Yes to Elburn police pensions tax

Elburn voters next month have to decide whether to levy a separate tax to pay the village’s contribution to a new police pension fund. Even if the majority votes no, everyone still pays. since the money would then be taken from the corporate fund budget. Once Elburn grew beyond 5,000 population in the 2010 Census, state law required it to move police pensions from the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and create a separate fund. The village levies a tax for the IMRF contribution for all its employees, and that levy will decrease because the police are no longer included. It’s not yet known exactly how much that levy would decrease. What is known is that the separate tax levy would be about 8.68 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation and raise about $163,000 in its first year. The owner of a home valued at $200,000 would pay an extra $56 in taxes. It’s really a case of pay me now or pay me later. We say pay now and vote yes on the referendum. If the money has to come from an existing fund, it could mean the loss of jobs or services. We think paying an extra $1 per week — especially if it saves a couple jobs — is a sensible trade-off in a poor economy.