CROWN POINT | With threats of a state-mandated frozen property tax levy looming, Crown Point only can wait.
Lake County's failure to enact a contentious 1 percent local option income tax last month means all area municipalities, townships and county offices are stuck at their 2007 levy. The government units will lose out on more than $17 million, according to data provided by the county.
To Crown Point, that means the loss of about $246,000, data show.
It puts the city's proposed addition of four full-time firefighters, three police officers, one dispatcher, a crossing guard, full-time building inspector and eight police cars at risk.
Clerk-Treasurer Patti Olson said her department has already secured $200,000 from the state in levy appeals and she hopes it will get more.
"We may not be too bad at all," she said. "We'll just keep our fingers crossed that we don't have to cut the budget too much so we can hire police and fire as we intended."
The frozen levy's effects will not be determined until the city's 2008 budget is certified later this year.
Mayor David Uran said Crown Point was warned it might need to grapple with the budget freeze. With less than a week in office, he said he has come up with several initiatives to streamline efficiency and spending.
The mayor's office will be restructured and city positions eliminated to a savings of about $65,000, under four ordinances Uran will present to the City Council tonight.
Uran said he is eliminating the economic development director position formerly held by Eric Hammond. He will spread responsibilities within the mayor's office between himself and Keith Stevens, his chief of staff.
The mayor's secretary will be retitled as an office manager and will help with day-to-day operations, Uran said.
Former Governmental Affairs Director Adam Graper will be shifted to be a media liaison and Internet technologist, handling the city's Web site and releases.
Uran said there is money, based on the 2007 budget, to immediately hire two firefighters to fill vacancies in the rotations, but any additional personnel and projects will have to wait.
"All our department heads have been advised to operate off the 2007 budget to keep things in line," he said. "If things change down the road, that will give us an opportunity to move things forward."
