No to future Kildeer road funds

Kildeer voters will decide March 20 whether the village can raise the sales tax half a percentage point to a total rate of 7.5 percent.

Village administrator Michael Talbett says the extra $500,000 the tax increase would generate would be used to improve roads. He also notes there are no dangerous roads in Kildeer, but says officials want to be proactive. “They didn’t wait until the roads began to deteriorate,” he said.

Technically, voters will be asked if the tax can be raised to be used “on expenditures for municipal operations, expenditures on public infrastructure or for property tax relief.”

That gives officials the ability to spend the revenue collected on just about any day-to-day operation. The suggestion that a sales tax increase can provide property tax relief we find to be a stretch. Talbett says most sales tax money comes from visitors, not residents.

We are skeptical most of this tax increase really would come from visitors and question whether officials truly have demonstrated they couldn’t tighten elsewhere to find funds for roads not yet in disrepair. We recommend a vote against this tax increase.