OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Oswego Committee of the Whole Meeting - February 17, 2026

Village Board & Commissions — Tuesday, February 17, 2026
BodyOswego, Illinois
SessionVillage Board & Commissions
DateTuesday, February 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 28:27

Transcript — Verbatim
0:16

All right, let's call our committee of the whole to order.

0:19

Roll call, please.

0:20

President Kaufman.

0:21

Here.

0:22

Trustee Cooper?

0:23

Here.

0:24

Trustee Hughes.

0:25

Trustee Koenig?

0:26

Here.

0:26

Trustee McCarthy Lang.

0:28

Here.

0:29

Trustee Novi here.

0:31

Trustee Torres.

0:37

All right.

0:37

First up, we're going to open the public forum.

0:39

If anyone wishes to address the board and the public, please feel free to come forward now.

0:53

Seeing nobody, we're going to close the public forum and move on to new business.

0:57

And under new business, we have item F1.

0:59

Andrea, take it away.

1:01

Good evening.

1:02

Tonight I'll go through a brief financial update.

1:06

This is through the fourth quarter of 2025.

1:10

And I do want to caution everyone that although this is through the fourth quarter, these are not final audited numbers.

1:17

This was just at a point in time.

1:19

There are still invoices from 2025 that are actively coming in.

1:24

And we still need to record all of the year-end accrual entries.

1:28

So again, these while the numbers are pretty reflective of what the final numbers will be.

1:39

Starting with the general fund, as a reminder, the general fund was budgeted with a deficit of $675,500.

1:52

And that deficit is due to the planned use of reserves for the public works facility.

2:29

And when we have those final numbers from the audit, we'll report back on that.

2:39

It has been every year since I would love to take credit for it, but it's been every year since I've been here, so this would be at a at a minimum the fourth year.

2:50

Thank you.

2:58

And the actual revenue so far is just uh is $33.6 million, which is about $115 of budget.

3:08

Expenditures were budgeted at $28.9 million, and actual expenditures at the point that these reports were on were $27.1 million, which is 94% of budget.

3:38

And that had nothing to do with community relations spending.

3:41

It was a timing issue on one payment.

3:44

And the transition year 2024 payment to the Aurora Area Convention and Visitor Bureau ended up getting posted to 2025.

3:54

So the overpay the over budget amount is actually that 2024 payment that wasn't processed in time to get back into 2024.

4:03

The transition year was under budget by the same amount.

4:08

So I just want to clarify that it had nothing to do with overspending.

4:32

Some items of note in the jet for general fund with the major revenue sources.

4:49

So it makes sense that if the sales tax revenue is overperforming budget expectations, that the general fund as a whole is going to be you're going to see that that revenue above the hundred percent mark.

5:04

Sales tax revenue was 10.5 million budgeted, 10.5 million.

5:11

Sorry, that's coming coming out wrong.

5:14

It was the actual is 10.5 million on a budget of 8.8 million.

5:18

So that's 119% of budget.

5:21

Whereas home rule sales tax revenue was $3.6 million on a budget of $3.1 million, which is $115% of budget.

5:31

Income tax revenue, LGDF, was $6.2 million on a budget of $6 million, which is $104% of budget.

5:41

While use tax was $554,000 on a budget of $900,000, which is 60% of budget.

5:49

The reason that use tax was so far under budget is because the state changed how some revenues are classified.

5:57

That resulted in use tax being under budget, but sales tax was over budget by that corresponding amount.

6:06

So while sales tax was almost $2 million over budget, about $600,000 of that was just the reclassification between the use tax and the sales tax.

6:30

And you can see after calendar year 2020, there's a consistent increase year over year.

6:36

We do look at this data when budgeting sales tax and budget conservatively, but the 2025, you can see the based on the bar charts.

6:46

The 2025 revenue came in significantly above what that trend has been.

6:52

So 2025 was a very, very strong year in terms of sales tax revenue.

7:00

What use tax did they what was switched?

7:03

Do you know a couple examples of what was it has to do with the point the with online sales and the origin of the sale?

7:13

So it has to do with where the nexus of the business is located as opposed to where the end user is located.

7:28

And I'd be happy to share that with you, but I would just say it's online, it's a reclassification of certain online sales.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget Equity Analysis█████████████████████████████████████████████52%
Water And Wastewater Management█████████████████20%
Fiscal Sustainability██████████████16%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████7%
Procedural████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Oswego Committee of the Whole Meeting - February 17, 2026

The Oswego Committee of the Whole met on February 17, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at Oswego Village Hall. After roll call, the public forum was opened and closed with no speakers. Staff presented the CY25 Q4 quarterly financial update, and trustees discussed the results, the sources of recent surpluses, and capital funding priorities. No formal votes were taken.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public addressed the board.

Discussion Items

  • Andrea, presenting the CY25 Q4 financial update, cautioned that the figures were unaudited, point-in-time numbers; 2025 invoices were still arriving and year-end accruals had not yet been recorded.
  • General Fund: Budgeted with a planned deficit of $675,500 due to the planned use of reserves for the public works facility. Actual revenue was $33.6 million, approximately 115% of budget; expenditures were $27.1 million against a $28.9 million budget, or 94%. The over-budget amount was related to a timing issue: a transition-year 2024 payment to the Aurora Area Convention and Visitor Bureau was posted in 2025, and the transition year was under budget by the same amount.
  • General Fund revenue highlights: sales tax actual $10.5 million vs. $8.8 million budget (119%); home rule sales tax $3.6 million vs. $3.1 million (115%); LGDF income tax $6.2 million vs. $6 million (104%); use tax $554,000 vs. $900,000 (60%). Use tax was under budget because the state reclassified certain online sales to the sales tax category, adding about $600,000 to sales tax. Sales tax has risen consistently since 2020, and 2025 was well above the prior trend.
  • Other General Fund revenues: food and beverage tax $1.5 million vs. $1.3 million (114%); accessory permit revenue $376,000 vs. $275,000 (137%); plan review fees $295,000 vs. $135,000 (218%); interest income $1.7 million vs. $600,000 (288%). A trustee noted that some revenue shown on graphs did not yet include accruals.
  • Water and Sewer Operating Fund: Intentionally budgeted for a surplus; the actual surplus was $5.3 million. Revenue was $10.9 million vs. $10.6 million budget (103%); expenditures were $5.6 million vs. $6.0 million budget (92%). Electricity for pumping stations was under budget by $525,000. A $20 million bond sale closed in July. Water sales were $8.6 million vs. $8.7 million budget, with accruals expected to close the gap; sewer maintenance charges were $1.6 million vs. $1.7 million (93%). Interest earnings were $202,000 vs. $75,000 (270%).
  • Parking Fund: Revenue exceeded spending by about $39,000. Parking permit revenue was $110,000 vs. $120,000 budget (92%); ordinance violation revenue was just over $4,000 vs. $40,000 budget. An RFP for collection services was completed near year-end to improve 2026 collections. Expenditures were $83,000 vs. $97,000 budget (85%) due to lower parking-deck maintenance charges.
  • Road Fund: Because of reserve rollover, the 2026 annual road program was expanded. Interest income was $186,000 vs. $50,000 budget; expenditures were $1.55 million vs. $1.5 million budget, with the small overage using Rebuild Illinois bond reserves earmarked for Wolf's Crossing.
  • TIF Fund: Revenue exceeded spending by $124,000. Property tax increment was $1.1 million vs. $1.25 million budget because the equalized assessed value was slightly lower than assumed; interest income was $61,000 vs. $5,000; expenditures were $4.6 million vs. $5.1 million, with 2025 invoices still arriving.
  • Another highlighted fund: Spending exceeded revenue by $2 million as budgeted, using reserves; grant revenue tied to project activity had not yet been calculated. Home rule sales tax was $5.4 million vs. $4.6 million budget (116%); interest income was $428,000 vs. $75,000; expenditures were $13.5 million vs. $17.6 million, with some capital project spending still expected.
  • Water Capital Fund: Real estate transfer tax actual revenue was $1.4 million, well above early projections of $400,000 per year; interest income was $395,000 vs. $100,000 budget. Expenditures were $26.7 million vs. $64.4 million budget because the 2025 budget assumed most DuPage Water Commission payments would occur in 2025, but they are actually occurring in 2026; the 2026 budget includes those payments.
  • In response to trustee questions, Andrea expected all funds to remain under 100% spent once accruals were recorded, and said departments had done well keeping expenses in check.
  • Trustees observed that recent surpluses have been driven mostly by state sales tax and interest income, neither of which the village controls, rather than by overcharging for village services. Andrea confirmed that the fund balance policy directs excess reserves, at board direction, to the capital project fund for one-time costs.
  • A trustee noted there was not strong evidence that rates were too high, because those revenues were not contributing to the excess; lowering rates could put the operating budget at risk in an economic downturn. Andrea agreed.
  • Regarding real estate transfer tax, the discussion indicated the tax applies when someone comes into the community rather than a sale between existing residents, but the village does not currently track the breakdown between new inventory and resale turnover.
  • A trustee emphasized that residents are not overpaying for services; the surplus is from consumer behavior and interest income. Andrea added that a study suggested up to 45% of sales tax revenue may come from non-Oswego residents.
  • Trustees noted surpluses are funding capital needs, including the public works facility without debt, an additional $1 million for annual road resurfacing, and Wolf's Crossing projects; over $125 million is needed for the Wolf's Crossing road widening. They preferred paying cash over borrowing and said these funds support the grocery tax rebates issued on 2026 water bills and possibly beyond.
  • Staff received thanks for keeping expenses in check.

Key Outcomes

  • No motions or formal votes were taken.
  • The board received the CY25 Q4 quarterly financial update as an information item.
  • The public forum was closed with no speakers.
  • The Committee of the Whole adjourned and planned to reconvene at 7:00 p.m. for the Village Board meeting.

Meeting Transcript

All right, let's call our committee of the whole to order. Roll call, please. President Kaufman. Here. Trustee Cooper? Here. Trustee Hughes. Trustee Koenig? Here. Trustee McCarthy Lang. Here. Trustee Novi here. Trustee Torres. All right. First up, we're going to open the public forum. If anyone wishes to address the board and the public, please feel free to come forward now. Seeing nobody, we're going to close the public forum and move on to new business. And under new business, we have item F1. Andrea, take it away. Good evening. Tonight I'll go through a brief financial update. This is through the fourth quarter of 2025. And I do want to caution everyone that although this is through the fourth quarter, these are not final audited numbers. This was just at a point in time. There are still invoices from 2025 that are actively coming in. And we still need to record all of the year-end accrual entries. So again, these while the numbers are pretty reflective of what the final numbers will be. Starting with the general fund, as a reminder, the general fund was budgeted with a deficit of $675,500. And that deficit is due to the planned use of reserves for the public works facility. And when we have those final numbers from the audit, we'll report back on that. It has been every year since I would love to take credit for it, but it's been every year since I've been here, so this would be at a at a minimum the fourth year. Thank you. And the actual revenue so far is just uh is $33.6 million, which is about $115 of budget. Expenditures were budgeted at $28.9 million, and actual expenditures at the point that these reports were on were $27.1 million, which is 94% of budget. And that had nothing to do with community relations spending. It was a timing issue on one payment. And the transition year 2024 payment to the Aurora Area Convention and Visitor Bureau ended up getting posted to 2025. So the overpay the over budget amount is actually that 2024 payment that wasn't processed in time to get back into 2024. The transition year was under budget by the same amount. So I just want to clarify that it had nothing to do with overspending. Some items of note in the jet for general fund with the major revenue sources. So it makes sense that if the sales tax revenue is overperforming budget expectations, that the general fund as a whole is going to be you're going to see that that revenue above the hundred percent mark. Sales tax revenue was 10.5 million budgeted, 10.5 million. Sorry, that's coming coming out wrong. It was the actual is 10.5 million on a budget of 8.8 million. So that's 119% of budget. Whereas home rule sales tax revenue was $3.6 million on a budget of $3.1 million, which is $115% of budget. Income tax revenue, LGDF, was $6.2 million on a budget of $6 million, which is $104% of budget. While use tax was $554,000 on a budget of $900,000, which is 60% of budget. The reason that use tax was so far under budget is because the state changed how some revenues are classified.

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