Hoffman Estates tax levy, water rates to rise
Hoffman Estates' property tax levy is expected to increase 4.8 percent for 2016 and water rates may rise 6 percent, but an anticipated hike in garbage collection fees won't occur, and spending caused by the emerald ash borer is nearly complete.
Village Finance Director Rachel Musiala said the increase in the village's levy from $18.3 million to $19.2 million is solely due to rising police and fire pension costs, which are actuarially determined.
The budget, levy and short- and long-range capital improvement plans are scheduled to be approved at the village board meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7.
The tentative budget includes two 6 percent increases in the water rate, the first effective Jan. 1, 2016, and the second on Jan. 1, 2017. The hike will cover the cost of capital improvements, as well pending increases in how much Chicago charges the suburbs for Lake Michigan water.
A plan calling for rate increases for the next four years of 7 percent, 6 percent, 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively, was deemed too aggressive by the village board, Musiala said.
The general fund of the proposed 2016 budget estimates revenues of $55.3 million - a 2.9 percent increase over 2015 - and expenses that are 2 percent higher at $55.9 million.
The village will use $610,000 of reserves to cover the planting of replacement trees in the emerald ash borer response program. Virtually all ash trees have now been removed, and the final year of the program will focus entirely on replacement, Musiala said.
In recent years, the village has budgeted $1.5 million annually to the EAB program when it involved both removal and replacement of trees, she said.
The total capital improvement budget for 2016 is $33.8 million.
Roads and related infrastructure projects are the largest part of the eight-year capital improvement outlook, representing $91.3 million, or 57 percent, of the spending through 2023.
No funding for new buildings or significant building improvements has yet been earmarked for any of the next eight years, Musiala said.
Village residents have not seen a rate increase for garbage pickup since 2008, a streak officials thought would have to end this year. But a new arrangement with the village's waste hauler will keep rates the same for another year, Musiala said.
The village is making changes to its ambulance fee collection process that should provide an estimated $100,000 per year from insurance companies. The change will not affect residents' or patients' costs, Musiala said.