Message from the Village President
I am very pleased to present Buffalo Grove's annual Popular Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.
I'm proud of our ability to deliver the Buffalo Grove community with an overview of the Village’s progress and financial performance in a manner that is both transparent and easy to understand. This report does not replace the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR), but rather provides a summary of financial activities. The full disclosure financial statements, or ACFR, are available online at www.vbg.org/financialreports.
Analysis conducted within this report outlines growth drivers, capital projects and summarized financial and trend data. The presentation of financial information in the report has been derived from audited financial statements and conforms to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and related reporting standards.
Budget Overview
Buffalo Grove's 2023 budget is designed to provide residents and other interested parties with an easy-to-navigate format that clearly explains how the Village allocates its resources. Each program strives to make BG more responsible, resilient and/or safe. Every program consists of major services the Village provides for its residents and the business community. Therefore, the budget document is organized by areas, programs and major services. The gray boxes on the following pages provide an overview of each area.
Each program provides oversight over the services that are provided either directly to the community or indirectly as an internal support function. How resources are allocated within the annual budget provides the reader insight as to what the strategic priorities are and what services are valued by Village stakeholders. The 2023 budget supports 18 programs that deliver 47 services.
The Village continues to prioritize financial transparency and open communication with its residents and businesses. I hope the information and data provided in this guide to local financial activities in 2023 gives you a snapshot of the challenges and opportunities the Village of Buffalo Grove is managing today and into the future.
Sincerely,
Eric N. Smith
Each year, the Village determines its level of service, strategic goals and expectations and staffing levels based upon the demand for services, anticipated revenues and progress toward long-term operational and capital development goals.
The Village Clerk's office maintains all of the Village’s official records, meeting minutes and documents as well as a range of services including business and liquor licensing, voter registration and municipal code updates.
Andrew Stein
Lester Ottenheimer
David Weidenfeld
Joanne Johnson
Denice Bocek
Frank Cesario
ResponsibleResilientSafe
Janet Sirabian
Eric N. Smith
A Closer Look at BG
The Village’s net position increased by $17.5 million (or 16.3 percent) during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. The governmental net position increased by $14.4 million (47.2. percent) and the business-type activities net position increased by $3.1 million (4.0 percent).
Equalized assessed valuation increased by $72.8 million or 4.2 percent to $1.82 billion for the 2022 levy year (collected in 2023).
Did you know?
Open BG provides a hub of direct access to the Village’s financial, historical and contractual data. Anyone can use this data to participate in and improve government. Check it out at vbg.org/openbg.
BG Quick Facts
BG is...
$117,921
43,212
Responsible BG is committed to being prudent stewards of the public dollar. To achieve this commitment the village takes the following actions:
Innovating the administrative, personnel, and legislative functions
Where Your Property Tax Dollars Go
Managing the Village's finances, pension funds and debt service
Overseeing the strategic use of information technology resources
BG is...
Resilient
BG strives to provide and maintain the highest quality infrastructure.
To achieve this commitment the village takes the following actions:
2023 Top Employers and Tax Payers
BG has a distinctive local economy with an employment base of 17,000 daily workers
BG has over 10 million square feet of commercial, office, and industrial space. BG is home to several advanced manufacturing centers as well as many high-profile firms such as Siemens, Plexus and Yaskawa.
Local Economy
External economic factors at the national and state level continue to impact the Village’s revenue profile and, subsequently its ability to manage operating and capital resources.
Property tax collections totaled $18,050,357 which is an increase over the previous year’s total of $17,037,558, an increase of 5.9 percent.
Water and Sewer collections increased from $16,119,322 in 2022 to $18,195,154 in 2023, a total increase of 12.88 percent.
Maintaining the village's streets, grounds, water, drainage, and sewer systems.
Sales taxes, both state shared and home rule, generated $18,599,362 in 2023 versus $18,317,654 in 2022, an increase of 1.54 percent.
Revenue Overview
Revenues for the Village’s governmental activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 were $65.2 million, a decrease of $1.0 million or 1.5 percent. Property taxes continue to be the Village’s largest source of revenue (27.6 percent) at $18.0 million. Included within the property tax revenues are the pension levies for the Police and Firefighter Pension Funds and IMRF/Social Security. The pension levies account for 35.3 percent of the property tax levy. Other taxes and intergovernmental revenue including sales tax, state income tax, utility tax, prepared food and beverage tax, hotel tax and real estate transfer tax total $31.6 million or 48.5 percent of total governmental activities revenue.
Improving the quality of municipal buildings, parking lots, and vehicles.
Did you know?
Did you know?
Directing the long term structural needs through engineering.
MoneyGeek.com recently evaluated small cities and towns across the United States - those with 30,000 to 100,000 residents - and ranked them according to the per capita cost of crime. They ranked Buffalo Grove the #1 safest town in the U.S., with a $22 crime cost per capita.
MoneyGeek.com recently evaluated small cities and towns across the United States - those with 30,000 to 100,000 residents - and ranked them according to the per capita cost of crime. They ranked Buffalo Grove the #1 safest town in the U.S., with a $22 crime cost per capita.
The Clove
Construction of The Clove is underway, transforming the area into a new, modern entertainment, commercial and residential district. This compact, central district will feature contemporary building design, as well as upscale tenants. When complete, The Clove will offer a unique destination for residents and visitors alike.
At the heart of the development is a seven-story, 297 unit high-end apartment building with 16,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. Distinctive of this building, the focus is creating an amenity-rich, conveniencefilled environment.
The plan also provides nearly 20,000 square feet of new retail and restaurants scattered throughout the site. Chick-fil-A and Guzman y Gomez became the first new businesses to open at the site in late 2023.
A one-acre Village-owned “Central Park” will sit in the middle of the site and can be programmed for concerts and other events. The 34,000 square feet located on the northern portion of the site was renovated in 2023, creating new opportunities for existing and future tenants.
New Public Works Facility
Construction began in 2023 on a 173,000 square-foot, adaptive reuse facility that will provide enough space to accommodate BG Public Works now and well into the future. Repurposing this existing building will save the village approximately 40% of costs compared to that of a new building. While construction costs are at a premium, staff has planned for value engineering to keep costs in line. The project is being financed with a combination of AAA-rated bonds and capital fund reserves. The remainder of the project cost will come from the sale of the existing public works property and other sources, with no additional cost to BG taxpayers. Occupancy is anticipated in late 2024.
Dundee Road TIF
On August 21, 2023, the Village Board approved the establishment of the Buffalo Grove Dundee Road TIF District, becoming the second TIF district in Buffalo Grove, following the Lake Cook TIF District.
Redevelopment of this corridor kicked off in early 2024 with the groundbreaking of the Bison Crossing project. This mixed-use development will feature a Tesla sales and service center, commercial outlots and luxury apartments.
BG is...
Safe BG knows that the community expects to be safe in their homes, at work, and around town.
To achieve this commitment, the village takes the following actions:
Ensuring the public's safety through emergency medical , fire, and police services.
Inspecting the environmental and health impacts of businesses.
Developing standards for the permitting and zoning of the village's built environment.
Affirmative Action Recruiting Plan has been in place since 1986 and updated every 3 years.
Village Pension Obligations
The Fire Pension Fund had a funded ratio of 83% as of December 31, 2023. The annual interest rate assumption is 7% with a the fiveyear average return is 8.11% as of December 31, 2023.
The Police Pension Fund had a funded ratio of 78% as of December 31, 2023. The annual interest rate assumption is 7% with a five-year average return of 9.91% as of December 31, 2023.
75% of total retirement expenses are related to pension costs. In 2023, the Village contributed $5.8 million in employer obligations for current and future annuitants and $10.7 million was distributed to retired pensioners.
Expense Overview
Biased Based Policing Annual review revealed the 22nd consecutive year without any complaints of biased based profiling.
The cost of all governmental activities this year was $54.0 million, a decrease of 19.5 percent from 2022 ($13.1 million). The largest decrease was made in General Government expenses of $14.2 million in 2023. Public Safety expenses decreased by $0.6 million (percent) and Public Works expenses remained stable at $7.4 million.
Finance and Liabilities 2023
Adequate Reserves
The Village had $18,522,000 in unassigned fund balance available in the General Fund on December 31, 2023.
Financial Stability
Debt Reduction
The Village retired a total of $2,591,265 in general obligation debt in fiscal year 2023.
Officers complete an 8-hour mental health first aid and a 40-hour crisis intervention training.
Expenses from all business-type activities increased by $3.2 million or 23.0 percent. The Water Fund expenses increased by $2.6 million, which compares favorably to a budgeted increase in expenses. Golf expenses increased in 2023 to $3.0 million in total or 50.0 percent.
The Village holds a AAA the highest possible bond rating from Standard & Poor's on all current bonded general obligation debt.
Public Safety Pension Funding
The Fire Pension Fund is funded at 83.1%, and the Police Pension Fund is funded at 77.5%. State statute mandates that pensions be funded at 100% by 2040.
The Village's financial policy requires a 25% fund balance for general operations.
Infrastructure Modernization Program
Buffalo Grove will...
Embark on the largest infrastructure project in the Village's history.
Make significant Investments into infrastructure upgrades and replacements.
The Village Board approved two significant revenue streams for this purpose, the implementation of a fixed facility fee and water/sewer rate increase for water and sewer main replacement and a local motor fuel tax to fund road improvements.
In 2020, the Board approved a bond issue totaling $24 million - $14 million for water/sewer and $10 million for streets, to begin our infrastructure modernization project, with minimal impact on the property tax levy.
The Infrastructure Modernization Program encompasses the largest initiative in the Village’s history to replace and rehabilitate core infrastructure assets. Due to the development patterns of the Village since 1958, much of the water and sewer infrastructure as well as road deficiencies exist in the Cook County portions of the Village. However, given the desire to balance the needs of the entire village with this initiative, several projects are planned village-wide now through 2027.
Learn more about key 2024 IMP Projects
BernardDrivestreetimprovements
WhitePineutilityandstreetimprovements
Key IMP Project Impacts and Results
Complete planned Capital Improvements over time.
Minimize resident disruption.
The Village projects investing over $50 million into water, sewer and streets between 2020 and 2023.
Secure sustainable funding into the future.
To the extent possible, project sequencing will be arranged such that entire neighborhoods will be completed within one to three years based on outside funding in an effort to reduce service interruptions and overall disruption.
Melinda/Hiawatha0.790.78$2,350,800
Vintage0.770.0$456,000
Cambridge0.750.70$3,787,000
Thompson/Brandywyn1.140.0$4,324,000
COTLLi Station00.1$3,289,000
Forest/Glendale1.212.7$6,890,000
Thompson/Brandywyn1.820$2,842,000
The Village Board and staff have devoted a great deal of time to developing sustainable practices to improve and maintain our core infrastructure.
TOTAL9.824.29$24,619,678