Schaumburg moving ahead with budget that's likely to remain tentative
In recommending a new annual budget to the Schaumburg village board this week, administrators had to make their best guess as to when COVID-19 social restrictions will end and the economic recovery - on which village finances so much depend - will begin.
But the biggest change in the pending 2020-21 budget is how often it's likely to be revisited in the year ahead, rather than in what trustees nominally approve April 28.
In contrast to having a single midyear update, the next budget is likely to be scrutinized monthly, Village Manager Brian Townsend said.
Nevertheless, a cohesive plan for the fiscal year beginning May 1 has to start with some assumptions, and the pending document contemplates an economic recovery that would begin in June and be back to almost normal around September.
That assumption was based on the belief of a few weeks ago that businesses would begin to reopen around May 1. While that no longer seems likely, Townsend still believes a good recovery could be in progress by the end of the calendar year.
He also believes the recommended budget's projections of revenues and costs are solid. Total revenues are estimated at $262 million - up 2.9% from this year's amended budget - while expenditures are at $249 million, or 4.5% lower than the current budget.
"I think the thing that concerns us most is the uncertainty about the future," Townsend said.
That doesn't mean only the amount of taxes local businesses will generate directly for the village, but whether the state will withhold more of the tax money it would normally distribute to municipalities.
Some measures Schaumburg has taken to tighten its belt for the year ahead include:
• A hiring freeze on all vacant positions.
• Enacting all of the potential 2% cost reductions each village department normally identifies each year.
• Canceling all travel and training, for an anticipated savings of $600,000.
• A one-year hiatus in contributions to funds for technology and vehicle replacement as well as building upgrades.
• Deferral of an additional $2 million in road improvements planned for this year.
• Canceling additional entertainment costs for this year's Septemberfest, the 50th installment of the Labor Day weekend festival.
Nevertheless, the budget doesn't immediately predict canceling Septemberfest or any other special events, or employee layoffs.
Townsend said the principal goal of the budget is to maintain Schaumburg's quality of life through the current crisis.
Another goal is to make up the $14 million gap the current budget year is ending with during the next 12 months.
Mayor Tom Dailly said there's a lot of questions about the next budget, which led him to ask whether it could be deferred. But that really wouldn't make much difference, he concluded.
"The best we can do ... is make a stab at it, and revisit it every month," he said.
Among the obstacles to predicting the future is that the most recent tax revenue reports village officials can look at reflect the reality of two months earlier, Dailly said.
Senior Trustee George Dunham said he anticipates many changes in the recommended budget he will review this weekend and the number of tweaks it will require this year.
"I expect the document will be somewhat fluid and need to be revisited," Dunham said.