Antioch to lay off fifteen workers

Stagnant housing and commercial development is being blamed for a $1.2 million deficit in Antioch's budget, a shortfall that will mean layoffs for the first time in village history.

Board members will be asked Monday to approve the 2008-09 budget and cut about four full-time positions and 11 part-time workers.

The layoffs will save about $550,000 annually.

"Every municipality goes through financial issues," said Jill Velan, village administrator. "The economy and private sector have been hurting for a long time. Now it is just catching up with local government."

The proposed $10.4 million in expenditures is less than this year's more than $11 million budget, but revenues are down, requiring a bare-bones approach, Velan said.

Velan said staff cuts could have been avoided if the board would have approved implementation of a 5 percent utility tax on telephone, gas and electric bills that would have brought in $875,000 and cost homeowners about $13 per month.

Currently, 95 percent of Lake County communities have the tax, but village board members were reluctant to enact it.

The village has 102 full- and part-time employees. Velan has not said which departments the personnel cuts will come from.

Antioch is not the only community to resort to staff cuts to combat a budget defect.

Since November, Hawthorn Woods has laid off 14 employees, blaming the village's $750,000 shortfall on the drop in new construction, and the lack of developer fees and donations that came with it.

"Development has halted," Velan said. "Commercial and residential development we were counting on did not happen."

In addition to personnel cuts, Antioch's proposed budget also takes $176,916 from the village's reserve to balance the budget, draining the fund to about $15,000.

Capital expenditures, including three new patrol cars and two public works vehicles, also have been cut. Seasonal employees will not be hired this year, and vacant positions, including one for a community development director, will not be filled, Velan said.

Antioch's economy took a major hit in October when Neumann Homes filed for bankruptcy. Plans called for

1,500 single-family homes and townhouses to be constructed for the NeuHaven and Clublands subdivisions, on the north and south sides of Route 173 and Savage Road.

Commercial development was also affected in the village, with Target pulling out of the Antioch Marketplace project.

Developers from V-Land Corp. say they still plan to proceed with Antioch Marketplace, a 600,000-square-foot retail development along the north side of Route 173, just west of Wal-Mart, but have asked the village to consider creating a special sales tax to help pay for their costs.

The village is expected to make a decision on the business district later this month.

Board members are also considering a request from Industrial Developments International to create a TIF district to help pay for infrastructure at the 200-acre industrial park planned on Route 173, east of Route 45.

Velan said Antioch Marketplace and the industrial park will be a financial coup for the village, once the projects move forward.

"Antioch is actually very lucky, in these economic circumstances, to still have two large developments willing to come forward and build here," Velan said.

Economy: Neumann Homes bankruptcy hit village hard