La Grange Park’s Village Board of Trustees Monday unanimously passed an operating budget for the fiscal year 2023-24.
The final budget, being adjusted for new expenditures on a rooftop HVAC compressor just ahead of the meeting, calls for $23,041,072 in expenditures, a 21.5 % increase over the previous year, against $22,137,936 in revenue, a 4% increase.
“There’s a lot of effort that goes into this and I feel confident it’s the best budget ever in terms of thoroughness and explanation and the narratives,” Finance Committee Chair Robert Lautner said while introducing the resolution.
In order to help fund the Lead Service Line Act and the Central Area Storm Sewer Separation Project, the budget also includes a 7.83 % increase to the water fee, and a 10.17 % increase to the sewer fee.
Expenditures exceeding revenues is the result of funding certain large projects that require building cash reserves over time. The most prominent of these projects is the replacement of the water main on Park Avenue between Ogden and Harding avenues, and Richmond Avenue between Park and Brainard avenues, coming in at $1,776,740.
The budget can be viewed by clicking on to the Transparency Portal at the Village website, lagrangepark.org.
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The budget passed without further discussion, as it had been the subject of the April 11 Board workshop and several previous meetings.
Revenues as projected show significant revenues from the General Fund (48 %), the Water Fund (22 %), and the Police Pension Fund (7 %). Other funds, including Debt Service, TIF/Business District funds, and the Sewer Fund, make up the rest, all coming in at 6 % of revenue.
Expenditures are dominated by the General Fund (38 %), the Water Fund (28 %), and the Police Pension Fund (9 %). Smaller expenditures are the Sewer Fund (7 %), and the Debt Service Fund (5 %).
Smaller expenditures are for the Capital Project Fund, the Motor Fuel Tex Fund, and the TIF/Business District Fund, totaling 4 % each. The Risk Management Fund is 1 %.
The next La Grange Park Board Workshop is 7:30 p.m. May 9 in the Village Hall Boardroom, 447 N. Catherine Ave.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.