Arlington Hts. lays off six employees; village plans for tight budget

Blaming the economy and a tight upcoming budget, Arlington Heights Village Manager Bill Dixon laid off six village employees last week.

One employee each was cut from the police, fire, public works, building, engineering and senior center departments. The move comes about two weeks before the village board starts work on the 2009-2010 budget.

"Given the current conditions, I think the people of Arlington Heights expect their local government to run as leanly and efficiently as possible," Dixon said. "We're trying to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money."

In total, there are about 400 village employees.

The six layoffs went into effect on Feb. 18. The employees were given two weeks pay and health insurance coverage through the end of March, Dixon said.

Each employee worked for the village for an average of about 11 years, with the longest serving employee logging in 16 years. Most filled clerical positions, he said.

The people laid off from the fire and police departments were civilians, not commissioned officers, Dixon added.

"The workload is simply less with today's economy," Dixon said. "And frankly, more and more employees are doing their own typing, which reduced the need."

Budget hearings will be held on March 9, 12 and 18. There will be a public hearing on the budget before it is approved on April 6. The village operates on a May 1, 2009, to April 30, 2010, fiscal year budget.

The year, the village board will have fewer funds to budget because of the small 0.32 percent levy increase it approved in December. Because of pension commitments, the village will actually collect $165,000 less for general purposes than in 2009.

The proposed budget won't become public until a few days before March 9, but Dixon did say some programs would be trimmed and other programs would be cut entirely because of the reduced funds.

The proposed 2009-2010 budget doesn't include any more layoffs, although it calls for four open jobs to remain unfilled.

The last time Arlington Heights laid off employees was 1995, when three employees were let go, Dixon said.

Like many suburban municipalities, Arlington Heights plans on spending more than it takes in during the coming budget year. Projected revenues in the general fund are about $62.1 million while expenditures are $64.6 million.

The village can make up the difference from a reserve account, which currently contains about $21.6 million. However, based on revenue and expenditure trends, village finance experts project that account will decrease by millions of dollars every year, so that by 2014 the reserve account will be $8 million in the hole.