2024 Popular Annual Financial Report 2024 Popular Annual Financial Report
Village of Buffalo Grove, Illinois
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, 2024.
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.
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 2024 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
Budget Overview
Buffalo Grove's 2024 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 2024 budget supports 18 programs that deliver 47 services.
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.
Lester Ottenheimer
David Weidenfeld
Joanne Johnson
Denice Bocek
Frank Cesario
Janet Sirabian
Eric N. Smith
Kevin Richards
A Closer Look at BG
The Village’s net position increased by $20.5 million (or 16.6 percent) during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024. The governmental net position increased by $16.8 million (38.1 percent) and the business-type activities net position increased by $3.4 million (4.4 percent ).
Equalized assessed valuation increased by $90.7 million or 5.0 percent to $1.91 billion for the 2023 levy year (collected in 2024).
Net position (in millions)
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...
$127,553
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:
2024 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 $17,696,110 which is a decrease from the previous year’s total of $18,050,357, a decrease of 2.0 percent.
Water and Sewer collections decreased from $18,195,154 in 2023 to $16,714,336 in 2024, a total decrease of 8.14 percent.
Maintaining the village's streets, grounds, water, drainage, and sewer systems.
Sales taxes, both state shared and home rule, generated $18,050,925 in 2024 versus $18,599,362 in 2023, a decrease of 2.95 percent.
Revenue Overview
Revenues for the Village’s governmental activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 were $69.7 million, an increase of $4.5 million or 6.8 percent. Property taxes continue to be the Village’s largest source of revenue (25.4 percent) at $17.7 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 41.6 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 $31.2 million or 44.7 percent of total governmental activities revenue.
Improving the quality of municipal buildings, parking lots, and vehicles.
Did you know?
Did you know?
Directing long term structural needs through engineering.
Buffalo Grove was recently ranked among the top cities in the country on U.S. News and World Report's lists of the Best Places to Live in America. Taking into account factors such as overall happiness, affordability, desirability and job market, Buffalo Grove ranked as the #2 best place to live in Illinois and #63 best place to live in America, in addition to being ranked the #18 safest place to live in America based on annual crime data.
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.
Investing in
2024 Major Village Initiatives & Developments
BG is...
Safe
BG knows that the community expects to be safe in their homes, at work, and around town.
BGThe Clove
marks a
milestoneA vibrant
In 2024, the Village issued over 2,900 commercial and residential permits. These permits represent a total project valuation of $84.4 million in community investment. The Clove redevelopment made significant progress. At the heart of the development, 'The 250' mixed-use building welcomed its first residential tenants. Panda Express opened at the site, with additional commercial tenants to come.
Adaptive reuse completedElectrifying developments
Construction was completed on the 173,000 square-foot Public Works facility at 1650 Leider Lane. This adaptive re-use of a former warehouse space came in at one-third the cost of a ground-up new construction to provide a home for Public Works well into the future.
The Bison Crossing development broke ground on Dundee Road. The long-vacant former Rohrman Auto dealerships were demolished to make way for this 16-acre mixed-use development anchored by a Tesla sales and service center.
corridor
Lazy Dog Restaurant and Wild Fork Grocer broke ground at the corner of Lake Cook Road and Route 83. Both businesses are anticipated to open in the spring of 2025 and are poised to become central focal points of the Lake Cook Corridor
Elsewhere around BG in 2024...
BG adopted its new community brand and tagline, Smart. With heart. Improvements began at the Combined Area Fire Training Site (CAFT). Work includes a combined water fill and truck weigh station and pavement resurfacing. Plans were completed to retrofit the former Public Works facility on Raupp Boulevard into temporary quarters for Fire Station 25 while the existing station on Dundee Road is reconstructed.
In 2024, 82 businesses opened, expanded or relocated in Buffalo Grove.
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.
BG Police quick facts
Village Pension Obligations
The Fire Pension Fund had a funded ratio of 81% as of December 31, 2024. The annual interest rate assumption is 7% with a the five-year average return is 7.94% as of December 31, 2024.
The Police Pension Fund had a funded ratio of 78% as of December 31, 2024. The annual interest rate assumption is 7% with a five-year average return of 7.72% as of December 31, 2024.
Affirmative Action
Recruiting Plan has been in place since 1986 and updated every 3 years.
73% of total retirement expenses are related to pension costs. In 2024, the Village contributed $5.7 million in employer obligations for current and future annuitants and $11.9 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 $55.9 million, an increase of 3.4 percent from 2023 ($1.8 million). The largest increase was made in Public Safety expenses of $5.0 million in 2024. General Government expenses decreased by $3.2 million (24.5 percent) and Public Works expenses remained stable at $8.1 million.
Finance and Liabilities 2024
Adequate Reserves
The Village had $19,839,238 in unassigned fund balance available in the General Fund on December 31, 2024.
Financial Stability
Debt Reduction
The Village retired a total of $2,611,365 in general obligation debt in fiscal year 2024.
Officers complete an 8-hour mental health first aid and a 40-hour crisis intervention training.
Expenses from all business-type activities decreased by $1.4 million or 8.2 percent. The Water Fund expenses decreased by $1.4 million , and compared favorably to the yearly budget. Golf expenses remained consistent at $3.0 million in total .
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 81.2%, and the Police Pension Fund is funded at 78.0%. State statute mandates that pensions be funded at 100% by 2040.
The Village's financial policy requires a 25% fund balance for general operations.
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About the Infrastructure Modernization Program
The Infrastructure Modernization Program (IMP) 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.
In 2024, the Village launched Phase II of the IMP, taking a different approach focusing on effective opportunity management and grant funding. It also has a heavy emphasis on facility modernization, as evidenced by the Village's new Public Works facility, completed in 2024, and Fire Station 25, currently under construction.
2024 IMP Project Impacts and Results
