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Board of Finance Meeting Minutes 2017

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Meeting Minutes

02-23-2017 Board of Finance

February 23, 2017 Board of Finance Minutes

MICHAEL FORBES, PRESIDENT MARK BARENIE BETH HERNANDEZ CLERK-TREASURER
MARK BARENIE, VICE-PRESIDENT STEVE HASTINGS STEVE KIL, TOWN MANAGER
CHRISTIAN JORGENSEN   DAVID AUSTGEN, ATTORNEY

CALL TO ORDER:

Mr. Forbes called the February 23, 2017, Special Meeting for the Board of Finance to order at 7:05 p.m.

ROLL CALL:

Clerk Treasurer, Beth Hernandez took roll call with the following members present: Michael Forbes, Greg Volk, Mark Barenie, Steve Hastings. Attorney David Austgen was present. Town Manager, Steve Kil, was present. Christian Jorgensen was absent.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS:

Mr. Forbes stated that the first item was the election of officers. He asked if there were any nominations for President. Mr. Volk nominated Mr. Forbes for President. Mr. Forbes asked for any other nominations. There were none. The motion was carried by voice vote (4.0). Ayes --- all. Nays --- none.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: January 28th, 2016 Special Meeting

Mr. Forbes asked if there were any questions on the January 28, 2016 meeting minutes. Hearing none, Mr. Forbes stated he would entrain a motion. Mr. Barenie made a motion to approve the minutes. Mr. Volk seconded the motion. The motion was carried by voice vote (4.0). Ayes --- all. Nays --- none.

NEW BUSINESS:

A. Consider the 2016 Annual Finance Report
Mr. Barenie stated St. John is in a good financial position and the Town received another AA Credit Rating from Standard and Poors. A couple of key areas to mention are Cash Balances, Not-for-Profits, Municipalities, Government Entities, and Local Units. The Town has a cash balance of $23,016,000, which is about $160,000 ahead from the previous year's cash balance. The General Fund was actually over budget by 51 percent with $535,000 and under budget expenses with $210,000 or 4.61 percent. The Town watched its spending and received additional housing money.

Home Construction was strong in 2016 with 219 new residential housing that generated fees of approximately $633,000. On page seven of the report, it lists tax rates for 13 different municipalities. St. John is at 0.5 tax rate and Winfield is the only other community that is lower. St John has a lower tax rate than Lowell, Cedar Lake, Hobart, Hammond, East Chicago, Whiting, Highland, Munster, Merrillville, Crown Point, Dyer, and Schererville. Winfield does not have their own Public Safety-no fire or police-so if they had to pay for those services, their tax rate would probably be higher.

All of the other documents are favorable as well. St. John does have bonds for Building Corporations, Water Works and Utilities with Schererville for new buildings and water towers. The overall debt is about $24,000,000. It is broken down into categories. The Building Corporation debt is about $10,000,000. The Water Works debt is about $4,500,000. The Sewer debt is about $5,500,000. There are also some road bonds, which are about $4,000,000. All together that gets to the total debt of $24,000,000.

Mr. Barenie explained that he also looks at the quarterly reports, which provide information on how to budget for the Clerk-Treasurer's office, the Town Council, and all of the other departments. The Town is a little over on revenues for 2016 compared to the prior year 2015. The Town is also below expenses compared to the previous year by approximately $150,000. St. John is doing well from a financial standpoint.

Mr. Forbes stated that he would like to entertain a motion to accept the 2016 Annual Finance Report as submitted. "So moved," by Mr. Hastings. Mr. Barenie seconded the motion. The motion was carried by voice vote (4/0). Ayes ---all. Nays ---none.

ADJOURNMENT:

Mr. Forbes stated he would entertain a motion to adjourn. “So moved,” by Mr. Volk. Mr. Barenie seconded the motion. The motion was carried by voice vote (4.0). Ayes --- all. Nays --- none.

(The meeting adjourned at 7:12 p.m.)

ATTEST:

_____________________________________________________
Beth R. Hernandez
Clerk-Treasurer

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