Finance

Finance Director

Kerry Sullivan

The Finance Department is responsible for all financial activities and financial functions of the district, including preparing the annual budget and property tax levy, paying employees, paying vendors, collecting revenue, investing funds, recording receipts, expenditures, and other financial transactions, and preparing financial reports.

2021 Financial Challenges and Accomplishments

Certificate of Achievement in Financial Reporting In 2021, the District received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). This is the 13th consecutive year the District has received this prestigious award. The CAFR can be found on the District’s website at www.orlandfire.org. Distinguished Budget Presentation Award GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award has been received by the District since 2018. The 2022 budget document can be found at www.orlandfire.org/ aboutthedistrict/publictransparency/budgets/

2021 Financial Challenges and Accomplishments Many financial challenges were presented and several financial opportunities were given to the District in 2021. During 2021, the District and Orland Professional Firefighters Local 2754, agreed to a three-year labor contract. The District also agreed to a three-year labor contract with Orland Fire IBEW #134. Grant funding was received from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to construct a driving pad on the District’s training campus. In addition, grant funding was received from the federal government to offset a portion of the extraordinary costs of District Firefighters serving the community during the pandemic. Funding from a FEMA Assistance to Firefighters grant was received to fund the purchase of SCBA equipment. Construction of a new maintenance building was substantially complete in 2021. Funding for the construction was from debt issued in 2020 at a very attractive interest rate. The District was notified in 2020 that the payroll software used was no longer going to be available in July 2021. The District migrated to a new payroll system, Paycor.

2022 Budget The 2022 budget was developed to serve as the financial plan for the upcoming year based on the Strategic Plan. Under direction from the Board of Trustees, the 2022 Budget gives priority to programs and services that support the goals described in the Strategic Plan and which provide the greatest benefit to District. The costs to achieve the District’s mission are primarily offset by property tax revenue. Increases in property tax revenue are limited by tax rate ceilings and property tax caps (assumed to be 1.4% in 2022). Other sources of revenue includes ambulance service fees, grant revenue, dispatch service fees, and fire prevention fees. Revenue sources anticipated for the 2022 budget are summarized in the following graph:

The 2022 Budget gives priority to programs and services that provide the greatest benefit to District residents. The 2022 Budget represents the efforts of District staff in reviewing their operations, streamlining them when possible and investing in improvements to daily operations to benefit the safety of District residents and employees. Wages and benefits represent 87.3% of the District’s operating expenditures. Expenditures anticipated for the 2022 budget are summarized in the following graph: