Photos by Denys Bucksten. Deerfield1 Deerfield Village Manager Kent Street and Mayor Harriet Rosenthal listen to staff discussion at a recent workshop on the proposed 2015 village budget.
Deerfield 2 Deerfield Village Manager Kent Street makes a point as Mayor Harriet Rosenthal and staff and village board members listen at a recent workshop on the proposed 2015 village budget.
Deerfield3 Senior/Disabled Taxi Tickets now cost qualified Deerfield residents $1 per one-way ride, with a limit of 50 rides a month.
Deerfield residents can weigh in at a public hearing Nov. 3 on a proposed $53.6 million 2015 budget plan that is predicated on a $10 million bond issue for long-deferred capital improvements and a 3 percent property tax increase.
The proposed budget is nearly 30 percent higher than fiscal year 2014’s $41.3 million, as it includes $12.3 million for streets, sidewalks, sewer and water and lighting. That spending would be in the first year of a three-year plan that would see a projected $18.7 million in capital projects in 2016 and $8.9 million the following year.
To help pay for the $12.3 million start, the village proposes a transfer of more than $2 million from the general levy fund to the infrastructure replacement fund. That would be added to the proposed $10 million from a bond issue that trustees can approve as a home-rule community.
The 7:30 p.m. public hearing will include discussion on levy implications of the bond issue and the property tax increase, Village Manager Kent Street said. Final approval of the budget could come at the Nov. 17 Village Board meeting and final approval of the tax levy at the Dec. 1 meeting, he said. The property tax increase is projected to add about $14 a year to the tax bill for a $500,000 home, officials have said and the bond issue would add another $100.
Other funding sources, identified in an Oct. 6 staff memo on capital projects, are federal grants, the Lake County Department of Transportation and shared road and bridge monies from Highland Park and Motor Fuel Taxes.
Projects in the three-year program include Deerfield Road, Brierhill Road, the Pfingsten/Kates Road and bridge, Woodvale Avenue, North Trail Subdivision, Briarwood Vista, Chestnut Street parkway, North Avenue and traffic signalization at Lake Cook Road and Pine Street.
At a recent budget workshop, officials discussed the subsidy for the popular voucher taxi program and are expected to continue it at the same benefit level, said Andrew Lichterman, assistant to the village manager. It provides help for qualified seniors and disabled residents.
“(Officials) seem to prefer a needs-based system,” he said. “They don’t mind the cost as long as there’s a demonstrated need.”
The program ferries mentally disabled or blind riders to work; gives seniors help in remaining active, while maintaining safety in the face of diminished driving skills; and keeps consumer dollars in Deerfield with affordable local transportation.
“We don’t want people to go to Highland Park to spend their money,” Mayor Harriet Rosenthal said. “We want them staying in Deerfield.”
So far in 2014, the village has subsidized a little more than 6,000 taxi rides — an average of two miles per trip — at a cost of $30,340. By year’s end, projections show a total spending of $40,455 for 8,091 trips. That compares with 5,765 rides in fiscal 2010 at a cost of $28,825.
Each one-way ticket costs riders $1 within the village and cuts $5 off fares outside the village. Residents can purchase up to 50 trips monthly. Staff suggested a possible cut of that number to 15.
Officials said some program abuse is unavoidable — such as a person taking a subsidized taxi ride to the airport for a Florida vacation — versus riders going to doctors’ appointments and shopping for groceries.
A wide-ranging discussion on IT needs and security was led by Matthew Weiss, computer systems coordinator. More technology is needed in more departments, he said, to make more efficient use of resources.
Some budget items are a virtual wash. One Public Works employee is retiring the first week of January after 30 years but the village wants to hire an engineering technician early next year at a similar pay grade.
