Spring is here and I’m sure we all agree the mild winter weather this year was a refreshing change from years past. As we look back at 2011, the year continued to be a challenging one in many ways for the Village and I’m sure for you in your households and businesses. However, I’m confident the worst is behind us. The "ship has been turned and now we need a stiff wind in our sails," starting with job creation and replenishment to really get moving toward the long-awaited economic recovery.

We at the Village level of government are continually challenged to be able to provide the high quality services you have become accustomed to, at little or no cost to you. As I’ve said before, it’s really all about revenue – the amount of money brought into the Village to pay for services and the maintenance of infrastructure like streets, sewers and water. About 75% of all operating revenue for the Village, which is used in part to provide services, is funded by the sales tax revenue received from the State of Illinois based on retail sales (purchases) at the businesses in Norridge. What can be termed "essential" services, such as police protection, clean drinkable water, and the removal of waste through our sewer system, have been well maintained in the challenging economic times we have faced.

Under my administration, the Village Board of Trustees and I have aggressively pursued alternative new sources of revenue, in light of the decreases in traditional revenue sources we have seen recently. We have been successful in procuring several grants (Federal, State and County) totaling in excess of $7 million; this, in essence, is money saved or not spent from our General Fund, for providing services and/or infrastructure.

Costs for services to our residents / businesses are still at the lowest end of the range, compared to those costs in other nearby communities. Here are just a few examples:

Our water rates are at the very low end of the municipalities that obtain their potable water through the City of Chicago system, even though the amount which the City of Chicago charges us continues to rise.

Remember, too, that Norridge does not charge for residential garbage collection; almost all other communities in the area do so, with fees running anywhere from $6.00 to $20.00 per month, and some as high as $50.00 monthly. The cost for garbage service in our community is over $1 Million annually, and none of the cost for this "essential" service is passed on to any of our single-family residents.

The Village is one of only 5 municipalities in Illinois which operate an Emergency 911 Center, but does not charge their residents a tax on land lines for this service. $1.00 per month and more is charged by most communities.

Norridge does not levy a real estate tax for any services provided by the Village. A quick look at your tax bill will confirm this. The local municipality part (tax) of most real estate tax bills in other communities typically runs between 7% and 12% of the total tax bill for any given property; for 2010, the most recent levy year, the Village of Norridge’s municipal levy was only 3%.

The only tax levy from Norridge is for the Police Pension Fund, which is at the directive of the State and which almost all other towns have been levying for many years. The State of Illinois has given local Municipalities until 2015 to demonstrate that they are taking steps to ensure that, by 2040, safety pensions will be funded at 100%. (In the Village of Norridge, the safety pension is the Police Pension Fund.) Norridge has been one of the few municipalities in the state that did not levy for safety pensions. Payments were made from the Village’s General Fund. However, higher levels of obligation mandated by the State have made it necessary to levy a tax solely for the Police Pension Fund.