Lake Zurich plans out its capital improvements

Lake Zurich village officials say they have created a capital improvement plan designed to schedule and fund future road resurfacing projects and equipment maintenance duties.

Described as long abandoned and much overdo, the proposal was presented to the board Tuesday. It details a 20-year road resurfacing, 10-year equipment replacement and a funding plan to cover fiscal years 2012 through 2021.

"This is a critical piece of our financial planning because without this, it is difficult or may be impossible to add any legitimacy to any long-term financial forecasting or planning that we do," Village Administrator Bob Vitas said.

Vitas said he hopes the proposal will be approved at the board's next meeting Sept. 20.

The road resurfacing plan would give residents a detailed picture of roads targeted for resurfacing, and would help save as much as 10 percent of the cost. Streets designated for resurfacing are close to each other, saving the cost of relocating equipment.

"This particular plan will address that which I think is always on the minds of residents who live in areas where the roads haven't been touched in 20 to 30 years," Vitas said.

The equipment plan would detail all village-owned vehicles and equipment, when they should be replaced and the cost of doing so over the next 10 years. While the plan tries to stay within equipment's useful life, some may be stretched out to make it work within available resources, he said.

There are areas the proposal does not yet cover, such as water, sewer and stormwater management, because more information is required to identify needs and costs. These elements will be rolled into a final document to create a comprehensive plan.

Trustee Jeff Halen said this plan may sound great based on information they have now, but his concern is the addition of missing pieces could change the picture.

"You're asking us to do something on a piece without looking at the whole picture," he said.

Vitas said doing that would take more time than village officials have right now.

"We're behind the eight-ball as it is by not having the plan. By adopting this plan, we're standing on top of it," he said.

The plan is contingent on several factors, including passing a sales tax referendum on the Nov. 2 ballot. The referendum requests raising the sales tax by half a percentage point. If approved, it could generate as much as $2.2 million a year in additional revenue for capital improvements. Vitas said this document is meant to educate the public on what the referendum is meant to fund.

"This will be a road map as to how those funds will be allocated on an annual basis and reviewed annually and planned for the future throughout the community," he said.