Village Could Face Layoffs if State Keeps Share of Income Tax

Bolingbrook officials said the village could face layoffs if the state decides to help balance its budget at the expense of local cities and villages.

In April, the village that included no employee layoffs, but did so with the caveat that it would have its share of the state’s income tax, which cities get a share of.

The state opted to keep all of the income from a recently approved and only base the cities’ cut on the old rates. Cities say they need 10 percent from the total income tax, instead of the 6 percent they’re getting under the new law. 

For Bolingbrook, that means the village could be .

If that were the case, layoffs would be likely, said Bolingbrook Attorney Jim Boan.

Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar said village officials likely wouldn’t know how things shape up until after the 25th hour, when state lawmakers have already voted on the budget and have bolted the capital.

Claar said layoffs would be tough to swallow—last year, the village laid off 23 people—but could be the only alternative.

“We could obviously take some of it out of the reserves, but we obviously don’t want to do that … I’d rather not do that,” Claar said. “It may mean not buying some squad cars or supplies. I don’t want to lay people off, we laid off a lot of people last year.

“But if we have to, we’ll have to (layoff) a little bit more. I don’t want to, but we will if we have to,” he said.  

Claar said local lawmakers such as State Sens. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale, and A.J. Wilhelmi, D-Joliet, both oppose the proposal. However, Claar hasn't heard from any lawmakers on how it could affect Bolingbrook, he said.

On Thursday, area mayors held a press conference denouncing the state's effort, arguing that taking the money away from villages like Bolingbrook would create more financial duress on local governments.

“This money never was theirs to take away,” Lynwood Mayor Eugene Williams told the Chicago Sun-Times.