The Mt. Carmel City Council meets today at 5 at City Hall and the council is expected to approve the new budget for Fiscal Year 2022-23 that starts May 1st. Finance Commissioner Eric Ikemire reports that revenues during the current fiscal year have been very favorable for the city with 20 of 27 budget items coming in over what had been projected.
One of the biggest areas of growth has been the city’s share of video gaming. The city had budgeted to receive $60,000 from the gaming tax but as of April 4th, the city had already gotten well more than double that with over $142,000 coming in. In addition, the city’s share of the cannabis tax has come in more than 33% more than anticipated. Other budget over-achievers on the revenue side was the city’s income from the sales tax, state income tax, and the replacement tax which has already been more than double what was budgeted.
But while the revenue picture now is good, Mayor Joe Judge warned that the state has been considering almost 130 unfunded mandates to pass along to Illinois municipalities.