Last Tuesday was meeting number four for long range budget planning (see reports of meetings one, two, and three here). Led by Village Manager Dave Fieldman, staff laid out various possible options for revenue enhancement and expense trimming in response to the budget crunch that has already seen layoffs, unpaid furloughs, pay freezes, and cost trimming.
Bulk annexation
175 homes, 424 people.
One tool for revenue enhancement staff showed council is bulk annexation of five areas currently unincorporated, starting with the unincorporated northeast side of Downers Grove. This is an area already residential zoned that would bring net extra tax revenue to the village, to the tune of about $155,000 a year.
Currently, it’s a mix of higher end homes and older more modest homes that, in a better economy, would be tear down fodder. Increased services to residents such as police, fire, streets, snow plowing, would be offset by village getting a share of an real estate taxes and fees driven by an area EAV in excess of $34.6 million.
This is part of what staff termed a “Grow the Base” strategy. The five areas that are currently unincorporated might be annexed into the village whole rather than the current piecemeal one lot at a time approach. These areas are contiguous to the village, and in some cases almost totally withing village boundaries.
Fire Department
Expect some union push back on this but Chief Ruscetti is doing what councils past and present have asked him to: figure out how to do more with less.
NOTE: Rob Pekelder, the Secretary of the Downers Grove Professional Firefighters Association (DGPFA) has written that the union has taken no official position in support of or opposition to this proposal. HT to Mr. Pekelder for the information.
In this case, the FD staff has asked council to consider exploring sharing a facility and crew with the Woodridge-Darien Fire Protection District. Their Station #2 covered for our Station #2 at Main and 55th while it was being built. The net result would be a 5 man crew at the DWFPD station on Hobson, with both an ambulance and an engine.
Save money, cover better .
The FD staff says they would still meet all response time criteria, and by having both vehicles at the station on call, enhance service to both communities. Staff estimated a savings of about $200,000 a year with the above changes.
By eliminating the Fire Station facility in Ellsworth Business Park, the village could use that land for a new Police Station Facility and avoid land acquisition costs, helping reduce costs for that facility.
Stormwater Utility
Rain, rain, go away...
Staff estimates the village currently spends almost $900,000 a year on maintaining a system that is incomplete, and that has almost $37 million in capital costs scheduled over the next five years. That adds up to an annual need of about $8 million each year.
Not every budget response considered is expense reduction, and a Stormwater Utility Tax Fee Cost Thingy has been an item brought forward every year as a possible way to pay for expensive stormwater projects. It proposes creating a Stormwater Utility Cost Thingy as a business organization like the Water Utility or an Electric Utility. Subject to special government regulation or contained within an existing department like Public Works, it would charge residents on their tax bill for their use of the Stormwater System.
The saying goes: Talk is cheap; whiskey costs money.
This might provide a financial incentive for on-site mitigation such as rain gardens, rain barrels, use of permeable paving materials, and other means to limit run-off and mitigate on-site stormwater.
Most people will associate a stormwater utility fee with a tax, especially as it would show up on your tax bill. It would also have costs for getting it up and running, and on-going additional staff would be needed for administrative and customer service functions.
Glad to have the official word from the DGPFA out there. Their actions on Tuesday left several of us with what may have been the wrong impression.
In my eyes Chief Ruscetti’s proposal is outstanding, a real win-win for everyone involved.
Marge,
I hope that EJ reposts my reply to your presumptive and never further from the truth ideas from the original letter.
If you’d like to discuss further over coffee, hit me up.
gregpostsite@comcast.net
Enjoy this great weekend all
Greg
EJ made the call to pull the thread over concern the letter writing Curious was not speaking for the Fighfighters Union. Rob Pekelder, who does speaker for the Firefighters came on and cleared that up. I still can’t pull a comment from one thread to another, but here is the jist of Greg’s comment in response to a comment by Marge:
There’s no harm or foul here guys, unless the coffees are double shot decaf iced soy lattes, which is just
so
wrong…Thanks for posting this information. I like that the chief is thinking outside the box and coming up with solutions. I am confident that the village and the Chief will not compromise our safety over saving a few bucks!
Mark,
Thank you for reposting the jist of the response. And yea I’d agree, double shot decaf anything is just so wrong…
Hey could you cut and paste the whole comment and email it to me. No I won’t repost it.
Greg
Greg,
What productive purpose would it serve to have that post back? I say forgive and foget.
Greg,
I am sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusion on Friday.
What happened at the meeting Tuesday may not have caught the Chief off guard, but it did me, as well as several others in attendance. That one small action, coupled with that disrespectful post from “Concerned” really had me fuming (yes, pun intended!) I apologize for assuming you were “Concerned”.
I am behind the Chief all the way on this one. I hope that you and the union will come out in support of him as well. If you have some compelling evidence as to why I should change my opinion I would be happy to hear you out, over the beverage of your choice, I’ll even buy the first round! In fact, anyone else who wants to join us, so they can get your side (union’s side??) of the story firsthand, is also welcome. I’m always, always willing to listen, and sometimes I have even changed my mind!
Chief Ruscetti, VM Fieldman, Mike Baker and all our village staff have been busting their collective behinds on this strategy and have been doing a great job. They deserve our thanks, not scorn.
Oh, I tweet at DGMarge, or you can get me here.
Marge,
Thanks for understanding and giving me the opportunity to fall on my face for my own comments & actions. Perhaps a beverage at the Moose should be planned if you’re buying the first round!
And I just started the twitter thing last night, still not sure how it all works. I’m fyrtwit
Then the Moose it shall be! Many delightful beverages to choose from at the Moose! I am following you on twitter.
Sell the Ellsworth land and the “temp” lot at Maple and Main.