrow stated we need at least $160,000 more in cuts. Sparrow stated we could cut the travel lines and the office budgets but want to talk with Dept. Heads first. Youman stated no one is traveling so there is no reason why we cannot cut that and if we do not act now, the money will be spent somewhere else. We need to be aggressive; Whalen agreed. Typer would like to see a flat 20% of every budget moved to a Contingency fund, then they can come back to ask for it if needed. Otherwise, we spend a bunch of time with Dept. Heads and they will tell us why it will not work. Youman stated they need to engage the Dept. Heads to understand the sense of urgency and the need to act. Typer stated 20% would give the Finance Committee about twice as much as needed but it would limit the Dept. Heads on their spending and they can come back at any time. Whalen asked why we couldn’t do 10% cut instead. Sparrow doesn’t agree with 20% cut across the board, some departments cannot survive on that. Sparrow stated we cannot stop at the $160,000; we need to get more because we do not know what is to come. Smith agreed we need to engage the Dept. Heads. Whalen stated everyone is aware of the situation and do not know what the future will hold. Smith thanked the subcommittee for their work. Sparrow, Finfrock and Nordman will meet with Dept. Heads to come up with the minimum $160,000 shortfall. Nordman would like to pull back the salary contingency line since we need to keep track of everything we are doing for COVID-19. We may see some reimbursements. Nordman stated Corrections Overtime line is high and there is only 30 prisoners. Sparrow stated we do not do anything with the Salary Contingency line until end of budget year and that is one month’s salary. Discussion was held regarding the savings from that fund. Typer stated we have 7 months left in the budget and we do not have much time to make the adjustments. Sparrow would like to have everything for the April 14th Committee meeting.
4. Adjournment: Motion by Finfrock to adjourn, 2nd by Smith. Motion carried. Time: 5:25 p.m.
https://www.oglecounty.org/document_center/County%20Board/Committees/Finance%20and%20Insurance/2020/Finance%20and%20Insurance%20Committee%20Minutes%20April.pdf
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