Government Center

719 S. Batavia Ave., Bldg. A

Geneva, IL 60134

Kane County

KC Human Services Committee

Meeting Minutes

SURGES, Linder, Allan, Kenyon, Lewis, Silva, Tarver & ex-officios Pierog (County Chair) and

Tepe (County Vice Chair)

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

9:00 AM

County Board Room

Call To Order

Chairman Surges called the meeting to order at 9:05 AM.

Roll Call

After Roll Call, an in-person quorum was not established as of 9:06 a.m.

Chairman Surges stated that a Roll Call would be taken again at 9:15 a.m. to establish

an in-person quorum. If a quorum is not established at that time, the meeting will be

suspended. Surges moved to the Department of Human Resource Management's

(HRM) monthly reports.

An additional Roll Call was called at 9:17 a.m. An in-person quorum was established at

9:18 a.m. Surges moved on with the regularly scheduled agenda items.

Board Member Clifford Surges

PRESENT

Board Member Michael Kenyon

Board Member Anita Lewis

Ex-Officio County Board Chair Corinne M. Pierog

Ex-Officio County Board Vice Chair Vern Tepe

Board Member Michael Linder

Board Member Deborah Allan

Board Member Monica Silva

REMOTE

ABSENT

Board Member Bill Tarver

Also present: Co. Bd. Members Bates*, Berman, Juby, Kious, Molina*, Roth; HRM

Exec. Dir. Lobrillo; Auditor Wegman; ASA Cermak; Spec. ASA Shepro*; ITD staff

Peters; KDOT Deputy Dir. Rickert & staff Zakosek; and members of the press and

public.

Remote Attendance Requests

Chairman Surges announced the remote attendance requests for today's meeting. He

asked the Committee if there were any objections to Committee Members Allan,

Linder, Silva attending today's meeting remotely. There were no objections.

Approval of Minutes: June 12, 2024

RESULT:

MOVER:

APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT

Michael Kenyon

Public Comment (Agenda Items)

Kane County Resident, Adam Pauley, spoke in support of the proclamation recognizing

June as Pride Month 2024 in Kane County, Illinois. He explained that a vote in favor for

this proclamation is to acknowledge the LGBTQ Community and celebrating

Americans' rights and freedoms. The proclamation also shows the importance of

having informed groups of citizens to make sure items like this get remembered.

Pauley spoke on the tardiness of the proclamation. At yesterday's County Board

meeting, he spoke on the Declaration of Independence. A founding document that

derives our rights and freedoms directly from natural law, which was fortified into

America's Constitution. Pauley quoted the U.S. Constitution, "We the People of the

United States, in order to form a more perfect union,". He stated that a "yes" vote on

this proclamation will be a continuation of those words that have defined the America's

history. This vote will acknowledge not just the LGBTQ Community, but also the rights

and freedoms that all Kane County citizens enjoy. Lastly, Pauley acknowledged District

13 County Board Member Mike Linder for his historical contributions that he has made

as the first openly LGBTQ person in this government body. He hopes that all members

will vote yes on this proclamation to support everyone's rights and freedoms.

Public Comment (Non-Agenda Items)

None.

Monthly Financial Reports

Monthly Finance Reports

Chairman Surges stated the monthly financial reports were on file. No additional

report was made.

Department of Human Resource Management

HRM Exec. Dir. Lobrillo stated the following monthly reports were all attached and

within tolerance. No additional reports were made.

Chairman Surges moved to the 2025 HR Budget Presentation with no objections from

the Committee.

Monthly Blue Cross Blue Shield Invoice

Monthly BCBS and MERP Totals

Monthly Assured Partners Report

Monthly Applicants and Staff Changes

Monthly Workers Comp and Liability Reports

Compliance

Monthly Training Report

HRM Exec. Dir. Lobrillo stated the monthly Compliance Report was on file and

within tolerance. No additional report was made.

10.

11.

Old Business

Chairman Surges spoke on the importance of relationships and professionalism within

held positions. He commended the relationships he has made with fellow County Board

Members.

New Business

2025 HR Budget Presentation

HRM Exec. Dir. Lobrillo presented the FY2025 Human Resource Management's

(HRM) Budget. She reviewed the FY2025 Goals Statement that was put forth by

the Human Services Committee at last month's meeting. She shared the

FY2025 Outcomes and Strategies pertaining to Employee Handbook revisions,

risk management, employee compensation, and Health Insurance Program

Retirement. She spoke on the County's need for a Risk Manager to proactively

address safety and potential liability risks, which will reduce the number and cost

of liability claims, Workers' Compensation claims, and other potential claims

against the County. Lobrillo explained the benefits and financial aspect of

developing a Kane County Risk Management Program. She stated that even

though the County would have to pay upfront for a staff member to manage the

program, it should pay for itself in savings to the liability insurance. She

explained that the position would be funded by a Special Revenue Fund within

the Insurance Liability Fund, which would not affect the County's General Fund.

(Madam Chairman arrived remotely at 9:10 a.m.) (Committee Member Lewis

arrived in-person at 9:11 a.m.) As spoken about, Lobrillo did include a proposal

for this position within the FY2025 Budget for the Committee's consideration.

She spoke on employee compensation. A Request for Proposals (RFP) was

shared for an external compensation study at the request of the County Board.

There have been five proposals received that will be evaluated. Lastly, Lobrillo

spoke on the Health Insurance Program refinement. HRM staff has been

working to streamline and help provide the best insurance options for

employees, such as the addition of the Health Savings Account (HSA) plan and

combining the union and non-union plans. Lobrillo addressed questions and

comments from the Committee. Much discussion ensued.

Chairman Surges stated that Roll Call will be done at this time to establish a

quorum and follow the agenda accordingly.

Chairman Surges returned to the FY2025 HRM Budget Presentation after the

regularly scheduled agenda items were addressed.

Lobrillo asked the Committee if there were any additional questions or

comments on the HRM FY2025 Budget. Much discussion ensued. (Madam

Chairman Pierog arrived in-person at 9:27 a.m.)

2025 Per Diem Presentation (P. Wegman)

Auditor Wegman presented the 2025 Per Diem Meals Rate Strategy. She

recalled the numerous conversations over per diem rates and travel expenses.

She stated that based on the County policy, the per diem rate is based on the

Auditor's Office's recommendation to HRM. She explained that she wanted to

start the conversation at today's Committee meeting in order to potentially pass

a resolution that would be implemented for 2025. Wegman requested a

consensus from this Committee to move forward with drafting a resolution

setting the per diem meal rates for 2025. She explained the next steps of the

resolution is to move it through the County's committee flow.

Wegman reviewed the annual documentation that her office sends out to all

County employees after HRM has reviewed the recommended per diem meal

rates. Currently, the way the rates are calculated is based off the U.S. General

Services Administration (GSA) website. Wegman noted that Kane County is not

represented on the GSA website. Therefore, Kane County has historically

utilized DuPage County's Per Diem Rates for Illinois. Wegman explained that a

reconsideration on how the County determines the per diem rates, due to

changes within travel expenses. Wegman addressed questions and comments

from the Committee. Discussion ensued.

Wegman reviewed the GSA Meals Per Diem Guidelines. She stated that GSA

establishes the rates that federal agencies use to reimburse their employees for

lodging and meals that are acquired while on official travel within the United

States. Currently, Kane County's travel reimbursement policy has DuPage

County as its non-standard area (NSA), regardless of the travel destination. As

per GSA policy, the non-standard areas (NSAs) change based on the

destination of travel. Wegman provided an example. After researching, she

found that those counties that use the GSA website to calculate their employee

reimbursement have a viable amount rather than the Kane County basing it off

the DuPage County amount. Wegman explained the reasoning behind the daily

meal breakdown of the per diem rates. She stated that employee's meals and

incidental expense (M&IE) allowance must be adjusted for meals furnished to

you by the Government, as stated in Federal Travel Regulation. Wegman

addressed questions and comments from the Committee. Discussion ensued.

Wegman provided her recommendation on how Kane County should move

forward with establishing per diem rates. She suggested that employees and

officials should receive reimbursements for meals according to where they

travel. Also, employees should utilize the GSA website to allow them to

accurately calculate meal costs based on their destination. This method will

ensure that employees receive correct reimbursements, which would minimize

errors of overpayment or underpayment. Wegman asked the Committee for a

consensus on presenting a resolution to the Human Services Committee

meeting next month that pertains to the utilization of the GSA website and

allowing reimbursements for meals according to where they travel. The

Committee provided consensus.

Proclamation Recognizing June as Pride Month 2024 in Kane County, Illinois

Committee Member Kenyon spoke on the tardiness of this proclamation. He

suggested that the County resubmit this proclamation for June 2025. He stated

that it is too late to pass this proclamation. Discussion ensued on the tardiness

of this proclamation.

KC Executive Committee

RESULT:

MOVED FORWARD BY ROLL CALL VOTE

KC Executive Committee

Anita Lewis

TO:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

Deborah Allan

Michael Linder, Deborah Allan, Anita Lewis, Monica Silva, and

Vern Tepe

AYE:

Clifford Surges, and Michael Kenyon

Bill Tarver

NAY:

ABSENT:

Authorizing Pay Grade Changes, Pay Adjustments for Equity within Pay Grades

for Promotions for the Kane County Division of Transportation

KDOT Deputy Dir. Rickert explained that through the budget process, the Kane

County Division of Transportation (KDOT) has tried to retain their seven

vacancies. Recently, KDOT was informed by the Finance Department that these

vacancies would not be included in the FY2025 Budget. Rickert explained that

the Transportation Committee would like to focus their efforts not on the

vacancies, but true issue of inadequate salary ranges. In focusing the attention

on the salaries, Rickert made adjustments to KDOT's professional engineer (PE)

positions' pay grades. He shared the grade adjustments for the five PE

positions. Rickert reviewed the Personnel Consideration - Professional

Engineers (PE). He spoke on the serious issues that the inadequate salary

ranges have caused KDOT. He addressed the need for a County external equity

study, in order to figure out the correct salary ranges for PEs. Rickert shared the

impacts of these PE vacancies to KDOT and the community, such as pausing

the Traffic Safety Group and efforts. He provided the reasoning for these

proposed adjustments for PE positions. He noted that this is only a 5% increase

and may not be successful in hiring for these positions. If this resolution is

passed, the tax payers would save approximately $1.4M in contractual

expenses. Rickert addressed questions and comments from the Committee.

Chairman Surges requested that KDOT work with the HRM in order to obtain

adequate staffing through recruitment. Much discussion ensued.

KC Executive Committee

RESULT:

TO:

MOVER:

MOVED FORWARD BY ROLL CALL VOTE

KC Executive Committee

Michael Kenyon

Anita Lewis

SECONDER:

AYE:

Clifford Surges, Michael Linder, Deborah Allan, Michael Kenyon,

Anita Lewis, and Monica Silva

Vern Tepe

Bill Tarver

NAY:

ABSENT:

12.

13.

Reports Placed On File

RESULT:

MOVER:

APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT

Michael Kenyon

Executive Session

(Committee Member Silva left at 10:20 a.m.)

The Human Services Committee entered into Executive Session at 10:21 a.m. to

discuss the release of closed session minutes on a motion made by Kenyon, seconded

by Tepe. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

RESULT:

APPROVED BY ROLL CALL VOTE

Michael Kenyon

Vern Tepe

MOVER:

SECONDER:

Clifford Surges, Michael Linder, Deborah Allan, Michael Kenyon,

Anita Lewis, and Vern Tepe

AYE:

Monica Silva, and Bill Tarver

ABSENT:

Release of Closed Session Minutes

14.

Open Session

The Committee returned to Open Session at 10:25 a.m. on a motion made by Kenyon,

seconded by Lewis. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote.

RESULT:

APPROVED BY VOICE VOTE

Michael Kenyon

Anita Lewis

MOVER:

SECONDER:

Vote on Release of Closed Session Minutes

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

APPROVED BY ROLL CALL VOTE

Vern Tepe

Anita Lewis