Glencoe Hikes Taxes, Fees To Cover Revenue Lost To COVID-19

GLENCOE, IL — Village trustees Thursday approved a 2021 budget that increases property taxes and water rates while predicting significant declines in revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For the first time, Glencoe's fiscal year will run from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. This year's budget was a 10-month "stub year" that began in March.

Finance Director Nikki Larsen said the village board and staff spent "countless hours" to put the budget together.

“The creation of the 2021 Calendar Year budget was particularly challenging this year in light of rapidly changing conditions from an economic, financial and public health perspective," Larsen said in a statement after the vote.

"The final budget document was the result of nearly ten months of internal meetings with staff, dynamic projections and public discussions with the Finance Committee and Village Board," she added. "We are proud to provide a spending plan that upholds elevated service levels and core infrastructure investment in a fiscally responsible manner.”

Revenue from sales tax, village fees and other sources is expected to fall by $684,000 next year, with the COVID-19 pandemic making forecasting less predictable than years past, Larsen said in a memo to the board.

To help cover the shortfall, Glencoe's 2021 budget includes an increase of 8 percent to water rates, 5 percent to sewer, 2.3 percent to garbage collection and 2.3 percent to the village's annual property tax levy, which also covers the cost of Glencoe Public Library. The increase to the village's levy is expected to increase taxpayers' bills by about $33 for every $10,000 they pay in property taxes.

All areas of the village's operating budget have seen "meaningful reductions" in response to the lost revenue, according to the finance director.

One vacant full-time staff position was eliminated — a community engagement analyst in the village manager's office. The village solicited applications for the unfilled, newly created job late in 2019 but kept it vacant throughout 2020 as a cost-saving measure, according to Larsen.

Two other vacant jobs — a public safety officer and a maintenance equipment officer — will not be filled until at least July. Meanwhile, non-union staff will see any cost of living wage increases deferred, according to village staff. The village has 101 full-time employees.

In the spring, village officials plan to ask voters to approve $10 million in funding to support the next three years of the village's 10-year community investment program. The program consists of $51.7 million in planned infrastructure improvements and vehicle replacements, according to village staff.

In 2021 alone, the village plans more than $3.6 million in capital and infrastructure spending, which is set to be funded using general fund revenues, bonds tied to water fund revenues, user fees and various other sources.

While non-union village employees will receive no cost of living adjustments for at least the first half of next year, union members from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, will receive a contractually required 2.75 percent wage increase, according to the budget.

The village's collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police, or FOP, is set to expire at the end of February, and the village manager's office hopes to negotiate a new contract with the union that represents officers at the Glencoe Department of Public Safety in the first quarter of 2021.

Village Manager Phil Kiraly said he was proud of the work of trustees and staff in putting together Glencoe's 2021 budget.

“In the most difficult of circumstances, we came together to ensure that our new budget preserves the Village’s service delivery priorities but takes into account the need for restraint as we work through the COVID-19 pandemic," Kiraly said. "I am hopeful that Calendar Year 2021 offers fewer challenges that the current fiscal year that ends in a few weeks, but I am confident that the Village will continue to be effective and responsive to the needs of the Glencoe community.”