The Crest Hill City Council has still not balanced the current budget, however that has not stopped them from committing to spending money out of future budgets. They apparently feel that it is better to try to bust future budgets instead of fixing the current one.
This is topped off by the fact that the expenditure was for landscaping the medians at the intersection of Weber and Renwick roads at at cost of $20,000 - 30,000. Both of these are county roads, but the county has the sense not to pay such a high cost for landscaping in the middle of a roadway. Romeoville is paying a similar amount to landscape their half of the intersection though and a number of Crest Hill officials did not want our half to not match theirs. So the taxpayers will be stuck paying to keep up with our neighboring community and rejecting the county's offer to pave the median like they have elsewhere around the county.
The only council member to question this expenditure was Alderman Sternisha, who was quickly shot down by another alderman who saw no problem spending future year's money since it did not impact the budget they were currently looking at. Alderman Convery also brought up the need to beautify this gateway to the city. However, if we are looking to beautify I can think of many other places to do work at a lower cost. For example, a number of commercial property owners in this city have decided that mowing is unnecessary. It would cost the city far less to enforce its weed ordinance and would go a long way to make our commercial properties attractive to developers and businesses.
If we really want to make this an attractive community; lets balance our budget, have property owners along our main thoroughfares clean up their properties, look for less expensive ways to enhance all of our entrances, and not commit future funds unless future revenue sources have been identified.
I am all for planning for tomorrow, but those plans should not be how to create future deficits to add to the one we are currently facing.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Crest Hill Budget Hearings Update
The budget hearings these past two nights have been pretty routine, with the tough discussions being put on hold until Tuesday, June 8th. So far most of the presentations have focused on numbers that are being held pretty close to last year's budget with only a few notable exceptions. The real excitement was at the end of Wednesday night's meeting as the Mayor brought up issues related to the city website.
The only two areas of the budget to see large increases have been Health and Life Insurance Costs and Legal Fees. The insurance costs are understandable in this environment, however there has been virtually no discussion related to these significant cost increases or ways to address and manage them. The increase in legal fees in related to the upcoming contract negotiations with the various city unions. The city is expecting these negotiations to be potentially costly.
The lack of any increases in salaries and wages in most departments is also of note. It is not yet clear if they city is actually expecting to freeze all salaries and wages for the coming year or if this is just a starting point. Whenever these matters come up during the hearings, the Council has been asked to save the discussion until Tuesday, June 8th. It would seem that this is going to be a major issue since the budget is almost a half million dollars in a deficit with these items frozen, so any increases would only worsen the problem. It appears that the only department with an increase in wages or salaries budgeted is Economic Development.
The first two hearings were very informative, however I was the only person in the audience both nights. I would strongly encourage others to show up, especially as the hearings move into the Council having to make hard choices and further discuss how to resolve our financial situation. The City Administrator has been very gracious to provide me with a copy of the budget to follow along with the presentations, so this year's hearings have been much easier to understand than in previous years. Also, the Mayor has a history of asking for opinions and thoughts from the audience. So if you would like the chance to possibly be heard or to at least better understand the City's finances, come at 7 PM on Tuesday, June 8th to City Hall.
While the budget itself may not always be the most interesting topic, the Council has been having updates and discussion on other matters as well at the end of each meeting. These discussions have been quite heated and show the divide between the Mayor, Council members, and other elected officials. While the topics may not be of the greatest importance, it is a valuable opportunity to see how the Council works together and how they act when not on camera.
The only two areas of the budget to see large increases have been Health and Life Insurance Costs and Legal Fees. The insurance costs are understandable in this environment, however there has been virtually no discussion related to these significant cost increases or ways to address and manage them. The increase in legal fees in related to the upcoming contract negotiations with the various city unions. The city is expecting these negotiations to be potentially costly.
The lack of any increases in salaries and wages in most departments is also of note. It is not yet clear if they city is actually expecting to freeze all salaries and wages for the coming year or if this is just a starting point. Whenever these matters come up during the hearings, the Council has been asked to save the discussion until Tuesday, June 8th. It would seem that this is going to be a major issue since the budget is almost a half million dollars in a deficit with these items frozen, so any increases would only worsen the problem. It appears that the only department with an increase in wages or salaries budgeted is Economic Development.
The first two hearings were very informative, however I was the only person in the audience both nights. I would strongly encourage others to show up, especially as the hearings move into the Council having to make hard choices and further discuss how to resolve our financial situation. The City Administrator has been very gracious to provide me with a copy of the budget to follow along with the presentations, so this year's hearings have been much easier to understand than in previous years. Also, the Mayor has a history of asking for opinions and thoughts from the audience. So if you would like the chance to possibly be heard or to at least better understand the City's finances, come at 7 PM on Tuesday, June 8th to City Hall.
While the budget itself may not always be the most interesting topic, the Council has been having updates and discussion on other matters as well at the end of each meeting. These discussions have been quite heated and show the divide between the Mayor, Council members, and other elected officials. While the topics may not be of the greatest importance, it is a valuable opportunity to see how the Council works together and how they act when not on camera.
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