Schaumburg's budget boosts roadwork, lowers taxes

While Schaumburg expects to be earning and spending only slightly more in the next budget year, the coming construction season is planned to be an especially big one for road maintenance.

The village's $31 million capital improvement plan for 2014-15 is one of the largest of recent years, featuring $23 million for road repair and reconstruction, Finance Director Lisa Happ said.

That includes the village's local share of funding new interchanges along the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway at Meacham and Roselle roads.

The village also is continuing to spend a consistent $3 million this year on mitigation of the emerald ash borer infestation of its parkway trees.

Though Schaumburg spent $925,000 in overtime for snow removal during the fiscal year that ends April 30, officials are not letting this past winter unduly influence their budgeting for next winter, Happ said.

The same $600,000 in overtime budgeted for the current fiscal year will be budgeted for the next snow season. To do otherwise would be to overreact to one unusual winter and potentially hamstring the budgets of other departments, Happ said.

Though snow removal did go over budget this year, extra money was found in reserves and other activities that came in under budget, she said.

The overall budget for May 1, 2014, to April 30, 2015, will consist of $210 million in revenue and $203 in expenditures and other financial obligations. The general fund — the basic operating fund of the village — is budgeted at $94 million in revenues, a 0.5 percent increase over last year, and $87 million in expenditures, a 0.1 percent increase.

“I'm pretty conservative when it comes to budgeting revenues,” Happ said.

For instance, though further economic recovery is foreseen in the year ahead, Happ anticipates the impact on Schaumburg's sales taxes to be somewhat muted by the effect of road construction.

As has been the case since the village first created a property tax levy in 2009, a fifth consecutive decrease in the levy amount is forecast for December, Happ said.

While current projections call for a 1 percent decrease to the levy, the reality of that depends on several factors that will play out throughout the year, especially the pension fund, Happ said.

The village board is scheduled to review the proposed budget at a special committee of the whole meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 21, at the Prairie Center for the Arts. Final approval could come at the board's regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, at village hall.

The full budget document can be read at villageofschaumburg.com.