Highland faces questions with current budget amid coronavirus pandemic

Highland faces a problem with this year’s budget: How to conduct public review and a public hearing when meetings aren’t allowed?

The Highland City Council voted on April 6 to approve a tentative budget for fiscal year 2020-21. Under ordinary circumstances, the budget would be posted on the website and offered for public review at City Hall. Then, a public hearing would be held to allow residents to comment before the council votes.

However, at the moment, city council meetings are taking place via conference call, with only the mayor, city manager and deputy city clerk present in the room. The public is permitted to listen on the conference call, but cannot be heard.

The budget is posted on the Highland city website. Deputy City Clerk Lana Hediger said if residents need to see the budget in person, they can call 618-654-9891 and make an appointment to come view it, as City Hall is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A public hearing has been set for 7 p.m. Monday, April 20, at the beginning of a regular city council meeting, which will probably be via conference call as well, as it is expected the statewide stay-at-home order will still be in place by then. Comments may be submitted via email to lhediger@highlandilgov or by using the citizens’ portal on the city website. The comments will be read into the record.

If anyone needs to make comments directly to the council at the hearing itself, they must call Hediger in advance of the meeting to make arrangements to do so.

The city budget includes a 6 percent increase from the previous year’s budget, which city manager Mark Latham attributed to “major investments in our utility infrastructure” in his memo attached to the tentative budget.

The proposed budget for FY 2021 anticipates $57.98 million in expected revenues and $59.35 million in expenditures, a deficit of $1.37 million. The budget goals listed include setting aside at least 3 percent of revenue for capital improvements and 2 percent for reserves — Latham indicated $1.18 million would be set aside to rebuild the cash reserves.

No projections are yet available for how the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic will affect Highland.

Among the priorities in this year’s budget:

• Public safety is working on its new facility and technology upgrades, including the redesign of the planned police and fire station and ongoing renovations of the existing fire station as well as new defibrillators, protective equipment and a new police vehicle, among other plans.
• Public Works is replacing aging water and sewer infrastructure and planning upgrades to the water treatment plant.
• A streetscape project is planned for parts of the downtown area. Sidewalks and sealcoating city streets are also on the agenda, as is replacing the Keeven water main along Illinois 143 and other maintenance.
• Parks and recreation is researching options to build a new swimming pool to replace Highland’s aging public pool. Among other projects planned are replacing the retaining walls at Silver Lake Park, completing the Daley Discovery playground, an updated plan for Silver Lake and its watershed, and painting the Korte Recreation Center’s west side.
• Community development is implementing a new software program and evaluating derelict buildings for demolition.

Other statistics from the budget include:

• Highland saw a 3.22 percent increase in property assessments in 2018, the year that impacts this year’s budget. A slight 2 percent increase is anticipated for next year, but over the past ten years, the average annual increase has been 0.07 percent.
• Property tax rates are $2.0575 per $100 of equalized assessed value for taxes collected in 2019, which is less than 2 cents higher than the 2003 rate of $2.0413.