Walsh proposes budget, lower tax rate
To ‘keep Will County moving forward’
Will County Executive Larry Walsh’s proposed $565 million budget for 2019 will “keep Will County moving forward,” he said during Thursday’s board meeting.
It proposed a $4.8 million increase in the corporate fund — which covers the day-to-day operations of the county — and a $4.3 million hike in the tax levy.
The total proposed tax levy of $125 million includes $1.8 million more from new property and $2.5 million more from the Consumer Price Index. The county’s tax rate will drop to 0.589 from 0.598, due to the increase in the county’s equalized assessed valuation, he said.
After Walsh’s presentation, Board Speaker Jim Moustis, RFrankfort Township, said there was a “lot of cooperation and collaboration” in creating the new budget, resulting in “a much better product.”
“There should be a lot less tweaking by the board,” he said.
“We will not have to fight you to lower the tax rate. You have already done that,” said Republican Majority Leader Chuck Maher, R-Naperville.
Walsh, D-Elwood, said he is “optimistic” that with the continued cooperation of board members and elected officials “2019 will represent a milestone for the future of Will County.”
The board will hold its first budget workshop Sept. 26 with budget director ReShawn Howard and will continue to discuss it in two finance committee meetings in October before adopting it in November.
Walsh’s budget numbers dedicate funding for overtime pay, debt obligations, and pension payments, as well as a five-year plan for road and capital projects and investments in new technology, without dipping into reserves.
It continues to fund the county’s Building Will plan — which includes the new 10-story courthouse now under construction, the new Health Department, which will break ground this fall, and new facilities for Animal Control and Emergency Management Agency, to begin next spring.
The Public Safety Complex on Laraway Road was completed in the current budget cycle.
According to Walsh, the county has averaged $20 million annually for road work, but Walsh is now proposing $32 million to “continue the great progress we have made on improving the county’s transportation infrastructure,” according to Walsh.
Next spring the state is expected to begin the major reconstruction of the Weber Road and I-55 interchange, of which the county’s share is $45 million.
Last year, the state reduced its revenues to the county by $2.4 million, by keeping 10 percent of the local government distributive fund — the county’s share of the state’s income tax — and charging
a 2 percent administrative fee for the RTA sales tax.
Walsh said the state's 2019 budget will ease up on those reductions and fees by keeping 5 percent of the local government distributive fund and cutting its administrative fee to 1.5 percent.
Other than those adjustments, overall revenues are flat, and the county continues to hold the line on expenses, Walsh said.
Other budget numbers include:
■ Corporate Fund expenditures of $201 million for the daily operations of the county, an increase of 2.4 percent from the prior year, and $364 million for special funds.
■ An increase in salaries and fringe benefits by $3.5 million, which make up 79 percent of the corporate expenditures. Salaries increased per union contracts while fringe benefits remained flat.
■ Key technology projects, including a new financial management system which began in August. A new case management system to support services in the new courthouse for the states attorney, public defender, and probation departments will be launched in the near future.