Elburn seeks OK to raise local sales tax
Editor's note: A previous version of this report said Elburn sought to institute a sales tax. The village already taxes sales of general merchandise at 7 percent.
Elburn again will ask for permission to raise the local sales tax rate.
Voters will decide April 2 whether to increase the tax on sales of general merchandise by 1 percentage point. It would not apply to groceries, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, or sales of titled property such as cars and boats.
The money would go in to the village's general fund, where it could be spent on any operations, infrastructure or property tax relief.
Village officials want to use it to increase and improve the village's parks.
Among the ideas is building a soccer complex north of Keslinger Road, as part of the Elburn Station development, President Jeff Walter said.
"We don't have the money to do that now," he said.
The money also could be used to do more roadwork, Walter said.
"Things have not been kept up as well as they should have," he said. In particular, streets in the northwest section of town - the oldest - need a lot of work, he said.
The village plans to have an engineering firm analyze all the pavement to help it prioritize projects. It hasn't done a pavement analysis in at least 15 years, Walter said.
If voters approve a sales tax increase, it could go into effect as soon as July 1 and would make the total general merchandise sales tax rate 8 percent.
In March 2016, voters rejected a 1 percentage point increase, by a vote of 704-683.
So far, Elburn's is the only referendum on the April ballot.
Residents have until Jan. 3 to submit petitions for a referendum. Governing bodies have until Jan. 15.