State of West Chicago is healthy, mayor says

West Chicago gave its taxpayers a break this month by paying off early a loan for its water treatment plant, saving $4.3 million in interest.

“Paying off debt 10½ years early is monumental,” Mayor Mike Kwasman said.

So it’s no surprise that Kwasman prominently touted the savings in his State of the City address before the city council Monday.

The speech touched on a wide variety of developments in West Chicago, but Kwasman deemed two most significant:

* City spending is down for the fifth straight year; the 2011 budget is 6.8 percent lower than the previous year.

* The overall crime rate dropped 27 percent from 2007 to 2010, with a 17 percent decrease in violent crime and 20 percent decrease in property crime since 2009.

For the full text of Kwasman’s speech, go to www.westchicgo.org.

In 2002, the city borrowed money to build a water treatment plant. Instead of refinancing the debt to take advantage of low-interest rates, as financial advisors recommended, the city decided to call the bonds and pay in full. This means delaying nonessential water and sewer infrastructure projects until the city can pay for them without borrowing, Kwasman said.

“This bold and unconventional strategy will provide great benefit in the form of stable water rates over the midterm,” Kwasman told the council.

Kwasman credited the drop in the crime rate to “a citywide culture that prioritizes community relationship building between residents, business and the police department.”

In addition, the city has hired more police officers and put more on the street at key times by going to overlapping 12-hour shifts.

“As a result, there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of gang incidents and graffiti,” Kwasman said.

He said West Chicago is seeing signs of recovery from the economic recession. Signs of the turnaround include projects like the expansion underway at Ball Horticultural facility, which will house the company’s seed sorting and packing operation. The city moved to keep Haggerty Ford in town through a sales tax sharing agreement that allowed Ford to take over a Buick dealership on Route 38.

Looking ahead, the city plans to start talking with developers about their interest in the Central Main Street redevelopment project. The city has been acquiring land along Washington Street for a future government campus that will include a new City Hall, the West Chicago Park District and the West Chicago Public Library.

Kwasman also highlighted the following accomplishments and programs:

Ÿ The city has been successful in cracking down on over-occupancy violations, primarily in rental properties.

Ÿ A shop-local program, The 3/50 project, encourages residents to pick three West Chicago businesses they couldn’t live without and spend a total of $50 a month in them.

Ÿ The city’s new Twitter account is a fast and easy way for residents to follow the news.