Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Not unanimously but without much discussion, the Springfield city council Tuesday passed a budget carrying a $201 million corporate fund. The vote was 7-3, with Aldermen Shawn Gregory, Roy Williams, and Larry Rockford opposed.
Mayor Misty Buscher reminded reporters after the meeting the budget presumes the city will not directly replace the revenue lost from the state’s elimination of a grocery tax whose proceeds benefited cities.
In Springfield’s case, the tax meant about $5 million a year, and Ald. Erin Conley noted many Illinois cities – if not most – are implementing their own grocery taxes to compensate. The city will have a new source of revenue: Scheels Sports Park. Just how much money the new facility will generate is unknown.
“The city is no different than any other government entity,” said the mayor. “Expenses keep going up, and revenues don’t keep the same pace as our expenses. We always have to watch our spending. We lag on our hiring. When a position comes open, we let it sit, because that’s salaries we are not paying, and we can build it up in the corporate fund budget.”
The fiscal year begins March 1.
