18

Boy Scouts Troop #73 News

Last month Troop #73 celebrated Scout Sunday. Scout Sunday, is a day to recognize the contributions of young people and adults to Scouting. Scout Sunday also coincides with National Boy Scouts Day, February 8, which is the birthday of the Boy Scout movement in the United States. To celebrate these two events, scouts and leaders from Troop #73, along with Cub Scouts from Pack #73 and Girl Scouts from Troop #45148 joined the congregation of the Westchester Community Church, for a special service and a coffee/social afterwards.

Boy Scouts from Troop #73 also participated in two different merit badge opportunities. Some of the boys attended the Shedd Aquarium to earn the Oceanography Merit Badge. The boys covered topics ranging from ocean topography, water chemistry and aquatic life all taught by Shedd Educators, which are also BSA Merit Bade Counselors.

Others Scouts also attended Merit Badge University held at York High School and sponsored by the Three Fires Council. Merit Badge University began over 20 years ago and is attended by over 1,500 Scouts from all over the United States, which makes it one of the largest in the Nation offering over 90 different merit badges.

(Above, left) Senior Patrol Leader, Jimmy Milas calls the colors at Scout Sunday.

(Above, right) Scouts from Troop #73, Pack #73 and Girl Scouts from Troop 45148 attended Scout Sunday.

(left) Troop Scouts attended the Shedd Aquarium to earn the Oceanography Merit Badge.

MARCH 2020 17

18 MARCH 2020

Junior girl Scout Troop 45148

Confidence today. Career tomorrow.

Junior Girl Scout Troop 45148 continues their active schedule of community work and skill building. Our recent activities include ice skating, archery and community engagement. The indoor archery course covered safety and technique and gave the girls the opportunity to gain familiarity with both compound and recurve bows. We prepared for our ice skating event by discussing the necessary gear and accessories needed to be safe while having fun.

Their badge work has included Gardening, Outdoor Art and Cookie CEO to name a few. The Cookie CEO badge explores how to set goals, track and manage a successful small business. The Outdoor Art badge has increased their awareness of their natural surroundings, paying attention to color, form, lighting and scale.

These Juniors are also working on a program to track and build proficiency in a physical activity of their choosing. Their work on the Gardener badge has taught them about the many considerations that go into planning, planting and maintaining a garden. The girls have nearly completed design of a pollinator garden they’ll be planting at Westchester Community Church this spring. We look forward to sharing our skills and beautifying the community.

Members of our troop proudly took part in the annual Scout Sunday service at Westchester Community Church. The leadership and congregation of the church has always been supportive of Scout programs in our community. We are thankful for their continued generosity in providing a safe place for us to hold our meetings and access to Fellowship Hall for special events.

Our troop was fortunate to spend time at the Ronald McDonald House near Loyola Medical Campus. We baked valentine themed treats for the current residents and learned about services the charity provides. The treats included strawberry cookies, funfetti heart cakes and brownies with sprinkles.

COOKIE SALES ARE UNDERWAY!

Please be on the lookout for Troop 45148 and all the Westchester Girl Scout troops at their upcoming booth sales. We will have cookies available for purchase through March.

MARCH 2020 20

ELECTION FROM PAgE 1

Home Rule

The Mayor and Village Board have also chosen to give its residents the opportunity to consider becoming a home rule community as an avenue to obtain additional revenue streams in order to maintain current level of police and public works service, along with maintaining the Village’s roads and water system.

Currently, the Village is a non-home rule municipality under the Illinois Constitution, meaning that the Village can only authorize those powers which are expressly granted by the State of Illinois. Pursuant to the Illinois Constitution, home rule municipalities may exercise any power and function pertaining to its government and affairs. Home rule status can only be achieved through voter approval or the certification of a population above 25,000 residents.

Utilizing home rule authority, the board would have flexibility to consider additional revenue streams, ones that would shift some of the financial burden to non-residents. The additional funding would be allocated towards investment in our roads, alleys, sewer and water systems and other infrastructure. Some examples

of the additional revenue sources that would be available to the Village under Home Rule would be as follows:

Hotel/Motel Tax — the Village projects that it will collect approximately $200K in revenue from hotel/motel tax this coming fiscal year. However, as a non-home rule municipality, we are only allowed to use these funds for things that could attract overnight tourism, which is quite limiting. If we were a home rule municipality, we could allocate some of these funds to ongoing infrastructure needs.

Gaming — as a non-home rule municipality, the Village is only allowed to charge a $25/year fee for gaming machines. As a home rule municipality, the Village could increase that amount to $1,000/year fee per machine, which would generate an additional $25K-$30K per year in revenue.

Interest Rate Savings — Home Rule units of government also enjoy higher debt ratings that translate to lower interest costs on debt. Debt can be issued without referendum as General Obligation Debt which also lowers the interest cost. Home Rule provides the lowest interest costs for residents and tax payers of the community.

Village Fines/Tickets — last year the Village experienced a tragic situation in which there were deadly dog attacks. As a non-home rule municipality, the Village was limited in the fines and penalties that it could assess. As a home rule municipality, the Village could impose higher fines and respond quicker to these situations should they occur in the future. As a home rule municipality, the Village would also be allowed to issue Village tickets in the place of State tickets for certain traffic violations, redirecting more of those fines directly to our community instead of to the State fund.

Cigarettes/Alcohol/Gaming — as a non-home rule municipality, the Village is limited on the sales tax that it can generate on the sale of these items at establishments within our community. As a home rule municipality, the Village would be able to assess a small additional tax, similar to that imposed in other communities.

Home rule would also give the Village Board flexibility to modify other ordinances to address specific concerns of our community or to ease restrictions that may not be necessary or relevant in our community.

Crime Free Housing - In most small communities, a small percentage of the homes generate most of the police visits. These homeowners or apartment landlords either have no control over themselves or their tenants, and that makes it a problem for innocent victims who live there, the neighbors and the police. In order to give our Village the authority to effectively deal with these problem residents, we need Home Rule authority to enact a Crime Free Housing ordinance that has teeth. Big cities like Chicago, Joliet, Aurora and Tinley Park have Home Rule authority because of their size, which allows them to go above and beyond the state laws which restrict all small villages to the letter of the state law. We need to be one step ahead of any problems, not chasing them down the street. If Westchester voters approve a Home Rule referendum, the village officials will immediately enact a Crime Free Housing Ordinance which will empower our local government to identify, ticket, prosecute and remove habitual ordinance violators from the Village limits and they will be prohibited from moving back.

Funeral Processions – if the Village were a home rule municipality, it could establish an ordinance that would require funeral homes to give advance notice to the Village prior to leading a procession through our Village, which would allow our law enforcement to better prepare for the excess traffic.

SAFEGUARDS

The Village will be voting on a new ordinance to address resident concerns regarding the potential abuse of power and the concern that the Board may wish to increase property taxes as a source of revenue. The Policy reads that prior to the adoption of any ordinance imposing an additional increase in property taxes above and beyond the amounts that would be collected as a non-home rule municipality, the Village must send a letter to each resident advising them of the intention of the Board. Seven to ten days later, the Board is to conduct a public meeting regarding the proposed ordinance. The Board will not vote on the ordinance for at least three consecutive Village Board meetings, allowing residents enough time to address the Board and express their support or opposition. Additionally, if the Board moves forward with imposing an additional property tax, it will automatically trigger a referendum whereby the residents will have the opportunity to vote to repeal home rule.

A copy of the above-mentioned referendum can be found on the Village website at www.westchester-il.org.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

ON HOME RULE

Q. What is home rule?

A. Established by adoption of the 1970 Illinois Constitution, home rule shifts greater responsibility and authority for local government decision making from the state level to the local level. Municipalities with a population of more than 25,000 are automatically home rule units, which allows more flexibility in addressing “bigger town” matters such as local financial, commercial and industrial issues.

Q. Considering Westchester’s population is only about 17,000, how can Westchester become a home rule town?

A. By a referendum vote Westchester can become a home rule town. The Village Board has approved a resolution authorizing the question to appear on the March 17, 2020 ballot.

Q. Is home rule common and are there other towns nearby that are home rule towns?

A. There are currently 217 home rule municipalities representing over 70 percent of Illinois residents. Home rule municipalities range in size from 2.7 million residents in the City of Chicago to 69 residents in Muddy, Illinois. Home rule villages and cities near Westchester include the following: Bellwood, Berkeley, Berwyn, Hillside, Maywood, McCook, Oak Park, Oakbrook Terrace, Rosemont and Stickney.

Q. Are there restrictions on home rule authority?

A. The General Assembly has imposed limits on home rule units by preemption or declaration that certain actions are an exclusive power of the state. Preemption by the state has included certain licensing powers, pensions, the Open Meetings Act and the Public Labor Relations Act. In addition, any home rule action would still be subject to all the restrictions in the federal and state constitutions such as due process requirements.

Q. How can we learn more about this home rule referendum?

A. A significant amount of research, studies and analysis has been conducted over the years regarding home rule. The facts on home rule along with associated literature can be found on the Village website.

General questions regarding the Home Rule Referendum shall be directed to the Village Manager at pnosek@westchesteril.org. MARCH 2020 21

MARCH 2020 17