Letter in the Glenview Announcements

More government? No!

While you are confronted by the some of the highest sales taxes in the nation and ever-escalating food, fuel and utility bills in an uncertain economy, on July 1 the Village Board decided it would be a good idea to build a new village hall and substantially increase the space for village staff.

This project is in addition to its plan to fund a new library -- without a library bond referendum. Already the board funded the construction of a new post office while telling us there was no choice because the U.S. Postal Service had no money for new facilities. This cost taxpayers millions.

The same board that has gone into the land speculation business with your tax dollars during one of the worst real estate markets in history with its purchase of the vacant Dominick's and excess Navy-owned land in The Glen thinks we need a lot more room for village government. Trustees think this despite the fact that the police vacated a significant amount of village hall space to move to a very large and expensive new facility -- again all funded with no public referendum.

This is the same village board that continues to defend the millions of tax dollars invested in The Glen Town Center and Von Maur at no interest, and we have yet to see a penny of repayment.

Since 2000, the village has been on a spending spree funded by a sharp increase in debt and a dramatic increase in tax revenues. The village's overall level of indebtedness has grown by 131 percent from 2000 to 2007 and that does not include financing for The Glen, library or a new village hall. During this time our population grew by only 6.2 percent. While increasing our debt, the village has been awash in new sales tax revenues, and the traffic that comes with them, and has seen its take from our utility bills grow by 59 percent. You do not need an accounting degree to figure out that this cannot continue.

Maybe the village does have a plan, since it has been busy annexing property west of the tollway to further expand the village in areas next to Wheeling and Prospect Heights. If history is any indication, the addition of more land and more lousy deals in the name of economic development will only result in more government, more debt, and higher tax bills. Now does not seem to be a good time to be building more, much larger village facilities. You should let your trustees know how you feel before it is too late, and they make a bad situation worse.