Pingree needs to scale back spending

With the recent news of Wyman "Clint" Carey's expenses it seems like the village board is wasting time focusing on $26 lunches when they need to sharpen their pencils and deal with the larger budget issue.

While I love the police department and think they do a fabulous job, in 2008 the village spent $262,384, compared to $768,390 budgeted in 2010. This comes out to about $200 per resident compared to Huntley, which spent just $166 per resident in 2009. This does not include the $3.5 million Pingree Grove spent on a police station last year, with seemingly little benefit to the residents.

Just in looking at the budgets, Pingree Grove has excessive spending in legal services, computer consulting and public works compared to similar neighboring towns.

While the actual problem is partially that Cambridge Lakes has not grown as the village has expected, the trustees have done nothing to compensate for the new population forecasts in their spending. Now Pingree Grove is looking at increasing taxes on everything from vehicle stickers to Nicor gas service, and these higher taxes will only further discourage people from moving to Pingree Grove.

Mark Litwin

Pingree Grove