Elk Grove sends $200 gift cards to households, thanks to better-than-expected revenues

Preloaded $200 gift cards began arriving at Elk Grove Village households Wednesday, in what is the Northwest suburban municipality’s fourth major residential economic relief initiative since the start of the pandemic.

The prepaid plastic — going to all 14,000 residential addresses including apartments, condominiums, townhouses and single-family homes — comes from better-than-expected general fund revenues bolstered by new data center construction permit fees.

Three months into the new fiscal year, village coffers already have reaped $5 million in permit fees villagewide — most from data centers. That’s the amount officials estimated they would collect for the whole year.

“We’re a mixture of a lot of businesses, and they’re all doing well,” Mayor Craig Johnson said of the various industries in the 65-million-square-foot business park. “And data centers have been very good to us. We have no complaints. But so are manufacturers and many other businesses.”

“When we do well, we want everyone to do well.”

To that end, the green Visa cards — labeled “Shop Elk Grove” — were mailed to households, preceded by a letter from the mayor and village board explaining the relief initiative.

The cards don’t have names on them, but are coded to each household. They can be activated on the third-party vendor’s website, perfectgift.com, or by phone.

The village is sending one gift card to each household, no matter how many people live there, Johnson said.

Officials did the same thing nearly two years ago amid spiking inflation and increased costs of goods. They gave two rounds of $200 water bill credits and waived various business licensing fees in 2020.

In total, the economic relief packages have totaled $12 million — about a $3 million giveaway each time.

“No town does something like that,” Johnson said. “But we’re proud to do that cause let’s be honest: that’s your money coming back to you. And the businesses are helping us to be able to give that money back to you.”

He encouraged residents to spend the money in town — at grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants, for example — but the cards can be used outside of village limits, too.

“If you can do it in Elk Grove, it’s a double win,” he said.