Cherry Valley Board of Trustees finalizes 2016-2017 budget

Sheet of US one hundred dollar bills, elevated view

By Joshua Lamb
Reporter
CHERRY VALLEY – The Cherry Valley Village Board of Trustees met Tuesday, April 12 to discuss the village’s 2016-2017 budget.
Among the matters discussed was a proposed mailing of the village newsletter to all Cherry Valley residents. The newsletter is published three times per year and is currently available on the village website. The cost of the proposed tri-annual mailing would be approximately $3,500.
“Even though we do make it available on the website, I think a lot of people miss out on information because they don’t go to the website,” Trustee Gary Maitland said in regard to the proposed mailing.
There was general agreement with this point.
“When I talk to a lot of the senior citizens, they don’t have access to a computer. Everyone thinks in the modern age that everyone can afford a computer, but when you have the cost of purchase and then you have internet service costs, it does get quite expensive,” Trustee Nancy Belt said.
Belt said that she felt that the village had an obligation to ensure the newsletter is available to all Cherry Valley residents.
Village President Jim Glaeyssen supported the proposed mailing. He also clarified that the village newsletter is currently available to the residents through the mail, but only by request.
The Board of Trustees also discussed the estimated cost of the renovations that are planned for Fisher Park. The current estimated cost of the renovations is $10,000.
However, Trustee David Schroeder questioned this estimate, suggesting it may be too low.
“It just doesn’t seem like a lot of money for that place, in the shape it’s in,” Schroeder said.
However, Claeyssen confirmed that $10,000 was the estimate that had been given by the village engineer. “I’m fine with it,” Belt said.
Among the suggested changes to Fisher Park is a proposal to convert the tennis court that currently exists into four pickleball courts.
Also, up for discussion was a proposed increase in the village’s annual contribution to its police pension fund. The current annual contribution to the pension is $529,000 and it was initially proposed that an additional $300,000 be added to that contribution in 2016-2017.
However, Schroeder suggested that the proposed amount was too small “with the pension being only twenty-six percent funded, I really think we should go more than $30,000.”
Agreeing with Schroeder suggested increasing the total annual contribution to $500,000. Fustin stated that he had done some calculations and had found that “$500,000 would take us quite a ways down the road to getting the pension funded.”
Claeyssen acknowledged the importance of increasing the contribution to the police pension fund, but also suggested that the specific annual contribution would need to be reevaluated each fiscal year. The pension is funded using sales tax revenue, and Claeyssen noted that sales tax revenue can be unpredictable.
“I like the idea of coming up with a big contribution right away,” Claeyssen said, as delaying funding of the pension would make things more difficult in years to come.
In the end, the board decided to contribute an additional $625,000, for a total of $1,154,000 in the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
The village board will vote on the 2016-2017 budget on Tuesday, April 19 at 7 p.m.