Elk Grove Village can pare budget

I read in Thursday's Daily Herald, (Feb. 11), the village board has voted to raise various fees to cover a shortfall in revenues.

Here are several ways the village could save money:

When the pavers need to be repaired or replaced, remove them. They require much more maintenance than blacktop, and blacktop also provides a much smoother ride.

Eliminate the lamppost banners. Why do we need to be told its spring, summer, fall, winter or whatever? The banners have to be expensive and very costly to continually install and replace. Whoever sold all the villages throughout the area on the idea of banners must be a millionaire.

Although a review of the 2009 annual financial report did not reveal the actual cost of maintaining the pavers and banners, I would guess it is in the tens of thousands of dollars a year.

I'm sure an audit of all of the village's expenditures could reveal other areas of cost savings.

Dave Forster

Elk Grove Village