Referendum Considered At Flossmoor Village Meeting

Press release from the Village of Flossmoor:

At the August 3, 2020 Village Board meeting, the Mayor & Board of Trustees discussed a proposal to place a referendum question on the November 3, 2020 ballot asking voters to approve the issuance of General Obligation bonds to finance needed improvements to our Village’s infrastructure. Specifically, the bonds would be used to pay for the resurfacing and reconstruction of streets and sidewalks village-wide, as well as improvements to stormwater infrastructure to reduce flooding in the Flossmoor Road Viaduct and upstream tributary areas of the Heather Hill and Old Flossmoor neighborhoods. On August 17, the Village Board will vote to place the referendum question on the November ballot.

The Village Board directed staff to prepare a referendum question that would ask voters for approval to issue $10 million in General Obligation bonds that would be paid off over a period of 20 years. The bond would be financed by the Village’s property tax levy. In 2002, voters approved a bond issuance of $8 million to finance the construction of the Flossmoor Public Library building; since then, the tax levy has included a levy for the repayment of those bonds. The library bonds will be paid off in 2021. As a result, the tax increase associated with the new bond issuance for streets, sidewalks, and stormwater infrastructure will be the incremental amount between the $8 million library bonds and the $10 million new bond issuance.

In 2017, the Village commissioned a study that showed that there are nearly $14 million in repairs (2020 estimated costs) needed to bring the Village’s streets up to a grade of very good condition. In addition, with the increase in severe rain storms over the past few years, flooding issues have become a priority for the Village. To resolve the flooding in the downtown and upstream tributary areas, it could cost between $5.7 million and $6.5 million, and those estimates are currently being further refined. The Village is currently completing engineering and pursuing grants for stormwater mitigation that could cover a majority of the cost of the Flossmoor Road Viaduct and upstream tributary area improvements. Should the Village be unable to procure grant funding, the $5.7 - $6.5 million viaduct project would be funded by the bond issue. Should the Village be successful in those grant applications, a greater percentage of the $10 million bond issuance would be used for the street and sidewalk projects. Maximizing the grant funding is critical.

This bond issuance will augment the Village’s current spending on infrastructure and allow the Village to make significant progress toward upgrading the Village’s streets and sidewalks in a short period of time. Last fiscal year (FY20), the Village spent $451,367 on street resurfacing and rehabilitation. Of the $451,367, $201,367 came from the Motor Fuel Tax through the State of Illinois and another $250,000 came from General Fund, which is the Village’s main operating fund that receives revenues from property tax and sales tax, among other sources. Over the years, the Village has used Motor Fuel Tax funding for ongoing street resurfacing projects, but these state-shared revenues have not kept up with the cost of the projects. For the current fiscal year, the Village has also budgeted $450,000 ($300,000 from MFT and $150,000 from the General Fund). With approximately 33 miles of streets in need of rehabilitation, $450,000 is not enough and continuing to use such a significant amount of General Fund monies toward street resurfacing on an annual basis is not financially sustainable.

If the referendum is successful, construction on the street improvements could likely begin as early as 2021 and the stormwater projects would begin as soon as the grant funding is known, which could also be as soon as 2021.

The Village is committed to providing residents with information to better understand the infrastructure needs and the financing. Please stay tuned for more information.

This press release was produced by the Village of Flossmor. The views expressed here are the author’s own.