A proposed ordinance for a DeKalb Greek Row Special Service Tax District should have no problems passing at the regular city council meeting tonight, Mayor Greg Sparrow said.

The proposed ordinance for Greek Row area road reconstruction includes taxing each resident within the district about $10 more per month. The proposed ordinance was passed on its first reading by a six-to-one council member vote on Feb. 22—although about five district property owners opposed the proposal during a public hearing held before the vote.

In accordance with state requirements, the proposed ordinance has established a 9 percent bond interest rate limit, a $750,000-construction cost limit and a 10-year bond term limit, City Manager Mark Stevens said.

If those limits are reached, the annual cost to district property owners and residents will be about $115,000, Stevens said. The tax increase will begin in 1989, he said.

Al Pender, 338 Greenwood North, owner of an apartment complex at 836 Greenbrier Road, told council members Feb. 22 the increase would make a lot of people unhappy and some residents might not want to pay it.

Pender said NIU’s bus service was the cause of the road deterioration and should not run at all during bad weather because that is when the buses do the most harm to the streets.

NIU buses do not need to run every five minutes, Pender said. “If the weather is bad, the students can still walk,” he said.

John Kuney, 924 Hillcrest Drive, who owns apartment complexes on Hillcrest and Ridge drives, told council members he believed it was “unfair and disproportionate” to make one area pay for the road improvements.

Despite the negative comments on Feb. 22, Stevens said, “It is unknown whether any organized attempt to file a petition of opposition to the district’s creation is underway.”

Bradford Shive, 1352 Prosser, Sycamore, owner of property at 820 Kimberly Drive, said Saturday he would like to file a petition to oppose the district but has not taken any steps to do so.

“But let’s face it—students who rent in this area are not organized or caring enough; they don’t realize it (the tax increase) affects them, whether it’s directly or indirectly,” Shive said. If a petition was passed around, he said he doubted he would get much progress from it.

Shive was present at the council’s Feb. 22 meeting, where he voiced his oppositon to the district. He asked the council for actions he and others could take to oppose or stop the proposed district.

The council gave the district area residents and landowners a period of 60 days (ending April 22) to formally register a position of opposition from 51 percent of the district’s registered voters and 51 percent of the district property owners, Stevens said.

If the ordinance is challenged before April 22, a referendum will be held for the public to decide on the issue, Sparrow said.

Regardless of a future challenge, the ordinance still can be passed tonight, Sparrow said. “If there is no opposition, it (the district) will automatically go in place,” he said.

Stevens said the city manager’s office has received a letter of support for the district from Student Association Mass Transit Board Chairman Phil Kessler and a verbal approval from some of the local landlords in the district.

In other business, City Clerk Peggy Hoyt said she expects to announce her choice of an employee to fill the city’s deputy city clerk position at Monday’s meeting.

The council voted to fill the position and voted to offer the new employee a salary range of $14,000 to $19,000. She said she chose nine applicants from a total of 33 applicants.