Cary mayoral candidates talk budget, economic development

Two men running to lead Cary have different views on the village's budget, and how to improve its downtown and attract new businesses.

Incumbent Village President Mark Kownick faces challenger and current Trustee Jim Cosler April 4.

Kownick, 57, a business owner who is serving his first term as president and previously was an appointed trustee, said while the village's budget is balanced and stable, property taxes are out of control in Illinois.

He said his priority is pushing for economic development to help increase the village's revenues and reduce the tax burden on residents.

"Since I took office in 2013, we have attracted approximately 74 new businesses to Cary while helping eight of our existing businesses expand," he said.

Among them is Sage Products, which recently purchased 27 acres to expand its existing facility on Three Oaks Road by adding more than 800,000 square feet, creating up to 450 new jobs.

To make all that happen, the village has reduced fees, reinstated a facade improvement program and a low-interest loan program, helped small businesses get grants, and is planning for downtown streetscape improvements.

"Our economic development successes allowed us to keep our portion of property tax bills flat my first two years in office and reduce those taxes the past two years," Kownick said.

Annexing properties within the surrounding area and attracting more commercial development along Route 31 are key to Cary's future economic growth, he added.

Kownick said the village is functioning more efficiently today with fewer employees than four years ago - 58 employees, down from 65 when he started as village president. Staffing was as high as 90 employees when he became a trustee in 2009.

"This is a necessity because our annual state pension obligation for our police department continues to grow, from $485,000 when I took office to over $1 million next year," he said.

Cosler, 46, a professional pilot who ran as a write-in candidate and was elected trustee in 2015, said the village's staffing level is too low.

"Outsourcing can be expensive and has not always worked well," he said. "My goal would be to restore sensible staffing levels in order to provide a higher quality of service to the community."

Cosler said the village is facing potential shortfalls in state funding and has a large deficit in its police pension fund.

"There are many areas in which spending should be reduced or eliminated," he said. "Programs that dole out large sums of taxpayer funds on window dressing items and some community program assistance must be curtailed in favor of funding needed staff and future liabilities."

Cosler said village leadership has taken the town "down a path paved with zoning issues, development blunders, selective favoritism, and outright egotism."

He added, leaders need to look beyond downtown as many areas of town need support and promotion, and suggests attracting businesses that contribute to the sales tax base to alleviate the tax burden on residents.

Cosler campaigned against an $18 million affordable housing project by Pedcor Investments to build a 60-unit apartment complex on a 4.5-acre lot at the northeast corner of First and Pearl streets.

Despite a resident movement opposing the project, it was approved in 2014 and construction began last year. So far, 10 residents have moved in and construction is wrapping up.

Kownick said there has been a lot of misinformation about the project, which fueled the opposition.

The townhouse-style development is next to the village's only other apartment complex, Oak Knoll Apartments, which has 96 units and is more than 95 percent occupied, according to village officials.

Kownick said the Pedcor development will increase the village's affordable housing stock from 6.9 percent up to roughly 7.4 percent - the state recommends at least 10 percent of communities' housing stock should be affordable.

"It's a great opportunity for the village," Kownick said. "It's for working class people. It's not Section 8. It's not government housing. It gives people an opportunity to buy into our community. They will be part of our economic development."