Elmhurst Tax Levy Going Down, Mayor Moving Up

Elmhurst City Council sent Mayor Pete DiCianni to the County Board Monday with actions that must have warmed the Elmhurst native’s heart: a reduced tax levy for 2012, a property agreement that will keep a business in the city, and a celebration of the York Boys Cross Country Team's 28th state championship.

DiCianni won a place on the DuPage County Board earlier this month, where he will represent District 2. He will remain mayor until Dec. 3, when he will be sworn in as a county official. On that day, he will resign as mayor, and that night, the City Council will select an interim mayor, who will serve until April.

City Taxes Going Down

On Monday, aldermen approved the Finance Committee’s report calling for a 1 percent reduction in the tax levy, or annual request for property taxes, that the city will receive in 2013. But this approval came after some back-and-forth from aldermen who had differing ideas of the city’s economic future. 

Third Ward Alderman Michael Bram proposed a zero percent increase, which would have had the city levying the same amount as last year. He hinted that the upcoming April election was driving the levy proposals down.

“I think the Finance Director would appreciate keeping the status quo,” he said.

Seventh Ward Alderman Mark Mulliner said he did not think the 1 percent decrease was “prudent.”

“We don’t know what the economy’s going to do next week let alone next year,” he said.

Four aldermen, including Bram, 1st Ward Alderman Paula Pezza, 3rd Ward Alderman Dannee Polomsky and Mulliner voted for the zero percent increase, but ultimately, it failed. 

Fifth Ward Alderman Chris Healy presented an alternate plan that included reducing the levy by 2.5 percent or $225,000. This motion failed for lack of a second.

The 1 percent reduction in the levy will bring the amount of revenue the city requests from the county to $8.7 million. The city will also request an additional $423,000 to refund to Elmhurst Memorial Hospital if the facility is successful in once again obtaining nonprofit status.

Pezza was the only “no” vote on the report. The tax levy report will receive final approval in December.

City Property Vacated for $5,000

Also on the agenda was the approval of a report that outlined the city’s vacation of a 14,800 square-foot lot on Walnut Street north of Fullerton Avenue to Superior Ambulance Company, with a $5,120 price tag. Superior then plans to sell the lot to the John Sakash Co. for an expansion.

Second Ward Aldermen Bob Dunn explained that the Public Works Committee came to their number by considering many factors, including the location of a water main under part of the lot, which will cost more than $100,000 to relocate, as well as the fact that John Sakash had been looking at relocating outside of Elmhurst. Seventh Ward Alderman Patrick Wagner said the move would likely keep Sakash in Elmhurst.

Bram and Pezza voted against the report because they believed the city had undervalued the property.

“Five thousand dollars is utterly ridiculous in my mind,” Bram said.

“This price is a joke,” Pezza added.

A Fond Farewell

DiCianni’s last public meeting ended with the presentation of a rocking chair—a tradition for outgoing city officials. However 4th Ward Alderman Stephen Hipskind told DiCianni he was not expected to actually sit in it for quite a few years.

Alderman Norman Leader brought his customary lyrical elegance to an appreciation for DiCianni and the conditions under which he has led the city. Leader noted that DiCianni had to contend with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression as well as some ferocious weather.

And yet, Leader said, DiCianni was leaving the city in better economic shape than when he took office, and with a new North York Street tax increment financing district and a Mariano’s grocery store both in the works.

The mayoral position, Leader said, was a “visible and vulnerable target” that “is not a path for the faint of heart.”

Other aldermen noted that while they may not have always agreed with DiCianni, it was clear that his heart was with the city.

“You bleed for this town,” Wagner told DiCianni.