Note: The agenda for this meeting was dated November 7, 2023, but the user instruction specifies the meeting date as November 9, 2023. This discrepancy is noted.
The meeting began at 6:00 PM with the Committee-of-the-Whole (COW) session, followed by the regular City Council meeting. Key actions included a public hearing on the 2024 budget, approval of a retail recruitment contract, adoption of the 2024-2026 Strategic Plan, amendments to the rental housing licensing ordinance, and advancement of an amusement tax increase.
Chambers at 6 p.m. Uh, we do not have any remote electronic attendance, but um next up is public comment. Is there any public comment? Any other questions comments it's nice to know there's a what a two-second delay, David. Um questions on the agenda. Hearing none, we move to our public hearing on the 2024 budget. So I hearby open this 2024 budget hearing at 6 p.m. Mars, please proceed. Excuse me, thank you, Your Honor. And the 2024 budget as proposed is balanced, and it totals 144 million.844 million, eight hundred thousand dollars. The Illinois state statute requires that the city conduct a public hearing to obtain taxpayer comments prior to the adoption of the budget. Public hearing notice was published in the dispatch newspaper on Monday, October 30th, 2023. The proposed budget document is available for public inspection on the city's website as well as in the finance department. Subsequent to the public hearing tonight, city council reserves the right to revise, modify, alter, increase, or decrease items contained in the proposed budget ordinance without further hearing or notice. Over the last seven months, you've had many work sessions and informationals on items that are now incorporated into the 24 budget. And the budget actually began way last May when council conducted their annual strategic planning session and they began updating the 24 through 26 priorities. Council offer ICO authorized at that time community survey to help gain input from all of our citizens. In June, department started working on their budgets, and in July, the council adopted the three-year CIP plan. And the main reason we did that so early was so that we could get engineering an opportunity to get out front of design and to start fitting on projects for the upcoming fiscal year. In August, we held a lot of meetings as you can see listed there. But the main thing is that we approved the evergreen plaque and comp study effective this fall and fully funded over the next three years. And that is um a program that had been in the process for more than a year. In September, we adopted the new level up program. And in October, we adopted modest fee increases for three of our enterprise funds to help maintain financial stability in response. In October, we also adopted the enhanced rental housing program, which is 100% fee-driven. And on October the 17th, we proposed a balanced budget for council's consideration. We also held two budget work sessions in October, one full day on Saturday, October the 21st, as well as um two weeks ago on October the 24th. And then that brings us forward into tonight, um, which we are now conducting the public hearing, which is required by state statute. And again, we're trying to gather um input from our citizens. We will also be having the third and final budget work session here following the public hearing. And before you tonight is potentially to adopt the 24 through 26 strategic plan, and then we hope to finalize the budget adoption by November the 21st, as well as bringing forward the amended 23 budget. Following those first two budget work sessions, the balance as presented is balanced, and it's 144.8 million dollars. It maintains the city's strong financial foundation with healthy fund balances and cash reserves across all funds within city policy. And invests very heavily in citywide infrastructure, particularly in streets, water, and sanitary sewer improvements. Budget also aligns with the council strategic plan and the three pillars of infrastructure, quality of place, and the economy. The highlights of the budget include it funds all of CC and city services and authorized personnel. 29% of the budget is comprised of salaries and benefits of about 46 million dollars. And a couple of the highlights in the salaries and benefits category is that this budget does fund 11 new full-time physicians, net of cost saving ideas for a total of about 307,000.5% vacancy rate. Citywide capital improvements and capital equipment total 37 million and make up about 23% of the budget. The remaining $55 million or 35% is comprised of our operating expenditures that average only 1.3% increase from our amended 23 budget. So it is a very conservative budget from an operating standpoint. Number one, increased funding for citywide infrastructure CIP projects. By 2032, it'll grow to $3 million. And over the course of the 10 years, we should be able to be able to fund more than $20 million of additional CIP project. Again, that was the council's number one priority. Number two on the list was to implement an enhanced rental housing program for multifamily and single-family homes. We adopted an ordinance October of 23. That is 100% fee-driven and includes additional inspectors, administrative staff, and operating costs to fully support the program. And for 2024, that amounts to a little more than $300,000. The next item is to provide funding for the improved compensation and class plan.