Hammond’s 2016 budget is set after what Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. called one of the easiest approvals he’s gone through.
The Hammond City Council voted Tuesday night to approve the budget, which includes a $3.8 million increase for the General Fund to $67.2 million for next year.
Citizens should see the city portion of their property taxes go down by about 10 percent, however, because the city’s assessed value went up.
Controller Heather Garay said the increase in next year’s budget is mostly to pay down the city’s debt service payment, but that will be covered by revenue from the city’s water department. Revenue from selling water to Chicago Heights is expected to bring in $7.7 million next year, she said, more than enough to cover the increase.
The city is also giving all employees a 2 percent raise and is planning on buying some new garbage trucks.
The total budget, which includes other funds including the Motor Vehicle Highway Fund, will increase by $5 million. That includes money to purchase new snow plows from the MVH Fund.
The budget process was fairly amicable this year, which City Council President Michael Opinker attributed to the city already having made serious cuts.
“We’re getting to a point right now where it is what it is,” he said. “How much more can you cut?”
McDermott noted, though, that the city was able to increase casino money that goes to each of the council districts to $1 million each. The money can be spent on various projects within each district.
“It seems to be working,” he said. “We have a balanced budget, the council has money for infrastructure projects.”
Any more cuts would have to hit the police and fire departments, McDermott said, and the city does not want to take those steps.
Instead, Garay said the city is looking for other revenue sources to help ease the property tax burden on residents and to also protect the city against any future loss in casino revenue.
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Casino revenue is down from a peak of $42 million but has held steady from the past couple of years at about $34 million to $35 million a year. At the same time, the city is cutting how much from those funds goes to the General Fund from about $16 million this year to about $12.5 million next year, she said.
Garay added that although the Horseshoe Casino’s parent company, Caesars Entertainment, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, they’ve remained current on their tax payments.
Opinker praised the city’s move away from casino revenue.
“The fact is, you can’t count on the money coming from the Horseshoe because we don’t know how long the Horseshoe is going to be there,” he said.