DeKalb City council members promised at least $4.73 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds to the DeKalb school district Monday night.

The figure includes $742,300 to pay for school crossing guards over a 17-year period, DeKalb City Manager Mark Stevens said.

Establishing an ad hoc committee to decide school issues was the only education issue on the council agenda, but 3rd Ward Alderman Bill Hanna said “We need to give them (the ad hoc committee and the public) an amount to work with” during discussions of school issues.

“They’ve got to have a committed amount—otherwise they are just walking on air,” said 4th Ward Alderman Rita Tewksbury.

However, 6th Ward Alderman James Pennington said the council did not have enough public input on the issue to determine a how much TIF money should go to the schools.

“We’ve got to set up some determination of how much the council is willing to give,” in TIF funds to the schools, DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow said.

Fifth Ward Alderman Bessie Chronopoulos, 7th Ward Alderman Jeff Monroe and Pennington voted against the proposal. “I have no qualms setting a dollar amount, but this was not a primary thing that was going to be discussed tonight … we need more input,” Chronopoulos said.

With 2nd Ward Alderman Michael Welsh absent, the vote was tied 3-3 over the amount of TIF funds to be allocated to the schools.

Sparrow cast the tie-breaking vote. “The bottom line is … I want us to know there is money there and how much is there and let’s deal with it. This (decision) gives us that amount.”

The council voted not to elect an alderman to the ad hoc committee. “For us to get in and micromanage their little part of the TIF district … is ridiculous,” Hanna said.

“We don’t have a concensus ourselves, as council, for one person to be sitting on this board to be representing the entire council,” Pennington said.

Sparrow and Chronopoulos said they wanted to be at the ad hoc meetings to hear what happens and to provide input.

In other business, the council voted 4-2 to raise fines for liquor violations.

The council raised the fines for delivering alcohol to a minor and misrepresenting age from $60 to $150.

The minimum and maximum fines for sale of liquor without a license now range from $60 to $300 and $300 to $1,000.

The minimum fine for possessing alcohol as a minor increased from to $60 to $100.