The Rundown: Oak Lawn Village Board Reforms Finance Committee, Approves Bond Refinancing

dashed through its agenda in record time—30 minutes and 29 seconds, not counting the pledge of allegiance.

Trustee Alex Olejniczak (Dist. 2) did not attend Tuesday’s board meeting due to a death in his family.

Trustees approved the consent agenda with no discussion. Here are the highlights of the meeting:

Finance Committee Reverts Back to ‘Committee of the Whole’

Trustees approved a recommendation by Mayor Dave Heilmann that the finance committee revert back to the full village board as stated in the municipal code. Heilmann said the board adopted the finance subcommittee for meeting purposes a few years ago. Going back to the original structure would alleviate confusion for staff. Under the municipal code the entire village board serves as the finance committee, with the mayor or village board president acting as chair of the committee. The mayor said the finance committee chair has no real authority accept to schedule meetings.

Bonds Refinanced At Savings of $1.2M

Bonds used to finance the development of commercial property in 2001 were refinanced to take advantage of historically low interest rates, Oak Lawn Village Manager Larry Deetjen said. The ‘Home Depot’ bonds were successfully refinanced at a rate of 3.87-percent interest rate vs. the 7-percent interest rate adopted more than a decade ago. Deetjen said the motion—which as passed by the village board on the consent agenda—would save Oak Lawn $1.2 million over the life of the bonds.

“That’s really a remarkable achievement,” Deetjen said. “This is a goal Trustee (Tom) Phelan has had for several years.”

Special Events Policy

A proposed policy statement for the village’s special events budget and operating procedures was tabled for another day.

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