Des Plaines weighs its history against maintaining budget
Is preserving the past worth more than securing the future?
That's one of the questions before the Des Plaines city council as it works through a budget process that officials promise will be painful.
The Des Plaines Historical Society stands to lose all of their $166,000 funding request as part of the city administration's proposed budget cuts for 2010 to plug a $3.6 million shortfall in its general fund for operations.
Historical Society President John Burke said the city's contribution amounts to more than two-thirds of the group's outside revenues, which help pay for four full-time and three part-time employees.
The society also receives roughly $73,000 in yearly funding from the Des Plaines Park District, and more than $45,000 is collected largely through fundraising efforts and membership dues.
That funding pays for the maintenance and operation of three historic buildings owned by the society - the History Center, The Kinder House and The Fisher-Wright House.
Burke made an impassioned plea to the city council this week to maintain the society's funding.
"Without a heritage, every generation must start anew," Burke said in a later telephone interview. "It really, to me, is the essence of what we try to do at the historical society and the history center. There's an awful lot of people in town who have seen with their own eyes the visible reminders of our past are disappearing so rapidly."
Considering the city's proposed $102 million total budget for 2010, $166,000 may seem like a drop in the bucket.
But every little bit counts when officials are contemplating property tax and fee hikes, layoffs and early retirements to plug an overall budget deficit of $5.2 million and to build up a dwindling fund balance of $2.4 million, Mayor Marty Moylan said.
Other programs targeted for cuts include $10,000 for an after-school program and slashing the Special Events Commission's yearly allocation to $16,000, or just enough to cover the Fourth of July fireworks.
The commission organized this year's Fourth parade, fireworks and Taste of Des Plaines with a $54,000 budget, a significant drop from previous years' funding when the Taste alone cost the city about $65,000.
"It all adds up," Moylan said. "And you have to cut as much as you can from everywhere instead of making it (in) one place. We spread the pain out all over the entire budget. We're looking for all the agencies to be creative and help save us money."
City council members may prove willing to restore some funding. They have asked the historical society to come up with a business plan and ideas to reduce its funding request. Burke said the group's 12-member board next week will discuss asking for a lower level of funding as an alternative to eliminating the contribution entirely. The group also is looking for other ways to supplement city funding, he added.
"We have always looked for additional, outside sources for funding, but obviously the need is more urgent right now," Burke said. "We are very optimistic that we can find additional funding through our members, the business community and grants."