Algonquin plans to lower tax levy 1.1 percent

Algonquin is planning to decrease its 2011 property tax levy by about 1 percent, officials said.

Board members unanimously recommended setting the 2011 levy at about $5.5 million — or about a 1.1. percent decrease compared to last year — at a committee of the whole meeting Tuesday night. About 7 percent of local property tax bills go to the village, which has kept the levy level for the last three years, Village Manager Bill Ganek said.

Village President John Schmitt, who was first appointed in 2002, said the village has lowered the tax levy through most of his tenure as president.

“That’s a goal that we have to meet our budgets ... we always do that. We’ve never raised (the levy), and almost every year we’ve lowered it,” he said.

Schmitt credited Ganek and the village board with adhering to sound fiscal policy, which he said allowed Algonquin to “weather the storm” of the economic recession.

The village has cut back on expenses such as purchasing new equipment, and has for the most part postponed replacing staff members who left or retired, Schmitt said.

Earlier this year, officials predicted a balanced 2011-12 general fund budget at $18.2 million. That is the largest component of the village’s $32 million annual budget. The village’s cash reserves amount to about four months’ worth of operating expenses. “We’re working on five months,” Schmitt said.

“I am very proud of the village,” Schmitt said. “I have been on the board for 18 years, and this kind of fiscal situation is exactly what we’ve been planning for.”

The village board is expected to approve the levy Oct. 4.