VC: Special Meeting Monday: Levy Renewal?

Dear People: 7 pm on Monday Village Council will meet in a special session to receive preliminary information from our village manager, Mark Cundiff, about how we have spent the current levy monies, how they contribute to our overall budget, and what various renewal options would look like.

I'll give you a little initial context, and would welcome your thoughts:

• The last levy was passed in November of 2006 and was an 8.4 mill, 5-year levy; it commenced with 2006 taxes (collected in 2007) and will therefore end with 2010 taxes (to be collected in 2011).
• Although the levy was advocated in order to accomplish some specific tasks (Street surface replacements, Economic Development, etc.), it was an operating levy that went directly into the General Fund, not into special funds for specific projects.
  
• The current levy contributes 25% of our General Fund revenues--$747,000 each year. Without levy support, we would have to cut our budget, services.
  
• Mark suggests that, in order to avoid a gap, we should place this on the ballot in Nov. 2010; that means we'd need to have a "Resolution of Necessity" passed by next August. So he suggests we might want to make some initial decisions about renewal/new levy (how much and what type) by end of the year.

I would welcome any thoughts, and your presence at the meeting.