Belvidere approves budget ordinance; bus subsidy remains

Sheet of US one hundred dollar bills, elevated view

By Bob Balgemann
Reporter
BELVIDERE – With May 1 close at hand, the Belvidere City Council has adopted its budget ordinance for the 2016-2017 fiscal year and the spending plan will include the $25,000 needed to keep fixed-route bus service in town through at least June 2017.
The service is provided by the Rockford Mass Transit District.
Alderman Clint Morris offered the budget amendment at Monday night’s meeting to withdraw the subsidy, basing his proposal on low ridership.
However, Alderman Clayton Stevens said he talked with a number of people who really needed the service.
The most recent number available showed 8,971 riders during the six-month period ending Dec. 31, which compares with 8,609 for the same timeframe in 2014.
The proposed amendment ultimately failed, 8-1, leaving the funding in place.
A short time later, council voted 6-3 to adopt the ordinance, with aldermen Morris, Stevens and Mark Sanderson dissenting.
The New Year’s general fund revenue is projected to be $11.927 million, up from the 2015-2016 total of $11.032 million. Expenses are expected to be $9.797 million, compared with $8.897.
Budget and Finance Director Becky Tobin explained those amounts are higher than in the recent past because the city plans to spend down some of its reserves for road improvements.
The big project this summer is rebuilding Columbia Avenue and Aspen Court, for which $1.5 million has been set aside.
In addition, the downtown streetscape improvements will resume this year, from the railroad tracks to Madison Street. That will take $616,876.36.
City relies on taxes
Belvidere’s general fund income primarily comes from the municipal sales tax ($3.216 million), state income tax ($2.610 million) and local property tax ($1.841 million). All three are expected to be a bit higher, by a combined $102,000.
The replacement tax is projected to increase from $427,808 to $468,083, with the local use tax going from $496,349 to $601,247.
Replacement tax is money collected by the state and distributed to local governments, to replace dollars they lost when their powers to impose personal property tax on corporations, partnerships and other business entities were taken away.
Local use tax is on items purchased out-of-state. A lot of it is from items purchased online. Amazon has started charging sales tax in Illinois, so that’s one reason for the projected$104,898 increase in city revenue next year.
Court fines reached $481,000 during the 2014-2015 fiscal year, then decreased to $360,000 this year. Director Tobin is estimating $375,000 for 2016-2017,
Income at the Boone County Jail decreased substantially starting in 2013-2014, because there were fewer inmates from the U.S. Marshal’s Office and DeKalb County that was attributed to an increase in local arrests, which left fewer cells for the out-of-town prisoners.
Local arrests have tapered off a bit, leading to a slight increase in revenue.
“Although I budgeted $360,000 for FY16, we are actually anticipating to end the (current) budget year with about $385,000 in revenue,” Tobin said. “I am trying to be conservative with my $375,000 figure for next year.”
Revenue continues to lag at the county jail. Income totaled $200,957.30 for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, down from $576,671.56 in the previous year. For the first four months of 2015-2016, revenue is at $37,713, compared with $46,671 through February 2015.
One of the new sources of income for the city is from video gaming establishments, which came on the scene a couple of years ago. Tobin is anticipating $180,000 in revenue in 2016-2017; the number of such establishments has increased from 13 to 15.
Tobin budgeted $93,600 for the current year but said that revenue actually should come in at $180,000.
“I am trying to be somewhat conservative with this [new] number, because I think at some point the gaming market in Belvidere will be saturated and the revenues will taper off.”
They’re in the red
Some of the city’s major departments once again will be in the red when it comes to expenses exceeding revenue.
However, Tobin said not to worry. Departments such as police and fire are part of the overall budget and as long as total income exceeds expenses, the city will be fine. That is expected to happen again this year.
The police department only receives $1.045 million in revenue, mostly from the property tax. Its expenses are expected to total $6.304, leaving a deficit of $4.972 million.
Salaries ($3.432 million), overtime ($429,300) and pension payments ($1.025 million) total $4.686 million and take most of that department’s budget.
Same goes for the fire department, which will experience a $2.993-million deficit when the new fiscal year ends April 30, 2017.
The water and sewer fund, which is separate from the general fund, includes operation of the water and sewer departments. Income for 2016-2017 is estimated at $6.235 million, with expenses of $8.668 million.
Most of this fund’s revenue comes from sewer and water bills that combined are expected to total $5.557 million, up slightly from $5.533 million in 2015-2016.
On April 30, 2017, the city’s overall fund balance, also known as the rainy day fund or reserve, will be an estimated $6.848 million, down from the current $8.695 million.
However, as Mayor Mike Chamberlain put it at a recent committee of the whole meeting: “We still have reserves in excess of the required amount.”