Joliet gives initial OK to tax hike
JOLIET -- The Joliet City Council gave preliminary approval to a property tax hike Tuesday while making it clear that they could back out in the coming weeks if they choose.
Even that vote was divided 6-3 with Mayor Art Schultz joining the opposition.
The proposed tax hike would cost the average homeowner with a $250,000 house an estimated $200 more a year in the city's portion of the property tax bill.
It includes a 24 percent increase in the citywide tax levy and a hike in the tax rate on individual property owners to $133.20 per $10,000 of assessed value. This year's rate was $111 per $10,000 of assessed value.
City staff recommended the tax hike to help plug a budget gap but described the increase as the "upper limit" of what might finally be approved.
Voting against the hike, Uremovic said, "Somehow working documents pretty quickly get cut into stone."
Uremovic and Councilwoman Jan Quillman pointed to the unemployment problem while voting against the proposal.
Saying there are still budget cuts to make, Quillman said later, "I want to look at every single avenue before we talk about laying off employees or raising taxes."
On the layoff front, City Manager Thomas Thanas said management and union leadership have reached tentative approval on an agreement that would avert job cuts among firefighters. He did not offer details of the agreement.
A full vote against the tax hike proposal would have forced the council to limit any increase in the property tax levy to 5 percent as they work out the 2010 budget in the coming weeks. Some council members said they needed more leeway in the budget discussions.
"If we don't have the dollars, people are going to have to be laid off," Councilman Joseph Shetina said.
Schultz, asked after the meeting why he voted against the tax proposal, said he still wants to see the dollar impact on property owners.
Budget makers estimate the city will end this year with a $14 million deficit. The proposed tax hike would raise an additional $8.6 million.
