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Pingree Grove reduces special service area taxes

The Pingree Grove village board has voted to reduce special service area taxes for about 1,700 homes.

The 5 percent reduction in SSA Nos. 4 and 9 amounts to $9.95 off property tax bills, primarily for residents of Cambridge Lakes South, said Interim Administrator Carol Lussky.

There are 1,682 homes in SSA 4, while there are 26 homes in SSA 9; next year, each SSA will amount to about $189.50 per home, Lussky said.

SSAs essentially are additional taxes imposed on property owners that go toward funding specific projects within that area.

The 5 percent reduction amounts to just under $17,000.

“The board made the determination that it will be absorbed by the general fund. It’s basically for village maintenance, so it falls to our public works department primarily,” Lussky said.

Trustees Ray LaMarca, Bob Spieker and Brian Paszkiewicz voted for the reduction, while Trustees Steve Wiedmeyer, Chuck Pearson and Bernie Thomas voted against, Lussky said. Village President Greg Marston split the tie with a vote in favor.

Proceeds from video gambling will cover the revenue lost through the tax reduction, LaMarca said.

“We’ve been looking at this for a while,” he said. “We felt secure that it was funded.”

The village’s share of revenues from the eight video gambling terminals operating in Pingree Grove is estimated at $12,000 to $14,000 for the fiscal year, which ends April 30, LaMarca said.

Pearson said he supports reducing and eventually eliminating SSAs, but now is too soon.

“We’re not in a position financially to reduce anything. Short term, yes. Long term, no,” he said.

The village first needs to set aside money for future infrastructure maintenance, and possible future expenses like additional police personnel and a new salt barn, he said.

On Monday, the board also voted to formally terminate SSA 1. The village did not levy those taxes in 2013 because the loans that financed it had been paid off, Lussky said.

There are two other SSAs in Pingree Grove, Nos. 2 and 7, which pay for the cost of village infrastructure including the water treatment plant, Lussky said.

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