30-05-2025
La Grange Park funds flood relief project, OKs local grocery tax
A project in La Grange Park meant to address flooding problems won't result in higher water and sewer rates for residents after the La Grange Park Board of Trustees unanimously approved an ordinance to issue $5 million in bonds May 27 to help fund the Central Area Sewer Separation Project.
'The annual debt service on the proposed bonds is anticipated to be nearly equal to the current debt service and therefore no increase in the sewer rate is required,' finance chair Robert Lautner told the board before the vote, referring to 2006 sewer bonds whose debt will be retired this year.
The debt service on the 2006 bonds is approximately $390,000 per year. The debt service for the new bonds will be paid for by revenue from the village water and sewer system customers at their existing rate.
The current estimated cost of the Sewer Separation Project is $12.5 million. The village had previously accepted $4 million in funding assistance from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and, in doing so, committed the village to issue up to $5 million in bonds to help finance the project.
Costs above the $9 million from the bonds and MWRD money will be paid by other grants and village reserves, officials said.
The project is designed to provide flooding relief to the area of the Village bounded by 31st Street on the north, La Grange Road on the west, Homestead Road on the south, and the Illinois Harbor Belt railroad on the east.
The area contains local low areas, including the intersection of Barnsdale Road and Jackson Avenue, and on Monroe between Forest and Barnsdale roads which have suffered increased flooding in recent years. It was particularly hard hit by the May 17, 2020, floods that devastated parts of La Grange and La Grange Park.
Separating the Forest Avenue, Homestead and Barnsdale roads storm sewers from the storm sewers along 31st Street will provide relief to the area, officials said. Tentative estimates indicate the bonds will be put out for sale before the end of July and the bond closing would be by August 18, 2025.
In other business, the board addressed a potential budget shortfall by approving a municipal grocery sales tax of one percent.
The tax is scheduled to begin January 1, 2026 and will replace the state grocery sales tax that expires at the end of 2025.
'The village's estimated grocery sales tax revenue is between $250,000 and $300,000,' Lautner said introducing the ordinance.
He also noted that the village's fiscal year 2025-2026 budget approved the grocery sales tax as revenue in the General Fund.
'As a resident and a taxpayer, I hate that we have to continue this tax and potentially miss the opportunity that we might be able to save a little,' Lautner said. 'But the other side of that coin is that to lose the significant revenue of over a quarter million dollars would have a direct impact on the services this village provides, and that's something we cannot afford to do.'
The tax was approved unanimously, but some trustees did so grudgingly.
'I see no way around it, so I'm going to support it,' Trustee Michael Sheehan said.
His colleague Karen Koncel called it 'a necessary evil.'
'I know we need the revenue, but this is definitely not my way of pursuing that revenue,' she said.
The next La Grange Park Village Board meeting will be 7:30 p.m., June 10 at 447 N. Catherine Ave.
