Aldermen voted this week to send legal notice to five downtown businesses mistakenly omitted last month from a special taxing area being proposed by the city to help fund its participation in the Illinois Main Street program.
Last month several other downtown business owners, who had been served notice of their inclusion in the area, objected during and after a public hearing to the area’s proposed configuration. A public hearing will be held on the new boundaries July 20.
The five businesses that will now receive notice are Batavia Back and Neck Center, Buttrey Wulff Mamminga Agency, First Garage, Larson-Becker Co. and Rogers Pump Sales & Service.
The irregularly shaped special service area follows the boundaries of a tax incentive district designated by the city in 1989 in the central business district. The city’s goal is to collect from the businesses an annual tax beginning in December for three years at 28 cents per $100 assessed value, with a cap of $280. Those funds will be paired with funds pledged by the City Council and future funds raised by a Main Street Committee.
There was some discussion because the cost of notifying the businesses, republishing a public notice on the proposed area and holding a public hearing would be $650 to $1,000, higher than any tax revenue those extra businesses would have to pay. Several aldermen agreed with the sentiments expressed by Ald. James Volk, who said, “It is a fundamentally flawed area, and I can’t in good conscience vote for it . . . so let’s get it right, fix the problem and get on with it.”
The City Council also voted to grant the owner of the Ace Hardware shopping complex a zoning variance for the construction of a brick-based monument sign on Randall Road.