Taxes increasing, customers are not

We are the owners of Riviera Restaurant at 5 W. Campbell in Arlington Heights.

We have been in business for 28 years and have seen our downtown develop and grow over these past 10 years. We are however very angry with the cost of trying to run a small business.

We just got our real estate tax bill this week. It was the second installment and it went up 40 percent. How can this be justified? We are now at $21,000 a year for a single story building (no tenants or rental income, just the restaurant). As a business owner I expect an increase, but 40 percent all at once? That is INSANE!

Where will it end? How much can people afford running a small business before they have to close their doors? Downtown Arlington Heights has overdeveloped itself and I believe if these types of increases keep up you will be seeing even more "for rent" signs than before. (So many nice retail shops have closed their doors.) There are many who don't know and think we have just been seeing crowds and crowds of people and that we are so busy with all this development. Not so at all - quite the contrary. The same faces day in and day out (thank God for all our loyals!), except Friday and Saturday nights where the restaurants with liquor draw customers beyond the Arlington Heights boundaries. It is scary to hear a lot of people say they don't come to downtown Arlington Heights - too crowded, no parking, too developed!

Will the plan of development eventually backfire? Sadly, I think it is already on its way!

Bobby and Andrea Tsambarlis

Owners, Riviera Restaurant

Arlington Heights