I attended the village board meeting on Monday, April 20, 2009 and was pleasantly surprised to hear about ways that the village has decided to cut costs in their 2009-2010 budget.
1. No economic adjustment will be given to non-union employees this year (though from my understanding this will be reviewed in 6 months). Union employees received a 4.5% increase per their contract.
2. We have signed a contract for tree services, but the contract is for emergency removals only, there will be no parkway tree trimming this year.
3. A new janitorial company was hired.
Items 2 and 3 should save the village approximately $65,000 this year. No numbers were reported on item 1.
What I was upset to hear about was that they will be raising property taxes 18%. That 18% comes out to about $110 a year on a $250,000 home. I'm glad to see that the village isn't only about raising taxes, but also in cutting expenses, though I was hoping they would not raise taxes in these tough economic times.
Village newsletter
I received my quarterly village newsletter the other day and was anxious to read the article on the 2009/2010 Village Budget.
I was extremely disappointed by comments that were made in this article "Additional revenues projected last fiscal year would have included new sales tax in excess of one millions [and that is their own grammatical error] dollars that would flow to the community from the proposed new Wal Mart facility. These funds would have assisted in paying for the increased cost of municipal service levels of this community and eliminated last years' deficit. The construction and predicted opening has been delayed by the litigation initiated by the seven adjacent homeowners. The building plans have been approved and engineering and design is nearly complete for the project."
Wow, I'm impressed that the village was expecting to get the store built and generate new sales tax revenues in excess of one millon dollars in 6 months time because the plans were only just approved in June, 2008. Expected construction time is 18 months. Even with pushing to get the construction finished ahead of that time frame (and when has that ever happened), the village shouldn't expect to start receiving sales tax revenues until December, 2009, but clearly they are counting their chickens before they hatch.
As a member of Dundee Neighbors I would be more than willing to add my name to the lawsuit, unfortunately the law only allows "adjacent" homeowners to litigate.
I was extremely disappointed by comments that were made in this article "Additional revenues projected last fiscal year would have included new sales tax in excess of one millions [and that is their own grammatical error] dollars that would flow to the community from the proposed new Wal Mart facility. These funds would have assisted in paying for the increased cost of municipal service levels of this community and eliminated last years' deficit. The construction and predicted opening has been delayed by the litigation initiated by the seven adjacent homeowners. The building plans have been approved and engineering and design is nearly complete for the project."
Wow, I'm impressed that the village was expecting to get the store built and generate new sales tax revenues in excess of one millon dollars in 6 months time because the plans were only just approved in June, 2008. Expected construction time is 18 months. Even with pushing to get the construction finished ahead of that time frame (and when has that ever happened), the village shouldn't expect to start receiving sales tax revenues until December, 2009, but clearly they are counting their chickens before they hatch.
As a member of Dundee Neighbors I would be more than willing to add my name to the lawsuit, unfortunately the law only allows "adjacent" homeowners to litigate.
Voter registration cards
Did you receive a new voter registration card in the mail recently? Did you look it over to see what, if anything was different? I know I didn't, I stored it and didn't think about again until my neighbor mentioned that our polling location has been changed. I pulled my card out and yes indeed my polling place has been changed. Please take a moment to pull out your card and verify your polling location.
Keller seeks re-election in West Dundee
Ask yourself, is the Village better off now then it was a decade ago? Higher taxes-- both sales and property, no Randall Road business, a divided community, more traffic and congestion, retail outlets moving OUT of our town, budget shortfall. I am not saying this is ALL his fault but the phrase asleep at the wheel does come to mind.
We need new people at the helm of our village. People that are willing to be be a part of a fiscally responsible open government and embrace smart growth.
We need new people at the helm of our village. People that are willing to be be a part of a fiscally responsible open government and embrace smart growth.
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