8 | May 4, 2017 | The Northbrook tower news northbrooktower.com Northbrook Village Board Rauner’s ‘grand bargain’ considered in 2017-2018 budget State bills could affect Village funding Sarah Haider Assistant Editor The uncertainty surrounding state finances continues to be a concern for the Village of Northbrook. The Village’s fiscal year 2017-18 budget, reviewed by the board during a public hearing on Tuesday, April 25, has reserves built in to mitigate possible losses if the state cuts its funding to local governments. The proposed budget is balanced with $100.1 million in both budgeted expenditures and revenues. A surplus reserve in the General Corporate Fund, which pays for the Village’s general operating expenses, allows for flexibility in the case that two proposed bills — a decrease in the local government distributive fund and an increase in government property taxes — are passed by the State of Illinois. If adopted, one bill would cause a 50 percent decrease in the distributive fund, which would amount to $1.7 million lost in funding for the Village of Northbrook. The governor has also proposed a 1.2 percent increase in personal income tax as a part of the “grand bargain” on the state budget. This action would put a permanent freeze on local property taxes, capping the amount any local government body could receive through the taxes and reducing the total funds available for the Village. More than $43.7 million in revenues have been dedicated to the General Corporate Fund, with approximately $44.2 million in expenditures. That still leaves a projected $21.5 million unrestricted fund balance, which is $3.99 million above the Village’s Lucky Fish to likely feature on-street valet parking Sarah Haider Assistant Editor The Village Board approved a proposal for on-street valet parking at Lucky Fish, 1349 Shermer Road. The proposal will now go through police, public works and traffic consultants to ensure traffic safety. If the secondary parties approve and the restaurant owners comply with the request, a six-month trial will be allowed for valet yearly goal of having a reserve at least 40 percent of the fund’s projected revenue. The Village will use this reserve to address any financial changes the state may pass in the coming year. “We would like to maintain the continued flexibility of the Village Board to act as it needs to and to parking before a more permanent code is adopted. If the request is finalized, the restaurant will be able to use two existing city parking spots in front of Edward’s Florist at 1353 Shermer Road. It is currently predicted to hold approximately 150 patrons with indoor and outdoor seating, Trustees proposed a six-month trial for the valet program that would take cars from the two parking spots near the provide services for us,” Trustee Michael Scolaro said. As approved by the board at a special meeting on March 21, $500,000 of the property tax increase will be abated for fire and police pensions. Projected property tax revenues increased from $14 million in 2016-17 to $16 million entrance of the restaurant and move them to the Metra parking lot during dinnertime. Although all trustees were in support of the proposal, Kathryn Ciesla addressed possible conflicts with the plan, including concerns about cars backing up in the two-spot queue near the Metra tracks and possible traffic hazards in inclement weather. Ciesla said the request by the new restaurant for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget also accounts for expenses outlined in the Village’s Capital Improvement Plan. The plan projects $8 million in infrastructure capital improvement, including $7.6 million for street maintenance; $5.5 million in the Water Fund, including $2 presents an opportunity for the Village to draft a standardized plan for similar requests that may lease property from the Village. “I think we need to get this done, but if we have other areas of our village where we are allowing people to use our facility and we are leasing that, I think we should remain consistent,” Ciesla said. “That being said, I think we need to make it work.” million for water main replacements; $700,000 for the Sanitary Sewer Water Fund; and $3 million for stormwater mitigation. “This budget is terrific,” Scolaro said. “I am proud of it and we should adopt it.” To view the proposed budget, visit www.northbrook.il.us. Glenbrook D225 Board of Education GBS, GBN migrate from quarter to semester grading system Lauren Kiggins Freelance Reporter Starting this fall, Glenbrook South and North students will be graded by semester, bucking the quarterly structure historically implemented by District 225. The Board of Education unanimously supported the plan to restructure the district’s grading system during its Monday, April 24 meeting. The action results from the board’s yearlong effort to analyze district protocols and promote student wellness. Through a series of teacher and student surveys, D225 administration identified an unnecessary source of stress via the quarter grading system. Historically, the quarter design stunted course syllabus flexibility and overall class structure due to the mandated 40/40/20 grading outline ROUND IT UP A brief recap of D225 board action on April 24 • Board members re-elected Skip Shein as board president for a one-year term. • Veteran board member Bruce Doughty was elected as board vice-president for a one-year term. Doughty replaces Robert Boron, who will resume a board member role. • Rosanne Williamson will remain board secretary for a one-year term. (40 percent first-quarter grade/40 percent secondquarter grade/20 percent semester final). Dr. Rosanne Williamson, assistant superintendent for education services, and Ryan Bretag, director of instructional innovation, explained that the cyclical design — which required testing and project deadlines strictly around the nine-week mark — burdened teachers and students alike. They expect the new 80/20 construction (80 percent semester grade/20 percent semester final) to mitigate overlapping classwork deadlines for students. “There will be professional conversations occurring in departments about this because we don’t want to remove one stress for another or trade one stress for another,” Williamson said. “So it’s something we should be mindful of and pay attention to, but I think almost to the person, the teachers that we heard from thought that they could stagger work so things are not hitting all at once.” Nevertheless, students will still have increased workloads toward the tail Please see d225, 10
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