No sales tax vote in November, Geneva officials say
Geneva will wait until April to ask voters' approval to raise the city's sales tax.
Mounting a successful campaign to get the OK would be difficult, according to officials from the Geneva Chamber of Commerce. The chamber supports the tax increase.
"We think it is too rushed," said chamber President Jean Gaines.
Plus, some members worry about the number and temperament, of voters in the November election, due to the race for president between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
"They're just going to hit 'no,' " said Michael Olesen, owner of Stockholm's Pub, who supports the tax increase.
"April voters are the people concerned about the community and take the time to learn what the issues are. We can demonstrate (the need for the tax) to the people who care about our community," he said.
Voters will elect local officials, including aldermen, in April.
Aldermen decided the matter at a committee of the whole meeting Monday, and are expected to take a binding vote next week.
In a previous discussion, aldermen indicated they wanted to avoid being on the same ballot as a Geneva Library tax vote. The library board is considering constructing a new building, and would need voters' permission to borrow money to do so. The library board has not yet requested a referendum. Aldermen feared people might vote in favor of only one of the issues, and they did not want to be perceived as hurting the library.
"You have to ask, (which) is the more important issue, yours or the library's need?" Gaines said.
If approved, the city sales tax for general merchandise would be raised a half-percentage point. The total sales tax rate, including the state, county, city and RTA portions, would be 8 percent.
The chamber of commerce favors a citywide sales tax increase over a previous proposal to just increase the sales tax charged at downtown businesses. Levying it only on downtown businesses would be unfair, they said, because people might instead shop at stores along Randall Road, where the sales tax would be less.