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Kildeer passes two referendums
Updated: March 22, 2012 9:39AM
Kildeer’s two referendums on Tuesday won by landslides.
Unofficially, the village’s request to consider electricity aggregation won by nearly 76 percent, while its proposed sales tax hike from 7 percent to 7.5 percent won with about 60 percent of the vote.
In a struggling economy and a presidential election year, the passage of the sales tax increase may have surprised some observers but not Village President Nandia Black.
“It will enable us to have a more robust road program so we can have the kinds of roads are residents are used to,” said Black, during a break from a Village Board meeting Tuesday. “I have to commend the board and the administration for getting the word out to the residents.”
“We had a road study done that said we should be more aggressive with our paving schedule,” Village Administrator Michael Talbett said. “This is the best way and the most fair way too because a lot of people (outside of Kildeer) use our roads too.”
The raise in the rates, Talbett said, is competitive with surrounding villages, including Long Grove and Mundelein which have 8 percent sales tax rates. Deer Park has a 7.25 percent rate, which it raised in 2010, also for road improvements. Barrington’s rate is 9 percent while Schaumburg’s rate, which includes Woodfield Mall, is 10.5 percent.
On a $50 purchase, the increase would amount to 25 cents, the village stated on its referendum fact sheet.
The increased sales tax, which is expected to take effect on July 1, will apply to gasoline, cleaning supplies, toiletries, cosmetics, gasoline, alcohol, tobacco, car parts, clothing, soft drinks, laundry detergent, and pet foods. Not included would be groceries, vehicles, some services and over the counter drugs.
During the public information campaign before the referendum, the village pointed out that, of the 7 percent now levied, it gets about 1 percent, the state gets 5 percent, the Regional Transportation Authority gets 0.75 percent and Lake County gets .25 percent.
The village’s fact sheet carried a warning if the referendum did not pass.
“The appearance of village may change if streets deteriorate and the time it takes to fund repairs increases,” the fact sheet said.
The village also passed its electrical aggregation referendum, meaning it will be able to switch from Commonwealth Edison to an alternative energy supplier as early as late summer or fall. Industry estimates say residents and small businesses could experienced savings of 15 percent to 30 percent.
The final tally was 402 votes for aggregation and 129 against. The sales tax increase passed with 320 votes to 217.
