Carol Stream to propose a balanced budget

A series of workshops and meetings aimed at eliminating a $2.69 million budget deficit seems to have paid off in Carol Stream.

After months of moves that included staff buyouts and a sales-tax increase, officials say they have balanced their $21.3 million budget proposal for next year.

Residents may examine the proposed Fiscal Year 2011 budget at village offices, 500 N. Gary Ave., until Monday, April 19. A public hearing will be held that day at the board's next meeting.

The village's large deficit had been reduced to $383,000 and Finance Director Stan Helgerson said the village will use reserve funds to eliminate it.

"We've been doing budget reductions for several years," he said. "It's not just something we started doing in July. This didn't sneak up on us."

During the past two years, officials have reduced the annual operating budget by about $1 million per year, Helgerson said. As the new budget came into focus, it was apparent they would have to make significant spending cuts while also increasing revenue.

To close the $2.69 million gap, officials approved an increase in the sales tax of one-quarter of a percentage point, up to 8 percent. That increase takes effect Thursday, July 1, and is expected to generate about $740,000 in revenue in 10 months. They also delayed equipment purchases and offered employees voluntary buyouts.

Twelve employees have taken the buyouts, which will cost the village $425,500. The cost will be split between the current fiscal year and the 2011 budget.

Helgerson said he expects the village to see some gaps in the coming years, but nothing like the $2.69 million deficit this year.

"These will be much more manageable," he said, anticipating an increased revenue base.

Still unclear is the state's budget outlook. Gov. Pat Quinn last month introduced a budget that included a 3 percent decrease in municipalities' share of income tax revenue. This would mean an additional $941,000 of lost revenue for Carol Stream.

"We are not in a position to ultimately absorb that," Helgerson said. "We're not here to solve that tonight, but it's hanging out there."

Village Manager Joe Breinig said if that happens, the village will be able to adjust.

"If it hits, it hits," he said. "The model for what we did will work again. The decisions are going to get increasingly harder. But I think the model works."