St. Charles OKs budget with frozen property tax levy

If city budgets were climate science, St. Charles would be in an Ice Age when it comes to its property taxes.

Aldermen approved a new city budget Monday night that committed to an eighth straight year of a frozen property tax levy - but that doesn't mean residents won't pay the city more to live in town.

Chris Minick, the city's finance director, told aldermen the new budget plan contains no new taxes and no tax increases. That feat stems from $5 million in budget cuts implemented starting back in 2008 in response to a divebombing economy.

"Our expenditure levels still are not at the pre-recession levels," Minick said. "But we do anticipate that that is going to change. Within the next year or two, we will hit those levels."

Part of what's fending off a spending increase is the state budget and the possibility the city will get the state money it's owed.

Minick said the constant threat of state lawmakers possibly raiding the local government's share of statewide taxes is the single biggest unknown with the potential largest impact on the city's budget. About 10 percent of the city's revenues comes from its share of the state income tax.

Mayor Ray Rogina said the threat is very real.

"The mayors' group has said the (Local Government Distributive Fund) is off the table, but the state legislature has another opinion on that matter," Rogina said. "We were just down in Springfield, and they said right in front of us, 'Oh yeah, it's possible.'"

As the state works to find is fiscal policy, St. Charles officials are still tweaking just how much residents should pay for city utilities. The city operates its own water, sewer and electric utilities. The costs of those operations outpaced the income generated for several years until city officials decided to gradually increase the rates each year until each of the utilities operates in the black.

Last year, the new budget increased the annual utility bill of an average St. Charles household by $132 for an overall bill of about $2,461. Monday night's vote will add about another $83 a year to that the utility bill for that same household. Minick said that should still keep the utility bills for St. Charles residents below what their neighbors in Batavia and Geneva pay.

Aldermen approved the budget 9-0. Alderman Ed Bessner was absent. The city's new fiscal year begins May 1.