Category: Taxes

MWRD Board Approves Amendment to Ethics Ordinance

1/25/2020

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
January 23, 2020

Board Decisions:

The Amendment to the Ethics Ordinance of the MWRD of Chicago was passed unanimously without discussion. Commissioners Shore and Steele expressed how gratified they were to see this come to fruition.
There were a considerable number of items that requested an increase of existing purchase orders. The authority to increase the purchase order with the law firm of Neal & Leroy came under scrutiny from several commissioners. Commissioner Davis stated that these orders came up for change too often because they did not adhere to the fee policy of 2018. He suggested three choices: live within the policy, eliminate it or amend it. Commissioner Garcia observed that the board was not sufficiently well prepared and in possession of all the necessary facts before being asked to render decisions. There is a need for more timely response from staff when commissioners have questions. VOTE: 7 ayes 1 nay (Davis)

Board Discussion:

Commissioner Shore raised concerns with (pipeline) perpetual easements and their risk to the MWRD. Given that they are perpetual, can they be renegotiated to respond to a change in risk. The MWRD attorney said renegotiation was unlikely, but these easements still must meet insurance requirements and compliance expectations. All pipelines have IEPA and EPA requirements they must meet. Commissioners Shore and Morita expressed a need to review perpetual pipeline agreements and to address at a policy level.
State of Illinois 2020 Legislative Program. The deadline to submit this program was January 24, 2020 (the following day). While the commissioners were in support of the program, several expressed some frustration that there was no time to address their questions given the deadline. They were reassured by the legislative head that there were already shell bills in place, allowing for flexibility. Legislative initiative #2 was deemed particularly important because it would allow registered voters outside the District’s corporate boundaries to vote for the MWRD commissioners. Currently they pay county taxes, but are disenfranchise.

Observer - Georgia Gebhardt

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MWRD Board Passes $1.15 Billion 2020 Budget - Includes 1.4% Increase in Tax Levy

12/17/2019

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board - Special Meeting
December 12, 2019

In 30 minutes, the Board passed the 2020 Budget which reflected additional changes to the Tentative Budget from November 7. The vote was 8 to 0, with Commissioner McGowan being absent. Following are some highlights:

The total budget is 5.7% ($70 million) less than that for 2019, and reflects a decrease of 14 positions.
The total property tax levy is $652.6 million, up $9.3 million from 2019, a 1.4% increase.
$20 million, the accumulated investment income, is proposed to be transferred to the Retirement Fund to maintain growth in the Retirement Fund’s funded ratio. To make this transfer, a 2/3 vote will be required after March 1.
The District will utilize the one-time revenue from Chicago’s declaration of a TIF surplus for a one-time expenditure of a $10 million upgrade to the Enterprise Resource Planning System.
In addition, $5 million will be reserved and might be used to fund an additional payment to the Retirement Fund if statutory authority is received.

Further changes to the 2020 budget may be considered at the regular Board meeting on December 19, at which time the budget will be finalized.

Observer - Priscilla Mims

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Water Reclamation Board Names New Committee Chairs and Hires Federal Lobbyist

1/28/2019

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board of Commissioners Meeting
January 24, 2019

What did the Board Approve?

The Board approved (8 Yeas and 1 abstention) a motion designating committee chairs and vice-chairs for the 2019-20 Standing Committees. (Agenda Item #43) Comm. Davis abstained, saying he didn’t understand the scope of his authority as a committee chair and requesting a study session to describe chairs’ roles; President Kara Steele agreed to conduct such a session in February.
After a brief deferral requested by Cmm. Spyropoulos, the Board unanimously approved the contract (deferred from the previous meeting) for Perform Federal Legislative Lobbying Services. Though there was some discussion about whether these were the best possible lobbyists, the need to have someone working in Washington before the end of January to wrap up the MWRD’s contract with the Army Corps of Engineers ultimately carried the day. Comm. Spyropoulos also deferred, and then lifted the deferral, for a contract (deferred from the previous meeting) to hire a law firm to do other lobbying.
The Board unanimously approved the appointment of Comm. DuBuclet and Comm. Spyropoulos to serve as trustees of the District’s Retirement Fund.
The Board unanimously approved a tax levy rebate, reducing by $6.1 million its original budget of $238.7 million.

What else did the Board Discuss?

The President agreed to schedule a second study session in February to develop an official position on climate change and remediation.
During both of the public comment periods Mike Archy from TPM Strategies spoke, complaining that the District bragged about its accomplishments while it overpaid for services and had projects running years behind schedule.

Observer - Kelly Kleiman Meeting Length: 90 minutes

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MWRD Finalizes 2016 Budget of $1.24 Billion and 2016 Property Tax Levy of $578 Million

1/1/2016

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Observers: Priscilla Mims and Laura Davis
Meeting Date: December 17, 2015

Significant Decisions Made:

The 2016 Budget. The MWRD Board at a Special Meeting on December 10 voted to approve a budget of $1,251,955,410 for the 2016 fiscal year that begins January 1. Per law, the MWRD may revise the budget at the first regular Board meeting following that vote. At this meeting, the Board approved a $20,000 increase to the Corporate Fund, bringing the total budget to $1,251,955,430. The total budget for 2016 is $38 million higher, or 3.2% greater, than that for 2015. The total number of positions is 1,976 (6 more positions than in 2015). Motions to reconsider the budget failed, which means that the 2016 budget is now final.

The full budget is available on the MWRD web site: www.mwrd.org.

The 2016 Property Tax Levy. The MWRD also finalized the total 2016 property tax levy of $577,833,062. The MWRD votes separately for the tax levies for each of the different funds: Corporate, Construction, Reserve Claim, Stormwater Management, Retirement, and Bond Redemption and Interest funds. Motions to reconsider these tax levies also failed, meaning that the tax levy is finalized. This is $18 million greater than 2015, which is a 3.3% increase.

Items to Watch for the Future:

New rules for public speakers. Under existing procedures, speakers may speak separately up to 3 minutes each on any individual item. They may also ask questions within that time period. At this meeting, George Blakemore spoke separately on several different items. A member of the Green Party also spoke and raised questions on different items that were responded to by Executive Director David St. Pierre following the 3 minute speaker limitation. Commissioner Michael Alvarez suggested that the MWRD Board look at other government bodies’ rules for public speakers and change to conform to them. Presumably, this will mean allowing a speaker to only speak once, rather than separately on different items. It may also mean eliminating the ability of speakers to raise questions that will be responded to.

Broadcasts of meetings. Commissioner Frank Avila asked that the Board look at televising the meetings on a public access channel. Currently, one can watch the meeting live via the web site, and videos of the meeting are made available on the web site after a short delay.

Next Meeting: January 7, 2016 at 10 am.

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MWRD Board Approves Amendment to Ethics Ordinance

MWRD Board Passes $1.15 Billion 2020 Budget - Includes 1.4% Increase in Tax Levy

Water Reclamation Board Names New Committee Chairs and Hires Federal Lobbyist

MWRD Finalizes 2016 Budget of $1.24 Billion and 2016 Property Tax Levy of $578 Million

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