Frankfort Mayoral Candidate Todd Morgan wants to remedy serious concerns for future of Village

PRESS RELEASE

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Todd Morgan, 815-464-1730, Morganformayor2017@gmail.com

Frankfort Mayoral Candidate Todd Morgan wants to remedy serious concerns for future of Village

As the April 4 election approaches, Mayoral Candidate Todd Morgan stressed his concerns and strategies regarding the future of the Village of Frankfort. He stated, “I keep hearing from the incumbents that everything in Frankfort is just fine. This reminds me of the same message we were getting years ago from Lincoln-Way High School District 210 regarding our schools. While this is not as much of an ‘apples to apples’ comparison to the Village issues, the fact remains that the Village faces some serious headwinds moving forward and, in my opinion, they are not being discussed.”

Morgan outlined some troubling issues regarding Village finances. He said, “While the current Village of Frankfort's budget is balanced, our cash reserves have been on the decline for the past few years. Our sales tax revenue is flat to declining, we have twice as many roads that need resurfacing coming up, we just entered into a $60 million waste water treatment plant construction for which the taxpayer is on the hook, we need at least three new police officers, crime statistics are rising and both commercial/industrial and housing numbers lag in the region.”

He also has concerns about the Village working towards securing ongoing high-quality development. He stated, “Sure we have brought development like Emagine Entertainment and Mariano's to Frankfort but that happened almost two years ago when I was on the Village Board. Development projects sometimes take years in the making and we don't currently have anything like that on the drawing board. Talking about past success isn't going to pay the bills or secure our future.”

Morgan believes the importance going forward for the Village of Frankfort is to find a serious source of revenue soon to keep up with current and future obligations. He continued, “If you can’t get enough quality commercial development or generate enough sales tax to lift revenue to support our growing needs, you are going to fall behind pretty fast.”

Frankfort is known for its high level of public services and Morgan believes the Village Officials need to make sure to continue that tradition. He stated, “Cutting services is not an option for me, but unless the Village embarks on a committed strategy for tackling these impending future costs, something is going to have to give. In my opinion, if the Village sales taxes and other revenue sources received today don't start to match our needs for new road resurfacing, police services or other unavoidable obligations going forward, the Village will have to look for an increase in the sales tax, pursue some type of borrowing options or cut services.” If elected Mayor, Morgan has stated he would make it his goal to develop a strategic plan to confront these imminent future Village expenses.

Besides these valued concerns, as the final headwind Morgan feels that the Village Board needs to articulate a strong message about all of the true benefits of Frankfort and continue to position itself as the premier community in the south suburbs. He believes that this would preserve Frankfort’s quality status while also attracting more people and businesses to move here and become a part of our fabric. “We need to be pro-active and communicate to current and potential residents and businesses what we are doing to counter the issues that face both the Village and Lincoln-Way District 210 and how we are going to work together to support our community’s brand,” he stated.

Morgan continued, “The issues facing the Village of Frankfort are real and Village Officials will have to address them. I look forward to the challenge of keeping Frankfort a premier community for a long time to come.” Candidate Todd Morgan may be contacted at 815-464-1730 or Morganformayor2017@gmail.com.