Roselle hoping to lure more businesses in 2014

Roselle officials have slashed expenses enough over the past four years to realize budget cuts alone aren’t enough to solve the village’s financial problems.

So they’re pursuing an idea that residents have suggested: Try to attract new businesses.

“We’ve cut and cut and cut,” Mayor Gayle Smolinski said Tuesday night during her State of the Village address. “Now we’re going to try to grow.”

The mayor told the audience at a Roselle Chamber of Commerce & Industry dinner that the town needs to stimulate its economy by getting more restaurants and stores.

“We also want to bring extra commercial and extra industrial into our community,” she said.

Smolinski’s remarks were made less than a week before village board members are expected to vote on the town’s proposed 2014 budget. While the total budget is about $33 million, the general fund — which pays for salaries and operating expenses during the year — is about $14.6 million, according to the mayor.

Four years ago, Roselle was facing a $1 million budget deficit. That shortfall was eliminated after the village reduced its workforce by 20 percent and cut nonessential services.

Smolinski said the decision to devote more resources to economic development was made after the idea was supported by 68 percent of residents responding to a recent community survey.

“In the end,” Smolinksi said, “increasing economic development will help us attain our number one goal: fiscal sustainability.”

Smolinski stressed the village isn’t trying to increase revenue to add nonessential services. “What we’re doing is talking about being able to afford our core services,” she said.

For example, Roselle must make an additional $225,000 contribution to its police and fire pension funds in the next year. However, the town’s property tax revenue is expected to increase by $150,000.

“We need to look for other revenues and economic development is the way our community asked us to go,” she said.

But to promote economic development, Roselle needs to get the money to pay for it. And Smolinski says the village “has no more ways to cut” expenses.

As part of the proposed budget, which is slated for a Monday vote, Roselle plans to use about $250,000 of its nearly $4 million in reserve cash to cover expenses.

“We’re not making a decision that will hurt us fiscally,” said Smolinksi, adding the village “ended up in the black” after predicting revenue shortfalls each of the past two years.

Meanwhile, the village is planning to create a business development position. “We need somebody who’s going to pay attention and strictly look at Roselle and advocate for Roselle,” Smolinski said.

The village also plans to do a study to determine if a new tax increment financing district should be established at Nerge and Roselle roads. In addition, the town wants to update its comprehensive plan.

Other items in the proposed budget include code enforcement staffing and extra money for the village’s 50/50 tree-planting program.

Smolinksi said many of the items added to the budget are related to community development and “helping grow our community.”

“It’s a short-term expenditure for what we hope is going to be a long-term benefit,” she said.

Overall, Smolinksi said Roselle is in “a far better” position than it was four years ago. She said one reason is because the village board is united and working together to solve problems.

“Each of us may not get exactly what we want,” Smolinksi said, “but I think our collective efforts are going to create success for us as a group.”