Members of the Brookfield village board will gather to talk finances at the Discovery Center at Brookfield Zoo, 3300 Golf Road, on Wednesday, June 2 from 4 to 6 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.
At the meeting, trustees and department heads are expected to discuss several proposals that have already been floated by staff and possibly about other options, including home rule or a tax referendum, which have also surfaced from time to time in the past year.
Brookfield officials will soon begin crafting the village’s 2011 budget. Among topics expected to be reconsidered, according to Village Manager Riccardo Ginex, is a proposed restaurant tax, instituting a $500 administrative fee for cars towed by police following arrests and increasing fees for permits and licenses.
“We need to give them a clear picture to see what they’re going to do,” Ginex said. “We’re putting together some info to see what [trustees’] appetite is for some of these things.”
The village has been operating in crisis mode since early 2009, when staff began warning of layoffs and service cuts. Since that time, the village has done just that. In addition, it has won temporary contract concessions from its labor unions.
But labor negotiations for police and firefighters will resume within months, and officials maintain that current revenues cannot keep pace if expenditures continue to rise.
-Bob Uphues
