Comment In The Spotlight!

Thanks to our faithful PRU readers for your patience today -- what follows is a bit long and dry but we feel it's worth your time.



A commenter asked on our post from yesterday, what the Illinois Statutes and Park Ridge Municiple codes say in relation to the Mayor's job and the City budget. We thought we would highlight the question and offer answers in a post for today.

The Illinois statute which addresses the forms of municipal governments and the roles of the corporate authorities and governing body is 65 ILCS and is titled "Municipalities." By the by, for those who may not know, ILCS stands for Illinois Compiled Statutes.

65 ILCS discusses the structure and form of City government. In the statute, you will find --

"Sec. 3.1‑40‑30. Mayor presides. The mayor shall preside at all meetings of the city council. Except as provided in Articles 4 and 5 of this Code, the mayor shall not vote on any ordinance, resolution, or motion except the following: (i) where the vote of the aldermen has resulted in a tie; (ii) where one‑half of the aldermen elected have voted in favor of an ordinance, resolution, or motion even though there is no tie vote; or (iii) where a vote greater than a majority of the corporate authorities is required by this Code or an ordinance to adopt an ordinance, resolution, or motion. Nothing in this Section shall deprive an acting mayor or mayor pro tem from voting in the capacity as alderman, but he or she shall not be entitled to another vote in the capacity as acting mayor or mayor pro tem."

The above is likely one of the sources the Park Ridge City Attorney was referencing when he said Illinois law defines "corporate authorities" as including the Mayor, when the Park Ridge City Council was discussing the issue of supermajority voting to override denials by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

65 ILCS also says --

"Sec. 3.1‑40‑40. Vote required. The passage of all ordinances for whatever purpose, and of any resolution or motion (i) to create any liability against a city or (ii) for the expenditure or appropriation of its money shall require the concurrence of a majority of all members then holding office on the city council, including the mayor, unless otherwise expressly provided by this Code or any other Act governing the passage of any ordinance, resolution, or motion."

and --

"Sec. 3.1‑40‑45. Ordinances; approval; veto. All resolutions and motions (i) that create any liability against a city, (ii) that provide for the expenditure or appropriation of its money, or (iii) to sell any city or school property, and all ordinances, passed by the city council shall be deposited with the city clerk. Except as provided in Articles 4 and 5 of this Code, if the mayor approves an ordinance or resolution, the mayor shall sign it. Those ordinances, resolutions, and motions which the mayor disapproves shall be returned to the city council, with the mayor's written objections, at the next regular meeting of the city council occurring not less than 5 days after their passage. The mayor may disapprove of any one or more sums appropriated in any ordinance, resolution, or motion making an appropriation, and, if so, the remainder shall be effective. However, the mayor may disapprove entirely of an ordinance, resolution, or motion making an appropriation. If the mayor fails to return any ordinance or any specified resolution or motion with his written objections within the designated time, it shall become effective despite the absence of the mayor's signature."

Succinctly -- in terms of Mayor Schmidtzkrieg's role on the issue of the City budget, the Mayor followed the minimum of what the Illinois statute demands -- opting to veto the budget in total.

Another Illinois Compiled Statute, 50 ILCS which is titled "Illinois Municipal Budget Law," also addresses elected officials as --

"(2) "Governing body" means the corporate authorities, body, or other officer of the municipality authorized by law to raise revenue, appropriate funds, or levy taxes for the operation and maintenance thereof."

Again the governing body is defined in the Illinois Statute as being the corporate authorities, and the rest of the statute discusses the form and timing of passage of municipal budgets.

In the Park Ridge Municipal Code, Article 2, Chapter 9 is titled "Budget Policy." The municipal code also sets out the roles of city staff and elected officials -- sections 2-9-2 and 2-9-3 establish the powers and duties of the city manager regarding the budget. Section 2-9-4 is titled "Passage of Annual Budget, Effect" and says --

"Passage of the annual budget by the corporate authorities shall be in lieu of passage of an appropriation ordinance. The annual budget need not be published except in a manner provided in Section 2-8-8 herein. The annual budget shall be adopted by the corporate authorities before the beginning of the fiscal year to which it applies. Subsequent to the passage of the budget, an ordinance shall establish the property tax assessment provided for in the approved budget."

The Park Ridge City Council Policy Manual -- which does not appear to have been included on the City's new $19,500 website*** -- discusses the Mayor's veto authority and reiterates the Illinois statutes.

What all of the above seems to assume is cooperation and effort on the part of the corporate authorities. Nothing in any of the codes prevents the Mayor from participating in discussion and debate. Nor is the Mayor precluded from enumerating his preference for disapproving of "any one or more sums appropriated in any ordinance."

The PRU Crew still believes Mayor Schmidtzkrieg would have served himself and the community better if he'd chosen to exercise his right to line item vetoes. The Mayor will now have to veto individual spending ordinances as they come before the Council, and those spending ordinances aren't likely to be enough to get the budget to the balanced condition the Mayor insisted he preferred. And we expect the Council will be even less inclined to cooperate with the Mayor, moooving forward.

*** now available on the City website.