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Village Board members Monday are expected to approve the municipal budget for the 2016 fiscal year. Prior to its budget vote, the board will conduct a public hearing in which residents and other interested parties can weigh in on village spending for the upcoming year.

The village board meeting and public hearing begin at 7:30 p.m. at Flossmoor Village Hall, 2800 Flossmoor Road.

This year’s village budget totals $23.65 million in expenditures and $19.2 million in revenues. The budget includes the general fund, which accounts for the majority of costs associated with village services, but also spending for water and sewer operations, capital equipment, an ongoing water main replacement project, police pensions, debt services, the Flossmoor Public Library and other assorted expenses.

The general fund for FY2016 shows revenues of $9.112 million and expenditures of $9.938 million for an overall deficit of $825,705.

 In a memo to the board, Village Manager Bridget Wachtel said the village deficit can be attributed to several reasons, including planned capital projects, carry-over funds for projects not completed in the current fiscal year and additional funding requests.

Plans are in place to cover the general fund deficit by using village reserves, Wachtel said. Flossmoor has a total of $6.2 million in general fund reserves. Wachtel previously said the village’s five-year spending plan anticipated the current deficit, and the use of the reserve funds to balance the general fund budget.

General fund revenues will be used this year for several capital projects, Wachtel said, including the Brookwood Bridge and Butterfield Road culvert reconstruction, the Phase IV sanitary sewer rehabilitation project engineering and loan application, reconstruction of the Woods lift station and engineering associated with the Dartmouth Bridge reconstruction.

Overall, Flossmoor’s fiscal health is good, Wachtel said. Flossmoor operates with little debt, she said, and its financial risks are minimal.

“In an environment in which many private businesses and public agencies are cutting services, we are proud to report that we continue to sustain all current service levels, which has been a main objective of the village board,” Wachtel said.

On Monday, the village board is also expected to vote on proposed increases in water and sewer rates. If approved, the water rates would go up 9.1 percent for the new fiscal year and would raise the average Flossmoor homeowner’s water bill by $28.62 per quarter, or about $10 a month. The new water rate would climb from $9.07 to $10.08 per thousand gallons, and the sewer rate would go from $2.57 to $2.62 for that amount.

The board is also likely to vote on a resolution calling on Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and the General Assembly to protect Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) revenues at their current level. Rauner has asked state lawmakers to cut LGDF revenues by 50 percent in the state fiscal year, which begins July 1. LGDF monies are generated by the state income tax and have been shared with municipalities for decades. If LGDF revenues are cut by 50 percent, Flossmoor would lose about $470,000 in the coming fiscal year.

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