Carpentersville to help fund Dundee Township dial-a-ride service
Of the 190 residents sitting on a waitlist for Dundee Township's dial-a-ride service earlier this year, Laura Denten was below number 150.
Denten, who uses a wheelchair, moved to Carpentersville in 2014 expecting full access to the Ride in Kane program, which offers $4 bus and taxi rides for seniors and residents with disabilities.
Citing insufficient funding, however, township officials told Denten it could be years before she'd be enrolled in the program. She instead relied on other methods of transportation — friends, Uber, a limited Pace Suburban Bus route — to get around the community, including the store, medical appointments and sessions at a NeuroBalance center.
“It was (inconvenient), but it was not life or death for me,” Denten said. “It could be very much life or death for lots of other people.”
Though a Dundee Township program, Denten asked Carpentersville officials to address the issue last year. The village has now agreed to help fund the program, allotting $22,000 per year in video gambling revenue toward rides for Carpentersville residents, part of a two-year deal with the township.
In turn, Denten was among the more than 150 people who were almost immediately removed from the waiting list, Dundee Township Supervisor Sue Harney said. Those left on the list, which has since grown by a few dozen new applicants, live elsewhere in the township or are Carpentersville residents who could not be reached.
“(Denten) was a key catalyst in this. She was so persistent and would not let this go away,” Harney said. “It's been a really gratifying experience for me, and I'm so pleased we're getting these people enrolled in this (program).”
The need for Ride in Kane has outweighed its funding since local municipalities started pulling their financial contributions a few years ago, saying they couldn't afford to sponsor the program, Harney said.
“Money was very tight, and this is an expensive program,” she said. “So we ended up with a waiting list, and even more unpleasant, the waiting list seemed to grow much faster than we've been able to reduce it.”
This year, Dundee Township budgeted roughly $100,000 for Ride in Kane, an amount that is more than doubled by federal grants, Harney said. Carpentersville's contribution allows the program to provide about 2,200 additional rides per year, she said.
“We are stepping in in the breach,” Village Manager Mark Rooney said. “When you see what that tax dollar does to change somebody's life, it's rewarding.”
Though the village only plans to help finance the program for two years, Harney said she's already working on a possible solution for future funding.
Twenty years ago, voters approved a tax levy increase that allowed the township to purchase land designated for open space. After those open space bonds are paid off next year, Harney said, the township's property tax rate will drop from 2.2 cents to about 1.7 cents per $100 of taxable value.
Harney is instead suggesting the township board ask voters to maintain a portion of that tax hike and put the extra revenue toward Ride in Kane.
“We're very committed to this program,” she said. “I am so excited and so optimistic that this is going to work out.”