South Central Reporter

Macoupin County Board Finance Committee met May 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

I. CALL TO ORDER

PRESENT: Payne, Armour, Adden, Dragovich, Heuer, Kiel, Stayton, Duncan, Starr, Dugan

ABSENT:

Motion by Kiel, seconded by Stayton to seat Armour at 6:01 pm.

II. AGENDA ITEMS

1. FY 2022-2023 Audit Presentation

Kara Evans with Scheffel & Boyle discussed the audit for FY 22-23. There were no difficulties dealing with management and received an unmodified opinion which is the best the county can receive. There were no material weaknesses in the audit, though there were 4 findings that were listed. They prepare the financial statements, they do the tracking of fixed assets, and prepare journal entries. These are typical around the counties they audit. There was an additional finding regarding untimely bank reconciliation. There was also a special single audit this year due to the increase in money from American

Rescue Plan funding.

2. State’s Attorney Hiring of Special Assistant for Wind/Solar Issues

Payne said Garrison had requested tabling this item since he had no attorney in mind for this.

3. Resolution Adjusting Capital Outlay and Contractual Services Budgets for Road Sign Replacements

Payne said this resolution was based off their discussion last month and would move $50,000 from Capital Outlay to Contractual Services to help begin the process of replacing worn out road signs in townships based on townships list of signs that need replaced that Aaron Bishop was compiling.

Motion by Armour, seconded by Adden to recommend the resolution.

RESULT: MOTION TO RECOMMEND [UNANIMOUS]  MOVER: Todd Armour, Vice Chair SECONDER: Ross Adden, Member AYES: Payne, Armour, Adden, Dragovich, Heuer, Kiel, Stayton

4. Resolution Regarding Coroner and Circuit Clerk salaries

There was a discussion about the base salary amounts for the coroner and Circuit Clerk. In 2020, the Coroner's salary was lowered as a new Coroner was starting. In 2022, the Treasurer, County Clerk, Circuit Clerk base salary was lowered for any one of them elected to their first term. The committee felt that increasing both base salaries was justified.

Motion by Stayton, seconded by Armour to increase the Circuit Clerk's base salary when elected for the first time to $68,000 with a 3% raise each of the three years after and the Coroner's base salary to $48,000 with a 3% raise each of the three years after.

RESULT: MOTION TO RECOMMEND [UNANIMOUS]  MOVER: Aaron Stayton, Member SECONDER: Todd Armour, Vice Chair AYES: Payne, Armour, Adden, Dragovich, Heuer, Kiel, Stayton

5. Courthouse HVAC Bid Update and Discussion of Potential Plan for Costs Starr said that the building and grounds committee had recommended going with the low bid on the Courthouse HVAC project pending the Finance Committee reviewing the plan for financing it. Duncan walked through that the balance between the General Fund, invested General Fund dollars, and Budget Stabilization Fund balance, there would be sufficient money to transfer for the $3.5 million based bid. There would be an additional $900,000 in ARPA money available for the project and if the Board agreed to it, any unobligated ARPA funds in December of this year should apply to this project, which might net another $100,000 to $200,000 in funding. The committee discussed the alternate bid and trying to nail down what that would cover and how it would affect operations in the Courthouse. Starr said he would confirm with the architect before Tuesday's meeting.

Motion by Dragovich, seconded by Added to recommend the payment plan for the base bid and to confirm the specifics of the alternate bid.

RESULT: MOTION TO RECOMMEND [UNANIMOUS]  MOVER: Mark Dragovich, Member SECONDER: Ross Adden, Member AYES: Payne, Armour, Adden, Dragovich, Heuer, Kiel, Stayton

6. Initial Discussion on FY 24-25 Revenue Projections before Hearings Duncan passed out a handout which showed that 2/3 of the General Fund revenue comes from four items. The sales tax, income tax, personal property replacement tax, and property tax. Of those four, the county only had control of the property tax, which can only be raised by the PTELL limit each year. Duncan showed a trend of each of those four items since 2016. While the sales tax and income tax saw significant increases a few years ago, they have leveled off the last few and using the conservative three year estimate for next year, are basically flat. The personal property replacement tax had significant increases a few years back, but last year the state said miscalculations had happened and to expect less this year. The county had received less this year, though still a little more than in previous years. Overall, the revenue projection for next year showed $140,000 in new revenue.

7. FY 24-25 Budget Hearing Schedule and Update on Requests Duncan also passed out an updated list for the budget hearings and said based off the general fund requests he had received, the new requests totaled $515,712 dollars. That was significantly more than the $140,000 in new revenue projected for the new fiscal year. He said he hoped to have a budget book for each of them at next week's Board meeting so they would have time to review it before the first hearing.

http://macoupincountyil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=15&ID=3917&Inline=True