Glen funds being used for further village development

Here is the president's letter from the November 2007 village newsletter. It states in the clearest terms the political and philosophical context for the village's economic development. What is interesting about the letter is what is omitted. It talks about taxes in a two dimensional way - property and sales taxes which account for 55% of village revenues. The village does not talk about the consumption taxes you are paying each month on you utility and telephone bills. The other broad strategic action that village has implemented is also not discussed. This is the village's decision to use the Permanent Fund which was created from the village's land sales commissions at the Glen to fund further non_glen development in the village.This is where the money for the Dominick's purchase came from. We do not recall that this was ever the spirit or intent of this fund. Now the politicians have a "pot" ( their term) of money to fund their development aspirations. Is this something you favor ? 

Glenview is fortunate to have a vibrant and active business community; in fact it serves as home for almost 3,000 businesses! This year, to further strengthen this community, the Village enhanced its Economic Development eff orts, and brought a parttime Economic Development Coordinator on board.Why did we decide to invest additional resources in this area?At its base, the answer is simple: to maintain and strengthen our tax base. In 2007 alone, sales taxes will bring about $18.4 million into the Village Operating Budget -- that’s 40 percent of its projected revenues of $45.86 million (only 15 percent of operating revenues are projected to come from property taxes)! These dollars support the work the Village does every day. Police and fire protection, emergency medical services, snow plowing, tree trimming, street repairs, inspections and more -- all of these services rely heavily on sales tax revenue. And a strong sales tax base can help moderate property tax increases.We’ve been fortunate that Glenview has att racted so many fi ne commercial, offi ce, and industrial businesses. But with tax revenue fl att ening and municipal

expenses continuing to rise, it make sense to begin taking a more strategic approach to enhancing our business mix. We’ve already invested time and energy into land use planning for The Glen, Downtown Glenview and the Milwaukee Avenue corridor. Through our new Economic Development effort, we hope to take these plans from the page to reality. On the flip side, businesses appreciate working with municipalities that take the time to understand their needs and facilitate their eff orts to set up shop in town.So what, precisely, will our Economic Development Program focus on in the coming year? Here are a few highlights:

• Establishing a business retention and outreach program Build awareness about our Milwaukee Avenue and Downtown Plans.
• Strengthening the Village’s partnership with the Glenview Chamber of Commerce.
• Helping to guide the redevelopment process for the former Avon site (at Golf and Waukegan) and the former Culligan site (at Willow and Sanders). Because these are large parcels, it is important that the Village play a major role in their redevelopment.
• Identifying business or developer interest in the former Dodge Dealer site on Waukegan Working to complete build out of the remaining 17 acres in the Prairie Glen Corporate Campus at the north end of The Glen.

Last month in this space I focused on the Board’s role as stewards of your taxpayer dollars. Proactively seeking to build our business community is an important way that we can continue to ensure the delivery of quality public services.