'Depleted' Western Springs Has No Cash For Big Projects

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – Western Springs is using its portion of gas tax dollars for asphalt street patching around town, the village said in a statement Monday. The work is set to be finished by month's end.

The village has identified no roadway reconstruction or asphalt resurfacing projects using gas taxes, known officially as motor fuel taxes.

In December, Western Springs announced its finances prevented it from doing any major work this year.

"The funds have been depleted," the village's finance director, John Mastandona, told the Village Board at the time.

All the money for roads was spent last year, the village said. The last successful referendum to pay for streets was passed eight years ago.

In 2016, nearly two-thirds of local voters approved allowing the village to go into debt by $12 million to pay for street projects.

One of Western Springs' issues is that it is nearly entirely residential, far more so than many of its neighbors. That means its tax base is relatively limited.

In 2022, 54 percent of local voters rejected hiking the sales tax by 1 percentage point to pay for local infrastructure.

Although Western Springs plans no major projects with gas tax money this year, other entities have undertaken work. Cook County is working on Wolf Road, between Ogden Avenue and 47th Street. And the state Department of Transportation is improving 55th Street from Interstate 294 to Plainfield Road in Countryside, passing through Western Springs and La Grange.