Despite a somewhat on-again, off-again economy, one things remains constant in Bradley and that is sales tax income.

The retail hub of Kankakee County continues to cash in on that status and saw Fiscal Year 2025 sales tax within the village hitting $18.1 million, just a touch above the $18 million of Fiscal Year 2024.

Rob Romo, Bradley’s finance director, said with nine months completed of the current fiscal year the village is showing growth within its sales tax line item. Romo is anticipating sales tax revenues in FY2026 to hit $20 million.

The village also had a good situation in the past fiscal year. The village was able to apply $5 million toward a variety of infrastructure updates and pay those with cash rather than needing to leaning on government borrowing through bonds to fund those upgrades.

And, the best part of that situation, Mayor Mike Watson noted after the board meeting is the village had a fund balance – or a reserve cash balance – of $16.4 million.

“Bradley is in great shape,” Watson simply stated after the audit was presented by Brad Porter, a principal with the Naperville-based accounting firm of Lauterbach & Amen.

The firm has provided annual Bradley audits since 2018.

So what has caused Bradley’s sales tax revenues to likely come in about $2 million ahead of the previous two years?

Watson and Romo state it is the 315 Bradley Sports Park, located immediately east of the Bradley Commons Shopping Center along Bradley Boulevard.

“It is due to the [youth] baseball complex,” Romo said. “It is about the out-of-town guest coming here, eating at our restaurants and staying in our hotels. That has been the plan.”

The administration, which operates with an $20-million budget, is pleased with the fact that it has nearly one full year of operating cushion a $16-million surplus while at the same time rebating about $2-million to village taxpayers.

The 2026 rebate program, Watson noted during the meeting, concludes March 31.

So with a clean audit, Bradley leadership remains committed to its program which enters a very key year in 2026 with the planned groundbreaking of its $90-million waterpark near Northfield Square mall.

The waterpark is being built in conjunction with an agreement with California-based toy manufacturer, Mattel Corp.