INCLUDES:
Treasurers Institute Nov 13-17 and hotel information
Responses to Salary Survey
Responses to Public Officials Bond
Responses to Bankruptcy Claim Sale
Seeking users of Princeton E-Com service (Highland)

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TREASURERS INSTITUTE

The Treasurers Institute will be held November 13-17, 2005 at the Decatur Holiday Inn Select, Decatur Illinois. A block of rooms has been reserved at the hotel for the Treasurers Institute participants. To receive the special rate of $70 plus tax for a single or double room, reservations must be made no later than October 13. You may make your reservations by calling the hotel directly: (217) 422-8800 and mention that you are with the Treasurers Institute.

If you have not received a copy of the Treasurers Institute brochure, please contact me at (217) 581-5116, or you may view a copy of the brochure at our website: http://www.eiu.edu/~adulted/noncredit/imti05.html

Jo Ellen Hickenbottom
IMTA Association Coordinator

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3. SALARY SURVEY (for pop. under 5,000 and pop. 5,000-10,000)

Thank you so much!
Taunya Fischer
Village of Kingston
kingston@tbcnet.com

Note: Taunya has compiled the responses.  Thank you to all the responders! Michael

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4. PUBLIC OFFICIALS BOND

I'm the Treasurer of the Village of Timberlane and my Public Official's Bond is up for renewal. I did a little research and can't find any clear guidelines for the amount I should be bonded for. Are there any laws or best practices, formulas, calculations, etc. related to the amount a Treasurer should be bonded for?

Thanks,
Sylvia Gorman , Treasurer
Village of Timberlane

Thanks to everyone who responded. I looked in the statutes originally, but didn't find that section. This is a great resource!
Sylvia

RESPONSE
In regards to the public officials bond question from Sylvia Gorman, in the 2000 Illinois Compiled Statutes 65 ILCS 5/3.1-10-30, it states that, "The treasurer's bond shall be an amount of money that is not less than 3 times the latest Federal census population or any subsequent census figure used for Motor Fuel Tax purposes."
Thank you,
Denise Jobe, Treasurer
City of Robinson
treasurer@cityofrobinson.com

(65 ILCS 5/5-3-9) (from Ch. 24, par. 5-3-9)
Sec. 5-3-9. Officers; oath or affirmation; bond

(b) Before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, all officers, except those specified in Section 5-3-8, shall execute a bond with security to be approved by the corporate authorities. The bond shall be payable to the city or village in the penal sum directed by resolution or ordinance, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties of the office and the payment of all money received by the officer, according to law and the ordinances of that city or village. The bond may provide that the obligation of the sureties shall not extend to any loss sustained by the insolvency, failure, or closing of any bank or savings and loan association organized and operating under the laws of either the State of Illinois or the United States in which the officer has placed funds in the officer's custody if the bank or savings and loan association has been approved by the corporate authorities as a depository for these funds. The treasurer's bond shall be in an amount of dollars that is not less than the greater of $50,000 or 3 times the latest Federal census population or any subsequent census figure used for Motor Fuel Tax purposes. These bonds shall be filed with the city or village clerk, except that the bond of the clerk shall be filed with the city or village treasurer.

Reginald Willis
RWillis@ci.peoria.il.us

Mike, In response to the question on the treasurer's bond:

(65 ILCS 5/3.1-10-30) (from Ch. 24, par. 3.1-10-30)

Sec. 3.1-10-30. Bond. Before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, all municipal officers, except aldermen and trustees, shall execute a bond with security, to be approved by the corporate authorities. The bond shall be payable to the municipality in the penal sum directed by resolution or ordinance, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties of the office and the payment of all money received by the officer, according to law and the ordinances of that municipality. The bond may provide that the obligation of the sureties shall not extend to any loss sustained by the insolvency, failure, or closing of any bank or savings and loan association organized and operating either under the laws of the State of Illinois or the United States in which the officer has placed funds in the officer's custody, if the bank or savings and loan association has been approved by the corporate authorities as a depository for those funds. In no case, however, shall the mayor's bond be fixed at less than $3,000. The treasurer's bond shall be an amount of money that is not less than 3 times the latest Federal census population or any subsequent census figure used for Motor Fuel Tax purposes. Bonds shall be filed with the municipal clerk, except the bond of the clerk, which shall be filed with the municipal treasurer.

(Source: P.A. 87-1119.)

Linda Buss
City of Freeport

****I believe the only stipulation is that it be not less than 3 X the population used in your Motor Fuel calculations. That amount for us is ridiculously low. When you have some types grant funds, there is a stated amount for the treasurer's bond which is usually sufficient to cover the amount of the grant.
Alta Long
along@tuscola.org

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5. BANKRUPTCY CLAIMS FOR SALE

Hi Mike,

In your next IMTA help e-mail could you ask if anyone has sold a bankruptcy claim to another company. We have been receiving letters from a company in New York that will pay us 82% of a bankruptcy claim for a company located in our Village. The claim is from a water/sewer bill prior to when the company declared bankruptcy. The business owes us $9,166 and this company will pay us $7500.00 if we assign the claim to them. Part of me thinks if they want to offer us that amount of money, they think that they will eventually get more after the bankruptcy is settled.

Thanks
Pat Wesolowski
Pwesolowski@libertyville.com

RESPONSES

Pat: Is the company leasing it's space? If not, why not put a lien on the property for the water bill? The Village Attorney should be able to put a lien on for minimal expense - unless you are not allowed to because they have filed for bankruptcy already. Otherwise, I think that the $7,500 is better than nothing.
Good luck,
Susan Griffin
sgriffin@lakebluff.org

Good morning Pat,
As a rule, we send all of the City of Waukegan's bankruptcy notices to our Corporation Counsel to file our claims. We have received from zero to 100%. It is very rare to get a 100% settlement; I would take the 82% settlement or wait until they edge up to 85%.

Similar offers for Frank's Nursery & Crafts were up to 90% from 50%. I feel that when the offers began to appear in the mail every week, that Frank's was going to emerge of bankruptcy. They emerged as a Real Estate Corporation and they settled for 80% of their water, signage, and false alarm fees. It took 2 years. We haven't received the money yet.

It took 9 years to receive 80% of the Montgomery Wards water as a settlement.

We received and sold 103 shares of AMC stock as part of a 57% settlement. AMC has emerged and is an integral part of the Fountain Square entertainment complex.

I hope this helps you make an informed decision.

CITY OF WAUKEGAN
DON BRUESSEL
Don.Bruessel@ci.waukegan.il.us

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6. CUSTOMER'S BANK PAYS UTILITY BILL VIA ACH PROCESSING SERVICE

Is anyone (City) set up to receive utility payments through Princeton E-Com service for "Home payments" (whereby a customer pays their bills through their own bank's bill pay system). Princeton E-Com is a Web ACH processing service that local banks can use to process the bank's bill pay options. Princeton E-Com would send an ACH to our City's bank account instead of the local bank sending us numerous checks. We can then either print the file or download it to Excel so we can upload the electronic file right into our Cash Receipts software. I definitely think we should start using this free service to reduce our work load and move into the 21st century of electronic payments, but since I've never heard of Princeton E-Com, I want to know how well the company performs for other cities. Please let me know if you have had experience in this area with Princeton E-Com. Thanks. Sharon Rusteberg, Director of Finance City of Highland Illinois 618-654-9891 srusteberg@ci.highland.il.us

RESPONSE

****I have no experience with this company, but Illinois Funds E-pay works pretty well for us and is free.
Alta Long
along@tuscola.org