1% SALES TAX REFERENDUM
FACT: On the April 6th ballot the citizens of Durand will be asked to vote on a 1% sales tax
increase for the Village of Durand.
There is no hidden agenda, this has been talked about in board meetings the past few
months. The village has lost sales tax since the closing of the lumber yard, hardware
store and the furniture store. The Village’s budget is based heavily on sales tax – not
property tax.
FACT: The Village Board has agreed to a sunset clause that would repeal the tax at the end of
10 years. At that time it would expire unless future boards wished to continue the tax and
place it back on the ballot.
FACT: The Village Board would enact a lockbox ordinance if passed to ensure spending in the
specified areas. Those areas would be #1 – infrastructure – (street maintenance, fog seal
over the chip and seal to reduce excess gravel and costs related to Center Street Project)
#2 – Parks – we have no park district and having 2 parks – Saelens and downtown –
money is needed for the upkeep of equipment and walk paths and ballfield – #3 Police –
with state mandates on body cams and other equipment it’s hard to anticipate what it will
cost in the future.
FACT: The State of Illinois is reducing the Local Governmental Distributive Funding in 2022
by 10%. This will reduce state funding to the Village between $10,000.00 and
$20,000.00.
FACT: On a national average between 30% and 33% of the sales tax would be paid by visitors
from out-of-town people so the burden of the tax would not fall solely on the local
citizens.
FACT: The TIF District taxing ends in 2025. The TIF tax was bringing in about $50,000.00 in its
inception, but has fallen to around $26,000.00. The TIF money was used to upgrade and
enhance the TIF area. After 2025 any upgrades in the TIF area will have to come from
the Village’s budget.
FACT: The tax does not apply to all items – exempt from the tax are titled items eg. Vehicles
trailers, watercraft, aircraft, mobile homes. Also exempt are qualifying foods, as in
unprepared foods from a grocery, drugs – prescription and non-prescription, medical
appliances.
FACT: In the last 3 years, if the tax had been in place, the State of Illinois estimated it would
have generated $233,014.00 for the Village of Durand. A conservative estimate is that it
will generate around $70,000 to $75,000 a year in taxes.
FACT: The simple fact is that costs keep going up gas, insurance and operating expense all
increase but the amount of revenues coming into the Village has decreased slightly –
especially this year. The Village tries to give the citizens the most for their money with
the allotted budget we have to work with. We feel this is a fair proposal as it will tax all
people spending money in the Village not just the home owners. I know that many say
their real estate taxes are too high, but please look and see where the Village
falls in the taxing list on your tax bill. Many years ago, the Village budget was based on
the sales tax and not on the real estate tax, but the sales tax has slowly dwindled the last
few years.
FACT: The voters get to decide on April 6th
Any questions please contact a board member or the Village president.
Thank You
Robert Corwin
Village of Durand 2021/2022 Budget is available. Please contact Village Hall at 815-248-2606 for viewing.