Some Waukegan City Council members felt they needed more time to review the $245 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year before voting on it, as Mayor Ann Taylor warned it might put $39.4 million of proposed capital improvements in jeopardy.
The council postponed its scheduled vote on the spending plan for the fiscal year that starts May 1 Monday at City Hall in Waukegan after Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton, 1st Ward, used her prerogative to move it to the next scheduled meeting at 7 p.m. on April 15.
“I’m getting questions and concerns from my constituents concerning this,” she said. “They should be given time to look this over. Also, there are other concerns, There are discrepancies in this book concerning some line items.”
Bolton was referring to the 422-page proposed budget initially posted on the city’s website on March 15, which was introduced at a public hearing on March 25 where not all council members were in attendance. Few of them asked questions at that meeting.
Initially, Bolton wanted to wait until June to vote on the budget. She said she has gone to door-to-door meeting with constituents, and she wants them to have sufficient time to understand the proposed spending plan before she votes on it.
Taylor said any delay beyond the end of April could easily scuttle the city’s capital improvement plan, and would create an emergency situation for Waukegan to meet its most basic financial obligations.
“If you hold this over until June, you will be on emergency spending for your departments,” she said. “No road construction will get done this year because the contracts will already be let. You’ve had two weeks, more than that, to meet with people.”
Although Ald. Keith Turner, 6th Ward, said he has received numerous communications from constituents, and he seconded Bolton’s motion to move the budget vote until June, he eventually agreed to a shorter timeframe.
“We need to approve it by the end of April,” he said. “We could do that in a special session if need be. I suggest we hold it over for two weeks, or the last week in April. I can’t even keep track of the calls, texts and emails I’ve received from constituents.”
Turner said he wants to know what each individual will be paid for the coming fiscal year. He does not believe the budget contains enough detail for everyone to understand how money will be spent.
“This budget is fine, but it summarizes a lot,” Turner said. “It needs more detail for us to digest, and for the public to digest. That’s what’s called being transparent, and that’s what I’m driving for.”
After the budget was released on March 15, council members had the opportunity to meet with interim finance director Don Schultz to get their questions answered. They were also briefed on Thursday.
Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, said she saw no reason for a delay between the more than two weeks available to study the budget, and to ask questions of Schultz and other city officials.
“I really think it’s kind of absurd for us to think we’re going to micromanage the budget,” Florian said.
Ald. Thomas Hayes, 9th Ward, asked Bolton to name a specific expense or detail she found objectionable in the budget. She mentioned a “line item,” but did not say what it was. Hayes chastised his colleagues who sought delay.
“I think the motion to hold over the budget demonstrates an unbelievable and concerning lack of preparation,” Hayes said. “You have to be prepared and, if you’re not prepared, you’re not doing your job.”
Before the budget debate began, Taylor said the spending plan contained no increase in property taxes, no new debt and a “record” amount of capital improvements. She urged council members to approve it.
“I’m hoping we pass this budget as quickly as possible so we can get some of these contractors going on projects,” she said. “When your budget starts on May 1, some of your contractors are already booked.”
The proposed budget is the fourth consecutive spending plan with no property tax increase, and the first since the coronavirus pandemic not to rely on the $19.7 million it received in federal funds in 2021
With planned expenses of slightly more than $245 million against projected revenue — approximately half from property taxes — of close to $238.4 million, Schultz said the balance will come from $6.6 million of a $54.9 million cash reserve.
Representing an 11.9% increase over the current fiscal year, ending April 30, when the city spent approximately $218.7 million, there will be just under $26.3 million more spent, according to the budget.
Approximately half the city’s anticipated revenue of $234.8 million will come from projected real estate and other taxes of $119.3 million, of which $37.2 million are property taxes, according to the budget.
