Carpentersville adds $10 million more for repairs

Carpentersville trustees have given the village's aggressive plan to repair uneven sidewalks, potholed streets and aging water lines a $10 million boost.

The village board on Tuesday unanimously approved another $10 million general obligation bond issuance to continue the village's rolling five-year capital improvement program, a program that seeks to reconstruct or repair village streets that have been neglected for decades.

"There is still a lot of work to do and this is the next step in getting the roads to someplace that's more of a maintenance role," Village Manager Craig Anderson said. "Right now we still have some major reconstruction projects."

While trustees agreed the bond issue was needed to continue the program, Trustee Paul Humpfer, chairman of the village's audit and finance commission, said the finance members are still grappling with how to repay the debt and interest over a 20-year period.

"This is the next step in getting the streets up to world-class condition," Humpfer said. "It will be a challenge for the audit and finance commission and this board to pay down the bond."

While the ordinance's approval also allows for a property tax levy sufficient to cover the repayment of principal and interest on the bonds, the village can choose to abate the levy by securing a source of revenue to repay the debt. Options include revenue from the village's recently imposed 2-cent per gallon motor fuel tax.

The tax, or revenue, would need to cover $825,000 per year until 2027.

The village issued a $10 million in June 2006 to kick start a $36 million plan that will improve streets, and water and sewer systems. Repayments on that debt service average about $760,000 annually.