DuPage County $70 mil capital plan up for vote

The DuPage County Board is expected to vote on a $70 million capital improvement package at a special meeting Tuesday.

The 30-year borrowing plan will ultimately cost taxpayers $125 million, but would provide funding for a number of initiatives including flood control programs, new technology and road improvements.

The county board will meet at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday to hash out any remaining concerns about the proposal before a scheduled vote.

The board has held two other lengthy meetings to discuss the 20-plus proposed expenditures identified in the package.

Some board members contend the county should put off borrowing for another year because of lackluster tax revenues and concerns that some projects won't last for the 30 years the county is borrowing the money.

However, county board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom believes the time is right to borrow because interest rates are low and sales tax revenues are showing signs of recovery.

He also argues that because the bulk of the payback is scheduled in the last half of the debt cycle, the county will be in a better position to afford the payments because current debt is retired in a decade.

Additionally, supporters are pointing to a proposal by county board member John Zediker to eliminate 30 currently vacant positions, which would result in an estimated savings of $180 million over the next 30 years.

That's if the county doesn't increase its ranks at all during that time.

"I view this as we are adjusting priorities to make sure personnel does not continue to grow and keep us from meeting our infrastructure needs," said county board member John Curran, who supports the borrowing plan. "I believe in smaller government. I would hope the number we're at now would be reduced over the next 30 years."

The positions come from a number of different departments, Curran said.

If approved, the borrowing plan calls for $8.6 million in information technology upgrades and improvements.

County officials said those upgrades would result in the eventual reduction in the work force by 18 full-time positions.

Besides some skeptical county board members, the borrowing plan has earned the scorn of the taxpayer advocacy group Americans for Prosperity.

The group dispatched a truck carrying a billboard with a message critical of the proposal to drive around the county government building in Wheaton Thursday.

The billboard read: "When will it stop? DuPage County wants to spend $70 million it doesn't have. No more bond debt!"

"We see this as a bad government approach," said Joe Calomino, director of the group's Illinois chapter. "We can't afford it. The county board chose not to do this last year for good reason and those reasons still apply today."

Curran said the county can afford the new debt and money to pay for it has been identified through Zediker's proposal.

"We neglected our infrastructure needs last year and that is not a good model," Curran said.

Plan: If approved, 18 full-time employees would be let go