Winfield seeks tax hike for road repairs

Voters will decide in November whether to give Winfield millions of dollars in new revenue to keep village streets from crumbling.

Trustees on Thursday agreed to ask residents to approve a tax increase that would allow Winfield to resurface its 35 miles of local streets every 20 years.

While no remarks were made during the unanimous vote, trustees previously have said they believe a November referendum proposal is the best option to repair the town's roads, many of which are in poor to failing condition.

Even though the village receives roughly $250,000 a year in motor fuel tax revenue, most of that money is spent on pothole patching and road salt. As a result, Winfield only has about $100,000 for annual road projects, officials said.

Meanwhile, other revenue-generating ideas such as a vehicle sticker program, red-light cameras and a sales tax increase wouldn't raise the amount of money the village needs.

The proposed tax hike will appear as two questions on the ballot.

The first will ask voters' permission to borrow $3.3 million to resurface the most deteriorated streets in the village.

The second will ask voters to let Winfield collect an extra $700,000 in property taxes each year to fund a 20-year maintenance cycle for the entire network of local roads, "so we don't get into the situation we currently are with failing roads," Village Manager Curt Barrett said.

If approved, the combined ballot questions would cost the owner of a $300,000 home about $230 extra in village property taxes each year.

Organized opposition to the referendum has started to form. Some critics blame the town's road problems on a shortage of commercial development, especially along Roosevelt Road.

Trustee Chuck Martschinke said residents with questions about the referendum should speak to village officials to get the facts.

"Don't operate on hearsay," Martschinke said. "Please come to the people who know the facts and get the facts to make your decision. Make an informed, educated decision about these two very, very critical proposals."

In the meantime, Winfield officials were pleasantly surprised Thursday when Central DuPage Hospital made a $300,000 contribution for road repairs.

"We appreciate having good roads," said Jim Spear, executive vice president of Central DuPage. "So that's our contribution toward that."