Endorsement: Yes to repair Green Oaks roads
Green Oaks voters are asked to support a first in the village's 56-year history - a municipal property tax. It would be used to provide a steady revenue source for road maintenance and repairs to supplement state money that has been declining in recent years.
Voters will be asked to authorize a new tax of less than one tenth of 1 percent of assessed property value. The owner of a house valued at $300,000 would pay about $93 more annually. The measure would generate $235,000 annually to be added to the roughly $225,000 - mostly state motor fuel tax funds and local vehicle sticker fees - now spent on road work.
That would be enough to pay for reconstruction of some of the worst roads each year and keep pace with resurfacing and maintenance on others. A real estate tax cannot be dedicated to a specific use, but village officials say the money would go to the general fund and be earmarked for roads.
In March, voters rejected a request to authorize the village to borrow $18.8 million through a bond issue to repair nearly all streets over five years. It would have cost the owner of a house valued at $300,000 about $453 per year for 20 years. A survey later showed most respondents thought that was too high. This proposal allows Green Oaks to provide safe, well-maintained roads at a reasonable cost. We recommend a "yes" vote.