East Dundee candidates clash over spending, luring new business

The four candidates for East Dundee Village trustee disagree on what constitutes worthwhile expenses and methods to draw new business to town.

Both incumbent Alan Skillicorn and former mayor and trustee Jerry Bartels want the village to tighten its belt. They both view the roughly $4.5 million spent to move village staff, police and fire officials to upgraded and expanded facilities as money that could have been better used.

Skillicorn is in favor of moving the police department into more of a part-time model and taking gradual steps toward area municipalities consolidating public safety functions.

"The questions I have about the police department expenditure are about do we really need to have a bigger facility, and is the current building really blighted?" Skillicorn said. He added that the only reason the fire department needs a larger facility is because the district it serves is too large.

Skillicorn favors elimination of the village's portion of the local property tax. He believes the village can operate almost entirely on sales taxes, and it may take only one new big box retailer or grocery store to eliminate the need for a property tax, he said.

Bartels said it would be a mistake for the village to rely too much on sales taxes. Officials would always be only one recession or one loss of a major retail tenant away from having to restore the property tax, he said.

"It's a fun thing to politic on with the neighbors, but we've got retail buildings that are empty now," Bartels said.

Bartels traced fat in the budget to hiring two new full-time police officers, which will exacerbate the village's pension burden, and the recent major increase in spending money on community events. The village now spends about $350,000 on ribbon cuttings, movies in the park and other promotional activities, Bartels said. "I would like to know what the success metrics are," he said. "What are you getting for that money? Where is the return on the investment. Did we spend $350,000 to make $50,000?"

Incumbent Jeff Lynam believes the expenses to improve police and fire facilities as well as promote the village are worth every penny. Lynam said he voted in favor of using tax increment finance dollars to revamp existing buildings the village owned because it was the most cost effective option for needed improvements. As far as the promotional expenses, Lynam said the interest and awareness of what the village has to offer is already paying dividends. However, it's too soon to put a dollar value on the return.

"This is an investment in the future," Lynam said. "Before, people were looking at East Dundee as only a pass-through community. Now we have people knocking on our door and asking what's going on. This is not an overnight proposition."

Lynam said village officials are keeping a close eye on the promotional expenses. If some of the efforts don't result in measurable successes, they will be reduced, he said.

Lynam also professed his support for the use of tax increment finance districts to lure new business to town. He said the commercial growth East Dundee has experienced is owed entirely to the use and creation of TIF districts.

"What we've seen is development that would not have taken place otherwise," Lynam said. "In two years, you're never going to recognize East Dundee."

The fourth candidate, Alan Hall, disputed the need for any use of TIF districts beyond, perhaps, one district to bring in a major anchor tenant for the downtown that would draw additional businesses. Hall said trustees have given away incentives rather than being patient and letting the domino effect of existing successes take over.

"We're just getting overloaded with TIF districts," Hall said. "There's nothing we can do about the ones we have now. But we definitely shouldn't get any more."