If Waukegan officials have plans to keep the property tax rate static, there must be an election in residents’ future. And not the presidential contest most are focusing on this year.
The election city folks are eyeing is the one in 2025 when mayor, city clerk and city treasurer are on the ballot, beginning with the February municipal primary. Mayor Ann Taylor, the city’s first woman mayor, announced her re-election bid this week, joining the lineup which already included three candidates: Former Mayor Sam Cunningham, Waukegan’s first Black mayor; 6th Ward Ald. Keith Turner; and Miguel Rivera, who previously ran for mayor. The list of mayoral hopefuls could grow by next year.
But plans for keeping the tax rate the same as it has been the past four years have run into a snag. City Council members delayed voting last week on the upcoming fiscal year’s $245 million budget at the request of 1st Ward Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton. The city’s fiscal year begins May 1.
Bolton used her aldermanic prerogative to move the budget vote to the City Council session of April 15, ironically the day federal and state income taxes are due. She said she needed the additional time to let her constituents understand the budget. She got support from Turner to wait on the vote, according to Steve Sadin’s front-page News-Sun story of April 3.
Not sure how many of the duo’s constituents brought their concerns to them, but normally residents don’t go through a municipality’s budget like Ebeneezer Scrooge with his quill pen. Most just want to know the bottom line: How much will the hit be from their property tax bills after they receive them? The bills should be mailed out early next month from the Lake County Treasurer’s Office.
Municipal budgeting isn’t a precise science, public administration gurus will tell you. There’s a lot at play in the planning document, such as unplanned emergencies, unforeseen overtime, unexpected price increases and the like.
Veteran finance go-to guy Don Schultz, the city’s interim finance director, ran the budget numbers at a public hearing late last month. One of the reasons for not increasing the tax levy is that sales tax receipts for Waukegan are on the rise.
Results from The Temporary casino in the Fountain Square entertainment zone also chipped in $3.6 million last year. Schultz expects that number to easily climb with a full year of gaming in 2024.
Taylor, obviously, wants to showcase her financial stewardship of the city in her re-election campaign. Her opponents, naturally, would like to stymie what she considers good news for her administration.
The mayor said she plans to use new revenue for some overdue infrastructure improvements. Taylor noted she’s increased city revenue by about $32 million, without a dreaded property tax hike.
Not all of that is because of her, but it is on her watch. If the reverse were true, it also would be cause for alarm during her mayoral stint.
Even without a tax increase, almost half of the city’s revenue in the next fiscal year’s balanced budget still comes from property taxes. City Council members saw the budget initially last month before the public hearing.
Yet, apparently, some haven’t studied the document. Some haven’t even crammed for their financial final exam.
This lack of due diligence on the part of the city’s elected officials is becoming a common occurrence. From quibbling over a brick wall to jabbering over inconsequential matters, the City Council appears unfocused on the big picture: Running Lake County’s largest city, which happens to also be the county seat.
Eighth Ward Ald. Lynn Florian opined Bolton and Turner seemed intent on micromanaging the budget, something she termed “absurd”.
Ninth Ward Ald. Thomas Hayes was more critical, asking Bolton to point out what she found distasteful in the budget. She failed to disclose what exactly she disliked.
Hayes noted holding over the budget vote, “demonstrates an unbelievable and concerning lack of preparation,” according to Sadin’s council reporting. “You have to be prepared and, if you’re not prepared, you’re not doing your job.”
Aldermanic posts won’t be on the ballot until voting in the 2027 municipal election. Until then, city residents are stuck with officials unconcerned about doing their governmental homework.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
sellenews@gmail.com
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