West Cook News

Village of Forest Park Village Council met July 11

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

ROLL CALL

Commissioners Maxham, Melin-Rogovin, Voogd and Mayor Hoskins answered the Roll Call. Mayor Hoskins announced that regular rules of order are suspended. Also, in attendance were Village Administrator, Rachell Entler, Finance Director, Tish Olmsted, Police Chief, Ken Gross, Health and Safety Director, Steve Glinke, Fire Chief, Phil Chiappetta, Community Center Director, Karen Dylewski, Public Works Director, Sal Stella and Village Clerk, Vanessa Belmonte.

NEW BUSINESS:

Administrator Entler summarized the previous two budget workshops and gave an overview of government budgeting and fund accounting.

Director Olmsted stated that the revenue estimates are conservative, and do not include any anticipated revenue from upcoming developments. While the village’s portion of property taxes is approximately thirteen to fourteen percent of the total bill, seventy percent of the tax revenue is dedicated to funding public safety pensions. The director stressed that the budgeted revenue does not exceed budgeted expenses and has not for a decade. The group proceeded to review the proposed budget department by department.

Public Affairs:

There was discussion about the use of the funds allocated to other events and the $10,000 reserved for the Shakespeare in the Park production. The $10,000 will be offset by citizen donations collected through vehicle sticker sales. Staff was directed to research whether savings can be realized by consolidating website maintenance, hosting and agenda management. Currently agendas are managed by staff and recorded through a Zoom subscription. No changes were made to this department’s budget.

Police:

The majority of expenses in this department are for personnel. The budget reflects full staffing.

Police are currently down 3 officers and there is a potential for one retirement this fiscal year. It was noted that ammunition costs of $20,000 were returned to the department budget from the federal seizure fund. No changes were made to the Police Department budget.

Community Center:

It was discussed that this budget was adjusted to reflect the actual expenses. Further, timing of fees collected for events and trips does not always align with the expense. The Center is currently fully staffed. There were no changes made to this department’s budget.

Clerk’s Office:

The department is currently fully staffed. The majority of large expenses are for insurance premiums and public safety pension funding. Staff is working on an RFP for credit card processing services village-wide in an attempt to find savings for the village and its customers as well as to gain better account servicing from the processer. The issue of wage compression was discussed and will be further vetted in the coming weeks prior to adopting the annual salary ordinance. No changes were made to this section of the budget.

Grants:

Grant budget reflects applications that are currently submitted and pending approval. No changes were made to this section.

Fire Department:

The department is fully staffed at this time. The Firefighters’ collective bargaining agreement calls for one firefighter to be added by May 1, 2025 and another to be added by May 1, 2026. The department is budgeting to purchase a training prop, which will be funded by the settlement with Metro Paramedics. There were no changes made to the Fire Department budget.

Public Health and Safety:

The budget reflects full staffing and there are plans to hire a permanent part-time clerk, to be shared with Public Works, in the near future. Also included in the zoning consultant expenses are $100,000 for a comprehensive plan and funding for the second phase of the zoning code update. To date, $54,000 has been spent on code update. There was discussion about whether a contract is required for the code update consulting costs. Administrator Entler advised that this activity is covered by the current agreement with Muse. The director and administrator will review this issue with Commissioner Nero, receive his input and report back to the Village Council. No changes were made to this section of the budget.

Streets and Public Improvements:

No changes were made to the Streets Department budget.

Public Property:

Director Olmsted advised that the LED Street Lighting loan will be paid off this fiscal year. Director Stella advised that he is currently working on finding grants for free EV stations to be installed around the village. There were no changes made to the Public Property budget.

Water Department:

Water expenses are offset by customer payments. The village passes through the City of Chicago rate increases annually. Commercial and Industrial consumption has increased year over year. Water main expense line has been increased to reflect more realistic costs. There is a placeholder for both the village-wide water meter replacement and to address the reservoir issue. There was discussion that the City of Chicago is planning to revamp its charges to municipalities based on consumption and overhead. We anticipate our rates to increase due to this proposed change. There is discussion with Brookfield and Westchester about buying in to their combined 36 inch main that feeds from Chicago. This may offset the Chicago rates due to bulk purchasing. It was noted that the fund balance includes cash and assets, equipment and infrastructure value. No changes were made to the Water Fund budget.

General Discussion:

The TIF funds were reviewed, and it was noted that we are currently looking for a new TIF consultant. All other funds are restricted. Director Olmsted discussed the public safety pension fund shortfall. There is a mandate that the funds be 90% funded by the year 2040. Currently we are at about 30-35%. There is a possibility that the state income tax and sales tax revenue could be redirected to fund these pensions. Potential new revenue sources may be allocated to the pensions. Currently the village is making supplemental payments to both the Police and Fire pension funds. The funding level is determined by actuarial evaluation and further depends on the investment activities. It was discussed that the village will likely adopt a grocery tax, to replace the state tax, which will be eliminated effective January 1, 2026.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to be addressed, Commissioner Maxham moved and Commissioner Melin-Rogovin seconded to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried.

Mayor Hoskins declared the meeting adjourned at 5:20 P.M.

https://www.forestpark.net/dfp/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/072224VillageCouncilMeetingPacket.pdf