Kankakee budget committee reviews January finances, hears ARPA audit update; final pension payment set for Feb. 26

The Kankakee City Budget Committee on Wednesday reviewed January financial statements, received an update on the city audit and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) reporting, and was told the final police and fire pension distribution is scheduled for Feb. 26.

Comptroller Rogers led the review of revenue and expenditures, saying property tax collections are complete and showing 100% of that line posted for the fiscal year. "We are all done with those. We got our final payment in December. So as you can see, we're right at 100%," Rogers said.

Rogers told the committee most revenue and expenditure lines reflect actuals through Jan. 31. She said the cannabis excise tax is tracking below budget and that some grant receipts — notably Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) money for the police department — are being processed now. Rogers flagged timing differences on interest and other receipts and said several accounts remain to be balanced for interest accruals.

On expenditures, Rogers said most departments are running below budget at this point in the fiscal year. She cited human resources at about 60% of budget, the city clerk's office at 66%, the comptroller's office at about 60%, and computer/IT at 64%. Police spending is slightly above budget but not by an amount of concern; fire overtime is low overall, with one overtime category at roughly 42%.

Rogers also described recent large pension disbursements from the general fund and noted the impact on cash balances: "Considering that 19,000,000 of the change or 19,000,000 of the change was the pension amount... we're still in really good shape as far as what we've got set aside in cash accounts," she said.

The committee received an audit timeline: the comptroller said the city's audit paperwork should be posted online by the coming Friday and that management's discussion and analysis (MD&A) is more complex this year because of timing differences from prior-year pension obligation bonds. "It's just a little bit difficult to write about, but not because there's a problem... It was a very strong year financially again and we're excited to present it to you and it should be online like I said by Friday," Rogers said.

Rogers reviewed ARPA reporting work. She told the committee the city has accounted for ARPA allocations and built the required reports; she said it will move into routine expenditure logging and project closeouts. Rogers said the council had earlier allocated about $15,000,000 in ARPA funds and that projects and allocations must be tracked carefully; she noted the city has until Dec. 31, 2026 to spend ARPA funds under federal rules discussed in the meeting.

City staff and the city manager discussed next steps on pensions and audit reporting. The city manager told the committee the final pension distribution to the downstate police and fire pension funds will occur on Feb. 26 and that staff are in regular contact with both the state-run funds and local pension boards and attorneys. The manager said local pension board members had expressed appreciation for the council’s actions and that one board member reported seeing about $60,000,000 in the pension account after recent transfers.

The committee briefly noted that Bob Reese (who normally presents on police and fire pension status) will present to the full council at the March 3 meeting. Members also asked about potential federal grant holds; Rogers said a temporary hold had been applied and then lifted and that the city’s local grant work — including JAG grants — is proceeding.

Votes at the meeting were limited and procedural. The committee approved the January budget committee meeting minutes by voice vote (motion by Alderman Jones; second not recorded on the audio). Later, the committee adjourned on a motion moved by Woman Marsak and seconded by Alderman Joe Johnson; the adjournment passed by voice vote.

The meeting closed after a short period of business and acknowledgements to staff for audit and ARPA reporting work. The committee did not take additional formal action on budgets or appropriations at this session.