[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6363100,"mediaKeyId","2166722-4e9abac31f1d9affd468edc9bb011a74","parentId",2166722,"title","Blue Island council approves ordinances to retain grocery tax and advance option for sales-tax increase to pay for water needs","audioSeconds",349,"startMs",2302000,"endMs",2651000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2166722-4e9abac31f1d9affd468edc9bb011a74&start=2302&end=2651","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2166722-4e9abac31f1d9affd468edc9bb011a74/thumbnail_2302000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6363100/Blue-Island/Cook-County/Illinois/Blue-Island-council-approves-ordinances-to-retain-grocery-tax-and-advance-option-for-sales-tax-increase-to-pay-for-water-needs","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6363100-6d3ecd2d3ff31046104e0b682cbd1a6c/orig.mp4?Expires=1773726147&Signature=MWOR2sfrKiZw~cHolwdaNnnj5~7lH7Me2wwrhqYXRkO-I2IP9WjCHC0DocXG4MX-~vHi1RU2C1brVnOZB9JxN0cEwULrScksJdr9MrrDJc~6kKZQzHeoeYFU8GvL1vG1LztuuTDOcvtsYZ7J8izlntCLjY1Clc88U24Wqr7rQCEdSNIzZ6LNauamOUshKePwkPno1f4MYNRDN-J2w85YjoNyH~5JzbQs81jQBL9iHb3WxG4TsqdDogSfz6isG8VvJdmVEsF59h4f7gprmoBndeu83I9~SsiQ0Xdj~y5e6mTTZ3NGrADHMUZrv1zmj8fyTlemebcHp0FJNwCYmT9ySg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City Council of Blue Island, IL","date","2025-01-29T14:16:17Z","article","Blue Island City Council voted to continue the city's existing grocery tax and approved ordinances that would give the city the option to increase local sales-tax authority as recommended by the Illinois Municipal League, officials said during the council's regular meeting on Jan. 2.

City leaders said the measures are intended to shore up revenue for capital needs, in particular pressing water infrastructure projects that an engineering firm estimated would exceed $20 million for the city's most urgent repairs and service-line replacements. Council members and staff emphasized the step is part of a multi-year funding strategy rather than a single solution.

During a presentation ahead of the votes, a presenter summarized comparative sales-tax metrics for Blue Island and neighboring municipalities to show Blue Island ranks near the bottom in sales-tax rates and discretionary spending per resident. The presenter told the council the city has not raised sales tax in many years and that maintaining current grocery-tax revenue and adding incremental sales-tax authority would help address water-tank maintenance, lead-service-line replacement and other deferred capital work.

Council discussion touched on how any new tax language would be structured in the ordinance. One council member asked whether increases would be adopted in incremental quarter-percent steps up to a 1% cap; staff said the ordinance language allows optional increments but also noted the final ordinance wording contains provisions that the council could discuss further. A separate section of the ordinance referenced routing restrictions for how the revenue should be used; a council member asked whether the ordinance could require proceeds be used for public infrastructure and noted the possibility of providing property-tax credits when appropriate.

Council members also reviewed a written estimate from an engineering firm that listed lead-service-line replacement as a major cost driver; even if that item were removed from the total, council and staff said the remaining infrastructure work would still represent a multi-million-dollar need. The presenter said some water-department expense lines, especially outside-contractor maintenance and repairs following freeze events, exceeded historical averages in 2024 and that bond-principal payments also affected available capacity.

The council voted in favor of the ordinance package on a roll call. The meeting record did not include a full roll-call tally for each individual ordinance in the transcript excerpts provided; vote tallies were recorded by the clerk in the meeting and the clerk announced the motions carried.

Council members asked staff to return with final ordinance language and additional detail on implementation, and city engineering staff (Travis) was scheduled to present more detailed water-infrastructure plans and cost estimates at the February meeting. The council chair also said preserving the current grocery tax and adding optional sales-tax authority would help the city's position for upcoming union negotiations and other operating-cost pressures.

Votes on these ordinances were taken as part of the meeting's consent/ordinance agenda. The council also discussed other agenda items at the same meeting, including streetscape grant agreements, a website services contract, and a routine audit, among others.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","City of Blue Island's City Council Meeting 1/28/2024","oneSentenceSummary","Blue Island City Council voted to continue the grocery tax and approved ordinances to preserve and expand local sales-tax authority to help pay for urgent water infrastructure needs.","taxTitle","Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois","taxId",70209,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6363095,"Votes at a glance: CivicPlus contract, IDOT joint-funding agreements, TIP renames, building-code update, audit and routine financial items approved",1254,2190000,3444000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2166722-4e9abac31f1d9affd468edc9bb011a74&start=2190&end=3444","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2166722-4e9abac31f1d9affd468edc9bb011a74/thumbnail_2190000.jpg","/articles/6363095/Blue-Island/Cook-County/Illinois/Votes-at-a-glance-CivicPlus-contract-IDOT-joint-funding-agreements-TIP-renames-building-code-update-audit-and-routine-financial-items-approved","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6363095-ce59080bba54c47e372db55555aefd1a/orig.mp4?Expires=1773726147&Signature=YzleieWPW99gHjWiJlQaq3F3sV0Tqb~0WVqSZjHj5aPgSJJE4~rqk-MR6JqBO-DUZMWQ~nLNddj-ZjqnGlGrWmKulX1pOXS5wCgvpOrYNnpBGCXETGhAPp7eGNvtgOgltIgSwI4P64k-A1YI2VUjk5IOvoHXBXZD7nkslUENXICoMUTx5RTYi0dbsmwPB9yzaG~RhJnc5HM934MkXMwMr-iy-OedyY9YqHt03C11SU~Fo7J26Pthl8CS4CMvtfbOHlV7r4irn3LlxGKvvkbtjNYbCRVMMangqURJl8lxvoo1tXsbpyxfJJC6py~iKNkla-ddmFSOoI4OU6Bz5u~9Xg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Blue Island City Council approved multiple consent and ordinance items during its regular meeting on Jan. 2. The actions below were announced by the clerk as carried during roll-call votes recorded in the meeting.

Votes at a glance

- Resolution: Master services agreement and statement of work with CivicPlus (website services) — approved. The resolution authorizes the city to execute a statement of work and master service agreement with CivicPlus; the council asked for a brief explanation of the website services before the vote.

- Joint funding agreement with Illinois Department of Transportation (Western Avenue streetscape project; segment from 119th to 127th Street) — approved. The council discussed that Blue Island's share would be $76,700; an overall project figure of approximately $380,000 was mentioned in discussion recounting grant totals; staff said the council's portion would come from project funds.

- Joint funding agreement with Illinois Department of Transportation (127th Street/27th Street engineering phase) — approved. This item covers engineering and design phases under the same IDOT grant program; staff clarified IDOT is currently authorizing design-phase work only.

- TIP (Transportation Improvement Program) project renamings — approved. Council renamed a set of TIP designations to names meant to increase transparency on property tax bills (examples: \"Developing Creek TIP,\" \"Northeastern TIP,\" \"Uptown TIP,\" \"127th Crescent TIP,\" \"California Gardens Rec Center TIP\" and others).

- Ordinance: Amendments to chapter 150 (building regulations) — approved. Council said the update allows variations in fencing requirements and implements a review process so property owners can seek replacements for damaged fencing (Crossroads Memorial Park was cited as an example). The item was described as having gone through planning review.

- Audit acceptance and executive summary (annual audit) — accepted. City staff presented the audit executive summary and said the auditors reported a generally clean bill of health but issued one audit finding related to depreciation accounting for water-department assets; staff described corrective actions to address the finding.

- Treasurer's report, payroll, accounts payable — approved. The clerk recorded approval of payroll and accounts-payable items, including an accounts-payable total announced as $941,827.50 in the meeting transcript.

Other actions

- The council convened an executive session to discuss payment and pending litigation and later returned to open session; the clerk announced the council discussed payment and current litigation in executive session.

Several items carried with roll-call votes; the transcript excerpts provided to this report record that the motions carried but do not list a complete per-member vote for each agenda item in every excerpt. The clerk announced the outcomes during the meeting.","At its Jan. 2 meeting the Blue Island City Council approved a set of consent and ordinance items including a website master service agreement with CivicPlus, two IDOT joint-funding agreements for streetscape engineering, renaming of several TIP projects, an update to building-regulation code, and accepted the city audit (with one finding).","actionData","errors"]

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Blue Island council approves ordinances to retain grocery tax and advance option for sales-tax increase to pay for water needs

Votes at a glance: CivicPlus contract, IDOT joint-funding agreements, TIP renames, building-code update, audit and routine financial items approved