Winnetka’s proposed $72.3 million 2017 budget includes $57.7 million in operational spending, and $12.4 million in capital projects, Village Manager Robert Bahan told council members in an Oct. 20 letter that acts as a preamble to the budget document.
The board will hold its 2017 budget hearing at 7 p.m. Nov. 15, before formally introducing it and the 2016 tax levy ordinance to the village council.
The combination of operational and capital expenses represents an 8.8 percent increase over the same expenses in 2016, largely because of the ambitious capital program, one that is more than $4 million higher than its 2016 counterpart, according to Bahan.
However, overall operational spending should rise just 3.3 percent over the current year’s budgeted amount, Bahan said.
The 2017 budget also proposes $64.6 million in revenues, up 5 percent from 2016, Bahan said in the letter. The budget won’t dip into existing fund balances to pay for expenses, according to Bahan’s presentation.
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“We continue to carry on the tradition of building a balanced budget,” Finance Director Tim Sloth said Nov. 7.
The budget should increase the municipal taxes of a typical Winnetkan – for budget purposes the village assumes a property owner with a $25,000 property tax bill, just over 13 percent of which goes to the village – by about $174, or 2.3 percent, more than the resident paid this year, according to Bahan’s letter.
The overall increase comprises a proposed 4 percent increase in both electric and water rates, and a 5 percent hike in sanitary sewer charges, Bahan said.
Winnetka’s proposed property tax levy, which provides roughly 54 percent of Winnetka’s general fund revenues, is set to provide an estimated $13.6 million to village coffers, according to Bahan’s presentation. The village plans a 1.9 percent hike in the levy, he said.
“At this point in time, the Village has the opportunity to make major investments to modernize our infrastructure, such as electric, water, and stormwater improvements, which may significantly improve our residents’ quality of life and property values,” Bahan said in his letter.
Some of those concerns are addressed in the proposed capital spending plan. Capital plans are paid for via a combination of general fund property taxes, special service district tax revenue, motor fuel tax revenue and income from the village’s various utility rates, according to Bahan’s presentation letter.
The capital plan includes:
* $4.2 million in stormwater improvement work paid for by the village’s stormwater fund;
* $2.58 million in improvements to Winnetka’s electric plant and system, paid for through the electric fund;
* $1.9 million in road, sidewalk and parking lot improvements, $435,000 for police communications improvements and $195,000 for public works vehicle replacements, all of which would be paid for with general fund revenues;
* $1.14 million in water system improvements funded via the water fund;
* $700,000 in further bridge and road improvements paid for with motor fuel tax monies;
* $550,000 in sanitary sewer work paid for via the sanitary sewer fund;
* $470,000 in downtown revitalization projects, paid with revenue from the downtown revitalization fund;
* $250,000 in Village Hall projects paid for through the budget’s facilities fund;
Village staff, which has been working on the budget since July, have had to create the proposed document with an eye on the continuing state budget problems, especially proposed legislative efforts which, if they became law, would cut revenues or limit the village’s ability to levy taxes, according to the letter.
Winnetka also faces pressures to meet state-mandated fire and police pension contributions, Bahan said.
The proposed budget can be viewed at www.villageofwinnetka.org.
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