Glenwood village trustees approved several contracts Tuesday to advance the $1.8 million fire station rehabilitation project.
The contracts cover a range of improvements such as concrete driveways, epoxy floor coating, stairways, railings, an elevator, insulation, a vehicle exhaust system and gear shelving, totaling $339,900.
Fire Chief Kevin Welsh said of this year’s budget, $1.2 million has already been spent, leaving $667,000 for other repairs and improvements. The project is being funded through tax increment financing districts.
“I am confident that we will not go over that number,” Welsh said. “I think that there should be comfort in the fact that none of these funds are general fund account numbers. This money is all being utilized out of TIF.”
When the rehabilitation project was first approved by the board, Welsh said the budget would not exceed $1.4 million, according to the minutes from a village meeting May 16, 2023.
Given the increase in the project’s budget and uncertainty over village finances, some residents expressed concerns Tuesday about how TIF funds are being spent on the firehouse.
Hart, who recently resigned as treasurer, raised concerns about the project’s affect on village spending at a village meeting May 16, 2023. According to meeting minutes, she said expenditures for the project could reach $2.2 million in June 2023. Hart also requested that Welsh confirm the availability of the funding and ensure residents are informed about the project.
Municipalities use TIFs to generate development, such as in commercial areas where vacant storefronts have multiplied, or on parcels of vacant land.
Property tax revenues for all government bodies in the district are frozen at current levels, and communities use any increase in property tax revenue, the increment, to pay for public improvements.
Hart also raised concerns about the current budget, noting that despite village revenues totaling $13 million — including American Rescue Plan Act funding and $1.2 million from U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly’s office — the budget is already in deficit. Hart reported that after reviewing the TIF and budget, the Fire Department faced a $33,000 shortfall, according to the May 16 meeting minutes.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Welsh said the village can use two TIF funds to cover the remaining costs of the project.
“It is completely a TIF eligible expense, because if you’ll remember how we did that project, we did not tear down the fire station to build a brand new one. We are rehabilitating the station that’s there,” Welsh said.
Hart, who attended the village meeting over Zoom, told trustees the original budgeted amount of $1.4 million will deplete the Ulster Street North TIF. For the rest of the funds, the village can pull from the connecting TIF, she said.
Trustee Felicia Brown questioned why the village should deplete a TIF for one project.
Welsh explained more funds will be added back to the TIF as businesses continue to pay their taxes. He said there was plenty of money to finish the station without funds coming from the village’s general fund.
The fire station, located at Arquilla and Roberts, faced operational challenges due to its “one tiny bathroom, sleeping quarters adjacent to the truck parking bays, inadequate ventilation, lack of handicap accommodations, and asbestos,” according to a notice on the village website.
Work on the project began in October 2023 and was expected to be completed within six to eight months, with the fire station anticipated to be operational by summer 2024, the notice states.
Trustee Dion Lynch moved to postpone discussions on the reallocation of TIF funds for the project.
Melinda Plott, who resigned from the village’s Finance Committee earlier this year, expressed concern about the village’s financial state and the lack of a budget.
“We’re into the second quarter of the year, of this fiscal year, and we don’t have a budget,” Plott said.
Lynch said a budget will be available by the second meeting in September.
“We really need to get our house in order,” Plott said. “This is where we all live, we pay taxes.”
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