* SPECIAL SERVICE AREA TAX #19 - Meeting Notes

by Lois Laine

Meeting on Tuesday night was well attended - our local blogger activists were there as well as our aldermanic contenders......was the new guy there? Don't know - maybe he had a fundraiser to go to in Bucktown?

We had all the big guns:
Gina Caruso - Dept. of Planning and Development
Amy Campbell - SSA Manager
Paul Zalmezak of S.B. Friedman & Company (more on him later)

DevCorp staff and local developers were on hand to quash any negativity designed to unduly influence the numerous new residents in attendance.

So what did we learn?

Did you know the empty storefronts on Howard Street are there by design? Yes it's true. They are empty because the current building owners have been busy preparing for zoning changes they will need when they knock down the buildings and put up condos.

We have their promise that lots of cool retail outlets and/or clubs want to come in there but the current building configurations don't suit their needs.

Did you know that in the assessed area there are 156 tax parcels, 135 non-exempt tax parcels, there was a net addition of 29 tax parcels since the original SSA?

Did you know that to stop the SSA you need a NO signature of 51% of the building OWNERS plus 51% of the registered voters (translate - renters)?

Our very own Craig Gernhardt, at this meeting (drum roll please) introduced his petition to STOP the SSA reconstitution. A little known fact revealed by Gina Caruso herself, is that of the 31 SSA's in the city only three have been challenged, one of the three was by Craig. (right now there will be cheering or jeering depending on your point of view)

Paul Zalmezak - announced he had researched all of the tax parcels within the district. He has your pins, he has your names and addresses, BUT YOU CAN'T HAVE THE LIST!!! It's a BIG SECRET who the voters are in the SSA zone, but maybe they'll give us the list just BEFORE the last public hearing before the vote.

Memorable quotes:
Gina Caruso - SSA's make absentee landlords contribute (through the tax assessment) "we expect accountability - it's taxpayers dollars."

Rich Aronson - "I bought a building on Howard St. and I filled an empty storefront, I rented it to DevCorp."

Amy Campbell - "When we put up the 26 little planters we did not foresee that they would be used as places to sit. We did not foresee that there would be theft from the planters. We are going to replace them with 2 big planters."

Just so you know - the estimated addition to your tax bill:
Commercial - $1600 per year
Single Family - $570 per year
Apt. Bldg with < 6 units - $1000 per year
Apt. Bldg with > 6 units - $2500 per year

What do you think? Reconstitute or melt down?