A Preview of the Village of Lombard Proposed 2013 Budget

The revised budget includes a plan to eliminate the Village's vehicle fee, which currently costs Lombard residents and businesses over half a million dollars per year. The elimination of the vehicle fee will save residents and businesses anywhere from $15 to over $100 per year, depending on the number and type of vehicles that they have. The savings necessary to eliminate the vehicle fee were identified as a result of an extensive review of the proposed 2013 budget by board members, led by Acting President Peter Breen.

"The elimination of the Village vehicle fee is a big win for Lombard residents," said Breen. "This Village Board has decided not just to find savings but more importantly to return those savings to the taxpayers. I'm proud of my fellow board members and our dedicated staff for their work on the 2013 budget."

During the past two months, the Village Board held three public workshops on revisions to the 2013 budget. In addition, individual Board members met extensively with Village Manager David Hulseberg, department heads, and staff members, to perform a line-by-line review of the budget. The result was a reduction of approximately $450,000, based largely on changes to staff positions that had occurred during this year.

Based on the experience of this year's budget process, Breen is preparing a proposal to substantially reform the Village Board's budgeting and oversight process. The proposal would have each of the Village's six major standing committees provide in depth oversight throughout the year of one of the six main Village department budgets. In particular, he would have the committees review department spending and operations throughout the year, along with presenting an initial line-by-line budget review to the Village Board as a starting point for the board's own budget review.

"Under this proposal, each committee would focus on the budget and operations of a specific department, in order to help that department deliver services to Lombard residents most effectively and at the lowest cost," said Breen. "We should take full advantage of the knowledge and experience of our volunteer committees, each led by a Village Trustee, to provide this oversight."

The fiscal year 2013 (FY 2013) budget totals $86,814,785, which is an increase of

$13 million, or 17.6% when compared with the past full budget year, fiscal year 2012A (June 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012). The Village recently changed its fiscal year to a calendar year. Proposed revenues for FY 2013 total $91,432,000, an increase of 14.2% over the previous full fiscal year.

The most significant increase for the 2013 budget is related to capital projects. The Village’s Capital Improvement Program proposed expenses for FY 2013 totals more than $18 million, compared to $9.5 million that was spent in FY 2012A. These projects include facility maintenance & improvements, street construction & improvements, sidewalk improvements, traffic signal & street lighting improvement, right-of-way maintenance improvements & beautification, sewer system/storm water control improvements and water system improvements.

The FY 2013 proposed budget will be presented to the Village Board at a public hearing on December 6, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. in the Village Hall Board Room.