By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Jan. 19, 2012
While
acknowledging he ultimately was wrong about who supplied the city with a list
of businesses used to initiate Elgin’s business license, OCTAVE spokesman Chuck
Keysor said the group continues to stand by other criticisms it has leveled
about the issue.
“… I still stand by the list of all the other
issues I raised a few minutes ago,” he wrote, referring to an email he sent in
which Keysor outlined an array of issues with the business license program, all
of which have been aired publicly before the City Council and in emails to
OCTAVE supporters and others following the group.
“The point
hasn't been to hammer on the chamber,” Keysor wrote Wednesday. “But, anyone
that is connected to the business license that can provide an indication that
the business license is not being run correctly is subject to examination. It
just turned out that the chamber was heavily involved in this issue, so they
got heat as a result.
“The issue of
the chamber getting a $400,000 contract from the city, without any deliverables
seemed unfair to us, so we made an issue of that,” he wrote, adding, “The city
originally drafted the contract with a full page of deliverables. But the
chamber deleted all the deliverables, before they would sign the contract. We
have a photocopy of the original marked-up version. Of course the council is
also to blame, since they ultimately approved the contract without any
deliverables. Only (Councilman) Rich Dunne objected.”
The city
entered into the contract with the chamber so it would provide economic
development work for Elgin after the city cut its own economic development
staff in a cost-cutting move several years ago.
For 2012, the
City Council has cut its contribution to the chamber to $275,000.
Other issues
the group still holds as legitimate, Keysor said, include:
· The chamber receiving $400,000 last
year from the city while the chamber president was making a bit more than
$100,000 per year.
· That the business license generated
only about half of what was intended to pay to the chamber and the Downtown
Neighborhood Association for economic development efforts, yet the city never
cut payments to the two organizations.
· The idea that every business in the
city, by paying for a business license, effectively would be contributing to
the chamber of commerce, even though OCTAVE’s own survey of “every licensed
business in Elgin” found only a small percentage that supported the chamber.
The city
funding to the chamber creates a conflict for the organization as an advocate
for businesses, particularly if an issue would pit the chamber, as an advocate
for one of its members, against City Hall. Keysor has raised this point
repeatedly.
City rebuts claims of unfair
enforcement
Keysor and
OCTAVE also claim the business license has not been enforced and administered
fairly. In September, the group claimed a crackdown had begun when the city
sent letters to businesses that were known not to have applied for the business
license.
At that time,
Kozal insisted no crackdown was under way and that some of the letters imply
advised of the consequences of noncompliance, including the possibility of
daily fines and, ultimately, being forced to close.
On Wednesday,
Kozal acknowledged that the city administration is awaiting some guidance from
the City Council in regard to further enforcement.
The City
Council last considered the business license issue in August and chose then to
delay further consideration of it until January, when it would have a full two
years of business license data in hand.
“You are
correct that the staff has been waiting for direction from the city council on
further enforcement,” Kozal wrote in his email on Wednesday. Even so, he said,
the city has been applying some pressure on businesses to bring them into
compliance with the business license.
“Since the creation of the original list of
businesses described above, the city has been conditioning the issuance of a
certificate of occupancy or re-occupancy for any commercial establishment with
proof that a business license has been obtained,” he wrote.
Kozal also
noted that the city has other means to make its list of businesses more
complete, which further would ensure fair enforcement of the issue.
“There are other methods and sources for
obtaining information on businesses operating in the city (that may not have
been included on the original list or that have not obtained a certificate of occupancy
or re-occupancy since the business license ordinance became effective),” he
wrote. “Staff is waiting for city council direction before initiating those
additional measures.”
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