Johnsburg reviews sales-tax increase uses

Gregory Harutunian
The Johnsburg Village board will discuss uses for the sales tax increase set to take effect July 1. Road improvement projects such as the roundabout completed in 2014 are in the offing.

The Johnsburg Village board will discuss uses for the sales tax increase set to take effect July 1. Road improvement projects such as the roundabout completed in 2014 are in the offing.

The Johnsburg Village Board is set to discuss where to apply the funding that will be derived from a sales-tax increase, approved by voters last March, during its June 7 regular meeting.

Although the municipality will not reap the benefits of the new revenue source until October, the incoming money will drive discussion to adjust the already-ratified fiscal year 2017 budget.

“The Village Board has placed the item on the June 7 meeting agenda, for discussion and direction of how to use the increased funding, as there are numerous projects that could benefit from this additional source,” said Village Administrator Claudett Peters. “As I understand it, the necessary paperwork has been forwarded to the state of Illinois for archiving and certification.

“Per statute, it had to be done within the three-month quarter, after the election,” she said. “We won’t implement the additional tax rate until July 1. As a result, the board will also talk about the fiscal year budget that is currently in place.”

Johnsburg’s fiscal-year 2017 budget, which began May 1 and ends April 30, 2017, will see only a partial year increase in sales tax revenues when the first receipts enter village coffers from the general revenue allotment, as collected by the Illinois Department of Revenue. The sales tax increase applies to retail sales only, not food items, which are taxed using a different retailer’s occupation tax rate.

An ordinance encompassing the rise in the overall local tax rate, from 7 percent to 7.5 percent, was authorized during the board’s May 17 session. The non-home rule municipal occupation tax, the non-home rule service occupation tax, and non-home rule use tax were formally imposed through ordinance 2015-16-34, based on the certified March 2016 primary results from the referendum question.