Dupage Policy Journal

City of Elmhurst Finance Council Affairs & Administrative Services Committee met Sept. 9

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

1. Call to Order

Chair Talluto called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

2. Roll Call 

Committee Members Present: Talluto, Jensen, Nudera, Irby

Committee Members Absent:

Other Elected Officials Present: Curran, Nardini (7:08), Levin (7:30), Tamer (7:28)

City Staff and Others Present: Coyle (Remote), Bruns (Remote), Kravets, Grabowski, Palm, Ivancevic; Mark Siefert, Baxter & Woodman; Dan Virgil

3. Public Comment – None.

4. Receipt of Written Communication – None.

5. Business Before the Committee

A. Minutes of the August 26, 2024, meeting of the Finance, Council Affairs & Administrative Services Committee

A motion to approve the minutes of the August 26, 2024, FCA&AS Committee meeting was made by Alderman Jensen and seconded by Alderman Nudera. Roll Call vote: 4 ayes, 0 nays. Motion duly carried.

B. Report – 2025 Health Savings Contribution and Insurance Renewal

HR Director Wagner presented a report on the Fiscal Year 2025 Health Savings Account contribution and insurance renewals. The Government Insurance Network (GIN) board, of which the City is a founding member, unanimously approved an insurance renewal package on August 21 for the plan year beginning January 1, 2025. The renewal includes a 9% increase to the health plans and a 4.5% increase to the dental plans. Director Wagner noted that the preliminary renewal contemplated a PPO renewal of 15% and an HMO renewal of 10%. As such, the GIN members identified several strategies for reducing the percentage increase.

Per the IRS, for the City’s health savings account (HSA) plan to maintain an embedded deductible, the individual deductible must increase from $3,200 to $3,300 for single coverage and from $6,400 to $6,600 for family coverage. Collective bargaining agreements with the Police and Fire Unions requires the City to contribute to each covered employee’s HSA account 50% of the deductible for the coverage elected by the employee. Staff recommends increasing the contribution for non-represented employees to maintain parity for all employees. A motion to approve the report, recommending the City approve the 2025 insurance premiums as presented and increasing the City’s health savings account contribution to half of the new deductible, was made by Alderman Irby and seconded by Alderman Nudera. Roll Call vote: 4 ayes, 0 nays. Motion duly carried.

C. Water Rate Structure Analysis

Chair Talluto provided and overview of the water rate discussions that took place at the beginning of the year, noting that the idea of a tiered water rate structure was proposed as an option for consideration at that time and that the Committee tabled for conversation at a later date. The City’s consultant, Baxter & Woodman, has since conducted a tiered water structure analysis and attended the Committee meeting to present their initial findings and proposed alternatives for a potential tiered water rate structure. Chair Talluto pointed out that discussion before the Committee today was strictly limited to the water rate structure, and did not include discussion of the water rates required for 2025.

Mark Siefert of Baxter & Woodman presented on the water rate structure analysis. He began by explaining the assumptions for the analysis which included usage trends from 2020 through 2023, with all rate alternatives targeting 2023 revenue as the revenue goal. Presented to the Committee were five (5) alternatives to the City’s current rate structure, focused solely on the water volumetric rate charged by the City. Each alternative offered an inclining block rate structure which provides for a different rate for each tier, or range of water usage in thousands of gallons. This rate structure promotes water conservation and may provide a discount for low volume users; however, it may result in lower revenue due to less demand and is a more complex system for users to understand. The Committee discussed the alternatives presented. Additional information was requested for further consideration, including a comparison of usage as a percentage of the whole, to the revenue as a percentage of the whole for the alternatives. A request was also made for an additional alternative with tiers for usage from 0-5 kgal, 5-30 kgal, and 30+ kgals.

6. Other Business – None.

7. Adjournment

A motion to adjourn was made by Alderman Jensen and seconded by Alderman Nudera.  Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:43 p.m.

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