Oswego is looking to establish a special service area to finance maintenance of public improvements in the downtown including a 21-space parking lot.
Trustees in the fall of 2019 authorized nearly $1.6 million of work downtown in an area known as Block 11, where the village has redevelopment agreements including one with a Yorkville developer that recently completed a building featuring a restaurant and offices on the old village hall site.
As part of the agreement, the developer of the 113 Main St. building agreed to participate in the special service area to cover maintenance of the recent improvements to accommodate the project, village officials said.
Block 11 is bounded by West Washington Street on the north and South Main Street on the east where the old village hall was demolished. It also goes to West Van Buren Street on the south and South Adams Street on the west.
The special service area would encompass the properties located at 113 Main St., 121 Main St., 110 Adams St. and 63 W. Washington St.
As other Block 11 sites redevelop, staff would recommend that those properties be included into the special service area, village officials said.
The Village Board recently rescheduled a public hearing for Feb. 16 to discuss establishing the special service area for that part of the downtown.
“We had a concern the dollar amount in the ordinance might need to be updated so we are going to redo the math. It’s one of those things that you have to get right the first time,” Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo told trustees concerning the proposed special service area.
A special service area creates a new taxing zone to finance infrastructure-related projects through a tax applied to properties that will benefit from the improvements.
In a staff report to trustees, the budget to cover the improvements includes maintenance of a stormwater detention facility every two years, resurfacing the parking lot in 20 years, routine maintenance of the parking lot every five years, replacing signage every 10 years and mowing.
The estimated cost would be $5,000 annually for a 20-year period. The village proposed a maximum levy of $2 per every $100 of assessed value in the district with a maximum of $5,000 per year.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
