West Dundee approves amended budget in wake of sales tax drop

The West Dundee village board has passed an amended budget for 2012-2013 in response to the closure of Best Buy and the impending drop in sales tax revenue.

Best Buy was the town’s biggest sales tax revenue generator. The projected savings are around $216,000, Village Manager Joe Cavallaro said.

Of that, $108,000 was saved by cutting the hours for part-time firefighters at Station 2; more than $50,000 will be saved when health care plans for village employees switch from Blue Cross Blue Shield to United Health Care; $30,000 will come from reduced hours for 12 part-time employees. The remaining savings will come from eliminating a village board meeting each month and reducing the employment of one community service officer.

These adjustments will go into effect in July.

The Best Buy property is on the market. Officials are talking to property owners and brokers for all the vacant business properties in the village, including that one, Community Development Director Cathleen Tymoszenko said.