Finance committee recommends FY27 budget as revised and approves fee schedule including $50 water infrastructure charge

The Village Finance Committee met and voted to approve a revised fee schedule and to recommend the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget to the full board, after making several technical changes and clarifications to how water and other fees will appear on bills.

The committee’s revisions include separating a new $50 monthly water infrastructure charge from the water demand and usage lines; staff explained bills will show a $30 monthly demand charge plus usage billed at $10 per 1,000 gallons. Committee members also agreed to broaden the definitions used in the fee schedule so ball fields and organized group sports are covered consistently under field permits.

Why it matters: separating the infrastructure charge will let the village segregate those receipts on the general ledger so residents can see how that money is used. Staff said the water fund will also transfer $1,000,000 into a designated infrastructure reserve (DI) to cover an upcoming water-main/culvert project (the Hillrest project) and related engineering and permitting costs.

Resident Deborah Vernon used the public‑comment period to press the committee on transparency, saying she had received a budget spreadsheet but could not find draft documents at the meeting. "So the way I read it, if that draft is publicly cited because you're all looking at it, it should be a public document," Vernon said and said she intends to follow up with the Illinois Attorney General about access.

Committee discussion covered several other budget lines. Trustees reviewed capital requests including a desktop upgrade for the board room (estimated at about $3,000), continued participation in the Flock camera program (staff estimated the program’s net cost difference at roughly $8,500 if continued), a $5,000 allocation for park ADA path work, and a $100,000 placeholder in the five‑year capital plan for potential roof/siding/gutter work on village property. Fleet planning and equipment needs were discussed at length, including the buildout timeline for a new snow‑plow chassis, replacement of aging pickup and squad vehicles, and a proposal to purchase a tow‑behind crack sealer to extend road life (cited as particularly useful for Sleepy Hollow Road).

On personnel and benefits, the police chief presented updated full‑time salary projections that assume the department will operate at eight full‑time officers; trustees then discussed how a fuller complement would reduce reliance on overtime. Staff also outlined steps and timing to adopt IMRF (the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund), noting the earliest feasible implementation would be in September and that the change would require an actuarial study and IMRF board approval.

Votes at a glance: The committee voted to approve the fee schedule as revised (motion carried on roll call) and then voted to recommend the proposed FY27 budget, as revised during the meeting, to the full board (motion carried).