At a public hearing on the 1996 budget Thursday night, residents urged the Rolling Meadows City Council to restore the emergency family assistance program and the downtown Christmas decorations along Kirchoff Road.
The City Council directed the staff to find $18,000 to make possible $15,000 for emergency assistance and $3,000 for holiday decorations.
Residents brought in two sets of petitions with 167 signatures to put the family assistance program back into the budget.
The $27.8 million budget, a 1 percent increase over last year, will be funded with $27 million in projected revenues and the proceeds from a previously sold $1.7 million bond issue slated for the joint public works building.
Two aldermen supported reinstating the assistance program, a 40-year-old emergency welfare program headed by Rena Trevor.
The council amended the garbage collection ordinance to eliminate a second trash pickup per week during the summer, charge residents $1.75 more a month, or a total of $17.25 a month for trash collection compared with the current $15.50 a month.
Extra trash bags also will cost $15 a bundle, half the current amount. The council will vote on the entire budget at its Tuesday meeting.
