ROSCOE VILLAGE — The Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce is proposing the creation of a tax district that would help fund services and beautification efforts for the neighborhood's main business corridors.
A community meeting to discuss the proposed Special Service Area (SSA) is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at DeVry University, 3300 N. Campbell Ave.
SSAs collect assessments from property owners within a defined geographic area. Those monies are then directed back into the same area for things like landscaping, snow removal, events and trash collection.
In a presentation delivered at an inaugural advisory meeting in February, the chamber made its case for an SSA.
Roscoe Village is surrounded by other communities that have SSAs — Lakeview, Lincoln Square, North Center — and can't keep pace with the benefits those neighborhoods are able to offer business owners and residents, according to the presentation.
Tuesday's forum will outline the scope of the SSA and solicit feedback on the proposed boundaries for the SSA and its potential tax assessment rate.
Tentative boundaries are: Roscoe Street, between Damen and Western avenues; Belmont Avenue, between Ravenswood and Western; Clybourn Avenue, from approximately Wellington to Belmont; Western Avenue, from Cornelia to Belmont on the east side of the street; and Western Avenue, from Belmont to the Chicago River on both sides of the street.
The tax rate has been calculated at various percentages, with .25 percent the most common assessment collected by neighboring SSAs.
The preliminary boundaries encompass 1,136 properties. Of these, 56 percent are residential, 30 percent are commercial and 14 percent are mixed use.
The average annual cost to property owners, based on a .25 percent tax, is estimated at $184 for residential, $366 for mixed use and and $412 for commercial.
A second community forum is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 6, also at DeVry.
After gathering feedback, the chamber has until June 12 to submit its SSA application. City Council will then review the proposal.
If approved, the SSA wouldn't begin collecting taxes until fall 2016.
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