City of Rochelle Council Chambers
420 N 6th Street, Rochelle ILL 61068
I. CALL TO ORDER
• Pledge to the Flag
• Prayer
II. ROLL CALL:
III. PROCLAMATIONS, COMMENDATIONS, ETC:
IV. REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS:
• Mayor
• Council Members
- Employee Introduction - pdf Ryan Beery (61 KB)
V. PUBLIC COMMENTARY:
• YMCA/Recreation Center Project
VI. BUSINESS ITEMS:
1) CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS BY OMNIBUS VOTE with Recommendations:
a) Approve Minutes of City Council Meeting – pdf November 24, 2014 (101 KB)
b) Approve Bills – pdf 111414-112014 (113 KB) , pdf 112114-112614 (88 KB)
c) Approve Payroll – pdf 111014-112314 (50 KB)
d) pdf Approve City of Rochelle Meeting Dates for 2015 (101 KB)
e) pdf Approve City of Rochelle Legal Holidays for 2015 (22 KB)
2) Ordinance Adopting 2014 Tax Levy
3) Ordinance Abating the Taxes Levied for 2014 - Taxable General Obligation Bonds
VII. DISCUSSION ITEMS:
1) City of Rochelle and Rochelle Municipal Utilities Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
VIII. EXECUTIVE SESSION
IX. ADJOURNMENT
Agenda Item #2 Ordinance Adopting 2014 Tax Levy
References:
pdf
Memo from Finance Manager Chris Frye
(86 KB)
pdf
Real Estate Tax Rate Extension
(16 KB)
pdf
Ordinance Levying Taxes for the City of Rochelle
(49 KB)
Recommended Action:
Consider an Ordinance Levying Taxes for the City of Rochelle
History and Fact:
The State of Illinois requires the City annually to adopt and file a Property Tax Levy Ordinance on or before the last Tuesday in December. Last year, the City's Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) was $215,682,064 and its property tax rate was $1.004830 per $100 of EAV, which allowed the city to collect $2,167,238.09 in property taxes. For the upcoming year, Ogle County has estimated the City's EAV at $220,647,530.
Discussion: Finance Manager Chris Frye led a discussion on the 2014 Tax Levy at the November 24th City Council meeting. The Fire and Police Pension Boards have requested that council fully fund their recommendations based on actuarial studies. The Fire Pension Board is seeking a contribution from property taxes of $254,297. The Police Pension Board is seeking a contribution of $299,688.
The proposed levy calculations include fully funding the pension boards' recommendations. However, the City will need to transfer funds from other sources to eliminate the negative fund balances in the Social Security, IMRF and insurance funds. The property tax rates for general corporate, fire protection, police protection, crossing guard and street lighting will remain the same as compared to last year since they are already at the maximum rate allowable.
Recommendation:
Approve an Ordinance Levying Property Taxes for the City of Rochelle for the Fiscal Year May 1, 2014 through April 30, 2015
Agenda Item #3 Ordinance Abating the Taxes Levied for 2014 – Taxable General Obligation Bonds
References:
pdf Ordinance Abating the Taxes Levied for 2014 – Taxable General Obligation Bonds (143 KB)
Recommended Action:
Consider an Ordinance Abating the Taxes Levied for 2014 to Pay Debt Service on Taxable General Obligation Bonds
History and Fact:
In 2010 the Mayor and Council approved an ordinance providing for the issuance of bonds to finance offsite improvements related to the Lighthouse Pointe Subdivision and Route 38 corridor. The City subsequently issued Taxable General Obligation Bonds, Series 2010 (Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds) in the amount of $2,940,000. In April of 2013, due to federal budget cuts which affected the subsidy available through the Recovery Zone Bond program, the council approved the issuance of General Obligation Refunding Bonds in an amount not to exceed $3,125,000, which included interest and bond issuance costs.
Discussion:
The annual debt service related to these bonds will be paid through TIF revenues, instead of property taxes, when sufficient funds are available. In order to abate the property taxes, the proposed ordinance must be approved annually and forwarded to Lee and Ogle County.
Recommendation:
Approve an Ordinance Abating the Taxes Levied for 2014 to Pay Debt Service on Taxable General Obligation Bonds
Discussion Item #1 City of Rochelle and Rochelle Municipal Utilities Geographic Information System (GIS)
In June of 2013 the Mayor and Council approved a License Agreement with the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) for Geographic Information System (GIS) software. This type of system is designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage and display all types of geographically referenced data. In addition to mapping infrastructure, the database allows for the storage of associated information that is valuable for both maintenance and asset management. Since that time, Cloudpoint Geographics has assisted the City and RMU with gathering and entering a great deal of information into the GIS database.
Owner/CEO of Cloudpoint Geographics Jonathan Hodel and Geospatial Services Manager Micah Williamson will present information on how the City and RMU are progressing with GIS and respond to questions from the Mayor and Council.
