Arlington Heights plans budget amid state uncertainty

The Arlington Heights village board started discussing the 2016 budget on Monday amid continuing uncertainty about how decisions in Springfield will affect municipal bottom lines across the state.

Staff members explained budget plans for the next year along with several "worst-case" scenarios that could happen if state lawmakers decide to freeze property taxes or cut local income tax revenues.

Either of those issues would take a few years to affect Arlington Heights because of safe financial planning, staff said, but each would have the village running a deficit and dipping into its deserves within three years.

"Even if some of these draconian things occur, we've bought ourselves time by being conservative," said Village Manager Randy Recklaus.

"I appreciate that this board has always been responsible and had balanced budgets," said Trustee John Scaletta. "It's unfortunate the state has not always been as responsible as the village of Arlington Heights."

Trustees also expressed concerns that any state cuts would directly effect residents.

Kuehne estimated that the 2015 tax levy would be a 1.39 percent increase over last year, but cautioned that the exact numbers will likely change before a final budget is approved later this year.

"A freeze is really a reduction in what we have available to spend on public services," Recklaus said."

Trustee Joe Farwell said residents would feel the cuts first hand.

"We have to remember we already had a major reduction in staffing," he said referring to the 10 percent cut that happened since the recession. "Where are we going to get another reduction? It's going to be in police, it's going to be in fire, it's going to be in the delivery of the basic services we are charged with providing. That's the message Springfield needs to understand."

The 2016 budget is the first fiscal year that will align with the calendar year in Arlington Heights. Because of the scheduling change, annual budget meetings to discuss expenses and revenues for each village department will take place in November instead of March.

The budget assumptions approved unanimously on Monday do not account for anticipated costs of fixing flooding problems or infrastructure issues in the village, which staff cautioned will need a new funding mechanism.