Oak Brook village president hopefuls focus on pensions

Candidates in the three-way race for Oak Brook village president are proposing different ways to address the town's growing pension obligations.

All three, however, say they would oppose any efforts to levy a municipal property tax for Oak Brook, which always has operated without one and relies on sales tax revenues to fund village services.

Incumbent Gopal Lalmalani is facing two challengers - Mark Moy, a village trustee, and Natalie Cappetta, a member of the zoning board of appeals - in his bid for a second term as village president.

When the candidates met with the Daily Herald on Friday to discuss the April 7 election, one of the big issues on their minds was the village's growing pension obligations.

A decade ago, Oak Brook contributed roughly $980,000 to the pension funds for its police and firefighters, according to Moy. This year, the town is paying $2.8 million to those funds.

"That comes right out of our general funds," said Moy, a 65-year-old retired emergency room physician. "We have to take that off the top before we can consider any of our services to the community."

Moy and Lalmalani said Oak Brook's pension-related expenses are increasing because state lawmakers approved various pieces of legislation that boosted pension benefits for police and firefighters.

"They come up with the (pension) sweeteners, and we have to come up with the money," said Lalmalani, a 65-year-old cardiologist.

"They don't give us any funds. These are unfunded mandates. If they could stop that, we will come out way ahead."

To prevent Oak Brook's pension costs from climbing to unsustainable levels, the village must lobby Springfield for pension reform, Lalmalani and Moy said.

"The only way to solve that is to have the legislators understand and get some common sense," said Moy, who has been a village trustee for six years.

"And yes, it's going to be hard because you feel like you're fighting windmills going down to Springfield sometimes. But you still have to continue the fight."

Cappetta said she agrees somebody should be "banging on doors" in Springfield. But she said Oak Brook officials must be realistic about what they expect state lawmakers to do.

"They're not making a change for anybody," said Cappetta, a 49-year-old attorney.

If Springfield doesn't respond, Oak Brook could consider the possibility of imposing a small tax on food and beverages at restaurants, Moy said.

However, Moy called the idea of using that kind of tax to raise money for pension payments "an absolute last resort."

Cappetta said another option could be for the village to ask voters for permission to add a quarter-cent local sales tax to other sales taxes already in place. But she stressed it's something village officials would have to "look hard at" before proposing.

"You want to compare yourself to the other shopping centers - the other business districts - around you," Cappetta said. "Is that going to hurt us?"

Meanwhile, all three candidates are strongly opposed to Oak Brook levying a property tax.

Cappetta said the town was founded on the idea of not having a municipal property tax.

"That's what makes us Oak Brook," she said. "That's what makes us special."

Cappetta said her plan would involve trying to slow the growth of Oak Brook's pension debt.

She also said the village needs to be creative and find ways to make larger payments to reduce its unfunded pension liability, which she estimates to be roughly $37 million.

Cappetta is proposing finding money within the village's existing budget by outsourcing and combining efforts with other government entities to provide services.

"That would help cut our costs and give us more money to apply toward our pension," she said.

Lalmalani is taking a similar approach. He is suggesting the village use more contractors and part-time employees to do work in various departments. "If you reduce the number of full-timers," he said, "you will reduce the amount of the pensions."

Meanwhile, Lalmalani is vowing not to increase any taxes to address pensions or any other issue.

"Taxes are low, and we're going to keep it that way," Lalmalani said. "That is the engine that drives us.

"The next four years, if I'm given the chance to serve the village of Oak Brook, there will be no new taxation of any kind."