Orland Park to State: Stop Cutting Local Income Tax Share

In the midst of election din, disagreements between candidates took a backseat Monday night as Orland Park trustees learned they may have less state money to work with next year.

Springfield has only begun its budget talks for fiscal year 2011-12, but already rumors are fluttering north that greater cuts in local funding will be needed to help pull the state out of the red.

The Illinois Senate Republican Caucus suggests cutting $300 million, or a five percent, from the local share of state-collected income tax. If so, Orland Park could lose about $1.25 million, all of which “provide fundamental services that promote the health and safety of the public, pave roads, (and) clean streets,” according to the Illinois Municipal League (IML), whose been mobilizing resistance.

In a more extreme case, a report by the Illinois Policy Institute advocates slashing all state-collected local government income tax revenue. All $1.11 billion of it.

“This money belongs to municipalities and counties and is simply collected by the state,” Joe McCoy and Jonas Harger of IML wrote. Still, the state’s revenue-sharing formula, which determines the Local Government Distributive Fund, has steadily decreased over the last several years.

“Local services are those that are the most impactful of our residents,” Village Manager Paul Grimes told trustees. “Those are the ones our residents see and feel every day.

“We are already sharing in the downturn of the revenues…” Grimes added. “The notion that somehow we haven’t borne any share of this is fallacious. It’s wrong.”

In fact, local municipalities will not be privileged to any of Governor Pat Quinn’s state income tax hike, which took affect Jan. 1.

Several Orland Park officials concluded the night's meeting with a call to pens and emails from their fellow residents.

Taking the lead in a letter addressed to State Sen. Christine Radogno—given to his fellow trustees Monday and copied for the entire General Assembly to read—Mayor Dan McLaughlin stressed the point. He noted that the local share of state income tax has already fallen 14 percent on a per capita basis since 2008 and highlighted Orland Park as a model of responsible government.

“We instituted furlough days, layoffs, and hiring freezes to make our budget work,” McLaughlin wrote. “Can we say the same of the State?”

He concluded less rhetorically with a request to quit “kicking the can down to the local governments.”

Trustee James Dodge suggested putting the letter on the village website. If the state moves forward, he said, “we then have to take aggressive actions on our budget…and the residents are going to look at the Village of Orland Park, not necessarily the source.”

The state’s fiscal year begins July 1.

Carfax Reports

Police will now use Carfax to provide insurance companies and individuals with digital traffic crash reports.

Police estimate they respond to about 3,500 crashes every year—the reports of which are almost always requested by insurance companies and individuals. Physical copies are mailed for $5.

For an additional $6 Carfax can now e-mail or fax a digital copy. “You pay for the convenience” of not having to leave your home or office, Grimes said.

Physical copies can still be retrieved from the police department. “It’s just an added service,” the village manager explained.

In return Carfax offers Orland Park police investigators a database of traffic crashes to search through.