I am starting a series of quarterly reports in an effort to update our customers on the City’s financial condition. Over the last several years, the City Council and staff have worked diligently to lower the cost of doing business and minimize tax and fee increases to our residents and business owners. Through frugal spending and long-range financial planning, the City has been able to operate in the black, while most of our municipal neighbors are struggling. The City contracted many traditional operations that were more cost effective and efficient when provided by the private sector, and resisted the temptation to add or replace existing vacant positions, including most middle management positions and clerical assistance for our Mayor and several senior managers, when it recognized that the economy was headed toward a downswing. We have maintained our commitment for striving to be one of the leanest municipal corporations in the Chicagoland area.

That said, the City Council fulfilled three promises to its constituency when it adopted the 2010 Budget, a spending plan that showed a 7.15 percent decrease in the General Fund. First, the City levied the exact same amount in property taxes that it did in 2009, rather than increase the levy to cover the increased costs of the goods and services it purchases. Please remember that the City only receives 5.7 cents of every property tax dollar you pay.

Second, water and sewer rates will remain the same as they were in 2009. The City is in the process of refinancing the bonds sold to finance the construction of the Water Treatment Plant, the savings of which will result in a stabilization of the water rates in the coming years.

Finally, the budget presented by the City Administrator, reviewed by the Finance Committee and the City Treasurer, and ultimately approved by the City Council maintains existing service levels. Should this economic slide continue, this position may need to be re-addressed, but until that time, you should see no decrease in the types and levels of quality services you have grown to expect.

The Finance Committee and City Council will continue to scrutinize the organization’s expenditures and monitor how they compare to the incoming revenue, and do what it can to minimize the financial burden to you during the challenging economic time within which we are all trying to operate.