APPROVAL OF AGENDA

REAL ESTATE TRUSTEE PROGRAM CONTRACT

                    Ms. Johnson distributed a hand-out entitled County Tax Liquidation Program (a copy of which will be on file in the Finance Office along with these minutes). She also distributed two resolutions (which are attached to these minutes as Appendage (1) and as Appendage (2) respectively). Treasurer Johnson, gave some brief background information on Joseph Meyers and Associates who have acted as the Trustee for the County in matters of delinquent real estate taxes since 1999. She went through the steps of the delinquency process of sending out the property tax bills, publishing the names of those whose taxes are delinquent in the newspapers, going to court, and ordered by the judge to sell the property. Most of the taxes are then sold but a small number are left on the books. Joseph Meyers and Associates buys (no money is exchanged) properties on behalf of the taxing bodies of DeKalb County that don’t sell. Then they go through a 2 ½ year process of taking deed to the properties on behalf of the County. After they have taken deed there is a catalog property sale. Sealed bids are accepted and is awarded to the highest bidder. The program doesn’t expend any general fund monies. Prior to taking deed, the County can assign tax sale certificates, which was done recently on property located at 830 Edgebrook Drive, DeKalb, (08-15-176-024). The County was then able to recover $116,000 in unpaid real estate taxes and distribute them to the taxing bodies. Joseph Meyers and Associates are asking the County to raise the minimum bid $350.00 to $450.00 because of increased costs in postage, signage, publications, and fees. Joseph Meyers and Associates would get $50.00 and $50.00 would go to the County. Treasurer Johnson recommend the change.
 

Mr. Wiegand moved, seconded by Mr. Faivre to forward the resolution to the full County Board amending the Joseph Meyers and Associates rate from $350.00 to $450.00. Motion carried unanimously by a voice vote.

                    The second resolution is also an amendment with Joseph Meyers and Associates with regards to mobile homes. Mobile homes do not pay a tax, based on the value of the mobile home but a tax based on the square footage, the age and a rate set by statute. Ninety percent of mobile home taxes are paid but ten percent become delinquent. The collection process is a difficult one, stated Treasurer Johnson. As a result of legislation that was passed last year, the law changed effective January 1, 2003. The change in the law increases the penalty for late payments of mobile home taxes and puts in place the ability to obtain the delinquent mobile home taxes through the same tax sale process that the real estate taxes now goes through. The one difference between the real estate taxes and the mobile home taxes are that the County doesn’t take title of the mobile homes. A certificate is awarded to the County obtaining title of the mobile home. The County does not change the title into the County’s name, but to the buyer’s name who is found. The company assured Treasurer Johnson, that they would not take title to a mobile home on behalf of the County unless the County Board instructed them to do so. Mr. Wiegand asked how it is determined who is tax delinquent. Ms. Johnson stated that the mobile home owners are required by law to fill out a certification with the County. She stated that her office makes every effort to acquire a good data base on in the mobile homes. She stated that she ran a report before the meeting which listed 105 mobile home with delinquent taxes. When the law changed, a letter was sent to all mobile home owners explaining the change in the law to them. Delinquent notices were sent out and the Treasurer’s Office have been sending out delinquent bills every month reminding owners that payment is needed. She reported the effort has been very successful. Mr. Wiegand was concerned that if the owner sublets the mobile home that the occupant could be evicted. She stated that those in mobile home parks are ninety-five percent owners living there and doesn’t think that it is an issue. Mr. Sands asked if a letter could go out notifying the 105 delinquent owners of the change. Ms. Johnson stated that she would issue the letter.

ALLOCATION OF STATE CAPITAL GRANT MONIES

                    Terry Hannan, Forest Preserve Superintendent reminded the committee that at the April Administrative Services Committee meeting he reported having additional monies from the state available for capital projects. To date, $110,000 out of $187,642 has been allocated leaving $77,642 left to be designated. Mr. Hannan had sent a letter to the committee prior to the meeting of the proposed expenditures (a copy of which will be placed on file along with these minutes in the Finance Office). Mr. Hannan stated that after approval by the committee and the County Board, the letter would be forwarded to the IDNR, Office of Realty and Environmental Planning for their approval.

PUBLIC ACCESS TO GIS-WEB

                    Ms. Berkes-Hanson, Director of Information Management first addressed a question Mr. Wiegand had raised at the May County Board meeting, regarding I.D.O.T. approval to make grant-generated information available to the public. She stated that the Highway Department had sent a letter to I.D.O.T. for verification that they were okay with the public access as long as there was no charge. I.D.O.T.’s initial response was in an email stating they are hoping the County will not give the data to an entity that will charge the public for the data. She reported that the Highway Department asked for clarification in writing and is awaiting the letter. Ms. Berkes-Hanson then highlighted the information she previously sent out to the committee in a handout (a copy of which will be placed on file along with these minutes in the Finance Office) as well as a resolution which is attached to these minutes as Appendage (3) pages 1 and 2. She stated the objective of enabling access to the County’s GISWeb via the Internet. She gave some brief background information on the Information Management Office (IMO). She reported two factors were kept in mind while developing GIS: 1) Internal users accessing county resources from remote sites and 2) External users accessing county resources. She reported, Firewalls that could create demilitarized zones (DMZ) were purchased allowing both internal and external users to glean data but it prevents external users from moving beyond the GIS data into the County’s network. (A diagram illustrating the GISWeb server’s place in the County’s network is attached to her handout). She reported on Security Issues (now completed), Hardware Issues which were researched and resolved using team work, creativity, and cost-effective solutions. She also reported on a potential issue of increasing the County’s bandwidth. Mr. Wiegand asked what the percentage of the existing capacity was of the T-1 line the County is using. Ms. Berkes-Hanson stated that the County was using one-third of the capacity.

                    Website Issues consisted of having external users download a free plug-in and copying an executable file into a specific folder. Mr. Faivre stated that 80% of the users will have a problem with this. Ms. Berkes-Hanson stated that they are creating user friendly directions and links to help in this process. User and Site Support Issues included site down times with maintenance, young software, and needing more internal IMO training. Site Addresses Issues looked at the site addresses which are incomplete and sometimes inaccurate. IMO is creating a Master Street Table to avoid typical problems. Mr. Faivre expressed his concern over having a coordinated effort to maintain addresses. The committee members agreed that it was very important for the board to make a policy statement expecting departments to utilize standardized addressing. Moving on, Ms. Berkes-Hanson identified to the committee Ongoing Cost Issues. Ms. Berkes-Hanson also addressed the Issues of Additions of New Data - "Is the data ready as is or does it need modification" and "How will this data be maintained" are questions being contemplated. She also raised the question, "Who decides if the information is public?" Mr. Bockman stated that the State’s Attorney’s Office should give the County direction as to what data could pose legality issues by making the data public. Mr. Wiegand asked if that was possible to create a "click-through" agreement to ensure the disclaimer was read. Ms. Berkes-Hanson agreed it would be possible. Mr. Wiegand stated that at IMO’s creation the question of how to get all the decentralized offices to cooperate was raised. He is pleased to see how much people are cooperating and he feels it is because they see the added value. He stated that eventually some of the issues may dissipate about services that are currently generating revenues and may not generate as many in the future if the information is accessible over the internet. He stated that he is hoping to get as much of our information on the internet as soon as possible. Photographs of Public Buildings-80 public buildings have been identified as needing to be photographed, 300 are currently available and the remaining photos should be completed by October 1, 2003. Goals / Remaining Issues - She stated that IMO will make GISWeb data available on the Internet by August 01, 2003. She would move to WebPublisher application by October 1, 2003. A discussion ensued over costs, support, time, and public access. Mr. Faivre praised Ms. Berkes-Hanson of the remarkable job she has done.
 

INFORMATION ON 2002 IMRF BALANCES

                    Mr. Hanson previously mailed out to the committee a General Memorandum from IMRF dated February 11, 2003 (a copy of which will be placed on file in the Finance Office). Mr. Wiegand had asked the question, "What happened in 2002" at the last board meeting. The IMRF numbers reflected in the audit were through calendar year 2001 and Mr. Wiegand had asked for updated numbers which Mr. Hanson provided in the handout.

FY2004 BUDGET CALENDAR

                    Mr. Hanson previously mailed out to the committee, the FY 2004 Budget Calendar (a copy of which will be placed on file in the Finance Office) pending the committee’s approval. Mr. Hanson briefly reviewed the calendar and sequence of events. Mr. Hanson was asked by Mr. Pritchard what kinds of questions he asked of departments. Mr. Hanson stated that the departments are given a percentage to target, they look at the effects of any legislative changes, review their department’s fees, set standard costs, and ask if there are any new services that may need to be added. Mr. Hanson stated that this procedure is the same as previous years and is familiar to department heads.
 

Mr. Steimel moved, seconded by Mr. Wiegand to adopt the budget schedule and send it to the full County Board. Motion carried unanimously by a voice vote.

                    Mr. Pritchard wanted to go back to the GISWeb Resolution and requested that a copy of the resolution be sent to all department heads to ensure that there is awareness before it’s adopted. Approval of his request was unanimous. Mr. Bockman stated he would highlight the information for the department head’s attention.

ADJOURNMENT

                    Chairperson Leifheit asked if there were any other concerns that needed to be addressed. Having none, she called for the meeting to be adjourned.

                                                                                                      Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                                    _________________________
                                                                                                    Sue Leifheit, Chairman