Board Approves Grocery Tax, Resignation Incentive for Town Employees, Purchases for Police and Fire, and Changes to Phil Fuentes Park Budget
The Town of Cicero trustees during their bi-weekly board meeting on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. April Alonso/Cicero Independiente
By Angela Arias
The Town of Cicero met twice in March 2025 to approve several ordinances, resolutions, permits, and new business items, including the implementation of a new tax for groceries, a voluntary incentive for Town employees to quit, and a loan agreement for 3 million with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Other topics include new changes to the Inclusive Playground Phil Fuentes budget, $990,500 in grant funding for Cermak Road streetscaping, purchase of ballistics imaging and Internet equipment for Cicero Police Department for $44,803.
You can access the documents shown in this recap by clicking here for the March 11 and March 25 meetings. For live streams of these meetings, visit our Facebook page.
Ordinances
Printers Lease, Carbon Detectors And Breathing Equipment Purchase For Fire Department
The Board approved the lease of 2 Xerox printers for the Fire Department. The printers will be used for 60 months (five years) at a rate of $650 per month. The vendor estimates 3,000 black and white and 2,000 color pages will be printed monthly. The lease amounts to a total of $39,000.
The Town purchased 2,034 combination smoke, fire, and carbon monoxide alarms valued at
$77,983.56 to be distributed free of charge to Cicero residents. The Fire Department Chief informed the administration the money is meant to come from a FEMA/Homeland Security Grant and the Town can request a reimbursement.
The Board approved the purchase of breathing equipment units for firefighters’ respiratory protection valued at $420,233 from Municipal Emergency Services, Inc. The Fire Department Chief informed the administration the money is meant to come from a grant and the Town can request a reimbursement.
Grocery Retailer And Service Taxes
The Board approved the creation of a retailer and occupation tax for groceries. As a result, a charge of 1% will be imposed to those who sell or transport groceries for sale starting on January 1, 2026. The tax will be collected by the Illinois Department of Revenue.
Voluntary Incentive For Town Employees To Resign
The Board approved a proposal to give an economic incentive to Town employees who voluntarily decide to resign. The program would provide additional severance benefits: employees will have the choice of getting 20% of their base salary free of required federal and state tax withholdings or 10% of their base salary and medical and dental health care premium payments.
Eligible employees should be working full time as of May 9, 2025, have at least 10 full years of service, and not be in the process of being involuntarily terminated. The interested workers would need to commit, by 5 pm on May 9, 2025, to leaving Town employment on or before May 23, 2025. Independent contractors, consultants, temporary employees, and those affiliated to collective bargaining representatives who disapprove of the plan are not eligible.
The document the administration presented as part of the proposal cites the current economic climate as motivation. Specifically, the administration says the revenue received by the town has decreased and cost of providing public services has increased, which makes authorizing the payment of an incentive to the employees resigning a decision “in the best interest of the Town.”
Loan Agreement With Illionis EPA
The Town Council approved a loan agreement with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency under the Public Water Supply Loan program for the Town. The purpose of the loan is to upgrade the water supply by replacing lead service lines and installing new lines. The Town administration estimates the expenses for replacement and installation of new lines at $3,027,000, including engineering, legal, financial, and construction services. The administration says there are insufficient funds to cover these expenses and requests a loan that should not exceed the value above.
Amendment To Norms Regulating Trees And Urban Forestry
The Town approved a series of modifications to Chapter 102, Article III of the Code of Ordinances:
A new section was added on the “Protection and Preservation of Public Trees” code. The section recognizes trees as part of the town’s infrastructure and acknowledges their importance to the community, as well as the Town’s duty to “protect, preserve and enhance the urban forest to ensure that trees are properly planted and maintained.”
The Town adopted the guidelines to plant, care, maintain, and prune trees on the latest edition of the American Standard for Nursery Stock (ANSI) A300 Tree Care Standards
When a tree in a private property gets infected with Elm disease, the commissioner of forestry will order the removal of the tree and could order a lien upon the property for the costs of eliminating it. Before this change, the Board of Trustees was responsible for ordering the removal of the tree by resolution.
The Town declared the last Friday of April every year as Arbor Day
Raise Of The Senior Advisory Committee Members’ Compensation
The Board increased the monetary compensation for the six members of the Senior Advisory Board from $1,200 to $1,800 annually. The six members are elected by a majority vote of the board of trustees and serve without compensation. However, they receive a reimbursement for their “actual and necessary expenses,” including the cost of offices and equipment they might need to function.The purpose of this board is to advance strategies to solve community issues and needs related to seniors and their care givers.
Budget Changes In the Construction Of The Inclusive Playground Phil Fuentes
Following a recommendation of CCS international and Terra Engineering, the Board approved four changes in the budget for the construction of the Inclusive Playground Phil Fuentes.
According to documents the Board provided, a dirt pile outside of the current construction site limits will be visible from the park. Terra Engineering suggested eliminating the hill and restoring the spot to be flat. The excavation and landscape services amount to $42,620.48
The park design includes the installation of security cameras, and an EV charger in the parking lot area. The budget will be modified to include “scope modifications” for the installation of the cameras and the charger. The cost of these modifications is $51,067.52
Trees removal in a specific area of the construction site valued at $5,040
Removal of a tank and a hydraulic piston found underground valued at $22,848
CCS International claims the four amounts will be withdrawn from the $245,000 contract’s contingency fund. A contingency fund is an allotted sum of money reserved for emergency expenses. So far, the remaining balance for the contingency fund in this contract is $92,615.93, from the initial $245,000. The total contract amount of $4,189,600 is not supposed to change after these four modifications.
Following a request from the contractor building the park, Burling Building Inc., the Board approved two changes in the budget for the construction of the playground:
Installation of an underground copper water line from the construction area to two lawn hydrants valued at $11,200
Transportation and dumping of construction materials for subcontractors installing the water lines valued at $6,000
It is unclear in the documents provided by the administration, if the money for these two last changes will come from the contract’s contingency fund and how it affects the total contract amount or not.
Annual Appropriation For The 2025 Fiscal Year
The Town Board approved the annual appropriation proposal for 2025, with a total of $369,121,535. This approval gives legal authority to the Town to spend no more than that sum of money. In this case, the appropriation proposal is higher than the budget disclosed during the meeting. The total of all funds is $223,777,474, according to the agenda. You can check out the Town of Cicero’s website for their breakdown or ours in our Instagram post.
Cicero Police Department Receives Grant
The Town Board ratified Cicero Police Department’s (CPD) reception of the Federal Fiscal Year 2024 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Award. The documents the administration provided for the meeting do not specify how much money CPD will receive, but they say the grant is meant to be used for drug treatment programs, victim assistance services, upgrading of technology for prevention initiatives, court and correction programs, and law enforcement programs.
Residential Units Approved In Commercial Zone And Elimination of Parking Area
The Board approved a request from the owner of the property at 2125 South Laramie Avenue to transform the existing commercial units on the ground floor into residential units, even though this is not allowed in the Industrial Commercial (IC) zoning district of Cicero, where the property is located.
The Planning and Zoning Commission found that there are several other multi-family residential buildings in the vicinity and the designation of IC zoning for the property was an error. The Commission determined the change will not alter the essential character of the zone or be a threat to public safety.
The property owner’s petition was granted under the condition the applicant follows through with their intention to purchase parking spaces from Cicero School District 99. However, it is not clear in the documents the administration provided, why this is relevant for the decision the Commission made and the Board is now ratifying.
In a similar case, The Board approved a request from an applicant seeking the elimination of 5 parking spaces in front of the property located at 6001 West Cermak Road. The property is being used as an insurance agency at the moment, and the applicant gave testimony that customers of the agency would not park for long periods of time and much of the work his office does is performed online.
The Planning and Zoning Commission found that the property is located in the Business Corridor of the Town and there is public parking available nearby. The Board approved the request under the condition that the applicant pays all impact fees for parking.
New Sports Bar On West Cermak Road And New Restaurant On South Laramie Avenue
The Town Board approved a Special Use Permit request and a Parking Variance to an applicant who plans to open a sports bar with video gaming at 59 West Cermak Road. The Town also approved his request to eliminate the seven parking spaces for the sports bar following the Planning and Zoning Commission determination that the applicant is entitled to have off-street parking requirements offset by six spaces due to the location of the property on the L Strip. He is also willing to pay the impact fee for the elimination of parking spaces and the fees possibly imposed by the Liquor Commissioner for video gaming use.
The Board approved a Special Use Permit to an applicant opening a Colombian style restaurant on 1619 Laramie Avenue, in the Industrial Commercial Zoning District, and a Parking Variance. The Planning and Zoning Commission determined the applicant has sufficient parking for the take-away style restaurant and does not intend to seek a liquor or gaming license.
Installation Of Stop Signs On 19th St. And 56th Court
Stop signs will be installed for eastbound and westbound traffic on 19th St, at the intersection with 56th Court. The Board authorized an amendment to the Code of Ordinance to include this intersection in the list of stop streets for Cicero.
Resolutions
External Funding For Cermak Road Streetscaping
The Board approved an agreement to accept grant funding for $340,500 from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to provide streetscaping to Cermak Road from Lombard Avenue to Central Avenue.
The Town Board made official the reception of a second DCEO grant, this time for $650,000 to fund streetscaping for Cermak Road along the same section, from Lombard Avenue to Central Avenue.
Purchase Of Ballistics Imaging And Internet Equipment For Cicero Police Department
The Town Board approved the purchase of ballistics imaging equipment for the Cicero Police Department valued at $24,999. The Town will buy the equipment from the company Evidence IQ and use it to assist in the imaging evaluation and comparison of ballistic identification data. The equipment consists of a device to capture images and a software to analyze and evaluate the images. The hardware will be property of CPD, but the agreement with Evidence IQ only includes access to the software for 1 year.
The Board approved the purchase of 10 Cisco switches from Elarasys Worldwide, LLC to optimize the functionality, structure, and security of the networks used for the Cicero Real Time Crime Center and Cicero Town Hall. The Director of Information Technology, Amanda Wolff and the CPD Deputy Superintendent Dominic Schullo claim the switches will help segment the multiple networks required to operate the system efficiently and direct the network traffic feeding the Crime Center better. Elarasys Worldwide LLC provided a quote for a total of $19,804 for this purchase.
Payment To The Sherif’s Police Academy
The Town Board approved a payment of $32,175 to the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Academy for basic police training of nine police recruits currently enrolled in that academy. Tuition for each officer is $3,575 and they were officially hired in October 2024. The Town will file for reimbursement for the total value of the tuition to the Illinois State Training Board once the officers complete training.
Monetary Settlement In Patrick Sammon V. Town of Cicero
The Board approved the payment of a monetary settlement in the case Patrick Sammon v. Town of Cicero for injuries Sammon sustained while working, with a total value of $1,626.03 per week over 12 weeks. The amount the employee will receive is $20,417.41 after deduction of fees and costs.
Partnership With The Children’s Center Of Cicero-Brewyn
The Board extended an already existent non-financial partnership with the Children’s Center of Cicero-Brewyn to continue providing vision and hearing screenings to children associated with the Center. The Children’s Center is a nonprofit organization that serves the children in the area by providing educational, play-based childcare, head start preschool programs, and child development and parenting programs for families.
Integraded Referral And Intake System
The Town Board approved an agreement between Cicero’s Health Department and the Integrated Referral and Intake System for Cicero-Berwyn, a platform that connects people with resources that can assist them. The platform is supposed to allow Cicero’s Health Department to partner with other organizations to serve the community.
Agreements With United Behavioral Health And Evernorth Behavioral Health
The Board approved two agreements with United Behavioral Health Inc. and Evernorth Behavioral Health, Inc. to provide affordable health services to Cicero residents. The agreement states that the Town may bill either of those companies for services provided by Cicero Health Department to individuals who have insurance with them.
Payment To USPS For Vehicle Tag Program
The Town Board authorized a payment of $21,000 to USPS to cover the vehicle tags program informative notices costs. Every year, the Town sends notices to residents about the renewal of their vehicle tags, and the administration argues there is a financial cost associated with mailing them. The Town works with Third Millennium Associates, Inc. to mail the vehicle stickers renewals. The Collector’s Office requests a check for the value above made out to USPS, but it is not clear if the payment is for the delivery of vehicle stickers or notices about the renewal of vehicle tags, or both.
Agreements For Vehicle Towing Services And Promotional Ttems For Town Events
The Town negotiated and approved an agreement with the company Nobs Towing Inc. to recover and tow small to medium cars and motorcycles in Cicero. Nobs will charge the town $200 per motorcycle and $150 per car. The value of towing or recovering an oversized vehicle will be determined on a case by case basis.
The Board authorized the purchase of services from the company 4 Imprint for up to $90,000 in supplies for special town events for a period of one year.
Angela Arias is a communication professional with experience in research, content creation, translation, and publishing for socially oriented and non-profit organizations. She is passionate about understanding and explaining the impact of mismisinformation and disinformation on Latine communities in Illinois and across the Midwest.
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