Schaumburg hopes to lower property tax next year

Though Schaumburg's new annual budget will be the first in the village's 54-year history to include a property tax, village officials expect no more bad news about that five-month-old revelation.

In fact, current financial projections show the village doesn't plan to increase its dependence on the new tax.

"We anticipate that we will be able to reduce the property tax levy by 1 percent come next December," Village Manager Ken Fritz told the village board at a special budget workshop Monday night.

Thanks to last December's approval of a $23.7 million tax levy, as well as other measures, Schaumburg's $17 million budget deficit became a $2.1 million budget surplus.

Finance Director Doug Ellsworth said the tax levy was intended only to balance the budget; the surplus came from a more recent decision to permanently eliminate 23 vacant jobs. Schaumburg previously had eliminated 114 full-time positions through attrition.

The economy, however, has not yet had its final say on village finances - sales tax revenue has dropped nearly 20 percent since 2008, Ellsworth said.

Even so, Schaumburg trails only Chicago in retail sales volume. In 2009, retail sales in Schaumburg totaled $2.5 billion.

The state's finances also threaten Schaumburg, just as they affect other municipalities.

In March, Gov. Pat Quinn proposed eliminating municipalities' shares of the state income tax. For Schaumburg in 2010, this would erase nearly $1.8 million of its projected $2.1 million surplus.

The village plans to weather the still-poor economy by negotiating wage freezes with all its union employees. If the effort is successful, no layoffs will be necessary, Fritz said.

As the village's belt-tightening continues, the only previously eliminated service expected to be reinstated is landscape brush pickup.

"It's a very popular service and one there was high demand for," Fritz said.

The budget, which is scheduled to be approved April 27, takes effect May 1. It includes all village operations except the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center, which are on a calendar year budget.