Island Lake board to consider $7.6 million budget
Island Lake trustees could approve a $7.6 million budget for the new fiscal year tonight.
The village board is scheduled to adopt the spending plan without discussion as part of the consent agenda for the evening's meeting. The session starts at 7:30 p.m. at village hall, 3720 Greenleaf Ave.
The new fiscal year began May 1.
The proposed budget is slightly greater than last year's $7.5 million plan. Village Treasurer Ed McGinty attributed the increase to a planned $100,000 deposit in the police pension account, which was dramatically underfunded for several years.
McGinty pointed to a planned water main replacement on Dartmouth Drive as one of the biggest projects in the budget. It's expected to cost $472,000.
Officials predict the village will collect about $7.6 million in taxes, fees and other revenue during the year. That's also up from about $7.5 million.
Despite the village's ongoing financial struggles, the budget doesn't call for any service or staff cuts, McGinty said.
In previous years, political squabbling and legal battles led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual attorneys' fees for the village. Since Mayor Charles Amrich took office a year ago, however, legal fees have dropped considerably.