Roadwork still a priority as pandemic affects Schaumburg's capital projects plan
Schaumburg's new five-year, $185 million plan for capital improvements demonstrates how long-lasting the impact of 2020's pandemic-related revenue losses are expected to be as people shop, dine and seek entertainment in the village far less often.
While roads and utility infrastructure remain top priorities of the revised plan, one clear casualty is the hoped-for amenity upgrades at Wintrust Field - the village-owned home of the Schaumburg Boomers baseball team. For the time being, those have been completely dropped from the five-year plan.
The cancellation of the Boomers' 2020 season was only one of the many ways in which Schaumburg's consumer-driven economy and village finances were hurt by COVID-19.
Halfway through Schaumburg's budget year last month, village officials took stock and found revenue losses were at least less severe than had been projected in April.
While food and beverage, home-rule sales, and hotel/motel taxes had taken a severe hit, other revenue sources such as income, motor fuel and state-use taxes were doing better than expected, Assistant Village Manager Paula Hewson said.
Revenues across all funds were then down 6.6% from what originally was budgeted for the fiscal year beginning May 1, while those in the general fund - which covers most essential services - were down 5.7%.
As a result, when compared to last year's capital improvement schedule, a total of $44.8 million in projects have now been deferred from the current year through fiscal year 2023-24.
And the projects that have been prioritized will be more dependent on reserves the village has built up, as opposed to assumed levels of new revenue, Hewson said.
Roadway and utility work will together make up 80% of the projects scheduled for the next five years.
During the projected period, $112 million is budgeted for streets and $37 million for utilities.
But the village will pursue $44 million in grants, a 6% increase from last year's plan, Hewson said.
As such, the village's own share of the plan's $185 million total is $140.9 million.
"I think we've got a pretty good plan, considering the funding that's available," Mayor Tom Dailly said. "We didn't want to eliminate any area. It has a little bit of everything."
Though the amount the village plans to spend on roads may sound like a lot, Dailly said that without a pandemic, it could certainly have been more.
"To me, it's always about roads," he added.
Hewson said there are 11 funds that contribute to the village's overall capital improvement plan. During the coming year, staff will be closely monitoring the pace of recovery of consumer taxes to determine how much the next five-year forecast for capital improvement projects may need to be adjusted at the end of 2021.