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Riverside Info » About Riverside

1. ChrisHajer
   Member

   from http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2007/02/06/news/local/doc45c81e0b015d9268756540.txt

   Trustees likely to vote on TIF
   By JILLIAN COMPTON - jcompton@nwherald.com

   RICHMOND -- Village trustees likely will vote on the tax increment financing district before voters see a referendum question on the issue April 17.

   Richmond Township officials voted, 4-0, Monday to sponsor an advisory referendum on the controversial taxing issue and asked Burton Township officials to do the same. Together, the townships comprise Richmond, Spring Grove and the surrounding rural areas.

   “I think a referendum, binding or not, will tell [village officials] exactly how many people support it and how many don't,— said Garry Forman, who lives in unincorporated Solon Mills, south of Richmond.

   Forman was among about a dozen people -- including former Village President Kevin Brusek, Village Trustee Chuck Schultz and current library board members -- who asked township officials to seek the referendum question Monday.

   The village decided against pursuing its own referendum on the issue last week.

   The proposed taxing district was met with a large public outcry at a hearing last month, as well as opposition from Richmond Township, the school districts and the library.

   Some officials argue the district will shift the tax burden to other taxpayers, mainly those within the two townships.

   Some critics also fear that the village would ignore the opposition, Richmond Township Supervisor Tamara Valentine-Garza said.

   But Village President Lauri Olson said the few district supporters who had surfaced in the past few weeks paled in comparison to the proposed district's opposition.

   “I don't know what [village trustees are] thinking, but when you get that much opposition, I think you would be silly to go against that much opposition,— Olson said in a phone interview after the township meeting.

   Richmond Township officials decided Monday to discuss asking the village to postpone its vote until after the election.

   But Olson said later that she planned to call for a board vote before April 17 to ease tension related to the issue and to give trustees whose terms expire a vote. She has not set a date, but state law requires the board vote on it within 90 days of the Jan. 18 public hearing.

   “If people are this upset still, why would I want to wait?— Olson said.

   She said she was disappointed the village could not educate the public on the district's benefits.

   “I'm sad we couldn't educate the public enough not to think of TIF as a four-letter word,— Olson said. “It's a three letter word.—

   Posted Tuesday Feb 6, 2007 09:01 #

2. Catherine
   Member

   Does this imply they are going to vote in favor of it before the referendum, as in DesPlaines recently? (Let it be said that the people of DesPlaines understood TIFs only too well, from prior experience.)

   Well, that's why local pols love, love, love the TIF. It's the only time they can get their hands on the people's money without their consent.

   Posted Tuesday Feb 6, 2007 11:01 #

3. ChrisHajer
   Member

   I thought the parallels to what's happening in Riverside right now were interesting. Sounds like they are voting on the TIF ordinance before the referendum question appears, as happened in DesPlaines. I did not get a sense from the article which way the vote would go, although the village president was quoted as saying "I don't know what [village trustees are] thinking, but when you get that much opposition, I think you would be silly to go against that much opposition."

   The first sentence of the new article said "vote on" not "vote for", so I'm not sure. I imagine there will be more news about it soon.

   Posted Tuesday Feb 6, 2007 11:24 #

4. HRCollins
   Member

   Catherine -

   Local politicians get my money without my consent all the time. I give my consent away by living in a town with a representative type of government.

   Our system of progressive taxation in Riverside is extremely unfair. Why should the people with larger homes pay more in taxes than someone in a smaller house? Each is entitled to use the same amount of village services. Are we not all equal? If it was up to me the village would take the amount of money they need and divide it by the number of citizens in the village. For example, our expected general revenue for the village for 2007 is $7,595,672. The sign as you enter the towns says we have a population of 8995. That works out to $844.43 per person. Send each person a bill for that amount. The village could include it in the water bill.

   Posted Tuesday Feb 6, 2007 11:33 #

5. idic5
   Member

   Wow, Chris. that is some digging! Looks like Richmond's situation is very similar to ours! The need for it. The lack of education. The fear of it and the opposition against it. The referendum. I'm curious to know the wording of their referendum.

   I recall a trustee (scully, I believe) say in one board meeting - I really recommend people try to attend those meetings; you get lots of info from them - the root cause of this mess is the lack of funding to local muni's due to the property tax cap law.

   Maybe this explains why so many muni's, like Richmond, are going after this TIF idea - lack of revenue to run the muni, and the lack of approval of asking the electorate for tax increases for the revenue.

   I don't know the details of prop tax cap law to make a judgement. I am just making a link.

   miket

   Posted Tuesday Feb 6, 2007 11:43 #

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