Politics & Government
Roads vs. Roofs: Will County Weighs Spending Options
Public safety and economic sustainability are two of the key considerations in this debate.
What’s more important? Up-to-date public buildings or roads?
The Will County Board is now faced with this question after a recent study identified a $441 million need in county public building improvements and a $1 billion need in infrastructure improvements, the Sun-Times Media reports.
Either project would be funded by Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) tax money. It was originally designed exclusively to pay for road improvements, but legislators have since allowed the money to be spent on public safety as well. There is currently about $45 million in the fund according to Will County Finance Director Paul Rafac.
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County officials have been delaying a decision on significant public building improvements since the late 1990s. Now, many of them, including the sheriff’s department buildings, courthouse and health department complex, are in considerable atrophy. Part of the half-billion proposed improvements includes a $65 million law enforcement complex at Laraway Road and Route 52, as suggested by a recent $427,000 study of the sheriff’s department facilities.
According to Sheriff Paul Kaupas, there is enough money in the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) tax fund to start addressing improvement needs.
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“I don’t think it’s going to hurt roads and bridges, they can still do both,” Sheriff Kaupas told the Sun-Times Media.
There’s strong opposition, however. Will County Center for Economic Development President and CEO John Greuling is responsible for bringing new business to the county. He says maintaining roads is crucial in efforts to attract new business and, ideally, reduce the tax burden for residents.
“We are hanging a lot of our future on transportation,” he said. “If we can’t maintain our existing transportation infrastructure and make timely investments in new transportation, we’re not going to be able to maintain our economic vitality as a county.”
If the board does not decide to invest any of the RTA money into public building improvements, it’s hard to say where it might come from.
“We have no identified funding stream for any large capital projects,” Rafac said.
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What's more important? New public buildings or new roads? Tell us in the comments.
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