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Village reviews draft 2026 budget, flags small levy gain and $1 million parks plan
Summary
The Village Board reviewed a draft 2026 budget that projects modest revenue increases, a small net new construction rate and several capital priorities; board members requested additional detail on IT contracting, reserve levels and capital funding before the October public hearing.
The Village Board reviewed a draft 2026 budget that staff presented as roughly $20.1 million in total spending, with property-tax revenue in the general fund up about $630,000, Presenter said. Presenter told the board that net new construction for valuation is only 0.92%, limiting how much new levy capacity the village can capture.
Presenter said state-shared revenue will be slightly higher next year because the village “blew past our expenditure restraint” when it went to referendum, and that final state numbers could raise the present estimate. General transportation aid in the governor’s proposed budget was noted as a potential source of additional revenue, but staff had not seen final figures.
On reserves, staff reported the village’s total fund balance at the end of 2024 as $60,234,400, with an unassigned balance of about $11,000,000. Presenter reminded the board that statute limits municipal debt in relation to equalized property value, noting “by statute, our debt cannot exceed 5% of our equalized tax property,” and provided the current totals and remaining capacity in the village’s debt limit.
The budget packet includes department-level changes across finance, police, fire, public works, parks and facilities. Presenter highlighted several operating increases—visual-evidence management costs for police moved from capital into the operating budget—and flagged a proposed $100,000 ambulance-related intergovernmental billing entry that will be billed at year-end and paid the following year.
Refuse and recycling costs would rise modestly under staff proposals: refuse from $124 to $128 annually and recycling from $70 to $74, reflecting higher contract costs, Presenter said. Staff also proposed a range of capital projects, including road resurfacing, vehicle replacements, public-safety equipment and park investments.
Why it matters: Board members said they want more detail on how proposed capital spending will be funded and the trade-offs for reserves and debt, especially given an outstanding working debt to Johnson Bank. The board set a budget review on October 14 and a public hearing to finalize the budget on October 28.
The board asked staff for additional documentation (side-by-side comparisons and detailed task lists) before those dates; no final votes were taken at the meeting.
