CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Pass the ordinance calling for the establishment of Special Service Area No. 33 and schedule a future public hearing for its establishment on August 18, 2020, to pay for the downtown maintenance and marketing services that are presently covered by Special Service Area No. 26.
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DEPARTMENT: Finance Department
SUBMITTED BY: Rachel Mayer, Finance Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
In 1970, the Illinois Constitution Convention granted municipalities and counties the authority:
"to levy or impose additional taxes upon areas within their boundaries in the manner provided by law for the provision of special services to those areas and for the payment of debt incurred in order to provide those special services."
The establishment of a Special Service Area (SSA) is controlled by a statute referred to as the Special Service Area Tax Law. 35 ILCS 200-27-5 et seq. A SSA is defined as "a contiguous area within a municipality in which special governmental services are provided in addition to those services provided generally throughout the municipality, the cost of the special services to be paid from revenues collected from taxes levied or imposed upon property within that area."
Naperville has utilized SSAs since 1976 to pay for a variety of functions including the provision of free parking in the downtown (SSA No. 1); the payment of debt service (SSA No. 21 - Van Buren Parking Garage); and the maintenance and marketing of the downtown (SSA No. 17; 20; 22; 24 and 26). Currently, SSA No. 26 pays for the maintenance and marketing of the Central Business District. Services are paid for using a funding formula developed in 2000, whereby the maintenance services are 2/3 funded by the City through the General Fund and 1/3 funded by the property owners through the special assessment. In addition to the 1/3 maintenance cost, the City levies a marketing component for the Downtown Naperville Alliance (DNA) ...
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