2014 PAFRVillage of
Buffalo Grove
2014
A Citizens Guide to Local Financial Activities
Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014
A Message
From the
Village President
Transparency is a high priority
to your elected leaders.
Your Elected
Officials
Digital Village Services
Public
Records
Looking for meeting
information, to contact
elected officials, review
financial information or
request public records?
One visit to the Village’s
Transparency Portal web
page brings all of this
information and more at
the click of a mouse.
http://www.vbg.org/817/
Village-Transparency
Full Financial
Report, Budget,
Annual
Treasurers
Report, and more
on Village
Website
The full CAFR is online.
Plus more financial data
is available at the Village
of Buffalo Grove website
atwww.vbg.org. Access
current and historical
Financial Reports,
Budgets, Treasurers
Reports and other
financial information.
As part of the Village’s strategic plan, several digital services
have recently been launched or will be available soon. The
Village wants you to be able to conduct your business from the
convenience of your home computer or mobile device!
Village Clerk’s Office
The Village Clerk and Deputy Village Clerk maintain all of the
Village’s official records, meeting minutes and documents on
behalf of our residents. In addition, a range of services includ-
ing business and liquor licensing, voter registration and munici-
pal code updates are provided daily.
Contact the Village Clerk’s office at (847) 459-2511.
Welcome to the Village of Buffalo Grove’s “A Citizen’s Guide to Local Financial Activities” for
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014. This report is intended to provide the residents of
Buffalo Grove an overview of the Village’s progress and financial performance. This report
summarizes the financial activities of the Village and is not intended to replace the full
disclosure financial statements. This format presents financial data in a manner that gives
every resident the opportunity to gain a general understanding of the Village’s major initiatives
and financial activities for the fiscal year-end 2014. The full disclosure financial statement,
the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), can be viewed at www.vbg.org. Thank
you for taking the time to review this report, those residents who wish to review the Village’s
financial data more in depth should refer to the 2014 CAFR.
The Village Board and I appreciate your input regarding the contents of this report. It has
been prepared as a tool for its readers regardless of financial background or training and we
hope our commitment to maintain open communication and transparency with our residents is
demonstrated within the material presented.
Although a condensed report, the presentation of financial information in this Citizen’s Report
conforms to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and related reporting stand-
ards.
I hope you gain a clear and transparent view of our government while reviewing this report
and I encourage all residents to take an active part in our local government and community.
Our community gains strength every time a person, who calls Buffalo Grove home, invests
their resources, time, and talents to make Buffalo Grove one of the best places to live.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey S. Braiman
Village President
Jeff Berman, Trustee
Lester Ottenheimer, Trustee
Andrew Stein, Trustee
Beverly Sussman, Trustee
Mike Terson, Trustee
Steven Trilling, Trustee
Follow the Village
of Buffalo Grove on
Social Media
The Village of Buffalo Grove
has joined social media! Find
out about special events,
news updates, and more by
following us on Twitter, liking
us on Facebook, and adding
us on LinkedIn. Always know
what is happening in your Vil-
lage by tuning in through so-
cial media.
www.vbg.org
Pay with Credit and Debit
Cards at the Village of
Buffalo Grove
All licenses, fees, fines, registrations,
permits, and bills can be paid via credit
card. All credit card transactions are
subject to a convenience fee of $1.80 per
water payment and 2.39% for all other
transactions. The fee is processed by a
third party credit card provider. The
Village currently accepts:
Quality of Life in Buffalo Grove
Buffalo Grove in
Top 20 Safest
Places to Live
Neighborhood Scout
named Buffalo Grove to its
100 Safest Cities in the
U.S. Based on criteria
such as crimes per 1,000
residents, total crimes and
population greater than
25,000. Buffalo Grove
continues to be a great
place to live!
Police Department
2014 Illinois Traffic
Safety Challenge
1st Place
Buffalo Grove Police De-
partment is awarded first
place by the Illinois Chiefs
of Police Traffic Safety
Challenge. The officers
excelled at Municipal Cate-
gory 51-65, Commercial
Vehicle and Distracted
Driving enforcement.
Enjoying Buffalo Grove
Buffalo Grove
Days
Labor Day
Weekend
Enjoy food, fun, music,
carnival games, fire-
works and more at this
four-day celebration.
Located on the munici-
pal campus at Lake
Cook Road and Raupp
Boulevard.
Buffalo Grove
Wins Tree City
USA Award for
27th Consecutive
Year
Tree City USA recog-
nized the Village of
Buffalo Grove for its
dedication to communi-
ty forestry manage-
ment. The Village
maintains a forestry
department, has com-
munity tree ordinances,
spends over two dollars
per capita on trees and
celebrates Arbor Day.
The Village of Buffa-
lo Grove is located
approximately 33
miles northwest of
downtown Chicago
and 20 miles north of
O’Hare International
Airport. The Village’s
land area is 9.3
square miles, with
21.7 percent of the
area in Cook County and 78.3 percent in Lake County. Neighboring communities include
Arlington Heights, Lincolnshire, Long Grove, Riverwoods, Vernon Hills and Wheeling.
The Village’s current population is 41,987 (2014 Village estimate).
Buffalo Grove was incorporated in 1958 and experienced strong growth in population and
land area for several decades. The Village’s Comprehensive Plan projects the Village’s
land area could reach approximately 11.2 square miles.
The Village has ex-
cellent transportation
access for residents,
businesses,
employees and
visitors. The Village
is served by the
Metra North Central
rail line connecting to
downtown Chicago
and O’Hare airport.
Pace bus service
provides access to adjacent communities, the Metra Milwaukee District North rail line and
the Skokie Swift CTA Yellow Line. The regional road system serving the Village includes
Aptakisic Road, Buffalo Grove Road, Lake Cook Road, and state routes 21, 22, 45 and
68, with direct links to Route 53 and Interstate 94.
The Village’s commercial
base includes several
corporate business parks,
a diverse retail sector and
a wide range of profes-
sional services, including
medical facilities. The
Village’s residential areas
include single-family
neighborhoods, town-
homes, condominiums
and apartments. The
housing stock is very di-
verse, with units of differ-
ent sizes and designs
available at various price
points to serve the community’s population.
From January through December, Buffalo Grove
offers many opportunities to enjoy community.
Buffalo Grove residents place a high
priority on quality events and programs for
their families. During the warmer summer
months, many events are going on
throughout the Village, such as:
Rotary Village Green concerts
Lawn Chair Lyrics
Movies Under the Stars
Farmer’s Market
Green Fair
Buffalo Grove Symphonic Band
Buffalo Grove Singers
Buffalo Grove Days
National Night Out
Fourth of July Fireworks
Golf at Buffalo Grove and Arboretum Golf Courses
And, in the winter, there is plenty more to do inside, with many sports and extracur-
ricular activities offered by the Buffalo Grove Park District, Buffalo Grove Recreation
Association, township, library and local school district programs.
Did You Know?
Buffalo Grove boasts more
than 800 acres of parks
and open space—or 834
square feet of space per
person. That’s 4.5 times
more than Chicago!
Comparative Data Buffalo Grove State of Illinois
Median Income $94,391 $56,797
Median Housing Unit Value $304,100 $182,300
Homeownership Rate 80.6% 67.5%
Unemployment % 5.7% 6.2%
Persons below poverty line 4.6% 14.1%
Buffalo Grove
Statistical Trends 2014 2013 2012
Population
41,987
41,778
42,330
Income Per capita $46,183 $45,057 $44,687
Unemployment % 5.70% 6.80% 7.10%
Debt per Capita $251.27 $271.43 $289.64
Streets Resurfaced 3.28 mi 10.84 mi 5.51 mi
Farmer’s Market
June to October
Ranked Illinois’ best Farmer’s Market, come out to Mike
Rylko Park on Sundays from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM for the
best in local food!
Village of Buffalo
Grove win’s 33rd
Consecutive
CAFR Award
The Village of Buffalo
Grove received its 33rd
consecutive certificate of
achievement for excel-
lence in financial report-
ing. The award criteria
are based on the presen-
tation of the annual finan-
cial report in a manner
that provides transparen-
cy and full disclosure of
the entity’s fiscal year.
Providing this report goes
beyond the minimum re-
quirements of generally
accepted accounting prin-
ciples. The Village has
also complied with Gov-
ernmental Accounting
Standards Board stand-
ards as they have
changed the manner in
which post employment
benefits are presented
and disclosed. This is
the highest honor from
the Government Finance
Officers Association.
Village of Buffalo
Grove win’s 3rd
Consecutive
Distinguished
Budget Award
The Village achieved its
goal for the third year in a
row being awarded the
Distinguished Budget
Award for 2014. The
method for which the Vil-
lage of Buffalo Grove
budget is compiled takes
into account the guide-
lines provided by the Na-
tional Advisory Council on
State and Local Budget-
ing and the Government
Finance Officers Associa-
tion’s best practices on
budgeting. The award
shows the continued suc-
cess of Village staff to
produce a high quality
document that is fiscally
responsible. This is the
highest budgetary honor
that is bestowed on a
community from the Gov-
ernment Finance Officers
Association.
The Village relies on various tax sources as
they make up 84.97percent of the total revenue
into the Village. These revenues give the
Village the ability to provide essential public
services. The table at right shows the actual
amounts the Village collected for each revenue
source for governmental activities.
Miscellaneous income is mostly comprised of
one-time, extraordinary items and grant funds.
These funds are responsible for covering the
costs of the services the Village of Buffalo
Grove provides. Property and other taxes are
tied to the core services that the Village
provides. Proposed Legislation in the Illinois
General Assembly could reduce the amount of
revenue the Village is able to collect from
income tax, use tax, and other taxes the state
collects and distributes back to municipalities.
The Village allocates a significant amount of resources to core services such as Police, Fire,
and Public Works. The graphs on this page show how the Village has allocated its resources in
fiscal year 2014. The bar graph provides a visual representation of how many actual dollars
were spent on each function. Public Safety and Public Works combine for more than
$34,356,000. The general government expenditures are five times less than Public Safety and
Public Works. General Government includes: Office of the Village Manager, Finance Depart-
ment, Human Resources, and Building and Zoning. Capital outlay and debt service are also
tied into Public Safety and Public Works. Capital outlay was over 80 percent dedicated to non-
general government activities. All of the debt service is related to infrastructure which was ex-
pended by Public Works. When those amounts are allocated back to their uses the total ex-
penditures for Public Safety and Public Works tops $36,750,000. The Village of Buffalo Grove
expended over 84 percent of its resources on Public Safety and Public Works.
Property Taxes,
36.52%
Other Taxes,
48.45%
Licenses and
Permits, 0.74%
Intergovernment,
2.51%
Fines and
Forfitures, 4.15%Charges for
Services, 2.55%
Investment
Income, 0.14%
Miscellaneous,
4.94%
2014 Revenues by Source
‐
5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
25,000,000
General
Government
Public Safety Public Works Capital
Outlay
Debt Svc
6,468,700
21,952,614
12,404,718
1,347,276 1,325,396
2014 Expenditures by Function ($)
Revenue Source Amount ($)
Property Taxes 14,504,750
Other Taxes 19,240,365
Licenses and Permits 294,622
Intergovernmental 997,371
Fines and Forfeitures 1,647,364
Charges for Services 1,010,868
Investment Income 54,522
Miscellaneous 1,963,074
How are Village Resources Expended? Where Do Village Resources Come From?
Buffalo Grove Wins 1st PAFR Award
The Village of Buffalo Grove was awarded its first Popular
Annual Financial Reporting (PAFR) Award for the fiscal year
2013. This was the first year the Village prepared a PAFR. The
PAFR is a summary of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Re-
port (CAFR) issued by the Village and is meant to be a document
that can communicate the financial information of the Village to
those residents without a background in finance.
Budgeted Employment
by Department—2014
28.5
81
59.5
54.5
32.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Administration Police
Department
Fire
Department
Public Works Golf
Emergency
Management
Agency
The Village maintains an
emergency management
agency to provide re-
sponse to natural or man
-made disasters in our
community. Working
throughout the year and
behind the scenes, EMA
volunteers prepare for
worst case scenario
events, network with
other EMA local and re-
gional agencies and pro-
vide support services to
other events throughout
the Chicagoland area.
The Emergency Man-
agement Director is Dep-
uty Chief Mike Baker.
Reverse 911
Do you want the Village
to be able to contact you
in the event of a commu-
nity emergency? If so,
make sure to sign up
through the Village’s
web site:
http://www.vbg.org/830/
Everbridge-Citizen-
Portal
You can choose to receive
email, text and phone
alerts, and your contact
information will never be
sold or used for another
purpose.
Emerald Ash
Borer
Removal
Continues
The Village of Buffalo
Grove removed 2,000
more trees in 2014 and
planted 1,800. The
project is scheduled to
remove 6,000 infected
trees. The Village will
plant 3,100 trees in
2015 and 2,200 in
2016. When the project
concludes in the Fall of
2016 the Village will
have planted 7,300
trees of 29 different
species.
Buffalo Grove
Employees
Participate in
Annual Bike to
Work Week
From Left: Trustee Mike
Terson, Ofc. Mike Ro-
driguez, Deputy Police
Chief Mike Szos, Pur-
chasing Director Brett
Robinson, Community
Development Clerk Su-
san Levy, Village Plan-
ner Nicole Woods, Vil-
lage Manager Dane
Bragg, Ofc. Matt Mills
and Village Engineer
Darren Monico.
As a full service organization, the Village of Buffalo Grove pro-
vides critical water, wastewater, storm water, street, pedestrian
and pathway, forestry and grounds maintenance services.
Public Safety is a high priority for the Village and its residents. Comprising 65 percent of
Village employees, the Buffalo Grove Fire and Police Departments provide the highest
quality safety services to residents and businesses. Some of the programs offered by the
departments include:
Coffee with a Cop
Infant/Child Seat Safety Checks
Home Security Inspections
School Crossing Guards
School Resource Officers
Citizen & Junior Police
Academies
Bicycle Registration
Care Trak Program
Premise Alert Notifications
Police Social Worker
CPR Classes
School Fire Drills
Smoke Education Trailer
Open House
Block Parties
Station Tours
Public Safety Services Infrastructure and General Services
With a dedicated staff of 41 professional maintenance personnel, the Public Works De-
partment provides around the clock infrastructure services, ranging from maintenance of
Village facilities to providing clean, high-quality Lake Michigan water. Always there to
serve, our team of professionals strives to maintain a clean, attractive and high-functioning
network of streets, sewers, mains and paths for your enjoyment.
The Village also provides administrative support to its residents and departments through
its Building and Zoning, Finance, and Office of the Village Manager personnel. Compris-
ing 11 percent of the Village’s staffing complement, these professionals specialize in the
building and construction trades, architecture, technology, accounting, finance, technical
analysis and management fields.
Police Department Number
Physical Arrests 886
Parking Violations 3,634
Traffic Citations 8,349
DUI Arrests 154
Vehicle Crash Responses 1,429
Fire Department Number
Ambulance Calls 3,385
Service Calls 1,245
Fire Calls 821
Auto Aid/MABAS 1063
Did you know? The Village of Buffalo Grove Maintains 118.20
miles of streets and has resurfaced 22.53 miles in the last four years.
Equalized
Assessed
Valuation
2014 Village EAV
$1,414,244,088
Total EAV
Per Capita
$33,683
Village of Buffalo
Grove holds high-
est Bond Rating
attainable
Moody’s Investor Ser-
vices currently recogniz-
es the Village as Aaa
bond rated for its exist-
ing debt. The rating by
Moody’s was assigned in
2012. The Village is
also rated AAA by
Standard & Poor’s . The
AAA rating was last af-
firmed in 2010.
Village of Buffalo
Grove EAV increas-
es for the first time
since 2009
The Villages EAV in-
creased from
$1,417,116,013 in 2013
to $1,425,060,788 in
2014. This is the first
increase in EAV since
2009. The increase of
just over one half per-
cent is an indicator that
Assessed Property Val-
ues in the Village are
rebounding from the re-
cent recession and
should continue that
trend.
More commonly referred to as
EAV, is the ratio of the total value
of real estate compared to all oth-
er properties in the jurisdiction of
the government, which the gov-
ernment has set as a basis for
levying taxes.
EAV calculations are different for
residential and commercial prop-
erties. In addition, Cook and Lake
Counties use differing formulas to
establish EAV.
Buffalo Grove By the Numbers
Top Ten Real Estate
Tax Payers
Equalized
Assessed
Valuation ($)
Chevy Chase Business Park Ltd. 22,706,965
Penobscot Management 10,986,298
Hamilton Partners 10,187,546
Millbrook 9,032,568
REXAM Consumer Plastics 8,472,433
MFREVF - Windbrooke LLP 8,261,833
Riverwalk South LLC 8,206,726
Arthur J. Rodger and Co 7,625,134
Riverwalk II LLC 7,400,417
Aptakisic Creek Corp Park LLC 7,831,429
Tax Collection
By Source Property 14,554,564
Sales & Home Rule 8,455,972
Income & Use 4,104,736
Telecommunication 1,679,653
Utility 2,819,427
Property Transfer 790,819
Other 1,113,831
Total 33,519,002
Tax Type Amount ($)
General
Government
11%
Public Safety
41%
Public Works
27%
Interest
1%
Water & Sewer
14%
Refuse
Service
1%Golf Courses
5%
Use of Taxes
By Function
Fund Assets Liabilities Fund
Balance
Governmental Funds
Major
General 39,311,714 17,864,822 21,446,892
Facilities Development 379,621 2,678,4361 (2,298,810)
Non-Major
Motor Fuel 1,860,640 186,852 1,673,788
Metra Parking Lot 68,554 5,632 62,922
Debt Service 604,813 630,299 (25,468)
Street Maintenance 865,632 119,187 746,445
Enterprise Funds
Major
Water & Sewer 39,125,187 1,782,720 37,342,467
Arboretum Golf Club 7,7773,294 132,015 7,641,279
Non-Major
Buffalo Grove Golf Club 1,157,252 116,122 1,041,130
Refuse 835,055 0 835,055
Fiduciary Funds
Pension Trusts 105,710,565 300,170 105,411,170
Agency 408,569 530,339 (121,770)
TOTAL 268,100,896 48,452,519 173,755,100
2014 Balance Sheet ($)
Capital Assets by Category
Asset/Fund Governmental Enterprise Total
Land 35,963,844 6,198,514 42,162,358
Construction in Progress 472,361 0 472,361
Buildings 22,722,897 10,284,359 33,007,256
Land Improvements 3,179,774 1,966,488 5,146,262
Equipment/Vehicles 12,954,041 94,510 13,048,551
TOTAL 98,943,527 48,874,788 147,818,315
Streets & Storm Sewers 56,706,008 0 56,706,008
Water & Sewer System 0 60,899,559 60,889,559
LESS: Accumulated De-
preciation
(76,735,943) (43,167,408) (119,903,351)
By The Numbers:
Village of Buffalo
Grove Balance
Sheet
The Village of Buffalo
Grove carries $5.53 of
assets for every dollar of
liability. The top three
funds are the Pension
Trust Funds, Water and
Sewer Fund, and the
General Fund.
Major Funds account for
94 percent of the fund
balance while minor funds
account for 4 percent, net
of the Fiduciary Funds.
Capital Asset
Values: What are
the Villages most
valuable assets?
The Village’s infrastructure
and other capital assets
are main contributors to
the Water and Sewer
Fund and the General
Fund balances. The
Village’s water and sewer
system is the most
valuable capital asset.
The Village’s streets and
storm sewers are a very
close second. The third
highest is land. These
three asset categories
make up sixty percent of
the capital assets, before
depreciation.
For every one hundred dollars Lake County residents pay in property taxes:
- The Village of Buffalo Grove collects $9.90
- School Districts 102, 125, and 532 collect $71.41
- Lake County, Forest Preserve, Buffalo Grove Park District, Vernon Area
Public Library, and Townships collect $18.69
For every one hundred dollars Cook County residents pay in property taxes:
- The Village of Buffalo Grove collects $10.92
- School Districts 21, 214, and 512 collect $72.57
- Cook County, Forest Preserve, Buffalo Grove Park District, Indian Trails Public
Library, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and
Townships collect $16.52
$100 of Property Taxes Collected—Lake County $100 of Property Taxes Collected—Cook County
Village of Buffalo
Grove Total Debt
Outstanding 4th
Smallest Amongst All
Taxing Districts in
Cook and Lake
County
The Village of Buffalo Grove,
as of 12/31/14 has
outstanding debt of
$10,550,000, which is the 4th
smallest of all taxing bodies.
The following round out the
five smallest debt issuers:
School Dist 96 - $720,000
School Dist 103 - $2,515,000
School Dist 102 - $3,780,000
Village of BG - $10,550,000
Wheeling Park Dist -
$12,770,000
The top five most indebted
taxing bodies on the tax bills
of residents are:
Cook County -
$3,466,835,000
Metropolitan Water Reclama-
tion District of Greater
Chicago - $2,642,374,000
Lake County Forest Preserve
Dist - $274,450,000
Cook County Forest Preserve
Dist - $172,535,000
Community College Dist 512 -
$170,935,000
All of the five largest indebted
taxing bodies share those
outstanding debt figures
among many other
communities. Please refer to
the statistical section of the
CAFR for a full list of
indebtedness of all agencies
on your tax bill as well as the
portions assessed to the
Village of Buffalo Grove.