Posted by bmcosti on 10/27/09

At the October 27th, 2009 Schaumburg Village Board meeting the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition will present to Mayor Al Larson and the Village Trustees over 1,250 signatures from local residents in support of reducing Schaumburg's home rule sales taxes which contribute to a 12% total bar and restaurant tax-the highest tax of its kind in the United States-and its 10% retail tax, which is second only to the City of Chicago.

The advisory petition seeks to reduce Schaumburg's home rule sales tax 1%, and the home rule food & beverage tax 2%, resulting in a 9% retail sales tax for both.

Brian Costin, president of the local taxpayer group the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition, issued the following statement today on the organization's efforts to roll back Schaumburg's sales taxes.

"Schaumburg's sales taxes are out of control. The Village of Schaumburg now owns a 12% total bar and restaurant tax-giving Schaumburg patrons the highest taxes of its kind in the history of the United States! Their 10% retail tax is second only to the City of Chicago.

"Instead of driving economic activity away from Schaumburg with record high sales taxes, we need to show leadership and make Schaumburg attractive to retailers, restaurants, and shoppers by significantly lowering sales taxes. Schaumburg can be the first community to reverse the suicidal trend of spiraling out-of-control fees and taxes in Cook County and Illinois, and serve as a model for other communities.

"This past April, 91% of Schaumburg voters supported a non-binding referendum to reduce sales taxes in Cook County a full percentage point. Only 7 days later, the Village Board and Mayor Larson enacted one of the largest tax increases in Village history with the creation of a new $120 Million Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district to be paid by increasing property taxes. The Village Board and Mayor Larson are completely out of touch with the views of Schaumburg residents and businesses when it comes to taxes.

"Schaumburg citizens want tax relief, not tax hikes. In the process of collecting the signatures, many Schaumburg residents said they prefer to shop elsewhere, especially for bigger purchases, because local sales taxes are too high. Many end up having to travel to DuPage, Lake or Kane counties to avoid record-high sales taxes. It's unfortunate that Schaumburg citizens can't support their own local businesses because of outrageously high sales taxes.

"The community of Schaumburg has responded to this taxation abuse by signing the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition's advisory petition to reduce local sales taxes. Over 1,250 signatures to roll back Schaumburg's home rule sales taxes, including over 600 from Schaumburg residents, have been collected.

"The purpose of the advisory petition is to persuade Mayor Larson and the Village Trustees to reduce Schaumburg's Home Rule Sales Tax by 1% and its Home Rule Sales Tax on prepared food & beverages by 2%, resulting in a 9% sales tax rate for most retail transactions. This will inject an additional $30 million a year into Schaumburg's beleaguered economy, whose unemployment rate reached 9.6% in June.

"Prior to 1989, the Village of Schaumburg assessed no local sales taxes of any kind. Since then it has raised retail sales tax twice, created two new TIF districts, raised the food & beverage, hotel, amusement, and telecommunications taxes, along with a litany of other smaller taxes and fees on area residents and businesses.

"Since Mayor Al Larson was elected in 1987, Village of Schaumburg expenditures have exploded from just under $25 million to over $200 million in 2009. Even after adjusting for population growth and inflation, the size of government has more than tripled since in just 22 years. Schaumburg has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

"The Schaumburg Freedom Coalition has no shortage of ideas on how the Village of Schaumburg can cut government costs and eliminate $30 million in Village spending, without affecting the quality of core government services.

"The Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center cost Schaumburg taxpayers $15.7 Million in 2008 alone, which dwarfs even the worst case scenarios for the failed Sears Centre in neighboring Hoffman Estates. The taxpayers can avoid over $500 million in principal and interest payments over the next 32 years if the Village gets out of the entertainment & hospitality industry, in which it has no business being in the first place, and sells the property. It can also sell the Schaumburg Airport and Alexian Field and save millions more every year.

"Salaries are getting out of control in the Village. A recent Freedom of Information Act Request by the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition revealed that the number of Village employees making over $100,000 per year (not including health & retirement benefits) has grown from 30 in 2005 to 110 in 2008. Initially, when I confronted the Mayor, Village Board Meeting not a single Village official was even aware of the dramatic increase.

"Mayor Larson and the Village Board may say that our high sales taxes are the fault of Cook County and say citizens should focus our efforts there, but we shouldn't forget that Mayor Larson is a member of the Pace Board of Directors and he lobbied hard in 2007 and 2008 for increased transit funding. That funding came in the form of a historic sales tax increase for Cook County and Schaumburg residents last summer that put us over the top and gave us the highest sales taxes in the history of the nation.

"We need leadership on the local level to reduce some of the highest sales tax in history of the nation before these taxes damage our economy any further. If Mayor Larson and the Village Board don't act to reduce taxes now, the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition will seek to place a binding referendum on the ballot for the next municipal election in 2011."

For further information about the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition or the sales tax rollback effort, visit the SFC website at http://www.schaumburgfreedom.com or contact Brian Costin at 630-589-9240 or BCostin@SchaumburgFreedom.com.

Posted 10/30/09 Justin Kapacinskas Elgin, IL

Great work. Keep it up.

Posted by bmcosti on 10/01/09

Read full article at the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition website.

Originally when Mayor Daley announced that the Olympics would be tax free, I was in support of the effort. Too bad Mayor Daley has already broken his promise not to use taxpayer funds for the Olympics.

Mayor Daley Olympic position on February 7th, 2009 via the Chicago Tribune.

Mayor Richard Daley today insisted that no tax money would be used to pay for the city to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games and said funding from the private sector and federal dollars for security and infrastructure would cover the costs.

Mayor Daley breaking his tax-free Olympics commitment on June 26th, 2009 via the Sun Times.

Daley's pledge last week to sign the agreement - essentially an open-ended guarantee against losses - angered aldermen who believed they were kept in the dark about the matter.

I can't say I'm not surprised at least on the bait-and-switch from Mayor Daley.

Unfortunately, the fever for taxpayer-financed sporting events hasn't escaped the suburban political scene as well. It looks as if some taxpayer-financed organizations are looking forward to the taxpayer gravy train that the Olympics would bring. A Daily Herald article says the Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau's President, Fran Bolson, is going to Copenhagen in support of the bid. This despite a recent Chicago Tribune survey showing that 84% of Chicago area residents oppose the Olympics if taxpayer funds are used to cover the losses.

With more than $50 million at stake for Northwest suburban businesses, the president of the Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau is going to Copenhagen to show support for the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid.

Fran Bolson, the bureau's President and a Naperville resident, will leave for Denmark Wednesday, Sept. 30 so she can be there for Friday's big announcement.

The Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau's support for a taxpayer-financed Olympics shouldn't be a surprise considering their support for sports socialism in the past. The Bureau has actively championed the sports socialism & corporate welfare at the foreclosed Hoffman Estates Sears Center, taxpayer subsidized Schaumburg Flyers at Alexian Field, and Arlington Park Racetrack.

Also the Bureau gets a lion share of its budget from the taxpayers. In just the last 6 years the taxpayers of Schaumburg alone have contributed over $1.5 million dollars to the Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau. This doesn't include revenue from the dozens of other municipalities and the State of Illinois that contributes taxpayer funds to the Bureau.

From the Village of Schaumburg Annual Treasurer's Reports, the Village of Schaumburg paid $248,872 in 2003; $237,589 in 2004; $205,168 in 2005; $261,181 in 2006; $267,630 in 2007; and $297,260 in 2008 for a grand total of $1,517,700.

Read full article at the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition website.

Posted by bmcosti on 07/01/09

Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson & Police Chief Brian Howerton have decided that red light cameras will permanently shut off the most lucrative red light camera in the U.S. and cancel plans for 9 more.

The Schaumburg Freedom Coalition, and Schaumburg residents Mike Theodore & Bob Garrett deserve praise for thier tireless efforts in opposing these cameras over the better part of the last year. This victory is the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition's biggest political victory ever.

But, before we also congratulate Mayor Larson & the Village Board for reversing their positions we should take a look back and see if this mess could have been entirely avoided in the first place.

The following statements are from Red Light Camera Debate at the Village Board Meeting on September 23rd, 2008 which was prior to the implementation of the Red Light Cameras. The Schaumburg Freedom Coalition opposes red light cameras for safety, economic, and civil liberty grounds.

Statement by Brian Costin

"Brian Costin presented several studies that found that red light cameras actually increase the amount of traffic accidents and also fatalities in some cases. These findings are contrary to what is generally accepted which is that the red light cameras reduce traffic accidents, injuries, property damage, and fatalities. Mr. Costin read several case studies that justified his opinion.

Mr. Costin submitted the studies to the Village Board and recommended to the Board that they do not proceed with red light cameras in Schaumburg on the basis that it is a public safety issue. Mr. Costin summarized that there are a lot of signs that are saying that red light cameras make intersections more dangerous, cause more injuries, and cause more property damage."

Mayor Larson's Response

"President Larson asked how he explained the results in Elk Grove Village. Craig Johnson, Mayor of Elk Grove was quoted in the Daily Herald that after installation of red light cameras there were a number of intersections that saw a reduction in collisions."

Mayor Larson refused to acknowledge the significance of the research of respected institutions such as Virginia Department of Transportation,University of South Florida, The Washington Post, North Carolina A&T University, Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Australian Road Research Board, and Monash University (Australia). I wonder if Mayor Larson even glanced at the studies we provided him with before rushing through with the red-light cameras.

The 7 studies presented at the Village Board Meeting showed results from thousands of red-light camera intersections all over the United States & the world for well over a decade.

How can a Mayor be so shortsighted to ignore overwhelming mounds of scientific evidence from so many respected organizations, only to selectively take evidence from a small handful of intersections that had only been operating for a few months?

Simply, Mayor Larson did not do his due diligence.

Read Full Story at SchaumburgFreedom.com

Posted by bmcosti on 07/01/09
Last updated 07/02/09

In light of the recent controversial 6-0 Schaumburg Village Board vote to raise property taxes by $120 million for the Convention Center area TIF district, I thought it would be interesting to see what Schaumburg Village Trustees said in the past about raising property taxes. What I found should be shocking to Schaumburg Taxpayers.

On April 29th, 2004, the now defunct Schaumburg Review interviewed Village of Schaumburg Trustees on their property taxes views, all 6 trustees, including 5 who recently voted to raise property taxes, at the time suggested that Schaumburg should avoid property taxes like the plague

Trustee Marge Connelly- "I don't think...a property tax is necessary or required."

Trustee Hank Curcio- "I feel very comfortable that we'll be able to do it without a property tax. The convention center and hotel, that's going to go a long way toward keeping us from a property tax."

Trustee Tom Dailly- "I see no reason to implement a property tax."

Trustee George Dunham- "No. (in response to the question about implementing a property tax) I don't think that we're going to be raising any more taxes"

Trustee Jack Sullivan- "I do not support a property tax at all."

Unfortunately for the taxpayers, the plague Schaumburg sought to avoid has arrived without any reservation or dissent from the Village Trustees. All 5 of the Trustees who said no to property taxes in 2004, have now voted in favor of the largest property tax increase in the history of Schaumburg. Newer Trustee Mark Madej also voted for the property tax hike.

Full Story Available At SchaumburgFreedom.com

Posted 07/01/09 Doug.Bach Wheaton, IL

Typical. Thanks for sharing, Brian.

Posted by bmcosti on 05/10/09

http://www.schaumburgfreedom.com/taxes/mayor-larsons-billion-dollar-economic-dev
elopment-mistake/ 

Despite the Village's "effort" in promoting economic development through taxpayer subsidies an property tax breaks the Village's policies of command and control economic policies at the Schaumburg Airport is costing the local community in excess of 1,600 jobs and over $150 million dollars in lost economic activity every year. 

Justifying these taxpayer subsidies and special property tax breaks for the Schaumburg Airport Mayor Al Larson recently said "We (the Village of Schaumburg) are in the business of long-term economic development." Really?

Looking back on Schaumburg's past when the Airpark was in "danger" of becoming an industrial park in 1994, the Village of Schaumburg led by Mayor Larson stepped in, outbid an industrial park developer, and purchased the facility using taxpayer funds. Mayor Larson claimed in 1995 that at Schaumburg Airport "revenues from fuel sales, hangar rentals and business leases will more than offset operating costs." This rosy prediction has turned sour as Airport users, two-thirds recreational flyers, have financed only 48.9% of the $12.8 million in total costs over the last 5 years.

The Village of Schaumburg has gone to great lengths to make up for the losses at Schaumburg Airport by forcing the taxpayers to pick up the bill. Over $20 million dollars in local, state and federal taxpayer dollars have been used for capital investments on the property during its 14 year history. Recently, Mayor Larson requested an additional $1.84 million in federal stimulus money for runway rehabilitation and energy conservation at the airport.

Additionally, the Village of Schaumburg has enacted a special property tax exemption for the facility, possibly worth an additional $8-10 million over since 1994. This causes property taxes for schools, libraries, and other essential services to be disproportionably shouldered by other residents and businesses.

While the taxes have certainly been costly, the effects on job creation are much greater. According to the 2000 U.S. Census and Village of Schaumburg documents, Schaumburg's 1,079 industrial park acres provided 15,748 manufacturing jobs at a rate of 14.6 jobs per acre. In comparison, a 2006 survey by the Village showed that Airport and on-site tenant employees only totaled 50 full-time and 54-part time employees, or only .89 jobs per acre. The 16.4 to 1 industrial park to airport job creation ratio is a startling reminder of the costs of Schaumburg's command-and-control economic policies.

The Village of Schaumburg claims that the airport generates $10 million dollars in economic activity every year, or approximately $96,000 per airport job. This suggests that an average performing 117-acre industrial park in Schaumburg, with its estimated 1,700 jobs, would create well over $160 million dollars annually in economic activity for the local economy.

In comparison to what market-based policies could have brought Schaumburg, Larson's agenda has created a comparative economic desert. Most of the effects of bad economic policies go unnoticed by the public because we can't see the manufacturing businesses prevented from ever coming into existence at the site that now houses the Schaumburg Airport.

Larson may believe the free-market needs "checks and balances", but the case of the Schaumburg Airport shows the Village's economic policies are the ones in need of serious re-examination. This diminishing of economic freedom has created an unseen devastation to the local economy. The cumulative costs of Schaumburg's airport policies over the last decade-and-a-half certainly surpass more than a billion dollars in lost economic prosperity for its citizens. A change in policy is long overdue.

Posted 05/11/09 Justin Kapacinskas Elgin, IL

Sounds like a true taxpayer-funded boondoggle. It further confirms my belief that pretty much everything any government touches turns to sh!t. Of course, Larson's fiscal irresponsibility (and that of the Schaumburg village council, I assume) is just par for the course on the current political landscape. And what a disgrace and embarrassment that these State-leeches and Big Government eunuchs have accepted proceeds from the strong-arm 'stimulus' robbery. Until the people wake up and stop asking to be debt-slaves and worshipers of the State, H.L. Mencken's words about that old rubbery, ambiguous word "democracy" will ring forever true: "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." Looks like the people of Schaumburg are getting it good and hard.

Posted 05/12/09 Scott D Chicago, IL

Isn't O hare International Airport just 10 miles from Schaumburg? Seems to me this Schaumberg airport is very convenient for executive helicopters and jets, but does not provide much economic benefit to the area. Kinda reminds me of the Elgin-O'hare expressway in Schaumburg, which doesn't go to Elgin or O'Hare. It does go right near Schaumburg Airport though. lol