For the first time in its 53-year history, the village of Schaumberg, a suburb of Chicago, will impose a property tax.
The village’s board has opted for the tax to help cover an estimated $17.6 million shortfall. The new tax is expected to raise $24 million annually.
The decision came as the village, like other municipalities, struggles with declining revenues from sales and income taxes. Revenue from local hotel, food, and beverage taxes has also been declining, officials said at a meeting last week where they announced the new tax.
The meeting was crowded with residents who were lobbying for a chance to vote on the tax.
“They’ll probably throw us out of office in a year and a half, but it’s something that you have to do,” Mayor Al Larson was quoted as saying in a local newspaper. “It’s not taken lightly — we didn’t just make up a number and throw it out there. There [are] some real, real costs to the village.”
He added that the board would consider repealing the tax if revenue returns to previous levels.
