Welcome to the world of Finance

The Finance Department handles all of the financial related matters for the Village. Among the major duties tasked to the Department are to:

• Prescribe the accounting system.
• Receive and collect all moneys belonging to the Village.
• Require certain accountability from Village departments, offices, officers or employees.
• Keeps the books of account relating to indebtedness.
• Keep account of all moneys due to the Village.
• Keep disbursement records of officers and employees (payroll).
• Maintain assessment records.
• Provide for an annual fiscal audit.
• Submit a monthly financial status report to the Village Administrator and Board of Trustees.
• Provide estimate information for purposes of compiling budgets.
• Perform other duties as required.

To manage these duties, the Department maintains a total staff of six, comprised of:

Finance Director
Assistant Finance Director
2 Accountants
2 Accounting Technicians

Below are some facts and figures relative to Finance Department operations:

• Process bi-weekly payroll for approximately 310 employees (the amount fluctuates in summer season).
• Issued nearly 5,400 disbursement checks for payment of goods and services.
• Generated hundreds of invoices to customers for items such as sewer rodding services, false alarm fees, compliance tickets, other.
• Manages a general investment portfolio of over $18 million. 
• Serves as Treasurer to Police Pension Board of Trustees.  Plan assets valued at more than $20 million.
• Emergency management role:
  • Recordkeeping/claim reimbursement documentation (post-event).

At the very heart of Village finances is its budget, or annual spending plan. If it were to be broken out on a daily basis, it would reveal that the Village needs about $51,000 to operate its General Fund. Of course, the Village’s spending needs are not even. Payrolls are bi-weekly, most debt payments are semi-annually, some operating expenses are monthly, and still others may only be once a year. Big ticket items like capital purchases for vehicles or equipment can occur all throughout the fiscal year, which runs from May 1 to April 30.  Special events sometimes also affect the timing of expenditures. 

Regardless of when an expenditure is made, there must first be available resources for the payment. The Village’s General Fund (it’s primary fund) budget for 2011 is $18,030,504. Making up the major element of revenue are Taxes (income, sales, use, property and other), which are 81% of the total. The remainder comes from other sources (user fees, permits, fines/forfeitures, and other incomes).

Thirty-eight percent of the General Fund budget for 2011 is appropriated to Public Safety (Police). Taking the next largest piece of general fund resources is Parks and Facilities at 11%, followed by Public Services at 10%, and then General Government activities, such as Community Development, Finance, Administration, and Executive Administration.

The total Village budget for fiscal year 2011 is just over $64 million, which includes all funds.

Village fiscal operations are independently audited every year. An audit is required by local regulation, State law, and debt issuance compliance. The audit process generally begins 60-90 days after the end of the fiscal year, and takes several months to complete. Auditors issue a Comprehensive report of fiscal operations. Local governmental officials may then use this information to supplement other methods of monitoring financial condition, such as for cash flow analysis and forecasting of revenues and expenditures. 

The Village was recently notified that its 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial report qualified for a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). This Certificate is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 16,500 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago, IL, and Washington, D.C.

2009 marks the 27th consecutive year the Village has received this award.

Since 2007, the Village has been very active in the Municipal Bond market, having issued over $49 million in General Obligation and Taxable Corporate (Build America) Bonds in the last 3 years. With interest rates at historic lows, Federal Stimulus assistance, and an extremely favorable construction bidding environment, the Village, took full advantage of these factors to proceed with long awaited and much needed capital and infrastructure projects including:

• Improvements to Reskin Park
• Reconstruction of the Civic Center Parking Lot
• Construction of a new Senior Citizens Center
• Construction of a new Police Facility
• Nearly $10 million in Road Improvements
• Water, Sewer and Wastewater Treatment Facility Improvements
• Renovations at the Sports Hub Facility
• Renovation and Expansion at the Aquatic Park
• Improvements in the Kitchen and Patio area at Glendale Lakes Golf Club

An Aa3 rating has been affirmed from Moody’s Investors Service, applicable to all currently outstanding bonded Village debt. The Village’s Aa3 rating reflects strong financial operations with sizeable reserve levels, and revenue raising flexibility.

Click here to review or download the full opinion from Moody’s (pdf).

Senior Citizen Utility Tax Rebates

Important changes have been made to the Village's Senior Citizen Utility Tax Rebate program. This program rebates qualifying* seniors towards Municipal utility taxes paid in 2010. The qualifying age is now 65 and the maximum rebate amount is $75. Gross household income for 2010 cannot exceed $40,000. An applicant can be either a homeowner or renter, and must be the same person whom utilities are billed to. Municipal utilities are typically charged on electric, natural gas, and telephone (land line and/or cellular). Rebate applications will be accepted and processed beginning January 1 and continues through April 30, 2011 at the Glendale Heights Center for Senior Citizens, 260 Civic Center Plaza or at Village Hall.

Need to know more? Please call 630.260.6050 for program details.

*Proof of age, income, residency and payment of utilities is required.