ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Rockford City Council met Monday night for a discussion on the proposed budget for 2024. This was a chance for the aldermen to ask questions and talk with the city’s finance director.

Expense changes for the city include a lot of increases. Those are for fuel and vehicle maintenance, IT charges, and other items that have gone up in price.

As for revenue changes, sales tax revenue saw a small increase in 2023, while property taxes remained flat.

Keeping the property tax levy flat means the city could collect about $2.5 million in revenue. The property tax levy has to be approved by the end of the year. Property taxes are the primary funding source for pensions.

“Pension contribution growth is a primary cause of those increases in deficits over the time period and the projection,” said Carrie Hagerty, Finance Director for the City of Rockford. “We’ll continue to come back to council as we monitor this throughout the year. At the end of 2023, as part of our 2023 budget process, we were projecting a deficit for 2024. That didn’t come to fruition.”

The council will meet in the coming weeks to discuss the proposed budget at length before it is approved.