O'Dekirk: Joliet's Finances Not All Gloom And Doom

JOLIET, IL —Last April 7, Joliet Patch published a headline proclaiming: "Joliet Will Go Broke In Several Months: Finance Director." At Monday's annual State of the City speech, Mayor Bob O'Dekirk said Joliet's financial forecast amid the global pandemic from 11 months ago was real. Fortunately, it did not prove to be true, he said.

"We dipped into the reserves about $4 million," O'Dekirk told Monday's crowd at the Holiday Inn & Suites near Interstate 80 and Houbolt Road. "People in Joliet need to know the city's healthy."

At a Joliet City Council meeting last April, city finance director Jim Ghedotte announced that if things continue on their current course, "we're going to lose anywhere from $8 million to $10 million a month."

Last March, Governor J.B. Pritzker announced the statewide shutdown for bars, indoor restaurants and casinos as the coronavirus spread into Illinois, causing a massive spike in hospitalizations and death across Illinois, including Joliet.

With Joliet's two casinos — Harrah's and Hollywood — shutdown in 2020 for many months throughout the pandemic, the city's gambling revenues were down about $10 million, mayor said. The decline in gambling revenue was the worst of the city's financial news, the mayor said.

In 2018, Joliet received $17.8 million in combined revenue from Harrah's and Hollywood Casino. In 2019, Joliet made $17.3 million from the casinos.

Last year, the city's casino gambling revenue dropped to $7.5 million, the mayor said.

On a brighter side, Joliet's sales tax revenue did not plummet as much as the city forecasted, the mayor said. In 2018, Joliet received $50.2 million in sales tax revenue. In 2019, that number was $49.6 million. Last year, despite the pandemic, Joliet still received $48 million in sales tax money, according to O'Dekirk.

Joliet's hotel and motel tax revenue also did not drop a huge amount.

In 2018, Joliet collected $2.7 million, in 2019, $2.8 million and last year, the amount was at $2.5 million.

O'Dekirk said he anticipated the city's hotel-motel and sales tax revenues would have been much lower than the final yearly totals showed.

Adding to his optimism, O'Dekirk said that Joliet's building and development permit revenues were at their highest levels during the past three-year period.

In 2018, Joliet collected $1.8 million in building permit fees. In 2019, it was $1.7 million. For 2020, the amount was $4.1 million.

"That was a great (revenue) generator," the mayor, referring to building permit fees.

Since he became Joliet's mayor in 2015, Joliet's property values remain on the rise, O'Dekirk said. Property values rose 5.4 percent across Joliet in 2020 and Joliet's property values have climbed 34.6 percent since 2015, he said.

"That's an outstanding number," O'Dekirk announced.

Last year, "wasn't all horrible news," he added.