ForestParkReview_090617

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GROWING COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY JOURNAL, INC.

Vol. 100, No. 36

$1.00

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS

Ardinger stays involved

F O R E S T PA R K

REVIEW SEPTEMBER 6, 2017

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New school funding law PAGE 4

@FP_Review @ForestParkReview

Village staff makes progress on budget deficit Next meeting set for Sept. 21 By THOMAS VOGEL Staff Reporter

W

Parker end up in a small town named Ming Bulak in a country the size of Nebraska, which is bordered by China and

ork continued, Aug. 31, at Forest Park Village Hall as elected officials and village staff met again in an effort to reconcile a budget deficit, which now sits at around $1.2 million, Village Administrator Tim Gillian estimated. Thursday’s meeting, which focused more on trimming expenses rather than increasing revenues, was the second public budget gathering of village leadership in August. The same group met Aug. 17. Those assembled, including Mayor Anthony Calderone and Finance Director Letitia Olmsted, made plans to meet again in three weeks on Sept. 21 to discuss possible new revenue streams. “The department heads looked really hard at each line item,” Gillian said. “It’s still a problem that needs to get resolved, but it’s not as dire as a couple of weeks ago. I see a light at the end of the tunnel.” No official action was taken Aug. 31, only suggestions and possible cuts. Between the Aug. 17 meeting and Aug. 31 meeting, Gillian said department heads like Police Chief Thomas Aftanas had met with Olmsted to find additional reductions, which totaled around $250,000. Those cuts brought down the $1.6 million deficit as discussed at the Aug. 17 meeting. Illinois law requires non-home rule communities, like Forest Park, to pass an appropriations ordinance, which authorizes all municipal spending, by July 31, the end of the first fiscal quarter. The village council passed it on July 24. A village budget — wholly separate from the appropriations ordinance — is used

See PEACE CORPS on page 8

See BUDGET on page 4

ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer

Quite the Storey

Storey Novak, 10, of Forest Park, receives donations from people throughout the community on Sept. 2, at the Novak's home on Hannah Avenue in Forest Park. See full story on page 5.

Readjusting after two years in Kyrgyzstan During Peace Corps stint, Leah Cozzi taught English By TOM HOLMES Contributing Reporter

Leah Cozzi returned in July from teaching English with the Peace Corps

in Kyrgyzstan, a place most people have never heard of. During her two-year stint, she, and everyone she lived and worked with, learned something. But how did a 22-year-old Forest

IN Big Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 THIS Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 ISSUE Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Council reverses firing

Rice on Forest Park’s big heart

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