Prospect Heights limits taxing authority, even under home rule
To address the concerns of some Prospect Heights residents about the city council's intentions if voters approve home rule Nov. 6, aldermen voted 4-0 Monday on a resolution to adhere to a stricter property-tax limitation even if home-rule authority is granted.
City Attorney Kevin Kearney said the resolution basically requires the council to stick to the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law - often called the tax cap - that governs all taxing bodies without home rule.
Such a limitation restricts annual property-tax collections to the rate of inflation or 5 percent, whichever is lower. It's a self-imposed restriction many home-rule municipalities adopt, he added.
The resolution further states that this limit could be overcome only by an advisory referendum demonstrating voter support or an emergency or legal requirement for additional revenue.
Though a natural disaster or funding shortfall from the state would be examples of such emergencies, the resolution deliberately avoids a specific definition so as not to constrain future councils if an emergency outside that definition occurred, Kearney said.
Only absent Ward 1 Alderman Lora Messer did not vote on the resolution. But even Ward 3 Alderman Scott Williamson, who'd voted against putting the home-rule referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot, voted in favor of the self-restricting resolution.
Mayor Nick Helmer previously stated that the city's true intention for home rule is to have the ability to redirect about $750,000 from its hotel tax and increased licensing of video gambling toward flooding and drainage projects.
He said fear that the city will create a general property tax was the leading criticism of the four previous attempts to gain home rule via referendum since 2004. But each time the percentage of votes in favor has increased.
The city's existing property tax is for only the police pension fund and the repayment of bonds for road improvements, Ward 2 Alderman Larry Rosenthal said.