Mokena trustees this week explored revenue-raising options to pay for numerous road projects.
Projects requiring quick action include improving 191st Street and La Porte Road and renovating the downtown business area along Front Street.
“We, as a village, have been able to escrow a lot of money over the years,” Village Administrator John Downs said Monday.
But the traditional pay-as-you-go method of financing is unlikely to generate enough funds to pay for needed public improvements, Downs said.
Trustees plan to pay for the downtown renovation in installments and are looking at other ways to fund additional projects.
Options available to the Village Board include imposing a utility tax, a .5-percent sales tax or boosting the village tax rate by 25 cents.
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Bond issues are another possibility, said bond counselor Ron Norene. But bond issues need to be approved in a referendum, and the limited number of election days imposes time constraints, Norene said.
“People generally understand that we have to incur some debt if we’re going to do what they want us to do,” Trustee John Mazzorana said.
A sales tax, which also requires a referendum, could also gain some measure of public acceptance because food and medicine would be exempt, Mazzorana said.
A utility tax, on the other hand, can be levied without a referendum, Downs said.
Village officials have already scheduled one referendum for November to ask residents if they want to switch over to Lake Michigan water, so any additional referendum questions would have to wait until next spring, he said.