Arlington Hts. cuts come with costs, both public and personal

People living and working in Arlington Heights will notice the effect on services when the latest round of layoffs goes into effect, village officials said Tuesday.

As many as 13 people will be laid off in early 2010, said Village Manager Bill Dixon. Combined with 12 vacant positions and announced retirements, there will be 25 fewer jobs when the new fiscal year starts in May.

Dixon said he is not ready to say which jobs these are. They will be in addition to 10 jobs, including six layoffs, that were eliminated earlier this year.

"Certainly this is a time of some uneasiness," Dixon said. "We have approximately 450 employees. The vast majority are going to remain with us. In the work world now there are uncertainties - private, public, it's a difficult time."

Most obvious to residents, he said, will be the programs that are eliminated. On Monday night trustees indicated they will close the Teen Center in January, and at the end of the school year drop Too Good for Drugs, a program where two police officers work in the schools.

• The board also agreed to institute 3 percent taxes on electric and natural gas usage, but trustees will re-evaluate them in two years in case the economy improves enough they can be dropped.

• The property tax levy will increase 5.74 percent, with much of it going to police and firefighter pensions. The Arlington Heights municipal tax is about 11 percent of homeowners' tax bills.

Village President Arlene Mulder said residents realize the village has budgeting issues and are more concerned about their personal budget problems than about slowdowns in village services.

"Things will take longer to process: permits, plan reviews," she said. "The basic services will still be there, but the turnaround time won't be as prompt."

The village board is expected to formalize these decisions and cut the 25 positions on Monday, Dec. 7. They are part of a plan to save $3.275 million from the general fund in Fiscal Year 2010-11, which starts in May 2010.

The utility tax is expected to raise $2.5 million annually while costing the average user $90 in a year, said village staff.

The property tax increase would add $47 to the bill for a home worth $320,000, considered average in the village.

The village needs to cut costs and increase taxes because of huge drops in sales taxes and income taxes, said Dixon.

For five years ending in 2008 the village's general fund had a surplus. Then in 2008-2009 $2.8 million was used from reserves to cover a deficit. And at the end of the current year in April village staff believes another $2.7 million will have to be taken from the accumulated surplus.

The hope is that cuts and new taxes will bring the deficit to less than $500,000 in the fiscal year starting in May.

This would still leave the general fund with a surplus of $16 million, which is 25 percent of the budget - the amount financial experts are comfortable with, said Thomas Kuehne, director of finance.

Village trustees spent considerable time Monday night debating the advantages to residents of introducing utility taxes versus raising property taxes. They said less about the staff members who will lose their jobs, but Dixon said that isn't because they don't care.

"I know the board feels bad about that situation from individual comments I have received," said Dixon.

"I feel bad about it myself, but we are accountable to the taxpayers. And we have had some terrible drops in revenue."