River Forest officials know that dealing with the flooding on the north end of town has to be done.
“We can’t keep ignoring the fact that we have an issue and we need to resolve it,” Trustee Carmela Corsini said during Tuesday night’s regular village board meeting.
Trustees already have determined that a massive public works project is necessary to resolve it – now they have to figure out how to pay for it.
Toward that end, trustees have begun exploring whether to increase property taxes or water and sewer fees or implement a new storm water utility fee to pay for a multi-million flood prevention project on the north end of town.
At the heart of the issue is which method will generate the necessary funds to pay the debt service on the $13 million project.
That effort, which has been needed for years, will consist of installing a new storm sewer mainline on Greenfield Street to help alleviate basement flooding. A new sanitary sewer also would be added.
A second phase of the project, costing $5 million, may not be done, officials said.
While River Forest intends to seek grants or other forms of funding from county, state and federal sources, as well as low-interest loans, officials admit that those methods won’t come close to covering 100 percent of the project costs.
One method to pay for the project could be a property tax increase, which would have to be approved by the voters via referendum. The next election at which a referendum could be put on the ballot is March 2014.
There are two other concepts for footing the bill which would not require voter approval. One is tacking an increase on the water and sewer bills for residents.
The other would be the assessment of a storm water utility fee, which would be based on how much concrete, asphalt and sidewalk is on a particular parcel of property. This method of generating the necessary funding for infrastructure improvements has been done in Downers Grove and is being considered in Winnetka, Village Administrator Eric Palm said.
An informational meeting on the project, which could touch on funding options, could be held next month.
A decision on the method of payment will be made later this summer once the financial analysis of all three options is completed, Palm said.
