Burr Ridge board reviews FY2027 budget, hears village‑hall sale timeline and police request for two more officers

At its March 9 meeting the Burr Ridge Board of Trustees received a detailed update on the draft fiscal year 2027 budget and a timeline for the sale and relocation from the current village hall.

Village administrator Evan told the board the village has executed a contract to sell the current village hall (the village signed on Feb. 27) and said the buyer’s zoning and permit deadline is June 27; if the buyer meets that timeline the sale is expected to close roughly 30 days later. Evan said staff planned a phased staff move in May and that a temporary village hall at 451 Commerce Street will open to the public on Monday, June 1. He also said routine adjudication hearings will move to the Willowbrook Community Resource Center beginning April 1 and that board and plan‑commission meetings will be held at Gower Middle School after June 1.

On budget fundamentals Evan presented a high‑level fund balance analysis showing increases in net position across several funds driven largely by higher sales and place‑of‑eating taxes. He highlighted a near‑term cash position the village could tap for capital projects and presented a capacity analysis that, staff said, would allow up to about $13 million in available cash for a village‑hall project while recommending against using the village’s entire financial capacity.

Evan also noted expected sale proceeds of about $2.7 million for the current village hall and said staff does not intend to use downtown business‑district tax revenues for the village‑hall project. "We will not be bringing you a $13,000,000 addition to a building," Evan told the board, explaining that the capacity analysis was for context and that staff does not recommend spending the village’s full financial capacity.

During department reports the police chief presented a recruitment video and asked the board to increase the department’s authorized sworn strength from 28 to 30. "We're asking to go to 30 sworn officers," Chief Loftus said, describing staffing shortfalls, heavy overtime and recruitment competition from neighboring agencies. He said two additional authorized positions would reduce overtime and allow creation of a community‑oriented response and enforcement unit.

Trustees engaged on the fiscal tradeoffs. One trustee noted a 26% year‑over‑year increase in police wages and asked how the hiring request would be balanced against other budget priorities; the chief and staff said any implementation depends on budget feasibility and that the board would be consulted before any hire if funding were insufficient.

Edward Shisham, a member of the Police and Fire Commission, told the board during public comment that attracting "quality" officers is increasingly competitive and cautioned that adding authorized positions does not guarantee fully staffed shifts given lateral transfers and turnover.

Finance and public‑works staff reported technical items affecting the budget, including the reorganization of water/sewer to a combined utilities fund, capital reserves, and ongoing projects such as the pump‑center work and planned in‑house landscaping work that shifts about $80,000 of contract work to village crews.

Evan closed by reminding trustees that March 23 is the last meeting for substantive budget changes and that the April 13 budget ordinance meeting will not accept further amendments. He said staff will return with a cost estimate for the village‑hall project in the coming meetings.