Brian Costin

On April 16th, the Daily Herald ran a story on Schaumburg’s budget deficit woes entitled “Reserves, cost cuts to get Schaumburg through year“.

Another bleak financial year is forecasted in Schaumburg’s proposed 2009/2010 budget, but one free of employee layoffs or any possibility of a municipal property tax being considered. Village officials are projecting a $4.4 million deficit for the fiscal year beginning May 1, and the ending current fiscal year will produce a $6 million deficit.

But that wasn’t the whole story. The Schaumburg Freedom Coalition attended the budget meeting and went over the proposed annual budget and found out the situation was much, much worse.

In response, I sent a letter to the editor of the Daily Herald. The letter was published Monday, May 11th and the link is below.

Village’s Spending Way Out Of Whack

Recently the Daily Herald reported that Schaumburg is anticipating a general fund deficit of $4.4 million, but this isn’t the whole story. Other funds, including the Special Revenue, Capital Projects, Enterprise and Internal Service funds are anticipated to have major losses. The overall budget deficit is estimated at over $15.7 million. While the economy is certainly rough, this deficit is mainly due to a massive growth in the size of government.

In the fiscal year ending April 30, 2005 the Village of Schaumburg spent $118.5 million. In five short years, expenditures have ballooned to $168.6 million, a 42 percent increase. These numbers do not include the village-owned Schaumburg Convention Center and Hotel which opened in 2006 and is budgeted separately. When included, the Village’s yearly expenditures have increased to $225 million per year, a nearly 90 percent increase since 2005.

To finance this expansion, the Village of Schaumburg has instituted a number of tax and fee increases since 2004. Tax increases include a doubling of the home rule sales tax and a 33 percent hike in the amusement, hotel, and telecommunications tax. In just the past year Schaumburg has raised the costs of 369 items on their tax and fee schedule and installed a very lucrative red light camera (with plans for nine more).

On April 7th, an overwhelming majority of Schaumburg voters (91 percent) strongly voiced an opinion to reduce taxes through a sales tax referendum. On April 14, the Village Board unanimously moved in the exact opposite direction and raised property taxes on local residents by a staggering $120 million, the largest increase in Village history. The purpose of this increase was to fund new projects including $94 million in corporate welfare to for-profit developers. The Village of Schaumburg has a major spending problem and taxpayers are footing the bill.

Brian Costin, President Schaumburg Freedom Coalition