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Hanover Park considering $13.2 million property tax levy

Hanover Park officials hope to raise $13.2 million via the village's proposed property tax levy - a 3 percent increase that would help put the 2015 budget in the black without dipping into reserves.

In recent years, trustees have approved back-to-back 4.99 percent hikes to the levy, just below the threshold in state law requiring the village to hold public hearings.

On the 2014 tax bills, the levy would have jumped nearly 7 percent under a recommendation by the village staff, but the board quashed that idea in favor of diversifying revenue sources and slashing costs.

"I think we've cut every corner that we can," Mayor Rodney Craig said.

If trustees adopt the 3 percent increase - appearing on 2015 bills - the village would receive an extra $385,895 over last year's extension.

That revenue - plus proceeds from an increase to the electric utility tax approved this spring - contributed to a balanced, tentative budget, interim Finance Director Greg Peters said.

Early this year, officials began sounding the alarm that the roughly $59 million spending plan would generate a $600,000-plus deficit. Although the village isn't adding staff or programs, the cost of employee pensions and salaries are on the rise, Peters said.

"We've been very conservative on multiple fronts," Craig said. "We're not looking to add any new positions. We're moving forward conservatively."

Trustees will discuss the levy at the board meeting Thursday night in village hall, 2121 W. Lake St. The total levy will pay for operations (an estimated $11.6 million) and the principal and interest on debt (an estimated $1.6 million).

In the coming weeks, Peters said he will meet with county assessors and determine what taxpayers are expected to pay on the village's portion of the property tax bill. Then in December, the board will vote on the levy.

For the first time, officials have been able to prepare the budget while setting the levy. That's because Hanover Park switched from a fiscal year starting May 1 to a calendar year.

Before, officials began budgeting expenses in the spring without a clear sense of how much revenue the levy would bring.

"It's easier to make decisions when you are funding an annual budget at the same time you're doing your levy," Peters said.

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