Rolling Meadows to post negative budget draft on Web site

The Rolling Meadows City Council intends to post a negative 2011 draft budget on its Web site after discussing the possibility of showing its citizens that it would take a nearly 30 percent increase in property taxes to balance the budget if no services were reduced or cut.

"I'd sooner see a draft with negative numbers than have someone call and ask me, 'A 30 percent property tax increase? You gotta be crazy,'" 6th Ward Alderman John D'Astice said.

If expenditures were left as is, and there were no other revenue sources other than to raise property tax, it would have to be raised 29.9 percent, officials determined at Tuesday's meeting.

"It would get a lot of people coming up with some creative ideas on how to avoid doing that," 1st Ward Alderman John Pitzaferro said, before later withdrawing his proposal of posting the draft budget including the tax increases. "Otherwise they expect us to do magic."

Possible sources of revenue such as a property tax increase, a natural gas tax increase, a local fuel tax one-cent increase and selling two cell phone towers were all discussed as possible revenue sources Tuesday night. Ultimately the council voted in favor of striking revenue enhancements and showing the negative budget to its citizens for their consideration.

"The more you put out there with options, the more feedback you're going to get," Rolling Meadows Mayor Kenneth Nelson said. "I think the public needs to know."

"Let people know, unless we can make reductions, they're going to have a 30 percent property tax increase. This is the battle," D'Astice said.

City council officials made clear that they did not actually intend to raise the property tax by nearly 30 percent but floated the inclusion of the option on the draft budget as a message to residents of the kind of tough decisions the council is up against.

"I'm not for a 30 percent tax increase. I'm proposing we shock the residents with 'this is what we're up against.' We are not really going to do that. I don't need Molotov cocktails thrown in my windows," Pitzaferro joked.

"Of course we're not going to pass that, but it will get people to ask where we're going to cut," Pitzaferro said of the negative draft budget to be posted on the city's website.

"We don't know what degree taxes will go up. No one wants to raise taxes or cut people. But the bottom line is to find a balance between revenue enhancement and cost reductions. I'm not going to tell anyone this won't happen," 7th Ward Alderman Jim Larsen said.

When asked how to proceed with so few opportunities for revenue enhancement, Rolling Meadows City Manager Sara Phillips said, "The other options are taxes and fees. You look at something that will affect citizens equally.

"The proposal to you is which [increases] do you feel are best to serve your citizens," Phillips added.

"Most individuals would say they are paying enough tax," Pitzaferro replied.