Welcome to the world of Finance

The Finance Department handles all of the financial related matters for the Village.  Among the major duties tasked to the Department are to:

• Prescribe the accounting system.
• Receive and collect all moneys belonging to the Village.
• Require certain accountability from Village departments, offices, officers or employees.
• Keeps the books of account relating to indebtedness.
• Keep account of all moneys due to the Village.
• Keep disbursement records of officers and employees (payroll).
• Maintain assessment records.
• Provide for an annual fiscal audit.
• Submit a monthly financial status report to the Village Administrator and Board of Trustees.
• Provide estimate information for purposes of compiling budgets.
• Perform other duties as required.

To manage these duties, the Department maintains a total staff of six, comprised of:

Finance Director
Assistant Finance Director
2 Accountants
2 Accounting Technicians

Below are some facts and figures relative to Finance Department operations for last year.

• Process bi-weekly payroll for approximately 300 employees (the amount fluctuates in summer season).
• Issued nearly 5,400 disbursement checks for payment of goods and services.
• Generated hundreds of invoices to customers for items such as sewer rodding services, false alarm fees, compliance tickets, other.
• Manages a general investment portfolio of over $18 million. 
• Serves as Treasurer to Police Pension Board of Trustees.  Plan assets valued at more than $20 million.
• Emergency management role:
  • Recordkeeping/claim reimbursement documentation (post-event).

At the very heart of Village finances is its budget, or annual spending plan.  If it were to be broken out on a daily basis, it would reveal that the Village needs about $52,590 to operate its General Fund. Of course, the Village’s spending needs are not even.  Payrolls are bi-weekly, most debt payments are semi-annually, some operating expenses are monthly, and still others may only be once a year.  Big ticket items like capital purchases for vehicles or equipment can occur all throughout the fiscal year, which runs from May 1 to April 30.  Special events sometimes also affect the timing of expenditures. 

Regardless of when an expenditure is made, there must first be available resources for the payment.  The Village’s General Fund (it’s primary fund) budget for 2009 is $18,932,392.  Making up the major element of revenue are Taxes (income, sales, use, property and other), which are 83% of the total.  The remainder comes from other sources (user fees, permits, fines/forfeitures, and other incomes).

Thirty-nine percent of the General Fund budget for 2009 is appropriated to Public Safety (Police).  Taking the next largest piece of general fund resources is Parks and Facilities at 12%, followed by Public Services at 11%, and then General Government activities, such as Community Development, Finance, Administration, and Executive Administration.

The total Village budget for fiscal year 2009 is just over $57 million, which includes all funds.

Village fiscal operations are independently audited every year.  An audit is required by local regulation, State law, and debt issuance compliance.  The audit process generally begins 60-90 days after the end of the fiscal year, and takes several months to complete.  Auditors issue a Comprehensive report of fiscal operations. Local governmental officials may then use this information to supplement other methods of monitoring financial condition, such as for cash flow analysis and forecasting of revenues and expenditures. 

The Village was recently notified that its 2007 Comprehensive Annual Financial report qualified for a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA).  This Certificate is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 16,000 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago, IL, and Washington, D.C.

2007 marks the 25th consecutive year the Village has received this award.

On December 6, 2007, the Village successfully issued $5,475,000 in General Obligation Bonds, Series 2007. Proceeds from the bonds will be dedicated for these capital projects:

• Reskin Park Phase I and II improvements
• Senior Center feasibility study and construction
• Parking Lot and lighting improvements at the Civic Center campus
• Police Department Pistol Range
• Schmale Road Fencing Historic House improvements

Additionally, approximately $465,000 of bond proceeds will be used to currently refund certain maturities of the Series 2001, General Obligation Refunding Bond. Refunding this portion of the existing outstanding debt does not result in extending the remaining life beyond its original payoff year of 2013.

The Series 2007 Bonds would be repaid from the tax levy over the next 15 years, with interest only payments being made in the first three years, and Principal and Interest payments due thereafter June 15 and December 15.

An Aa3 rating has been affirmed from Moody’s Investors Service, applicable to this bond issue and all currently outstanding bonded Village debt. The Village’s Aa3 rating reflects a steadily growing tax base that benefits from home-rule authority, strong financial operations with sizeable reserve levels, and an affordable level of rapidly retired debt.

Click here to review or download the full opinion from Moody’s (pdf).

Senior Citizen Utility Tax Rebates

The Village offers a program to rebate qualifying Senior Citizens money towards Municipal Utility Taxes. An eligible applicant:

• must be age 62, or if married, one spouse must be 62,
• must be the same person who pays for the utilities, or to whom the utilities are
  billed,
• must have an adjusted gross income in 2009 of not more than $40,000
  

Applications are accepted between January 1 and April 30, 2010. Click here to download an application (pdf). Proof of residency, age, income, and payment of utilities is required.

Qualifying applicants will receive a $100 rebate. To request further information regarding the program, please call the Finance Department’s Senior Citizen Utility Tax Rebate Information line at 1.630.251.9065, and leave a message. All messages left at that number will be returned the next business day.