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Download 2008 Adopted Budget (PDF)

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On Tuesday, December 4, 2007 the Village Board of Trustees adopted the Village’s 2008 Budget and the Village’s 2007 Tax Levy to support the 2008 Budget. The 2008 Budget, including its revenues, fees, expenditures, etc. becomes effective January 1, 2008.

The Adopted Village Budget is the culmination of five (5) months of effort on behalf of the Village Department Heads and Staff, myself and the Board of Trustees. Public input and comment on the Village Budget is also a vital component and included three (3) Committee of the Whole Budget Worksessions in October to review/revise the Village Manager’s Recommended Budget and the Board of Trustee’s public hearing on December 4th.

From the outset, the Village was facing a difficult budget year with no idea when the State would pass its biennial budget. The Budget maintains a 2% levy increase and the same State Aids as in the 2007 Budget. Working with this difficult scenario and the general budget direction provided by the Board of Trustees at its preliminary budget worksession on July 17th (BOT 07-31), the goal for the 2008 Budget is to continue to provide the Village’s high level of services.

I am pleased to say that the 2008 Budget meets this goal. The Budget presented achieves a 2.0% tax levy increase without utilizing fund balance to support operations. The 2008 Budget also maintains the Board’s goals of maintaining support for capital paving projects as well as maintaining the Village’s high quality of services to residents.

The 2008 Budget also reflects the addition of a Serviceman in the Department of Public Works and a part-time Court Clerk. The addition of a Serviceman in the Department of Public Works will improve the maintenance of Village streets and right-of-ways and allow the Village to add on-demand yard waste pickup. For a $40 fee, the Department of Public Works will pick up 2 ½ cubic yards of bagged or bundled yard waste; this is the equivalent of one light dump truck full of yard waste. The fee will cover the cost of one pickup. This service is provided on a first come, first serve basis. The Department of Public Works will schedule pickups as necessary for efficient operation.

The 2008 Budget also maintains the Village’s compliance with the State’s Expenditure Restraint Program (ERP) - limiting General Fund expenditure growth to 2.4% for 2008 - and reallocates prior year budget surpluses to offset unknown expenditures. The overall Budget of $12,602,218 increases by only 2.3% from last year, which is approximately the rate of inflation.

The Budget is based on a 4.0% increase in Assessed Value while increasing the tax levy by 2.0% from last year’s total. The combination allows the 2008 Budget Assessed Tax Rate to decrease by 13-cents (-2.0%) from roughly $6.52 to $6.39 per $1,000 of Assessed Value. Assuming an average Greendale home increases in assessed value from $220,000 to $229,000 in 2008, the Budget’s impact on the home will mean that their Village taxes will increase by $28.91 to $1,463.31 from $1,434.40 last year (2.0% increase).

To help offset pending storm water improvements to meet the State’s unfunded mandate to improve storm water quality, the 2008 Budget continues to expand the budgeted activities of the Stormwater Utility created in 2005. Current Public Works functions such as street sweeping and catch basin repair related to stormwater that had been charged to the General Fund are now being charged to the Stormwater Utility. To help fund the Stormwater Utility activities, the 2008 Budget calls for increasing the Village’s quarterly Stormwater Utility charge from $6.00/Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) per month ($72.00/year) to $6.50/ERU/month ($78.00/year). The result will increase the quarterly Stormwater Utility bill to residential homeowners from $18.00/quarter to $19.50/quarter.

The Budget also calls for passing through the inflationary increase in residential curbside recycling. The cost for residential recycling will increase from $21.96/year to $22.56/year – an increase of 60-cents.

Including the revisions in taxes and fees, the 2008 Budget projects the total cost for Village services to a $229,000 assessed home to be $1,563.87. This is a $35.51 (2.3%) increase on the same home that was assessed at$220,000 last year. The 2008 Budget represents a monthly cost of $130.32/month to cover all Village service costs (except Water and Sewer Utilities) including Police, Fire, garbage collection, curbside recycling, stormwater, snow plowing, street lighting, etc.

The following is a summary to highlight some of the significant revisions from the 2007 Adopted Budget included in the 2008 Budget document. The attached 2008 Budget document itself provides further information.

I would like to recognize and thank the Village Board of Trustees, the Village Department Heads and Staff for their continued recognition of the Village’s fiscal limitations and their dedication to the residents of Greendale.
I would also like to recognize my Assistant, Ms. Darlene Mueller for all of her assistance in compiling the Budget information and documents.

The Board of Trustees, Village Staff and I are dedicated to continue providing the highest quality of services to Village residents in the most efficient and equitable manner possible. If after reviewing the Budget document you have any questions, or any other questions, please feel free to contact me at (414) 423-2100.

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