Kendall County Times

Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole met April 22.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

CALL TO ORDER

President Ryan Kauffman called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Board Members Physically Present: President Ryan Kauffman; Trustees Tom Guist, Kit Kuhrt, Karin McCarthy Lange, Karen Novy (attended at 6:05 p.m.), and Andrew Torres (attended at 6:06 p.m.).

Board Members Absent: Trustee Jennifer Jones Sinnott.

Staff Physically Present: Dan Di Santo, Village Administrator; Jean Bueche, Asst. Village Administrator; Tina Touchette, Village Clerk; Jason Bastin, Police Chief; Curt Cassidy, Public Works Director; Andrea Lamberg, Finance Director; Rod Zenner, Development Services Director; Joe Renzetti, IT/GIS Director; Kevin Leighty, Economic Development Director; Maddie Upham, Assistant to the Village Administrator; Julie Hoffman, Events Manager, and Dave Silverman, Village Attorney.

PUBLIC FORUM

Public Forum was opened at 6:02 p.m.

Ed Bradley addressed the Board regarding the grocery tax. He is a 19 year resident of Oswego; the 1% tax has been in place for 35 years and was temporarily stopped during COVID; how the tax revenue should be used; the Village should do the tax; most surrounding communities are doing the tax; the tax is paid by everyone shopping in Oswego; use towards capital projects; proposed water rates; recommend collecting the tax and adopting language to put the revenue towards water/sewer capital funds for the next 5 years and adopt option two for the water rates.

John Brodemus addressed the Board regarding the history of his home. He lives in the 1850 stone barn on Route 31 across from Village Hall; it is a historical site for 96 years as a residence; it used to be a dairy barn, machine shop and Oswego’s 1st dairy. He provided a glass milk jug, pictures, and a wall plate to pass around. James and Dorothy Perry made it into a home in 1929; it was a tea room for awhile; it’s now known as Turtle Rock; historical significance; Oswego Chamber has a graphic of the property in their building; he was denied the designation of the house of the year because he is not within the Village limits; sewer and water connection was also denied; the property is within the 1 ½ mile; reconsider the historical structure and remove the exclusion of historical recognition.

There was no one who requested to speak. The public forum was closed at 6:14 p.m.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS

F.1 Grocery Tax Discussion

Finance Director Lamberg addressed the Board regarding grocery tax. In 2022, Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly agreed to suspend the grocery tax for state fiscal year 2023 (P.A. 102-0700). From July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023, items formerly subject to the 1% tax rate (with the exception of medicines and drugs) were not subject to the state tax. The state grocery tax went back into effect on July 1, 2023. In his 2025 budget, Governor Pritzker permanently eliminated the tax without offering local governments any compensating revenue stream. The goal of ending the state grocery tax on July 1, 2024 did not leave municipalities enough time to plan or pass a

“replacement” local sales tax. On August 5, 2024, the State approved the repeal of the 1% grocery tax effective January 1, 2026 (P.A. 103-0781). Aiming to maintain revenue streams previously supported by the state tax, the authority to implement a 1% local sales tax locally by ordinance was approved as part of the same legislation. Municipalities that wish to implement the local grocery tax effective on January 1, 2026, should adopt an ordinance prior to October 1,2025 to ensure timely filing with the Illinois Department of Revenue. Director Lamberg asked for Board direction on whether to bring back the tax.

Board and staff discussed: MetroWest list; whether Lily Lake has a grocery store: conservative numbers; have more grocery and convenience stores coming to Oswego; take $250,000 towards water bills and then unleash the interest earned; keep putting money in until interest catches up; will catch up in five years; how many houses can we distribute the $250,000 to; will need to qualify to get money for the water bill and will depend on meter size; where we are at with water rates; would need to do Scenario 4 with Trustee Kuhrt’s idea; will eventually pay the water bills and get out from under Fox Metro; building the future of Oswego; sounds like a sovereign fund; water rates could be a 15% increase each year; water source costs increased by $30 million due to land capture, and materials; materials have not been purchased yet; DuPage Water Commission said they would purchase valves; they were waiting until we were under contract and part of the Commission; that didn’t happen until October 2024; at what year do we have enough money for bills; what is the total annual revenue for water now; will need to reassess every year; water going up because of infrastructure; subsidized water rate; won’t help in the short term, but maybe in the long term; huge increase in FY31; generational inequity; grocery tax should have nothing to do with water rates; we knew Lake Michigan water was coming; grocery tax would be implementing a new tax; should not combine grocery tax and water rates; we have the ability to get rid of a tax; should let the grocery tax sunset and not do the tax; potentially benefitting other communities and putting them over our residents; can’t control Costco going to Yorkville; strong financial position now, but what about in five years; would be a benefit to tie the grocery tax and water rates together; hate to lean on surplus; if we keep the grocery tax, then we should put it towards water; tax would stay status quo and would shrink the increases in the water rates; grocery tax would be a new local tax; conversations with the public; smaller amount as expected on the water rates; where the impact is going to be; don’t know where the revenue will be in the coming years; residents will be shocked about their new water bills; Trustee Kuhrt’s idea only benefits Oswego residents; how do you justify setting tax payers money aside and distributing later; establish qualifiers for the water bill money; user fees; would take $10 million to zero out water bills; money would not be given to commercial, only residential; the grocery tax is going away and we are choosing to bring it back as a tax; real estate transfer tax goes to the water fund to help offset water costs; it will never be enough to pay water bills; will need further discussion on the allocation of the grocery tax; need to see more numbers on the impact; debt policy and fund balance; WIFIA payments; need to build up revenue; grocery tax will help build up the fund balance; in FY31 we will have reached the fund balance requirement; if the grocery tax is kept, it must go to water. Board consensus was to keep the grocery tax. Passing an ordinance in July and filing in October. Staff will bring back for further discussion. There was no further discussion.

CLOSED SESSION

There was no closed session.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 7:03 p.m.

https://www.oswegoil.org/home/showpublisheddocument/8069/638826637608770000