Board of Trustees — Skokie, IL
Date: 2026-04-16

REVISED

 Village of Skokie
 FY27 Budget Hearings
 Village Hall, 5127 Oakton Street
 Conference Room D & E

 MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2026 - 6:15 PM

 Municipal Finances 101 and Budget Overview
 Review of Budgets:
 Board of Trustees/Liquor Control Commission
 Village Clerk
 Corporation Counsel
 Finance Department
 Public Comment
 Closed Session (Wage & Benefit):
 Pursuant to Section 2, Paragraph C.2 of the State of Illinois Open Meetings Act,
 a closed session is requested to discuss wage & benefit of all Village employees
 and to adjourn therefrom.


 THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2026 – 6:15 PM

 Review of Budgets:
 Administration
 Police Department
 Board of Fire & Police Commission
 Public Works/Capital Improvement Program
 Public Comment


 REVISED: TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2026 – 7:00 PM

 Review of Budgets:
 Fire Department
 Community Development
 Economic Vitality/TIF
 Health and Human Services
 Public Comment


 MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2026 - 6:15 PM

 Review of Budgets:
 Boards and Commissions
 Performing Arts Center
 Grant Programming
 Public Comments

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Village of Skokie Board of Trustees
Budget Hearing #2 Meeting Minutes
April 16, 2026 | 6:15 p.m.
Conference Room D & E or Village of Skokie YouTube Channel
5127 Oakton St., Skokie, IL 60077

The Village’s FY27 Proposed Budget and Budget Message, a detailed summary of the budget,
are available for review on the Village’s website, www.skokie.org/budget. Annually, the Village
Board reviews the budget at four public budget hearings. These hearings are open to the public
and also are streamed live and archived on the Village’s YouTube channel.

Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Tennes. Mayor Tennes asked if there were any
objections to Trustee Lissa Levy participating remotely. Hearing none, she confirmed that
Trustee Lissa Levy would participate remotely.

Roll Call/Declaration of Quorum
In attendance: Trustees Lissa Levy, Iverson, Pure Slovin, Schechter, Robinson and Mayor
Tennes. Also present was Deputy Corporation Counsel, Barb Mangler, Village Clerk Minal Desai,
Village Manager, John Lockerby, Assistant Village Manager Nick Wyatt and Assistant to the
Village Manager, Alex Franz.

Not in Attendance: Trustee Kimani Levy.

Review of Budgets:
  I. Administration
 John Lockerby presented the FY27 budget for the Administration Division and
 highlighted the Strategic Plan and ADA Assessment. Mayor Tennes thanked staff for
 their work on the Strategic Plan. Trustee Robinson asked about the scope of the ADA
 Assessment. Nick Wyatt explained that the plan will include two phases with the first
 being a facility analysis. Trustee Schechter asked about the economic vitality strategy.
 Mayor Tennes explained that the plan will encompass all of Skokie. Trustee Pure Slovin
 asked about IT operations. John noted that IT Director, Tomasz Tarasiuk, will explain
 more during his presentation.

 II. Human Resources
 Human Resources Director, Debra Stinson, presented the FY27 Human Resources
 budget. Mayor Tennes highlighted the accomplishment of staffs 100% compliance of the
 workplace harassment training. Mayor Tennes asked about police and fire recruitment
 and any new initiatives to increase recruitment. Debra detailed new initiatives including
 using existing staff to help share openings. Trustee Iverson asked about recruitment of




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 non-public safety personnel. Debra noted that the Village is not experiencing any
 difficulty in recruiting for those positions. Trustee Robinson asked if local universities are
 being contacted to help with recruitment. Debra and John explained that they are and
 detailed the extensive outreach that is conducted during recruitment. Trustee Robinson
 suggested creating a “sense of belonging” to help attract recruits. Trustee Pure Slovin
 thanked the department for their work and noted that recruitment of police officers is a
 nationwide issue. Trustee Schechter suggested including the objective from the Fire
 narrative on equity and inclusion as well as three new objectives.

 III. Communications and Community Engagement
 Director of Communications and Community Engagement, Patrick Deignan, and
 Communications Manager, Meredith Gioia, presented the FY27 Communications budget
 and highlighted accomplishments from FY26. Mayor Tennes inquired about the pop-up
 Village Hall. Patrick explained that it is being worked on as part of the strategic plan. The
 Mayor asked what they thought was the most effect outreach method. Patrick
 explained the focus groups through the strategic plan were effective in reaching new
 populations. Trustee Pure Slovin asked how many people engage at the Village booth
 during events. Patrick explained that it varies by event but is an important part of
 community engagement. Trustee Robinson asked if users can subscribe to the Village’s
 events calendar. John explained that staff would follow up. Trustee Iverson noted the
 success of the website redesign. Trustee Schechter asked about the Village’s
 relationship with The Record North Shore. Patrick noted the strong relationship. Mayor
 Tennes thanked staff for their work on the Building Better Skokie webpage and asked
 how the page is being marketed. Meredith explained that it will be published in The
 Scoop and the Village’s other communication channels.

IV. Information Technology
 Information Technology (IT) Director, Tomasz Tarasiuk, presented the FY27 IT budget
 and accomplishments from FY26. Trustee Lissa Levy asked that any AI Assistant has a
 male voice or allows users to select the voice. Nick explained that this would be done
 and that the name “Swifty” was chosen to be gender-neutral. Trustee Schechter asked
 about flock technology and information security. Tomasz explained the data security
 measures the Village takes. Trustee Iverson asked about invoice processing and if
 systems exist to detect scams and duplicates. John said that Finance department would
 research this.

 V. Board of Fire & Police Commissioners
 Board of Fire and Police Commission Chair, Will Evans, Human Resources Director,
 Debra Stinson, and Police Chief, Jesse Barnes, presented the FY27 Board of Fire and
 Police Commission budget. Mayor Tennes asked how much time it takes a commissioner
 to review a candidate. Chair Evans replied that it takes about an hour per candidate.
 Trustee Iverson asked what the top challenge is for getting recruits. Chair Evans
 explained that there are a number of challenges. Trustee Iverson asked if there is an




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 element that makes it most difficult for a new hire to succeed. Chief Barnes noted the
 difficulty and demands of the job.

VI. Police
 Chief, Jesse Barnes, Deputy Chief Denise Franklin, Deputy Chief John Oakley,
 Communications Director, John Barkhoo, and Management Analyst, Chris Polinski,
 presented the FY27 Police budget and accomplishments from FY26. Mayor Tennes
 asked what a specialty vacancy is. Chief Barnes replied that there are a number of
 specialty positions in the department like detective and evidence technician. Mayor
 Tennes asked what languages are included in the Next Generation 911 system and if
 they align with the most common languages in Skokie. John Barkhoo replied that there
 are 15-20 languages and more are being added. Mayor Tennes asked about the co-
 responder program. Chief Barnes explained the success of the program. Trustee Pure
 Slovin asked how many officers are nearing retirement. Chief Barnes explained that
 there are nine that are age eligible. Trustee Pure Slovin asked about office retention.
 Chief Barnes explained efforts the department is taking to increase retention. Trustee
 Pure Slovin asked if full staffing decreases overtime costs. Chief Barnes explained that it
 does but it is a slow process as officers complete training. Trustee Iverson asked if AI is
 helping alleviate administrative burdens. Chief Barnes noted that administrative duties
 are increasing but technology is making improvements. Trustee Iverson asked about
 training mandates and the burden on staff resources. Chief Barnes explained the large
 amount of training that Skokie Police Officers do. Trustee Schechter requested the
 number of hate crimes and complaints. The Mayor noted that it is published annually in
 the Police Annual Report. John said that he will send the link to the report to the Village
 Board. Mayor Tennes asked about roll calls in the park. Chief Barnes noted that it is in
 their engagement plan for the year.

VII. Public Works
 Public Works Director, Patrick Hastings, Assistant Public Works Director, Liz Zimmerman,
 Director of Engineering, Russ Rietveld, Senior Engineer, Samantha Maximilian, and
 Operations & Fleet Superintendent, Brad Maggi, presented the FY27 Public Works
 budget and accomplishments from FY26. Mayor Tennes noted the Village’s financial
 requests to the state for stormwater funding and reminded the group of the overhead
 sewer rebate program. Mayor Tennes asked about alley flooding. Patrick explained the
 progress the department is making to alleviate alley flooding. Russ explained the
 backyard drainage program. Mayor Tennes commended the department for their work
 on the lead service line replacement program and noted that funding for the program is
 a regional issue. Trustee Pure Slovin asked about the Church street bike lane project.
 Patrick and Russ provided an update on the project. Trustee Pure Slovin asked if the
 department has seen an increase in overflowing trash bins as a result of switching to
 once-a-week garbage pickup. Liz Zimmerman noted that that there has not been an
 increase in the single-family areas and explained the efforts to mitigate overflowing
 trash in the multifamily areas. Trustee Robinson inquired about the transmission water
 main analysis. Patrick explained the efforts that are underway to analyze the Village’s



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 critical infrastructure. Trustee Iverson inquired on the future costs of rehabilitating the
 transmission main. Patrick explained that funding has been budgeted. Trustee Iverson
 asked about the performance of the electric vehicles and if there are any difficulties in
 getting parts. Brad explained the success of the electric vehicles and low maintenance
 costs.

Public Comment
David Dalka expressed his support for a new commander in investigations and noted an
increase in white collar crime, solicitation to his resident and requested less deputy chiefs. He
also commented on Church street, the alley near Jane Stenson, stop signs on Lorel, trees on the
expressway and fiber internet to all of Skokie.

Adjournment
Motion to adjourn 8:45 p.m.

Moved: Trustee Robinson
Seconded: Trustee Pure Slovin
Ayes: Lissa Levy, Iverson, Schechter, Pure Slovin and Robinson
Nays: None.
Absent: Trustee Kimani Levy.
MOTION CARRIED




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