Riverside is preparing to cover the costs of maintaining its roads and bridges itself.
At the August 15 Town Council meeting, trustees approved a change to the town charter to ensure that a portion of tax revenue is used to fund regular road and bridge improvement projects and maintenance.
The new tax rate will not affect the amount of taxes the municipality collects from residents. In fact, the change allows Riverside to set aside a certain percentage of property taxes for the planning, engineering and construction costs associated with road improvements.
Specifically, the measure provides for a maximum tax rate of 0.1% of the equivalent unit value of a property for these improvements.
The move comes ahead of a tax referendum the township hopes to pass in November that would allow a 2024 tax levy increase to 9.3%. Normally, the annual tax increase in Illinois townships is capped at 5% by the property tax extension cap law, but Riverside and other townships can exceed that maximum with voter approval.
If the referendum passes, the tax increase would go into effect at the same time that Riverside pays off outstanding debt, so residents will not see a tax increase. The municipality has that debt after issuing 10-year bonds in 2014 with voter approval to finance road maintenance, a practice it began in 2004.
Since 2004, Riverside has had to spend about $1 million of property tax revenue on additional costs associated with issuing its street bonds, including interest and attorneys’ fees, preventing the city from reinvesting all of the revenue it collected in its streets.
Due to the cumulative nature of the annual tax increases, the one-year revenue increase will provide Riverside with an annual inflow of approximately $265,200 that the town can use directly to improve the village’s roads and bridges.
If voters do not pass the referendum, Riverside would have to find an alternative source of funding for the road improvements, which could cause significant delays to projects scheduled for 2025.
Setting the maximum tax rate to earmark tax revenue is just the village’s latest attempt to put the referendum on the ballot. Trustees initiated that process at their July 18 board meeting. The next step in the months-long process is imminent, as Town Clerk Ethan Sowl must approve Riverside’s request by Wednesday, August 28.
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