Mayor Steven Landek recently announced that the Village of Bridgeview’s bond rating was upgraded by FitchRatings after another successful fiscal year. The Village ended the 2024 budget year with a surplus, highlighting that Bridgeview is on the right track to maintain and improve upon a sound financial position. “As always, it’s great news to share with the residents and taxpayers that our expenses were less than revenues. 2024 marks the 7th year in a row that we have concluded our fiscal year with either a break-even balance or a cash surplus,” said Mayor Landek. “As a result of good fiscal management, our bond rating has been upgraded, further improving our financial position.”
Preliminary reports for 2024 show that monthly bills, pension payments, and bond payments are all paid up-to-date and on time, with nothing late or due. All projects for municipal upgrades, from water line replacement, water tank upgrades, fencing, vehicle purchases, and our street program continue to be budgeted for and can be paid for without borrowing any money.
The pandemic that began at the very end of 2019 was tough on our state and our community, but our monetary resiliency stood strong. We made significant changes to prepare for the next economic downturn after the recession of 2008 without having to do any borrowing, and this helped us weather the storm. The most important feature of our financial plan has been the creation of our “rainy day fund.” Over the past 8 years we have tightened expenses and made the hard choices to cut the budget. That means we live within our means and use cash to pay our bills.
This tough stance has produced great results, and the “rainy day fund” of several million dollars is now generating investment income for our community. Mayor Landek also stated, “Bridgeview remains firmly on the path to maintaining a strong financial position in 2025. Looking forward to 2030, in the next 5 years a large portion of debt will be paid while holding the line on property taxes and delivering the great service Bridgeview is known for!”