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Sponsor withdraws petition for Elk Grove library district

An effort to create a new library taxing district in unincorporated Elk Grove Township through referendum has been withdrawn by its chief sponsor.

Tim Burns, an Elk Grove Township Elementary District 59 board member, decided this week to withdraw his petition for a request that, if approved, could have given library cards to some 12,000 residents in a 2.5-square-mile area that includes four mobile home communities.

A Cook County judge was scheduled to decide Thursday whether to place the question on the November ballot, but Burns withdrew days before, facing an uphill battle since the deadline to certify ballots was Sept. 1.

He also notified Township Supervisor Mike Sweeney hours before a special meeting was scheduled Tuesday night to discuss the proposed referendum. Sweeney, who publicly criticized the proposal in an Aug. 22 letter in the Daily Herald, said Thursday he was prepared to have the township's lawyers file objections to Burns' petition.

"I needed to get our attorneys involved for the principle of it. I wholeheartedly believe there was no reason to create a new taxing district," Sweeney said. "But if someone is going to go through the process of (a referendum for) a new taxing district, then they should do it properly."

Sweeney said he was prepared to challenge 85 of the 100 signatures Burns collected as potentially invalid.

Burns said he would have gone forward had the certification date not been problematic.

"I think they're very dedicated to the belief that no additional taxes are good taxes," Burns said of opponents to his idea. "That's well and good, but we also are talking about kids that don't have access to a library."

The new taxing district - covering the same area as the Elk Grove Rural Fire Protection District - would have raised an estimated $350,000 every year. Most of that would have been paid to the Des Plaines Public Library as a contract fee.

It would have meant an additional $75 in taxes per year for the owner of a $100,000 home.

Burns said he would decide later whether to push again for a referendum depending on what comes out of a state task force aimed at consolidating units of government.

Sweeney said that for those unincorporated residents who can't afford nonresident library card fees and come to the township offices, he would reach out to businesses and nonprofits to help.

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Elk Grove library opposes plan to form district

Dist. 59 board member seeks referendum on new library district

Mike Sweeney
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