Geneva council fails to agree on property tax levy
The Geneva City Council will try again in the next two weeks to approve a 2011 property tax levy.
Four aldermen voted to increase the property tax request as presented by the city's staff, and five aldermen — Richard Marks, Chuck Brown, Dorothy Flanagan, Sam Hill and Dean Kilburg — voted against. Mayor Kevin Burns then voted “aye,” resulting in a 5-5 vote.
Under state law, the mayor can vote when only half the elected aldermen vote in favor of something, city attorney Charles Radovich said. So the council must hold another vote.
Alderman Ralph Dantino, who has been ill with cancer, was absent.
For about an hour, aldermen debated whether to adopt a slightly lower property tax levy, after Kilburg said he couldn't approve an increase. The city is allowed, under state tax law, to ask for 1.5 percent more than it collected last year, plus a cushion to allow for the unknown value of new property in the community.
Kilburg had previously suggested no increase, plus a factor for new construction. City staffers suggested a 2.4 percent increase, to make sure the city gets what it is entitled to on new property. Kane County won't finalize the value of property in the city until the spring, long after the levy has to be filed.
“I think with the current state of affairs with our economy and some of the challenges our residents are facing, I find it difficult to support it as presented,” Kilburg said. “I feel we have a fiscal responsibility to tighten our budget as well as a moral obligation to our community at this time.”
Alderman Craig Maladra disagreed.
“We need to be very careful when we talk about hot-button issues like, ‘My home value is decreasing and why are my taxes going up?' It is not a good way to look at it,” Maladra said, because the costs of running the city are still the same or going up, as long as services remain the same.
Alderman Robert Piper grew frustrated with the debate, noting the aldermen were talking about maybe an $80,000 difference, or about 1 cent per $100 equalized assessed valuation. He said aldermen were doing it just to look good.
“It is a drop in a bucket in a $15 million budget. It doesn't mean anything. It is all for looks, folks. We're just doing this to make ourselves look good and pat ourselves on the back.”
Brown grew frustrated with some aldermen and staff members' focus on tax rates. “I really wish we would get away from quoting tax rates. The only thing that counts is how much money we are asking for,” he said.
The council, which meets next Dec. 19, has until Dec. 27 to file a levy request with the Kane County clerk. The levy is for taxes payable in the spring of 2012.
Burns told the aldermen it will be up to them to propose a solution by then.
Tuesday evening, he said he may call a special council meeting to vote again on the levy, as he will be out of town Dec. 19. He said it is such an important issue that he wants it considered at a meeting he and all the aldermen attend.
Burns also said the matter reflects a “policy decision” the council has to make: whether to focus on the next 12 months, or on the next several years, in city finances. “There are consequences” to limiting revenue that residents and council members may not like, he said, such as reductions in services. “They best be prepared to deal (with complaints and requests).”