Channahon mulls CED contribution
CHANNAHON -- The village may or may not continue to support the Will County Center for Economic Development this year, and if it does, it will likely be at a reduced contribution from previous years.
The village board this week decided it needed a couple more weeks to consider the amount, if any, the village will donate to the Will County CED.
The center's director, John Greuling, asked the board to contribute $10,000 -- the same amount it has contributed in the past -- but Trustees Judie Nash, Scott McMillin, Scott Slocum and Sam Greco voted against the measure, and it failed.
Also, Channahon is currently working on an economic development group of its own, and the village has already budgeted $50,000 for that council.
The village has to tighten its belt this year, Slocum said after the meeting, in these difficult economic times.
"Times are very tough," he said, "and we are looking at making some tough decisions around here."
Village President Joe Cook said Channahon has been trying to hold the line on purchases and will be looking closely at line items in the coming year's budget.
'It's a totally different animal," Militello said of the Will County CED, "and with it comes lobbying efforts that we don't have that are very, very expensive."
The board also heard news about this year's tax rate and EAV.
The total EAV last year was $365,113,082, and in 2009, the base EAV could be $364,508,362. Finance director Bob Guess said this is the first time he has seen the base EAV down from the previous year's total EAV. That fact is most likely due to homestead exemptions that many residents took, he said.
Foreclosed homes, he said, are still on the tax roles.
Trustees were also told the village's preliminary tax levy is $1.923 million, which is about 100.6 percent of what it was last year.
The proposed tax rate is 0.5239 -- the same as the last two years' adopted rates.
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