Mayor Donald Peloquin said he wants to give voters another crack at making Blue Island a home-rule community. Peloquin said the financial stability of the city depends on it.
The measure would appear on ballots in the March election.
“Some of you on the council will not be supportive of this issue,” he told aldermen in Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, “but you should let the voters decide their future.”
Home rule gives a city greater taxing authority–including the power to institute a local sales tax–and more control over housing, transportation and redevelopment, Peloquin said.
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Voters narrowly rejected home rule in 2004, but Peloquin said he plans a farther-reaching educational push by forming a panel to help inform voters about its benefits.
Peloquin said he believes Blue Island’s population has reached 25,000, which would allow for automatic home-rule authority. But he said the city can’t afford the $60,000 to $70,000 it would cost to conduct a special census.