Palatine launches attack on unfunded mandates

Facing a financial crisis Palatine officials are likening to both a horror movie and a Tony Soprano mob shakedown, the village is doing more than just speaking out against unfunded mandates and state proposals that would take away tax money from communities.

Staff broke down Palatine's budget and identified $2.73 million in costs this year associated with unfunded mandates — programs the state requires but doesn't fund. That number doesn't include pension obligations or items that would be done regardless of state requirements.

That number is 4.4 percent of its operating budget and 14.1 percent of its property tax levy, or 15.9 percent and 50.8 percent when combined with pensions, respectively.

With state officials also talking about taking away the municipal share of the state income tax, Palatine officials are urging everyone from residents to village employees to contact state Sen. Matt Murphy and state Rep. Tom Morrison, Palatine Republicans, to ease the burden.

“We're having a hard time funding the mandates that are out there,” Village Manager Reid Ottesen said. “Then when you start having a discussion about should we be taking more money away right now, that just exacerbates the entire problem.”

Palatine is planning to send its report to the Northwest Municipal Conference in hopes other suburbs will follow with similar analyses in order to pool resources and better illustrate the reality of the impact of legislators' actions.

Palatine's discussion, which went on for an hour, follows layoffs and a property tax increase in its 2011 budget. If the village's local share of the state income tax is cut, Palatine stands to lose up to $1.6 million.

“That's 16 employees,” Councilman Scott Lamerand said.

Ottesen went through a laundry list of unfunded mandates he said are either unnecessary or would be done more efficiently if the village had control over their implementation.

For example, he pointed to the $98,600 JULIE utility location program, a system so antiquated the village has a dedicated printer for it. Ottesen would rather see information shared electronically and users pay for the service.

Ottesen also said $63,117 is being spent on police traffic stop compliance software and equipment, a result of litigation involving just two communities over racial profiling accusations.

Then there's the $1.54 million spent each year on Social Security costs for police and fire employees. As a result of decisions made in the 1950s, Palatine is among just a handful of communities that pay into both Social Security and a pension system for police and fire. But federal lawmakers are resistant to let anyone opt out despite support from staff and union leaders.

Mayor Jim Schwantz said he's shared with state lawmakers the village's report and they've doubted the $2.73 million figure's accuracy.

“They basically said there's no way, which shows you how oblivious they are when these things happen, when they get passed … and we at the municipal level are stuck having to pay for this,” he said. “We're left paying the burden.”