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DeKalb County, Illinois |
Minutes of the
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The Finance Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Wednesday, February
13, 2008 in Conference Room East of the Administration Building. The meeting was re-scheduled from February 6, 2008 which was canceled due to the weather. Present were Committee Chairman Michael Haines, John Hulseberg, Ruth Anne Tobias, Julia Fullerton, Jerry Augsburger, and Vince Faivre. Roger Steimel was absent. Also in attendance was Board Member Anita Turner, Staff Joan Hanson and Gary Hanson, and Kate Schott of the Daily Chronicle. Approval of Minutes & Agenda Jerry Augsburger moved, seconded by John Hulseberg, to approve the minutes from the November 7, 2007 meeting. Motion carried unanimously. Julia Fullerton moved, Ruth Anne Tobias seconded, to approve the agenda as presented with the exception of removing the item regarding a budget amendment for the Veteran’s Assistance program. The motion carried unanimously. Property Tax Abatement Gary Hanson, Deputy County Administrator, presented a resolution to abate part of the property tax levy for the 2005 bond issue (which was a re-financing of the 1997 Health Facility Bond Issue). This is an annual event which is done because the operating revenues from the Rehab & Nursing Center are adequate to retire $527,385 without the use of property tax dollars. Vince Faivre moved, seconded by John Hulseberg, to send the abatement resolution to the County Board for approval. The motion carried unanimously. Fiber Optic Proposal Joan Hanson, Director of the Information Management Office, presented a proposal (See Attachments A-1 & A-2) which would make the County, along with the City of DeKalb and the DeKalb School District, a partner with DeKalb Fiber Optic (DFO). The partnership would allow for the construction and maintenance of a segment of fiber cable which would go from Jefferson Elementary School in DeKalb to DeKalb’s new high school on Dresser Road, to the City of DeKalb’s Fire Station on Dresser Road and to the County’s Health Facility Campus on the northeast corner of Dresser and Annie Glidden Roads. There would also be a segment that would go north on First Street to Bethany Road and then west to Brooks Elementary School. The benefit to the County is that it would allow computer network connection from the Health Facility Campus to the Sycamore Campus. The cost to each public entity would be $105,000. The County would also need about $20,000 for equipment on the Health Facility Campus and the Sycamore Campus. The County anticipates a net savings of $240,000 over the 20 year agreement by using fiber rather than leasing phone lines. In addition, another $120,000 benefit would be realized by the doubling of the bandwidth that the County has available to it for access to the Internet. Discussion followed the presentation regarding the savings, maintenance, and possible alternatives. There was discussion whether a wireless solution would be forthcoming, if not today, perhaps within a few years. Joan Hanson commented that it would not be a simple matter to convert to wireless as parts of the County’s network infrastructure would need to be changed to accommodate that which would be quite expensive. Another concern was the capability of wireless to handle telephone traffic regarding capacity and security. It was noted that with the new telephone system coming on-line for the County, as well as more staff moving to the Health Facility Campus when the Community Outreach Building opens, fiber optic cable was going to provide much better bandwidth capacity at a more reasonable cost. This segment is part of a much larger fiber optic network that DFO is putting together throughout the County and it was recognized that to some degree our participation will also be a positive help to economic development throughout the County. Jerry Augsburger moved, seconded by Ruth Anne Tobias, to go forward with the proposal and send a resolution to the County Board to authorize the County’s participation. Motion carried unanimously. Flexible Benefit Plan Amendment Gary Hanson presented a proposal to establish a 75 day “grace period” in the Flexible Benefits Program for employees. This grace period would allow employees 75 days after the end of each Flex Year (December 31st) to still incur expenses related to the plan year just ended. The availability of a grace period is a result of a change in Federal Law. Without a grace period, if employees did not incur all their expenses by December 31st to fully spend their Flex Account, they would lose their money and it would go to the County. Vince Faivre moved, seconded by John Hulseberg, to send a resolution to the County Board which would establish a grace period within the Flexible Benefits Program. Motion carried unanimously. Extension of Pension Credits for Military Service Gary Hanson presented a proposal to allow military personnel four years, rather than the current two years, to be recognized for years of service within the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). This change in the number of years of service which can be counted towards an employee’s pension calculation is the result of a recent change in State Law. Employees who elect to do this would have to pay the employee’s normal share of the pension cost. The County would also have to pay for their share, but it would be done by a change in the rate calculation which is amortized over a 40 year period. Jerry Augsburger moved, seconded by Julia Fullerton, to recommend this change to the County Board for approval. Motion passed unanimously. Retain Sycamore Campus Until 2060 The next agenda item was a discussion item that generated from the FY2008 Budget that was recently passed. (See Attachment #B.) That budget carried an action plan for addressing space needs for the Criminal Justice System and the component for discussion at this meeting was to state that the County planned to meet those needs on the Sycamore Campus up through year 2060. It was felt that by doing this it would be helpful to the staff, future Boards, and the community as future building plans and land acquisitions unfolded. It was noted that future Boards could not be encumbered by this resolution and that they would be free to change it at any time, yet this resolution would provide some structure for future planning. On the other side of the issue, Vince Faivre noted that without any concrete action in the resolution, little was accomplished by its passage. Gary Hanson pointed out that one provision of the resolution authorizes the administrative staff to actively pursue land acquisitions around the Sycamore Campus. John Hulseberg asked for clarification that this resolution did not restrict the County to only look east for land acquisitions. Gary Hanson stated that the resolution purposely did not make that restriction and that acquisitions would be looked at in any direction which would be in the County’s long-term interests. It was the consensus of the Committee to hold this resolution over until the March meeting to give other Board members time to review the resolution and to offer input. Special Meeting for FY2007 Budget Transfers Gary Hanson requested that the Finance Committee hold a special meeting on February 20, 2008, prior to the County Board meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to do year-end budget transfers for FY2007. He noted that while this is an annual event, there would be more transfers this year because the fiscal year was changed to January 1st from December 1st so FY2007 had 13 months in it to make the transition. It was decided to have the meeting at 6:45pm. Adjournment A motion was made by Ruth Anne Tobias and seconded by Jerry Augsburger to adjourn the meeting around 8:00pm. Motion passed unanimously. ________________________________ Michael Haines, Committee Chairman ___________________________________ Gary Hanson, Acting Secretary |
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