Round Lake Beach enacts hiring freeze

Applicants for jobs with the village of Round Lake Beach can hold onto their resumes.

Facing an "unprecedented reduction in revenue" the village board Monday approved a moratorium for filling vacancies or hiring new employees.

Although the moratorium was described as a temporary measure, there was no specific date given for when it would end.

Village Administrator Dave Kilbane said that by passing an ordinance the board was making an informal policy official.

"This is one step the board felt it should take," he said Tuesday.

Round Lake Beach, like many other communities, has seen revenues from several sources drop. The village employs about 100 and has not resorted to layoffs.

Kilbane said state income tax revenue is down 7 percent, and utility tax revenue is down 8 percent from budgeted amounts, for example. Interest income also is down because of the poor economy.

Round Lake Beach is on a May 1 to April 30 fiscal year. Kilbane said several "internal adjustments" to counteract the revenue drop already have been made.

A property maintenance code position and another spot in public works that were vacated have not been filled. The village also does not plan to fill one patrol position in the police department, although two pending hires will proceed as planned.

The moratorium does not apply to positions the board previously designated to be filled.

All nonessential overtime also is being eliminated and an added layer of oversight for purchasing has been added.

"We're making sure they're (purchases) in line with the budget and essential to the operation of the village," Kilbane said.

He said the village revenues are not matching expenditures and the village has had to dip into reserves to fund operations.

Revenue projections are not promising. Kilbane said projects are languishing and it has been tough for property owners to fill vacant commercial spaces.

"Generally, with municipalities it takes a couple of years to recover when the economy goes down," according to Kilbane.

"We're pretty much keeping tabs to determine where our year-end revenues are going so we're not sitting at the end of the year saying, 'What happened?'"