The Evanston City Council will discuss tonight whether or not to adopt a map to redraw the boundaries of Evanston’s nine wards.
Aldermen also will debate charging some local businesses more to purchase their natural gas from brokers other than the official city provider, Nicor, Inc. — as well as discuss halting a building project at 801 Chicago Ave.
Last week the Rules Committee, consisting of the same nine aldermen that sit on City Council, recommended that the council pass a proposal drafted by Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd). The map changes the ward lines only slightly but moves about 550 students out of the First Ward and into the Seventh Ward.
Although all nine aldermen sit on the Rules Committee, Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) said the map’s approval is not guaranteed.
He described the map as “fair,” and said students overreacted to the possibility that their vote could be split among several wards.
“I think we did the best we could to be fair to everyone,” Newman said. “I think in the case of the students a lot more was made of this than had to be.”
The council will not vote to approve the map today. It will be introduced at tonight’s meeting and voted on at the next council meeting, slated for Nov. 24.
Also on the agenda is a proposed measure to equalize the gas use tax and the gas utility tax. Currently natural gas customers can buy their gas from either Nicor or another broker. Residents and some businesses purchase gas from Nicor, while some businesses choose to buy from another broker and avoid the utility tax.
If the bill passes council tonight, customers who buy gas from another broker will be taxed further to relieve the burden from Nicor customers. The tax hike could create an additional $500,000 to $800,000 in annual revenue for the city.
Representatives from the Evanston Chamber of Commerce spoke at last Monday’s meeting to oppose the proposed tax.
“This is being called tax equalization, but I call it tax exacerbation,” said Jonathan Perman, executive director of the chamber. “This does not cost the city anything, this is simply a grab for the city that hurts the small businesses.”
Some city staff and aldermen have characterized the initiative as a progressive step.
“Their big beef is, ‘You’re going to raise the taxes against us because we’re doing our homework,'” said Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) after the meeting.
Also up for discussion tonight is a proposal to halt a building project at 801 Chicago. Earlier the Plan Commission recommended stopping the project because it didn’t comply with zoning laws. The council is scheduled to vote on the issue tonight.
The Planning and Development Committee will meet at 6 p.m. The Administration and Public Works Committee starts at 7 p.m., and the full council convenes at 8:30 p.m. All meetings will be held at the Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave., and are open to the public.
The Daily’s Chris Kirkham contributed to this report.
