East Dundee keeps home rule, rejects garbage fee

East Dundee will retain its home-rule status after voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a state representative's attempt to eliminate it.

The binding referendum question asked whether the village should cease to be a home-rule unit. Voters denied the request in a 724-175 vote with all precincts reporting, unofficial tallies show.

This means the village will be allowed to maintain its home-rule privileges and revenue streams, which generate about $1.65 million annually for East Dundee.

The measure was put on the ballot by state Rep. Allen Skillicorn, a former village trustee who said removing home rule would give residents more power over how much they are taxed. If home rule were repealed, the village would not have been able to implement various taxes, issue a certain amount of debt or raise property taxes above certain levels without getting voter approval through referendum.

However, if the measure had passed, East Dundee residents would have been on the hook to pay the village's $1.9 million bond payment owed for 2018. That would have meant the owner of a $185,000 home would have paid an additional $1,200 in property taxes next year.

The village typically abates property taxes that otherwise would be collected to pay off debt, choosing instead to use other revenues, such as a 2 percent home-rule sales tax, to fund its annual payments. Without home-rule revenues, village officials said, they couldn't afford to do that.

To counter Skillicorn's proposal, the village put an advisory question on the ballot asking whether East Dundee should remain a home-rule authority. That measure passed in a 660-231 vote.

Another advisory referendum question, also placed on the ballot by Skillicorn, asks if the village should repeal a $19.90 monthly garbage collection fee that went into effect last fall. Voters supported that request 594 to 301.