The county board is thinking long and hard about how much taxation Cook County property owners can bear.
On December 11, the board discussed the Cook County/ Grand Marais Economic Development Agency’s proposed 2013 budget and levy. They considered two proposals from the EDA, one that included a fulltime director at $60,000 a year plus benefits (a total of $77,700) and another that included a halftime director at half the pay and benefits.
EDA Chair Mark Sandbo said, “I would love to have a full-time director. I’m not sure there’s enough going on to warrant a full-time director.” He said they might want to combine a half-time director position with another position, perhaps related to the Cook County Chamber of Commerce.
The cost of a full-time director would require a raise of about $39,000 in the EDA levy. Commissioner Jan Hall said she was against adding more taxes to local taxpayers. She described a scenario in which parents try to find care for their kids wherever they can so they can get to work but are still hardly able to make ends meet. “You can be responsible for adding more to these families that are struggling,” she said to the other commissioners. “I’m not. …There are a lot, a lot of people who struggle.” She said costs go up, but their incomes do not.
The budget proposals included the city and the county each paying $60,000 toward the 2013 bond payment on the Cedar Grove Business Park and anticipated a $30,000 lot sale in 2013. Sandbo reported that a $30,000 offer was coming in that day for a Cedar Grove Business Park lot.
Commissioner Hall said she had a problem with the fact that the Cedar Grove lots have not been sold yet. Referring to the possibility of funding business park bond payments with levy revenue, she said, “This goes on the taxpayers that can’t pay any more.” She recommended that they use reserve funds to pay the $60,000 the county agreed to pay toward the business park bonds.
The board made a decision on the EDA budget and levy on Dec. 18. See a related levy article on page A1.
Housing program
EDA Housing Coordinator Nancy Grabko, on contract through her company, Community Fundraising Solutions (CFS), reported on the rehab projects that had been completed with grant funding in the last couple of years.
Commissioner Jan Hall took issue with CFS being paid grant money she thought should go into EDA coffers for other projects. Mike Littfin of the EDA said the EDA decided to put leftover housing grant funding back into the housing program, which is beneficial to the county.
Hal Greenwood of the EDA said he considers this a very high-performing program. “It outperforms anything I’ve seen in this county, dollar for dollar,” he said.
Grabko reported that the EDA will be identifying needs and deciding whether to apply for a grant coming up that would help owners of rental units rehab their rental properties. She also showed commissioners the EDA’s new website at www.prosperitynorth.com.
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