Deer Park to promote proposed sales tax increase with video, forums

Deer Park officials are rolling out a promotional campaign about the proposal to increase the village's sales tax rate that'll appear on ballots for the April 6 election.

First up will be a video on village's website, villageofdeerpark.com, Village Administrator Beth McAndrews announced during Thursday night's village board meeting. It should go live today, she said.

An article about the plan will be included in the newsletter headed to residents this weekend.

Additionally, virtual public forums are planned for 7 p.m. March 4 and March 11 via online video conferencing.

"We're going to work hard for the next 36 days to get that on everybody's agenda," acting Village President Greg Rusteberg said.

With tax revenue down because of the COVID-19 crisis, officials have proposed boosting Deer Park's portion of sales tax by half a percentage point - but only for three years.

Deer Park's overall sales tax rate is 7.5%, so the rate would increase to 8% for those three years, The overall rate would return to 7.5% after the three years pass.

The increase would result in an additional 50 cents of tax for every $100 spent, which could net Deer Park an extra $700,000 annually, officials have said.

This is the second time in three years that Deer Park officials have sought to increase the sales tax rate. Voters approved a quarter percentage point bump in 2018.

If voters reject the plan, program cuts will be needed to avoid running a deficit, officials have said.