OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Rockford Finance and Personnel Committee Meeting - August 24, 2026

Meeting PortalMonday, August 24, 2026
BodyRockford, Illinois
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, August 24, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 23:39

Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

Oh okay.

1:44

Where did you see that?

1:46

Oh, that's where I'm just going to be able to do that.

2:15

All right.

2:16

Welcome to the finance and personnel committee meeting held tonight, Monday, August 24th.

2:20

Sir Clerk, you please take roll.

2:22

Here.

2:23

Here.

2:24

Here.

2:25

All right, thank you.

2:26

The first item is information only item.

2:29

It's um a financial discussion for July twenty twenty-six.

2:33

Yes, sir.

2:33

Ms.

2:34

Hagar.

2:34

Yes.

2:35

Uh thank you, uh Alderman.

2:37

So this is July uh year to date, so seven months into the fiscal year.

2:43

Uh a couple of things that I I certainly want to point out as we're all paying uh extra close attention to general fund performance throughout uh twenty twenty six.

2:52

Um the uh major revenues um you can see here several trends continue.

2:58

We can see income taxes over budget, sales taxes slightly under budget.

3:02

Uh the the item I want to call attention to is the replacement tax or PPRT.

3:08

Um so the the uh Department of Revenue provides us with estimates on uh where revenues will land for the upcoming state fiscal year, which started in July.

3:20

Um obviously our fiscal year spans to state fiscal years, but they uh the last uh bit of guidance we got from them that came last week indicated that they expect a twenty-one percent increase in PPRT collections for state fiscal year twenty twenty-seven.

3:36

Um that would begin with disbursements the second half of the fiscal year for us.

3:42

So we would see some of that increase in twenty twenty-six and then carried forward into twenty twenty-seven.

3:49

That increase amounts to uh approximately one million dollar increase in twenty twenty-six.

3:56

So we would anticipate and so the the um shortfall from budget shrunk uh from the last presentation, which was four of eight disbursements.

4:07

And we expect to see that continue to decline through the last three disbursements that we'll see for the f for our fiscal year.

4:15

Um so we anticipate that that two million dollar shortfall uh will become approximately a one million dollar shortfall by year end and PPRT, which is uh a bit of welcome news in the general fund, and that again that increase will uh will carry forward into the twenty twenty-seven projections on uh PPRT revenue uh for that fiscal year.

4:40

I want to point out that the you know, the state collects all of this revenue.

4:45

It's personal property replacement tax because it replaced a tax that was levied and collected at the city level in the 70s um by a statewide tax, and it's dispersed to all of the communities uh by a formula based on who had the tax at the time and how much we collected at the time.

5:03

So Rockford's one of the biggest recipients of PPRT um from a municipal perspective.

5:09

The state, however, uh will budget at times transfers out of the PPRT fund for state purposes before it gets dispersed to municipalities.

5:21

And apparently the transfers that occurred the last state fiscal year were significant and uh anticipated to be reduced significantly in fiscal year 2027, which explains um a good portion of the increase that we're seeing in our own receipts.

5:39

So I just wanted to share that information with everyone.

5:42

It's a good piece of um news for us from a budget perspective, um, considering where we've seen PPRT receipts uh land in the last couple of fiscal years.

5:54

Um that said, overall, uh right now, right now we're approximately 2.7 million dollars under budget in revenue collections or about 2.2 percent of that 2 million is due to PPRT underperformance.

6:09

Uh on the expense side, uh if you look at page two, uh, we're showing several uh operating divisions over budget.

6:18

I want to point out that the uh the expenses incurred in the finance department and community and economic development departments that are pushing us into over budget territory where one-time expenses, so we don't we still anticipate that both of both finance and CED will end the year on budget.

6:37

Uh fire and police commission has sort of spikes in their spending that can drive um expenses up, but it will level out by year end, and then workforce investment board is showing slightly over budget as well.

6:51

Um we we only expend what they receive in in grant funds, so wherever the the uh workforce investment board lands, we will have revenue to offset that.

7:02

So even if they're over budget, that means we'll collect additional revenue to cover that expense.

7:07

I also want to point out that the fire department showing approximately 4.8 million over budget year to date.

7:14

Uh approximately two million of that is related to capital expenditures, both facilities and equipment that will be reimbursed by specific funding sources.

7:24

So on the uh equipment side, we will have lease proceeds to offset that expense.

7:29

And on the facility side, we will have a combination of ARPA revenue that will offset as well as uh casino revenue that's budgeted specifically for that purpose that will come from the casino fund into the general fund to cover that cost.

7:44

So just wanted to point those uh two items out.

7:48

Um overall, in the on the expenditure side, we are approximately 2.4 million over budget or about 1.9 million uh year to date.

7:58

Uh on the uh CAP fund, we're looking at um significant overperformance in CAP sales tax, about 1.4 million year to date, and that's after just five dispers five of 12 disbursements, so uh really positive performance there.

8:13

And in the redevelopment fund, slightly under budget, about 188,000 year to date.

8:19

Um happy to answer any questions anyone has.

8:23

Can you promise you'll bring us more good news like this?

8:25

I will do my darndest every month.

8:29

All right, thank you.

8:30

Yes, thank you.

8:31

All right, moving on.

8:32

Uh, there's an information on the item for a change order of the Mason Avenue reconstruction.

8:37

Um proposed change order of $30,264.81 cents uh includes additional work related on suitable soil conditions, larger manholes, and additional storm support improvements for erosion controls, the funding stores uh is the DCO and 1% infrastructure sales tax.

8:54

Any questions on that?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Works███████████████████████████████████████████43%
Fiscal Sustainability███████████████████████████████31%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████████████14%
Tax Increment Financing████████████12%
Summary of Proceedings

Rockford Finance and Personnel Committee Meeting – August 24, 2026

The Finance and Personnel Committee met on Monday, August 24, 2026 at 5:30 PM at City Hall. The committee reviewed the July 2026 financial report, a change order, and approved a series of resolutions including contracts, grants, and bid awards. All votes were unanimous.

Information Only Items

  • Financial Discussion – July 2026: Finance Director Hagar presented a year-to-date update. Key points: income taxes over budget, sales taxes slightly under. Personal Property Replacement Tax (PPRT) is expected to increase by 21% in state fiscal year 2027, adding approximately $1 million to fiscal year 2026 receipts, reducing the projected shortfall from $2 million to $1 million. Overall revenues are approximately $2.7 million under budget (2.2%), primarily due to PPRT. Expenditures are approximately $2.4 million over budget year-to-date, but one-time expenses and reimbursements are expected to balance the year. CAP sales tax overperforming by $1.4 million after five disbursements.
  • Change Order – Mason Avenue Reconstruction: Proposed change order of $30,264.81 to Northern Illinois Service Co for unsuitable soil conditions, larger manholes, and additional storm sewer improvements for erosion control. Funded by DCEO and 1% Infrastructure Sales Tax.

Committee Reports

  • Vouchers: Approval of $9,707,390.16 in vouchers. Motion approved unanimously.
  • Mow-to-Own Program: Addition of city-owned property at 638 Whitman Street to the Mow-to-Own Program, with property to be part of an agreement with adjacent owner Jessica Cortinez. Motion approved unanimously.

Consent Calendar (Unanimously Approved Resolutions)

The following resolutions were approved without discussion or dissent:

  • Award of Bid: CDBG Sidewalk Repairs 2026 to T.C.I. Concrete ($704,353.50)
  • Award of Bid: City Wide Street Repairs Group No. 7 to Rock Road Companies ($2,052,716.65)
  • Award of Bid: Parking Lot 19 Reconstruction to N-Trak Group ($495,434.48)
  • Award of Bid: Easton Parkway Multi-Use Path to N-Trak Group ($217,479.96)
  • Engineering Agreement Supplement #2: Auburn Street Corridor Improvements to Crawford, Murphy & Tilly ($226,788.04 additional, amended total $1,233,449.04)
  • Award of Engineering Agreement: 15th Avenue over Rock River Bridge Replacement Construction Engineering to Crawford, Murphy & Tilly ($2,366,368.00)
  • Supplemental Appropriation of MFT funds for 15th Avenue Bridge Replacement ($2,000,000 additional, total $4,000,000)
  • City-State Joint Funding Agreement with IDOT for 15th Avenue Bridge Replacement (city share $4,187,743.00, funded by MFT and WRIA)
  • Community Foundation of Northern Illinois Family Crisis Grant Award ($25,597.94, no cost match)
  • HUD Continuum of Care Planning Grant Award ($189,675.00, 25% cost match from CSBG)
  • HUD Continuum of Care Rapid Youth Housing Grant Award ($129,089.00, 25% cost match from CSBG)
  • Award of Bid: Traffic Signal and Street Lighting Electrical Services to Helm Electric and William Charles (estimated $50,000/year, one-year contract with four possible one-year extensions)
  • Rejection of Bid: Public Works Materials (only one bid for asphalt; will re-bid to include stone aggregates)
  • Award of Joint Purchase: Network Cloud Storage to CDW Government ($745,000 over three years)
  • Award of Joint Purchase: Data Analytics Solutions and Services to Darkhorse Emergency LP ($89,500 year one, $49,500 annually thereafter)

Discussion Items

  • Rejection of Bid: Coronado Elevator Replacements: Alderman Pronti asked about frequency of rebids. Staff responded that it does not happen often; sometimes scope is unclear or prices exceed budget. This bid was significantly higher than anticipated. Motion to reject and rebid passed.
  • TIF Reimbursement for Armory (605 N Main St): A request to reimburse TIF increment generated from improvements to the Armory to the Rockford Area Arts Council (RAAC) for up to three years. Alderman Grant asked why RAAC, a nonprofit, paid property taxes into TIF. The Director of Community and Economic Development explained that RAAC took early possession of the property to secure a $1.5 million EPA remediation grant, triggering a tax assessment earlier than normal. The reimbursement is to return those TIF-generated taxes to RAAC because they would not have been paid under normal development timelines. Alderman Durkey asked about tax-exempt status and the three-year limit. Staff clarified that RAAC can apply for state tax exemption once the building is in use; the three-year buffer covers expected development timeline (2027). Alderman Durkey also inquired about the rule that nonprofits are only exempt if using the building; staff confirmed. Motion approved.

Key Outcomes

All votes were unanimous. Key decisions:

  • Approved $9,707,390.16 in vouchers.
  • Approved Mow-to-Own for 638 Whitman Street.
  • Approved 13 bid awards, contract awards, grants, and agreements totaling millions of dollars.
  • Rejected two bids (Public Works Materials and Coronado Elevator Replacements) and authorized re-bidding.
  • Approved TIF reimbursement to Rockford Area Arts Council for Armory improvements for up to three years.

Meeting Transcript

Oh okay. Where did you see that? Oh, that's where I'm just going to be able to do that. All right. Welcome to the finance and personnel committee meeting held tonight, Monday, August 24th. Sir Clerk, you please take roll. Here. Here. Here. All right, thank you. The first item is information only item. It's um a financial discussion for July twenty twenty-six. Yes, sir. Ms. Hagar. Yes. Uh thank you, uh Alderman. So this is July uh year to date, so seven months into the fiscal year. Uh a couple of things that I I certainly want to point out as we're all paying uh extra close attention to general fund performance throughout uh twenty twenty six. Um the uh major revenues um you can see here several trends continue. We can see income taxes over budget, sales taxes slightly under budget. Uh the the item I want to call attention to is the replacement tax or PPRT. Um so the the uh Department of Revenue provides us with estimates on uh where revenues will land for the upcoming state fiscal year, which started in July. Um obviously our fiscal year spans to state fiscal years, but they uh the last uh bit of guidance we got from them that came last week indicated that they expect a twenty-one percent increase in PPRT collections for state fiscal year twenty twenty-seven. Um that would begin with disbursements the second half of the fiscal year for us. So we would see some of that increase in twenty twenty-six and then carried forward into twenty twenty-seven. That increase amounts to uh approximately one million dollar increase in twenty twenty-six. So we would anticipate and so the the um shortfall from budget shrunk uh from the last presentation, which was four of eight disbursements. And we expect to see that continue to decline through the last three disbursements that we'll see for the f for our fiscal year. Um so we anticipate that that two million dollar shortfall uh will become approximately a one million dollar shortfall by year end and PPRT, which is uh a bit of welcome news in the general fund, and that again that increase will uh will carry forward into the twenty twenty-seven projections on uh PPRT revenue uh for that fiscal year. I want to point out that the you know, the state collects all of this revenue. It's personal property replacement tax because it replaced a tax that was levied and collected at the city level in the 70s um by a statewide tax, and it's dispersed to all of the communities uh by a formula based on who had the tax at the time and how much we collected at the time. So Rockford's one of the biggest recipients of PPRT um from a municipal perspective. The state, however, uh will budget at times transfers out of the PPRT fund for state purposes before it gets dispersed to municipalities. And apparently the transfers that occurred the last state fiscal year were significant and uh anticipated to be reduced significantly in fiscal year 2027, which explains um a good portion of the increase that we're seeing in our own receipts. So I just wanted to share that information with everyone. It's a good piece of um news for us from a budget perspective, um, considering where we've seen PPRT receipts uh land in the last couple of fiscal years. Um that said, overall, uh right now, right now we're approximately 2.7 million dollars under budget in revenue collections or about 2.2 percent of that 2 million is due to PPRT underperformance. Uh on the expense side, uh if you look at page two, uh, we're showing several uh operating divisions over budget. I want to point out that the uh the expenses incurred in the finance department and community and economic development departments that are pushing us into over budget territory where one-time expenses, so we don't we still anticipate that both of both finance and CED will end the year on budget. Uh fire and police commission has sort of spikes in their spending that can drive um expenses up, but it will level out by year end, and then workforce investment board is showing slightly over budget as well. Um we we only expend what they receive in in grant funds, so wherever the the uh workforce investment board lands, we will have revenue to offset that. So even if they're over budget, that means we'll collect additional revenue to cover that expense. I also want to point out that the fire department showing approximately 4.8 million over budget year to date. Uh approximately two million of that is related to capital expenditures, both facilities and equipment that will be reimbursed by specific funding sources. So on the uh equipment side, we will have lease proceeds to offset that expense. And on the facility side, we will have a combination of ARPA revenue that will offset as well as uh casino revenue that's budgeted specifically for that purpose that will come from the casino fund into the general fund to cover that cost. So just wanted to point those uh two items out. Um overall, in the on the expenditure side, we are approximately 2.4 million over budget or about 1.9 million uh year to date. Uh on the uh CAP fund, we're looking at um significant overperformance in CAP sales tax, about 1.4 million year to date, and that's after just five dispers five of 12 disbursements, so uh really positive performance there.

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