Roselle trustees review maintenance budget for 2026; move to expand streaming tax and raise gaming fees, opt to draw on reserves

Village Administrator Jason Bialowski and Finance Director Tom Dahl presented the Village of Roselle’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget at a public hearing, characterizing it as a maintenance plan that increases expenditures by about $980,000 (roughly 4%) over the 2025 budget and relies on a mix of one‑time and recurring revenues.

“The budget does kinda require some difficult decisions, by the board to maintain services and meet your strategic goals,” Bialowski said as he opened the presentation and walked trustees through a scorecard of post‑packet changes.

Staff highlighted five strategic priorities that guided preparation — fiscal stewardship, focused redevelopment, reliable infrastructure, operational sustainability and customer experience — and outlined fund highlights. The general fund plan projects a fund‑balance decline from about 45% to 43% and shows much of the year‑over‑year increase driven by nondiscretionary personnel costs, health insurance and pension obligations. Staff told trustees roughly 50% of property‑tax revenue is being devoted to public‑safety and IMRF pension obligations.

Water and sewer operating funds were presented as maintenance budgets as well; staff noted anticipated DuPage Water Commission rate increases that staff estimates would raise the average residential bill by about $10 per month at median consumption (4,000 gallons). Major ongoing capital items identified include two master plans, smart meter replacement ($80,000) and rebudgeted SCADA-related work.

To close a structural gap identified in the general fund, staff presented revenue alternatives rather than an immediate permanent property‑tax increase. Options included expanding the village’s amusement tax to cover streaming and other online amusements and raising the rate from 3% to 5% (staff estimated roughly $120,000 in additional revenue), increasing the video‑gaming terminal fee (staff proposed $750 per terminal, estimated at ~$50,000), and raising expected permit revenue ($80,000) tied to anticipated development. Staff also listed alternatives not recommended for this plan—stormwater utility, additional home‑rule sales tax (largely committed to capital), or drawing reserves beyond policy targets without further board direction.

Bialowski reminded trustees the village’s PTELL‑limiting resolution (approved in connection with Roselle’s home‑rule referendum) requires a two‑thirds board vote to adopt property‑tax increases above PTELL and directs the board to evaluate alternatives before taking such an action. The draft budget includes a PTELL‑allowed 2.9% increase (about $225,000) and also a separate $250,000 line shown as “in excess of PTELL” that staff flagged for board consideration.

Trustees pressed staff for more department‑level detail. Trustee Trejo asked for a variance analysis that would explain multi‑year compound annual growth rates in contractual and commodity lines in several departments; staff said preparing that analysis for the entire budget is a large undertaking but agreed to prioritize the largest items and return with explanations. Trustees also discussed the tradeoffs of a hiring freeze, noting vacancies reduce payroll but can increase overtime and risk burnout.

Trustees debated technology spending and recurring software costs. Staff said ongoing licensing, firewall and device replacements — plus expectations for 24/7 digital services and public‑safety equipment — have produced rising recurring costs; the board asked staff for a breakdown of the IT/technology portion of the proposed new spending, and staff reported annual Microsoft licensing is about $40,000.

On revenue choices, the board indicated majority support to include an expanded amusement/streaming tax and to raise the video‑gaming terminal fee; Trustee Percocca said he was “100% in favor” of the streaming/definition update, and several other trustees expressed support while requesting sample ordinance language and peer examples. Trustees also showed majority preference to use available general‑fund reserves to cover the budget gap rather than immediately adopting the additional permanent property‑tax levy shown in the draft; staff and trustees agreed to revisit reserves and other levers at midyear and during a focused operations review in 2026.

The board asked staff to prepare a revised budget scorecard reflecting trustees’ direction, peer ordinance examples and a prioritized variance analysis on contractual increases. Trustees agreed to schedule an additional meeting on Dec. 1 to continue the budget discussion before the Dec. 8 adoption meeting.

Meeting procedure notes: the board approved a motion admitting Trustee Lanisa to participate virtually under the Illinois Open Meetings Act, approved the agenda at the start of the session and adjourned at about 8:19 p.m.

What’s next: staff will circulate an updated scorecard and ordinance language drafts for the amusement/streaming tax, provide the prioritized variance analysis and return with refined revenue estimates ahead of the Dec. 1 and Dec. 8 meetings.