South Elgin expected to pass budget with deficit

South Elgin village board members are again poised to approve a budget that lists more in expenditures than revenue — a practice that has become routine in the last decade but only because the conservative projections rarely come true.

South Elgin elected officials sat down with village department heads Monday for a workshop to go over cost estimates for the coming budget year, which starts May 1.

Although the projected deficit looks to be $1.2 million, Finance Director Art Skibley said that is a “worst-case scenario.” Even if it does happen, the village still would have more than 50 percent of its operating budget in savings.

Village President Jim Hansen said the history of trimming budgets throughout the year to avoid a deficit in the end has made the board more trusting in approving the projections.

“It isn’t so much the budget we adopt, but the budget we end up with,” Hansen said.

The biggest change to the 2012-13 budget is the outsourcing of police dispatch services to Kane County. Village Administrator Larry Jones said that is expected to save South Elgin at least $150,000 a year. Avoiding system upgrades in the next few years is saving another $1 million, Jones said.

Changes will have to come with the closing of the dispatch center in village hall, however, because round-the-clock staffing will disappear. Jones said on Monday that board members would have to consider policy changes for offering meeting space and contracting security.

In 2012-13, the village will see its first full budget year in which increases to utility and telecommunications taxes become effective. The natural gas and electricity taxes went from 1 percent to 3 percent last year and the telecommunications tax from 2 percent to 3 percent.

Though the village has lost money from slowed development and lower sales tax revenue in recent years, village departments have adapted by scaling back and focusing on essential services.

“These are some pretty lean times out there,” Hansen said. “Thankfully, we’ve been able to ride this out without having any major layoffs or major cuts in services.”

A public hearing on the budget will be at 7 p.m. Monday, April 2, at village hall, 10 N. Water St. Budget adoption is planned for the same time on Monday, April 16.