Illinois has gone seven and a half months without a state budget. It’s spending at levels based on the old higher income tax rate. At this pace, Illinois is staring at a $6 billion deficit by the end of this fiscal year, again without a budget.

That makes what’s happening in Moline worth noting.

Mayor Scott Raes delivered his State of the City Address earlier this month indicating he expects moline to wind up with a $1.7  million surplus this year on a budget of $153 million.

However, all is not perfect in the city.

Some big projects Moline has been pushing for find themselves on hold because of circumstances beyond its control.

Those would be the expansion of John Deere Road and that much ballyhooed AMTRAK service to Chicago.

You can bet you know what circumstances beyond the city’s control are behind the delays — no budget in Illinois.

Moline Mayor Scott Raes discussed these developments during an appearance on 4 the Record.

It turns out the budget surplus was a lucky circumstance.

“We do a lot of strategic planning and we always come in with a balanced budget,” said Moline Mayor Scott Raes. “We control our spending and our revenues this year happen to be above and beyond what we expected, which was a surprise.”

Moline City Council already decided to put the extra money into fixing residential streets. That’s more money than the city initially allocated for them. City planners are still determining which streets will see work.

“We still have a long way to go, but it’s a start,” Raes said.

One project people talk about with great anticipation is the AMTRAK line to Chicago. We know the construction on the station is happening. The grand plans for the hotel are taking shape. Federal money is there from a TIGER grant.

But, work on the tracks themselves hasn’t happened because it’s up to the state and that money’s on hold without a budget. 

This project is already behind schedule. So far, the state has reimbursed Moline for work it’s done in conjunction with the AMTRAK line.

“It does get frustrating because there are three players in this project,” Raes said. “One of the things we’re approaching now is we have to build the platform out to meet the cars and until we know the height of the tracks, we don’t know where to go.”

During Mayor Raes State of the City Address in early February, Raes and his staff expressed that the timeline for  service to Chicago would start in early 2017.

Raes isn’t that confident in that goal based on what’s going on in Springfield.

“I think it will be quite a challenge to hit the 2017 although that’s certainly what we’re hoping for,” Raes said. “But, when you look realistically at where the project’s at, I think that would be a stretch.”

Despite the delays and the unprecedented budget impasse for Illinois, Mayor Raes doesn’t see the state walking away from the project completely. He says the Illinois Department of Transportation is on board and its leaders are trying to work with the governor and lawmakers to make sure AMTRAK and other transportation projects move forward.

“We can’t wait,” Raes said. “I think it will be a great revenue source.”