Wheaton museum, DARE lose funding

Wheaton's Center for History will have to promote and preserve local history without financial help from the city.

And DARE won't be taught by a Wheaton police officer next school year.

City council members eliminated funding for both programs on Monday night when they adopted Wheaton's $75.7 million budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

The spending plan, which takes effect May 1, has a $34.9 million general fund that will pay for salaries and operating expenses during the fiscal year.

But in order to avoid a $4 million shortfall in that general fund, city officials increased Wheaton's sales tax and trimmed $3 million in expenses, including canceling $1.3 million in capital projects and eliminating the equivalent of 17 full-time positions.

For the Center for History, the cuts resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars in annual subsidies from the city. Last year, Wheaton gave the center $225,000.

"The budget was a very difficult decision," Councilman Phil Suess said. "Decisions had to made that impacted employment in the city and the services we provide."

Representatives from the center didn't attend Monday's meeting. They have said they will explore fundraising options for the museum, which sees more than 15,000 visitors a year at its two locations.

As for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, city leaders say the police officer who teaches the curriculum in local elementary classrooms is needed on the street. She will reassigned to regular patrol duties at the end of the current school year.

Despite the change, Suess said he's hopeful that Wheaton police will continue to have a positive presence in local elementary schools.

"Yes, the DARE program is going away," he said. "But I think the city has a responsibility to come up with a program that does maintain exposure to the police department in the schools."

Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 officials said teachers will continue to deliver the drug and alcohol prevention message to their fifth-grade students.

In meantime, Mayor Mike Gresk warned that Wheaton will continue to face financial challenges. He said there will be more budget cuts unless revenues improve.