The $69.4 million proposed 2018 Wilmette budget focuses on infrastructure repair, while grappling with limited revenue, according to village documents.
The budget is scheduled to be introduced to the Village Board on Nov. 14 and voted on Nov. 28.
When Village Manager Tim Frenzer introduced the draft budget in September, he said it faces revenue hits stemming from Illinois’ own budget problems. Total proposed revenue for 2018 is roughly $68.1 million, according to the document. Finance Director Melinda Molloy said this month that existing reserves would cover gaps between revenue and spending in all funds.
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Frenzer said the losses include an expected one-time $260,000 cut in state income tax money that would normally help pay for basic services, and a permanent change in how that money is annually distributed to communities, preventing them from benefiting from any future state income tax increases.
Noting that the state also considered, and might still consider, freezing local property taxes and stripping home-rule communities of their taxing abilities, Frenzer said Wilmette would lose revenue but still have to provide the same level of service to residents.
Wilmette cut staff, deferred more than $16 million in capital needs, and privatized many services to deal with the 2009 recession, he said, saying that “cannot be repeated to meet another crisis wholly manufactured in Springfield.”
The general fund is the largest single fund in the budget and handles most of the village’s daily operational needs, Molloy said. Its proposed $32.8 million in revenue comes from $9.3 million in property taxes and about $12.8 million in other taxes. Fines, licenses, permits and service charges comprise most of the remaining revenue. This year, the village plans a 3.97 percent property tax levy increase, according to Frenzer’s presentation. The village foresees about $33.4 million in general fund spending, Molloy said.
Frenzer said in his presentation that the budget prioritizes capital spending in order to tackle infrastructure needs like street, sidewalk, lighting, and alley repairs and improvements, but that finding revenue for repairs has been difficult, with needs still “significantly” exceeding available funding.
Among the proposed $4.1 million in capital spending projects are: $2 million in street resurfacing and almost $545,000 in alley maintenance, $518,000 and $147,860, respectively, for Central Avenue and Locust Road reconstruction, and $257,500 to reconstruct some of Wilmette’s brick streets.
The budget also includes money to buy a new fire engine and catch basin cleaner – $625,000 and $396,000, respectively – as well as a $172,650 dump truck, and $76,000 for two police cars.
Spending on Wilmette’s sewer and water system needs comes from sewer and water fees rather than property taxes. This year, the budget document shows $7.05 million in sewer revenue and about $13.9 million in water revenue. Spending in the two funds is set to be $7.7 million in the sewer fund and $14.1 million in the water fund.
Of the sewer spending, roughly $2.8 million will pay for sewer lining and maintenance and repair projects, according to Frenzer’s budget message. There is nothing allocated for major west Wilmette storm sewer project work, which Frenzer said has not yet been decided by the board.
Water fund spending includes $5 million to build electrical system improvements at the village’s water plan, according to the budget document.
To see the proposed budget, and to view a budget slide presentation, visit www.wilmette.com, click on the “Government” drop-down menu, and go to the budget link.
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