Resurfacing already planned for Elgin sales tax revenue

Elgin City Council members will consider allocating funding this week for the first road project made possible by a higher sales tax.

The half-percentage-point increase in the tax won’t take effect until July 1, but the council is considering bidding out resurfacing work in anticipation of the extra revenue.

Council members approved the increase in December as part of the 2012 budget. As of July, the overall rate on the Kane County side of the city will be 8.25 percent; on the Cook side it will be 9.5 percent.

The city keeps 1.25 percent. The additional revenue is meant to fund combined sewer projects and street resurfacing.

City Manager Sean Stegall said the city plans to make an internal loan from one account to another and pay back the money once sales tax revenue starts coming in. Moving now allows the city to jump on better prices.

“We want to take advantage of the bid environment,” Stegall said. “If not for the sales tax change, we wouldn’t be able to do that.”

The resurfacing work is meant to address aging streets before they are so far gone they need to be rebuilt completely.

Villa Street from Lake Street to Willard Avenue is the location that has the greatest need, according to a memo to city council members from management analyst Dan Ault. While the street’s deterioration warrants reconstruction, the memo said money is not available locally or through grant funding.

Instead of its current four-lane design, Villa Street will be converted to three wider lanes with a center turn lane and one lane for traffic in each direction. Bike lanes are also recommended — this will relieve some pressure from the weaker curb area and get bike lanes in a location outlined in the city’s master plan.

Overall, 18 resurfacing locations are outlined in the memo, projects that normally take just a few weeks and do not heavily inhibit traffic. Ault said without the additional sales tax revenue — expected to reach $1.6 million in 2012 — the city would have been able to fund only one or two projects. The Villa Street location would not have been possible at all, according to Ault.

Council members will discuss awarding the bid for $2,337,294 to Plote Construction during Wednesday’s city council meeting.