Lisle, Navistar can't be trusted

The recent articles about the Alcatel-Lucent tax appeal for the property being sold to Navistar show once again that Navistar and Lisle officials cannot be trusted.

In your Feb. 10 story, Lisle Village Manager Gerry Sprecher said, "I think the bottom line is the very appeal of the (Lucent) assessment took us by surprise." There is also a "disclaimer" on the Village Web site saying the village assumed there would be no tax appeal. In Thursday's story it states, "Navistar officials said they had nothing to do with Alcatel Lucent's property tax appeal" and their attorney, Russ Whitaker says, "Navistar has no interest in reaping any benefit from the Lucent tax appeal."

So why, then, does a Sept. 8, 2009 memo (four months prior to all parties saying they knew nothing about this) from Gerry Sprecher to the Lisle village trustees state, "Chapman (Barry Chapman of Navistar and a project point person at the time) has indicated that dealing with Lucent has been a nightmare. He doesn't expect much help from them in getting the property reassessed, and has conceded that he may have to threaten to walk away from the purchase if Lucent does not cooperate. Supposedly Jones Lang (Navistar's real estate adviser on the purchase) has been further enlisted to push this issue with Lucent."

So the set-up is: Navistar gets a lowered tax base and a TIF, which double dips taxpayers and comes out of our pockets. I have come to expect these underhanded tactics from Navistar. The real questions here are: Why would the Lisle trustees and village manager participate in this deception? And, why are Naperville Unit District 203 officials sitting on their hands?

Richard Wilkie

Lisle