Downers Grove finances ‘a long ways away from any sense of normal’

Downers Grove continues to experience decreases in revenue because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Village Council was briefed on the village’s COVID-19 financial response plan during its Jan. 12 meeting.

Village Manager Dave Fieldman highlighted in the presentation how the village’s sales, home-rule sales, food and beverage and hotel taxes performed through October and/or November.

“Obviously, the pandemic is significantly negatively impacting village revenue sources and increasing our expenses,” Fieldman said.

Downers Grove’s sales tax revenue fell by 3.5% in March and April of 2020 compared with the previous year.

Fieldman said the village saw “strong recovery” shortly thereafter before experiencing a decrease by a little more than $475,000, or 4.5%, during October.

“We still have to worry about the performance of sales tax in November and December with restaurant and retail activities curtailed by COVID mitigation regulations,” Fieldman said.

The village will have data on sales tax revenue for November and December in the next 60 to 90 days, Fieldman said.

Downers Grove typically receives about 20% of its total sales tax revenue in November and December, officials said.

The village’s home-rule sales tax revenue is down by a little more than $171,000, or 11%, through October 2020 compared with the previous year. Fieldman said home-rule sales tax revenue did not experience as strong a recovery as the village’s sales tax revenue.

The village’s food and beverage tax revenue is down by about $300,000, or 16%, through November.

Downers Grove’s hotel tax revenue fell by a little more than $600,000, or 66%, through November.

Fieldman said this revenue source saw “very little recovery” in April and May, followed by a small uptick in July and a general decline in performance through November.

The village’s COVID-19 financial response plan originally was presented to the council in April, officials said.

“There’s a little bit of lag in reporting of some of our key revenues,” Fieldman said.

Mayor Bob Barnett said the village is “nowhere near out of the woods” in navigating the economic crisis prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re not even going to know what 2020 really looked like until probably March or April [of 2021,]” Barnett said.

The village will continue to monitor revenue projections throughout this year.

“We’re a long ways away from any sense of normal,” Barnett said.