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Wheeling officials say more revenue could close preliminary budget gap

As Wheeling officials spend the next four months honing in on a village budget, they'll consider what to do about a preliminary plan that spends $2.1 million more than they expect to bring in.

Village Finance Director Michael Mondschain and Village Manager Jon Sfondilis agreed in a meeting Monday that the preliminary budget gap is due to the village's revenue, not spending.

In a presentation to the village board Monday, Mondschain said Wheeling's wages have gone up 3.2 percent and pension costs have gone up 7.5 percent annually for the past five years. Despite that, he said, the village's expenditures have only increased by an average 2.9 percent annually.

Sfondilis says the village has been able cut expenditures and find money to pay for increases over the past several years, but it's not a sustainable option.

"There's no more opportunity to find money," Sfondilis said. "Which is why Michael started this by saying it's a revenue problem, but not an expenditure problem."

The projected gap in the preliminary budget assumes no tax levy increase, Mondschain said.

"The board may wish to consider a tax levy increase after reviewing all other options and the rest of the budget," Mondschain said.

Without increasing the tax levy for the next five years, he says the village's general fund reserves would fall to a negative $2.9 million by 2020. The fund is expected to have $13.6 million reserve at the close of the 2015 spending year in December.

The budget preview presented to the board Monday is a preliminary plan, and is likely to change before the final version is presented to the board, officials said. Wheeling will hold a budget hearing Oct. 31, and the village board will vote on the budget Dec. 21.

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