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MWRD Board Passes $1.2B Budget With No Discussion

12/20/2018

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting - December 13, 2018
Public Hearing on the Proposed Budget on December 6, 2018

By an 8-0 vote, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation Board took just 15 minutes to approve 11 items which resulted in a $1,203,988,541 budget for 2019. This is $53 million more than 2018, or a 4.6% increase. The property tax levy was raised to $643 million, an increase over 2018 of $20 million, or 3.3%. There was no discussion. (Commissioner Morita was absent.)

Next Step: The Board will consider amendments to the 2019 budget at the December 20 meeting, at which time the 2019 budget will be finalized.

Relevant Comments from December 6 Public Hearing on the Proposed Budget
The 2019 Budget that was passed on December 13 included a number of changes from the Tentative Budget Recommendation by the MWRD Executive Director dated October 13, and additional changes from the 2019 Tentative Budget published on November 20 (which reflected amendments to the October 13 Executive Director’s Recommendation).

At the December 6 Public Hearing, the Civic Federation, while overall supportive of the proposed budget, pointed out how confusing and difficult it is to review and comment on this ever-changing budget. The Civic Federation’s recommendation was that the final form of the budget that is to be considered by the Board should be published and made available to the public ahead of time. This is particularly important, said the Civic Federation, because the version of the budget passed by the Board often includes significant increases in the total appropriations and property tax levy from those contained in the Executive Director’s original recommendation, as well as from the Tentative Budget.

In this case, the version passed by the Board on December 13 varied from both the October 13 and November 20 versions (which is the version the Civic Federation reviewed and commented on) in a number of ways, including:

December 13 October 13 November 20
Total Appropriations: $1,203,988,541 $1,079,658,141 $1,092,299,141
Tax Levy: $ 642,783,809 $ 640,649,270 $ 640,649,270

The Civic Federation also recommended that the MWRD analyze the effect on its pension funding and have fall-back plans in case the District’s pension reform law were to be successfully challenged.

Observer - Priscilla Mims

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Water District Board Faces Questions About Lack of Insurance at Time of Calumet Explosion

12/8/2018

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting - December 6, 2018

This was the first Board meeting attended by the 3 new Board members elected in November: Cameron Davis, Kimberly DuBuclet, and Marcelino Garcia. All actively took part in the meeting, which was notable more for the discussion that occurred, than for the decisions made.

Issue of Property Insurance

During the Public Comment portion of the meeting, Michael Archey raised concerns about the timing and process followed by the District regarding the Purchase Order for Furnishing Property Insurance Coverage (Item 18: #18-1234) and said he would welcome the opportunity to speak more on this issue if invited by the Commissioners. Commissioner Davis did invite him to so speak when the item was being considered. Mr. Archey said that a prior Purchase Order for greater coverage (with a lower deductible and a higher premium) had been presented to the Board first at the June 21 meeting where it was deferred. The Board then unanimously voted to delete this item at the July 12 meeting (Item 28: #18-0560). While the Board is self-insured, starting in 2013 the Board began purchasing “excess” coverage in the event of a catastrophic event. As explained at the June 21 meeting, the Board has $30 million to cover losses, but has $11 billion in property assets.
The prior property insurance policy expired on July 17, 2018. The explosion at the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant, which injured workers and the plant, occurred on August 30 when no policy was in effect.
Mr. Archey said that the Board’s failure to timely enter into a new policy left taxpayers exposed to footing the bill for the costs associated with the Calumet explosion. He urged that the Board look into the reasons for the delay in obtaining coverage and why the current proposal is better than the one in effect rejected (by virtue of the Board deleting the item) in July, even as he welcomed the Board approving this item to reduce future taxpayer exposure.
The Board did approve the new insurance policy with no further discussion. Question: should/will the Board follow-up on the issues raised by Mr. Archey?

MBE/WBE Paricipation

Commissioner Garcia made clear that one of his primary focuses will be on increasing the use of Minority and Women Owned/Run Business Enterprises (“MBE/WBE”) in contracts and purchase orders at the MWRD. Accordingly, Commissioner Garcia inquired about participation by MBE/WBE with all contracts and purchase orders presented for approval by the Board. He questioned whether the District could become more creative in seeking such participation.
All such contracts and purchase orders were ultimately approved as presented, but expect to hear more about this in the future.

Award to Chicago Tribune

Ultimately, the Board approved using the Chicago Tribune for publishing legal notices and invitations to bid for a one-year period beginning January 1, 2019 for $56,000. The Sun-Times, the low bidder by $1,400, was disqualified because the paper did not have a minimum daily circulation of 100,000 as set by the request for proposal (“RFP”). (Other, much higher, bids were from the Lawndale New Group for $196,000 and from the Chicago Defender Newspaper for $227,500.) During the discussion, the Commissioners expressed concern that this requirement (which is there to ensure wide circulation) currently results in only the Tribune being qualified to win such an RFP. The Sun-Times misses the threshold by 407. The Tribune has a circulation of over 400,000.
Staff did say that the District uses other outlets, including online services, to get the word out about employment and contract opportunities. The Commissioners asked for a list of such online sites and other publications being used and will provide a list of others that the Commissioners think the Staff should consider. In addition, the Staff is to provide information on the history of the circulation requirement and the circulations of publications.
Commissioner McGowan lifted her request for deferral of awarding this contract because the Board did not have the ability to change the circulation requirement for this RFP that had been previously approved to be issued. Thus the award was approved. (Item 24: 18-1254)

Observer - Priscila Mims
Length of meeting: 2 hours, 5 minutes, including a 5-minute break and 25-minute Executive Session.

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MWRD Budget Committee Hears Departmental Presentations on 2019 Proposed Budget of $1.092 Billion

12/6/2018

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Metropolitan Water & Reclamation District Committee on Budget & Employment
Departmental Presentations for 2019 Budget - November 1, 2018

Acting Executive Director John Murray gave an overview of the proposed 2019 budget:

$1.092 budget is 5.1% less than in 2018, but would include a 3.1% increase in the property tax levy over 2018
Decrease in overall budget due to the timing of capital projects and payments
2019 emphasis on maintenance
2019 includes large (39.4%) increase to storm water management function over 2018, including transfers of employees from other areas
Controlling energy costs (basically flat and projected over the next 5 years) touted
Continued appropriations for Retirement Fund to increase funded ratio (as of Dec. 31, 2017 was 58.3%)

Each Department Head gave a short presentation of 2018 accomplishments and plans for 2019.

Brian Perkovich, Acting Director of Maintenance & Operations
Catherine A. O’Connor, Director of Engineering
Edward W. Podczenwinski, Director of Monitoring & Research
Jacqueline Torres, Clerk/Director of Finance
Susan T. Morakalis, General Counseil
Darlene A. LoCascio, Director of Procurement & Materials Management
General Administration:
- Eileen M. McElligott, Administrative Services Officer
- Regina D. Berry, Diversity Adminstrator
- Allison Fore, Public and Intergovernmental Affairs Officer
John H. Sudduth, Director of Information Technology
Beverly K. Sanders, Director of Human Resources
Board of Directors presented by Nicholas O’Connor, Administrative Aide to President and MaryAnn Boyle, Treasureer
Susan Boutin, Executive Director, MWRD Retirement Fund

This was the opportunity for MWRD Commissioners to ask questions. There were only a few, the majority of which were by Commissioners Avila, Shore and Spyropolous.

Next steps in the budget process:

Thursday, Dec. 6 at 2 pm: Public Hearing
Thursday, Dec. 13 at 10:30 am: Special Board Meeting to adopt budget
Thursday, Dec. 20 at 10:30 am: Any final budget amendments to be adopted

Observer: Priscilla Mims

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MWRD Board Passes $1.2B Budget With No Discussion

Water District Board Faces Questions About Lack of Insurance at Time of Calumet Explosion

MWRD Budget Committee Hears Departmental Presentations on 2019 Proposed Budget of $1.092 Billion

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