Pingree Grove raises sewer fee, staggers telecom, gas tax

Tempers flared in Pingree Grove before the board voted to raise residents’ taxes Tuesday night.

The village board unanimously voted to raise the sanitary sewer fee to $19.79 a month from $16 a month.

Village President Greg Marston cast the tiebreaking vote after the six board members voted 3-3 to stagger two other tax increases.

The board voted to increase the monthly telecommunications tax to 6 percent from the current 1 percent. An initial increase to 3 percent takes effect Jan. 1, and the final increase to 6 percent July 1.

The board also voted to implement a monthly tax on natural gas use, consisting first of a 3 percent tax, which officials said would show up on residents’ bills around Nov. 1, and then a final increase to 5 percent in six months.

The second part of the staggered increases would be up for possible revocation should the village be in better financial shape, Trustee Ray LaMarca said.

Altogether, the increases would amount to an extra $12.09 a month for the average resident, officials said. But angry residents said any increase is too much.

“We have 80 homes for sale, and more than 136 foreclosures,” said resident Diane Lawrence, who was among about 40 who attended. “With this tax we will have more foreclosures. This economy is really bad right now.”

“Things get to a point where you struggle only so far as you can struggle,” said resident Lon Czarnecki, who runs a home-based advertising and marketing business. “This could force me out of my community.”

Village Administrator Bill Barlow said he recommended that the village board approve the tax hikes “to put the village on a better financial footing.” The telecommunications tax and the natural gas use tax would generate $137,000 annually, $25,000 of which would go into the capital improvement fund, officials said.

The village is projecting a $50,000 hole at the end of the current fiscal year, and is not making any payments into its capital improvements fund, Barlow said. The village still owes $2.3 million for its police station, and needs to make payments of nearly $194,000 a year until 2028, he said.

The village staff hasn’t received any raises for the second consecutive year. The police chief took a 5 percent pay cut, the public works director is working fewer hours, and Barlow is also working as finance director.

Residents organized a Facebook group against the proposed hikes; some also put signs in their yards and distributed fliers.

Resident Ryan Hallgren proposed cutting street sweeping and mosquito abatement services before raising taxes, while several others asked for a two-week hiatus on the tax increases in order to put together a committee to look at possible cuts.

“Sometimes it takes strong will to make a decision that may not be popular. I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am that we’re at this point tonight,” Village President Greg Marston said.

Several residents also pointed the finger at what they said was a lack of transparency on the village’s part. Board members said they discussed the proposed increases at a committee of the whole meeting last week, but former village President Wyman “Clint” Carey complained the meeting’s agenda wasn’t clear enough.

“If this was fireworks, it would have been on the water bill, it would have been in church signs, it would have been all over,” he said.

Trustee Brian Paszkiewicz pointed out board meetings usually have very few spectators. “People have neglected to come to the meetings to understand some of this,” he said.