After trustees held an initial discussion two weeks ago about Riverside’s 2025 budget in which they considered projects to fund next year, the village said it is no longer facing a budgeted capital projects fund deficit that could have led the board to authorize withdrawing reserve funds from the Intergovernmental Risk Management Agency.
At the village board’s Sept. 19 meeting, Finance Director Yvette Zavala updated trustees on Riverside’s proposed 2025 budget of projects within its capital improvement plan. She told the board about new state funding Riverside staff had been informed of that morning, which, along with other changes to the budget, means the village has secured more than enough funds to complete every project officials now have planned in 2025.
First, Zavala walked the village board through Riverside’s three funds that are considered unassigned: its IRMA reserves, worth $1.6 million at the end of last year; its operating reserves, worth $2.5 million then; and its general surplus, worth $2.2 million then.
According to the Government Finance Officer Association, an organization of public finance officers in the United States and Canada, “It is best practice to keep two months of reserves … at all times in all three buckets. The village keeps three months in this one bucket right here,” Zavala said of Riverside’s operating reserves fund.
In the course of her update, Zavala emphasized that Riverside is not facing a financial deficit in its capital projects fund.
“The village has sufficient funds,” she said. “The purpose of the CIP discussion is to decide what we want to spend that money on this year and what is the best way to fund it through the budgeting and planning process.”
Then, she presented trustees with a stripped back CIP for next year that only included the expenditures Riverside is on contract for, worth about $732,000. With the capital project fund’s starting balance this year of about $50,000, as well as about $630,000 in anticipated transfers from the general fund and the parks and recreation department, Riverside would only need to transfer about $50,000 from its IRMA reserves, worth about $1.7 million in total now.
However, a new windfall of state funds means Riverside won’t have to touch that sum.
“The budget is just a plan. It’s constantly evolving based on new information, new grants, new funding that comes to light. Just this morning, the village was notified that there is a $150,000 grant opportunity for capital that was appropriated to the village of Riverside for next year,” Zavala said. “Based on that information, there’s no need for a transfer from IRMA at all. Every project will be funded.”
Village Manager Jessica Frances later specified that the new funding came from Illinois.
“Every year, they do an appropriation bill, but they only release certain grants, so we’re fortunate enough that the timing was that the $150,000 grant was released today. Very timely for this discussion,” she said.
Village President Douglas Pollock clarified with Zavala that the projects the board had deferred at its Sept. 5 meeting — about $210,000 spread across strategic planning, gateway signage, a new skid steer and a new fire vehicle — were still being deferred.
In fact, due to the extra funding, Riverside’s village board had the chance to add back important projects to the 2025 CIP that were not contractually obligated. Those items included $25,000 worth of reforestation work, $15,000 in spongy moth spray, $8,075 in new computers and $60,000 each for two sets of eight new radios — one set for the police department and one for the fire department. Altogether, they’re worth $168,075, but Riverside only had about $100,000 leftover for planning purposes.
The board quickly reached consensus on including the reforestation and spongy moth spray in the plan for next year to protect Riverside’s trees. The board also agreed to include the computer replacement in the plan due to its relatively small cost. With just about $60,000 left to account for, and faced with the choice of which department will get new radios, Pollock suggested the board not choose at all. Trustees agreed.
“We talked to [Public Safety] Chief [Matthew] Buckley before tonight’s meeting, and his suggestion — and I tend to agree — is that we budget that for $60,000 for sure, and let him decide how he wants to spend it between police and fire,” Pollock said. “If we have excess revenues, we’ll come back, and we’ll spend more on radios.”
At the meeting, Zavala emphasized the importance of completing Riverside’s budget planning process ahead of time and with an eye to the village’s future.
“I know looking at the CIP plan, the 10-year [plan], it can look daunting because there’s millions of dollars being spent, but it’s because that’s a planning document. If there’s a large expenditure in five years, we need to start planning for it now. We don’t know what those revenues are going to look [like] at that time,” she said. “It might look scary because it might look like we’re spending more than we can, but we’re not. Every year, the plan is re-evaluated to see what makes sense for that year.”
Issuing bonds to replace lead service lines
To prepare for Riverside’s first wave of lead water service line replacements next year, Zavala asked the village board to review the village’s planned capital projects that will be paid for through its water and sewer fund. To make sure every project gets done, she asked the board to approve issuing $6 million in bonds with a 4% interest rate to be paid back over 20 years, which will help Riverside fund the replacements alongside the $4 million no-interest, 30-year loan it is set to receive from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
“Both of these debt issuances go hand in hand in order to do the projects,” she said. “The lead service line replacements will be done in conjunction and will put us in place to meet the state-mandated replacement due by 2027 [when] we have to issue our final plan.”
Trustee Jill Mateo asked the finance director to confirm next year’s lead line replacements will not have to be tied to street repairs since they’re on public property. Zavala said she was correct.
“The street repairs, the repaving, will happen in 2026,” Zavala said. “In 2025, we’ll put the patch after completing the water sewer project, and in 2026, the overlay will happen.”
Frances emphasized that the village will only be able to resurface those streets come 2026 if Riverside voters pass a tax levy referendum in November that would allow it to earmark a permanent, cumulative fund for street repairs.
“If it is not [approved], then the community will have to live with patches until we accumulate enough resources to do the resurfacing, which could take quite some time,” she said.
With little further discussion, the village board directed staff to draft the necessary ordinances to issue the bonds at the board’s next meeting on Oct. 3.
