Budget Woes Strike Wrong Chord
City Might Tap SECA for Towering Debt
City officials are looking capping how they distribute the money from a fund know as a Special Events and Cultural Amenities fund or SECA. That fund, generated from an one percent food and beverage tax, is responsible for grants allocated to not for profit organizations. Some organization recipients include police protection at upcoming festival Last Fling, the Century Walk Corporation’s public art program, and children’s theatre group Kidz Kabaret.
Members from those arts and cultural not for profits protested the cap Tuesday at City council’s meeting. They’re worried about what that means for them if the city does cut back on programming funds.
“The bottom line is this: A cap of the SECA funds in these proposals would have a devastating impact on the very organizations and programs that make Naperville a well-rounded and diverse place to live, ” Alice Li-Arndt, director of development for Kidz Kabaret, told the council Tuesday.
“The City of Naperville is on the cusp of an even bigger financial crisis that what we were in last year,” Councilman Grant Wehrli said.
Last year, city officials had to implement cuts across the board following an 11 million dollar budget shortfall, including 23 layoffs. Wehrli projects the city will be in déjà vu mode soon.
“We have a $6 million short fall in road improvements, $1 million in police pensions and another million in fire pensions.”
In April 1999, the city approved an agreement to support the carillon with a $1.5 million line of credit, which is scheduled to mature Dec. 31, 2011. In September 2005, the council accepted ownership of the carillon from the Millennium Carillon Foundation and extended a $2 million loan to complete the tower.
The council previously approved $237,788 of SECA funds to be used annually to pay down the carillon loan, with the balance currently at $1.2 million. Under this arrangement, the loan will not be paid off until November 2014. No provisions have been made for the payment of the $1.6 million outstanding on the line of credit. The council will need to take some action in the next two years to address the outstanding line of credit balance before the final due date.
The City Council received six different scenarios detailing how the carillon debt could be paid off.
Three involve setting the cap immediately, while the others gradually step down the cap level each year. By leaving SECA funding as is, just the loan will be paid off by November 2014. Depending on the funding cap and if it is immediate or gradual, the loan and line of credit could be paid off as early as November 2011, and at the latest, April 2013.
No action was taken Tuesday by council members, who instead will discuss the matter during the council’s Sept. 28 workshop.
Lindsey Theis reports.
