Naperville Township heeds call for cuts

A Daily Herald editorial (Feb. 3) called upon the state of Illinois to "cut spending before increasing taxes." In Naperville Township, that is exactly what we have done, starting with the salaries of the elected officials. At a recent meeting, we cut the supervisor's salary in half, reduced the clerk's salary by 25 percent, and froze the stipends of the four trustees for the next 4 years. As a result, our supervisor and highway commissioner will be the lowest-paid in any of the nine townships in DuPage County. This action alone will save taxpayers more than $200,000 during the course of the upcoming terms of office. On the other hand, we have come up with new ways to raise revenue without burdening the taxpayers, such as leasing a cell phone tower on our property to a local cell phone company, and selling passports. We have also worked hard each year to lower the property tax rate, maintain a balanced budget, and have kept the lid on spending increases to an average of about 3 percent per year. Other units of government would do well to consider doing the same.

Fred Spitzzeri

Naperville Township trustee