Palatine mayor touts fiscal success in State of the Village address

Palatine is spending its residents’ tax dollars wisely and well, Mayor Jim Schwantz and Village Manager Reid Ottesen said Wednesday during the annual State of the Village event.

“Police, fire, water, sewer and roads. That’s what the village does,” Schwantz told his audience at the Palatine Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event. “If the private sector ever figured out how to do that better than we can and cheaper than we can, we’d be out of business.”

Ottesen said this is the last year the village will be levying a property tax to pay off debt. The village essentially will be debt free by the end of the year --- there are a handful of bonds that can’t be paid off until 2028.

In the summer of 2010, the village had $120 million in outstanding debt.

“This is the Picasso right here, to be able to go debt free in an era when most people are going to the bond market constantly,” Schwantz said.

Schwantz pointed out that while the village has been lowering it debt, it also has rebuilt village hall, constructed a new police headquarters and a new fire station, and addressed flooding issues.

The village will spend a record $8.85 million on water and sewer system upgrades, and another $4 million on street improvements, Ottesen said. An approximately $3 million grant will help convert Palatine Road to full three-lane cross section from Smith Street to Quentin Road, he added.

The investment in infrastructure, Schwantz said, makes the village attractive to businesses like Popeye’s, which is moving into the former Wendy’s space on Dundee Road.

“We do not have a rainmaker here in the village of Palatine,” who seeks out businesses and offers “crazy” incentives, he said. “That’s not fair to businesses that are here that are established. So what we do is we put together a great product.”

The village also is pouring an extra $750,000 into its public safety pensions.

Ottesen warned about possible financial storms coming from Springfield. They include

He pointed to legislation to eliminate Tier 2 pensions, which were created to curb the growth in pension costs, and taxes on groceries. Those combined could cost the village about $2.25 million a year, Ottesen said.

The village has also taken a creative approach to raising revenue, including a recent intergovernmental agreement that allows a Persin & Robbin Jewelers to open in Deer Park on property that overlapped the two towns. Palatine will receive a share of the sales taxes that the jeweler generates.

“It just shows you the outside-the-box thinking that our team has here and ways to foster and promote development,” Schwantz said.