Villa Park council hears first look at 2025–26 budget; staff projects modest revenue gains, several large capital carryovers

At a special meeting, the Villa Park City Council received its first public presentation on the fiscal year 2025–26 budget and preliminary year‑end projections, with staff saying revenues are slightly above initial estimates and several capital projects will carry funds into the next fiscal year.

Finance Director Leigh (name/last name not specified) told the council that the city’s projection for fiscal 2024–25 revenues rose from an estimated $6.1 million to about $6.3 million, “roughly, and that is about, like, a $200,000, like, above and beyond what we have expected.” Leigh said investment income and property‑tax receipts contributed to the upward revision while sales and other taxes were slightly below earlier assumptions.

The presentation framed the larger picture: budgeted expenditures for 2024–25 were about $7.4 million (including capital), but staff now project actual expenditures near $6.0 million, producing a net underspend of roughly $1.5 million to carry into FY 2025–26. City Manager (name not specified) summarized the outlook as positive, saying “we are once again in that trajectory.”

Why it matters: the carryover and the city’s reserves affect how much discretionary spending will be available next year and which capital projects can move forward. Staff emphasized that some underspent funds are restricted to specific projects (for example, sewer assessments and other special funds) and cannot be repurposed for general operations.

Key fiscal details and restricted accounts

- Year‑end projection (FY 2024–25) — revenues: about $6.3 million; expenditures projected at roughly $6.0 million; net carryforward about $1.5 million (Leigh). - Capital carryovers called out included an underspend of about $657,000 for a sewer improvement project, about $88,000 on the Cerro Villa project, and roughly $26,000 for a slurry seal project; a $400,000 budget line for an industry improvement design will carry forward into next year (Leigh). - Annual…