Roselle tackles budget, fee increases

Roselle village officials began discussions Monday on the proposed budget for the next fiscal year.

In the next two weeks, the village board will decide how to spend taxpayer money and possibly adopt some new fees to help pay for certain projects and services.

According to the report given to the village board, staff predicts roughly $13.6 million in revenues next year. That's an 11.7 percent increase from the current fiscal year. Spending is projected to increase by roughly $410,000, mainly to fund cost-of-living salary increases for village employees.

The biggest spending is targeted for public works improvements. The proposed budget calls for spending more than $2 million on improvements to infrastructure, streets and underground sanitary sewers. Another $3.5 million is budgeted for improvements to the Devlin Wastewater Treatment Facility. The village would likely issue bonds to pay for the project. But the village board will also consider increasing the sewer rate by 37 cents per 1,000 gallons. That could mean rates would climb to $4.17 per 1,000 gallons for DuPage residents and $2.02 for Cook residents.

Other proposed budget highlights include increasing ambulance fees for both residents and non-residents. The proposal is to increase the basic ambulance service fee to $700 and advanced life support fee to $800. Presently, they range from $275 for basic services for residents to $575 for advanced life support services for non-residents.

"This is money we have been missing out on," Fire Chief Bob Gallas told the village board. "A lot of other area departments charge more."

The budget also calls for spending roughly $75,000 on improvements to Roselle's municipal buildings and about $500,000 for technology infrastructure improvements. The village may also consider hiring a part-time community relations coordinator.

Though it wasn't a part of the budget discussion, the mayor's salary became a topic of conversation. Gayle Smolinski receives a base salary of $10,000, plus $2,000 for serving as the liquor commissioner. Trustees Terry Wittman and Barbara Hochstadt said the mayor deserves a pay increase. However, staff told board members that a salary increase for a public official can only be made about six months prior to re-election.

"I think it's ridiculous. That salary should be higher," Wittman said. Later, he added, "I think ours (trustee salaries) also need to be reviewed."

The village board will comb through the proposed budget in the upcoming two weeks. The final version will be available for public viewing before the village board adopts it.