DuPage mayors: Fight against state funding cuts not over

The newly appointed leaders of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference say municipalities must continue working together to prevent the state from taking local tax revenue to fill gaps in its budget.

Wood Dale Mayor Annunziato "Nunzio" Pulice recently started his one-year term as president of the conference, which represents DuPage's villages and cities. Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico serves as vice president.

Pulice said municipalities in recent years have had to go to Springfield and demand that local tax dollars remain in their communities. It reinforces the need for Illinois mayors to become more united and speak with one voice, he said.

"If we don't stick together and find common ground and solutions to the challenges confronting local cities and villages, we become divided and municipalities and residents lose in the end," Pulice said.

The conference successfully partnered with other municipal organizations to reduce the amount of local funds the state sought during the spring legislative session.

Illinois originally threatened a 10 percent reduction in the amount of state income tax revenue municipalities and counties receive. The state ended up taking 5 percent of the local government distributive fund dollars.

DuPage's municipalities and county government are expected to lose a total of roughly $6 million in revenue as a result of the cut, officials estimate.

"It's still a hit," Pulice said. "Municipalities can't continue to lose revenue because it's going to affect the residents. At some point, infrastructure projects will suffer and towns may have to lay off personnel."

Chirico said the communities in the conference have different needs. So sometimes, it's not easy to have a consolidated opinion that is reflective of everybody's view, he said.

But when it comes to the issue of local revenue, Chirico said conference members are in unanimous agreement.

"Every single mayor is concerned about their budget and a revenue shift away from the municipalities," he said. "That's certainly something we want to work together on."

Ultimately, he said the conference would like to see no reduction in Local Government Distributive Fund dollars.

"We understand the state's challenges right now," Chirico said. "We just don't want this burden to fall on the municipal shoulders."

For example, Chirico said it could be reasonable for the state to impose an administrative fee to collect sales taxes for local government. But he wants the state to justify why the sales tax collection fee is 1.5 percent.

Statewide, Illinois is expected to collect $60 million from the fee, officials said.

"It shouldn't be a profit center for the state," he said. "It should be a reimbursement of costs."