Lake Forest financially prepared for 2016

  • 2015-07-12
At the June midmonth meeting of Lake Forest’s City Council, the city’s director of finances had the pleasure of presenting a balanced budget that was accompanied by fully funded reserves.

The budget put before the Council consisted of $45m in revenues and $43.8m in operating expenditures, which left a healthy surplus of $877,100. The surplus, although less than the $1m estimated at the midyear budget review, was nevertheless viewed favorably by the council, which adopted the budget.

The city’s largest expense in the budget was for police services, and the new contract for Lake Forest officers includes a 6.5% increase over last year. The new police contract is at least in part responsible for the less than anticipated surplus total. The new $14.2m police contact represents 35% of the city’s operating budget, while another 27% goes to the Forest Hills public work department.

Details in the 2016 budget reveal a 4% increase in revenue with only a 3% increase in expenditures over the 2015 budget. About a third of the budget’s revenues are derived from property and sales taxes, each of which have been raised. Close to $9m will go to capital improvement projects in fiscal 2016, including traffic mitigation and road work, as well as the new civic center.

City officials have numerous responsibilities, including keeping their constituents informed – a task for which Print companies are well equipped to handle.
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