Carol Stream leaders urge lawmakers to release 'our money'

Carol Stream trustees have formally urged Springfield lawmakers to release the village's share of revenue from video gambling and motor fuel taxes tied up in the state budget stalemate.

The village board on Monday passed the resolution prepared by the Illinois Municipal League.

"We're caught in the middle of a war in Springfield like we've never seen," Mayor Frank Saverino said.

Currently, the state owes the village more than $400,000 in revenues that have been collected but not released in the budget impasse between Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic lawmakers. That money in limbo comes from several sources, including the village's portion of motor fuel and video gambling taxes.

"They're holding our money, and that's the sad part of it," Saverino said.

If both sides failed to broker a deal by the end of the village's fiscal year - April 30, 2016 - the suspended payments could top $1 million, Village Manager Joe Breinig said.

"The state of Illinois is in this heated battle against themselves and really who's being hurt is the towns," Trustee Mary Frusolone said.

While some towns earmark motor fuel taxes to pay for salt for its roads, the village sets aside the money for roadwork and other capital projects, Breinig said.

"We've been very cautious, and we're one of the fortunate towns," Frusolone said.

The village adopted its own spending plan last spring, freezing roughly $1.4 million in expenses after Rauner proposed cuts to what towns receive from the state income tax. The village's share of local government distributive funds has been paid out during the budget deadlock.

Trustees asked financial planners to revisit those expenses and determine what the village could realistically spend in the rest of the fiscal year. On Monday, the board agreed to keep $791,082 of the funds frozen.

Some of the expenses will be deferred because of timing. For instance, $4,200 would have paid for public works employees to attend training conferences that have already been held. Two positions also will go unfilled: a $70,066-a-year community service technician in the police department and a part-time mechanic helper.

Trustees did agree Monday to unfreeze $640,207 of the funds. One highlight is an estimated $40,000 project that would replace deteriorating, wooden siding with vinyl on the exterior of the village-owned historic farmhouse on Lies Road. The new siding, planned for next spring, won't require as much repainting, Breinig said.

"Almost all those things at one level or another need to be attended too," he said.

The resolution comes after state Rep. Marty Moylan, a Des Plaines Democrat, proposed a bill that would pay out the funds that have been withheld from towns since Illinois lawmakers failed to adopt a budget by its July 1 deadline.

"You have to come to a consensus in Springfield where you can work together," Saverino said. "They have to start working together. It isn't the line in the sand anymore."