Niles Board Overrides Funding Veto

Niles trustees voted 6-0 earlier this week to override Mayor Robert Callero’s line item veto of $233,914 in spending on beautification efforts for public buildings.

Callero, who read his veto statement before the discussions to overrule him, said the proposed expenditure would mean that the village’s spending would exceed revenue for the fiscal year.

He explained he did not want to go into deficit spending for landscaping after the and reduced some services in an effort to balance the budget.

“This is not acceptable to me,” Callero said at the Tuesday night meeting. “I value that a lot more than flowers.”

Earlier:

The cut would have left about $233,000 in grant money from the state for landscape improvements to Touhy Avenue to be used for beautification projects at the fountain at Milwaukee and Touhy avenues, at the police station and at the Public Works Department's garage.

The money was awarded three years ago, and the grant deadline has been extended until this year, Preston said. If the village does not use the money now, it will lose it.

Trustee Louella Preston, who heads the village’s Landscape Beautification Committee, said that it was likely that the proposed work could be done for significantly less than originally budgeted, especially if the plan is modified to eliminate the replacement of the paver bricks on the plaza around the fountain.

She also noted that no perennials would be purchased this year as part of the project because their planting would occur to late due to the scheduled work.

It is also possible that the village will be able to cover the costs by using savings from other projects, Preston said.

Even though the total cost might be lower than the amount Callero rejected, Preston said trustees had to override the veto and put all the money back in the budget.

“Just because the money is budgeted doesn’t mean we have to spend it,” she said.

Later during the meeting, the trustees voted unanimously to approve a design contract with Ives/Ryan Group, a landscape architect firm that has been working to develop the plans, and to seek bids for the beautification project along Milwaukee Avenue between Touhy to Harlem avenues.

Trustee James Hynes said that he would have a hard time voting for a project that only included the grant funding, because he didn’t know what the smaller funding level would afford. Hynes and his colleagues have only seen plans that incorporate the original scope of the work.

Callero, who suffered his first veto override of this fiscal year, said the village should figure out what was possible without pulling its budget out of balance.

“We have to look at our costs,” he said. “We are being attacked all over the place.”

Trustee Chris Hanusiak said that Callero was not always so set on a balanced budget. He noted that the mayor's original spending plan called for a $1.6 million deficit, including creating a new community development position.

“The history of this budget does not bear out his claims,” Hanusiak said.