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Fiscal Year 2007/2008 revenues and expenses reflect a variety of municipal functions, programs and services as well as an investment in long-term community improvements.
Unlike single-purpose taxing districts, the Village of Grayslake is a multi-purpose organization operating a number of different and separate businesses. In addition to general governmental operations including administrative services, law enforcement programs, street maintenance and repair, snow removal and a variety of day-to-day services, the Village operates a number of separate enterprise funds. Like a business, each enterprise fund must generate the necessary revenue to pay all operating costs independently of other Village funds. These funds include the Water and Sewer System Utility Fund, the Garbage and Recycling Services Fund, the Commuter Railroad Parking Fund, the 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch System Fund, the Building Department Fund and the Aquatic Center Fund.
In recent years, the Village’s portion of your property tax bill has steadily declined (52% since 1988), water and sewer rates have increased less than half the rate of inflation since 1992, garbage and recycling rates, unlike other items in your budget, are at substantially the same rate as was charged in 1996 (despite the expansion of recycling services during the period), commuter parking fees have had only one increase since 1992 and many building, license and other municipal fees have remained the same since the early 1990s.
The Village’s FY 2007/2008 Operating and Capital Budget continues the Village’s multi-year cost containment process, which began four years ago with significant cost reductions in its operating and community improvement budgets. The Village continues its cost containment in 2007/2008 by reducing full-time positions by 11. Since 2002/2003, the Village has reduced its non-Police full-time workforce by almost one-third.
Despite increases in other expense items, the reduction in full-time personnel costs helped keep budgeted operating expenses 1.2% lower than in 2006/2007.
The new budget includes operating spending of $14,431,529 and community improvement spending of $11,939,144. The combined operating and improvement budget is $26,370,673. Despite recent economic conditions that have caused many municipalities in Illinois to operate in a deficit in 2007/2008, the Village will continue to operate under a balanced budget due to cost containment strategies in recent budgets.
The Village relies on a combination of taxes and user fees to fund its various programs and services. The Village receives funds from the State in the form of sales, income and motor fuel taxes to assist in paying for these various programs and services. This helps minimize the impact on property taxes for municipal purposes. In fact, the Village receives only five cents of every property tax dollar you pay. Only 11% of this year’s budget is paid for with property taxes (excluding revenues for a separate Police Pension Fund). Detailed Breakdown.
The Village’s operating spending reflects the multiple and various service demands placed on your municipal government. Village spending must provide everything from water and sewer, garbage and recycling, police protection, emergency dispatch services, new construction regulations to property maintenance enforcement on existing buildings, street maintenance, snow plowing, commuter parking lot maintenance, and mosquito abatement (just to name a few). Detailed Breakdown.
The Village’s police services, water and sanitary sewer systems and building inspections are designed to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community. These are vital and essential services that are accessed by residents on an ongoing basis. These services are often not thought about, but are vital components of a safe community.
In recent years, the Village has expanded its Police Department to meet increasing service demands from a larger population. In addition to meeting the higher service demand the Village has increased per resident patrol officer hours for added community protection. Community policing and crime prevention programs have been greatly expanded. The Police Department has been increasing its participation in area-wide police task forces to increase capabilities to respond to major cases and incidents in our community.
The budget funds many community policing programs including bike helmet discount coupons, bicycle patrol unit, bike safety inspections, building checks, child identification programs (DNA kits), crime prevention notices (open doors, property displays, etc.), counseling referrals, D.A.R.E. and other crime prevention programs, foot patrols, funeral escorts, house watch services, liquor sales enforcement, residential road speed enforcement, lock-outs, safety presentations (businesses, schools, community groups), security inspections, traffic control, speed trailer display (response to citizen request), neighborhood speeding enforcement programs (slow down it’s our town), victim assistance program and well-being checks. Grayslake Central and North high schools each have liason officers.
The Village’s largest health responsibility is the maintenance of the water and sanitary sewer systems. Water and sanitary sewer system related expenditures represent approximately 30% of the budget. The Village maintains approximately 73.80 total miles of water main and sanitary sewers and 5.6 million gallons of water storage. Approximately 1.62 million gallons of water are pumped each day, which equates to approximately 590 million gallons of water per year. As an original member, the Village receives its Lake Michigan water from the Central Lake Count Joint Action Water Agency (CLCJAWA).
The water and sanitary sewer systems are operated like other utilities (gas, electric and phone) in that their operations must be paid for through user fees that are independent of other Village revenues. The Village has been able to reduce the need for rate increases by controlling operating costs through increased employee productivity, selected privitizations, technology applications, process reengineering and using outside non-rate dollars for system improvements. As a result, water and sewer rates have increased at less than half the rate of inflation over the last fifteen years and remain in the middle range of other CLCJAWA communities.
The Building Department is responsible for the review and inspection of all residential and commercial structures under construction within the Village. The Village reviews and inspects these structures to ensure compliance with national building codes. These national building codes ensure that these structures are safe for occupants. The Building Department is also responsible for enforcing the Village’s property maintenance & zoning codes. These codes are designed to protect property values within the Village by ensuring that homes and businesses are properly maintained.
To improve the quality of life and continue our commitment to preserving the Village’s environment, the budget includes funds for existing programs including:
Economic Development is an important municipal priority. Through the Economic Development Commission (EDC) the Village encourages business creation, retention and investment through a number of programs. Economic, development helps to generate economic activity and adds to the tax base. The increase in the tax base provides permanent additional financial resources for our schools and other districts, which can reduce the need for increases in homeowner property taxes, creates jobs and improves local access to products and services.
Non-residential construction over the past decade now generates approximately $3.7 million annually in property taxes to area districts. Construction of these projects is valued at $118 million which includes 1.1 million square feet of non-residential space. Currently, “in the pipeline” non-residential construction is valued at $20 million and will generate $628,000 in property tax revenue annually to area districts, when complete. Other non-impact construction over the past five years now generates over $1.1 million annually in property taxes to area districts.
The budget includes funding for a variety of economic development incentives, programs and initiatives, including:
Like any well-run business, the Village is constantly reinvesting in its physical plant to improve reliability and efficiency and improve capacity to meet the changing needs of its customers. Community improvements are like improving your own home. Both act to increase the value of your property. This year’s budget includes funding for the Village’s community improvements valued at approximately $11.9 million.
Improvements consist of continued investments in upgrading water and sanitary sewer systems, bike path improvements, major transportation improvements, and public safety improvements.
Specifically, this year’s budget includes funding for the following community improvements:
In recent years, communities in our region, and across the nation, have felt the impact of the economy situation. Grayslake is no exception. While some revenues have begun to recover, others remain lower than 2000/2001. While income tax dollars are projected to increase in 2007/2008, sales tax dollars are projected to decrease. While many other communities reduce services due to lower revenues, the Village has maintained service levels and, in some areas, increased levels of service through careful planning and conservative financial strategies.
On the expense side, in addition to increasing service demands froma growing population and normal inflationary increases, the Village has taken steps to increase community-policing capabilities for increased public safety. This additional capability has resulted in higher police services costs.
To help offset these increased public safety expenses in the last decade, other areas of the budget have been held in check through privatizing services and increases in employee productivity. The Village’s per person non-police operating expenses are 28% lower than the level of spending in 1992. This lower per person spending has resulted in per person operating expenses that have risen less than the rate of inflation.
As a result of this overall fiscal management, the Village bond rating was raised to AA3 (Source: Moody’s Investors Service, September 6, 2001) which places the Village in the top 15% of communities of our size across the nation.
The Village’s 2007/2008 budgeted operating expenses are $715.56 per person. Despite higher police services costs, through a conservative fiscal approach and aggressive cost containment efforts, the Village has achieved a 7.3% reduction in operating expenses on a per person basis since 1992. Adjusting for inflation, per resident operating costs are down 34.8% over the same time period. Remarkably, the decreased per person operating expenses was accomplished while maintaining, and in some cases, increasing service levels provided to the community.
The Village evaluates municipal services on an ongoing basis and seeks opportunities to expand the use of private sector contractors, a practice commonly called privatization. The competitive bidding process helps to improve efficiency and minimize increases in costs.
This year’s budget continues the privatization of the following selected activities:
The Fiscal Year 2007/2008 Operating and Capital Budget contains many municipal programs and services that impact the lives of people who live and/or work in the Village everyday. The 2007/2008 budget seeks to meet the needs of our customers while recognizing that those customers must pay for any service. The Village of Grayslake continues to explore new methods and opportunities to improve service delivery through increased productivity, process reengineering and selected privatization to reduce costs for our customers. The Village operates under the philosophy of providing quality services while minimizing costs, as much as possible, to the residents and businesses of Grayslake.
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