Story posted Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Mayor Upset With Budgeted Revenues
Park Ridge Mayor Dave Schmidt worries about revenues projected for the 2010–2011 budget for the city.
"We went over revenue projections and I listened to them, questioned them, and I'm concerned," he said of the budget workshop meeting on Saturday, Mar. 6. "We can't accept inflated revenue projections because it makes the budget meaningless."
Schmidt questioned a 10% increase in projected sales tax revenues as well as an increase in the property tax revenue expected from the Uptown Tax Increment Financing District. He also wondered about City Manager Jim Hock's estimate of revenue from state income taxes.
The state takes 10% of the income taxes collected, divides that by the population of the state, and returns it to the cities on a per capita basis.
Schmidt said Hock's projections for return were "on the high side" of estimates he has seen.
"He had said he was going to propose a conservative budget when it came to revenues," Schmidt complained. "If anything, we should be going with the lowest number."
Schmidt also worries about a recent proposal by Gov. Pat Quinn, asking to cut the return from 10% to 7%. "That would cost us about $900,000," Schmidt said.
"I fear, based on the unreasonable optimism of these revenue projections..., we're going to need to cut even more," Schmidt said.
He added that aldermen on Saturday discussed restoring some of Hock's cuts to the city's expenditures. "(That) seems incomprehensible to me," he said.
The council also reviewed the budgets for the police and fire departments on Saturday. This Saturday, Mar. 13, aldermen will review the budgets for community preservation and development, administration, and the city's commissions.
Mar. 20 will be devoted to the library and community group contributions while Mar. 27's discussion will encompass the public works and finance departments. Each meeting will include time for resident comments.
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