Tinley Park’s new budget, approved Tuesday by the Village Board, earmarks millions for an outdoor plaza in the village’s downtown while anticipating a slight increase in overall sales tax revenue.

Revenue for the General Fund, which pays for many village services, is estimated to be $71.5 million in the fiscal year that starts May 1, compared with $72.2 million for the budget year that will end this month.

In capital spending, the budget calls for spending $13.3 million on Harmony Square, an outdoor plaza directly north of the Oak Park Avenue Metra station.

Tinley Park officials recently announced they had finalized acquiring land needed for the project.

The village anticipates sales tax revenue, including the village’s home-rule sales tax, rising to $26.5 million, compared with estimated revenue of $25.8 million this year.

Revenue from video gambling is expected to be flat year over year at $1 million, and revenue from the village’s hotel/motel tax is expected to be unchanged, at $2 million.

The village estimated fees from customers of village-owned Metra rail parking lots this year was $190,000, but the actual number will be $330,000, showing commuter traffic is returning following the worst of the pandemic. The village estimates commuter lot revenue in the new budget at $287,000.

Harmony Square is anticipated to host events throughout the year, including music, and is 1.6 acres and generally bounded by 172nd Street on the north, North Street to the south, 67th Avenue on the east and Oak Park Avenue on the west.

It will have a concert stage and artificial turf lawn, according to the village.

The Village Board approved last month hiring Lakota Group for design services for the plaza, R.C. Wegman as construction manager, and both Robinson Engineering and Christopher B. Burke Engineering for engineering services, with estimated fees of just under $690,000 for the firms’ work.

The plaza is part of the Main Street North tax increment financing district, with land acquisition costs in this budget year of $1.3 million, compared with $67,000 for the TIF district.

Total capital spending in the new budget is estimated at $41.2 million, including the proposed outlay for Harmony Square, compared with spending of $7 million this year.

Allocating capital spending doesn’t mean that is how much will actually be spent, with some projects carried over from the prior budget year and some requests pushed into the next year.

Other capital spending in the new budget includes $2.4 million for a helicopter landing pad off 183rd Street near the Fire Department’s training facility.

The village said it has received money from the state’s Rebuild Illinois capital fund for the work, which includes pavement reconstruction, lighting and security gates for the landing pad.

Other capital spending includes $775,000 for sidewalk improvements, compared with actual spending of $45,000 this budget year for sidewalks, and $877,000 for an aerial ladder truck for the Fire Department, according to the budget.

Estimated spending for the Fire Department is pegged at $7.8 million, compared with $6.1 million this year.

Spending for police is planned at $19.6 million next year, compared with $17.5 million this year, with much of the increase due to higher salaries and benefits.

Outlays in the village’s water fund, supported for the most part by water and sewer fees, total $14.7 million in the new budget compared with $13.4 million this year.

Tinley Park and other suburbs that buy Lake Michigan water through Oak Lawn are contributing to the costs of a major overhaul of the water distribution system, with customers paying part of the debt extended for the work.

Tinley Park estimates that its debt service contribution in the coming budget year will be $2.3 million compared with $1.3 million this year.

mnolan@tribpub.com