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Barrington's finances the subject of state of the village address

Village President Karen Darch used her annual State of the Village address to focus on correcting the record on Barrington's debt, a topic that has been among the most discussed in her re-election campaign against challenger Mike Kozel.

Before Darch gave her address, Kozel said during public comment that on his tax bill he saw a $27 million increase in the village's debt from 2015 to 2016.

"Tonight, are you going to completely deny the debt?" Kozel said. "Or are you going to call out the financial agency that has closed the loophole that you as a long-term incumbent have found ways to exploit?"

Darch, who was first elected president in 2005, said during her address that the $27 million jump in the debt number reported on Cook County tax forms is because the county now requires municipalities to add their pension liability.

The village's current pension liability is $25.3 million, which is around 30 percent of the village's total $84.8 million pension obligation. The village has $59.4 million in current assets available in pension funds to cover their total obligation.

Darch said Barrington is in a very good place compared with other suburbs when it comes to paying state-mandated employee pensions. According to the Cook County treasurer's office, Barrington is at 70.14 percent funded which is ahead of Hoffman Estates, which is at 62.38 percent; Palatine, which is at 59.15 percent; and Lake Zurich, which is at 57.12 percent.

After the meeting, Kozel said his point wasn't that Darch denied the debt but that she decried the watchdog agency that put a spotlight on debt that already existed.

"It really goes to fact that our debt is our debt and it's been growing and it's getting out of hand," Kozel said.

Darch disputed that the debt was getting out of hand in her address, saying that many debts are going to be retired soon. The village's $32.8 million in debt includes $4.4 million to finance the Barrington White House project, which will be paid for by the $6.8 million in private donations they've raised. Around $6.4 million of the debt is from the development of the Village Center Project, which will be retired in 2023.

And around $1.9 million in debt from the Village Hall and Public Safety Building projects will be retired next year. Darch said when that happens, Barrington tax payers will see the municipal portion of their property taxes reduced by 8.37 percent in 2018 and by an additional 9.96 percent in 2019.

Other financial news Darch shared was that home values were up in 2016 with a 2.6 percent increase in the average home price, Barrington's retail occupancy was 93.7 percent, and a 5 percent increase in sales tax revenue from 2015 to 2016 is expected.

Several trustees used their time at the end of the meeting to support Darch's speech. Trustee Jim Daluga said there has been misinformation about the village's finances.

"Moody's does not hand out AA+ ratings for no reason at all," Daluga said. "If you really want to know the truth, come to the village website and review the documents that President Darch shared with you."

A link to the recording of Darch's speech and the rest of the meeting is available at barrington-il.gov.

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