Politics & Government

Village Board OKs $96.9 Million Budget

Mayor: The average taxpayer will see a $33 decrease on the village's portion of the 2011 tax bill.

The village board signed off on a $96. 9 million overall 2011-12 budget Wednesday night. According to Mayor John Noak, the new budget will mean a decrease on the village's portion of next year's tax bills.

The new budget is a 1 percent overall decrease from fiscal year 2010-11. Noak said the drop is due to an overall increase in revenues and decrease in costs, including lower water and sewer expenditures. Capital project expenditures are also reduced.

Tax rate adjusted

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The 2011-12 budget also includes a new tax rate of $1.059 per $100 of equalized assessed valuation, Noak said. That’s lower than the $1.10 approved by the village board in December, but  an increase over the current rate of $1.02.

Noak said the average taxpayer will still see a decrease on their tax bill of roughly $13, due in part to lower property value assessments.

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Another $20 in savings, for a total of $33 for the average homeower, will come in the form of a rebate on the October 2011 water bill.

The rebate is a way to give residents some tax relief as a result of the village’s industrial and commercial growth over the last 15 years, Noak said.

“The rebate’s goal, again, was to make sure residents see the benefit of the development,” he said, noting that industrial and commercial customers will not receive a rebate on their water bill.

The rebate was a way to pass on savings to residents, since the village cannot set separate tax rates for homeowners versus commercial/industrial properties, Noak explained.

The rebate savings is contingent on the village getting its share of local distributive funds from the state, he noted.

Budget highlights

Finance director Kirk Openchowski presented this year's budget, which includes:

  • A villagewide revenue increase of 4 percent (up from 62.6 million to $64.3 million)
  • Salary expenditures of $26.6 million, up from $25.4 million last year
  • $5.2 million in funding for the , an 8 percent increase
  • $12.05 million budgeted for the , a 3 percent increase 
  • $131,200 in funding for the , a 30 percent increase
  • $3.5 million in police and fire pension funds, a 6 percent increase from 2010
  • $3.6 million for the recreation department (no increase)
  • A $41.4 million corporate budget, a 4 percent increase
  • A $23.35 water and sewer fund budget, a 13 percent increase

 Coming soon

In the works for 2011 are projects and purchases including:

  • $2 million worth of in-house street resurfacing projects
  • Purchase of five new
  • Leasing a new ambulance
  • Improvements to local recreation facilities, including and
  • $1.17 million in phase 1 work on the redesigned


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