OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Lake County Financial Administrative Committee Meeting - April 9, 2026

Committee Meetings — Thursday, April 9, 2026
BodyLake County, Illinois
SessionCommittee Meetings
DateThursday, April 9, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 59:06

Transcript — Verbatim
0:12

Good morning.

0:13

It is Thursday, April 9th, 2026.

0:16

A call to order the Financial Administrative Committee.

0:20

Please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:30

And under God indivisible with Liberty and Justice Peral.

0:41

Before we do roll call, I do want to note I think we did receive a request for remote participation from member Maine for a qualifying reason in accordance with our rules.

0:52

I don't see her online yet, but uh if she joins, um, unless there's an objection to her notice or a request, she'll be uh I believe it is for work.

1:04

If I recall correctly, yes, thank you for the reminder.

1:09

Um, unless there's an objection, she'll be present and able to vote if we have a quorum present, which I think we do.

1:14

We have roll call police.

1:17

Member Clark here.

1:18

Chair Frank?

1:19

Here.

1:20

Member Hewitt.

1:22

Member Maine is not online yet.

1:24

Vice Chair Park.

1:26

Member Peterson.

1:28

Member Valitzek.

1:30

Thank you.

1:30

And I know that Vice Chair will be here shortly.

1:33

Do we have any addenda?

1:34

We do not.

1:36

We have any public comments.

1:37

No.

1:39

I have no chair's remark for us today.

1:41

Unfinished business.

1:43

None.

1:45

Consent agenda items 8.1 through 8.8, including the report from the treasurer.

1:51

I'll note four members.

1:53

Uh is attached for you to review.

1:56

Any items that need to be pulled.

1:59

Motion to approve these items by member Clark, second by member Belitzi.

2:04

Did you want to pull an item?

2:06

Member Main, I see your present.

2:08

Great.

2:08

Thank you.

2:13

8.18.

2:14

Thank you.

2:15

That was on me.

2:16

Yes.

2:16

Those are the items on consent agenda.

2:18

I make a motion.

2:19

Motion by member clerk, second by member of Litzik.

2:23

Any comments, questions, items being pulled.

2:28

All in favor, please say aye.

2:30

Aye.

2:31

Any opposed?

2:32

Those items are approved.

2:34

8.19 is a resolution authorizing the creation of the stormwater management project expense match fund, authorizing the transfer of project expense match revenue from the stormwater management fund, fund 212 fund balance in the amount of $2,526,406.68 cents to the new PEM fund and authorizing an emergency appropriation in amount of $1,545,960 to establish the new funds FY26 budget while reducing the stormwater management funds FY26 budget by $335,960 to account for transferred FY26 expenses.

3:15

To mouthful, I'm looking forward to Director Wolford's explanation about it.

3:20

Motion by member Clark, second by member Peterson.

3:23

Good morning.

3:24

Good morning, Chair.

3:25

Good morning, members of the committee.

3:26

Thank you for this item.

3:28

And I want to acknowledge the county finance department, Gina and Ruth Ann.

3:33

Um this is a new fund that's being created to hold uh the project expense match funds that we received from our intergovernmental agreements through our project partners.

3:44

So the whole DCO program that we've been doing all these projects, the way we were able to successfully implement these projects is to work through partners.

3:54

And these are our local partners, uh, villages, townships.

3:58

They are paying SMC revenue to administer this 122 million dollar grant from the state.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Fiscal Sustainability█████████████████████████████████████████████68%
Stormwater Management███████████16%
Procedural██████9%
Budget Equity Analysis████6%
Facilities Management█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Lake County Financial Administrative Committee Meeting - April 9, 2026

The Financial Administrative Committee of Lake County met on Thursday, April 9, 2026, to consider several financial resolutions including the creation of a new stormwater management fund, reallocation of capital reserves, carryover appropriations, and a discussion on proposed changes to the fund balance reserve policy. All consent agenda items were approved, and the committee voted to enter executive session for pending litigation.

Consent Calendar

  • Items 8.1 through 8.8, including the treasurer's report, were approved unanimously via motion by Member Clark, second by Member Valitzek. No items were pulled.

Discussion Items

  • Item 8.19 – Stormwater Management Project Expense Match Fund: Director Wolford explained the need to segregate project expense match funds paid by local project partners under intergovernmental agreements from both the state DCO grant funds and operational funds. The resolution authorizes the creation of a new fund, transfer of $2,526,406.68 from the stormwater management fund, and an emergency appropriation of $1,545,960 to establish the FY26 budget while reducing the stormwater fund budget by $335,960. Wolford noted that these funds are not property tax revenue and will be used for engineering design to prepare unfunded projects for future grant rounds. The resolution was approved.

  • Item 8.20 – Reallocation of FY2024 Capital: CFO Regina Tuzak presented a proposal to reallocate $46,276,796 in excess reserves from the general fund to the capital improvement fund (Fund 106) for long-term capital needs. She explained that the fund balance reserve policy requires excess above the 29% minimum to be used for capital or one-time expenditures. The county has an estimated $300 million in unfunded maintenance capital. Discussion included the need for proactive capital budgeting, flexibility in case of federal funding cuts (e.g., Medicaid/SNAP), and the plan to use bonding after 2028. The resolution was approved.

  • Item 8.21 – Emergency Appropriations for Carryovers: Budget Manager Michael Wheeler requested approval of carryover appropriations for projects and grants not completed in FY25. The resolution was approved.

  • Item 8.22 – Fund Balance Reserve Policy Changes: CFO Tuzak presented four proposed concepts: (1) evaluating and maintaining excess reserves separately for each fund rather than as a bundle; (2) establishing a reserve range for the general fund (29% to 45%) to provide flexibility; (3) reducing reserve requirements for other operating property tax funds to 16⅔% (two months); and (4) refining the calculation to exclude double appropriations and carryovers with external revenue sources. She illustrated that under current methodology, the required reserve is $227 million (general fund $150M, other funds $77M). Under the proposed approach, at the low end the general fund would require $137M and other funds $27M (total $164M); at the high end, general fund $168M plus other funds $27M (total $195M). The changes are intended to improve flexibility and clarity, not necessarily to reduce the property tax levy. Committee members discussed the impact on bond ratings, the need for a proactive capital plan, and the advantage of holding more reserves in the flexible general fund. The concepts received favorable feedback, but formal action is deferred until after internal review; possible return in May or June.

  • Item 8.23 – Director's Report: CFO Tuzak provided a final list of line item transfers for FY25 year-end close, for information only.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent agenda (8.1-8.8) approved unanimously.
  • Resolution 8.19 (stormwater fund) approved.
  • Resolution 8.20 (capital reallocation) approved.
  • Resolution 8.21 (carryovers) approved.
  • Committee discussed fund balance reserve policy changes; no vote taken. CFO will refine based on feedback and bring back for formal action in a future meeting.
  • Motion to enter executive session for pending litigation approved by roll call; committee returned to regular session and adjourned.

Note: No public comments or chair's remarks were made.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning. It is Thursday, April 9th, 2026. A call to order the Financial Administrative Committee. Please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. And under God indivisible with Liberty and Justice Peral. Before we do roll call, I do want to note I think we did receive a request for remote participation from member Maine for a qualifying reason in accordance with our rules. I don't see her online yet, but uh if she joins, um, unless there's an objection to her notice or a request, she'll be uh I believe it is for work. If I recall correctly, yes, thank you for the reminder. Um, unless there's an objection, she'll be present and able to vote if we have a quorum present, which I think we do. We have roll call police. Member Clark here. Chair Frank? Here. Member Hewitt. Member Maine is not online yet. Vice Chair Park. Member Peterson. Member Valitzek. Thank you. And I know that Vice Chair will be here shortly. Do we have any addenda? We do not. We have any public comments. No. I have no chair's remark for us today. Unfinished business. None. Consent agenda items 8.1 through 8.8, including the report from the treasurer. I'll note four members. Uh is attached for you to review. Any items that need to be pulled. Motion to approve these items by member Clark, second by member Belitzi. Did you want to pull an item? Member Main, I see your present. Great. Thank you. 8.18. Thank you. That was on me. Yes. Those are the items on consent agenda. I make a motion. Motion by member clerk, second by member of Litzik. Any comments, questions, items being pulled. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Those items are approved. 8.19 is a resolution authorizing the creation of the stormwater management project expense match fund, authorizing the transfer of project expense match revenue from the stormwater management fund, fund 212 fund balance in the amount of $2,526,406.68 cents to the new PEM fund and authorizing an emergency appropriation in amount of $1,545,960 to establish the new funds FY26 budget while reducing the stormwater management funds FY26 budget by $335,960 to account for transferred FY26 expenses. To mouthful, I'm looking forward to Director Wolford's explanation about it.

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