Winfield’s Good Old Days Near an End?

At the June 17 Winfield village board meeting the topic of discussion was the road referendum that will be on the Nov. 2 ballot. The village board is asking the village residents increase our property taxes by 200 percent to fund $18 million in deferred road maintenance.

I understand that Winfield’s roads are in disrepair but I find it foolish to give my authority to the village board to increase my real estate taxes without them first composing a plan to create sustainable revenues for the future. This plan should probably include developing Winfield’s most promising retail corridor which is Roosevelt Road. In what can only be described as a rhetorical “red herring,” Village Manager Curt Barrett informed me that in order to address the needs of the village roads we would need sales taxes of “$100 million,” and it was not as easy as “flipping a switch” to find other funding sources in place of the referendum.

Twenty minutes earlier Rich Bysina from the Winfield Chamber of Commerce asked village board members if they could pick up the tab for police services for the annual Winfield Good Old Days. Based on the responses from the trustees there is about a 50 percent chance there will be no Good Old Days this year.

I find it hilarious that Mr. Barrett can compartmentalize my demand for sustainable revenues into “only” needing them for road maintenance. From time immemorial money has been made for villages through the careful cultivation of commerce. Winfield should have started 20 years ago but there is no time like the present to have a plan. It’s time for Winfield to make money the “old” fashion way, by earning it, or Winfield’s Good Old Days will truly be behind it.

Video: Winfield Village Board ‘No Plan for Generating Needed Revenues’

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Winfield’s Good Old Days Near An End?

Winfield Resident Speaks Out Against Possible Road Referendum

Tim Allen, a Winfield resident and outspoken critic of a possible $3.3 million road referendum put forth by the Village of Winfield, drew about 35 people to a presentation at John’s Buffet in Winfield April 20.

During his PowerPoint presentation, Allen—a former village plan commission member and 2009 trustee candidate—outlined his opposition to the referendum, which asks voters two questions.

The first part would ask voters to approve a bond issuance of $3.3 million to repair the most deteriorated roads in the village. A second question would ask homeowners to raise property taxes to fund $700,000 worth of road maintenance each year for the next 20 years.

Such an aggressive maintenance cycle would be a first for Winfield, said Village Manager Curt Barrett.

If both questions pass, the owner of a $300,000 home could expect a yearly tax hike of $260.

Barrett and Village President Deborah Birutis were invited to present the argument in favor of the referendum but neither attended.

Lackluster revenue from a motor fuel tax and significant increases in both material and labor for road repair have limited the village’s ability to pay to fix the village’s streets, Barrett said.

“At this point, we can’t afford a half-mile of resurfacing funded by the motor fuel tax,” Barrett said.

Allen said poor planning and a lack of sales tax revenue generated by commercial development in Winfield, particularly along the Roosevelt Road corridor, is the reason the village has been forced to ask voters to raise taxes to fund road repairs. Land along the corridor in Winfield is primarily residential, but homeowners can petition the municipality to have their land re-zoned.

“We can pass a road referendum and repair the roads but we haven’t solved the problem of not having sustainable revenues in this town,” Allen said. “Everything comes back on you and your residential taxes because we don’t have another way to make money that doesn’t include dipping into your pocket. What I’m asking you to do is say no until we fix the long-term problems of sustainable revenues for Winfield.”

While the presentation focused on the future of one of DuPage County’s smallest municipalities, it was also something of a showcase for Allen, who acknowledges that he plans to run for trustee in the future.

“I won’t deny this is putting me on a stage for a political future, but somebody’s got to do it,” he said.

Allen discussed alternative road funding options during the hour-long presentation, which turned contentious as one attendee called Allen and others who held similar viewpoints members of the Me Generation.

In addition to re-zoning and developing Roosevelt Road, Allen urged residents to consider video gambling and leasing the parking lot at the Metra station to a private operator to generate funds.

Cliff Mortenson, chairman of the village’s plan commission and a former trustee, was in attendance and spoke up several times in defense of the village.

“We’re not the only ones in this predicament,” he said.

Mortenson said it made more sense for the village to focus its commercial recruitment efforts on Winfield’s downtown area and Geneva Road as opposed to Roosevelt Road.

“Let’s concentrate on those areas that are already considered commercial,” he said.

Resident Patti Weber said she thinks certain developments on Roosevelt Road—like an inn to accommodate the guests of weddings at nearby Cantigny Park—would be very promising opportunities for the village.

Josta and James Kalasmiki sat through the presentation to learn more about the road situation in the village and possible ways to finance repairs.

“Garys Mill Road is deteriorated,” James Kalasmiki said. “It’s beautiful in West Chicago but as soon as you hit Winfield, you better slow down.”

When asked how they would vote on the referendum, both residents said they hadn’t made up their minds.

By Patricia Murphy, Triblocal.com reporter

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