In Hoffman Estates, debate rages over what is 'wasteful'

Members of the Hoffman Estates police union sported T-shirts Monday asking the village to "stop wasteful spending."

The union wants to prevent four layoffs, and members packed village hall in the most animated and well-attended board meeting of the year.

But what is "wasteful spending?"

Hoffman Estates Village Manager James Norris last week said wasteful spending is an expenditure that has no direct affect on the party making the claim.

Police union members at Monday's board meeting yelled from their seats that the $289,010 the village has allocated in 2010 for boards and commissions was wasteful. Fire union head Dean Slater last week said he was shocked during last month's budget hearing when the village staff pushed through the expenditure quickly with little board debate.

The village has rolled back spending on boards and commissions though, cutting them 31.8 percent, or $134,940, compared to 2009.

And Pearl Henderson, head of the cultural awareness commission, said she doesn't see her efforts as a waste. A $5,500 budget next year will help pay for events like the Martin Luther King breakfast and Unity Day, a popular festival that celebrates diversity.

She can relate to the unions' position, however.

"If I were facing losing my job and was looking at what they were looking at, I would question it too," she said.

Henderson said you can't put a dollar value to the benefit of drawing residents of different ethnic backgrounds together.

The arts commission has a budget for 2010 of $22,200, down $2,000, to go toward running 27 events, including the summer concert series at village green. Michelle Pilafas said her commission has worked with groups like the park and library districts to keep costs down. She said the arts have enriched the lives of all.

The biggest saving in the boards and commissions budget though - about $50,000 - is because this year, there's no 50th anniversary celebration to fund.

The economic development commission's budget has shrunk dramatically, too, from $35,000 to $10,000, partly reflecting a struggling economy that has snarled plans for new businesses.

And the children's memorial outside village hall is finally finished, and a $28,150 item for 2009 has been cut to $1,000.

The village also has diverted $8,750 from the cultural commission toward expanding the Tartan Day parade, which culminates with an Irish and Scottish heritage event at the Sears Centre, drawing kilt-wearing participants - and hopefully tourism dollars - from across the country. Unity Day has been folded into the Tartan Day celebration and the date has been shifted from the summer to April 10.

Overall, the village board on Monday adopted a 2010 budget of $126.9 million, a 2.4 percent decrease from 2009. The budget calls for laying off four junior police officers, which would force the department to reassign officers working desk jobs to the street to keep patrol staffing the same. The sides have until Jan. 1 to negotiate a deal that would avoid the personnel cuts. The village wants the union to agree to delay promised raises. Firefighters forestalled layoffs by agreeing to such a delay.

Trustee Cary Collins, the only board member to vote against the budget, cites projects like the new police and fire stations, as well as renovations to village hall, as money that didn't have to spent this year. He also said he wants to look at the amount of money the village has given as incentives to businesses, including in tax increment financing districts.

He said he believes the revenue from projects that get incentives is far below estimates. "The budget is calculated on anticipated revenue," Collins said. "I believe - this is where the crush occurs," he said.