Higher Taxes Coming to Crest Hill

At the last work session concerning the City budget at the end of June, the budget as it stood after all the adjustments made during the weeks of hearings was presented.  Mayor Soliman then followed with questions of the council members regarding their opinions on various budget issues.  The final budget was approximately $300,000 in deficit even after every fix was made.

The Mayor kicked off the questions by asking each Council member individually if they would support increasing the utility tax on electricity and natural gas or the sales tax.  The City Administrator and the Mayor discussed the rates in surrounding communities to justify that Crest Hill is below average in taxes and should catch up.  The majority of Council members supported doubling the utility tax to bring in a little of $100,000 of additional revenue annually.  This will be enacted in the near future since the Mayor got the support he needed to raise it.  The Council was also open to raising the sales tax, but recognized that it would be years before any additional revenue would be seen, since the tax would need to be approved by the voters and they would need to do a long educational campaign before there would be any chance of getting it passed at referendum.

The Mayor then asked each member if they were comfortable with the budget being in deficit as it stood.  A number were comfortable with it either because they felt that it was the best that could be done under the current circumstances, felt that a great effort had been made and it was much better than it could have been, or recognized that a large part of the deficit is due to one time costs due to switching insurance.  Others were uncomfortable with it, but were challenged by the Mayor and council members who pointed out that there had already been weeks of discussion and that a budget had to get passed.  There seemed to be an attitude of this is the best that we could come up with so everyone should be comfortable with it.

The final question each alderman was asked was if they had any ideas to fix the budget.  A number of members advocated tightening on small expenses such as costs of conferences,  the purchasing coffee and disposable cups for City Hall, and the Mayor's gas and petty cash expenditures.  These items would not make a huge dent in the budget, but were looked at as every penny counts and making sure the Council was feeling some of the pain as well as the city staff.  Alderman Sternisha spoke on some of the suggestions he has made to the Council early on in the hearings regarding freezing salaries and not hiring more employees, but he did not have the whole list because the Council had not been expecting this line of questioning at this particular budget hearing.  Alderman Convery for some reason decided to attack Sternihsa's suggestion of not hiring more employees and kept asking him to be specific as to who not to hire.  Convery did not seem to grasp the idea that not hiring any additional employees did not mean to firing recently hired employees, but instead meant that from that point forward not hiring any more.  The Treasurer also spoke on some of his ideas for furlough days for city employees and creating an annual business license as opposed to the current license that is good forever.  He was pointing out that Menard's paid $25 for a business license that is good forever, while many households pay more than that each year just to get city vehicle stickers.  The City Clerk got quite upset at this since her office would have to issue the permits and she had not been consulted.

The Mayor gave everyone an insight into his thinking just in the order of the questions and how he presented them.  His first thought was to raise taxes, then to gauge comfort with being in deficit, and lastly to looking for other solutions.  This city needs leadership who put finding solutions and alternatives first and put raising taxes as last resort.  Unfortunately, Mayor Soliman looks to our pocketbooks first and makes it clear that higher taxes come before all else.

Quality and Cost of Police Improvements

At the October 19 City Council meeting there was quite a bit of discussion of the quality and cost of our police department during the public comments portion of the meeting.  It began with a citizen questioning the need for two Deputy Chiefs in Crest Hill when Joliet manages a much larger police force with only one.  While the resident definitely presented himself poorly through his combative attitude, his point was a valid one that deserved a better response.  The following citizens who addressed Council spoke well of the quality of the police force.  Alderman Oberlin and Mayor Soliman used these examples to show that the police department is headed in the right direction.  However this is not the right way to determine if the right moves are being made to improve the police force.  Quality and cost must be looked at together.

Too often we look at public services and desire only the best and do not care what it costs because we each only pay a small share of the cost.  There is also the other side that looks only at costs regardless of quality because they do not want to spend another cent on taxes.  In our personal lives we do not act these ways, we find a balance between cost and quality.  We seek the best value.  Sure the BMW would be a better quality car and a used Datsun would mean spending a lot less, but most of us find something in between that will not bankrupt us but will get us where we are going reliably.  Why can our elected officials and citizens not have this view more often?

A good example of this is the promotion of two Deputy Chiefs.  City officials pointed out that these were not new employees, but two Lieutenants who were promoted and that their old positions were vacated.  Of course, they were given pay raises because they were promoted.  What was not addressed was why they needed to be promoted.  What do they do that they could not do as Lieutenants?  What special abilities and skills did they gain the day that they were promoted that they did not have the day before?  Are they actually worth a cent more than they were previously?  These two officers are better off with new titles and larger paychecks, but how are the citizens of Crest Hill any better off than if we had given them new duties without new titles and raises?

The Mayor and City Council owe the citizens an explanation of the costs and results they are aiming for as they improve the police department.  How much are we planning to spend each of the next 5 years with raises, promotions, and new hires?  This extra cost will translate into how many additional hours of patrol time?  How many additional school visits?  What our our goals for response times?  What are our goals as far as crime rate reductions and successful investigations?  What are the results if the Chief and his officers do not meet these standards if and when our Council takes the responsibility to set them?  Do we just keep giving raises and continuing to employ them regardless of quality or do we make their employment and raises contingent on results?

If you want to see a higher quality police department without breaking the bank, you need to control costs.  The best way to control costs is to make sure that each dollar gets the best value.  It is not about spending as few dollars as possible, but spending each dollar as wisely as possible.  A City Council that spends wisely will get far better results than one that either spends lavishly for quality or cuts to the bone to limit taxes.

TIF District Follow-Up

The work session tonight did not shed much additional light on the proposed TIF district.  The Mayor introduced the idea of TIF districts by saying that he has seen them used by surrounding communities and that there are consultants who are willing to meet with the city without charge to discuss the matter.  No indication was given of what areas were being considered for inclusion in a TIF district.  A work session is planned for next month when consultants will come and discuss TIF districts in greater detail.  The superintendents of both elementary school districts were invited to tonight's meeting and have asked to continue to be involved in all discussions.  This is an important step since TIF districts can have significant impacts upon the schools.  One citizen stood up to voice his opposition to TIF districts that are used improperly because of the tax impacts that they can have on the rest of the city.  This was a very healthy start to the discussions of a TIF district even if no specifics were offered.  I hope that the Council keeps the schools as well as the citizens involved and do not just listen to the consultants who have a financial interest in creating TIF districts.  As more information becomes available, I will share it as well as giving my analysis of any proposals.

TIF District Under Consideration

The City Council will be discussing Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts at tonight's work session.  TIF districts are a tool that has been used by cities to promote economic development of depressed areas.  Such districts are not without controversy though because the benefits they provide come at a cost to other areas and taxing bodies.

A TIF district is a defined area encompassing all the properties within the boundaries that are created for it.  The amount of property taxes received by each of the taxing bodies is frozen for 23 years.  Over those years as the property values increase, the taxes paid also increase; but the increased amount is paid to the city and goes to a designated TIF fund.  That increased amount is the tax increment.  This money is then used to pay for improvements within the TIF district that are meant to attract new development to the TIF district.  These improvements can be anything from streetscaping to parking garages to even providing incentives directly to businesses.  The funds are not supposed to pay for ordinary operating expenses such as filling potholes, plowing streets, or providing police protection.  The area encompassed within a TIF district are meant to be properties that are currently blighted and are not reasonably expected to be able to be improved otherwise.

Many cities have used TIF districts to create new economic development and have seen them as very useful tools.  They feel that without the TIF districts redevelopment of blighted areas would not have been possible.  TIF districts are able to provide large amounts of money for redevelopment especially in cases where the improvements are put in early on using borrowed money and then paid back over the 23 years as the increased tax increment dollars are collected.  This of course exposes the city to the risk that the increase is not sufficient to pay back the debt.

TIF districts are opposed by some because of the effect they can have on other taxing bodies, their long life, and their misuse in some cities.  The amount that other taxing bodies receive in property taxes from a TIF district are frozen for 23 years.  The reasoning behind this is that these are blighted properties that would not otherwise have increased in value if not for the improvements.  However, this is a false notion because one would be hard pressed to find any property in this area, even the most blighted, that is today paying less in taxes than they were in 1986.  A rising tide lifts all boats.  This means that the schools, parks, and fire districts are losing out on revenue they otherwise would have collected even if no new development had happened. 

TIF districts can also create new costs for other taxing bodies that did not previously exist.  If a TIF district is developed to include condos and other residential uses in an area that previously had none there are no more students to be educated, but no additional funds to pay for that education.  The rest of the taxpayers outside of the TIF district would have to pick up that cost.  The same would be true of increased need for policing if the TIF contained additional commercial uses such as bars, restaurants, and shopping.  Many proponents of TIF districts claim that they do not increase anyone's taxes.  However, the additional costs created that cannot be paid using TIF funds must be paid for by someone and that someone will be all the taxpayers outside of the TIF district.

The third concern raised is the misuse of TIF districts.  They are meant for blighted and depressed areas that would not otherwise be able to be redeveloped into a higher, better use.  There are certainly cities that have found areas that this applies to.  However, others have taken areas that are already improving and used TIF districts to speed the process along or to be able to provide even greater economic incentives to developers.  TIF districts were not meant to be used as a common economic development tool in all situations, they are instead meant for specific circumstances.  This is a concern because of the costs that TIF districts can impose upon other taxing bodies and on the taxpayers.  That cost may be worthwhile if it leads to development that would not otherwise be possible, but it would be a high price to pay for development that could have been brought about by other means.

I have been involved in the creation and administration of TIF districts in other cities and have seen the potential benefits they offer as well as the problems they create.  Before the city creates on, it is important that we all are educated and informed.  This means that we need to know exactly what properties will be included, what the money will be spent on, if financial incentives are being given to businesses, and what the impact on the schools and other taxing bodies will be.  Following tonight's work session, I will post details of what is being proposed by the city as well as my own analysis of the information presented.

A New Tax and Lack of Citizen Involvement

At the July 7th, 2008 City Council meeting several citizens addressed the Council to ask about the proposed Utility Tax and specifically why more public participation was not sought. The Mayor and Council answered these questions with resounding silence. The Mayor is not one to let any comment go without a response even if his only response is to be dismissive to the citizens of Crest Hill. This time he and the other members of the Council sat silent because the only response that could have been given was that they did not want citizens to participate in the consideration of this new tax. Their hope is that the tax is silently implemented and no one notices.

This is simply the wrong attitude for our elected officials to have. The public deserves to be included in the making of all decisions, especially the enactment of a new tax. Regardless of how badly the city needs the revenue or how much better this new tax might be than the alternatives, the public still deserves to be engaged. Tell us why this tax is needed, tell us what other options are out there, listen to our opinions, solicit our ideas for alternatives, and then make an informed decision and do what you believe is best for Crest Hill and its residents. That is all I and many of my fellow citizens ask of our Mayor and City Council.

Newest Threat to Cottonwood Farm

The Crest Hill city council tonight held a work session to look at ways in which to raise more revenue. They discussed many item at length including higher fines, fees, and utility taxes. One of the taxes they are looking at is expanding the amusement tax to cover Cottonwood Farm's Halooween celebration.

For the past several years, Crest Hill has been after Cottonwood Farm for a variety of issues. I do not know when or why they decided that they had it out for this long time local business. No other Crest Hill business advertises as widely as they do and makes an effort to bring people from as large an area to Crest Hill as they do. From billboards in Chicago to crop images that are seen by passing airplanes. This business does more to bring attention to Crest Hill than any other business. Yet, the Mayor and his allies target this business more so than any other in the city.

How is it that the business they want to drive away is a farm that provides entertainment, greenspace, advertising, and tax revenues to the city while being a good neighbor and citizen; while thet happily allow preditory payday loan stores proliferate?

I think it is time to demand some answers and to recoginize that this is not an attempt to raise revenue, but is just the lastest assault on this particular business.

Forum for New Libraries

On Thursday, March 6, the Des Plaines Valley Public Library District held a forum at Richland School to discuss the current status and future needs of its libraries. The forum concentrated on the Crest Hill branch and on the deficiencies of the building and current level of funding. The purpose of the forum seemed to be to sell the community on the need for a new library. However, no further thought went into it, so we were all left without a sense of where things go from here.

The assumption is that a new library was needed. Actually, three new libraries, one for each Crest Hill, Lockport, and Romeoville would be needed. We also know that the district has been hiring consultants to evaluate the current buildings and look at what sort of new facilities are needed. What we do not know is what type of time frame is being contemplated for future action. We do not have even a clue of how much these new libraries are going to cost or what that will mean for tax rates. And we do not know what these libraries would contain or look like. All of this is important information that will have an effect on people’s opinions and feelings.

Even among the small group of people who attending this forum, a range of positions could begin to be seen. It is my feeling that this lack of information intensified negative feelings and weakened positive feelings. This will continue to be the case as time goes on and will form the basis of long-term opinions if solid facts do not start being presented soon. There are many in this community that cannot afford higher taxes and are especially opposed to anything that they consider wasteful. These people will need to be won over to the need for a library and without knowing specifics of what is being proposed will soon imagine a building that is huge, architecturally complex, state of the art, and very expensive. This idea that they imagined will be what they will be voting on, not the reality of what will be proposed. And those who support the idea of a better library system will soon find that it is hard to get behind an abstract idea.

Speaking for myself, I strongly support a new library. I oppose most tax increases and have rarely seen a referendum that I like. However, I would vote to double the library portion of my tax bill without reservation, as long as I got a library that had adequate computer resources, comfortable areas in which to read, and a convenient location. There are many other features to a library, but these are the ones that have value to me. Until, I know that this new facility will meet my needs, it is hard for me to strongly support it. I certainly do not oppose a new library, but I am left feeling less than enthusiastic.

The library board needs to quickly take the next step and decide among three options; maintain the existing libraries, renovate and modernize the existing libraries, or build new libraries. Maintaining the existing facilities without major renovation and modernization will lead to a slow decay and death of our local libraries. However, renovating and modernizing them would cost a great deal of money to add very little in terms of space or functionality. Deciding to build new libraries is the only sensible choice if we want to have quality facilities at a moderate cost for the coming decades.

If the library board were to agree and make the decision to build new libraries, they should then explore what the communities want in their library. This phase should also look at what the future of libraries might be, in order to design facilities for tomorrow instead of for yesterday or even today. We are only a century removed from inaccessible library stacks, only a few decades removed from libraries as silent, studious places, and only a decade removed from libraries having just a few computers in a side room with limited access. It would be foolish to think that 20 or 40 years down the road, libraries will look much like they do today. This is the time for public comment on individual ideas and on overall plans.

Once, the library board, with citizen’s input, has decided on what they feel is needed, a referendum should follow quickly. A long drawn out process, builds apathy instead of support. Trying to drum up support for replacing the current libraries is more difficult that trying to get support for a specific new libraries. Show us what you want to build and tell us what you want to spend.

City and County Finances

Have you ever seen the budget for your city, school district, or Will county? I am willing to guess that you have not, even if you have tried. I have tried and found local governments want to hide their financial documents and to deter anyone from seeing them. They want to keep collecting more and more in taxes, but never want to tell us how they actually spend OUR money.

I tried to see Crest Hill's budget several months ago and was treated to quite an adventure. I went to City Hall and asked to see a copy of the most recent city budget. I was told that the person who would have that had left early for the weekend and to come back on Monday. I agreed to return on Monday and left written information as to who I was and what I wanted to view. I returned the next week and the information still was not available. The following day I came in once again and this time the information was ready. However, I was handed a set of printouts that appeared to be a report of year to date expenses and revenues compared to the current budget. This document lacked any explanation and was far from being clear. I asked if there were any additional financial documents available and was told that they were not.

At this point, I sent a written request to the City Treasurer asking to view copies of the current budget as passed by the City Council, the most recent audit of the city, and the most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). I received no response. Two weeks later, I sent the same written request to the Mayor, City Clerk, and the alderpersons for the ward I live in. A week later, I got a call from the Mayor's office and was able to set up a time to view the CAFR.

This was an acceptable outcome for me because the CAFR was fairly recent and contained everything I wanted to see. However, it is amazing how much effort it took to see this document. I believe that the responsible thing to do would be to have copies of all reports, budgets, and other significant documents available at City Hall and the local library. I have yet to find a library that is not willing to add city documents to their reference collection. In fact, the Crest Hill library has planning documents from 40 years ago for Crest Hill, but very little from recent years.

I wish this was an isolated event that applied only to my request in Crest Hill. However, I have watched Alderman John Vershay ask the Crest Hill City Treasurer for a listing of the bills being paid at each council meeting. The treasurer however is behind by a number of weeks so he expects the council to approve paying the bills and not being told what they were for until a month or more later. And when confronted he has flatly refused to provide this information to an Alderman. No wonder he is so unresponsive to citizens. A year ago I had a similar experience with the Plainfield School District when I wanted information about their bond referendum to build additional schools. They only took 2 weeks and 3 written contacts to provide me the information I asked for.

One must really wonder why our local governments do not want to share financial information with the public. They have no problems taxing us, but they seem to have more difficulty telling us what they do with our money.