THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2008
Property Tax Increase Lowered In Final Budget
After a last minute deal with Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, the Park Ridge City Council on Monday, Apr. 21 decreased a property tax increase and passed its budget for the next fiscal year.
At the Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, Apr. 14, the council instructed Mayor Howard Frimark, City Manager pro tempore Juliana Maller, and Finance Director Diane Lembesis to meet with representatives of the hospital to work out a parking garage tax increase. Frimark returned to the council on the 21st with the results of that meeting.
"I asked what the hospital could do to help the city of Park Ridge with our financial burden," Frimark said. After discussion, Lutheran General agreed to a tax increase of 20 cents per car parked in the garage, making the rate 70 cents per vehicle. "It's a situation where we're asking one of our good partners to help us with our tax situation," Frimark explained.
With the expected increase in revenue of $200,000, he made an offer to reduce the property tax increase from 4.7% to 3.3% "to show our good faith to our citizens."
Two aldermen tried to make additional changes to the final budget. Ald. David Schmidt (1st) suggested leaving the property tax levy increase at 4.7% and using that money to resurface another mile of streets in the city. No one seconded that motion. Ald. Frank Wsol (7th) moved to delay hiring a police chief for six months in an effort to save the city the salary of the deputy police chief. He proposed using that savings to further lower the property tax increase. Although his motion was seconded, it was voted down by a vote of 5-2 with only Ald. Don Bach (3rd) joining Wsol in the "aye" column.
The council unanimously agreed to the budget with the levy increase of 3.3%, or about $32 for an average Park Ridge household.
Ald. Had Wrong Tax Numbers
At the Park Ridge Committee of the Whole meeting on Apr. 14, Ald. Frank Wsol (7th) spoke of property tax paid by Advocate Lutheran General Hospital.
At the meeting, Wsol said, "About 11 years ago, Lutheran General was paying $14 million. Today, it's paying $5.5 million." Later that week, Wsol explained he received, and cited, incorrect information at the meeting. The numbers were not property tax paid, but assessed valuation of the property. According to Finance Director Diane Lembesis, the exact assessed valuation decreased from $13,714,069 to $5,235,365. Tom Higgins, director of community and governmental relations for Lutheran General added the actual property tax paid over that time increased from about $1.2 million to $1.9 million.