Rolling Meadows considers tax, fee hikes for roadwork

Rolling Meadows is facing millions of dollars in needed road improvements and reconstruction over the next several years, but the city council still has to figure out a way to pay for it.

As officials work to determine exactly how much the improvements on Rolling Meadows' aging streets might cost, aldermen discussed the funding problems during last week's committee-of-the-whole meeting.

The solutions, they said, may include raising taxes or fees for residents.

“The costs are great. If we are going to do a large amount of work annually, we're going to need to look at other revenue sources,” said Melissa Gallagher, city finance director.

Rolling Meadows does not have a dedicated revenue stream for road construction, but rather has used money from property taxes, state motor fuel taxes, bonds, federal and state grants, transfers from other funds and vehicle stickers.

According to city documents, there is $1.8 million available for annual roadway improvements, but estimated costs are $2.6 million, which leaves an $800,000 funding gap each year.

Options for filling the gap include borrowing, creating a natural gas tax, transferring money from the general fund to the local roads fund, increasing property taxes or hiking vehicle sticker fees.

“I'm opposed to a natural gas tax for this purpose. In my opinion, natural gas has zero to do with roads,” said Alderman Brad Judd.

Instead, Judd said he would favor a line item on the property tax bill similar to pensions so the city is obligated to spend that portion of money collected for roads. He said he also would support raising the price of vehicle stickers.

“I don't want to pay any more either, but we have to look at the streets around town and see what is the lesser of two evils,” he said.

Alderman Robert Banger said he would back a natural gas tax.

“If we're going to commit to being more aggressive about our roads, let's figure out where that money is going to come from,” Banger said. “It will have to be created by more taxing.”

Alderman John D'Astice suggested transferring money from the electric/utility tax to help pay for the upgrades.

D'Astice also pointed out that there has been a surplus in the general fund for the past few years that could be used for roads. Other aldermen, however, said it could be dangerous to count on that as a way to pay for road construction.

“If we start a policy about transferring and then all of a sudden the general fund is in trouble, we've locked ourselves into a corner because we still have to make that transfer,” Judd said.

Alderman Mike Cannon said he wants to hold a special finance meeting to discuss the myriad expensive projects facing the city in the near future, including roads, a new fire station, the public works building and the police station, all of which have aging infrastructure.

“We can't talk about bonding out for streets when we have so many other things that we may have to bond out for,” Cannon said. “We've got to do something to change the dynamics of where we're going.” Cannon thinks the solution will include both an increase in taxes and vehicle stickers, as well as other revenue streams.

“To do nothing, in my opinion, is foolish,” Cannon said. “None of these issues are going to go away by ignoring them. It's more than just street funding.”

Public Works Director Fred Vogt told the council he would update the city's street condition survey to provide estimates of how much it will cost to fix the roads. He plans to report back to the council in 60 to 90 days.