Two months ago in this column I talked about how all of us are in the relationship business. We are also all in the deadline business. Everything we do seems to have a time restriction or "drop-dead date" attached to it. I’ll give you just a few examples:

With all of this stuff going on it’s no wonder we feel stressed.

Your Winter Workshop Committee has developed two unique opportunities for you to relax and get away from all of this after the first of the new year. There is a short duration trip to Mexico and a longer trip to Vietnam/Cambodia. Information about the trips is available from the Association office.

These trips are great opportunities for a change of scenery and a chance to commiserate with fellow Contractors about the perils and challenges of our industry.

You work hard and deserve a break! Make your reservation soon!

Last year’s rain gave way to a perfect day for golf this year - and everybody took advantage. The golf course staff made the event flow smoothly and the food was outstanding. Once again, Scott Nelson, H.H. Holmes Testing, did a masterful job as event Chairman and thanks to the Nelson clan for jumping in and helping with everything from putting prizes in carts to selling tickets.

This year the golf was as hot as the weather. A 58 bested the field in the annual Scramble Tournament winning the Low Gross Award by just one stroke. Winners were:

1st Place - McCann Industries #2 - 58
Scott Odes - Asphalt Paving
Ernie Prudhomme - McCann Industries
Kevin Vignocchi - Keno & Sons Construction Co.
Jeff Potts - Martin & Associates

2nd Place - National Waterworks, Inc. - 59
Mark Baran - National Waterworks, Inc.
Scott Witikka - Pickus Construction Co.
Jim Pickus - Pickus Construction Co.
Mark Hannon - National Waterworks, Inc.

3rd Place - Pickus Construction & Equipment - 60
Rick Grabowski - Pickus Construction & Equipment
Ken Lattanzi - Pickus Construction & Equipment
Bill Mayew - Pickus Construction & Equipment
Bryan Grabowski - Pickus Construction & Equipment

4th Place - Mid American Water - 61
Jon Volpendesta - Mid American Water
Frank Lallino - Holiday Sewer & Water
Jeff Musinski - City of Waukegan
Dave Giannini - Giannini Construction

Honest Foursome Award - McGladrey & Pullen
Pat Worden - McGladrey & Pullen, LLP
Beth Ragsdale - First Midwest Bank

Closest To The Pin:
Darren Fortin
John Goers - AES Products-Firestone

LCCPAC Raffle - There were three BIG winners in this year’s LCCPAC Raffle; John Goers, AES Products-Firestone, Jeff Latona, Delta Screw Company and Craig Jones, Blue Boy Portable Toilets, Inc. all walked away with a CASH prize in the LCCPAC Raffle.

PAR 3 Challenge Winners - We had three winners in our Par 3 Challenge who also took home some CASH: Dave Crain, Ley & Associates, Neeraj Arora, American Cast Iron Pipe Company & Tom Rottman, Operating Engineers, Local #150.

We had close to 300 golfers participate in this year’s event and we congratulate the winners and appreciate all the golfers. We would also like to thank Countryside Golf Course for their professional attention to details that helped make this year’s event a success. If you have comments on the outing, we would love to hear from you. Call Sheila at (847) 623-2345 or email sheila@lcca-il.org.

Every year we owe a special thanks to the many members who sponsor the outing, helping to hold costs down for everybody who plays. This years sponsors include:

BEER TENTS:
Waukegan Roofing
Blue Book
H.H. Holmes Testing Laboratories

HOLE IN ONE:
Anthony Pontiac/Buick/GMC
Bank of Waukegan

HOLE SPONSORS:
Acme Brick & Supply Company
T.J. Adams Group, LLC
Advanced Drainage Systems
Aldridge Electric, Inc.
Avalon Petroleum Company
Boncosky Oil Company
Bornquist, Inc.
Burris Equipment Company
Camosy, Inc.
Chicago LECET
Chicago Title Insurance Company
Construction Industry Service Corporation
Curran Contracting Company
D. L. Franzen Construction, Inc.
Lance Construction Supplies
McCann Industries, Inc.
McClure Engineering
McGladrey & Pullen, LLP
Meyer Material
Multiple Concrete Accessories
National Concrete Pipe Co.
Northern Illinois Mack, Inc.
W.B. Olson, Inc.
Palatine Oil Co., Inc.
Patten Construction Products
Ernie Peterson Plumbing, Inc.
Repair Service Corporation
Sunset Cartage
Thelen Sand & Gravel
Turner Construction Company
Vulcan Construction Materials

MISCELLANEOUS SPONSORS
Blue Boy Portable Toilets, Inc. - Portable Toilets
Skokie Valley/Wheeling Reproductions - Signs & Banners

The 2005 Winter Workshop to Vietnam, and the Mini Workshop to Playacar, Mexico, are ready to go. Now we only need you!

If you are interested in either trip, but just have not made up your mind yet, we would encourage you to mark your calendar for Tuesday, September 28, when we will host a Winter Workshop Reception at the LCCA Office from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Not only will we provide FREE hors d’oeuvres and generous libations, we will explain the trips in detail and answer any questions you might have. To register, just go to http://www.lcca-il.org/events For more information, call Gary at the LCCA Office.

The 2004 edition of LCCA’s Holiday Party at the Lincolnshire Marriott is scheduled for Friday, December 3, 2004. If you want to attend one of Lake County’s great parties, put your group together and block out the date. Reservation forms will be in the mail soon. For those who have never attended, this is the best entertainment value in Lake County. Great food, drink, conversation and a show that will knock your socks off!!

This is a great opportunity to entertain employees, clients or other special people while leaving the arrangements (and the headaches) to us! Get your tables together soon.

Have you ever been audited by the IRS? If you have, you know the potential liability and fear the mere mention of an audit creates. LCCA got the word last month that the association had been selected for audit - and the auditor would be specifically looking at the association’s treatment of "direct lobby activities" and "salaries". In addition, they would review the purpose of the association and ensure that revenue and expenses were directly related to that purpose.

After getting over the initial shock, we called our accountants, V/H Associates, who helped us through the process. In discussions with the IRS auditor who appeared at the office, this was a special audit program that we had been randomly selected for - lucky us!

The primary purpose was the "direct lobby expense." Congress changed the law a few years ago, and declared that members of an association could NOT deduct, as a business expense, any monies the association spent to lobby local, state or Federal governing bodies and many agencies. Associations were given two ways to handle the expense: Notify all members of the "non-deductible" portion of their annual dues, or Pay taxes on the expenses at the highest tax rate.

Since LCCA is a member of ICIC, much of the money we pay to ICIC is used for lobbying proposes. That is what ICIC does - lobby! So every year we pay $10,000 - $20,000 for lobbying services. And we pay $3,500 or more to the IRS to avoid the need to bother you. This was a decision made by the Board of Directors many years ago, and it really paid off during this audit. Since we were already paying the so-called "proxy tax," the auditor did not spend much time on this issue.

The second issue, "salaries" was also quickly reviewed since no one here could be considered "too highly compensated." The salary issue is a result of recent revelations about CEO’s of some not-for-profits making in excess of $1 million a year. They may earn their money, but it is certainly not an issue here.

The bottom line is we passed with very little comment by the auditor. Hopefully, we will not see them again for a long time. But if we do, we will be ready!

At the last meeting of the Northern Illinois Cement Masons & Plasterers Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program, LCCA Executive Vice President Gary Dowty was elected Chairman of the Board. He replaced Russ Wilder, Local 11-638 who will remain on the Board. Larry Radle, Local 11-362 was elected to serve as the Secretary-Treasurer of the group.

The Apprenticeship Program covers all of northeast Illinois. In addition to Dowty, other management members serving of the board are:

In addition to Wilder and Radle, the union members are:

Almost all the unions have settled and made distributions for their increases. Here are the unions ranked by their total wage/benefit packages:
          

	Increase	Total Package
Ironworkers, Local 1	2.70	$ 54.14
Electricians, Local 150	2.64	$ 52.28 +
Operating Engineers, #150 Build	2.65	$ 51.08
Ironworkers, Local 63	2.25	$ 49.66
Operating Engineers, #150 HHU	2.65	$ 49.28
Plumber’s, Local 93	1.75	$ 49.03
Sheet Metal Workers, Local 73	2.08	$ 48.78 +
Sprinkler Fitters #281	1.95	$ 48.00
Pipefitters, Local 597	2.00	$ 47.86
Glaziers, Local 27	2.40	$ 45.745 +
Asbestos Workers, Local 17	2.00	$ 47.62
Cement Masons, Local 11-362	2.40	$ 45.41
Carpenters, Commercial	2.40	$ 45.37 +
Bricklayers, Distr. Council	2.70	$ 44.76
Painters District Council #14	2.10	$ 43.12 +
Tile Layers, #67	2.00	$ 42.01
Roofer’s #11  - $1.45 due 12/1/04	.95	$ 40.42
Laborers District Council	2.20	$ 39.17 +
Teamsters, Local 301 (Group 1)	1.55	$ 36.43
Automobile Mechanics #701	2.00	$ 36.39

The average increase this year was $2.24, an 11% increase from 2003. Meanwhile, the Total Package, wages and fringes together, increased only 6% from 2003. It is interesting to note that more and more money is being distributed to the benefit funds. Total Packages with a "+" following the dollars indicates more than half the distribution went to H&W and Pension. And in the case of Laborers, the entire increase went to benefits!

Teamsters - All the Teamsters locals have submitted their wage/benefit packages EXCEPT Local 179 and Local 705. Local 179 in Joliet has filed an appeal with the Teamsters International seeking to set aside the wage/benefit portions in favor of the local’s agreement with the Contractors Association of Will and Grundy Counties that provides for higher wages and better working conditions.

According to Local 705, they have no one covered by the agreement at the present time.

Technical Engineers - The saga continues. Having expired on May 31, this agreement is still not settled. The Technical Engineers (a division of Plumbers Local 130) are asking for a complete rewrite of the contract to be more in line with existing agreements in Indiana. We have no idea when this might be concluded, but you can count on retroactive pay to June 1! Employers had better be setting some money aside to pay the bill. It will come sooner or later.

Carpenters Contract Extension - Since the recently approved agreement is an Extension, the usual rules for multi-employer bargaining do not apply. Usually we would solicit "bargaining rights" from members and those who provided the bargaining rights would be signatory after the conclusion of negotiations. In order to adopt the extension agreement, each contractor must sign a "Consent to Collective Bargaining Agreement" form. If you choose not to sign the agreement, you will be asked by the union to negotiate individually or sign a Me Too Agreement.

When the details are complete, we will provide the appropriate forms for your information.

The Illinois Road & Transportation Builders Association and LCCA have one common goal - to improve transportation in Lake County. Together, we are sponsoring a reception on Thursday, November 11, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the Country Squire to showcase the 2005 highway construction program in Lake County and provide an opportunity for you to hear from the transportation leaders in Lake County.

We have invited every Lake County municipality to share their highway programs with you. In addition, representatives from IDOT, the Toll Highway Authority and Lake County will be present. This is a great opportunity to meet the decision makers for Lake County’s highway program and pick up leads on future work.

Tickets for this event will be available soon. Until then, mark the date and plan to attend.