Palatine holds the line on its property tax levy
For the fifth year in a row, Palatine will not increase its tax levy, according to the proposed 2016 budget the village council will vote on next month.
According to village documents, the property tax levy will remain about $21.7 million, the same as last year. Over the past five years the village has reduced its levy by $653,284.
"Springfield is talking about property tax freezing, but we're doing it ourselves," Village Manager Reid Ottesen said. "We don't need them necessarily telling us what to do."
Ottesen said one of the reasons Palatine has been able to remain financially strong despite the state's fiscal uncertainty is the village has operated within its means. Ottesen said the village made several cost-saving changes during the recession, including eliminating programs such as street beautification and pocket parks, and reducing the full-time staff from 367 in 2009 to 338 today.
"We're operating with the same number of people in 2016 as we had in 1999, which is before we annexed and our population increased 16 percent," Ottesen said. "I don't think there is anyone else who has grown and gone through what we have who can say they've had that same staffing level."
The budget includes a total of about $8.1 million to meet the village's pension obligations, which is up $459,085 from 2015 and an increase of $4.5 million over the past 10 years.
"The system is not sustainable and our state leaders don't seem to care," Ottesen said in his annual budget summary. "It remains politics as usual despite new leadership in the executive branch."
Of the nearly $43 million in the 2016 budget for capital investment, $25,000 is earmarked for the village's 150th anniversary celebration.
The village also will spend $971,285 to replace aging vehicles in its fleet, including seven police vehicles, two 5-ton dump trucks, a wheel loader and a backhoe. The purchases will not make the fleet any larger.
The $21.7 million that the village will collect in property taxes represents about 12.3 percent of the total property taxes paid by Palatine residents, according to village documents.
The proposed $112 million budget is available for review at www.palatine.il.us. Ottesen said the village council is likely to vote on it at their Dec. 7 meeting.