East Peoria council launches budget discussions

Feb. 12--EAST PEORIA -- Increased health care costs for city employees and the continued decline in gambling revenues coming out of the riverboat casino have helped put the next East Peoria operating budget $1.1 million behind the current year's budget.

Just don't call it a deficit.

"It's tight," finance director Jeff Becker said Tuesday at the end of a 3-hour presentation by city department heads of the 2020-2021 operating budget. "But there will still be money for some necessary capital expenditures.

From the operator of EastPort Marina to the head of EastSide Centre and Tourism, the city council heard the first draft of the new budget from city officials. The directors described individual departmental budgets that varied little from the current year's.

The discussion veered off of the current budget proposal on a couple of notable occasions -- with Mayor John Kahl raising the possibility of ending the city's $3,000 annual investment in the spring-to-fall Levee District farmer's market and future consideration of ending the city's garbage and recycling operating in favor of a private contractor. recycling pickup business.

Gaming revenues continued a 10-year slide, down a projected $300,000 from $4.3 million this year. The riverboat casino generated $9 million in gaming revenues 10 years ago. The amount is split with the city of Peoria each year. There is a $500,000 increase in the cost of health insurance and a $215,000 increase in the cost of worker's compensation.

The city was able to make minor cuts in line items of and down the budget and saved about $60,000 a year by making Kahl a full-time mayor at half the $120,000 salary of a city administrator the council agreed not to hire.

"I like what we did with our decision not to hire another city administrator," Commissioner Dan Decker said. "Instead we now have a full-time mayor who is directly accountable to the taxpayers and I think that is doing well."

"(The mayor's salary) is money well spent," said Commissioner Mark Hill.

The council will address the city's capital needs budget in two weeks at a special meeting on Feb. 25. The public hearing and first reading of the final proposal will be at the March 17 regular meeting of the city council with the second, and final, reading, expected on April 7.

"This was the first go-round on the operating side of the budget and sets up a meeting two weeks from now on the capital budget," Kahl said. "I believe the department heads all worked diligently to be as lean as they possibly can be."

Scott Hilyard can be reached at 686-3244 or by email at shilyard@pjstar.com. Follow @scotthilyard on Twitter.

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