2010 Village Budget Overview

Lincolnshire’s Fiscal Year 2010 began on January 1st. Total revenues are $20,008,000 and total expenditures are $19,974,000. The Budget is balanced with revenues exceeding expenditures. The Budget is substantially less ($6,628,000.) than FY 2009, mostly due to the sluggish economy and from non-recurring large capital improvement projects completed in 2009. The accompanying pie chart illustrates the percentages of the Village’s ten (10) funds. The largest is the General Fund which is detailed below.

The General Fund is the largest operational component of the Budget. It contains the programs and services most common to local government. Primarily due to the economy, several key revenues are substantially less than in previous years. These include our Sales Tax, Room and Admission Tax, State-shared Income Tax, Real Estate Transfer Tax, Building Permit Revenue and Interest Income. In total, General Fund Revenues are $1.575 million less than 2008. In order to slightly soften the impact to services, the Village’s Telecommunications Tax will be increased from 4.5% to 6% on July 1st. It is estimated that this will add an additional $175,000 in revenues for 2010. Additionally, the Village will use approximately $170,000 in reserve funds for capital improvements. The chart to the right shows the breakdown of General Fund Revenues. In order to balance the Budget, substantial capital and operational expenses were eliminated from the Budget.

The breakdown of the General Fund Expenditures can be seen in the chart to the right. As previously noted, due to declining revenues, operating and capital expenses had to be reduced in order to balance the Budget. The Village Board and staff made a comprehensive review of all Village programs and services. The emphasis in creating the Budget was to maintain our core services and reduce or eliminate discretionary expenses. The Capital Improvement Program which typically totals $1 million has been reduced to $427,000. There are several operational changes. The Village Newsletter will be published on a quarterly basis rather than monthly, the printed annual report has been eliminated and videos from Village meetings will no longer be available on the Village website. Holiday lights have been eliminated as well as the fall brush collection program and we will no longer provide consultation services for privately owned trees on private property. The Village has significantly trimmed memberships, professional development and printing. The frequency of vegetation maintenance along the Village corridors will be reduced. Expenses for the fireworks program on Independence Day have been reduced. Many of the Village professional contracts were rebid resulting in savings. Finally in order to reduce expenses, several Village full and part-time positions (4.5 positions) have been eliminated and departments restructured to maintain desired service levels. The duties of these positions have been transferred to other staff members. It is our goal to provide our services with as little disruption as possible. These decisions were not made easily, but had to be made in light of our significant declining revenues.

With regard to capital projects, the largest will be the Annual Street Resurfacing Program which equates to over 60% of the General Fund capital improvements. Most of the projects are related to maintaining existing property or facilities. In non-General Fund capital improvements, we will complete the last section of the East-West Pedestrian Bike Path, on the south side of Route 22, east and west of Milwaukee Avenue.

Questions about the Village’s FY 2010 Budget can be directed to Bob Irvin, Village Manager, 847.913.2335, or Stan Roelker, Director of Financial Systems, 847.913.2303.