Rockford Finance & Personnel Committee Meeting - December 8, 2025
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Rockford Finance & Personnel Committee Meeting - December 8, 2025
The Finance & Personnel Committee met on December 8, 2025, at 5:30 PM in City Hall, Rockford, Illinois. The committee reviewed the quarterly investment report, approved vouchers totaling $9,438,471.96, and passed a memorandum of understanding for the Rockford Complete Streets Revitalization Project. All resolutions on the agenda were approved unanimously.
Information Only: Quarterly Investment Report
- Presented by Ms. Hagar for the quarter ending September 30, 2025.
- Core account total return: 1.24% for the quarter, 4.09% rolling 12-month.
- Short-term account: 1.14% quarterly, 4.15% annually.
- MFT account: 1.18% quarterly, 4.38% annually.
- All investments comply with the city's investment policy.
- Alderman questioned administrative costs. Staff later clarified that PFM fees are approximately $80,000 annually, consisting of 10 basis points (0.10%) on the first $25 million, 8 basis points on the next $25 million, and 7 basis points on the next $50 million. Returns are reported before administrative costs.
Committee Reports
- Approval of vouchers in the amount of $9,438,471.96: Motion carried unanimously.
- Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Rockford, State of Illinois, and Rockford Mass Transit District for the Rockford Complete Streets Revitalization Project (Supplement 1): Approved unanimously. Alderman Logan noted the funding split is approximately 53% city, 47% state, with the state handling administrative functions for the grant.
Resolutions
- Resolution A: Appropriation of Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) funds for 2026 General Maintenance under the Illinois Highway Code in the amount of $7,703,328.04. Approved unanimously.
- Resolution B: Approval of the 2025 Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Grant Award from the Department of Justice in the amount of $33,600 with a required cost match of $33,600. Grant term is two years from award date. Funds will replace vests expiring within two years. Alderman Logan asked about vest count; staff estimated approximately 105 vests. Approved unanimously.
- Resolution C: Change Order for Communication Equipment to GenComm Inc., Madison, Wisconsin. Original amount $2,991,170.40; change order $187,388.46; amended amount $3,178,558.86. Covers additional work due to difficulties securing VHF frequencies for the new Simulcast Public Safety Communication System, including dual-band mobile radios for improved in-building coverage and interoperability. Funded by Fire Department Operating Budget. Approved unanimously.
- Resolution D: Award of Bid for Emergency and Vacant Property Board-ups (Bid No. 725-CD-090) to A&A Lawn Care, CMM & Associates, LDR Cleaning, Marbros Co., and Servpro, all of Rockford, IL. Estimated annual contract amount $60,000 based on unit pricing. One-year contract with four possible one-year extension options; CPI adjustments considered at renewal only. Funded by Construction Services Budget. Approved unanimously.
- Resolution E: Contract Renewal for Third Party Administrator for medical/hospital benefits for the City of Rockford Health Insurance Plan with BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois at $59.35 per employee per month. Estimated annual administration cost after rebates: $667,560. One-year contract. Funded by Health Insurance Fund. Approved unanimously.
- Resolution F: Contract Renewal for Third Party Administrator for dental benefits with BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois at $3.50 per employee per month. Estimated annual cost: $52,500 based on average 1,255 employees. One-year contract. Staff noted the city is now self-funded for dental; the $3.50 is the Blue Cross administration fee. No increase from prior year. Approved unanimously.
- Resolution G: Contract Renewal for employer-paid group term life insurance with Metropolitan Life Insurance at $0.08 per $1,000 of life insurance and $0.25 per $1,000 of AD&D coverage. Estimated annual premium: $80,823. One-year contract, funded by Health Insurance Fund. Approved unanimously.
- Resolution H: Approval and Acceptance of Administration of Children and Families, Office of Head Start Annual Continuation of Head Start/Early Head Start Services Grant Award in the amount of $8,793,903 with a required cost match of $2,198,476. Grant term April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2028; continuation period April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027. Funds provide comprehensive school readiness, family engagement, and health services to 714 low-income children and families in Winnebago County, including pregnant women and children birth to five years. Approved unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- All agenda items passed unanimously.
- The committee received the quarterly investment report with discussion on fees.
- No public comments were made.
- Meeting adjourned after the final vote.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Welcome to the finance and personnel committee meeting held tonight this number eight. Sir Clerk, can you please take roll? Here. Thank you. Um, first item is a uh quarterly investment report uh through September 30, 2025. Who's gonna present it? Ms. Hagar, you could right hand. Uh yeah, so this would be uh quarter ending September 30th. Uh in our core account total return over the quarter was 1.24 percent, short-term account was one point one four percent, and MFT was one point one eight for a 12-month of uh four point four point zero nine, four point one five, and four point three eight, respectively. Um total return for the year. Um all of our investments comply with the investment policy, and um happy to answer any specific questions anyone has. Are there any questions? That's you that 4.08 year to date. Uh that's a rolling 12 months. Okay. Yes. Is that the net or are administrative costs above that or out of that? Uh that is before that is uh before administrative costs. So can we know what that number is now? Uh I don't have it off the top of my head, but I'm happy to provide that to you. Are we satisfied with that return? We are, yes. It's uh, you know, our investment uh returns are are excuse me, our investment options are uh strictly limited by uh state statute in Illinois, um very different from what the pension funds can invest in. So we would expect to see much different returns. Our fixed income uh uh limits are much higher than they are for the pension funds. Um this uh performance has um substantially outperformed what we were able to do on our own. Um and we're very happy with the performance from PFM so far. Yeah, so Mr. Chairman, I was just curious if the administrative cost ran at least one percent, perhaps more. Uh, then we're looking at three percent rolling for for the year. And that's why I'm wondering if that really in terms of what we've seen. Um I know they're not as risky at investment as maybe a private, but if they think that's good, then we'll go with it. I I hope it's not one point that we're paying. No, we're not paying one point. Okay, yeah. So it's not no, it's not. I don't I don't know what it is, but but I'll look it up right now. It would be less than a point, you would think. Maybe half a percent. Otherwise, there's a local firm we could use we want to pay more than a point. Okay. You want to get back to his later yeah, okay. We'll move on. Uh Alderman to Murder. Points. Yes. One point. Yeah, I know.
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