Emerald Ash Borer Takes Toll on Arlington Heights Budget

While Arlington Heights has been able to remain financially stable during the economic downturn, its new budget will increase due to costs associated with Emerald Ash Borer.

There have been some improvements in the village’s operating revenues that, coupled with the aggressive cuts it made three years ago, has helped Arlington Heights be financial stable today, Village Manager Bill Dixon said Wednesday at the village’s first budget workshop.

Arlington Heights has a budget of $145 million for fiscal year 2014, which begins May 1. The budget reflects a 1.4 percent increase over the previous year.

That increase is due to emerald Ash borer (EAB) and replacing a 1993 aerial tower fire truck. The village has been able to continue capital projects, but its biggest challenge lies in the year ahead as the costs associated with fighting EAB continue to rise, Dixon said.

Thirty-six percent of Arlington Heights’ parkway trees are Ash trees. The cost of replacing each of the 13,000 trees is $11.5 million, Dixon said. The plan is to issue bonds in 2014 to cover the majority of the cost, he said.

Arlington Heights will also have a big expenditure in the next few years as it sets a timeframe to build a new police station. In 2014, the village will start discussing its plan regarding the police department. The options are to reconstruct the building on-site, do a total rehab of the existing building or reconstruction off-site, Dixon said.

Whatever route taken, a new station would not be ready for occupancy until at least 2019.

Wednesday’s three hour meeting also covered budgets for human resources, legal department and finance departments as well as village manager and board of trustees.

Arlington Heights will hold additional workshops on March 11, 14 and 20 to go over every department’s budget. A public hearing is scheduled for April 1 and the board will vote on the budget that day.

Trustee Thomas Glasgow has sat through four budget workshops in his tenure and while “this is not the sexiest and not most fun, it’s one of the most important, hands down,” he said.

The budget is available online for everyone to see what the board sees, said Mayor Arlene Mulder, who is presiding over her last budget process. She has served on the board for more than 30 years and is not seeking reelection this spring.