Wilmette rolled out its $63.9 million proposed 2016 budget on Oct. 13, in the shadow of uncertainty over how the stalled Illinois budget process – and the possibility that Springfield could decide to keep money once allocated to municipalities – could affect village coffers and services.
In his budget presentation to village trustees, Village Manager Tim Frenzer said the state has already postponed delivering hundreds of thousands of dollars in motor fuel tax and other revenue it normally sends to Wilmette on a monthly basis.
That number could balloon if state legislators agree to cut by half the amount of state income tax they normally send to municipalities, he said, which could cost Wilmette $1.4 million annually. A two-year property tax freeze would take $1.2 million out of village hands over that period, he said. And if lawmakers pass legislation removing home-rule taxation powers from towns like Wilmette, the village’s infrastructure could suffer even more, he said.
“Should the state implement these or other similar legislation, the village will be faced with the task of reducing a budget needed to provide services, demand for which does not diminish simply because the State of Illinois mismanages its finances,” Frenzer said.
Dealing with new revenue losses would force the village to cut services, Frenzer warned, since 2008’s recession has already caused Wilmette to cut staff members, outsource some services and introduce a two-tier wage system mandating lower pay for anyone hired after 2010. Those savings can’t be made a second time, he said.
Still, he said, the village has been able to increase its reserves little by little, thanks to what he said was four years of conservative budgeting. Wilmette generated about $1.3 million more in sales and income tax, permits and other revenue this year, he said, and saved about $214,000 in expenses.
That helped Wilmette put more than $1.4 million in the reserve fund going into the new fiscal year, he said.
Frenzer said the proposed 2016 is balanced. The budget actually indicates that Wilmette will take in roughly $66.2 million in revenues that include not just property taxes but water and sewer fees, motor fuel tax revenue and other sources of income.
On the spending side, the general fund, which pays most of Wilmette’s daily operating costs, including salaries, comprises the single largest source of spending at $36.3 million, according to the budget presented to trustees at the Oct. 13 meeting. Under that umbrella lies government spending, at $5.5 million; public works at $9.8 million; and safety and public health, including fire and police operations, at $20.6 million.
About 36 percent, or $16.6 million of the roughly $36.3 million in general fund revenue comes from property taxes. Frenzer said that Wilmette’s property tax levy will rise about 3.3 percent according to projections. That is the lowest percentage increase since 1999, he said.
The budget package shows that another 16 percent of the general fund’s revenue is generated by sales tax revenue. The rest of the general fund’s revenue comes from fees, permits, income and other taxes, and other sources.
As delineated in the budget, the rest of Wilmette’s 2016 spending will be paid for in large part through water and sewer funds, set at $8.2 million and $6.7 million respectively; about $642,000 in motor fuel tax money from the state; and other sources, including about $380,000 in parking-related fees. The village’s 2016 debt service payment schedule will be funded with $3.3 million, almost all of it from property tax receipts, the budget shows.
Trustee Carol Ducommun, who chairs the board’s finance committee, praised department heads for the work they put into this year’s budget preparations after Frenzer presented the document to the board.
“Figuring out where all the different priorities are … is really a huge process,” Ducommun said.
Ducommun also echoed Frenzer’s concern over how Wilmette’s finances, including its capital projects, would be affected by the state’s budget imbroglio.
“We continue to have huge challenges that won’t go away,” Ducommun said, “the state situation and our capital needs.”
Next stop for the proposed budget is an Oct. 29 public committee of the whole session scheduled for 7 p.m. at Village Hall.
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