Matteson officials are promising fewer taxes and fees should voters approve a referendum June 28 giving the village home-rule authority.
Such a move “provides a greater level of self-determination” and gives the village greater financial flexibility, according to the village.
It is the second time Matteson has tried to achieve home-rule status, with the referendum being rejected by voters in 2014.
Also on the primary ballot is a referendum in Tinley Park’s Kirby Elementary District 140 seeking approval to build a new school, paid for with available cash reserves.
Home-rule authority gives a community options to impose new taxes, such as a sales tax or a transfer tax, on property sales. Matteson officials have adopted a resolution saying they have no intention of implementing a transfer tax should voters approve home rule.
The Village Board also recently put a lid on the village’s tax levy, with no increases for five years even if home rule is approved.
Matteson officials said plans call for using home-rule status to “diversify revenue streams” to become less reliant on property taxes as a revenue source.
The village would, with the exception of commercial vehicles, eliminate vehicle sticker fees and would also do away with a 1% tax on food and beverages purchased at restaurants and other locations that have dine-in facilities.
Illinois communities with a population of at least 25,000 automatically receive home-rule authority, and some that are under that population have gone to voters to win home-rule powers.
Matteson’s population is 19,374, according to the 2020 census, compared with just under 18,300 in 2010.
Along with a transfer tax, communities with home rule can enact a sales tax, and Matteson is looking at such a tax to pay for infrastructure work, such as improving village streets.
Home-rule authority would also, the village says, enable it to use tax revenue generated from its hotel/motel tax for general fund purposes.
Officials said a separate home-rule tax could also be applied to merchandise that is shipped from an Amazon fulfillment center, which opened last fall.
At a town hall meeting Thursday, where much of the discussion focused on the benefits of adopting home rule, Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin said voter approval would “move Matteson to the next level.”
Financially and in terms of economic development, Matteson is successful, said Anthony Burton, village administrator, but would further benefit should home rule be approved.
“We’re doing well and we can do better,” Burton said.
Home rule would also enable Matteson to enact more stringent crime-free housing rules aimed at rental housing, police Chief Michael Jones said at the meeting.
“It gives us a little more teeth and accountability,” he said.
Kirby referendum
Separately, Kirby District 140 is asking for voter approval to dip into cash reserves to build a new Fernway Park school just west of the existing school at 16600 88th Ave., Orland Park.
The district said there would be no property tax impact on district residents, but that voter approval is needed to tap reserves for the project, which would see an 83,000-square-foot school built at a cost estimated at $34 million.
The district had, last summer, looked at three options that included building from the ground up or adding on to the existing school and renovating the 42,000-square-foot space.
Remodeling the existing building and adding 42,000 square feet was estimated to cost $25.5 million, while remodeling 25,000 square feet and adding 65,000 square was estimated at $31 million, according to Superintendent Michael Byrne. Both of those options were deemed too disruptive to school operations.
With the new building, the district will consolidate early childhood programs at Fernway, centralizing services for preschool-age children and freeing up classroom space at other elementary schools in the district, according to District 140.
If voters approve the plan, the district plans to break ground next year and have the new school ready for the 2024-25 school year.
The existing building will continue to be used during construction, but would eventually be demolished to make way for a parking lot, playground and green space, according to the district.