FRANKFORT
Homeowners to get real estate tax rebate
Homeowners will get a tax break for the ninth year in a row after the Village Board this week voted to rebate 25 percent of the town’s portion of the real estate tax bill.
Trustee Cindy Heath said Frankfort’s fiscal conservatism and healthy retail climate make the rebate possible.
“We spent less than we budgeted,” Heath said, “and our sales tax continues to come in strong.”
The sales tax is the village’s largest source of revenue, she said. The 25 percent tax break will be based on the village’s 5 percent share of the real estate tax bill.
To be eligible for the rebate, residents must have owned their home in 2006, she said.
Forms will be mailed next month, or residents can call the Village Hall at 815-469-2177. Rebate checks will be mailed in August.
— Pat Harper
PALOS HEIGHTS
City approves more funds for road repairs
The City Council this week unanimously approved a resolution appropriating $621,752 in motor fuel tax funds to pay for a slew of upcoming road repairs.
The work includes resurfacing, street patching and repairs to 17 streets, including Carol Lane, East Navajo Drive, 78th Court and 125th and Melvina Avenues.
The funds also cover street sweeping, streetlights and signal maintenance, and engineering costs.
Ald. Dolores Kramarski, who heads the council’s Roads and Construction Committee, said the city increased its request for funds from $494,990 after “the bids came in higher than anticipated … because of the high cost of petroleum and oil.”
Kramarski said the city tries to resurface and repair its streets yearly, with most funds administered through the Illinois Department of Transportation. The remaining money comes from the city’s Public Works Department and vehicle sticker funds.
— Janice Neumann
PLAINFIELD
Trustees approve deal to widen Illinois 59
Driving on Illinois Highway 59 through Plainfield is about to get a bit easier.
Village trustees this week approved agreements with the Illinois Department of Transportation to widen and improve Illinois 59 from Illinois Highway 126 south to Caton Farm Road.
The $30 million project includes widening Illinois 59 to four from two lanes south of U.S. Highway 30 to Caton Farm. Medians and turn lanes also are included in the plans.
According to the agreement, the village will pay about $2.3 million for water and sewer improvements, sidewalks and traffic signals. The improvements have long been discussed by village officials.
“It’s kind of exciting that it’s finally coming around,” said Allen Persons, Plainfield public works director.
The state will send out bids for the project in June and construction could start as soon as October, Persons said, adding that IDOT wants to finish work on Interstate Highway 55 before beginning work on Illinois 59.
— Alicia Fabbre
TINLEY PARK
Village backs new plan for retail development
A revised site plan for an 83-acre commercial development at 191st Street and Harlem Avenue was endorsed by the Village Board this week.
Trustees then referred the proposal — which places a 175,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter in the center of the development — to the village’s long-range planning commission for reconsideration.
Chicago-based Aetna Development wants the big-box store to anchor its proposed eight-store, 370,000-square-foot retail center on the intersection’s southwest corner.
Trustees this week had been scheduled to consider the planning commission’s recommendation to deny concept approval and zoning for an earlier proposal. Instead, Trustee Greg Hannon, the board’s liaison to the commission, recommended the latest revision go back to the commission for consideration.
Aetna “took to heart what the plan commission said,” Hannon said. “Now the developer has moved it to where we said it had to go a year ago.”
The developer initially anticipated placing the Wal-Mart a few hundred feet from existing residences. Village planning staff told it to locate the big-box store in the center of the site. But the earlier revised plan was rejected by planning commissioners.
— Dennis Sullivan
