Bloomingdale's Septemberfest canceled for this year

Bloomingdale's Septemberfest will be canceled this year, as village leaders continue to cut costs amid a $1.7 million budget crisis.

The fest traditionally happens the weekend after Labor Day and includes live music, a parade, car and motorcycle shows, and food. Officials will, however, continue the Joe Draghi Scholarship program that typically happens in conjunction with the fest.

Suspending the fest will save Bloomingdale $35,000 this year, said Village Administrator Dan Wennerholm. Meanwhile, scholarship funds that benefit several high school students are raised through private donors and will not affect the village budget.

"It is regrettable but it is something we just have to do, certainly hope we'll be back in business in 2011 for both festivals," he said.

Two months ago officials also suspended the village's larger-scale Family Festival for 2010, usually held over four days in late June. Wennerholm said the annual fest costs approximately $250,000 to stage, but generates revenues that averaged about $150,000 in recent years.

Village funds make up for the disparity, and the fest is the largest village-sponsored event in Bloomingdale.

Talk of charging admission to both fests has been tossed around over the years, but Wennerholm said he doesn't think this option was discussed seriously this year.

"Family Fest is a much larger-scale thing than Septemberfest, with the fireworks and crowds, and I think with the costs of fencing it and controlling the gates - out of practicality - we said no," said Wennerholm. "Septemberfest is intended to be a homey type of thing. But controlling that area would also be difficult."

To help close the gap between Bloomingdale's $22.9 million spending plan and $21.2 million in expected revenues, officials last month also passed a new 5 percent telecommunications tax.

When it goes into effect July 1, it will apply to the gross amount of bills for mobile phones, land lines some Internet services and other services, such as pagers.

Officials say the tax is expected to generate $1.5 million annually.

Late last year Bloomingdale also launched another cost-cutting measure with voluntary buyouts. Ten employees qualified and volunteered for the offer; their positions will end by June 1.

Wennerholm said this will save the village approximately $500,000, since most of the posts will not be filled or will be filled by part-time employees. Bloomingdale has 147 full-time equivalent positions.

Officials cite factors, such as falling sales tax revenues and flat property tax income as culprits for Bloomingdale's budget crunch. Sales tax is Bloomingdale's primary source of revenue, but it has been declining over the past two years. Finance Director Gary Szott said the village was hit particularly hard when Insight, a mail-order computer company, moved out of town.