Mayor Sandack doesn’t want a village dentist.
This is going to be a collaborative report, and will be modified. I took what EJ wrote last night and spliced in my own notes, and she will do the same later. I encourage everyone to chime in with their own thoughts, as a couple times I was caught in a “what the…” mode. I’m sure EJ was not referring to my gray hair (note: I have less gray hair every day), but I’ve been watching budgets take form for a while now, and I’ve never seen anything like this 4-3 vote before, but there you go.
The National Championships of Cycling (“The granddaddy of Midwest cycling events”), last held August 15-16 on the scenic streets of Downers Grove are gone. End of story. There was no support on dais in favor of maintaining the annual Criterion races, which should ring a dinner bell for the other suburbs that have been licking their chops over the prospect of hosting this national sporting event.
As for Heritage Fest, a lot of time and talk was proffered tonight as staff rolled out a proposal to trim $90,000 in expenses, cut down to no more than three stages and downsize the whole thing, much as had been discussed here at DGreport.
Mayor Ron Sandack may have offered the best and most realistic long-term solution when he suggested suspending the event in 2010 in order to give the Community Events department and Community Events commission time to reconfigure the fest and recruit private sources of support.
Commissioner Sean Durkin, when apprised that there have been no contracts for the event signed yet, said he would then just cut it, to which Mayor Sandack quickly interjected “If you were king for a day.” (Laughter)
Durkin also offered that the fest was too spread out, and that the downtown had changed from when it first started. There was a lot of talk about true cost of the fest, as Martin Tully commented elsewhere:
Heritage Festival cost the taxpayers $161,000 last year. As suspected, that figure is not derived from the operation of the festival, per se, but instead largely from the personnel costs associated with the community events staff that is charged with planning and running ALL events conducted in the Village.
Commissioner Marilyn Schnell said it’s hard to justify keeping a “$300,000 party” while cutting two policemen. Commissioner Bob Barnett said he was in favor of a severely reduced Heritage Fest, as a precursor to moving it off the village dime and killing the Community Events Department. Moving the village out of Heritage Fest doesn’t mean it would end, just that someone other than the village would provide it, he explained.
Commissioners Neustadt, Waldack, and Beckman agreed the annual blow-out needs to be down-sized. Sandack suggested something more like a village-wide block party. When HF started that’s kind of the vibe it had, before the bigger carny rides and food on a stick. Commissioner Bill Waldack said that Heritage Fest is more than just a party, and it should be redirected to be more appropriate.
Stay thirsty at Fest my friends, and buy pop from Boy Scouts.
A Boy Scout from Troop 89 commented that selling pop at the fest allowed him and many others to finance their participation in scouting events. As a former Scoutmaster (Troop 55, the finest in DG), I can verify that. We paid scouts out of the money made to work the booth, which allowed several scouts to earn money for events such as summer camp which they would not have been able to otherwise attend.
Just one example that Heritage Fest does more for the community than just provide a pork chop on a stick.
So look for Heritage Fest to be modest this year, and if it can’t be moved outside the village budget it may disappear in 2011. If you feel strongly pro or con on Heritage Fest, you might want to attend the Community Events Commission meeting on Thursday.
When each councilman did a summation, they were to say where the extra savings should go. Neustadt said to keep the tax levy where it is and direct the savings to the general fund. Waldack said to use it on seniors programs such as Meals on Wheels and human services.
Durkin said to put it towards reducing the $900,010 draw from reserves, Schnell said to use it for cops or to reduce the tax levy or add back social services, Beckman said counseling and social services, and Barnett said any savings goes toward the deficit.
The meeting amped up when council members gave their final thoughts on the levy. Waldack suggested that they raise the levy ceiling by $500,000 so they could continue to parse down what really needed to be cut and what might get a partial reprieve.
He said he was miffed that the use of reserves was being employed when they should have raised the sales tax long enough ago that it would kick in January 1 and provide the extra revenue the village needed. He even cited former mayor Brian Krajewski as having set a good example.
Neustadt said he was okay with everything as it was.
Durkin asked about the library budget, which is up four percent, and Village Manager Dave Fieldman responded that the library board is an autonomous body outside of council control beyond the mayor’s responsibility to appoint board members. Sandack just renewed six year terms for Library Board President Stephen Daniels and member Kathy DiCola.
Beckman prefaced his remarks by relating his extensive budget experience as a D99 school board member. He said good governance is built on compromise and that as a school board member he never once voted against a budget levy because it was a product of compromise.
This budget, he said, he would vote against because it represented no compromise, and he went on to list several examples of revenue sources ignored and cuts pushed through. He held up the West Suburban Living magazine (see page 100) and noted that most every item cited as making Downers Grove a great place to live was being cut completely, or in the case of Heritage Fest, cut back.
Beckmanwas not pleased that all of the fine arts and cultural support had been stripped out completely, but was particularly displeased that counseling and social services are to be completely shut down; to him and many others these were elements of the village character that helped define the village as a great place to live. He ended by saying he would be voting “no” to a budget for the first time.
Barnett supported the staff recommended levy, noting that at this time there is no budget to make them all comfortable, that no one thing defines us, and that none of the cuts are long-lived expenses.
Schnell said it’s disturbing alternative revenue sources have not been found. “I can’t understand how we can tax our people 12 and a half percent but we won’t institute red-light cameras that will hit people who are breaking the law. ” She also indicated she would be voting no.
Sandack was agitated by the time his turn came. “I’ve got a colleague to my right who flippantly says let’s add $500,000 to the property tax, I’ve got a colleague to my left who says she in good conscience can’t raise what is being proposed even thought the vast majority of it is being jammed down out throats because they’re pension obligations, and I’ve got a colleague who says because we didn’t compromise on Counseling and Social Services he’s not going to vote on the budget.”
“That’s not a lack of compromise, that’s a lack of consensus,” Sandack said.
The village cannot be all things to all people, he said, adding that a village dentist would be great, but when times got tough they’d be up there arguing about how could they stop this vital service. Good leadership is not a popularity contest, he said, and the current math is irrefutable.
The village has to chop away to end up with a budget that allows for a sustainable government. “How did we fund Meals on Wheels in the first place?” he asked rhetorically. It was pretty obvious he was frustrated and maybe even tired when he called for a motion.
There were attempts to speak by Beckman and Waldack, but any Robert’s Rules devotee knows the time for talk was past once it got to that point. Durkin read the motion-always a whopper as it includes all outstanding bond debt issuances, and the vote was taken.
AYES: Barnett, Durkin, Neustadt, Sandack. NAYS: Beckman, Schnell, Waldack.
So what does it mean?
Right now, less than you’d think, although the vote sets a ceiling for how much the village can spend and, as a result, how much it can raise property taxes. The discussion will continue next week.
EJ will take this ball back and run with it tomorrow. I’ll be back Friday.
Lost in the commotion
A very positive report by Greg Bedalov on the move by Dover Corp. to Downers Grove from New York City. “From Park Avenue to Highland Avenue” was his quip, suggesting Mayor Sandack might call Mayor Bloomberg to say no hard feelings. Sandack did a “Yeah right he’d take my call.” rejoinder. Levity and good news before the budget storm clouds moved in.
Huge upside here. The Landmark V building, with DeVry and now Dover moving in, goes from zero percent occupied to more than 90 percent occupied. Property taxes go from about $7,000 per year to about $700,000 per year. Of that, the village gets about $70,000, D58 gets about $240,000 and D99 gets about $210,000. Way to go!
There appeared to be anger among our elected Village officials tonight, especially after the formal meeting adjourned and cameras were turned off.
Are we back to “Council Wars”?
Heritage fest corn roast has always been a big fund raiser for the DG Noon Lions. Last year, sales volumes dropped not only for the Lions, but most vendors. We went from a highs of over 90 cases of corn sold to just over 60 and our costs went up dramatically. I suspect this year, from what has now taken place, we will not do HF. Too much risk and not enough reward. Our Club has helped DG in so many ways. Fishel Park was given to DG by our Club. Same goes for the clock at the Main Street Station. We have helped scores of local residents with there vision and hearing needs who wouldn’t otherwise receive help. The new teachers luncheon and Halloween parade have been annual events for many years. We have given thousands to Indian Boundary YMCA to help them with their many youth and family programs. This is only a partial list of what we have done for DG. I know these are tough times and tough choices have to be made, but there are so many unintended consequences.
We will try to find other fund raisers and hopefully continue our work. We had our first 5K run last Labor Day and will continue it as an annual event. Check out http://www.5KLaborOFLove.Org to view some nice pictures and runner comments about a very nice event. Although we lost money the first year, we hope to make money going forward. One way or another it will find its way back into DG.
I hope there is some disdain up on the dais. These are extraordinary times and these times call for real leadership, not consensus. The 4 – 3 vote is very predictable. Social services and the arts are not core services for the village of Downers Grove. The Mayor is correct you cant be everything to everyone. If I have to hear Waldack talk about his $500,000 addendum to the budget again I am libel to toss a shoe at him in the next meeting.(Joking of course) Waldack is out of his mind on this one. He is pandering to his base. No one likes hard times, but folks that what we are in. The frilly non essentials are going to have to be funded out of donations like I am sure they were funded in the past. Bravo to Mayor Sandack, Comm. Durkin, Barnett and Nuestadt for sticking with the principals that will dig us out of this mess!
BB and WW should have gotten a little leeway instead of RS disparaging them their comments and concerns and then not letting them respond by calling the vote. That’s the kind of stunt 99 pulls, not council.
Mr. Tully, your description of the expenses is greatly appreciated.
Sideline,
Leeway…that is all these guys have been given for weeks now. It is time to lead. Consensus building should have been done months ago. We have been working on this budget since May gang. This budget is going to be voted on in mere weeks. It is time to streamline the village to meet the challenges that the village faces in the future.
The one thing I don’t like is the idea of increasing the sales tax. I heard David Patterson, the Governor of New York, on CNBC several weeks ago. He made a valid point. When taxes are raised, people will change their behavior to avoid or reduce the effect of the increase.
In the case of a sales tax increase, people either shop elsewhere, reduce their spending, or put off the purchase of big ticket items.
If we raise the sales tax, people might go grocery shopping at the Jewel on 75th in Woodridge, rather than at 63rd and Main. Or while shopping at 63rd and Main, they may reduce the grocery bill by switching to store brands. And people might very well put off replacement of a old computer or car.
Not only will the Village fail to realize the full amount of taxes anticipated from the tax hike, but businesses in DG will suffer, because of reduced or lost sales.
Fred,
That is true. The other side of that coin is that if you raise property taxes to high you lose your home owner and the potencial sales tax they would spend by living in your town. Taxes are needed, but the need to streamline government services is far overdue. We cannot sustain this level of spending on any governmental level.
Maybe the three Village Council members who didn’t like nor vote for the budget cuts should complain to the State Legislators and Union officials for allowing Civil Servant costs (mostly pensions), to spiral upward out of control and out of line with the the rest of governmental expenditures. AS a Few have stated previously, THIS is the big ELEPHANT in the room, not whether or not our town has a Ferris Wheel for my 6 year old this summer.
BTW- how come our leaders are talking about cutting a festival that attracts 1,000’s of Village Residents ( at a cost of 100k plus), when they have not mentioned cutting a local run bus system that attracts about 100-200 residents, and also has historically been shown to cost all of us 100+k per year. If we are cutting, lets cut what doesn’t really get used.
I agree Magoo. The buses must go. If we are making the tough decisions then the buses should be one of them! To phrase my least favorite announcer in sports…”he gone”
Bob Barnett realy doesn’t want HF to continue. His comments were very direct about that. I know core services are needed in our community but the Village council needs tofind that happy balance of funding the core core services, make realistic cuts that are well thought out and still be able to hold some type of community events even a scaled WAY scaled or “right sized” version. We are still a “community” and this community still thrives including the Non Profitsector and downtown business owners on the community aspect of what is downers Grove. I applaude the VC for facing these tough times, having these frank discussions and making what I am sure are difficult decisions for all of us residents. Keep HF! Cut the bus services! Find a balance with core village services!
They would be very stupid to even think about raising the property tax levee’s. I would have significantly cut the social services budget and let the county handle that. Oh Yes Good Bye to the Bus or let PACE Take it over.
I know tough times call for tough measures, but cutting Heritage Fest just makes me ill – very ill. Our family lives for Heritage Fest – we plan our vactions around it (ie we do not go anywhere that weekend – at all- we are the Fest). Our kids have not missed a fest since they were babies, they will be sick, as well. It’s a break even event – it doesn’t COST money – I am really confused – why don’t they want it? And cutting the DARE program and the arts? What are they thinking? The very essences of what makes our town a COMMUNITY – a town-wide block party? instead – are they kidding?!
and the bike race?! I mean – so now we have 2 parades and some ice sculptures (which usually melt all over or it is too cold to go)? How about SALARY CUTS? MANY firms have mass lay-offs and then for the remaining employees, they have to take pay cuts. Raise taxes a little – so what?! The REASON we are a BIG town with a SMALL TOWN feel is because we are a COMMUNITY and without Heritage Fest and the bike race and things to bring us TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY – then the elected officials are doing us a BIG disservice.. HUGE – we are getting revenue left and right from the DGEDC – new businesses coming in ALL the time and with them revenue and new taxes, etc. so why are we in such financial distress? Maybe I am missing something (and I am sure Mark T or EJ could enlighten me – in all seriousness, not being sarcastic) i am JUST sick… really….
One reason DG is such a well known and much desired community is its tremendous special events. But, what is taking place here, is also taking place in surrounding communities. Revenues have dropped, employee legacy costs (ie. pension, health care, etc) and other costs remain high, and we do the best we can trying to make the pieces fit together. There are no right decisions, there are only tough ones. With that said, I believe special events such as HF, the bike race, and the ice carving should be kept. They give DG a sense of community, they set us apart, and they are fun.
What is worse is they haven’t even looked into alternative revenue streams for HF like large Corportate Sponserships. They need to not be so short sided in their thinking and try other alternatives befre they kill it.
That’s actually what they are planning to do, heart. They’re trimming fest expenditures by at least $90,000 this year, but the fest will go on. Looking forward to 2011, they’ll be looking for those corporate sponsorships and other means of “privatizing” HF, including volunteers.
Manpower is one of the fest’s biggest costs, as Schnell pointed out Tuesday night. Village Hall virtually shuts down for those three days, with employees redeployed to man the festival.
The EDC/DG Hospitality Alliance has proven itself very able in the execution of Taste of DG and were mentioned repeatedly as a possible player in future fests. It will be up to the Community Events Commission to plot a new course for Heritage Fest in the future. First up, a more “right-size” festival in 2010.
Maybe I should wait for a more educated person like Mr. Tully here, but isn’t the ice sculpture festival under the Downtown Downers Grove TIF District? That doesn’t come out of the village’s budget, does it?
It’s been 10 years since I’ve been involved in stuff like this, but I was wondering: do they still have that fund that hotels pay into to help their towns pay for events? Does anyone remember/know what I’m talking about?
I don’t think we should shelve anything, but we might need to figure out new ways to pay for events, or put them together ourselves. We are so blessed as a town to have so many service organizations and theater/music/dance groups. We have talent and willing volunteers — maybe we can find a way to work together so these things can keep going no matter what the economy is like.
I don’t know what we can do about the sorry state of the economy at large or our state’s budget woes other than complain to our elected officials. However, we CAN have direct control over what WE do with OUR groups and neighborhoods. We never know what we can do until we try.
About the ice carving event:
My understanding is that the village will cut the national competition but still offer a more local, and therefore less expensive, version of the weekend.
I think you’re referring to the hotel-motel tax, dgmom. The council had earmarked eight percent of the tax proceeds for community events. However, like other tax revenue, the hotel-motel proceeds have dropped significantly.
The H-M tax revenues will revert to the general fund if/when/as community events are eliminated.
The downtown TIF isn’t used for community events (at least to my knowledge; where’s a local official when you need one?)
Great idea! Let’s cut the salaries of the village employees, so that you won’t have to miss the Heritage Fest! Do you want to explain that to the family of the worker who puts up the holiday lights around town or the guy that empties all the waste cans.
Actually, the 8% portion of the annual hotel/motel tax revenue had been designated as the main funding source for the Community Grants Program, not Community Events.
On the other hand, EJ is correct that the Downtown TIF fund has not been used to pay for any community events. In fact, I highly doubt that would be a permissible use of such funds under the TIF laws.
Thanks for correcting my error. I got my “community” commissions confused.
Anyone know where I can hire a good editor?
That said, the tax assessment for Special Service Area #2 that covers the downtown business district is the main source of funding for the budget of the DG Downtown Management Association which, in turn, sponsors various events in the downtown every year. But those are not TIF fund dollars.
See? That’s why I asked for the experts to clarify! All of this is very confusing for the average citizen. I thought maybe the Ice Carving Festival might have fallen under the Downtown Management Association’s budget. Which it is not. But if it WAS, would not be TIF funds but a Special Service Area special tax assessment.
So remind me again — and forgive me, I should just look at your older posts — I thought they were eliminating the grants? Or are they just curtailing them? Where will the Hotel-Motel tax money go if they’re eliminating the grants? And I thought that money was supposed to be used to promote visitors to an area? How does will diverting it to the general fund suit that purpose? I could be mistaken, of course; my direct knowledge of the whole thing ends 10 years ago.
Thank you so much for this blog; it is so nice to have a place to go with questions like this!
The grants are slated for elimination. That money — about $72,000 in 2009 — will revert to the General Fund. The rest of the hotel-motel tax (remember: only eight percent went for Community Grants) will continue to be earmarked for tourism.
Hope someone will alert me if I’ve goofed again.