Arlington Heights proposes no property tax hike for fourth straight year

For the fourth consecutive year, Arlington Heights officials are proposing no increase in the village property tax levy, thanks to more sales and income taxes received and better interest earnings in pension funds.

Municipal sales tax receipts reflected a 22% increase from the last budget, the home-rule sales taxes were 27% higher, and income taxes had a 35% increase. At the same time, police and fire pension fund interest earnings were solid, and surpluses from prior years were used to make extra pension payments. Employee health insurance costs were also lower than expected, according to Finance Director Tom Kuehne.

The suggested levy and a proposed $205.4 million budget for the 2023 fiscal year were formally presented to the village board Monday.

The spending plan represents a 2.8% increase compared to the 2022 budget, largely due to expected wage and fringe benefit cost increases, plus contractual and commodity cost hikes because of inflation, officials said.

For example, a new police interceptor vehicle that cost $29,000 in 2019 is $41,000 today, Village Manager Randy Recklaus told trustees during budget discussions Monday night.

Officials have proposed adding 1.5 full-time equivalent positions to the village workforce: making a part-time administrative assistant in the mayor and manager's office full time and hiring another planner in the planning and community development department.

For the former position, Recklaus said the employee helps process liquor licenses, arrange room schedules and pay bills, but there are also increased demands for customer service. For the latter job, the community development department is handling a number of major development projects - chief among them the proposed Chicago Bears redevelopment of Arlington Park - increased permit reviews, code enforcement, and special projects, officials said.

But the village's regulatory review process for the Bears project isn't expected to have a budgetary impact just yet.

"The potential development of the Arlington Park racetrack property is something that, operationally, weighs heavily on our minds, but it's not something that is weighing heavily on the budget directly this year," Recklaus said. "So if people are looking for where's the racetrack part of the budget, it's not something that you're going to be able to see because it's more of a reallocation of existing resources and staff time at this point in time."

The village proposes spending on a host of capital projects, including $12.5 million to resurface or rehab streets, $4.1 million to replace old water mains and $2.2 million for stormwater control projects. That includes a storm sewer improvement project at Evergreen and Maude avenues, for which the village received two Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grants.

And for a $2.7 million resurfacing of Wilke Road and extension of a multiuse path, the village got a $2.39 million federal Surface Transportation Program grant.

The village represents 12% of an average homeowner's property tax bill, while schools encompass two-thirds.

A department-by-department review of the 485-page budget proposal will continue at 7 p.m. today in the village boardroom, with a third meeting if needed at 7 p.m. Thursday. Final approval of the budget and levy is expected Dec. 5.