Philip Smith: Government Bodies Must Work Together to Hold Down Local Taxes

Editor's note: This is the second in Patch's series of Oswego election campaign question and answer forums. Each candidate in each race across town will have the opportunity to answer the same set of questions as his/her opponents. Their answers will be provided here unedited. Patch Local Editor Steven Jack met with village president candidate Philip Smith last month at .

Name: Philip Smith
Age: 24
Family: Parents, one brother.
Education:Bachelor's degree in accounting from Northern Illinois; current law school student at DePaul University, expected to graduate in May.
Years in town: Seven (also grew up in Montgomery)

Patch: What made you decide to run for office?

Smith: I started attending Village Board meetings when I became interested in what was going on in [Oswego]. My interest was piqued when the board started talking about all the financial problems the village was having—mostly that they didn't have enough revenue to cover their expenses. 

After they raised the sales tax that's when I really became interested, because I think they did that once and they might be looking to do it again ... in the future. I haven't heard anything and, apparently, we're in good financial shape this year so, hopefully, we don't have to do that.  As I continued going to the board meetings and they raised the property tax rate that got me even more interested.

The other issue that got me interested is the overnight parking ban. My family [is not a fan] of it. We have four cars and we end up playing what we call musical cars to see who is leaving first in the morning and who should be in the garage. So those are the issues that have really got me interested in running.

Patch: What do you love about Oswego?

Smith: I love a lot about Oswego. I love the schools. I think the schools are great. I know that doesn't fall into the village's parameter, but I grew up in the Oswego schools and I know that they work.

I love the people. I mean all the people I've met going to school here and coming back after my years in De Kalb—just great people—people who want to make Oswego a destination town not a transitional town. They want to see Oswego succeed, and I think we can do that.

Patch: What's one thing you would change about Oswego?

Smith: I think we have to make it more tax-friendly. I think we have to be careful not to tax our residents so that they want to leave. I don't think people want to leave, but I think they will if we keep going at the rate we are.

I know people will say that the village's property tax rate is really low, and it is. It's probably the lowest one on the property tax bill you get in the mail, but I think the village has to be cognisant of the schools and they're property tax rate increase.

We don't live in a vacuum. We have to understand that we're not the only local government around, and we have to realize that when other entities' taxes go up that if we can help people and decrease our taxes at the village level then maybe people won't be so quick to try and move out of here.

Patch: What are the three most important issues facing Oswego? What are your plans concerning those issues?

Smith: One, how do we continue to grow Oswego at a rate that everyone is comfortable with. For the better part of the last decade we've grown at an amazing rate. I think our infrastructure is behind, which is unfortunate because I don't know how we're going to pay for any of our infrastructure needs.

Two, I think we're going to have to be really cognisant of our tax issues moving forward.

Third is business development. We've got to find a way to make the downtown a more vibrant area. That's going to be tough though with the way the economy is right now.

The state isn't really helping us out by raising the personal and corporate tax rates. I think we're going to have to be creative and look at a bunch of different ways to boost business development especially in the downtown area.

Now that the Route 34 corridor is mostly developed I think we need to turn our attention to the downtown and how we can help our small business owners thrive.

Patch: How do you plan to reach out to other public entities in town to ensure the needs of all residents are met?

Smith: I think we've got to talk to the school board and find out if there's any way they can postpone their planned tax increase. I think that's going to cripple people. That's a tough thing to say because I know the school district is suffering because the state is suffering, so you have all these governmental entities that need money to run.

It's not like they can magically run without taxes. That's not what I'm trying to say. But I think not only the school district, but at the county level, people want to see the government agencies working together.

Because what they see now is that they are all running in their own little worlds and not really communicating with one another. We need to sit down and have real discussions, not just put on a show for residents to be able to say 'we talked to the county; we talked to the school district; we talked to township,' but sit down and get into the real issues.

I don't think people are against paying taxes if they feel it's fair. But I think they get discouraged when they see their taxes raised without an explanation or an attempt to make cuts so taxes can remain the same. I think we need to have really good communication with other government agencies to make sure residents are not getting taxed out of Oswego.

Patch: How will you work to change the tone of the Oswego Village Board and its meetings?

Smith: This one is tough, because sometimes I feel like there is so much tension in the board room and it's fine to have dissension. It's needed on the board. I would be shocked and upset if every vote was 6-0 without any discussion and everyone's happy and everyone's is on the same page. I think with dissension comes discussion that we need to have on a lot of the issues.

I was there for the board meeting when they voted on the . There should been more discussion especially since there were all these problems with it. I think you have the committee meeting and discussion does happen there, but people look mostly to their elected officials to bring up the problems and issues that residents may have with that project.

I think it would have been great to have an open and honest discussion about that issue, in particular, so that the residents know what's going on. I think the average resident in Oswego has more going on than attending a Village Board meeting and they can't make all these committee meetings.

When the board has an opportunity to explain why each trustee votes the way he or she does, it's important to foster that communication. We have to have good communication with the board. I would like to see them working together a little more. I feel like on some issues there is no room for compromise. To me, a board works best when there is dissension, but at the end of the day they're OK with what is decided.

Do you support the use of a Tax Increment Financing District to attract new business and development to downtown? If so, what should be the village’s specific responsibility within that TIF. If not, what other means do you support to attract new business and development to the downtown?

I do not support the use of a Tax Increment Financing District to attract new business and development to downtown. I believe that the real problem with downtown right now is that not enough potential customers view the downtown area as a destination. Look at the success of both the Wine on the Fox and Christmas Walk events.

The Village should create cost-effective events in the downtown area that will bring more people to downtown. By attracting village residents to downtown, residents will end up spending more money locally, and the village will gain by keeping sales tax revenues within the village. Businesses will gain from increased foot traffic and hopefully increased sales. Taxpayers will also gain by hopefully being able to reducetheir tax burden through increased sales tax collections.

What are your specific ideas for the types of development on the former Alexander Lumber site?

Everyone agrees that the former Alexander Lumber site needs to be developed. What should go there seems to be a divisive issue.

I do not feel that it would be my job to unilaterally state what should go on that site. I believe that this is an issue that the whole board should discuss,while working with the community to see what the residents would like to see built. Having the community’s input will allow for all opinions to be heard and will allow the board to arrive at the best possible solution for our downtown’s needs.

In the face of rising taxes from other local taxing bodies, what more can the village do to lessen the burden on taxpayers?

This is the toughest issue facing Oswego, because it requires us to cut back based on the other taxing bodies’ decisions.

The first thing the village can do is help Oswego Township voters vote no on the Senior Center referendum. The village must stand firm in declaring that tax increases will not be accepted. Continuing to cut the budget must also be an option.

Our taxpayers do not have any more money to give the village or any other local unit of government. Every taxpayer dollar must be spent judiciously and efficiently. Our residents should expect nothing less of the village.