Email the County your Opinion to countyboard@willcountyillinois.com ask that your email be sent to all board members. Your opinion counts so please make it known.
Members of the Will County Board are in the midst of talking directly with constituents about a potential countywide gas tax.
[Geoff Stellfox for Shaw Media]Through the $45 billion capital bill it passed in the spring, the state legislature allowed Will County to implement a gas tax, as other Chicago-area counties already do.The county board can pass a gas tax of no less than 4 cents and no more than 8 cents, from which nearly all the revenue would go directly to the county for roadway construction projects.
[Geoff Stellfox for Shaw Media]There is a partisan split on the issue. The Democrats, who hold a majority, largely argue more investment is needed for roads as the population and truck traffic continue to put a strain on infrastructure.The Republican caucus came out entirely against the tax, arguing the added revenue might not even be necessary with the county getting more money from the state’s capital program.
Members Mike Fricilone and Steve Balich, both Homer Glen Republicans who represent District 7, held a pair of meetings with small groups of constituents. Both Fricilone and Balich are against an added gas tax and enthusiastically made their arguments against it at their meetings on Monday and Thursday.
[Geoff Stellfox for Shaw Media]On Thursday night in Homer Glen, Fricilone laid out the background for the 15 or so attendees about how much the county and municipal governments will already be receiving from the 19-cent increase the state passed and a bond issued to pay for the capital program.Fricilone also decried some of the arguments Democrats used to justify passing the gas tax now. He told attendees about board members who said they didn’t want to leave the potential new revenue “on the table.”
“We said no, you’re leaving it in peoples’ pockets,” Fricilone said.
[Geoff Stellfox for Shaw Media]At least one resident who came to hear Fricilone and Balich talk said he initially came in with an open mind. The retired 70-year-old Homer Glen resident, who did not want his name published, said after hearing the board members’ arguments he was against the tax. He felt the county was already getting adequate revenue from the state.”I’m totally against it,” he said.
On Wednesday, Democrats Laurie Summers and Amanda Koch held a town hall meeting of their own in Monee. Jeff Ronaldson, the Will County director of transportation, was there to explain what impact a gas tax would have, especially in areas like Monee, because of the dozens of miles of county roads there.
[Geoff Stellfox for Shaw Media]While professionals from the road construction industry spoke in favor of the tax, arguing it presented an opportunity to keep the Will County economy thriving, the Democrats did get a few questions from skeptical residents.One man asked why the county board didn’t put the question directly to the voters through an advisory referendum. Koch pointed out that since so few residents were coming to learn about the gas tax — there were about 10 at the Democrats’ meeting — it would be difficult to adequately educate the electorate, which would lead to a “No” vote.
Still, she felt holding a town hall and hearing directly from constituents was a good way to inform her own decision as a representative.
[Geoff Stellfox for Shaw Media]”I’m not going to make a decision on somebody’s behalf without trying to communicate with them as best I can,” Koch said.Fricilone told his constituents the next night about this exchange, saying “They feel like they know better than you how you should spend your money.”
But at least one constituent who came in skeptical left the Democrats’ meeting with a bit more perspective.
[Geoff Stellfox for Shaw Media]William Hosh, 80, of Frankfort, said he thought the county was getting the bulk of the benefit from the 19-cent state gas tax increase. Ronaldson explained the county was getting a small fraction of that increased revenue. The Democrats argued a countywide gas tax would be the best possible return on investment.Hosh said he didn’t realize the county wasn’t seeing much of that money. Still, he said the 19-cent increase from the state was “too much to begin with.” But after learning about the potential benefits for the county when compared to what the state was generating, he was having second thoughts about his stance.
“I was against it, but now I don’t know,” Hosh said.
[Geoff Stellfox for Shaw Media]Hosh also complained about the increased truck traffic and wondered if truckers could pay the tax instead of regular commuters. The tax would currently have to go on all forms of fuel, so everyone would pay. The Democrats argued that truck traffic’s strain on the county roadway system wasn’t going away, so they had to act to take care of it.”No one here wants an extra tax,” Summers said. “But what are we going to do?”
Other county board members will hold similar town hall meetings closer to residents in other parts of the county, like Bolingbrook, Romeoville and Plainfield, in the coming weeks.
