Machesney Park ponders continuing community grants

By Bob Balgemann

Reporter

MACHESNEY PARK – Village officials have set the stage for discussing the proposed 2015-16 budget at a workshop Saturday morning at village hall.

Village Administrator Tim Savage and Human Resources and Accounting Manager Michelle Johannsen gave village board members an overview of projected income and expenses during an informal meeting Feb. 17.

The village apparently will continue funding most of the community grants, totaling $24,050. Ski Broncs, the competitive water skiing team in Rockford, would see an increase from $1,000 to $1,500. The Helping Hands Food Pantry and GPS Church Food Pantry each would receive $750, up from $500 this year.

Here are the other contributions, which are the same as in 2014-15:

Harlem Community Center summer parks program, $10,000; Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful Christmas tree recycling, $750, and luncheon, $300; Carlson Boys & Girls Club, $2,000; Harlem football National Night Out, $500; Young at Heart festival, $2,500; and Special Events, such as the new Machesney Park Festival, Rockford Marathon, Harlem High School boys track and girls track.

In addition, the village will be in the second of a two-year, $25,000 commitment to the Reclaiming First initiative of the Rockford Park District. That effort is geared to improving athletic facilities, such as Sportscore I, in hopes of increasing the number of tournaments held there each year.

Discussion of those requests is expected at Saturday’s workshop.

The discussion also will include the request from Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen that the village give $400,000, in installments of $20,000 a year for 20 years, to the $40-million hangar project at Chicago Rockford International Airport. That request was made at the Feb. 17 village board meeting.

New expenditures

Staff is proposing $300,000 in new, major expenditures from replacing trustee laptop computers ($3,500) to having a full-time public safety coordinator ($155,000).

Revenue was projected to be flat in the new fiscal year, which will begin May 1. It is estimated to be $7.2 million, up $380,000 from this year.

Sales tax income is estimated to increase by $77,000 to $3.27 million.

Cost of a new contract for law enforcement services will increase 4.3 percent, Savage said. The village contracts with the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department and this year’s cost was about $3 million.

Trustee Erick Beck questioned the full-time public safety coordinator, which would cost an additional $75,000 next year. “The $75,000 is a lot of money,” he said.

There was a concern, Trustee James Kidd said, about the part-time coordinator only being able to work 600 hours a year. That meant two hours a day for village business and two hours for the rest of the county.

But Beck countered, “It looks to me like the $75,000 is being shoved down our throats.”

Savage said having a full-time supervisor at the village substation was a goal of the new sheriff, Gary Caruana. “I think the increase in impound fees will help offset that” increase, from the current $30,000, the administrator said.

The village has approved increasing from $200 to $350 the amount of money is takes to retrieve a vehicle from the impound.

Renovating 10,000 square feet of space at the former J.C. Penney building, for use by the village’s public works department, would cost about $7,500. Purchase of the building is in limbo during the due diligence period, which ends March 29.

Another new expenditure would be holding a board strategic planning session, $10,000, primarily the cost of a facilitator. Johannsen said the session would have two parts: looking at the village organization and what the various roles are; planning for where officials want the village to be in the next two years.

Other new expenditures include purchasing a backup generator for village hall, $15,000; new public works equipment such as a salt spreader, compactor and sweeper attachment, $15,000; new car to replace a 2005 Pontiac Bonneville with 91,798 miles on it; replacing the parking lot behind village hall, $50,000; and renovation of the village board room, $110,000.

Employee salary increases would be 1.5 percent, with one-half percent, or about $10,000, put in a pool for merit raises.