Morton Mayor Norm Durflinger offered a list of village-employee suggestions to help cut costs in the midst of the village's expected $2.7 million general fund deficit.

Early last year, village department heads were asked to seek ways to cut costs in their respective departments in hopes of curtailing budget deficiencies, which village officials have expected since 2008.

During Monday night's village board meeting, Durflinger requested all department heads finish their budgets with a zero increase in salaries and asked that they delay anything they can to help get through the recession.

He also released a 22-point list of potential cost-reducing measures proposed by village employees:

• Make administrative assistant a part time position
• Eliminate mosquito abatement
• Mow village properties less often (as well as road ditches)
• Stop plowing cul-de-sacs and dead ends on O.T. and alleys
• Eliminate window washers and exterminators
• Chip seal lower-volume residential streets
• Eliminate spraying for weeds in lawns around village property
• Reduce painting of streets/roads from every year to every other year
• Eliminate weed spraying along streets and curb and gutter twice a year
• Let citizens pay for own landscape waste disposal twice a year
• Let citizens pay for own replacement of curb and gutter in front of private driveways
• Reduce janitor services at police department
• Increase fees on building permits, zoning, planning, etc.
• Enforce truck route ordinance — write tickets
• Eliminate assistant police chief position
• Keep police cars longer
• Don't install lawn irrigation system at new firehouse
• Eliminate subsidies to school and park districts: parking spots, high school resource officer, paying park district for water tower property
• Curtail fertilizing and weed spraying at police station
• Enforce ordinances — write parking tickets
• Run natural gas to nearby farmers who own corn dryers
• One paramedic (rather than two) per ambulance; other should be EMT-B or EMT-I

Additionally, there is mention of educating the public about the necessity of home rule or a one cent sales tax or gasoline tax. 

"Get serious, garner local heroes to champion (the) cause, explain costs of police, fire, paramedics, quality of life in Morton versus real estate tax paid," the suggestion proposes.
 

Read more in Wednesday's edition of the Morton Times-News. Nathan Domenighini can be reached at ndomenighini@timestoday.com.