News

Village of Brookfield to hold off on primary tax hike ballot question

By James Pluta

Despite being faced with some serious budgetary challenges this year, the
Brookfield Village Board has decided against seeking voter approval for a
proposed property tax hike referenda in the upcoming Feb. 2, 2010 primary
election.

Rather, the board could be looking at the possibility of a similar ballot
question at the November 2010 general election. Regardless, such an
increase could raise upwards of $2.5 million to $3 million for the
cash-strapped village.

The proposed increase would have meant the owner of a home with a market
value of $225,000 would pay between $417 and $500 more per year in local
property taxes.

None of the trustees, who have been grappling with ways in which to make
cutbacks and/or raise much-needed revenue voted in favor of going to the
voters so soon, agreeing there simply would not be enough time to convince
the public of the need or to see it pass.

Village President Michael Garvey noted it would premature to go to
referendum before knowing all the options available to the village.

The 2010 spending plan predicts revenues to exceed spending by nearly
$20,000. No employee salary increases or layoffs are proposed and labor
unions representing the village’s 20 public works and clerical staffers
have agreed to new 2-year pacts without salary hikes or step increases.

If layoffs become necessary, that could mean a reopener on salary talks
with the Service Employees International Union.

As for unionized police and firefighters, that kind of agreement remains
to be seen.

The village expects to have just below $800,000 in its general operations
fund by the end of this year and the board hopes to deposit one-fourth of
that amount into a new cash reserve account to be created next month — to
help the village in troubled times. That goal is to have that fund to be
built to as high as $3 million by 2015 or so.

The proposed budget includes more than $1.2 million in capital
expenditures. In addition to deferring Grand Boulevard engineering until
2012, the board decided to lease three new police cars instead of seven
and replace an additional four next year — three by lease and one with
recently received grant money.

Brookfield has already began weighing the concept of raising funds by
charging more for ambulance services and collect an estimated $377,000 in
new fees.

Like other neighboring communities, Brookfield does not collect 100
percent of the amount it bills for ambulance services, recoupint what it
can from residents’ insurance companies, but they do not attempt to
collect the balance from residents; only from nonresidents.

Fire Chief Patrick Lenzi has suggested raising advanced life support
services in 2010, from $600 to $1,000. The per-call increase is projected
to net almost $275,000 based on past call volume.

The chief is also asking to increase the fee for basic life support
services from $500 per call to $750. Such a hike would bring in an
additional $102,250 in revenue.

Brookfield may also raise the fee for a paramedic response that does not
involve transport to the hospital, from $300 to $500.

Lenzi also proposed adding language to the ordinance stating that
“mutual-aid ambulance responses will be given resident-of-Brookfield
privileges.”

Brookfield has mutual aid agreements with neighboring communities such as
Lyons and will respond to calls there if paramedics there are busy. Lyons’
paramedics do the same in return.

The biggest challenge for the Brookfield Fire Department in recent months
has been collecting money they’ve billed.

Since the departure of an administrative aide laid off in May, Lenzi has
been doing collections, and doesn’t have the same kind of time to devote
to it. Every three or four weeks, Lenzi gathers the billing reports and
brings them to a collection agency.

As a result, Brookfield’s ambulance fee collections have suffered, by
about $16,000 a month.

Brookfield also is facing nearly $500,000 more in pension contributions in
2010 and has already agreed not to defer those payments as municipalities
are allowed to do.