Good, Bad News in Economic Front

Tinley Park's sales tax revenue leapt to a new high in June, but the latest numbers show more money coming out of the general fund than going in.

The sales tax numbers are a bright spot in the sluggish economy, a 19.5 percent surge over June of 2009. That brings the village's sales tax revenue for the month past $1 million, busting past the previous record of $995,352 set in August 2006.

This is a marked increase for a village that prides itself on being a place to live rather than a retail hub. And it also reverses what had been a downward trend, with 23 of the 28 previous months down from the year prior.

Village Treasurer Brad Bettenhausen said he suspects new projects by International Subaru and Temperature Equipment Corporation were behind the spike, but he must wait for final numbers to be sure.

The new Subaru dealership and TEC center were lured to Tinley Park through "performance-based incentives" including sharing a portion of the sales tax the businesses bring in, Bettenhausen said.

"It's not that we paid a bunch of money up front and are expecting that back," he said. "It's more of a pay as you go."

If those two projects were behind the June surge, the village can expect to see similar numbers through the rest of the year, Bettenhausen said.

The news was not all good.

In what Trustee Gregory Hannon called a "bothersome" development, the general fund – the fund that covers most village functions – saw $9.7 million in expenses, but only $9.4 million in revenue in August. This means a rare shortfall for the village. All other funds saw the overages typical for the affluent community.

"This is something we need to be watching," Hannon said.

However, the village's reserve funds – held to keep the village's bond rating high and as a buffer for economic situations just like this one – can more than cover the August shortfall, Bettenhausen said.

"It's troubling, but we're not in trouble," he said.