The Niles village board voted April 27 to grant employees a three percent salary raise, while at the same time raising taxes and fees.

The three percent raise would come in addition to another salary increase some employees receive, called a step increase, for longevity on the job.

The board voted to impose an average $30 property tax increase per household, raise the gasoline tax by 2.5 cents per gallon, raise vehicle sticker fees and initiate a membership fee for the Senior Center, which is currently free.

The board had previously discussed all of the measures—except for raising the employee salaries—at length during two recent budget hearings.

It is attempting to close a budget gap that originally hovered at $4.8 million for the fiscal year that started May 1, 2010. The deficit came about because consumer spending is down due to the recession, and consequently the sales tax revenue the village took in from its many retail stores was much lower than usual.

Through the budget hearings and discussion, the board has trimmed the deficit to $1.8 million by increasing taxes and fees and cutting services. Tuesday's vote simply put some of those measures into force.

At previous budget hearings, trustees, and even some residents, noted that Niles had been charging lower fees for some services than many surrounding villages, and no residents addressed the board to oppose the proposed increases in the Senior Center fees, the liquor license fees, the gas tax, the vehicle sticker fees or water rates. Nor did anyone speak out at hearings or meetings to oppose the measure which would, in effect, raise property taxes an average of $30 per household.

Residents only spoke out to oppose cuts in Niles Family Services and the Niles Free Bus. The board has not yet voted on those two proposed cuts.

When the mayor invited residents to comment, resident Rosemary Palicki said the board had said nothing up until then about employee salary increases.

“At a time when this budget has been cut back, I feel this is a loss for the public,” she commented.

All the trustees except Louella Preston voted for the employee salary increase.

“In this economy I don't think it was appropriate. I'm not saying they shouldn't get any raise, but I thought 3 percent was too high,” Preston said later, adding that Niles gave employees raises last year and this year, while other many other nearby municipalities did not give raises last year.

However, trustee Joe LoVerde said the vote was on whether non-union employees, such as department heads and clerical workers, should get raises. Since they are not represented by a union, he said, the village board is their representation.

“I believe the board should be a voice for those people to fight for what's fair,” he said. “Now having said that, it's our responsibility as leaders to make sure we can fund that properly.”

Even though the board voted to raise salaries by 3 percent, it had decided in the budget hearings to trim the $25 million payroll by $900,000, to $24.1 million.

LoVerde said that would probably happen through a combination of early retirement offers and layouts.

Preston said the board would probably not have specifics on that at its May 25 meeting, but probably would by June or Jully.