The River Forest Village Board dealt with several financial formalities at its meeting Monday night, and mixed it up a bit on several other issues. Trustees voted to accept the fiscal year 2003-04 Financial Statements and the Auditor’s Report, approved mid-year budget adjustments, and approved a 2004 tax levy for just more than $5 million.
That levy figure includes $133,100 in debt service and $787,525 for the River Forest Library.
In other matters, the board:
? Tabled discussion on an increase in ambulance fees. The current fee structure has been in place since 1998. In that intervening period, the village has experienced an increase in the percentage of non-resident use of the service, rising from 49 percent to 56 percent currently.
“Your residents right now are subsidizing those non-residents,” Fire Chief Jim Eggert told the board.
Disagreement arose, though, over just how much added revenue the village could expect to collect by raising service rates. Trustee Al Swanson advocated raising rates, saying that the village would have no idea how much insurance carriers would be willing to reimburse the village. Village President Frank Paris, however, said that he was uncomfortable burdening those least able to pay for such services?#34;the poor and uninsured?#34;with any increases. In any event, he said, the village didn’t, as a matter of policy, pursue collections from those who couldn’t pay. And most insurers, as well as Medicare, he said had set amounts that they would pay for specific services.
After more than 20 minutes of debate, village administrator Charles Biondo recommended that staff confer with the village’s insurance broker to help determine what they might realistically charge, and the board agreed to defer discussion on the matter to a future date.
? Appointed nine more individuals to the 125th Anniversary Celebration Committee, bringing the total to 19.
Asked by Trustee Swanson, “When does this end?” Paris said that he still had “three or four more” people to add, who, he said, reflected the diversity of values and interests in the village.
? After some debate, decided to drop a proposed $4,320 program to assist some 180 non-compliant households in purchasing standard 33-gallon garbage cans.
? Rejected an offer from a cellular tower management company to purchase the cellular tower leases on two village-owned locations for a total of $305,000.