[0:00] Correct.

[0:04] » I don't have the gavl.

[0:05] >> Call the joint budget workshop meeting

[0:07] to order.

[0:08] >> And um pledge allegiance to the flag,

[0:11] please.

[0:12] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag, one

[0:14] nation under the republic for it stands,

[0:19] one nation under God, indivisible, with

[0:22] liberty and justice for all.

[0:24] >> Thank you all.

[0:26] Apologize about that.

[0:29] Let's see. Roll call.

[0:31] >> Here

[0:33] >> back

[0:33] >> here.

[0:34] >> Clark, excuse me

[0:36] >> here.

[0:36] >> Olsson

[0:37] >> here.

[0:41] >> Fin Olsson

[0:43] >> here.

[0:45] >> Daniel

[0:45] >> here.

[0:46] >> My now he's excused. Kavalo

[0:49] >> here.

[0:50] >> Recker

[0:50] >> here.

[0:52] >> We have one opening, right?

[0:55] >> Okay. Thank you. Uh public comments.

[0:57] I've got one here. I don't know if

[0:58] there's any online, but I got one right

[1:00] here from Jim Pensel.

[1:05] » Good evening, Jim Pel 512.

[1:08] Um, first I want to express my concern

[1:10] with the 6 p.m. start time of this as

[1:12] you were with the 5:30 p.m. start time

[1:14] of this meeting. I ask that these

[1:16] subsequent meetings are moved to 6 pm.

[1:18] If there is any interest in having

[1:20] public participation,

[1:22] um, I myself had to rush here. Um, I

[1:24] gota go back to work, but anyways,

[1:27] In regard to this evening's meeting, um

[1:30] I'm also concerned that there's not an

[1:33] agenda item for goals being discussed or

[1:36] mentioned. It was briefly touched on and

[1:37] there was uh a staff and director wish

[1:40] list, but even the costs of that wish

[1:43] list never made it into this packet. So,

[1:46] it would be extraordinarily difficult

[1:47] for the finance

[1:49] u HR and Philip board to weigh in on

[1:52] those decisions. Um, and then, uh,

[1:57] finally,

[1:59] I'm very concerned that

[2:02] we didn't take into consideration

[2:05] the highest rated things by our

[2:08] citizens, such as public safety and

[2:10] streets. First,

[2:13] the very first thing that we're going to

[2:14] look at tonight is paying ourselves

[2:17] more. Um and uh which is really

[2:21] difficult because there's no good data

[2:23] that comes out for what that increased

[2:26] cost of benefits are until later in the

[2:28] year. Um you don't know what your

[2:30] revenues will be until later in the

[2:32] year. I'm sure Jessica can get you those

[2:34] exact dates. But if we don't know our

[2:37] dollars in yet and the very first thing

[2:40] we're going to want to do is spend more

[2:41] money, I think that's a problem. And I

[2:43] think we need to rep prioritize. Look at

[2:45] goals. look at what the electorate wants

[2:48] and maybe not what everyone wants first.

[2:50] Thank you.

[2:53] >> Okay, let's see. Amendments from

[2:55] previous meetings. None. Resolutions.

[2:57] Number four, resolution 2026-023.

[3:01] Resolution authorizing the issuance and

[3:02] sale of up to 1,291,283

[3:07] in waterworks system revenue bonds

[3:09] series 20206

[3:11] and providing for other details and

[3:14] covenants with respect. There too and

[3:16] approval of related financial assistance

[3:18] agreement.

[3:20] >> Motion to approve.

[3:21] by early

[3:23] >> second.

[3:24] by Zagami. On the question

[3:27] >> I ask finance need a motion on this.

[3:28] It's just board.

[3:31] >> Yes, we could just use board.

[3:33] >> Just board. Okay. Any discussion? Any

[3:36] questions on board?

[3:37] >> My my only question is this was to help

[3:40] finish well three for anybody to iron

[3:42] and make these. Is that correct or

[3:44] >> correct? idea. And I guess I just want

[3:45] to point out um I guess page 46 of the

[3:49] packet shows that um with this safe

[3:51] drinking water loan, we have a little

[3:53] over $3 million in principal

[3:55] forgiveness. So of a $4.3 million

[3:58] project, we're essentially paying $1.3

[4:00] million and the other $3 million um I

[4:04] guess the state is more or less uh

[4:06] taking the cost of. So, um, this

[4:08] essentially is our agreement with the

[4:10] state for, uh, the 4.3 million, but we

[4:13] only have to pay them back the 1.291.

[4:19] » Okay.

[4:21] >> And then, um, with our PAS, I guess, uh,

[4:25] class action lawsuit, they did remove

[4:27] 272,460,000

[4:30] from the overall project amount. So,

[4:33] >> I was going to ask about that because I

[4:34] had to note it down. I was like, what

[4:35] does that mean? So they can move that

[4:37] off.

[4:37] >> Yeah, since we received some of those uh

[4:39] lawsuit monies, um I guess that's a

[4:42] portion of it, too. So realistically, I

[4:44] guess, yeah, the total project is the

[4:46] 4.57.

[4:48] Um if you take out the 272 that they

[4:50] said we can't use from our lawsuit, then

[4:52] it's the say 4.3.

[4:55] >> I think it said it in there, but how

[4:57] much was the percentage on the borrow?

[4:59] It's like two something.

[5:03] If you go to the next page, the interest

[5:05] rate is.365

[5:07] >> and then the total interest over the

[5:08] grass loan is 333

[5:11] blah blah blah something like that.

[5:12] >> Correct. Y

[5:15] >> you can't use tiff money to fund water

[5:17] works. It's like kind of like a separate

[5:19] entity. So we have to do this on their

[5:20] own.

[5:21] >> Right. Tiff is closed.

[5:24] >> Tiff is closed too.

[5:26] >> Okay. Any more

[5:28] hearing? No more discussion. All those

[5:29] in favor say I.

[5:30] >> I. Opposed. So carried unfinished

[5:33] business there's seeing that there's

[5:35] none new business review budget process

[5:37] and funds presentation review and

[5:39] equalized value of new net new

[5:41] construction

[5:46] » I'm moving right to seven

[5:48] >> no we have a powerpoint

[5:50] >> okay

[5:57] Next.

[6:12] » Okay. So, this presentation is also on

[6:14] your laptops. It's on the desktop as a

[6:18] PDF. So, if you want to open that up to

[6:20] follow along um better. Um, after

[6:24] tonight, we will put it on our website

[6:26] under the 2027 budget. So, anyone that

[6:30] wants to go back and look through it,

[6:32] it'll be up there in addition to the

[6:34] YouTube video that

[6:38] » it is.

[6:40] >> Yeah,

[6:41] >> I'm waiting.

[6:42] >> I kept looking for something else.

[6:44] >> I can start with just

[6:47] a little bit about the budget process.

[6:49] This is our our first year in a couple

[6:51] years where we've done joint meetings

[6:52] with finance and HR and board. It had

[6:55] been that way in the past and every year

[6:57] we kind of talk about how we want to do

[6:59] it because it's it's our choice. So this

[7:01] year again would be joint meetings. So

[7:03] just a little bit about the timeline

[7:05] that we're on. Uh we start these budget

[7:09] workshops with kind of what are the

[7:11] priorities, what are we thinking. Jess

[7:13] is going to go through tonight because

[7:14] we have a lot of new faces and this is

[7:16] our first time doing it these joint

[7:18] meetings in a couple years just about

[7:21] governmental financing and accounting.

[7:23] Uh just a little bit of a brief summary

[7:25] of the funds that we have. Uh we will we

[7:28] bring forward drafts through these

[7:31] budget workshop meetings that go through

[7:34] September and October so we can drill

[7:37] down into in decisions at each one. we

[7:40] can talk a little bit about the how

[7:42] we're going to handle which funds at

[7:44] which meetings and that kind of comes to a conclusion at the end of October.

[7:50] It's the end of October because we are

[7:52] required to do a public hearing posting

[7:54] and that has to be done 15 days before

[7:56] the meeting is held. So that we we shoot

[8:00] for that to go in our regular meeting in

[8:03] November, which is the third Monday, in

[8:05] order to make the that to be the budget

[8:08] adoption, the hearing and the adoption

[8:10] in order to get the information to the

[8:12] county for the printing of the tax

[8:13] bills. So that's kind of our our our

[8:16] process everyone should have on their

[8:18] calendars. Uh I I sent out invites for

[8:21] all of the meetings. they are kind of on

[8:23] some different dates and at some

[8:25] different times than our our standard

[8:26] Monday meetings and that's just so we

[8:28] can get in those additional meetings

[8:30] between now and the end of October.

[8:33] So if if through the process if anyone's

[8:35] like I wish we had more time or I wish

[8:37] we could drill down more in that it's

[8:39] important to say it right away because

[8:40] it is a condensed timeline and and the

[8:44] ultimate goal again is to make sure

[8:45] we're not delaying anybody. The county

[8:48] prints all the tax bills right at one

[8:50] time. So if we delay the county, we

[8:52] delay everybody's tax bills at one time.

[8:54] So we want to we want to make sure that

[8:56] we're getting that information to them

[8:58] by the mid November time frame.

[9:04] » Okay. A budget is a mathematical

[9:06] confirmation of your suspicions. So u

[9:09] when we go through the budget, it is

[9:11] just a guess. It's our best guesstimate.

[9:13] We don't know what the snow's going to

[9:15] do. We don't know if people are going to

[9:16] be leaving, if we have to rehire, how we can rehire. Um, so when we go

[9:21] through the budget, when we get to the

[9:23] end of 2026 and end of 2027, usually the

[9:27] actuals are not that close. We're close,

[9:30] but not where a lot of people think that

[9:34] they should be because they are a budget

[9:37] that we're doing in September usually.

[9:41] Okay, before we get into the deep down

[9:44] into budget season, I really want to

[9:46] talk about the funds so we're all on the

[9:49] same page when we're talking the

[9:51] budgeting of the funds and how they're

[9:54] how each fund operates.

[9:58] So, an introduction to government

[10:00] accounting, state requirements and

[10:02] regulations, and then where are we? So,

[10:03] that's the outline of our presentation.

[10:06] Um, first the introduction. Um

[10:08] government account is overseen by the

[10:10] governmental accounting standards board

[10:13] Gatsby. Um the type of accounting used

[10:15] is called fund accounting. Um there are

[10:18] three main types of funds. Governmental,

[10:20] proprietary and fiduciary. Um the

[10:22] governmental funds we include the

[10:24] general special revenue, debt service,

[10:26] capital and then permanent. Um the

[10:29] village does not have a permanent fund.

[10:31] So we'll just be addressing one through

[10:34] four.

[10:36] Um governmental funds are we use the

[10:41] they're accounted for on a modified

[10:43] acral basis of accounting. Um we'll go

[10:46] through that in the next page but the

[10:48] funds are the general fund which is the

[10:51] chief operating fund of the village. Um

[10:54] anything that doesn't belong in another

[10:56] fund ends up in the general fund.

[10:58] Special revenue special revenue funds

[11:01] cannot have a majority of their revenues

[11:03] coming from the tax levy. um usually

[11:06] they're for a specific um expense. Um

[11:10] example is refuge recycling. We gather

[11:13] the special charges off the tax rule and

[11:16] we put them in our refuge recycling and

[11:18] that money goes specifically for our

[11:21] horrors bill and also do does the leaf

[11:24] pickup and all our on Ryan Street when

[11:28] we have everyone bring their leaves and

[11:31] grasses there to process all those

[11:33] recyclable materials, organic materials.

[11:37] Um the next one is the debt service

[11:40] fund. It accounts for the resources and

[11:44] payments related to long-term debt for

[11:47] those debt that's taken out for the

[11:50] governmental funds, meaning it doesn't

[11:52] include the utilities. Uh the last one

[11:54] we want to talk about is the capital

[11:56] projects funds. Um we don't want you to

[11:58] confuse it with our capital improvement

[12:01] program. A lot of times we'll talk about

[12:03] CIP. It's either the CIP fund or the CIP

[12:07] program. Uh the program includes the

[12:10] utilities. So when we're planning a CIP

[12:13] plan, we talk about a road project and

[12:16] we'll talk about the expenses for the

[12:18] street, the water sewer and storm. In

[12:20] the capital projects fund, what you're

[12:23] going to see is just the accounting for

[12:25] the streets portion. We do not account

[12:27] for the utilities in that. So okay, next

[12:31] slide.

[12:35] So this is an example of our proprietary

[12:37] funds. It includes the enterprise funds,

[12:40] water, source, storm. It also has the

[12:42] internal service fund. So the internal

[12:44] service fund keeps track of our dental.

[12:47] So we are self-insured for dental

[12:49] meaning that we collect the premiums. We

[12:52] use um safer is part of that. So we

[12:55] collect money from the payroll and from

[12:58] the employees. So we put it in a pot and

[13:00] then Delta Dental is our administrator.

[13:03] So when the people go to the dentist,

[13:05] they send the claims to Delta Dental and

[13:07] Delta Tendle tells us how much we owe.

[13:10] So then we they'll take the money out of

[13:12] our account. We've been really fortunate

[13:15] with the way that it's been operating

[13:17] that we've had a surplus. We haven't

[13:19] raised our rates. Last year was the

[13:21] first increase for quite a few years.

[13:24] So, we'll see how the fund is going this

[13:27] year to see if we need additional rate

[13:29] increases.

[13:34] The proprietary funds um these are funds

[13:38] where the activities there's a fee for

[13:42] the external users for goods or

[13:44] services. Um the charges for services

[13:47] are their primary re revenue source and

[13:50] similar to private business.

[13:54] And then we talked about the internal

[13:56] service fund already.

[13:59] Um things to know about governmental

[14:00] accounting again modified acrruel basis.

[14:05] So we keep track of current resources. I

[14:07] had a question the other day. Are we

[14:09] going to see like what we just approved

[14:11] where Mountain Bet is going to be paying

[14:13] us back for that building? Are we going

[14:15] to have a long-term receivable on that?

[14:17] When you look at our fund balance sheet,

[14:20] you are not going to see a receivable

[14:23] necessarily. We'll have to I'm just

[14:24] going to talk with the auditors, but if

[14:26] you do see a receivable, you're also

[14:28] going to see a deferred revenue, meaning

[14:30] that the governmental rules do not allow

[14:35] us to include revenue that's not

[14:38] current, meaning uh 60 90 days or

[14:41] sooner. So, you're not going to see that

[14:43] revenue on the books right away. You're

[14:44] going to see the receivable for Mountain

[14:46] Bay, and you'll see a deferred revenue,

[14:48] which matches that exact same dollar

[14:50] amount. So, uh, another thing we're

[14:54] going to talk about, um,

[14:58] oh, the debt. So, when we issue debt,

[15:01] and you're going to look in the the debt

[15:03] service fund, you're not going to see a

[15:05] long-term liability for all the debt

[15:08] that we have issued. A lot of times

[15:11] people get it kind of gets in the back

[15:14] pages. People, well, you don't tell us

[15:16] how much we actually have in debt. Well,

[15:18] it's in the back pages by design. Not by

[15:21] design, but um following the rules, we

[15:24] do not account for that on the balance

[15:26] sheet, but if you look at the utilities,

[15:28] you you would see the the amount of debt

[15:31] that those utilities do owe. You'll see

[15:33] the water revenue bonds on the balance

[15:35] sheet and the geo bonds on the balance

[15:38] sheet for the water, sewer, and storm.

[15:42] And capital purchases, that's the last

[15:45] thing we're going to talk about. Um,

[15:48] we do budget for capital expenditures in

[15:51] the fund statements. We just talked

[15:52] about the capital projects fund. Those

[15:55] are expenditures. You're going to see

[15:57] what we anticipate spending on capital

[15:59] items in that fund, but you are not

[16:02] going to see it in the utilities. Uh,

[16:04] the utilities have capital assets on

[16:06] their balance sheet unlike the

[16:07] governmental funds. So, you don't budget

[16:10] assets. So, the only place that you're

[16:13] going to see where we budget spending

[16:15] money on capital infrastructure for the

[16:17] utilities is going to be on our capital

[16:19] improvement plan. So, just for

[16:22] clarification, when we're going through

[16:24] that stuff, if you're looking for

[16:25] something and you don't see it, um, just

[16:28] ask, um, it's there. It just may not be

[16:32] in the place that you're looking for.

[16:35] Any questions?

[16:38] It was a lot of information, but I

[16:40] really thought we need to really be on

[16:44] the same page. We're going to talk about

[16:45] governmental funds. Then we're going to

[16:47] talk about the utility funds. Utility

[16:50] funds are

[16:53] their main revenue is that charges for

[16:55] services. There is no tax money in those

[16:57] funds. When we talk about the

[16:59] flexibility, it has a ton more

[17:01] flexibility than those in the

[17:03] governmental funds. When we talk about

[17:05] refuge recycle, all those expenditures

[17:08] in that fund are financed by the refuge

[17:12] recycling charges that we put on the tax

[17:15] bill. They are not financed by property

[17:18] taxes. So when we talk about

[17:19] expenditures in that fund,

[17:22] the choices we make doesn't necessarily

[17:25] impact the tax bill. They're not limited

[17:28] by the allowable increase we can do on

[17:31] our tax bill. general fund is the main

[17:34] fund that when we're talking about the

[17:38] amount of revenue we can levy, it's very

[17:41] limited. A lot of times a strategy that

[17:44] many governments use is what

[17:47] expenditures can we kick out of the

[17:49] general fund because the general fund

[17:51] has so restricted on the revenues that

[17:54] we can generate for that fund. And some

[17:57] people would say you're playing the

[17:58] shell game.

[18:01] We are trying to provide the services

[18:03] that we can with the limited revenue

[18:06] increases that the state allows. So

[18:10] if you have any questions, don't forget

[18:12] to ask. We'll take a couple breaks

[18:15] because we got more information.

[18:19] » No questions.

[18:20] >> Okay.

[18:23] >> Oh, state.

[18:28] » Okay. the state requirements. Um we're

[18:31] going to talk about this because a lot

[18:33] of these reports that the finance

[18:35] department works on impacts directly the

[18:38] budget that we do. Um a good example is

[18:41] our levy limit worksheet. That's the

[18:42] worksheet we do for the state that um

[18:45] controls how much we can increase our

[18:47] levy. And then we have the tax increment

[18:49] worksheet. That worksheet is done that

[18:52] it affects the bottom line of our tax

[18:55] bill. So it doesn't that increment

[18:58] doesn't necessarily affect the general

[18:59] fund, but it affects our tiff, our tiff,

[19:02] too. Uh statement of tax is a great

[19:04] summary of all the taxes that are on

[19:07] your tax bill. That's a form that the

[19:10] village fills out on and is available on

[19:13] the do website if you're looking for it.

[19:16] Another one, municipal financial report.

[19:18] That report's super important. That one

[19:21] is directly tied to our transportation

[19:23] aid. So, if we don't fill that one out

[19:25] correctly, um that could directly impact

[19:28] our transportation aid and especially if

[19:30] we don't file it on time. That's one of

[19:33] the reports that if you do not file on

[19:37] time, they will reduce your aid. Uh

[19:40] expenditure restraint. The village has

[19:42] qualified for expenditure restraint. We

[19:44] are over $100,000 right now and has

[19:47] certain rules and regulations that we

[19:49] have to follow to um get those funds.

[19:52] We're going to talk a little bit more

[19:54] about that too in a little bit.

[19:56] >> Yes. Levy limits. Municipality may

[19:59] increase its levy over the prior year by

[20:01] a percentage increase in equalized value

[20:03] from net new construction. Net new

[20:06] construction prior year as any demo and

[20:09] destruction

[20:11] is how they determine that number. If

[20:15] there was no net new construction, the

[20:17] village would not be allowed to increase

[20:19] their levy at all.

[20:24] This is an example. This is the most

[20:26] current we just got on August 11th. This

[20:29] is our statement of changes in equalized

[20:32] value by class and item. That's a report

[20:34] that's given to us by the state. You can

[20:37] see um our 2025 equalized values. And

[20:40] then there's prior year

[20:44] compensation

[20:46] and then the economic change. the

[20:48] economic change. Those numbers are

[20:50] determined by the state. They're

[20:52] determined by the sales information from

[20:57] the area.

[20:59] Um, it's a I'll call it a makeup madeup

[21:03] number. It basically inc tells you that

[21:06] your property is now worth $100,000

[21:08] instead of um $90,000.

[21:12] but it really doesn't have a direct

[21:14] correlation to what you would see on

[21:17] your tax bill. Um, here's the amount of

[21:20] net new construction. As you can see,

[21:22] the village has close to 2% again this

[21:25] year. And you can see a lot of the

[21:28] increase came from residential

[21:29] improvements.

[21:33] Um, in the end% lower right corner, the

[21:36] total change for the villages equalized

[21:39] value was 9%.

[21:41] The next page, net new construction.

[21:45] Um, the villages equalized value of 2025

[21:48] 1.9. Our net new construction is 31.3

[21:52] million and that is an percentage of

[21:56] 1.624. So that's the amount we can

[21:58] increase our levy over our prior year.

[22:02] You can see where other municipalities

[22:05] are on that same line.

[22:10] Yes.

[22:11] >> Any questions on equalized value and net

[22:13] new construction?

[22:15] They they don't they impact the net new

[22:18] construction impacts our budget

[22:20] significantly. When we don't get a big

[22:23] number, that hurts. Um you can see our

[22:27] history on this one where we've ranged.

[22:30] You can see the equalized value, the

[22:32] assessed, and then how that affects our

[22:36] net new construction. there is no

[22:38] correlation.

[22:40] So, it's really hard to determine and

[22:42] guess that number.

[22:44] And you can see the amount of levy

[22:45] increases that we've had since 2019.

[22:50] 95,000 is pretty good. So, we've had

[22:54] some pretty good years,

[22:58] but 95,000 doesn't cover a lot of budget

[23:02] increase. There's absolutely no tie to

[23:05] um CPI. So when our fuel is running wild

[23:09] and we need to cover the cost of that comes out of that 95. Um our

[23:15] workers comp we our modify factor went

[23:18] up from86 to 1.17.

[23:22] >> That's a $30,000 increase. That's taken

[23:25] out of that number. Um mountain Bay

[23:28] increase that's taken out of that

[23:30] number. As you can see that that number

[23:33] is already in the negatives by taking so

[23:35] much out of it.

[23:37] Um this is why we continue to talk about

[23:40] our struggles. Um we do get some shared

[23:45] revenue increase. We get some general

[23:48] transportation increase, but general

[23:51] transportation increases aren't a

[23:53] forever thing. We're going to plateau

[23:55] out. So the money we get from GTA we

[23:58] need to be using wly wisely.

[24:01] Um, in our shared revenue, I think last

[24:04] year we got 30,000.

[24:10] » Okay.

[24:11] >> We want to do seventh inning stretch.

[24:14] >> Yes.

[24:14] >> Okay.

[24:15] >> Thank you.

[24:15] >> So, last year we did uh videos at the

[24:19] beginning. These are just

[24:23] they should be a little bit

[24:24] inspirational. They should be a little

[24:26] bit fun. It's a way to break up the

[24:28] presentation.

[24:30] If there's a video that you all really

[24:32] like that you think would be good to

[24:33] share,

[24:35] send it our way. But it also just, you

[24:38] know, gives a a rest in the middle. So,

[24:40] this was a video that we wanted to share

[24:43] today. They don't necessarily relate to

[24:46] budget. I just want to I want to point

[24:48] that out.

[24:50] >> This acts of generosity

[24:53] is how simple it is to make people feel

[24:57] good. I was walking down the streets of

[25:00] New York City

[25:02] and a guy walking in front of me, his

[25:04] backpack opened and a bunch of paper

[25:05] fell out on the on the street. I didn't

[25:07] think much of it. I bent down. I

[25:10] gathered up the papers, handed them back

[25:11] to him, and pointed out that his his bag

[25:13] had opened. Now, in our bodies, there's

[25:16] a chemical called oxytocin. Oxytocin is

[25:18] responsible for all the warm and

[25:20] fuzzies, unicorns, and rainbows. It's

[25:22] responsible for all the warm feelings

[25:24] and connectedness we have with each

[25:26] other. Friendship, love. Huge amounts of

[25:30] oxytocin surge through a woman's body as

[25:32] she gives birth. This is what is

[25:34] responsible for the mother child bond.

[25:36] Oxytocin binds human beings. There are

[25:38] many ways to get oxytocin.

[25:41] One of them is acts of kindness and acts

[25:43] of generosity. It feels good when we do

[25:45] something nice for someone. It feels

[25:47] good when someone does something nice

[25:49] for us. On this particular day, I did

[25:52] something for someone with no

[25:54] expectation of anything in return. I got

[25:56] a little surge of oxytocin. I felt good.

[25:59] He turned to me and he said, "Thank you.

[26:02] It feels nice when someone does

[26:04] something for us with no expectation of

[26:05] anything in return." He felt good.

[26:09] I walked to the end of the street. I'm

[26:10] waiting to cross the street and a total

[26:13] stranger who happened to be standing

[26:14] next to me said, "I saw what you did

[26:15] back there. That was really cool." As it

[26:18] turns out, witnessing an act of

[26:21] generosity

[26:24] releases oxytocin

[26:26] and he felt good.

[26:29] And the best part about oxytocin is the

[26:31] more oxytocin we have in our bodies, the

[26:34] more generous we become. It is mother

[26:37] nature's way of trying desperately to

[26:40] get us to look after each other. I can

[26:43] guarantee you that that man who

[26:45] witnessed what I did did something nice

[26:47] for somebody that day simply because he

[26:49] saw someone do something nice for

[26:51] somebody that day. So what if we commit

[26:54] to do something nice for someone with no

[26:57] expectation of anything in return?

[26:58] Imagine what happens at work. Imagine

[27:00] what happens at home. Imagine what

[27:02] happens with our friends.

[27:04] But it must be genuine.

[27:14] was going to do a pop quiz on does

[27:16] everyone know who was speaking but then

[27:18] his name flashed up huge at the end. So

[27:23] no,

[27:29] » okay, we'll continue with the lovey

[27:32] limit worksheet. So exciting.

[27:36] Uh this is just we can go quickly unless

[27:40] you have questions there. There's not a

[27:42] lot to this, but I just want you to

[27:44] understand that when we do the budget,

[27:46] when we do the levy, we just don't tell

[27:48] the state what we want to levy. Um we go

[27:51] through the calculations. You go to the

[27:54] page prior.

[27:55] >> Sure.

[27:57] Give it a

[27:58] >> That's a second page.

[28:00] >> Catch up.

[28:12] But if you have it on your computers, we

[28:13] can talk about it. So, when you look at

[28:15] the levy limit worksheet on the page the

[28:18] first page of it, um they they give you

[28:23] your last year's levy and then they add

[28:26] the personal property tax and then

[28:29] there's the debt obligation debt general obligation debt authorized

[28:35] after 20 2005. that was um that's our

[28:40] that's the money that we levy to pay our

[28:44] debt that's associated with the general

[28:46] fund. So 2.15 million. So if anyone ever

[28:50] asks how much money do we levy to pay

[28:52] for debt that that's it and it's really

[28:55] straightforward on this worksheet.

[28:58] And then we get the adjusted and then

[29:00] we're allowed to increase with net

[29:02] construction.

[29:06] And then and that's pretty much all the

[29:10] adjustments we get. Um you can see line

[29:13] one and eight are the same. I'm not sure

[29:16] how the TIFF closure is going to treat

[29:19] that. I'm anticipating the top line is

[29:23] going to be

[29:25] 88,169,

[29:26] but the bottom number might be 120,000.

[29:31] That's something we'll have to see how

[29:33] the do treats a tiff closure. never been

[29:36] through it at this I think the last time

[29:39] I was through it I think I was two years

[29:40] into it um into the village of Weston

[29:44] like 2009 so I don't exactly reme

[29:48] remember plus I think the levy limit

[29:50] worksheet was a little different back

[29:52] then so this is and then if you look at

[29:55] line five that's where you're going to

[29:57] see that tiff is going to be there

[30:00] there's going to be a percentage there

[30:02] that's going to allow us to increase our

[30:04] levy for that TIFF closure.

[30:09] So, um, very excited to see what that

[30:13] ends up being. We kind of had had it

[30:16] calculated

[30:17] close to $400,000

[30:19] additional, but when I say that, I also

[30:22] said we might be having to subtract an

[30:24] additional $100,000 because our personal

[30:27] property aid is going up. Um that's that

[30:32] would be unfortunate

[30:34] but that's the way the levy limits work.

[30:37] When we did our tiff increment we that

[30:40] personal property aid wasn't part of the

[30:42] calculation.

[30:44] Um but I think it just goes forward to

[30:48] how the state is trying to when the

[30:51] different laws are passed, they have to

[30:53] try to make

[30:55] um reports and forms to

[30:58] follow the rules for each act that was

[31:02] passed without having all the acts

[31:05] really relating to one another. So,

[31:10] and then this next page, if you go to

[31:13] the next page, that again is just our

[31:15] general obligation debt that's due in

[31:19] 2026.

[31:21] So, that includes the interest and

[31:23] principal payments.

[31:25] So, if you're ever curious, we we do

[31:28] bring this worksheet forward so we can

[31:30] talk about how much we actually pay for

[31:33] our interest in principal.

[31:37] Okay, I have a question just on you you

[31:40] hit it kind of a little bit on the

[31:42] personal property aids. Is that kind of

[31:44] a set amount or does it increase with I

[31:48] didn't think so, but I I just, you know,

[31:50] >> now the state, this is a good point of

[31:53] what the state does. We used to have

[31:54] personal property tax and it was part of

[31:57] our levy. So when we were able to

[32:00] increase our levy with net new

[32:01] construction, guess what? our levy went

[32:04] up more and right now we we add and

[32:08] subtract it and that 88 never changes.

[32:13] When we got new businesses and like

[32:16] Amazon they had personal property our

[32:18] personal property aid went up. It

[32:21] doesn't go up anymore. We're stuck. I

[32:24] mean, it was nice the state gave us the

[32:27] money to supplement the personal

[32:30] property tax for that year, but moving

[32:33] forward, we don't get an increase.

[32:36] >> Okay. That's kind of what I thought, but

[32:38] I wasn't positive. Okay.

[32:39] >> Yeah.

[32:40] >> Thank you.

[32:41] >> There's a lot of stuff. Um, they say

[32:45] cable franchise fees, they reduce the

[32:47] amount that we could collect on that.

[32:49] They give us a set amount and that

[32:51] amount doesn't ever change.

[32:54] There's just a quite a few things that

[32:56] the state has done. Oh, we're going to

[32:58] supplement you, but that supplement

[33:00] number doesn't change.

[33:02] >> So, that makes it harder and harder for

[33:04] us to reach our goals because it does

[33:06] that isn't going naturally up. It's just

[33:08] a flat fee.

[33:10] >> Yes.

[33:14] » Okay. Thank you.

[33:18] » This is just um part of our public

[33:20] hearing notice. So, if you go back to

[33:23] the budget book from 2026 budget, this

[33:26] is just a copy. These numbers will tie

[33:29] to some of the um forms that we'll be

[33:33] showing in the next couple slides.

[33:40] The expenditure restraint, the main

[33:42] point here is we received $138,000

[33:46] for our 2026 budget. We split 88 in the

[33:50] general fund and 50 in capital.

[33:53] I said this before and I'll say it

[33:55] again. I don't know if we can keep this.

[33:57] Um that means that we'll be getting

[33:58] $88,000 less less in the general fund.

[34:01] We talked about the certain rules and

[34:03] regulations that need to be followed. I

[34:05] think they're on the next page. Yeah. So

[34:09] we talk about it.

[34:12] This form is just super old because when

[34:15] we close our tiff, we're going to go up,

[34:18] like we said, around $400,000. Meaning

[34:21] that we can increase our expenditures

[34:24] around $400,000.

[34:26] But the expenditure straight form

[34:28] doesn't take into account non it doesn't

[34:32] take into account those type of

[34:35] situations. It's like if you were to

[34:37] receive say a half a million dollar

[34:38] grant you put it in your general fund,

[34:40] you would kick yourself right out of

[34:42] this program. But that's where we have

[34:44] to use the shell game or accounting

[34:47] smarts and we kick the $500,000 in the

[34:50] special revenue fund that I talked about

[34:52] earlier. That's that grant money has to

[34:55] be used for a specific purpose so it's

[34:57] able to stay in that fund and it keeps

[34:59] our general fund within this expenditure

[35:02] restraint program.

[35:07] So now, how is that I'm sorry. Can I

[35:09] just

[35:10] >> How is that going to uh with the tiff?

[35:14] >> It might kick us out of the program.

[35:16] >> Okay.

[35:17] >> There's a few things I want to look at

[35:19] and I want to see if any other people

[35:22] have done it. But one of our recom

[35:25] things we could maybe do is kick our GTA

[35:28] general transportation aid out, put the

[35:31] street maintenance, follow that all into

[35:33] fund 42, and keep our general fund

[35:37] expenditures within the restraint

[35:40] program.

[35:41] So, you're taking general transportation

[35:44] aid, which is supposed to be used for

[35:46] transportation, put it in 42, take the

[35:49] expenditures,

[35:51] maintenance, street maintenance, kick

[35:54] that out, and see if we can keep it

[35:56] down.

[35:57] >> Well, will it

[35:58] >> there? There are not a lot of rules

[36:02] like there's no rule that will prevent

[36:04] you from doing it. It asks for what are

[36:06] your general fund budget? What have you

[36:09] levied in other funds for this? Like you

[36:14] can see the debt service and you can see

[36:16] the aquatic center. They're both up

[36:17] there and that's what the state looks

[36:20] like. They look at those numbers.

[36:23] >> Okay. Cuz I was going to ask if we're

[36:25] applying some of the tiff funds to the

[36:28] borrowing.

[36:30] >> So we're you're talking about the

[36:32] closure. So when I talked about that, I

[36:35] said when we close tiff 2. So we're

[36:37] going to have our audit hopefully

[36:40] October and at the end of that audit the

[36:43] auditors will have a final number of

[36:47] what's left in the tiff district that

[36:49] needs to be allocated to the other

[36:51] taxing jurisdictions and what amount

[36:54] remains with us.

[36:56] So that final number which we won't know

[36:59] till after the audit that's the number

[37:01] and it will not

[37:04] the expenditure straight program is

[37:06] based on our 2026 budget and we don't

[37:09] have anything in there for tiff.

[37:13] >> Okay I was just wondering

[37:15] >> so it won't impact it. That's why the

[37:16] program's so messed up. It doesn't.

[37:19] There's so many ways around it and you

[37:22] need to know what you're doing to find

[37:25] those ways and stay in compliance.

[37:29] >> So, approximately what would we lose if

[37:31] we get kicked out of this program?

[37:33] >> What?

[37:34] >> How much money will we lose?

[37:36] >> $138,000.

[37:38] >> Okay. Okay. So, that's another We got to

[37:41] find it.

[37:42] >> 88 is in the general fund. When we did

[37:45] this, we split it. We split it so

[37:48] knowing if we ever lost the program, we

[37:50] wouldn't have to take the full hit.

[37:52] >> Okay.

[37:53] >> And that's part of the strategy that we

[37:56] do for budgeting. Like I said, when you

[37:58] can kick it out of the general fund,

[38:01] let's do that because

[38:04] it it just works out for your long-term

[38:07] future. You have more flexibility.

[38:11] » Okay. I was wondering. Thank you. Just

[38:14] real quick, Michael rent the flash truck

[38:17] has gone by our gates three times. Just

[38:20] is he trying to get in or something?

[38:22] >> Who is it?

[38:23] >> I don't think so.

[38:24] >> So, it's a rent the flash. It's got a

[38:26] big white truck with a a um you know a

[38:29] gated bed. He's over on this side now.

[38:31] >> Okay.

[38:31] >> He came in first here, then he went here

[38:33] and now he's back there again.

[38:34] >> Okay.

[38:35] >> I just didn't know

[38:37] trying to get trying to find some signs.

[38:39] Thank you. Sorry about that.

[38:42] >> This is

[38:44] Thank you. This is just a copy of the

[38:47] worksheet that we have to fill out. Kind

[38:49] of like what I had on that Excel

[38:51] spreadsheet.

[38:58] Uh what's my property worth? We're going

[39:00] to talk about the difference between

[39:01] assessed, equalized, and appraised. I

[39:03] know we do this every year, but I think

[39:05] it's always a great refresher.

[39:08] >> Assessed value is the value that the

[39:09] village assessor puts on your property.

[39:11] We just had a reassessment a couple

[39:13] years ago. He he did that reassessment

[39:17] based on the current sales values and he

[39:19] has to make sure that when he reassesses

[39:21] everybody the total assessed value of

[39:24] the village is close to the equalized

[39:26] value that the state put on and he has

[39:29] to do it by class. So when he's when

[39:31] you're looking at the residential,

[39:34] commercial, and all those other classes,

[39:36] at the end of his assessment when he

[39:38] went through the village, he had to make

[39:39] sure he was with was within a certain

[39:41] percentage of those.

[39:46] If there are any issues with someone's

[39:49] if you know someone that is complaining

[39:51] about their assessed value, tell them to

[39:53] go to open book border review. Um, our

[39:57] assessor does work with people if you

[39:59] feel that your assessed value is

[40:01] incorrect. Um, you need to talk to Greg

[40:04] and you can appear before board of

[40:06] review. There's always a an out to talk

[40:10] about your frustrations if you feel that

[40:12] is not assessed properly.

[40:18] Equalized value is value put on your

[40:20] property given by state. State law

[40:23] requires assessors to be within 10% or

[40:27] of the state's equalized value at least

[40:29] once in every four-year period.

[40:32] Unfortunately, that that sheet I showed

[40:34] you before with that equalized value,

[40:36] the state is definitely changing our

[40:38] equalized value faster. I know other

[40:42] municipalities are having the same

[40:44] problem. And unfortunately, it's

[40:46] municipalities that have to pay for a

[40:48] reassessment when we are without outside

[40:51] that 10% boundary. They're not they're

[40:54] not cheap. It's unfortunate that the

[40:57] system, my my opinion, is broken. We

[41:00] shouldn't be forced to pay hundreds,000

[41:03] or more because the state is continuing

[41:06] to value our property and our our values

[41:11] don't keep up with assessed values.

[41:14] There's got to be a better answer.

[41:19] Here's an example of a tax bill. It

[41:21] shows your total assessed value and the

[41:23] estimated fair market value, which more

[41:25] or less is the equalized value.

[41:28] Then the assessment ratio.

[41:34] The price value. We're just going to

[41:35] touch on this slightly. This is my what

[41:37] you're familiar with if you want to go

[41:39] refinance your home or if you're looking

[41:41] to take out a mortgage on a new home.

[41:43] The appraised value is the value that

[41:44] the banks will look at. Um, more than

[41:47] likely will be different from both your

[41:49] assessed and equalized value.

[41:56] So, where we are now, uh, this goes a

[41:59] little bit into the next agenda item,

[42:01] but just revisiting those priorities. We

[42:04] talked about them both at the finance

[42:05] and HR meeting and at the board meeting

[42:09] last week. I was going to say last

[42:12] month, but that was only last week.

[42:15] >> These were some items that we had heard.

[42:17] We just wanted to give a moment tonight

[42:20] to see if there was any additions or

[42:23] changes. Again, what sort of happens

[42:26] from this point is if there are

[42:28] priorities, we're not saying we can work

[42:30] them into the budget. What we will do is

[42:32] as we're putting items together, we

[42:35] would try to work them into the budget

[42:38] and bring that back to you and say this

[42:40] is what it needs.

[42:49] So maybe I'll I'll give a a

[42:53] we'll go to the next slide which is just

[42:54] a little bit about the consumer price

[42:56] index. um because maybe we'll read that

[42:59] priority agenda item and then if we have

[43:01] any if there's anything more to add

[43:03] outside of those we could have that

[43:06] conversation then. But I just wanted to

[43:08] point out kind of where we were last

[43:09] year to this year on the consumer price

[43:11] index. The CPI is often a common

[43:16] uh way of evaluating what the cost

[43:19] increase has been in the last year. Last

[43:21] year we were at at 2.7 at the end of

[43:23] July and this year we're at 3.4.

[43:32] We're going to talk a little bit more

[43:33] about this when we get into the agenda

[43:35] item about uh wages, benefits, and um if

[43:41] we want to establish anything different

[43:42] for trustee wages going into the next

[43:45] term of office. So we uh I have a piece

[43:49] an RFC that that covers this too.

[43:58] And then just our our last quote that a budget should reflect the values and

[44:03] priorities of our nation and its people.

[44:06] If anyone else has good quotes you want

[44:08] to share, let us know too because we

[44:10] would put them into the powerpoints

[44:11] going forward.

[44:21] » Moving on to six. Thank you, Jessica.

[44:23] >> Yeah, thank you.

[44:24] >> Veryformational.

[44:25] >> Good presentation.

[44:27] >> Like I said, any questions, let me know.

[44:29] We're going through this process, but

[44:32] there's if you have questions, let us

[44:35] know.

[44:38] » Good. Moving on to six, discussion,

[44:41] interaction on 2027 budget priorities.

[44:45] Any additional discussion continued from

[44:47] prior finance and human resources and

[44:48] board of trustees meetings?

[44:58] Can we talk a little bit more about

[45:00] doing longer term goals and would that

[45:02] be considered a priority? Like setting

[45:04] having departments set a one year, a

[45:06] three year and a fiveyear goal. Could

[45:08] that be something that could be worked

[45:10] into budgetary when they're proposing

[45:12] their 2027

[45:14] saying this is 2027, we imagine in three

[45:16] years we're going to need X, Y, and Z.

[45:18] And in five years we could look at a

[45:20] little bit longer term. Is that

[45:21] something that could happen?

[45:25] >> Yeah. I don't know that we could always

[45:26] establish a number with that but

[45:28] certainly

[45:30] what we're thinking for future. Yes. you

[45:33] know, like we talked last time when you

[45:34] brought it up, you know, we can bring in

[45:36] start just populating more and more

[45:38] spots in the next year's, you know,

[45:40] three or five year budgets and as you

[45:43] know, three or five years from now,

[45:44] it'll have we'll have more population in

[45:46] there because those are the things,

[45:47] those are the priorities that we want to

[45:49] do. I think that's a great idea.

[45:51] >> I really do.

[45:51] >> We do that

[45:52] >> and kind of have a gear mark.

[45:53] >> Yeah. Somewhat in borrowing. I can

[45:55] remember we used to they would streets

[45:58] especially would do a kind of projected

[46:03] >> correct Michael does it on a CI 2026

[46:06] 2027 2028

[46:08] >> right

[46:08] >> I would imagine there's some way that

[46:10] some of these departments could do

[46:11] something similar it would be perfect

[46:13] but something similar so we can start

[46:15] looking you know longer term if we know

[46:19] a specific department

[46:21] is going to need x y and z personnel We

[46:24] know that in two years they're going to

[46:27] need an increase which might be another

[46:28] $70,000 for budget. So we need to start

[46:30] planning.

[46:31] >> I guess I would like to ask I mean we

[46:34] can only ask that like the police and fire would kind of do that also.

[46:40] >> I think that's a good suggestion

[46:42] >> because that's where the big funds

[46:45] besides the street. That's where the big

[46:48] funds come in is this those three

[46:50] departments that you know and they they

[46:53] can kind of control where which

[46:55] direction we're going. So,

[46:57] >> and do we have a difference of what a

[46:59] priority is versus a goal? Meaning a

[47:02] goal might mean a village is looking at

[47:05] growth versus maintenance.

[47:07] >> Then a priority of a lawnmower is

[47:10] something that the department wants, but

[47:12] is that a village goal? I would say your

[47:16] goals are in your strategic plan and

[47:18] your budget would be your priorities

[47:20] that you're going to force for that

[47:22] year. So your your strategic plan would

[47:26] outline what are those big goals? What's

[47:28] that long-term vision? Because

[47:32] making the determination of whether or

[47:34] not you want it growth or maintenance,

[47:36] that's a that's a big goal for a

[47:38] village. you're you're you're projecting

[47:41] out for a long time saying we're going

[47:44] to make the determination that we're

[47:46] only doing maintenance and not growth,

[47:47] right? Like that's that's a larger

[47:49] conversation. That's a strategic. So I

[47:51] would say goals are strategic and and

[47:54] these priorities are they're really

[47:56] thinking the next one to two maybe three

[47:58] years. I mean even our capital plan we

[48:01] do project out five but it we're

[48:04] shifting all the time in that. I mean,

[48:06] we we do, which we're going to talk

[48:08] about capital here in just a little bit.

[48:10] You're certainly working on those

[48:12] engineering plans a year or maybe two

[48:15] years in advance. Um, but so in five

[48:18] years, those items could shift

[48:20] dramatically depending on what happens.

[48:23] >> And when do we re review that strategic

[48:25] plan? Out of curiosity, I don't remember

[48:28] when we did our last one. So, I had that

[48:31] as part of our priorities if we wanted

[48:33] to have someone walk through us with

[48:34] that because our our plan uh it went

[48:38] essentially through 2025 if we wanted to

[48:40] have someone come in and and redo our

[48:43] plan, update our plan um or if we wanted

[48:46] to reaffirm our four goals that were in

[48:48] the prior plan that also you know that's

[48:52] your mission, your vision and your

[48:53] values.

[48:54] >> Well, those plans if we bring somebody

[48:57] in is not cheap. I would say between8 to

[49:00] $10,000

[49:01] >> and I I think it coit funds is what paid

[49:04] for it. It was a it was part of but

[49:06] thank you

[49:08] >> um hope to assist with that and we

[49:11] certainly could do an RFP and see what

[49:14] um if there would be an entity that

[49:16] would be you know interested

[49:18] >> or maybe we need to look at what we had

[49:20] before and see if that's still our

[49:24] or do we want to tweak it you know.

[49:26] >> Yeah. And that for one of our upcoming

[49:30] budget workshop meetings, we could

[49:33] add that into the packet.

[49:35] >> It it's on the website. Um it's off the

[49:37] administrator's page if to download.

[49:40] It's it's not a a super large document.

[49:43] I think it's probably, you know, 12

[49:45] pages. Uh so it's it's a fast read.

[49:49] It's, you know, it's not a binder full,

[49:55] right? Yeah, go ahead.

[49:57] >> I guess I don't know if we want to make

[49:58] prompt discussion on just looking at the

[50:00] priorities that were on that slide and

[50:03] just making sure that they fit within

[50:04] the priorities given to us by residents

[50:07] on the comp plan. Um again reading from

[50:09] the top of that list with their

[50:10] importance. We're looking at EMS, road

[50:12] maintenance repairs, fire, blowing,

[50:14] salting, trash collection, public water

[50:16] service, recycling collection, and then

[50:18] we get underneath 60%.

[50:20] And 86% of people said road maintenance

[50:23] and repairs were important and 13% are

[50:25] currently satisfied. So I'm wondering do

[50:27] all of these priorities that we've

[50:29] identified actually fit within

[50:31] those or are these more staff and board

[50:34] member priorities versus community

[50:36] priorities? I'm not saying one way or

[50:38] another, but I do feel like a couple of

[50:40] those maybe don't don't fit in those

[50:43] identified importance levels given to us

[50:46] by the community.

[50:56] I I think some of our priorities help

[51:00] staff time be readjusted toward meeting

[51:04] um our priorities. I also think

[51:10] and I I don't have data to support this,

[51:12] but I also think part of our our road

[51:15] maintenance concerns from residents are

[51:18] on projects that are outside of our

[51:20] control. Um like Business 51, Camp

[51:22] Phillips Road. Um things that we can't

[51:26] control the the maintenance on it. Um

[51:29] because you know I've been on public

[51:32] works now for a few years and I think

[51:35] the village does a great job making our

[51:37] streets a priority and we have a lot of

[51:39] really good streets around our

[51:41] community. So it's hard to know exactly

[51:46] where we would make a priority if it's

[51:49] street maintenance or street

[51:50] improvements. Um, at least from my

[51:53] perspective as a committee member,

[51:54] because when I think of our system as a

[51:56] whole, I'm like, we have a lot of really

[51:59] good streets, we certainly know in our

[52:01] older part of the village, um, over

[52:03] toward like the the junior high, there's

[52:06] an older area that we're we're working

[52:08] on making improvements. Um, and we we

[52:12] have that as part of our CIP. Um, but

[52:16] >> yeah, I rambled. Sorry.

[52:18] >> That's okay. I said I wasn't really

[52:19] pushing one way or another. I just, you

[52:21] know, if we're presented with that

[52:23] question, how do these fit in? What do,

[52:25] you know, public safety is like

[52:27] obviously dominating the top with roads?

[52:28] So, I mean, a lot of these you could art

[52:30] articulated public safety, but I just,

[52:32] like I said, just throwing out there as

[52:34] a discussion points, you know, how do we answer those questions if we

[52:38] make sure that priorities that we have

[52:39] in this room are the priorities of the citizens that were identified for us

[52:44] with that comp? And I do realize like

[52:46] you know only 700 residents did that

[52:47] comp plan but the only data we have to

[52:50] go off of. So

[52:53] >> we could maybe delineate these

[52:55] priorities a little bit better saying

[52:57] you know if the purchase of one robotic

[52:59] lawn mower is a priority that is because

[53:02] they're trying to look at staffing and

[53:05] reallocate staffing in a better way to

[53:07] support what was saying. So maybe these

[53:10] can be delineated out a little bit more.

[53:13] Don't know if that would

[53:15] >> Yeah, I don't know what the outcome I

[53:17] was looking for. So, that really helps,

[53:18] right, when you bring up a discussion

[53:19] topic. I just I just thought it was

[53:21] something we should consider it because

[53:22] that's something as I was thinking about

[53:23] earlier today as we were looking at some

[53:24] of the priorities.

[53:28] » Well, you know, the robotic if if it

[53:30] keeps getting brought up, you know, with

[53:32] Scoffield Avenue, what's the percentage

[53:33] that we took the grass cutting down by

[53:36] putting in uh cement, stamped cement, uh

[53:39] now we've got uh you know, bushes and

[53:40] perennials and whatever in there instead

[53:42] of grass. So, it's always been one of my

[53:44] concerns, number one, they have staff

[53:45] out there cutting in the middle of a

[53:47] medium, you know, how dangerous it is.

[53:50] >> Uh, summer help and and why and then

[53:52] we've got to put water to it, you know,

[53:54] to to green it. Um, I I'm, you know,

[53:58] I've been out southwest and I think rock

[54:01] and cement and some different colors of

[54:03] cement are are gorgeous with all that

[54:05] maintenance. I mean, we we can't even

[54:07] cut our own lawn right now without

[54:08] hiring I think Riverside or whoever

[54:11] helps us out. So, we have a contract

[54:13] with that. So, the mower, we're looking

[54:14] I'm sure we're looking at the mower to

[54:16] help us with payroll.

[54:18] >> Correct.

[54:18] >> But what are the limitations of this

[54:20] robotic mower? How how much maintenance

[54:22] do we have to have? It can't be out at a

[54:24] park. I mean, I know they have GPS's, so

[54:27] if someone steals it, we can track it,

[54:29] but does it jump up and down off the

[54:30] curbs? Can, you know, can it only do

[54:33] this one section at a time, then we've

[54:34] got to go out there and help it up on a

[54:36] curb and do the next section? I guess

[54:38] that's the why I would say we'd want to

[54:40] get one to see see first how effective

[54:43] it can be.

[54:44] >> So so over at the fire department would

[54:45] be a possibility, you know. Well, we

[54:47] have personnel there all the time. We

[54:49] have personnel here all the time.

[54:51] Otherwise, everything else we'd have to

[54:53] be out there or checking back on it to

[54:55] see if it's done with the park or done

[54:57] with this section at a certain time. I

[54:59] mean, I know there's some big sections

[55:01] we do. Um, and maybe that would work. I

[55:04] don't know what the maintenance is. I

[55:05] don't know how long they last. I don't

[55:07] even know how much they are.

[55:08] >> The district uses them on all the soccer

[55:10] fields. So they would be a good resource

[55:12] and they don't check on their I mean

[55:14] they're not going out there to check on

[55:15] theirs.

[55:15] >> No. And there's people there so so they

[55:17] can help that out. And that's a big

[55:18] section at one time. Right.

[55:20] >> Right.

[55:20] >> It's also fenced in area so it makes it

[55:22] really easy to keep the robot where it's

[55:24] supposed to be.

[55:25] >> Oh, I I look at the lawns. I I look at

[55:28] personal, you know, people's lawns and I

[55:29] think they're gorgeous. You know, I

[55:31] always think that they randomly do this.

[55:32] No, they don't. They go and they they

[55:34] put the lines in that you want, you

[55:35] know. So yeah, so I'm I'm assuming that

[55:38] that's there to take away some payroll.

[55:41] Definitely.

[55:42] >> We cut a lot a lot of lawn, you know, to

[55:44] the point now that I think years ago we

[55:46] weren't even identifying where that

[55:48] labor was going. Now we are. So now we

[55:50] actually have the labor um slotted to

[55:53] what is a lawn cutting so that we can

[55:55] identify if we're up or down each year

[55:57] or whatever. Okay, good.

[55:59] >> I think we we talked with the potential

[56:01] of the facilities or grounds position

[56:05] because of the TIFF closure and bringing

[56:07] those funds back that we are paying the

[56:09] outside firm if if we had that

[56:11] additional staff help. So I don't don't

[56:13] necessarily want to say that it would

[56:15] save on labor, but it would give our

[56:17] labor the ability to do higher purpose

[56:20] task than than the mowing.

[56:26] » Yeah. Go ahead.

[56:27] >> Why couldn't we put the ground cover in

[56:29] there? If we put the ground cover, we

[56:32] don't need to cut it. Mhm.

[56:35] And it's not really difficult.

[56:39] So,

[56:41] I have used it. It work

[56:44] maintenance.

[56:46] Well, I don't know what you all think,

[56:47] but um you know, I know we have a just

[56:49] two little mediums over on Camp Phillips

[56:52] and Ross Avenue that have uh a colored

[56:54] cement one way and then we've got some

[56:57] uh actually we got a donated from

[56:58] Everest. They donated some of the extra

[57:01] turf to put on those other two. You you

[57:03] drive down Thomas Street in Wasau that artificial turf looks not that

[57:08] looks pretty good to me. And they

[57:09] maintain it well. They don't let the

[57:10] weeds come up on the side.

[57:11] >> I was

[57:12] >> and uh unless you don't like it, but I

[57:15] mean if you want green, it it can

[57:17] certainly be that. So yeah. Well, that's

[57:19] the one thing that um when you said that

[57:21] they keep the weeds out, it it drives me

[57:24] crazy when you go down these strips

[57:26] where it's cement or black top in the

[57:29] middle, then you got all these weeds

[57:32] coming up in by the cracks and it looks

[57:35] terrible. I mean,

[57:36] >> but it's everywhere, you know. So, so I

[57:38] get calls on Camp Phillips and I go,

[57:40] "Cam Phillips

[57:41] >> is the county,

[57:42] >> right?"

[57:42] >> You know, or or a road going on the

[57:44] highway and you're four feet in the air,

[57:46] >> right? Um I I used to I used to call all

[57:48] the time on the arrow bar, you know,

[57:50] right there in that that now got redone

[57:52] >> and my heavens is three four feet in the

[57:54] air bushes. And you know what? I I I'm

[57:56] old enough to know that uh train cars

[57:58] didn't used to have graffiti and now

[58:00] they all have graffiti. So is that

[58:02] something that we're just supposed to

[58:03] see and look at and not pay attention to

[58:04] anymore? I don't I have no idea. No, I'm

[58:06] just saying if we put it down, I would

[58:08] hope that we

[58:10] >> do some weed killer on it or something,

[58:13] you know, once in a while to save, you

[58:15] know, if it's saving.

[58:18] >> But public safety, that's number one.

[58:21] >> I don't follow along with the parks

[58:22] meetings as much as I probably should,

[58:23] but the Oclair River Trail, has that

[58:25] been a goal that's been around for a

[58:26] while, or is where did that one come

[58:28] from?

[58:32] » I I don't know. the

[58:35] it was a you had put forth those three

[58:38] from the last meeting. That's why

[58:39] they're on there and the I it had to

[58:41] deal with the trees being in the river

[58:43] which is going to be brought back. Um

[58:46] they did come and present to parks. We

[58:48] said that we would work with them and

[58:49] they're coming for tourism funds which

[58:51] may be a better fit long term as an

[58:53] allocation of a portion of tourism to

[58:55] keep the river passable since we have

[58:58] made the investment to have access to

[59:00] the river. And that's basically why I

[59:02] had brought it up. Access to get to it.

[59:06] Yeah, there was difficulty. They spoke I

[59:08] think at a parks meeting there was

[59:09] difficulty. Louis could probably speak

[59:10] to that.

[59:11] >> Well, there's there's

[59:13] it's a little it could be confusing.

[59:15] We're not talking about necessarily the

[59:17] gravel pathway trail that goes along the

[59:20] river. We're talking about the actual

[59:21] river, which is a a trail system in

[59:23] itself, um that the county is working on

[59:26] trying to make into a much broader trail

[59:29] system connected with um Wisconsin

[59:31] River. Um we want to make sure that if

[59:34] we're going to attract tourism to our

[59:38] community through that river and

[59:40] kayaking and other things that it's

[59:42] passable and it's people are going to

[59:44] enjoy it and not have to get out and

[59:46] carry their kayak through brush. Um, so

[59:49] they presented on some ideas about

[59:51] areas. They've already done some things,

[59:53] but some other areas that could um, use

[59:56] some help and some signage as well to

[59:59] make sure people know where to go

[1:00:00] because there's parts of the river that

[1:00:02] where it used to go and now you'll end

[1:00:03] up in a sandbar instead of going in a

[1:00:05] new channel and it's a river. So, it's

[1:00:07] always adjusting. So, um, we did talk

[1:00:10] about not necessarily about levy

[1:00:12] dollars, but about is there tourism

[1:00:14] dollars or grants we could look at for

[1:00:15] that. But that's I would say if you're

[1:00:18] looking at it in a stance of like public

[1:00:20] system, it's a priority that we keep

[1:00:22] that

[1:00:24] as it continues to develop with the

[1:00:27] county, it's attractive to people.

[1:00:37] » Anybody else?

[1:00:38] >> Yeah, go ahead. I just I guess part of

[1:00:41] one of the notes that I put down is just

[1:00:43] hoping that we keep in mind if we have

[1:00:46] is it $200,000 that has to come back to

[1:00:49] the general fund or salaries that was in

[1:00:52] the tiff

[1:00:53] >> is approximately

[1:00:54] >> approx. Yeah. Right. Approximately and

[1:00:57] to account for the three firefighters

[1:01:00] then we're going to have to look at the

[1:01:02] overall budget when departments are

[1:01:04] making that budget that we have that

[1:01:05] shortfall that we're going to have to

[1:01:07] make up. So that has to be I don't know

[1:01:10] a goal or a priority when each

[1:01:12] department does their budget that we

[1:01:15] know that we have to have that

[1:01:16] accomplished somewhere. Does that make

[1:01:18] sense?

[1:01:20] >> I mean the three safer staff are our

[1:01:22] percentage of that which is is about

[1:01:23] 68%. Um that will all be general. So it

[1:01:27] will we will account for it in the

[1:01:29] general fund and then when we bring back

[1:01:30] general we'll we will show you if we

[1:01:33] have a deficit and how much it is.

[1:01:36] >> Yes. All of police and fire and EMS are general fund. It's about I don't

[1:01:41] know 50 52% of the general fund.

[1:01:50] » I guess I would just add I mean last

[1:01:51] meeting I think the first priority

[1:01:53] listed was just maintaining staffing

[1:01:55] levels. Um, I know that wasn't

[1:01:57] necessarily on that list that was in the

[1:02:00] PowerPoint, but I mean that's a big one

[1:02:02] for us is just what can we do to just

[1:02:04] maintain our current staffing levels. We

[1:02:06] hear, you know, with some of the

[1:02:08] constraints we have and other um, you

[1:02:10] know, revenue, you know, we can't just

[1:02:13] say, "Oh, I want to add two people, so

[1:02:14] we're going to add $200,000 to the levy

[1:02:16] and, you know, poof, we have it." So,

[1:02:19] you know, a lot of this is trying to be

[1:02:21] figure out how can we more be more

[1:02:22] strategic with the monies we have and

[1:02:25] make sure we at least can keep the

[1:02:26] people we have currently.

[1:02:28] >> So,

[1:02:30] good point.

[1:02:31] >> Yeah, I think that was one of the

[1:02:33] priorities that I had mentioned that we

[1:02:36] maintain.

[1:02:47] Go ahead.

[1:02:48] >> Comment.

[1:02:49] >> No, I just wonder. Yeah. No. No. Okay.

[1:02:53] >> All right. Moving on.

[1:02:55] >> Okay. Seven.

[1:02:58] >> Okay. So, it's by this being in the

[1:03:01] budget or excuse me, in the on the

[1:03:03] agenda tonight, it looks like and

[1:03:05] there's some been some phone calls on

[1:03:07] this is our priority and this is our

[1:03:08] wish list and this is what we want. I

[1:03:10] can assure you that that's not why this

[1:03:12] why these pay adjustments on here. These

[1:03:14] are things we just have to work on. We

[1:03:16] have to we have to know what these are

[1:03:18] before these workshops are done. I can

[1:03:20] tell you right now the trustee

[1:03:21] compensation for 2729 is a question we

[1:03:24] need to ask because we have an election

[1:03:26] coming up again. We'll have u a

[1:03:28] president and three trustees. We have to

[1:03:30] establish what are the what are the

[1:03:31] rates going to be if they're if they're

[1:03:33] going to even change at all because the

[1:03:35] people taking out papers need to know

[1:03:37] what they're going to make. I I can tell

[1:03:39] you without talking to anybody on this

[1:03:40] board, I don't believe they're going to

[1:03:42] change. But unless unless there's a

[1:03:45] group that wants to change it, they were

[1:03:46] changed eight, nine, 10 years ago, um

[1:03:48] I'm actually the one that led the

[1:03:50] charge. They weren't changed for 24

[1:03:52] years prior, I believe. And uh I believe

[1:03:56] they're fine right now with the

[1:03:58] municipalities. So, I think the the

[1:04:00] trustees are that's a fair salary to uh

[1:04:03] the county board and to other trustees

[1:04:06] or other supervisors out there. uh the

[1:04:08] president is actually low. Um but it it

[1:04:11] certainly doesn't concern me and I don't

[1:04:13] think anyone running for president would

[1:04:14] be concerned at all. So I I could tell

[1:04:16] you right now I think we can leave that

[1:04:18] one right off the table. Uh but you know

[1:04:20] several people have brought it up and uh

[1:04:23] I'm uh a little

[1:04:26] you know it's just it's amazing how some

[1:04:28] of this stuff can just snowball into

[1:04:30] stuff when it's nothing at all. It's

[1:04:32] just it's a question that has to be

[1:04:33] asked. It's all we have to do. Go ahead

[1:04:35] Barb.

[1:04:36] >> Yeah. Well, I agree that

[1:04:37] >> unless we want to cut it in half.

[1:04:40] >> We want to cut in half. We'll cut it in

[1:04:41] half.

[1:04:42] >> I just want to read that whole agenda

[1:04:43] item because I there's that we move to

[1:04:45] agenda item number seven and then read

[1:04:47] all those.

[1:04:48] >> Sure. Seven. Discussion and or action on

[1:04:50] beginning review and discussion of 2027

[1:04:52] budget. Are we

[1:04:56] >> I was going to do the subsets because it

[1:04:58] would be all all three.

[1:05:00] >> Yeah. Go ahead.

[1:05:02] It's the pay plan adjustment and the

[1:05:04] 2027 wage increases, the health

[1:05:06] benefits, and the direct primary care

[1:05:08] update, trustee compensation for the

[1:05:11] 2027 2029 term and capital improvement

[1:05:14] plan.

[1:05:15] >> I should right. So, okay. So, there we

[1:05:19] are. We're on we're it's open for

[1:05:21] discussion.

[1:05:24] >> So, yeah. Go ahead.

[1:05:26] >> I'm kind of leading off what you said.

[1:05:27] You know, I know this isn't going to be the

[1:05:31] popular opinion. I'm not going to

[1:05:32] probably be well-liked for saying it,

[1:05:34] but I think we're doing this backwards.

[1:05:37] Um, how do we assign raises to positions

[1:05:40] or cola increases when we don't even

[1:05:43] know if there's money in the budget to

[1:05:44] do it? Um I I feel like we should be

[1:05:47] starting from the other side with

[1:05:49] revenue, mandated cost, operational

[1:05:51] needs, services, um capital, those types

[1:05:55] of things, and then start looking at pay

[1:05:56] for employees, for board members, for

[1:05:59] committees and commissions and all those

[1:06:00] different things. I personally feel it

[1:06:03] gives a bad look to the fact that our first

[1:06:07] budget meeting, our number one priority

[1:06:09] is who gets paid what. Um I think it

[1:06:12] looks in my opinion, it looks backwards.

[1:06:14] We have great staff. We want to keep our

[1:06:16] staff. Like Mike said, it's really

[1:06:17] important to keep the people we have,

[1:06:19] but there may not be money in the budget

[1:06:22] for raises. And until we look at those

[1:06:25] mandated costs, those things that we

[1:06:27] have to have, the state required things,

[1:06:30] we don't know what's there to give. And

[1:06:31] I think if we are going to talk about

[1:06:32] raises and, you know, get people's hopes

[1:06:35] up for raises, but then we do the budget

[1:06:36] and find out, oh crap, we can't afford

[1:06:38] that, and then we're taking it back. Um,

[1:06:41] so from a morale standpoint too, I just think it's

[1:06:45] incorrect of us to to do it in this

[1:06:48] order. Um, I realize that's not going to

[1:06:50] change anything for tonight or for this

[1:06:52] year, but I just I think we're doing it

[1:06:54] backwards.

[1:06:56] >> Okay. Anybody else?

[1:07:00] >> Well, I think we have to

[1:07:02] figure out what we're

[1:07:06] maybe looking at. I mean, yes, it it you

[1:07:10] know what is the Well, they showed us on one

[1:07:15] of the slides the cost of living and

[1:07:18] such and uh

[1:07:21] I don't know, it's kind of a

[1:07:25] >> Yeah, it's important, but I just, you

[1:07:26] know, if we talk about tonight, hey,

[1:07:28] we're going to look at 3% COLA raises

[1:07:30] for everybody, and then at the end of

[1:07:31] the budget meetings, we realize, oh

[1:07:33] crap, we're cutting things because we

[1:07:34] can't afford everything that's on the

[1:07:35] list, is I would hate to see us see us

[1:07:38] walk it back or take it back. Um because

[1:07:40] we're talking about money that we don't

[1:07:44] know either.

[1:07:45] >> So you're talking about possibly talking

[1:07:49] on this subject when it gets closer to

[1:07:52] the

[1:07:52] >> a little bit further down the line than

[1:07:54] just

[1:07:54] >> where we're looking at what monies do we

[1:07:56] have to work with rather than

[1:07:59] >> I had that on my list as well too.

[1:08:02] >> I had a couple people I've had a few

[1:08:03] people reach out. I actually spent an

[1:08:04] hour on the phone with someone today. Um

[1:08:06] and and that those few people have have

[1:08:09] shared that expression as well. It just

[1:08:10] seems like our first priority is let's

[1:08:12] get all paid and let's all get raises

[1:08:14] and what is the board going to make and I know that that's not the reason

[1:08:17] it's done in this way. Um but again,

[1:08:19] perception is reality and I just think

[1:08:22] it puts the wrong wrong look on it.

[1:08:26] >> Well, I guess I I would like kind of an

[1:08:28] update at this point on where our health

[1:08:31] insurance and such is going if that's

[1:08:35] benefits. I mean, are we do we know

[1:08:39] what um have they given us any warning

[1:08:41] that they're going to increase our

[1:08:43] premiums or

[1:08:44] >> so as part of the RFC? Well, maybe we'll

[1:08:47] do health insurance first and then we

[1:08:49] could cycle back to wages. But we do

[1:08:52] have placeholders. You know, I think

[1:08:53] that this the reason we have this

[1:08:55] conversation now is because we we put

[1:08:57] placeholders in the budget as as we're

[1:08:59] developing it through this process and

[1:09:02] we had put a 10% increase in the in the

[1:09:05] premium cost. Again, our health

[1:09:06] insurance is provided through a

[1:09:08] consortium. So, it is not just us. It's

[1:09:10] a series of municipalities, businesses,

[1:09:12] and organizations that come together in

[1:09:15] order not to have the dramatic swings in

[1:09:18] healthcare. And then this past year we

[1:09:20] went to a direct primary care provider

[1:09:23] through our consortium. They cover a

[1:09:26] percentage of that direct primary

[1:09:27] provider and then the village split the

[1:09:30] cost on the rest in order to encourage

[1:09:33] people to go there instead of to go to

[1:09:35] urgent care or to um go back to the

[1:09:38] clinic system. It was a way to have

[1:09:40] better access to health care. And since

[1:09:43] it's the per month cost to take down

[1:09:46] that, we have shown that this year that

[1:09:49] we've done that. Um, and we've had very

[1:09:51] positive response on the direct primary

[1:09:54] care provider. The other piece that that

[1:09:56] helps with is that if we ever need to

[1:09:58] leave the consortium, which we can, it

[1:10:00] was a three-year buy in at the

[1:10:02] beginning, which we are through that

[1:10:04] point in time. It takes down those

[1:10:06] medical care visits to reflect better if

[1:10:10] we were a smaller group going out on our

[1:10:12] own. Um but at this moment Spectrum has

[1:10:15] said and these are very preliminary

[1:10:17] numbers that they have gotten but they

[1:10:20] are estimating around a 15% increase.

[1:10:23] Now last year they told us 20 and we

[1:10:25] came in at neg5. So those are very

[1:10:28] preliminary. But what we will do because

[1:10:31] that it came in at that 15 is as an

[1:10:34] initial number is we'll do a form fire.

[1:10:38] Everyone here probably has healthcare

[1:10:40] form fire is just the way that systems

[1:10:42] collect that data in order to price what

[1:10:44] a group is. So we will we'll go back

[1:10:47] through that. We did it last year and we

[1:10:49] will do it again this year. So if we do

[1:10:51] have to go out on our own and leave the

[1:10:53] consortium, we know what we're looking

[1:10:55] at for pricing.

[1:10:58] But we have a 10% if it would end up at

[1:11:01] 15 right now. The way that we're

[1:11:03] developing the budget is at a a 10%

[1:11:06] premium cost increase in cost.

[1:11:10] the piece on the wages and I I do break

[1:11:12] this apart in the RFC because

[1:11:15] the staff wages are and and

[1:11:19] all of our wages are kind of broken into

[1:11:21] like a a three-part approval process.

[1:11:23] First is that pay plan and matrix that

[1:11:26] we've put together and part of our

[1:11:27] policy is that we'll develop a pay plan

[1:11:30] and matrix. We would we revisit that

[1:11:32] every year and at some point if we feel

[1:11:34] like we're off kilter with everyone else

[1:11:37] if we feel we're really you know we're

[1:11:39] getting low in in the market that we

[1:11:41] would go back out and have that that pay

[1:11:43] matrix looked again. So 2023 is when we

[1:11:47] had that approved our our policies say

[1:11:50] every 5 years um we have the potential

[1:11:53] to go back out if we feel like we we are

[1:11:56] offkilter. So, we're still within that five-year window, but the first

[1:12:01] piece of that is what do we want to add

[1:12:03] to that matrix to bring up those the

[1:12:06] minimum, the midpoint, and the maximum

[1:12:09] to make sure that we're staying

[1:12:10] competitive. So, when we're bringing

[1:12:12] people on, we we know that we're

[1:12:15] bringing them on at some place that's

[1:12:16] within the market.

[1:12:18] Then, we talk about the staff increases.

[1:12:20] So, changing the the matrix doesn't

[1:12:24] change the annual wage. So then when we

[1:12:27] talk about staff increases, um I do have

[1:12:29] in the RFC that we have a 3%

[1:12:31] placeholder. Again, we need a

[1:12:33] placeholder in order to kind of tell you

[1:12:35] how how is the budget coming together.

[1:12:38] Are we are we meeting what our

[1:12:40] priorities are that we've put forth as a

[1:12:42] board? And then the last piece is that

[1:12:45] merit and market. So we have staff, you

[1:12:49] know, we we want to keep staff. Staff is

[1:12:51] who provide the services, right, that we're offering to the community.

[1:12:55] That's every everything happens in the

[1:12:57] village because of the staff putting

[1:12:59] forth, you know, doing those jobs. So,

[1:13:02] if we feel like we need to move somebody

[1:13:04] up to hire uh to get them to that 100%

[1:13:08] because they're showing those skills and

[1:13:10] they're progressing in in their jobs,

[1:13:12] that's how we move them slightly higher

[1:13:14] because the 3% just moves everyone up to

[1:13:17] make sure that we're staying

[1:13:18] competitive. And then so we to get them

[1:13:21] up to market and then merit um we have

[1:13:25] in both cases we've put together a sheet

[1:13:28] in which department heads fill that out

[1:13:30] and after we get to market you know

[1:13:33] progressing in merit showing that that

[1:13:35] historical knowledge is how beneficial

[1:13:39] that is to the to the village and

[1:13:42] providing those services that longevity

[1:13:45] that commitment the loyalty to the

[1:13:47] village

[1:13:50] So wages are really it's a three-part

[1:13:52] conversation. It's not just a that one

[1:13:54] percentage conversation.

[1:13:59] » Go ahead, please.

[1:14:00] >> I guess

[1:14:03] um little bit of a point of order. I

[1:14:05] guess I just want to so we do have three

[1:14:08] citizen members here, part of the

[1:14:09] finance committee, finance and HR. Um,

[1:14:12] and there is discussion in here about

[1:14:14] them making recommendations and us

[1:14:17] agreeing with those recommendations. I

[1:14:18] guess how do we want to do that? Because

[1:14:20] I want to make sure that their their um

[1:14:25] their opportunity to be a part of this

[1:14:27] is just as important as ours. And I feel

[1:14:29] like we're doing a lot of board talk,

[1:14:31] but um they haven't really had a chance

[1:14:33] to talk about um from their perspective.

[1:14:37] So I think I'd like to hear a little bit

[1:14:39] from

[1:14:41] >> committee on these issues

[1:14:45] >> and then we can kind of

[1:14:48] I don't know I guess I don't know how

[1:14:49] that gets mixed in from the board side.

[1:14:52] >> Yeah. I I have just a couple of comments

[1:14:55] as we're talking about salary. I don't

[1:14:58] have just some questions. Um

[1:15:02] you mentioned the salary structure um

[1:15:05] minimum control point or midpoint and

[1:15:08] maximum. I think it would be helpful um

[1:15:11] if we knew maybe how many the number of

[1:15:14] employees that are at the below the

[1:15:17] midpoint and the maximum. Um I think

[1:15:19] that would be helpful to know where or

[1:15:21] the number of employees that are at the

[1:15:23] various ranges within those. I think it

[1:15:25] would be helpful to know the compression

[1:15:28] between supervisors and employees.

[1:15:31] Um I think it would be helpful to know

[1:15:35] you gave some um examples of how that

[1:15:38] 15,000 in merit has been used. I think

[1:15:40] it'd be helpful to know a little bit

[1:15:42] more maybe some examples of how that

[1:15:44] merit has been used. Um and then I think

[1:15:48] it would also be helpful to know if you

[1:15:50] had said you put um a 3% placeholder in

[1:15:53] the budget. I think it'd be helpful to

[1:15:55] know the total cost of maybe every 1%

[1:15:58] change in salary. So, what is every 1%

[1:16:02] the total all-in cost of that? And I'm

[1:16:05] talking salary and then what are the

[1:16:07] benefits related to that? So, those are

[1:16:10] some things that I think would be

[1:16:11] helpful for me to know um in order to

[1:16:13] make a more informed um recommendation

[1:16:16] to the board.

[1:16:17] >> Great request.

[1:16:18] >> Good. Very good point.

[1:16:19] >> Very, very good.

[1:16:20] >> Yep.

[1:16:22] Do we give raises every year?

[1:16:26] >> Are you talking trustees, committees, or

[1:16:29] staff?

[1:16:30] >> Staff. Just staff. Only staff. Yeah.

[1:16:32] >> So, was it 2024 they had 3%. Is that

[1:16:35] right?

[1:16:36] >> And then 2025 was 3% plus the 15,000

[1:16:41] merit and then 2026 was 3% and a pay

[1:16:46] grid increase. Is that right? the last

[1:16:48] three years

[1:16:49] >> the if the grid increases it doesn't it

[1:16:51] doesn't equal any salary change. So it's

[1:16:55] we do the merit and market and and the

[1:16:59] cola. So the 15 is not divided equally

[1:17:02] across the board. It's it's put forth

[1:17:04] through the recommendations. So I last

[1:17:06] year we had a three. I think the year

[1:17:09] before that we had a three. I couldn't

[1:17:11] tell you because I' I've been here three

[1:17:12] years. I couldn't tell you if there's

[1:17:14] when was the last time that there wasn't

[1:17:17] a cost of living adjustment.

[1:17:19] >> I think we froze it from 2020 to 2023. I

[1:17:22] think that was frozen.

[1:17:25] >> One year there was

[1:17:26] >> there was an increase but not a cost of

[1:17:29] living.

[1:17:29] >> Right. Correct.

[1:17:31] >> Along those lines

[1:17:32] >> because they were done at two different

[1:17:33] times and it was confusing.

[1:17:35] >> It it really Right. I mean it was it was

[1:17:37] confusing. It was confusing for me as a

[1:17:39] board member for sure that I I didn't

[1:17:41] quite understand what was happening and

[1:17:43] uh I think if we could have had our hand

[1:17:44] around it could looked at a little bit

[1:17:46] differently but yeah.

[1:17:47] >> Was it like COVID dollars or what do you

[1:17:48] mean you gave

[1:17:50] >> No, it was a cost of living raise

[1:17:51] separately than a than a raise

[1:17:53] >> at different times of the year even.

[1:17:54] >> Uh yeah, a couple months. Yeah,

[1:17:57] >> it was

[1:17:58] >> well it caught it caught me personally

[1:18:00] off work off guard because I kind of

[1:18:02] thought, well, wait a minute, we just

[1:18:03] gave a raise and and in my world it's a

[1:18:06] raise. It's It's not a cost. Well, wait

[1:18:08] a minute. That doesn't take care of the

[1:18:09] cost of living. Well, wait a minute. A

[1:18:10] raise for me is a raise. That's just

[1:18:13] what my whatever I've worked in. That's

[1:18:15] just what I did. So, that just caught me

[1:18:16] a little bit off guard here. So, and

[1:18:18] sometimes it was a 3 plus two, a 3+ one.

[1:18:21] I mean, it was it was kind of different.

[1:18:23] And I know years back back years, I

[1:18:26] think there was even some freezes,

[1:18:28] >> but I'm I'm talking 15 20 years ago,

[1:18:30] maybe.

[1:18:31] >> Not even that far.

[1:18:32] >> Yeah. Not even that far because I've

[1:18:33] been on here now.

[1:18:34] >> Michael was here. I was here. Yeah. Um

[1:18:36] there was multiple years Jessica was

[1:18:38] here.

[1:18:39] >> Yeah.

[1:18:39] >> That we were frozen.

[1:18:40] >> Yeah.

[1:18:41] >> Pay decrease too,

[1:18:42] >> right? Me trying to dig out those

[1:18:44] numbers. It was really hard to try and

[1:18:45] figure that out.

[1:18:47] >> Along those lines with all the insurance

[1:18:48] premium increases, when's does do the

[1:18:51] employees share in that ever or does the

[1:18:53] village absorb all of the increase every

[1:18:55] year?

[1:18:56] >> Just real quick, let's just make sure we

[1:18:58] answer her that that'll happen.

[1:19:00] >> Yes. We'll bring that back.

[1:19:01] >> Okay. Go ahead.

[1:19:03] >> Just Yeah. wondering is there is it

[1:19:05] always the village always incorporates

[1:19:07] the entire increase or that we passed on

[1:19:08] to employees and if so like how much and

[1:19:10] when

[1:19:11] >> so that's a has always been part of the

[1:19:13] board conversation when we have found

[1:19:15] whatever that final number is I believe

[1:19:18] the past two years they have the village

[1:19:21] has absorbed those costs we do have a

[1:19:23] split we do have an 8515 split um it can

[1:19:28] be less if you do a wellness benefit but

[1:19:30] you you have to

[1:19:32] um not everyone one participates in the

[1:19:34] wellness benefit then it those could be

[1:19:37] changed to a 9010 but that's always a

[1:19:40] conversation when we have that final

[1:19:43] number and it's been the board's

[1:19:45] determination I think the past two years

[1:19:47] that that cost has been absorbed

[1:19:50] >> and and dental is 100% right

[1:19:54] no not anymore it used to be

[1:19:57] >> it was a long time ago

[1:19:58] >> was it okay

[1:20:00] >> Daniel not to put you on the spot I know

[1:20:02] this is your very second meeting um with

[1:20:04] us. But any thoughts from you? Uh, I

[1:20:07] think chairman brought up the point that

[1:20:09] I was thinking about because I've been

[1:20:11] involved in other municipalities and

[1:20:14] they would give them a cost of living

[1:20:15] raise and then add on the raise and I'm

[1:20:18] like, hold on then that's even more than

[1:20:20] what they're saying because you're

[1:20:21] compounding for the cost of living and

[1:20:24] I'm like so all a sudden it's three, you

[1:20:26] know, it's, you know, more than 3%. And

[1:20:30] I think that's that kind of misleading

[1:20:31] the taxpayer like, oh, you gave him 3%.

[1:20:34] No, we didn't. we really gave him almost

[1:20:35] 4% with everything. So, I'm glad to hear

[1:20:38] that that at least has been frozen here

[1:20:41] the last few years.

[1:20:42] >> The question on the midpoint or the uh

[1:20:46] salary changes is that would they also

[1:20:48] be included with pay raise too or is

[1:20:50] that just a one time?

[1:20:53] >> So, our again our you don't move a step

[1:20:56] in our matrix. Our matrix is if you add

[1:21:00] a 3% it does bring it all up but that

[1:21:02] doesn't mean you automatically move into

[1:21:04] the matrix right you would when we set

[1:21:07] aside the merit and market that's not

[1:21:09] allocated at the same percentage across

[1:21:12] the way we might say to someone that's

[1:21:14] we see is lower that needs to get to

[1:21:16] that midpoint a department head would

[1:21:18] put that forth and you see that

[1:21:20] separately so I think a lot of uh pay

[1:21:23] matrix have it so exactly what you're

[1:21:25] saying there's a a 3% cola increase and

[1:21:28] you move a step on the scale. We don't

[1:21:30] move a step on the scale.

[1:21:32] >> We just move the scale.

[1:21:33] >> We move the scale. But one of the

[1:21:35] reasons we move the scale is if the

[1:21:36] scale stayed stagnant and someone came

[1:21:39] in, then they're already behind everyone

[1:21:42] else. That's why the scale has to

[1:21:43] continue to grow with how wages grow.

[1:21:47] And I just had a suggestion on if you if

[1:21:50] it's possible to in these to help the uh

[1:21:55] taxpayer understand the increases is

[1:21:58] that maybe I take the average

[1:22:01] uh village employee salary number and

[1:22:06] add in the in the increase and like the

[1:22:09] 3% so everyone says oh look they're it's

[1:22:13] the average is

[1:22:16] 3% of $50,000 is

[1:22:20] know $1,500.

[1:22:23] >> I mean, you just see those percents,

[1:22:24] you're like, "Well, hold on. What does

[1:22:26] that all really mean?"

[1:22:32] » What would be approximately the average

[1:22:34] salary?

[1:22:36] >> No idea. We'd have to look at it.

[1:22:38] >> We'd have to look. We can bring that

[1:22:39] back though. Where where are we at total

[1:22:42] employees not having safer and mountain

[1:22:45] bay metro in?

[1:22:46] >> Correct.

[1:22:47] >> 40 and that includes part-time not

[1:22:49] seasonals.

[1:22:50] >> 40 40 employees that includes part time.

[1:22:54] >> Includes part-time but not season.

[1:22:56] >> We have currently you're talking about

[1:22:58] two part-time administration

[1:22:59] >> and we and and Scott and one.

[1:23:01] >> Oh yeah, Scott too.

[1:23:02] >> Yeah. Okay. All right. Yeah. Instead of

[1:23:05] a full-time um administrative uh

[1:23:08] assistant, we now have two part-times

[1:23:11] that are more flex and they they kind of

[1:23:13] work out the schedule better. I think it

[1:23:14] works better,

[1:23:16] >> right?

[1:23:17] >> Yet. No, not yet. It's pretty new. It's

[1:23:20] pretty new right now.

[1:23:20] >> Losing another one.

[1:23:21] >> Oh, okay. Well,

[1:23:24] >> you just get the kinks worked out and

[1:23:26] then

[1:23:27] >> a loop.

[1:23:30] >> Different opportunities come along to

[1:23:31] people.

[1:23:32] >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, if they're good

[1:23:33] employees, they should be being hunted

[1:23:36] down. That's what I do.

[1:23:38] >> So, I I guess that that's a point, too.

[1:23:40] I mean, I know I have two two out of our

[1:23:42] eight uh street guys that have applied

[1:23:45] to go work for a neighboring community

[1:23:46] that's looking for a person. So I mean

[1:23:50] that that's where some of this stuff

[1:23:52] does get a little bit of it is the

[1:23:55] priority of maintaining and keeping our

[1:23:56] people you know like we can't stay

[1:23:59] behind because if we stay behind to

[1:24:02] Mark's point people are contacting our

[1:24:04] guys they are saying hey we got an

[1:24:07] opening over here do you want to come

[1:24:08] work for us and now we're training and

[1:24:11] trying to learn how to do things and our

[1:24:13] service level isn't going to be what it

[1:24:15] is it's going to go backwards.

[1:24:18] Um,

[1:24:18] >> can you mean the municipality?

[1:24:22] >> You can see who's hiring right now.

[1:24:23] >> What?

[1:24:25] >> You can see who's hiring. It's It's not

[1:24:27] a long drive from here.

[1:24:28] >> Okay.

[1:24:29] >> Well, I mean, you know, I'm It's

[1:24:33] >> If if I was a neighboring uh community,

[1:24:35] I'd be coming after our staff.

[1:24:37] Absolutely. So,

[1:24:38] >> staff.

[1:24:39] >> Yep. I'm I'm used to in my business, I'm

[1:24:41] used to a lot of ter That's just the way

[1:24:43] it is. I don't

[1:24:45] >> I think

[1:24:45] >> sometime it's hard to deal with it, but

[1:24:47] it's also a compliment. So

[1:24:49] >> I think the the part that's tripping me

[1:24:52] up here is the priorities. You know,

[1:24:54] nothing is listed about staff retention,

[1:24:55] right? We're talking about a robotic

[1:24:57] lawnmower because of wages, right? Like

[1:24:59] we want to reallocate people's time.

[1:25:02] Let's put that. Don't put like if I saw

[1:25:04] this as a just as a community member

[1:25:07] like, oh, the the priority of our

[1:25:09] village is to buy a robotic lawnmower. I

[1:25:11] would be like, seems like an odd

[1:25:12] priority to me as we're sitting here

[1:25:14] talking about retention and losing

[1:25:15] people. So, it doesn't feel like those

[1:25:17] really are our priorities. And so, I

[1:25:18] guess I would if we're going to post

[1:25:20] this on the website, like I would rather

[1:25:22] it be worded differently. I don't I just

[1:25:24] feel like a robotic and even in the

[1:25:26] minutes or in our last packet, it was

[1:25:27] two robotic lawnmowers, right? And so, I

[1:25:30] just feel like that's not really maybe

[1:25:32] one of our priorities. Like, we clearly

[1:25:33] have a bigger priority here, which is

[1:25:35] staff retention, wages, which is a big

[1:25:37] part of what we're going to decide here,

[1:25:39] right? Human capital is huge. So, I

[1:25:41] guess that seems like an odd priority to

[1:25:42] me and maybe I'm sure cuz I have like a

[1:25:44] robotic lawnmower. That's a that's a

[1:25:46] priority here. Um, so I guess I would

[1:25:48] like to see that as like what's the real

[1:25:50] reason behind the robotic lawn mower,

[1:25:52] right? It's you want to reallocate your

[1:25:53] staff's time. So, we want to

[1:25:56] >> if we have to be down a person because

[1:25:59] we can't afford them anymore,

[1:26:00] >> right?

[1:26:01] >> What alternative methods do we have to

[1:26:02] still

[1:26:03] >> true

[1:26:04] >> maintain the facilities we're expected

[1:26:06] to maintain?

[1:26:06] >> Right. And the robotic lawn mower is not

[1:26:08] the problem then it's a retention issue

[1:26:10] and that comes back to the border like

[1:26:11] we can't

[1:26:12] >> could be ordered differently for sure

[1:26:15] >> utilize technology to improve

[1:26:17] >> efficiently use our staffing yeah

[1:26:20] >> but I just blank that's what I was

[1:26:22] trying to get at there's there's a

[1:26:23] different way you could word that to

[1:26:25] present it better uh Stephanie you were

[1:26:27] talking about staff retention have we

[1:26:28] ever looked at odd things like a 410

[1:26:32] workday where they would work 10 hours a

[1:26:34] day four days a week and get a three day

[1:26:36] >> we do that right Yeah.

[1:26:37] >> Okay. Does all staff do it?

[1:26:43] » Are salary employees allowed to

[1:26:44] reallocate their time so they wouldn't

[1:26:46] have to work six days a week?

[1:26:49] >> Um, as long as we get stuff done, well,

[1:26:53] didn't Rene tell me that she works every

[1:26:55] Saturday during summer

[1:26:57] seven days a week. Rene

[1:26:59] >> I mean, a lot of

[1:27:00] >> that on her own.

[1:27:01] >> Yeah, that's true.

[1:27:02] >> Yeah.

[1:27:04] >> What about going back to increasing HSA

[1:27:07] a little bit because that would be a

[1:27:08] triple tax advantage for employees

[1:27:11] whereas a 3% or 4% or 2% would have the

[1:27:14] potential of putting some employees into

[1:27:17] that next tax bracket.

[1:27:20] So would that be a different way of

[1:27:22] showing staff that we value them without

[1:27:24] just being a straight 3% 3% 3% every

[1:27:27] year?

[1:27:28] It's certainly something that we could

[1:27:30] cost out if we wanted to increase that

[1:27:32] HSA,

[1:27:34] although I would say it's the majority.

[1:27:36] Not everyone is on our insurance. Um,

[1:27:40] the other pieces we do offer both an HSA

[1:27:42] and a traditional plan. And so even if

[1:27:44] you are on our insurance, it doesn't

[1:27:46] mean that you are on a high deductible

[1:27:48] health plan.

[1:27:50] So increasing it,

[1:27:53] if I'm understanding correctly, might it

[1:27:55] not affect everyone?

[1:27:56] >> It might not affect everyone. It might

[1:27:58] cause people to switch to the high

[1:28:00] deductible, though. That could also be a

[1:28:03] possibility.

[1:28:03] >> I just want to look at the whole picture

[1:28:05] instead of just assuming a 3%. I want to

[1:28:07] make sure that we're looking at all of

[1:28:09] our options.

[1:28:10] >> And certainly it um talking about 410,

[1:28:15] additional holidays would be another one

[1:28:17] of those items. Are there additional

[1:28:19] holidays that we want to offer there?

[1:28:21] Municipalities. Some municipalities are

[1:28:23] closed on different days than us. Right

[1:28:25] now we have nine holidays

[1:28:27] >> and two floating or

[1:28:30] not?

[1:28:31] >> No, we just we have PTO.

[1:28:34] >> What are some of the

[1:28:37] >> Well, just our offices are open five

[1:28:39] days a week.

[1:28:39] >> Correct.

[1:28:40] >> Where adjoining municipalities are not.

[1:28:42] >> Correct.

[1:28:43] >> They're closed on

[1:28:44] >> through the summer.

[1:28:44] >> Yeah. Through the summer.

[1:28:46] >> Yep. Okay. Go ahead. What are some of

[1:28:47] the holidays that we aren't giving now

[1:28:49] that others are?

[1:28:50] >> Martin Luther King Day, Junth, Columbus

[1:28:54] Day. Those are the big ones that I can

[1:28:56] think of that

[1:29:01] » given day, right? Veterans Day.

[1:29:03] >> Veterans Day. Yeah.

[1:29:07] >> We have some wellness incentives too

[1:29:09] that they get um Garmin or like cash

[1:29:14] cards or anything like that if you do

[1:29:15] certain things. Do we have any kind of

[1:29:17] wellness incentives that employees get?

[1:29:19] >> We do wellness um

[1:29:22] I guess contests. We want to say it that

[1:29:25] >> yeah challenges. So, if there's the

[1:29:28] potential to win a prize if you're part

[1:29:30] of the wellness challenge and that can

[1:29:32] offset your health insurance premium for

[1:29:34] the next year to a 9010 if you you get

[1:29:38] your annual exam. If if you um you have

[1:29:41] to do a questionnaire and then if you didn't qualify in your annual exam,

[1:29:46] you have to complete that challenge,

[1:29:47] then you can get that that lesser

[1:29:49] premium. Um so, I mean that's a very small number. And then for Garmin,

[1:29:56] every two years you can have $45 off a

[1:30:00] Garmin purchase.

[1:30:08] » Anybody? Everybody

[1:30:10] >> is wage going to be the largest expense

[1:30:12] that we'll talk about.

[1:30:15] >> It's like we're saying all the time and

[1:30:16] I was like probably makes the most sense

[1:30:17] that we're talking.

[1:30:18] >> Yes, by far.

[1:30:24] or which is our largest expense they owe

[1:30:26] it.

[1:30:26] >> They have Oh, so I was just pulling up a

[1:30:30] spreadsheet. One of our main expenses we

[1:30:32] call them fixed expenses. Um that

[1:30:36] includes Mountain Bay, it includes safer

[1:30:38] and insurance. Um we also have con and

[1:30:41] those are over 50% of our budget. Um we

[1:30:45] have no say in that. Those are

[1:30:47] contracted. We get told how much we have

[1:30:50] to pay. So those increases are already

[1:30:52] known. So when we talk about the budget,

[1:30:55] >> the board really only has control of

[1:30:58] about half our budget.

[1:31:00] >> That's general. I mean, what we're

[1:31:01] talking about is general.

[1:31:02] >> We're talking about general.

[1:31:03] >> Your contracts are are 50 52% of your

[1:31:08] general.

[1:31:08] >> The next is contracted services. So

[1:31:12] street maintenance is in our general

[1:31:13] fund. That's is it a half a million?

[1:31:17] 300,000 half a million. That's that's a

[1:31:20] huge expense in our general fund that we

[1:31:23] don't have we have control over it, but

[1:31:26] we just said street maintenance is a

[1:31:28] main priority. So, what we've done in

[1:31:31] the past is we've shipped those expenses

[1:31:33] out of the general fund trying to

[1:31:35] maintain that funding it with the

[1:31:37] general transportation aid increases not

[1:31:40] to affect the general fund so much. Um,

[1:31:44] when I looked at my spreadsheet for

[1:31:46] 2025, I know it's a year ago, but our

[1:31:49] wages and benefits were about 27% of the

[1:31:52] total budget. So, when we're talking

[1:31:54] about that, um, I did find, so the

[1:31:57] average hourly wage in 2026 is 63,382.

[1:32:03] To give you an idea with that, um, I

[1:32:07] have my salaries in a separate column.

[1:32:09] So, um I was going to get those numbers

[1:32:13] for you.

[1:32:14] >> Your 27% is that just general, too?

[1:32:17] >> Yes, that was just general fund. And

[1:32:19] then so salaries the average is 88,724.

[1:32:25] » Okay. You need for salary and what was

[1:32:28] it for hourly 63 or

[1:32:30] >> 64? 83.

[1:32:31] >> Okay.

[1:32:33] >> And that that's based on the 2026

[1:32:36] estimate. So

[1:32:38] >> you by chance have the highest and

[1:32:40] lowest in front of you as well.

[1:32:43] >> The highest

[1:32:45] 127

[1:32:47] and then the lowest

[1:32:51] I don't have the lowest

[1:32:54] you can have.

[1:32:59] » I don't have it because they're lowest

[1:33:02] paid and play left.

[1:33:06] What are your hourly?

[1:33:07] >> That was hourly.

[1:33:08] >> Yeah.

[1:33:18] » Questions,

[1:33:19] discussions?

[1:33:21] >> Not on that. Next item. Trustee

[1:33:24] compensation. Yeah, just on if we I took

[1:33:28] down good notes on those questions so we

[1:33:30] can bring that back to continue the the

[1:33:32] conversation at the the next meeting.

[1:33:34] But then on that last one that the

[1:33:36] actually there are two more trustee

[1:33:38] compensation and and capital. Um on

[1:33:41] trustee compensation I added that in

[1:33:43] because before you take papers you need

[1:33:46] to set trustee compensation for the

[1:33:48] term. Not that we have to make a

[1:33:50] decision tonight. it. But if there was a

[1:33:52] strong decision and it was made, then

[1:33:54] it's can be budgeted for. But we we do I

[1:33:58] did have in the RFC that wallpapers the

[1:34:00] earliest that they can be turned back in

[1:34:02] would be that December when they could

[1:34:04] come out if if people collected all

[1:34:06] their signatures and turned them back in

[1:34:07] that day. um you you do have to

[1:34:10] establish the wage before and it makes

[1:34:12] sense to have it budgeted so it's

[1:34:15] accounted for and it would only be for

[1:34:17] the trustees that are up for the 2729

[1:34:20] term that it would impact.

[1:34:23] >> Yeah. Well, I wasn't in favor of the

[1:34:26] raise to begin that we got back when,

[1:34:29] and I think we got one the last term.

[1:34:32] Um, where you, um, my term,

[1:34:38] we were given a $50

[1:34:42] compensation for all meetings that we

[1:34:45] attended

[1:34:47] >> other than board

[1:34:48] >> other than responsibilities.

[1:34:50] >> Border review. No, it was but border

[1:34:53] review and and

[1:34:55] um

[1:34:57] I have I do not take it.

[1:35:01] >> I don't get it cuz that was

[1:35:04] >> Right. Right. And that was voted out

[1:35:06] that the new term will not have it. Um,

[1:35:10] I just think that the amount of money

[1:35:14] that the trustees are paid,

[1:35:18] um, minus the extra one that they had

[1:35:21] the 50 is more than sufficient.

[1:35:25] Um, as I had pointed out

[1:35:28] back when, um, if you if you count the

[1:35:32] board meetings and the board of review,

[1:35:36] you're getting $600 a month.

[1:35:40] And I think that's more than sufficient

[1:35:42] compensation.

[1:35:44] I mean, Mark, your salary probably is,

[1:35:46] but this was the trustee salary that if

[1:35:50] you do that, um,

[1:35:52] >> so the the trustees in the village of

[1:35:54] Weston, um, about eight years ago, I

[1:35:56] think, is when we did it, um, is $7,200

[1:35:59] a year, and the president makes $8,400 a

[1:36:02] year. Prior to that, the the prior 24

[1:36:05] years was $4,800 and $6,000.

[1:36:09] So, it's a $1,200 difference between the

[1:36:12] trustee and the president. Um, but yes,

[1:36:15] it went from 4,800 to 7,200. And uh, and

[1:36:19] I I led the charge on it. We didn't get

[1:36:21] a raise for 72 years, some people didn't

[1:36:23] want it, one being Barb and some others.

[1:36:26] Uh, but looking around for what this

[1:36:28] village is doing and how it's growing

[1:36:30] and and looking at other municipalities,

[1:36:32] the town of Weston chairman gets $14,000

[1:36:35] a year. Town of Weston. Um the city of

[1:36:39] Scoffield, 2,000 people gets uh 12 or

[1:36:42] 13,000 hours a year. I'm not

[1:36:43] complaining.

[1:36:44] >> They weren't numbers one more time.

[1:36:45] >> Well, you can look them up, you know.

[1:36:46] So, but um you know, so uh the county

[1:36:49] board the county board uh um supervisors

[1:36:53] I think get 46 thou $4,600.

[1:36:57] The the the um the chair was getting um

[1:37:00] 10 or 12, but now it's like 40.

[1:37:03] >> Yeah.

[1:37:03] >> It's like $45,000 a year. So, um, uh,

[1:37:07] the town of Maine, uh, chair gets,

[1:37:11] um, but she also does planning like

[1:37:13] 30,000 or $32,000.

[1:37:15] So,

[1:37:16] >> but, you know, they're all out there.

[1:37:17] They're all public published. So, so I

[1:37:20] I'm I'm I I think the wages are fine

[1:37:22] right here. I do.

[1:37:23] >> And, uh, you know, some people uh, uh,

[1:37:26] we've had trustees that have donated

[1:37:28] their money. Um, I know Jim has said

[1:37:30] that several times. he donates his for

[1:37:32] fundraisers and stuff that he does for

[1:37:33] the public safety. Um, so I've heard

[1:37:37] some say it's a car payment and I I just get disgusted when someone says

[1:37:41] that, but um I think it's a heck of a

[1:37:44] service and a heck of a responsibility

[1:37:46] and um so that's where we are,

[1:37:48] >> right? And I was glad that they we

[1:37:52] actually reversed the

[1:37:54] >> the 50 um

[1:37:56] >> we had a couple trustees that wanted

[1:37:58] extra payment on it,

[1:37:59] >> right? And like I said,

[1:38:01] >> um, they Okay,

[1:38:03] >> I was just going to let everybody know

[1:38:04] that I have a spreadsheet from the

[1:38:06] county clerk from 2025 with a lot of

[1:38:09] municipalities in Marathon County with

[1:38:11] all the rates of who what they all get

[1:38:13] paid. So, if anybody would like a copy

[1:38:15] of that, I can email it to you.

[1:38:16] >> And I didn't want to be I didn't want to

[1:38:17] say what I said, Lisa, but I I'm not

[1:38:20] exactly sure, so I don't want to be

[1:38:22] quoted exactly the number. I know I'm

[1:38:24] very close, but I I don't want to all of

[1:38:26] a sudden come out, hey, you know,

[1:38:27] Mahoney says 12,000 for, you know, this.

[1:38:29] So,

[1:38:30] >> can you send it out to all of us?

[1:38:31] >> What's that?

[1:38:32] >> I can I can if you'd like it. Sure.

[1:38:33] Thank you.

[1:38:34] >> It's amazing how so many municipalities

[1:38:36] don't share, which is

[1:38:37] >> they're probably not all on here, so

[1:38:39] >> Okay, go ahead.

[1:38:40] >> Yeah, I was just going to say if if

[1:38:42] they're donating their wages, I guess I

[1:38:44] donate donated the $50 every meeting

[1:38:47] back to the village. Well, because two

[1:38:50] years I could have did it

[1:38:51] >> when I was 40 when it was 4,800 for a

[1:38:52] trustee and it went to 72 and some of

[1:38:54] the trustees said they didn't want the

[1:38:56] raise. I said, "Then donate it. Donate

[1:38:58] the raise.

[1:38:59] >> Go do something good. Do uh what's

[1:39:01] that?" Oxycodin. No, that's a drug.

[1:39:05] » I I knew I said that on purpose. Very

[1:39:08] small a very small attempt at humor. But

[1:39:11] what does that uh what does your body

[1:39:12] do? Oxy what?

[1:39:14] >> Oxytocin.

[1:39:15] >> Yep. Hey, cool. you you start going

[1:39:17] around and handing out $100 bills,

[1:39:18] people are going to be very happy with

[1:39:19] you. So, and it might spread to somebody

[1:39:21] else.

[1:39:22] >> I just decided the village needed it

[1:39:24] more.

[1:39:24] >> There you go. Good for you. So, here we

[1:39:26] go. Yes.

[1:39:27] >> I can't take it off my taxes because I

[1:39:29] didn't get it.

[1:39:31] >> I don't think we need to increase.

[1:39:33] >> I totally agree. I think we can move on

[1:39:35] from this point if everybody

[1:39:36] >> I totally agree.

[1:39:37] >> I wanted to make a motion. The finance

[1:39:39] committee needs to make a motion and

[1:39:40] approve first and then the board if I'm

[1:39:42] reading everything correctly.

[1:39:43] >> Yes. Right.

[1:39:44] >> Okay. So on behalf of the finance and

[1:39:45] human resources committee, I make a

[1:39:47] motion to leave trustee compensation as

[1:39:50] it is going forward.

[1:39:52] >> Again, it would be for the 2729 term.

[1:39:54] >> 2729 term.

[1:39:56] >> I'll second. Okay, that is that cut

[1:39:59] >> by Daniels. Any discussion?

[1:40:02] Whereas the committee, all those in

[1:40:03] favor signify by saying I.

[1:40:05] >> I

[1:40:07] motion so carried. Now, on behalf of the

[1:40:09] board, uh, we'll make the same motion

[1:40:11] that the trustee compensation for the

[1:40:12] 2027 2029 term remains the same as

[1:40:17] $7,200 and $8,400. 7,200 for trustee and

[1:40:20] $8,400 for president.

[1:40:23] >> Second.

[1:40:23] >> A motion by

[1:40:25] >> I'll make the motion.

[1:40:26] >> Oh, you said second.

[1:40:27] >> Well, yeah, because I thought you were

[1:40:28] making the motion.

[1:40:29] >> No, I'm just reading off. Okay, I'll

[1:40:32] make that motion that we

[1:40:33] >> um motion by Mling.

[1:40:36] >> Second by Luiz and um any more in the

[1:40:39] discussion? Hearing none. All those in

[1:40:41] favor say I.

[1:40:42] >> I opposed. So carry done.

[1:40:45] >> Now we can go tell all the people that

[1:40:47] called and said that that was our number

[1:40:48] one priority that that was not our

[1:40:50] number one priority and uh it was just a

[1:40:53] placeholder. So we have it now it's set

[1:40:55] for the next term. So there you go.

[1:40:57] Okay. uh capital project funds.

[1:41:06] » So as I explained before, this is our

[1:41:09] kebab improvement fund. Our this um the

[1:41:12] facilities fund, streets fund, and

[1:41:14] equipment fund. We keep track of them

[1:41:16] separately, but if you were to look at

[1:41:18] our financial statements, they're

[1:41:20] combined into our capital improvement

[1:41:22] fund. So um we keep track of them

[1:41:24] separately here. As you can see, the the

[1:41:29] projects that you see on the sheets in

[1:41:31] front of you are part of the 2026 2027

[1:41:35] capital improvement plan. This a plan

[1:41:38] was approved about a year ago. We are

[1:41:41] moving forward with the plan that was

[1:41:43] approved at our next meeting. We plan on

[1:41:46] bringing you the borrowing that will

[1:41:49] support the expenditures you see on

[1:41:51] these next couple sheets. So, um, a lot

[1:41:55] of this stuff was already purchased as

[1:41:58] approved by the plan, but I thought it

[1:42:00] was prudent to bring it forward to show

[1:42:02] you what we're planning on spending that

[1:42:05] was approved and where the prices are

[1:42:07] coming in.

[1:42:09] Uh, we will be talking about our next

[1:42:11] capital improvement plan will be 2028

[1:42:14] 2029. We try to borrow in two-year

[1:42:18] segments um to reduce the cost of

[1:42:20] borrowing.

[1:42:22] Any questions on what's on those sheets?

[1:42:25] >> So, the 2027 proposed budgets, all of

[1:42:28] that stuff and there was stuff that was

[1:42:30] already agreed to pass is done.

[1:42:34] >> If you have absolutely concerned, but a

[1:42:37] lot like for the streets, the

[1:42:38] engineering is being done. The contracts

[1:42:40] are being signed for those streets.

[1:42:42] Correct.

[1:42:44] >> Yeah.

[1:42:47] >> Just go ahead.

[1:42:48] >> I just have one quick question. I'm

[1:42:49] assuming it's a perhaps just a coding

[1:42:52] error. Um I I'm on page I'm not sure

[1:42:56] what page I'm on. Um there's a a million

[1:42:59] dollars in the 2027 proposed budget

[1:43:01] under workers comp for Howland.

[1:43:04] >> Yeah, that would be an error.

[1:43:06] >> Okay. I just want to make sure we were

[1:43:07] paying a million dollars for workers

[1:43:08] comp.

[1:43:09] >> Good good question because I had that

[1:43:10] not like is that something I don't know

[1:43:12] about I need to talk to or to get

[1:43:14] educated?

[1:43:14] >> Um it could have been just a line below.

[1:43:18] It should have been under contracted

[1:43:20] services instead of workers comp

[1:43:22] >> page 73. 73. Okay.

[1:43:25] >> So that number is correct for that

[1:43:28] project. It's just in the wrong line. I

[1:43:30] need to add a line. Street and curb.

[1:43:32] >> We usually budget all the expense for a

[1:43:36] project on one line.

[1:43:39] >> I just feel that's what you do.

[1:43:42] >> Just be time to go home. The only really

[1:43:45] big guestimment I'll put on here is that

[1:43:48] leak detection. I put a $100,000 in

[1:43:50] there. I talked to Sean. It's totally

[1:43:53] unknown. They are just doing the

[1:43:55] exploration right now for that leak for

[1:43:57] the pool. So, obviously, as a reminder,

[1:44:00] before any work is done, we always bring

[1:44:02] it back here. It's in the plan, but

[1:44:04] nothing gets approved,

[1:44:07] nothing moves forward without the final

[1:44:10] board approval. All contracts for

[1:44:12] streets get approved by the board. And

[1:44:13] it's just the way that we have always

[1:44:16] done things. Final approval, even if

[1:44:18] it's in the budget, is done by the

[1:44:20] board.

[1:44:25] Any questions on the process that we

[1:44:28] use? As again, there are no utility

[1:44:31] costs in there. So when you see the

[1:44:33] Holland's a million dollars, that's the

[1:44:35] street portion. There's water source

[1:44:37] storm on that, too. Um, same with all

[1:44:40] our other roads. We usually have

[1:44:42] utilities when we're digging up a road.

[1:44:44] We have some utility work right away.

[1:44:49] » Jess, do you just want to cover a little

[1:44:50] bit about what the how that borrowing

[1:44:53] piece looks like at the next meeting?

[1:44:56] Just the flow?

[1:44:59] >> No, I don't know.

[1:45:03] » We We work with Ellers. Oh, Greg already

[1:45:06] sent us a projection with what that

[1:45:09] borrowing looks like. He does

[1:45:12] usually four or five years. He'll send

[1:45:15] out a plan. He gives us the estimated

[1:45:17] tax impact with equalized value, not

[1:45:20] necessarily what will be on the tax

[1:45:22] bill, but uses our equalized value and

[1:45:24] gives the potential tax impact that we

[1:45:27] will see. Um, we will probably get Greg

[1:45:31] on the phone. He has done it in the past

[1:45:33] where he'll walk through his

[1:45:35] presentation and answer any questions.

[1:45:38] We use Ellards as our financial

[1:45:40] advisors, quarrels as our bond counsel.

[1:45:43] Um I reached or I forwarded from the

[1:45:48] last meeting I forwarded Greg our

[1:45:52] approved bank note and the schedule

[1:45:55] and he has already incorporated that

[1:45:58] into our borrowing. I do anticipate that

[1:46:01] being a little bit differently, being

[1:46:02] able to pay off some of the debt early

[1:46:05] because we levied $400,000 last year

[1:46:08] towards that debt. So, we'll be taking a

[1:46:10] big chunk out right away. I'm lowering

[1:46:12] that, but yeah, hopefully um everything

[1:46:15] goes smoothly and we'll be able to

[1:46:18] report and get that approved at our next

[1:46:20] board meeting in September.

[1:46:22] >> Will we be rated again?

[1:46:24] >> Yes.

[1:46:24] And so you'll we'll likely also see

[1:46:27] they usually put out a media release on

[1:46:30] the villages rating afterwards too.

[1:46:33] >> We're double A3 right now if that if

[1:46:37] anyone cares. It's it's a good we get a

[1:46:40] lower rate. The better our rating, the

[1:46:42] lower our interest rate, the more people

[1:46:44] want to buy our bonds in notes. We're

[1:46:48] going to be notes. It's not I think

[1:46:50] there is a revenue bond that he'll be

[1:46:51] recommending for the water utility. And

[1:46:54] the reason that we split it up between

[1:46:56] revenue bonds and geo debt is to make

[1:46:58] sure we stay well under that threshold

[1:47:01] that is um put on by the state. So and

[1:47:05] our policy.

[1:47:07] >> Yes.

[1:47:08] >> On page 75 it's it's the last two pages.

[1:47:13] >> Um 75 says transfer from room tax fund

[1:47:16] for 2027. And then the last page says

[1:47:20] transfer to facility and transfer to

[1:47:23] street for 2026. How often do we

[1:47:26] transfer between funds?

[1:47:28] >> So I record all the bond proceeds in one

[1:47:31] fund and then I just transfer it to the

[1:47:33] other funds

[1:47:34] >> just for simplicity sake. Makes it

[1:47:36] easier.

[1:47:37] >> Yeah,

[1:47:39] that's why I mentioned when that the

[1:47:41] financial statements have one fund. Um,

[1:47:44] I keep it so I don't have to recreate a

[1:47:47] hundred accounts. Um, previous to me,

[1:47:50] they actually reported all the funds in

[1:47:53] our financial statements. So, that's why

[1:47:55] that transfers and they're all separate.

[1:47:58] But, um, when we weren't using the

[1:48:00] facilities fund for so many years, it's

[1:48:03] you don't want to just keep adding and

[1:48:05] subtracting funds. that really the

[1:48:07] continuity of looking at your financial

[1:48:10] statements and comparing when you have

[1:48:12] funds dropping and adding every year

[1:48:13] isn't very good.

[1:48:17] » Yeah.

[1:48:18] >> Um for the 2027 budget, I'm looking at

[1:48:20] your equipment fund and your streets

[1:48:22] fund. They carry relatively high

[1:48:24] balances and I see you have interest

[1:48:26] income. There isn't anything

[1:48:28] specifically budgeted for 2027. I know

[1:48:31] you have some limitations as a

[1:48:32] governmental entity as what you can

[1:48:34] invest in, but do you have a um a cash

[1:48:37] management strategy or investment

[1:48:39] objectives like a policy or anything

[1:48:41] like that?

[1:48:42] >> No.

[1:48:43] >> Okay.

[1:48:44] >> Something we could use.

[1:48:45] >> Okay.

[1:48:46] >> We add that to our priorities

[1:48:49] like

[1:48:51] the

[1:48:57] » we won't be having much money come. um

[1:49:00] we'll be spending that capital

[1:49:01] improvement. That's where right now

[1:49:04] we're looking at our balance. What do we

[1:49:05] want to keep in there and what should we

[1:49:07] not borrow for? Um having a policy that

[1:49:11] has a minimum in there is probably a

[1:49:13] good idea, but looking towards what

[1:49:18] should it be, I think that will require

[1:49:21] a lot of research and personal

[1:49:23] preference. I'm not quite sure

[1:49:26] where it should be. Anyone

[1:49:33] else?

[1:49:38] » Nothing. No more. Our first workshop's

[1:49:42] almost done.

[1:49:44] >> Don't sound happy.

[1:49:46] >> How about if we go into remarks from

[1:49:48] staff? Any staff have any remarks?

[1:49:49] Everyone's got one.

[1:49:50] >> I do. I have one. So every Tuesday we

[1:49:56] meet as department directors and we talk

[1:49:57] about our frustrations and the future

[1:50:00] and what we're planning on and what's

[1:50:02] going on with our department. And we

[1:50:05] also

[1:50:07] we always talk about what's going on at

[1:50:09] the meetings. So, one of the things we

[1:50:12] talk about is our staff, our staff

[1:50:15] retention and the importance of our

[1:50:17] staff and how you don't always see that

[1:50:21] we are able to do so much with so little

[1:50:25] because of our staff. We got good staff.

[1:50:27] So, I was on LinkedIn the other day and

[1:50:30] I found a really good article. So, I'm

[1:50:33] going to read some of it. It's just

[1:50:34] going to be really quick. Um, and it's

[1:50:38] the most convers controversial item,

[1:50:41] $400 I have ever spent as a nonforprofit

[1:50:44] leader. So, I simplified this. I did

[1:50:47] forward it to our department heads and

[1:50:49] they thought it was a really excellent

[1:50:50] article and it's an article we we feel

[1:50:53] that we would like to share because we

[1:50:56] feel this way very much so. So, a few

[1:50:59] months ago, I spent approximately $400

[1:51:01] on a coffee and espresso machine.

[1:51:05] Hear me out. It wasn't the cheapest

[1:51:06] machine available. It was certainly

[1:51:09] nicer than the basic coffee maker it

[1:51:11] replaced.

[1:51:12] Um,

[1:51:14] but this discussion also exposed a

[1:51:17] larger

[1:51:19] phys theological

[1:51:22] » physiological tension that I suspect

[1:51:25] exists in many nonprofit organizations

[1:51:28] including governments. Um, what does

[1:51:32] responsible stewardship actually mean?

[1:51:36] Does it mean spending as little as

[1:51:38] possible on the people doing the work?

[1:51:40] Does it mean operating with outdated

[1:51:42] equipment, avoiding anything that could

[1:51:44] be described as a perk, and expecting

[1:51:47] employees to accept less because they

[1:51:49] work for missiondriven government?

[1:51:54] There can sometimes be an unspoken

[1:51:56] belief that government slashnot

[1:51:58] forprofit employees should work with

[1:52:00] holes in their shoes, eat instant

[1:52:02] noodles for lunch, and feel grateful

[1:52:04] simply because the work has a meaningful

[1:52:06] purpose. The mission matters. Of course,

[1:52:09] it does. But the work does not happen by

[1:52:13] itself. It happens because people answer

[1:52:16] emails late at night. They solve

[1:52:18] scheduling problems involving hundreds

[1:52:20] of teams which hundreds of residents.

[1:52:22] They respond with fields and streets

[1:52:25] suddenly become unavailable and flooded.

[1:52:28] Many of these efforts will not be

[1:52:30] visible to the families we serve.

[1:52:33] They will however determine the quality

[1:52:35] of those families are community

[1:52:37] experience. That is why I do not believe

[1:52:40] supporting employees and supporting the

[1:52:42] mission are competing priorities. In a

[1:52:45] healthy organization, they reinforce one

[1:52:47] another. Notfor-profit/government

[1:52:50] leaders have an obligation to be careful

[1:52:52] with money. That's not up for debate. We

[1:52:55] should question expenses. We should

[1:52:57] compare costs. We should avoid waste,

[1:52:59] negotiate contracts, build responsible

[1:53:01] reserves, and make sure our spending

[1:53:02] reflects our priorities. But responsible

[1:53:05] should not automatically mean cheapest.

[1:53:07] and refusing to invest in the employees

[1:53:10] experience may eventually show up

[1:53:11] through burnout, disengagement, poor

[1:53:13] service, or turnover. Those costs are

[1:53:16] real, even if they're not neatly labeled

[1:53:18] on a monthly profit and loss statement.

[1:53:21] Could that small investment

[1:53:24] help reinforce a culture in which

[1:53:26] employees feel valued and therefore

[1:53:28] better positioned to serve others?

[1:53:30] People need to know that the

[1:53:31] organization cares about them, not

[1:53:33] simply about how much work it can give

[1:53:36] them.

[1:53:37] Sometimes supporting the people who

[1:53:39] carry the mission is one of the most

[1:53:41] responsible investments we can make and

[1:53:43] I care immensely about the staff here

[1:53:45] and they in turn care immensely about

[1:53:47] the village that they serve. What can I

[1:53:51] say is our staff are work incredibly

[1:53:53] hard. They care about the game. This is

[1:53:56] for a soccer organization and the people we serve

[1:54:00] which are our residents. They regularly

[1:54:02] give more than their job descriptions

[1:54:04] require and they do it in an environment

[1:54:06] that can be demanding and stressful.

[1:54:09] After all, taking care of people is not

[1:54:12] separate from taking care of the

[1:54:13] mission. It's how the mission gets

[1:54:15] accomplished.

[1:54:16] So, I'll forward the article. It's a

[1:54:19] really good article. I kind of skipped,

[1:54:21] but it was this person who was a head of

[1:54:24] a not for-profit soccer organization in

[1:54:27] Oregon. um she bought a $400 coffee

[1:54:30] machine and she got a little flack from

[1:54:32] the board. So, um that is a really good

[1:54:35] article, but it really reflects our

[1:54:38] feelings here that we are trying to make

[1:54:40] sure that the staff we serve feel

[1:54:44] um they feel good about what they're

[1:54:47] doing. So, that's my mission.

[1:54:51] >> Thank you.

[1:54:55] >> You're appreciated.

[1:54:57] Uh, any other staff? Any other remarks?

[1:55:00] Uh, let's see. Trustees, any remarks

[1:55:02] from trustees? Go ahead.

[1:55:04] >> I just like to thank you, the staff, for

[1:55:07] sending a card and express your concern

[1:55:10] about me. Thank you.

[1:55:12] >> Yeah. Welcome back.

[1:55:14] >> Yeah. Glad glad you're healthy.

[1:55:18] No, just the you know there's a lot of

[1:55:21] work there and and I agree that um

[1:55:25] we can't just look at

[1:55:28] staff for cuts. We got to you know

[1:55:32] remember that they are doing a lot with

[1:55:35] a lot less people.

[1:55:38] >> Okay.

[1:55:41] Um, no, I I appreciate you sharing that,

[1:55:43] Jessica, and um, obviously I'm I'm

[1:55:46] probably a little biased in my opinion

[1:55:48] on that because of the fact that I do

[1:55:50] work in the public sector. Um, but

[1:55:54] with what Michael said earlier about um,

[1:55:56] you know, maintaining our staff and

[1:55:58] everything, it it is true that the cost

[1:56:00] to um, retain staff in a budget is much

[1:56:05] cheaper than trying to replace staff

[1:56:07] because the cost the time it takes for

[1:56:09] staff to go out and seek new applicants,

[1:56:12] to find qualified applicants, and to

[1:56:13] train them up to the level of the the

[1:56:16] people that were already doing the job.

[1:56:18] And and it's hard because we can't take

[1:56:20] an employee who gets a job offer

[1:56:22] somewhere else and be like, "Okay, I'll meet your offer." Like, we just

[1:56:25] can't do that in the public sector. So,

[1:56:27] it's important that ahead of time we're

[1:56:30] taking care of those staff members so

[1:56:31] that culture-wise and financially they

[1:56:35] feel taken care of. And it can be the

[1:56:37] little things. I mean, at my employer,

[1:56:40] it was as simple as a grill that our

[1:56:42] staff can use to just cook their food

[1:56:44] and get together as a team. And people

[1:56:47] would be like, "How are you buying a

[1:56:49] grill?" But it was as simple as that.

[1:56:51] Like it's a relatively cheap thing that

[1:56:53] you can use for um helping the team. So

[1:56:58] um I appreciate you sharing that and I

[1:57:00] think that is an important priority for

[1:57:02] us is making sure we're taking care of

[1:57:04] our people. So thank you.

[1:57:08] » No, Jessica, thank you for doing that

[1:57:10] presentation. I know it's a lot to go

[1:57:12] over, but I thought it was super

[1:57:13] beneficial. So thank you. Yeah, good

[1:57:15] presentation on my side, too.

[1:57:18] >> Uh, we do have a good staff here and um,

[1:57:20] you know, I I made the point of asking

[1:57:22] how many people work here because when

[1:57:24] you look at 16,000 people, the miles we

[1:57:26] cover, um, all the different things and

[1:57:28] it's, you know, 40 people around about,

[1:57:32] you know, I used to run a grocery store

[1:57:33] right down the street that had 250

[1:57:35] people, you know, and we never had

[1:57:37] enough. And uh the place I was working

[1:57:40] at the last 20 years uh if we were we

[1:57:43] were down we we had 15 to 20% turnover

[1:57:45] at all the time. But uh to retrain a

[1:57:48] truck driver at tens of thousands of

[1:57:50] dollars and it took your your focus off

[1:57:53] of what you should be doing as a

[1:57:55] manager, supervisor or something like

[1:57:57] that because now you you're you got to

[1:57:58] make sure that these people are getting

[1:58:00] up to speed having others help too. And

[1:58:03] um it's it's invaluable to have a a good

[1:58:05] staff and we have one. So, um, uh, I'll

[1:58:08] turn it over to the committee. Anything

[1:58:10] any remarks?

[1:58:14] » None.

[1:58:15] >> Good, good questions tonight, by the

[1:58:16] way.

[1:58:16] >> No, I mean, you I've said it enough for

[1:58:18] these meetings and I feel like the same

[1:58:20] vibe happens is that the staff feel

[1:58:23] unappreciated. And I don't know what

[1:58:25] that why that's the vibe I get when we

[1:58:27] sit in the um, and so I think we have

[1:58:29] some work to do, whether it's on the HR

[1:58:31] and the finance committee, but that's

[1:58:33] the the vibe I get it. whether it was

[1:58:34] the clothing stipen that we couldn't we

[1:58:36] eventually came to an agreement on. Um

[1:58:38] so I just I think that's an interesting

[1:58:41] thing that we need to dive into whether

[1:58:43] it's about a grill or a coffee maker or

[1:58:45] wages or whatever it is. But that's not

[1:58:47] the first time that that's been the

[1:58:49] conversation and I think it's something

[1:58:50] that we have to look at as a committee.

[1:58:53] >> I think um um you know citizens um at

[1:58:56] the federal level you can't go at it.

[1:58:58] You can't it's too big. It's too it's

[1:59:00] too far out there. In the state level

[1:59:02] you can't. But local level Citizens can

[1:59:04] attack and citizens do attack local

[1:59:07] level all over the place. They they

[1:59:09] attack on on minuscule things and they

[1:59:13] micromanage and I'm not I'm not saying

[1:59:15] all of them. I I get some wonderful

[1:59:17] calls and some wonderful comments and I

[1:59:20] actually would like to share all those

[1:59:21] instead of the negative ones I get. But

[1:59:24] um we've had staff leave here because

[1:59:26] they don't feel appreciated.

[1:59:27] >> Yeah. And and they don't they don't feel

[1:59:29] anybody speaking up for them. And um but

[1:59:32] uh but the local level you can go right

[1:59:34] at it. You can tackle all you want. Um

[1:59:37] but well said. It's a vibe that over the

[1:59:39] years it's it's becoming more and more

[1:59:41] prevalent.

[1:59:42] >> Yeah.

[1:59:43] >> Did you have something to add?

[1:59:45] >> No, I mean you're past your staff

[1:59:47] comments, but go ahead.

[1:59:48] >> Yeah. No, I mean you kind of hit on the

[1:59:49] head there. I mean, we had a a drinking

[1:59:51] water loan that we were able to get

[1:59:53] through, which to be perfectly honest, I

[1:59:56] because of other ancillary things

[1:59:58] happening in the community. I was almost

[2:00:00] a week away from missing the deadline to

[2:00:02] get that passed. And that's a $3 million

[2:00:05] hit. Had I missed that, nobody would

[2:00:07] know. We're still putting in the

[2:00:08] treatment facility and we're paying $4

[2:00:10] million and that's the cost of business.

[2:00:12] Mhm.

[2:00:13] >> But because we're able to stay and work

[2:00:16] nights and weekends and all of a sudden

[2:00:18] realize, hey, I'm catching up on these

[2:00:20] things, we're saving our utility payers

[2:00:23] $3 million. You know, it's it's those

[2:00:25] items that I think are a little harder.

[2:00:28] Um, and and I I guess that's, you know,

[2:00:31] budget honestly is a very tough time for

[2:00:34] a lot of us because we're the ones in

[2:00:36] this day in and day out and we know, you

[2:00:39] know, 1% of all of our wages is what,

[2:00:42] $15,000 or something like that.

[2:00:44] Sometimes I feel like we argue over that

[2:00:46] $400 cost, but if I'm focused on this

[2:00:49] $400 cost, I can easily miss a million

[2:00:51] dollar cost

[2:00:52] >> and nobody understands. And I guess I do

[2:00:54] a poor job sometimes of that. and our

[2:00:57] staff the ability to do what they can do

[2:00:59] with equipment and materials. It's it

[2:01:02] saves the taxpayers dollars. And

[2:01:04] sometimes we don't have the the time

[2:01:06] that we'd like to put together to show

[2:01:08] how our staff raising water valves and

[2:01:10] manholes and fixing all those items

[2:01:13] before we put an asphalt overlay on

[2:01:15] saves the taxpayers $100,000, $200,000 a

[2:01:18] year. Um, but our staff's able to do

[2:01:21] that. And I guess that's where the angst

[2:01:23] starts happening is when they start

[2:01:25] feeling underappreciated and the little

[2:01:27] things we can do to help them show that

[2:01:29] they are appreciated go away. Now we're

[2:01:32] getting staff that can't do those

[2:01:34] things. So now we're trying to train

[2:01:36] them to do it or we've got equipment

[2:01:38] that sits because we just don't have the

[2:01:40] talented staff anymore. So

[2:01:43] >> thank you. Um, Christina or Daniel. No.

[2:01:47] Okay.

[2:01:48] >> All right. So, future items, uh, let's

[2:01:50] see. The next meeting is September 8th

[2:01:52] at 6:00 p.m. Uh, let's see. Monday,

[2:01:55] September 21st at 5:00 p.m. Monday,

[2:01:57] October 5th at 5:00 p.m. and Monday,

[2:02:00] October 19th at 5:30 p.m. I think two of

[2:02:02] them are are together. Uh, what the 5

[2:02:05] and 5:30. The second and fourth one are

[2:02:07] with boards.

[2:02:08] >> The 21st and the 19th are with boards.

[2:02:11] >> Okay. And on the on the 21st and the and

[2:02:14] the 19th, if if we need to do a separate

[2:02:17] finance, we might start like a half hour

[2:02:18] beforehand if there are any financial or

[2:02:21] HR things that we need to handle

[2:02:23] separately. But we'll communicate with

[2:02:24] you if that's if we do need to.

[2:02:27] >> Okay. All good. Looking for a motion to

[2:02:29] adjurnn.

[2:02:31] >> So move.

[2:02:31] >> Motion by second by Olsen. Uh anything

[2:02:35] further on discussion hearing? None. All

[2:02:38] those in favor say I.

[2:02:39] >> Opposed. We are adjourned at 7:32.

[2:02:43] >> Oh, yeah.

[2:02:45] >> Technically never started our meeting

[2:02:46] though.

[2:02:46] >> Well, technically did it for both of

[2:02:48] them.

[2:02:48] >> It was on both. Yeah.

[2:02:50] >> But just go ahead and adjourn yours.

[2:02:53] >> I think we should adjourn the committee.

[2:02:55] Yeah. Go ahead.

[2:02:55] >> All right. Why don't you guys adjourn

[2:02:58] like you know meeting for a month?

[2:02:59] >> Yeah. Well, just adjourn. Motion to

[2:03:01] adjourn. Anybody?

[2:03:02] >> I'll make a motion.

[2:03:03] >> Motion by Daniel. Is there a second?

[2:03:06] >> Second by Daniel. I'm guessing there's

[2:03:08] no discussion. All those in favor?

[2:03:12] stay. We're journey.

Board of Trustees and Finance/HR - 8/24/2026

Agenda

Transcript