Lombard set to approve 7-month budget
Lombard trustees are likely to approve a seven-month budget Thursday to plan for spending in the final months before switching from a fiscal year cycle to a calendar year cycle.
Expenditures in the 2012B budget total $57,347,680 supported by $57,910,473 of revenues from taxes and fees.
Village Manager David Hulseberg said the budget includes new spending on technology, police and fire department equipment, $6,000 worth of improvements to the Sheldon Peck Homestead and an employee recognition dinner.
“As we look at additions to the budget,” Hulseberg said, “we’ve got mobile devices for our departments to test the iPad technology and others. We’ve got replacement of 60 police and fire department laptops, replacement of police handguns, three new thermal imaging cameras in the fire department and the use of CodeRED to reach our residents in emergencies.”
iPads and other technology will cost $22,500, new laptops will cost $240,000 and continued use of CodeRED, which the village began using last summer to send out email, text and phone messages in emergencies, will cost $20,000.
The village will hold an employee recognition dinner for the first time, costing $25,450, and will spend $44,000 to train three new firefighters.
Lombard also plans to spend $17.7 million on capital improvements in the next seven months, including $6.2 million for bikeway and pedestrian improvements, $6.1 million on street maintenance and underground work, and $2 million for sewer and stormwater control upgrades, among other spending.
The village is saving $230,000 in the seven-month budget by removing two sworn police supervisor positions and combining one full-time civilian job into two part-time jobs.
Hulseberg reviewed the proposed budget during a public hearing April 12, saying the village’s priorities are to maintain a high level of government service in a cost-effective manner, aggressively work to diminish flooding problems and to focus on downtown improvements.
Lombard staff members and trustees have been reviewing two budgets at once the past several months as they prepare to switch from a fiscal year budget cycle to calendar years. The calendar year 2013 budget will be voted on separately from the 2012B budget at a future board meeting.