The proposed budget for next year in the Village of Lemont was put together as a strict operational budget, intended on increasing revenue without hurting services or making staff cuts, according to the Mayor Brian Reaves.
“When we sat down, the number one thing was trying to keep services at the level they’re at right now and maintaining the employees that we have,” Reaves said.
The Village Board Monday, March 15, went through the operating budget for next year. The village’s fiscal year runs from May 1 to April 30 of the following year.
“We’re turning over every leaf under every rock,” said Reaves, adding the village has maintained a balanced budget.
The village’s general fund is roughly $7.9 million and includes a hike in business licenses and towing fees, intended to bring in extra revenue.
A business license in the village will be raised from $30 to $50, a move projected to increase revenue by about $10,000, said Village Administrator Ben Wehmeier. Towing fees are either $250 or $500, depending on offense. The village plans to increase the former amount from $250 to $400, to bring in roughly $30,000 in additional revenue, Wehmeier said.
The village also will look for sponsorship for its annual festivals, intended to offset costs, Reaves said. The Lemont Heritage Fest, sponsored by local businesses, is an example of that.
“We are trying to be as creative as humanly possible as far as finding revenue streams and keeping costs to a bare minimum,” Reaves said. “Right now, it’s down to every thousand dollars counts.”
“We are trying to resize the village’s expenditures to actual expected revenues,” Wehmeier said. “The goal is to get spending levels to coincide with those levels.”
The village also is working on contingency plans that will amend the budget if the State of Illinois approved the budget proposed by Gov. Pat Quinn, which would cut the state’s shared income tax by about 30 percent, Wehmeier said.
The move would add roughly $400,000 to the more than $500,000 the state already owes Lemont, Wehmeier said. The state has not made a payment to the village since October, he added.
“They have all the cards,” Reaves told the board Monday. “There’s not a damn thing we can do about it except play the game.”
Reaves called it a “sad state” and said the village has begun discussing additional ways to raise revenue and cut expenditures if this were to happen. The village plans to maintain a balanced budget, he said.
The Village Board is scheduled to vote on the proposed budget at its April 12 Village Board meeting.
