Trustees discuss municipal grocery tax, special‑event permit rules and franchise agreement revisions; direct attorney to prepare response to OMA inquiry

At the Aug. 28, 2025 meeting the Village Board revisited three previously introduced items as old business: a municipal grocery retailer/service occupation tax ordinance (Illinois Municipal Code section 8‑11‑24), an ordinance amending the village code governing limited entertainment and special‑event permits tied to alcohol licenses, and a proposed franchise agreement with Delta Communications LLC (doing business as Clearwave Fiber). Trustees said the municipal grocery tax (a locally imposed occupation tax on grocery sales) is not new state law but a local implementation that provides recurring revenue to support village services such as road maintenance and snow removal. Trustees discussed the potential revenue impact; the mayor and trustees noted the village would lose a substantial amount of revenue without a local grocery occupation tax and said staff is continuing to review revenue and expenditure options. Trustee Scheller cited the tax as an important revenue source for day‑to‑day services and urged continued work to avoid raising property taxes. On the special‑event permit changes, Trustee Lepore explained her earlier concerns that additional regulations might burden businesses; after reviewing the final draft she concluded the ordinance would not impose new undue burdens and would in fact loosen certain restrictions. Trustees clarified that special‑event permits are administered by the village manager and are not decisions made by trustees at the dais. Village Attorney summarized a request from Delta Communications/representative Brett Westcott to modify the franchise agreement to allow village staff to approve certain permit requests on a permit‑by‑permit basis once the board has approved a master plan; the attorney said he had no objection and asked for consensus to incorporate that change while continuing negotiations on other contract points. Finally, the village attorney requested consensus to prepare a written response on behalf of the board to a public‑access/meeting complaint (OMA No. 2025 PAC 88598) submitted to the Illinois Attorney General’s office regarding the approval and posting of minutes. Trustees gave the attorney direction to prepare the response. The board did not adopt new ordinances at this session on those items; they requested staff follow‑up and further work on revenue modeling, administrative permit language and franchise phrasing.