Big Tax Hikes In Western Springs Neighborhood?

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL — Two Western Springs residents this week protested a drainage project that would mean a big increase in their neighborhood's property taxes for the next decade. So the Village Board, which was poised to approve it, delayed a vote until next month.

For more than three years, the village has been working with the Ridgewood Oaks homeowners association for a project to restore a basin in the condo subdivision. Sediment and trees have filled the basin, prompting the Metro Water Reclamation District to mandate upgrades. Although the basin is privately owned, the village is taking part because the project would benefit the nearby Ridgewood neighborhood.

Its total price tag is about $750,000. Under the plan, the village would pay 25 percent, leaving the remaining $550,000 as the responsibility of homeowners. The city would front the money, with the homeowners paying it over 10 years.

The subdivision's taxpayers would pay, on average, nearly $1,700 the first year. But the payments would drop throughout the decade, to about $900 the last year.

The village said 60 of 62 homeowners signed documents waiving the required two-month objection period after the board approves the project. If it had been approved at Monday's meeting, the village would have issued a notice to proceed. The project had already been bid out, with the winning contractor selected.

During the meeting, two residents objected to going ahead with the project, saying homeowners weren't notified about the tax impact.

One of them, Alexa O'Donnell, said he was in "utter shock" that officials would try to "jam a $550,000 project down the throats of a relatively older group." The flooding problems, he said, were mostly in the surrounding village, not Ridgewood Oaks in particular.

He asked for a delay, so the homeowners could have time to fight the project.

Stan Heidemann, the homeowners association's president, said his group has been working with the village on the project since 2017. Village President Alice Gallagher, he said, has met with residents twice about the issue.

"I'm not sure whether all residents kept themselves informed at quarterly and annual meetings," Heidemann said. "This project is a benefit to us financially. If we had to do this on our own, it would probably have cost more."

The village trustees voted to delay a vote on the issue until Aug. 17. Dissenting was Trustee James Tyrrell.

Gallagher said she agreed with Tyrrell, but that "waiting three weeks is not the end of the world."

Village officials said that even with the delay, the project could still be completed this year.