Arlington Hts. votes for smaller property tax increase

The Arlington Heights Village Board reversed itself Monday night and gave taxpayers a slight break, voting for a smaller property tax increase but larger utility tax increases than it had decided on a week earlier.

Mayor Arlene Mulder and Trustee Carol Blackwood changed their votes Monday night.

The board decided to increase property taxes just under 3 percent to cover the increase in the state-mandated pensions for police officers and firefighters, rather than the 5.5 percent approved a week earlier.

However, trustees also voted to increase the tax on electricity and natural gas to 5 percent from its current 3 percent rather than to 4 percent as voted before.

Only Thomas Glasgow and Norman Breyer voted in favor of the higher property tax and lower utility tax Monday. Joseph Farwell, who had voted yes the week before, was absent Monday, as was Bert Rosenberg, who was also absent a week earlier but had expressed support for the motion.

The plan adopted Monday night would increase the property taxes on a $300,000 home by about $27, according to staff calculations. Utility taxes for the average homeowner will rise about $60 a year.

Blackwood said 390 homes in Arlington Heights were in foreclosure, property tax bills just came out with increases while home values are down, and “residents I have spoken to have made it very clear they don't want their tax bills increased in any way.”

Blackwood was appointed to a vacancy on the board, and she said her decision to seek election in April did not affect her vote.

Mulder said her vote Monday night reflected the way she really feels, as opposed to her “hesitant” vote in favor of the larger property tax increase last week.

Breyer said that people can claim residents could lower their utility taxes through conservation, but that would not work for Arlington Heights' many senior citizens in a cold winter. He also favored getting any needed increase from property taxes because homeowners can deduct them from their federal income taxes.

Glasgow said the village needs the additional property taxes to keep the reserve fund healthy in case of a natural disaster or loss of a major sales tax producer.

Trustee John Scaletta was the only trustee to vote against both tax increase proposals, saying the village should cut costs even more than proposed.

The village staff has proposed filling a $3.6 million projected deficit for the municipal year starting May 1 by cutting costs by $1.4 million and raising $2.1 million with the utility tax increase. The village and library property tax bills total about 15 percent of an Arlington Heights' resident's property tax bill, said Thomas Kuehne, director of finance.