Arlington Hts. moves transition budget forward

Arlington Heights trustees discussed a $119.3 million transition budget Monday that will take services through the end of the year before the village switches to a calendar year in 2016.

"The budget process is the most important thing we do as elected officials," Mayor Tom Hayes said. "The public can rest assured that we are continuing to be good stewards of the your, and our, money in the village of Arlington Heights."

The board, acting as a committee of the whole, voted to recommend approval of the budget next month.

Village Manager Randy Recklaus said it was difficult to squeeze in an extra budget process, but trustees said they appreciated the schedule change from the previous fiscal year that ran from May 1 to April 30 each year and did not match up with the tax levy setting schedule.

"This to me just makes so much more sense," said Trustee Jim Tinaglia.

While the budget year is one-third shorter than normal, the actual budget is about a quarter smaller than usual, officials said.

"Due to the seasonal nature of a lot of our work, a lot of expenses are either overrepresented or underrepresented," Recklaus said.

For example, nearly all construction projects take place during summer months, and although the budget year is shorter, the village does not proportionally lower its staffing levels, he said.

Recklaus said staff members were conservative in estimating the revenue sides of the budget and did not include possible sales tax from the soon-to-open Arlington Lexus dealership or revenue from proposed slots at Arlington International Racetrack because legislation allowing that has been stalled in Springfield for several years.

The budget also does not include Gov. Bruce Rauner's proposed cuts to the local government distributive fund - a move that would slash $3.7 million from the Arlington Heights budget, Recklaus said.

"If such a reduction were to occur, it would be a drastic change to our budget," he said. "We would have to revisit the budget and have a very serious discussion."

Trustees asked questions about parking garage improvements, police overtime and the possibility of Rauner's budget proposals affecting local government.

The budget includes a placeholder amount for Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, and officials said any increase in funding will be discussed when the struggling downtown theater comes back to the board with a new business plan. It also includes $500,000 in architectural costs as the village continues to study building a new police station.

There will be a public hearing on April 20 before the board takes a final vote.