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Finance director warns of federal grant uncertainty for Saunders Road project; village reviewing past Deerfield tax-sharing payments
Summary
Riverwoods' finance director told trustees the village is monitoring federal grant freezes that could affect surface-transportation funds for the Saunders Road project and reported the village may owe back payments under a 2016 tax-share agreement with Deerfield for a car wash on Saunders Road.
The village finance director reported to the Board of Trustees that the village is monitoring possible impacts from federal-level grant freezes on funding for the Saunders Road surface-transportation project and that staff are checking whether those funds are already held at a local level by the Council of Mayors.
The director said the Saunders Road funding is part of a federally funded surface transportation program that is locally managed by the Council of Mayors; staff have asked GHA to confirm whether the anticipated funds are already committed and held locally. "I do have some concerns with the recent news with the new federal administration that there could be freezes on federal grant money," the director said, noting the initial freeze memo had been rescinded but uncertainty remained.
The finance director also told trustees that a 2016 agreement with Deerfield to share property and sales tax for a car wash at 777 Saunders Road appears to have not produced payments from the village during the contract's 10-year term. He said he has worked with his Deerfield counterpart to calculate amounts owed and that the liability should appear on a future bill list for the board to consider.
Other finance items: the village is starting audit engagement with Lauterbach and Eamon, with an audit presentation tentatively scheduled for the May 20 board meeting; the village has a February 13 meeting with IPBC to discuss health-insurance options; and staff continue to prioritize implementing online/credit-card payment processing through the village's accounting software provider, but no timeline was provided.
Trustees asked whether staff had reached out to Congressman Schneider about potential federal funding impacts; the director said the legislative breakfast on Feb. 15 would provide an opportunity to raise the issue with him.
What trustees heard: Staff are actively monitoring the potential federal grant risk, confirming whether funds are locally committed, and will report back when more information is available; potential back-payments under the Deerfield tax-share agreement will be brought forward for board action.
