Village of Woodridge Sees Surplus, Not Anticipated Deficit, in FY2011

Despite anticipating a deficit of $1.4 million from May 2010 to April 2011, the village of Woodridge announced Monday it saw a surplus of $444,926 during that period of time. 

Peggy Halik, assistant village administrator, attributed the surplus to conservative spending and sales tax coming in 20 percent higher than expected. 

Mayor William F. Murphy said in a village press release the surplus was due to "better than anticipated revenues and savings that resulted from cost containment measures put in place by Village staff."

May 1, 2010, to April 30, 2011, constitutes Fiscal Year 2011. The village board passed its budget for Fiscal Year 2012 on Thursday. That budget is in effect from May 1, 2011 to April 30, 2012. 

The village is anticipating a $600,274 deficit for FY12, though Halik and Village Administrator Kathleen Rush said they hoped to reduce that deficit as the village was able to do for FY11. 

"It's unlikely (the deficit will) actually occur," Rush said. "We're very cautious with our expenses. It's likely to come in at $0 in 2013. We may not spend as much money, and our revenue may be more than expected." 

Rush, Halik and Jack Knight, management analyst for the village, said the village is conservative especially in terms of how much money the village will receive from the state. 

Halik said at any given time, the state of Illinois owes the village three months worth of money, and at some points the state has owed the village five to six months of money. 

"Much uncertainty remains regarding how the State of Illinois’ will impact local government budgets," Knight wrote in village press release.

"Anywhere from the entire share of the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) to a 5 percent decrease has been proposed. This uncertainty, as well as current litigation against state sales tax legislation, has led to the Village to continue to be conservative in projecting the revenue that will be coming in to support services."

The budget for FY2012 provides for $41,024,901 in expenses and $34,520,411 in revenues. Knight said that disparity is due to transfers to debt service and capital projects, making the actual shortfall $600,274. 

According to the village press release, that budget includes "funding for the replacement of the Mitchell Drive water main, demolition costs for buildings related to the Janes Avenue redevelopment efforts, and the intergovernmental cost-saving initiatives of constructing a salt dome and vactor storage site with DuPage County. 

Routine maintenance and upkeep (such as the street crack sealing program), and streetscape efforts that include securing favorable pricing for residents to trim trees, replace sidewalks and driveways are also a part of this year’s budget."

Rush called FY12 a "recovery year." As Woodridge Patch reported Thursday,

Below are the anticipated budgets for specific departments for FY11 and the budgeted amounts for FY12. 

Halik and Rush indicated costs associated with the makes the police budget slightly higher than last year, from $8,387,418 to $8,555,951. 

Halik said that starting in FY13, the village would see the savings from that move, which is said to be $300,000 a year. 

The Public Works' budget is also slightly higher from FY11 to FY12 from $2,927,850 to $3,111,063. Rush said that increase was due to engineering studies that would be done this year.