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These minutes were approved at the 9/02/25 City Council meeting with no changes.
CITY OF WEST CHICAGO -— 475 Main Street
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES - TAX
Special Meeting
August 13, 2025
1. Call to Order. Mayor Daniel Bovey called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. on
August 13, 2025.
2. Roll Call and Establishment of a Quorum.
Roll call found Dan Beebe, Julieta Alcantar-Garcia, Rebecca Stout, Sandy Dimas,
Melissa Birch Ferguson, Denise Carreto-Mufioz, Joseph C. Morano, Jayme Sheahan,
John Smith, Alton Hallett, Christopher Swiatek, Sergio Santiago, and Matthew Myers
were present. Alderman Carlos Avifia Soto was absent.
Also in attendance Interim City Administrator Tia Messino, Business & Community
Relations Director Kelley Chrisse, Finance Director Nikki Giles, Chief of Police Colin
Fleury, and Attorney Kevin Sterk.
3. Preliminary 2026 Revenue Forecast
Mayor Bovey said this was an opportunity to hear staff about revenue forecast, and to
give the community the opportunity to be involved in this process. He said they have to
make a decision on the grocery tax. He said today they will talk about general fund.
There will be other meetings to discuss water and sewer funds. He thanked everyone
for being here. He asked Finance Director Nikki Giles to explain the numbers.
There was a slide show presentation used to explain this information.
At the end of the presentation, Mayor Bovey asked if there were any questions.
Mr. Jeff Johnson asked from the 1.75% grocery tax what percentage goes to the city.
Mayor Bovey answered that 1% goes to the city, and the rest to the state. Nikki Giles
clarified that the 1% would go away, but the .75% would still go to the state.
Mrs. Louise Handel asked why the community park is the responsibility of the city not
the park district. Mayor Bovey answered that it was an endeavor initiated by the city not
the park district.
Alderman Alcantar-Garcia asked if this was due to the city receiving the $2 million grant.
Mayor Bovey asked Ms. Messino to explain. Ms. Messino explained about Kerr-McGee
and its cleanup. Also, that there was a decree that after the cleanup that location could
only be an open space or park land space. This is a form of giving back to the
community, changing something negative into something positive. There was early
discussion of the park district taking ownership once completed, however they have
other areas they need to focus on.
Mr. David Sabathne asked about the fees that were presented, specifically the building
permit and reviewing fees. He questioned why there was a reduction in the building
permit fee but a flat fee for the reviewing, and that isn’t there a correlation. Ms. Giles
responded that a reduction in the review might very well happen, and that there is
definitely a correlation. Mr. Sabathne also had a question about traffic light revenue,
that was assessed fines or received cash. Ms. Giles said it is received cash keeping in
mind that if you didn’t get your red-light ticket you would go to collections. So the
$20,000 received was the collection revenue. Mr. Sabathne asked that out of the $6
million dollars of the park fund how much of that was represented by access. Ms. Giles
responded that probably $5 million.
4. Discuss Existing and Potential Tax Revenues
Ms. Messino explained that the budget schedule has been modified to accommodate
public engagement and transparency. The items listed are potential expansions of
service or new requests not necessarily things that they will be moving forward with or
making a recommendation. These are items that have come up in conversations with
members of the public, with elected officials, with departments.

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City of West Chicago
Regular City Council Meeting
August 13, 2025
Page 2
For every police officer hired, the amount to account for is $111,000 every year, with
increases. There have been an increase in FOIAs for the Police Department. There
are currently two records clerks and one supervisor. In order to help with the increase,
a new records clerk can be hired for $94,000. The Social Services Department only has
one social worker who is kept very busy. If the community wants an expansion of this
department, a new social worker would cost $109,000.
At the end of 2024, a new department was created which has a strong focus on
economic development, culture, lifestyle, and quality of life for the community. There is
a proposal to have a business specialist and program specialist.
There has been discussion about seeking more community input on the decisions that
are being made. If we use Survey Monkey, it will cost $3,000, a strong engagement
platform like Polco would cost $10,000.
There are website challenges and in April 2027 there will be new standards that we will
need to address. The website as it stands would not allow us to meet those new
standards. The proposal is that in 2026 a new website is built to include those
accessibility features.
New features for translation have been added. The meeting recordings are sent to a
company who provides ADA level closed caption and professional Spanish translation.
The budget amount was based on previous lengths of meetings, however with more
engagement in the current meetings the budget needs to increase.
The community has expressed they want to see parades. This would be a cost of
$6,000 in overtime per parade. Also keeping in mind groups that are involved often
need funds,this would be an estimate of $5,000.
Many of the things public works does affect multiple funds. Staff will need direction from
council and the public regarding these items. Last year, one section of the water
treatment plant’s roof was damage due to a heavy storm. The damage was repaired,
but we need to keep in mind that this building houses the community’s water supply.
We need to be proactive on the remaining sections of the roof. A space needs
assessment was conducted for public works. Currently, the services are divided into
multiple buildings. You run into inefficiency of operations and some challenges of
managing. There are several buildings throughout the community that are being used
by the city that could be better used in the future with a different group. There is
equipment stored at the Washington site that we are looking to clear out to get ready for
development in the future. There has been discussion about having a new building on
the water treatment plant grounds to house all public works operations. We are looking
at $27 million, and that will come out of different funds if that moves forward.
The City Museum building needs repairs so we don’t lose that historic building. The
estimate was at about $500,000, but now looking at it more closely it’s looking more like
$1 million.
There are a couple of items in the Capital Improvement Funds that would be better in
the General Fund that are considered more of maintenance. For example, street lights,
patching, paint, sewer repair, etc. In totality, those items would come up at $150,000 a
year.
Another discussion is economic revitalization, more business grants, focusing in our
downtown, and the Washington site. The tour of the Washington site is tomorrow. The
site has a lot of potential for the future of West Chicago, however we would like to bring
in a consultant to help gather community input to share with staff to begin preparations.
The historic train depot has been discussed to move forward to be a community benefit.
If we are going to do that we are going to need design services to bring economic
revitalization to our downtown. An idea is a farmer's market and that would be $20,000.
For the community park, we are looking to spend $2 million of the $6 million. The total
cost is estimated at $13 million.
Additional money putting up as placeholders are for developable site preparation.

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City of West Chicago
Regular City Council Meeting
August 13, 2025
Page 3
Another item for the police department is a taser upgrade as well software for body
worn camera when it comes to FOIA. The software uses Al to help with redactions.
A business incubator program as well as a food hall has been discussed. A futsal court
has been proposed. The city’s contribution would be around $125,000, with seeking
external support of $250,000.
The City Code needs to be updated and having a consultant do that for us would be
$30,000 per year.
The Business & Community Relations Department is working on creating an economic
development and cultural and lifestyle webpage that is going to sell the message of
West Chicago. This would cost a hosting fee of $20,000.
The following are revenue options for discussion only. These include the grocery tax
and home rule tax. This decision needs to be postmarked by October 1$t. The other
options are having an infrastructure preservation tax and an increased diesel motor fuel
tax.
Other considerations (not recommendations) are cannabis dispensary, amusement
taxes, vehicle sticker, and restaurant food & beverage tax.
Alderman Myers had a question on heavy truck permitting and licenses. Chief Fleury
informed of the revenue already coming in for fines regarding heavy trucks, but there is
no permitting. Chief Fleury also mentioned that the city is still waiting on the red lights
to start working again. They have sent repeated emails to IDOT.
Mr. Johnson asked if benefits were included in the new staff amounts. He asked for
clarification on the sales tax percentage. Also, he asked what percentage the general
fund would be contributed to the different categories.
Mr. Riani wanted clarification regarding the company that we use for the red light
cameras and if they are still getting paid when the cameras are not in service.
5. Public Participation.
Mrs. Handel thanked those that were involved in this process to inform the community
and give them the opportunity to be heard.
Mr. Jeff Johnson thanked all for letting them know what's going on. He mentioned he
retired from a company where he was in charge of the budget so he knows what they’re
dealing with. He questioned when will increasing taxes ever stop.
Mr. Riani reiterated that cannabis would be a long-term solution. He doesn’t believe a
consultant needs to be hired to tell elected what they should be doing for the
community, their constituents can tell them. The same for hiring someone to look at the
city code. He believes elected can do that just like they did for the business that
required a liquor license.
Mr. Balzar asked for clarification on the community park as far if it’s necessary to do
especially with the money needed. He said maybe that money can go to the downtown.
The perception of the town for high taxes is something that they need to think about.
Mayor Bovey responded to Mr. Balzar regarding the community park and asked staff
how committed the city is as far as money goes. He said the city needs to see if this is
a priority. Mayor Bovey mentioned about the new commission focusing on downtown
revitalization.
Ms. Messino informed everyone there will be an update regarding the community park.
Mr. Sabathne mentioned that the city needs to monitor the Kerr-McGee site as well as
Reed-Keppler as they own both. He spoke about who should actually be taxed for
heavy trucks. Mr. Sabathne said as far as the community park we should be intentional
and strategic about it.

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City of West Chicago
Regular City Council Meeting
August 13, 2025
Page 4
Mr. Murphy said a solution to the heavy trucks would be to have them use county
maintained roads. He said the community park should be leased to the park district as
well. He said when raising taxes there are many things to consider. He mentioned the
city considering a hiring-freeze where they look to see who is eligible to retire, no new
hires, and departments prioritize what gets done.
6. Additional Discussion.
There was discussion between the mayor, aldermen and staff regarding the pros and
cons of adopting a sales and/or grocery tax. Mayor Bovey reiterated that the
community wants to revitalize the downtown, a city hall that works for them, and more
transparent processes and a seat at the table. He said having a new downtown will
require money.
7. Adjournment
The Mayor thanked everyone that attended in person and online. He informed people
that they can email him their comments and suggestions.
Alderman Birch Ferguson mentioned recreational cannabis was discussed back in 2019
and is hoping staff can gather that information for the elected to review once more.
Mayor Bovey said that would be a great opportunity to put out a survey to the
community. He said the goal was to decide something and that did not happen.
However, there was good discussion that will help them make the hard decisions.
At 9:53 p.m., Alderman Hallett made a motion, which was seconded by Alderman Stout
to adjourn.
Voting Aye by Voice Vote: Beebe, Alcantar-Garcia, Stout, Dimas, Birch Ferguson,
Smith, Santiago, Carreto-Mufioz, Sheahan, Hallett, Swiatek, Morano and Myers.
Motion carried.
Respectfully Submitted,
Valeria Perez
Executive Office Manager