Oswego Village Board Committee of the Whole Meeting – November 18, 2025
Oswego Village Board Committee of the Whole Meeting – November 18, 2025
The Oswego Village Board Committee of the Whole met on November 18, 2025, at Oswego Village Hall. The main item was the calendar year 2025 third-quarter financial update, followed by a closed session. No members of the public addressed the board.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public came forward during the public forum.
Discussion Items
- CY25 Q3 Quarterly Financial Update: Andrea, presenting the financial update, reported data through September 30, 2025, and characterized the results as good news.
- General Fund: The budget includes $28.3 million in revenue and just under $29 million in expenses. The budgeted deficit is due to excess reserves transferred from the general fund to the capital fund for the public works facility expansion; excluding that transfer, the budget would be in surplus. Actual revenues were $24.6 million and expenses were $18.3 million, leaving a $6.3 million surplus three-quarters of the way through the year. All departments were under the 75% spending target except community relations and economic development, which were affected by timing of a capital contribution and grant spending. The general fund overall was at 71% of budget, administration at 70%, police at 73%, and public works at 62%.
- Revenue highlights: State sales tax revenue was $7.76 million, or 88% of budget; home rule sales tax was $2.65 million, or 85% of budget. These two items make up 42% of the overall revenue budget. Income tax (LGDF) was $4.8 million (81% of budget); food and beverage tax was $1.1 million (85%); interest revenue was $1.2 million, or 202% of budget. Sales tax revenue continued to grow year over year.
- Water and sewer operating fund: The budgeted surplus was 4.5%, and the actual surplus was just over $3 million. Rates are being ramped up slowly to build reserves before Lake Michigan borrowing bond payments come due. Revenue was at 82% of budget and spending at 63%. Maintenance and contractual services spending was at 48% of target. The first $20 million bond sale closed in July. Water sales were just under $7 million on an $8.7 million budget (80%); sewer maintenance charges were $1.32 million on a $1.75 million budget (75%); interest earnings were $140,000 on a $75,000 budget (188%). Real estate transfer tax revenue in the water capital fund was over $1 million, or 139% of the $780,000 budget, above the original $400,000 annual projection.
- Parking fund: Revenue exceeded spending by $38,000. Parking permit revenue was $83,000 (69% of budget); ordinance violation revenue was at 5% of budget, with expectations of significant increases after a new collection agency began. Expenditures were $38,000 on a $70,000 budget (54%), with maintenance and repairs lower than expected.
- Other funds: The motor fuel tax excess fund balance was incorporated into the 2026 annual road program. TIF property tax revenue through September was $1.1 million, the same as last year. Capital fund tax revenue was $4.7 million on a $5.6 million budget (84%), mainly from home rule sales tax and impact fees; transportation development fees were $1.9 million on a $2 million budget (93%). In the municipal fleet fund, all purchases were at or below budget except one totaled police squad; insurance covered the totaled vehicle but not the full replacement cost, with fund balance covering the difference.
- Trustee comments and questions: Several trustees praised the financial results and staff discipline, calling the numbers fantastic and thanking Andrea for budget rigor. A trustee requested a copy of the presentation and asked whether low grant payouts were a concern. Andrea responded that the main grants are related to Wolf’s Crossing and are recorded at year-end, making the low payout a timing issue rather than a concern.
Closed Session
- The board moved and seconded a motion to enter closed session for pending/probable litigation; appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of personnel; collective bargaining and salary schedule deliberations; and sale, lease, and/or acquisition of property. The board then recessed to closed session.
Key Outcomes
- The board received the CY25 Q3 financial update; no formal action was taken on the update.
- The board later reconvened in open session, found no further business, and adjourned the Committee of the Whole. The regular board meeting was scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
President Kaufman. Here. Trustee Cooper. Here. Trustee Connect. Here. Trustee McCarthy Lang. Dear. Trustee Novi. Here. Trustee Hughes absent and trustee Torres absent. First up, we will open the public forum. If there's anyone wishing to address the public the board, please feel free to come forward now. Seeing nobody, we will close the public forum and move on to new business and under new under old business. Excuse me. We have item F1. Andrea, I can't talk tonight. So I will give a very brief financial update. This is data through the third quarter of calendar year 2025. And it is all good news, so very easy to go through. We like good news. Starting with the general fund, a reminder where we are with the budget. The budget has revenue of 28.3 million and expenses of 28, just under 29 million. The budgeted deficit is due to excess reserves being transferred from the general fund to the capital fund for the public works facility expansion. Again, if you exclude that transfer, then there is a surplus in the budget. And looking at the actuals to date, revenues have came in at around six 24.6 million, with expenses at 18.3 million. So that leaves a surplus of 6.3 million at three quarters of the of the way through the year. Is that as of October 31st then? That is through the third quarter, September 30th. September 30th, okay. And the target would be 75% or below. With some departmental activity, uh, with the exception of community relations and economic development, all departments were under the target of 75% of budget and spending. So that skews the results a little bit. That will level out as we get through the end of the year. That's that 50,000 in capital contribution. And the same occurred with economic development because the grants uh that grant spending was all done early in the year. Um that is skewing the results as well. That will also level out as the year goes by. Um this is um just a list of where each individual department is at in comparison to that 75% target. The general fund as a whole is at 71% of budget, uh, administration is at 70%. Um you can see several departments are around that 70% amount, finance, information technology, police at 73%, and public works at 62%. Some revenue highlights, um, state sales tax revenue was 7.76 million, which is 88% of budget. Um, that continues to outpace projections. Uh same with home rule sales tax. The revenue was at 2.65 million, which is 85% of budget. And just a reminder that those two line items make up 42% of the overall revenue budget. So that really drives where the general fund lands at the end of the year. Um income tax, LGDF was at 4.8 million, which is 81% of budget. Uh food and beverage tax revenue uh also is outpacing projections. That's at 1.1 million, which is 85% of budget.
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