LONG GROVE, Ill. (CBS) — Declining revenue has an affluent northern suburb moving toward privatizing its roads, reports WBBM’s Nancy Harty.
Roughly half the roads in Long Grove are already private and now trustees want to take about half the public roads down that lane because they say they don’t have that money do maintain them.
Village President Angie Underwood says after decades of debate, they are giving residents along non-major roads until November to decide how they will proceed.
“It is not the intention of the board to just dump these roads on the residents. We want to work with them over the next year and find a way to get the roads fixed,” said Underwood.
The village manager points out this privatization is not like Chicago’s parking meters or the Skyway deal. The village would still be responsible for snowplowing and repairs, but the funding would be private.
In March, voters will decide on a new property tax that will help the village fund the major thoroughfares that it’s keeping public.
