DuPage County board abates tax rate
DuPage property owners will see about $3 knocked off the county portion of their tax bills this year.
That translates to $1 million being shaved off the pool of cash being sought by various county departments for budget increases.
The county board voted 11-2 at a special Saturday meeting to abate this year's property tax rate, but then tabled discussion on amending the current budget that could have added roughly $6 million to departmental budgets and increased pay for all county employees.
"I'm disappointed," Chairman Robert Schillerstrom said. "We need to amend the budget so the departments know what they have to spend."
There is no required timeline for amending the budget, but there is a Monday deadline for abating the property tax rate.
After meeting for nearly four hours Wednesday to debate amending the budget, a $5 million deficit remained. Schillerstrom presented a balanced budget proposal to the board Friday afternoon and had hoped to have it passed Saturday.
The board voted 7-6 to table the issue until its April 8 meeting.
Board member Jeff Redick said there's no need to rush.
"There are five people who aren't here today to take part in this discussion, and we're also meeting on a Saturday when most residents aren't aware that we're here today doing this," he said.
The county board is amending the budget in the wake of a sales tax increase that will generate an estimated $20 million this year and $48 million in future years. The board already designated $10.5 million to cover a personnel budgeting shortfall.
That left a $9.5 million surplus for the board to spread around. However, funding requests came back totaling more than $22.8 million. The board pared those down Wednesday to $14.5 million and then Schillerstrom took a whack ahead of Saturday's meeting.
Schillerstrom called his budget recommendations "fair and equitable." He said he trimmed from every department when he drew up his plan.
His proposal called for the $1 million property tax abatement. It also sets aside $1 million in a "rainy day fund," puts $1.5 million toward employee raises, and creates a $1.4 million pool for transportation projects. The remaining funds were spread to various departments.
The board had wanted to give each department enough money to provide employees with a 4 percent pay increase, but Schillerstrom's plan trims that to 3.5 percent.
Sheriff John Zaruba is seeking an additional $790,000 to increase deputies' salaries as a retention mechanism. Schillerstrom is recommending only $350,000, saying the proposed countywide compensation package partially offsets Zaruba's needs.