Despite supervisor's objection, Palatine Township passes road budget again
While Palatine Township board members for the second time have approved the road district's $1.78 million budget, Supervisor Sharon Langlotz-Johnson still is questioning the document's accuracy.
Despite her concerns about the spending, Langlotz-Johnson said she doesn't envision an initiative to seek voter approval to dissolve the road district, similar to what's been done in other townships. In November, voters in Buffalo Grove-based Vernon Township abolished the road district to save a projected $109,000 annually.
"Most of the (townships) getting rid of it have enough staff and a full-time supervisor," Langlotz-Johnson said Thursday. "We do not have enough staff now as it is. We could not hire someone as cheap to replace the position to oversee the road district."
Highway Commissioner Aaron Del Mar's proposed road budget for 2019-20 first was approved in February. But a board majority agreed in March to hold a second vote after Langlotz-Johnson raised concerns about the accuracy of some salary line items.
Township board members settled the issue of the $1.78 million budget at their final April meeting by voting 3-1 in favor of the document, with Langlotz-Johnson as the lone objector and Trustee Susan Kern unable to attend the session.
Langlotz-Johnson said after the first vote that amendments in proposed line-item spending were made that did not accurately reflect salary increases. But Del Mar said nothing changed after he set aside $490,000 for salaries, which Langlotz-Johnson still contends should have been listed as $501,270.
Del Mar said he wants to concentrate on saving money for taxpayers. He said his 2019-20 budget has been reduced from last year's spending plan.
"We're $108,000 less than last year," Del Mar said. "That's not a small number. That's a significant number, I believe. We're trying to do more with less and we're trying to hold the line on the services."
Palatine Township's road district maintains streets in unincorporated areas within a 36-square-mile boundary. But unlike other townships, Del Mar said, it has contracts to handle road tasks in villages within its boundaries, including Palatine.
Del Mar said his road district's contract work, such as doing Palatine's snow plowing west of Quentin Road, is among the reasons it would not be cost-effective to eliminate it.
"It's actually cheaper for the village of Palatine to use us than, obviously, any private group," he said. "And, two, it's actually cheaper for them than to use their own people for the costs associated with it."