Village leaders report rosy business picture
Lake Zurich is elated over rising sales tax revenues.
Hawthorn Woods is eager developers are eyeing key properties in town. And Kildeer is hopeful it can convince local, state and federal officials to improve the intersection of Route 12 and Quentin Road.
Area mayors, including leaders from Long Grove and North Barrington, reported a promising business outlook during the Lake Zurich Area Chamber of Commerce's annual economic breakfast Tuesday at Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Kildeer.
Each town touted its accomplishments since leaders came together a year ago.
Lake Zurich reported higher sales tax receipts, about $5.3 million for the 2006-07 fiscal year, up about 3.8 percent from the previous year.
"(It's) almost equal to the amount of the property tax that comes in from the entire village," Mayor John Tolomei said.
The village's total property tax revenue was about $5.4 million for 2006-07. It is the first time sales tax revenues have come so close to property taxes, Village Administrator John Dixon said.
The village's sales tax revenue for 2005-06 grew only about 1 percent from the year before, the lowest increase the village has had in several years, Dixon said.
Kildeer Mayor Alan Stefaniak said he is working with county, state and federal legislators to get funding for a $22 million project to improve the Route 12 and Quentin Road intersection.
"They all understand the importance of the project," Stefaniak said. "The construction money isn't there. They are telling us not until 2013."
Stefaniak said the county's portion of the funding is roughly $12 million.
"That would help us a lot if we can just get part of the improvement done sooner than 2013," he said.
Perhaps, the most exciting change for Hawthorn Woods after the opening of its aquatic center is developers once again eyeing the property formerly known as the Taubman mall site off Route 12 and Old McHenry Road.
The unincorporated 108-acre site was dubbed so because years ago Taubman Centers was considering it for a shopping center. Hawthorn Woods and neighbor North Barrington pre-empted any development plans with an intergovernmental agreement.
Hawthorn Woods Mayor Keith Hunt said there are no definite plans as of yet.
"It is at a conceptual stage at this point," he said. "We're starting to talk about general mixes of residential versus non-residential use."
Developers also have approached the village about 100 acres off Gilmer and Midlothian roads and roughly 40 acres off Route 176 and Gilmer Road for retail/residential projects.
Tolomei said two main issues for his village are getting long-term downtown redevelopment projects off the ground, such as the multi-story condominium building planned across from the lakefront promenade, and a Holiday Inn Express proposed for a Route 12 site.