Politics & Government

Village Proposes $53M Budget in 2012

Proposed budget reflects $13.98 million increase over 2011 budget from merged funds. Tax levy holds steady at 12 percent.

Round One of the 2012 budget talks began last Wednesday as the held its first budget workshop.

Trustees got their first look at the proposed $53,557,799 budget for next year—approximately $13.98 million more than 2011. The increase reflects several funds rolled into the general fund, village officials said.

Funds merged into the village’ general fund include refuse, special events, the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, and the streetlight and sidewalk fund.

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The Illinois constitution requires municipalities to have balanced budgets. The village board must approve the general operating budget by Dec. 31.

For the seventh consecutive year the village won’t be increasing its share of the tax levy, holding steady at 12 percent.

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Trustees also looked at options for closing a projected $3 million budget shortfall.

“That gap is predominantly driven by the pension costs and increases that we’re seeing in the area of public safety,” village manager Larry Deetjen said.

Among the fixes to close the hold, Deetjen proposed a “community health services fee” of $700,000 to be charged to as “the cost of doing business” in Oak Lawn. As a non-profit, Advocate Christ does not pay property taxes.

Oak Brook-based Advocate Health Care has a similar arrangement with Park Ridge, in which the corporate pays a fixed monthly fee to northwest suburb for Advocate Lutheran General.

Deetjen has also proposed raising Oak Lawn’s home rule tax from .50 percent to .75 percent to be charged in addition to the state sales tax.

“If we went from .50 to .75 that would bring us on a level playing field with retailers in adjacent communities,” Deetjen said.

Village directors appeared before the village board to present their 2012 department budgets.

Fire Chief George Sheets told trustees that labor and management have been meeting to discuss firefighters’ union contract for the past nine months. A sticking point has been —originally budgeted at $250,000.

“”We’ve been working for about nine months to put together a contract that is agreeable to the board and firefighters,” Sheets said. “We have some things in place that are mutually agreed upon. It’s been a long discussion and deliberation. I look forward to the full cooperation of the .”

Trustee Bob Steit (Dist. 3), acting as president pro temp of the special budget meeting, asked what would be a realistic overtime budget for the fire department.

“If you want to budget for [firefighter] overtime, you’ll have to go the public to increase the tax levy,” village finance director Brian Hannigan said.

Deetjen said that further workforce reductions in the fire department would be necessary “if that’s what it boils down to.”

“It’s money that doesn’t have to be spent,” the village manager added.

Contract negotiations with the firefighters’ union are being scheduled for next month.

As trustees debated whether the budgeted overtime of $250,000 was realistic for the village firefighters since it has been historically violated, Oak Lawn Village Treasurer James McGovern offered that one of the primary purposes of a budget is as a management tool.

“If you put in overtime based on history, even though management is strongly opposed to that need for overtime, I think it sends the wrong message,” McGovern said. “It makes it very difficult to try and manage the actual operation.”

Mayor Dave Heilmann skipped the meeting because he was rehearsing a show, but said he had scheduled time to sit down the village finance director

Trustee Cindy Trautsch (Dist. 1) was out of town on business, and Trustee Tom Phelan (Dist. 6) was said to be running late, but never showed.

The next budget workshop is scheduled for Nov. 30.

Read more about the 2012 BUDGET:


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