Buffalo Grove board approves smaller tax levy
Buffalo Grove officials this week approved a $14.4 million tax levy for next year, a $10,000 decline in the amount of property taxes the village collected in 2011, officials said.
More than half of the levy — about 52 percent — will go to the village’s corporate fund, which covers police, fire and public works, among other costs. Pensions obligations, Finance Director Scott Anderson said, comprise about 40 percent of the levy.
The village also is levying about $1.14 million for debt service. Anderson said the village is entering fiscal 2012 with $7.2 million in outstanding debt.
Village trustees approved the levy after hearing resident Craig Horwitz give an impassioned speech about the rising cost of living in Buffalo Grove.
“Buffalo Grove is no longer an affordable place to live,” said Horwitz, who moved to the village in 1988. “I live in the second smallest house in this village. Twenty-three years ago, my real estate taxes were $1,625. Twenty-three years later, my taxes are almost $7,000 a year.”
Village President Jeffrey Braiman pointed out that some costs, such as pensions, are determined by Springfield, not the village board.
“There are certain things we can’t control and certain things we can,” Braiman said. “You mentioned pensions. That’s one of the things we cannot control.”
Officials also noted that village taxes make up only 10 percent of the total property tax bills for Buffalo Grove’s Cook County residents and 11 percent for those living in Lake County.
“We have done everything we can to reduce and keep our costs down,” Braiman said, pointing to an incentive program to induce longtime employees to retire early.
Trustees are expected to vote on a budget Dec. 19. Village Manager Dane Bragg said the village has reduced its total budget 5.2 percent since 2010, about $3 million over the last two years.
The corporate fund budget remains flat, he added, and only 2.9 percent higher than in 2008.
Staffing levels have dropped, decreasing by 2.5 percent from 2011. At 228 full-time employees, Bragg said, the village is at its lowest staff level in more than 15 years.