'No' to Volo home rule

In a referendum Feb. 5, voters in Volo will be asked whether to approve home rule status, which would grant their town more authority to raise taxes. Volo officials say if granted home rule, they would use the new authority to bring a proposal to the village board for a 1 percentage point increase to the sales tax. They say they want to raise funds for road improvements, as they expect more retail development. They say the increase would raise an extra $600,000 annually. Under home rule, the village board could also consider increasing the property tax rate, but they say they won't do that. We believe them, but we note future village leaders would not be beholden to this.

Improving roads is a necessary goal. However, we're concerned about a full 1-percentage-point sales tax hike at a time when the economy could enter a recession. In addition, the state has just approved raising the sales tax across the suburbs by a half-percentage point, a quarter of which would go to public transit agencies and the other quarter to area counties, including Lake, for transportation or public safety issues. Again, Volo is seeking a whole percentage-point sales tax hike, a sizable increase.

Volo has plans for a 750,000-square-foot commercial business district, with work to begin this spring. According to Mayor Burnell Russell, the village now has the authority to create a sales tax for that district to pay off bonds issued to make improvements there. If the home rule proposition fails, Russell said the village will pursue that option. So the village already has some flexibility to draw revenue from sales taxes without having to obtain home rule powers, though admittedly this particular sales tax would not provide funds for broader needs.

We tip our hat to Volo's impressive vision, land-use plan and leadership, but in these uncertain economic times, on top of a fresh sales tax hike from the state, we recommend voters say no to home rule at this time