At the March 25th board meeting, village residents got a rare glimpse of blunt honesty regarding the state of our local finances. When questioned about the confusion and lack of consistency surrounding the upcoming 2026-2027 budget, Mayor Huber didn’t mince words.

His assessment was direct and concerning:

“The numbers are all screwed up, the lines are all messed up, the departments don’t know what lines they have, [or] where money is at.”

It’s refreshing to hear a leader admit to the chaos rather than sugarcoating it, but the substance of his statement should give every taxpayer pause. If the departments don’t know where their funding stands, how can we expect a fiscally responsible outcome?

By contrast, the tone from the board was much more noncommittal when the topic shifted to the 2% tax cap. When the motion to authorize exceeding the limit was brought up, Trustee Vanca downplayed the move, stating,

“We haven’t decided that yet, it’s just in case we do.”

During the discussion, I shared my own opinion that the village will be looking at a necessary tax increase of 10% to 20% to stabilize the ship. Trustee Vanca laughed off the suggestion, insisting it would not happen.

While I sincerely hope she is right, the Mayor’s own description of “screwed up numbers” makes it difficult to share her optimism. We won’t have to wonder for long—the truth will be in the numbers when the final budget is released in a few weeks.