11/16/17 – The Fox Lake Common Council adopted their 2018 city budget Wednesday night. The $1.6-million-dollar document was balanced by taking $266-thousand dollars from the city’s reserve fund, leaving roughly $8000 in the rainy-day account. Mayor Tom Bednarek says an effort will be made to replenish the contingency fund. The $728-thousand-dollar levy is $6700 higher than the 2017 budget. The mill rate is up 12-cents to $9.53 per thousand dollars of assessed value. Property values in the city decreased by $283-thousand dollars to $76.3-million dollars. The Capital Projects fund totals $132-thousand dollars. Capital projects and purchases in the budget includes $10-thousand dollars for repairs to the pool; $55-thousand dollars for roof replacement on city hall; $30-thousand-dollars for seal coating; $37-thousand dollars for a generator at the Water Utility well house; and $27-thousand for a Department of Public Works/ Water Utility truck replacement. A two-block stretch of Wells Street will be reconstructed in 2018 with the city portion after a 50-percent matching grant at $217-thousand dollars. The city would have had to trim $68-thousand dollars in red ink from the final budget to qualify for the state’s Expenditure Restraint Program, which rewards communities that keep their spending in check. However, the city would have only qualified to get back around $22-thousand dollars. The decision was made last month in committee not to participate in the program.
Fox Lake Adopts 2018 City Budget
