St. Charles budget balanced, but utility rate hike coming

With eyes on Springfield, St. Charles officials viewed a preliminary budget that is balanced but envisions residents paying more on their utility bills.

Income and spending will increase in the new fiscal year, which begins May 1 for the city. That said, general fund expenses, which fund most of the day-to-day operations of the city, will still fall below the watermark level of $42.7 million from 2008.

"That's nine consecutive years now that our expenses have been below that 2008 level," said finance director Chris Minick. "That speaks to the cuts that we have made."

Those cuts came in response to a nationwide recession. Minick said the city will undergo a similar belt tightening if state lawmakers strip half of the city's portion of the state income tax. St. Charles and other local municipalities have passed resolutions in recent weeks calling on Gov. Bruce Rauner to not touch those funds.

Assuming no changes in state funding, Minick forecast a 3.3 percent increase in revenue and a 2 percent increase in spending for 2015-16. That includes revenue of about $144 million compared to expenses of about $146 million. Minick called that "essentially a break-even budget."

"The budget is balanced," Minick said. "We have no new taxes proposed and no tax increases proposed for the general fund."

Residents will, however, pay more for utilities. The monthly residential electric charge will increase about 11 percent from $15 to the new price of $16.70. Minick indicated future increases are on the way as the city continues to dig out from several years of electric utility operating losses. A $5.6 million surplus budgeted for the electric fund will dig the city about halfway out of the debt owed to the fund.

There will be smaller increases to water and sewer rates, but Minick said St. Charles utilities are still a better value than what Geneva and Batavia residents pay.

The average St. Charles resident pays slightly less than $2,400 a year for utilities. A Geneva resident with the same usage level pays about $2,425. That same resident in Batavia pays about $2,750, Minick said.

Also, there are nearly $20 million in capital projects built into the budget.

The major project is the construction of a new parking deck on First Street. There will also be about $1 million of street resurfacing. South Tyler Road will be rebuilt, and there will be a creek stabilization project in the Fox Glen subdivision.

The budget also includes money for five staff positions. That includes two new police officers and one new fire lieutenant.

Residents can weigh in on the budget during a public hearing on April 6.