Evanston voters rejected a referendum Tuesday that would have increased property taxes to relieve Evanston Township's $350,000 debt to the city and rebuild the municipality's long-depleted cash reserves.
With 72 of 75 precincts reporting Wednesday, the referendum had received 10,190 votes supporting it and 14,036 votes against it, City Clerk Mary Morris said. About 77 percent of Evanston's approximately 43,000 registered voters cast ballots Tuesday.
The referendum asked voters to approve an increase to 76 from 2.7 percent in the state-imposed ceiling on the township's property tax levy, raising an additional $733,000 for the township in the first year.
If the referendum had passed, a homeowner whose property is assessed at $200,000 would have paid $39 a year more in property taxes.
The township shares its boundaries with the city and aids Evanston's destitute residents by allocating general assistance funds, providing help with medical expenses and implementing job-training programs.
Ald. Stephen Engelman (7th), a former township assessor, said he was not surprised by the results because little effort was made to explain to voters what the referendum meant for the township.
"There was no group that went out and worked to educate voters or attempted to garner significant votes for the proposition," he said.
Engelman said people would be hesitant to vote to increase their taxes if they didn't understand why the additional money was needed.
But Township Supervisor Betty Payne said it was difficult, if not impossible, for her staff to influence the way people voted because her office could only provide information and could not promote the referendum.
"Our hands were tied in all aspects," Payne said. "I couldn't campaign — I'm an elected official. My staff couldn't campaign either."
Like Engelman, Payne said she was not surprised by the referendum's outcome because its wording made the tax increase sound much greater than it really would have been for individual taxpayers.
"Obviously the township is disappointed," she said. "However I can't say it was very unexpected based on how it read. It was pretty much a sure thing."
Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) said Evanston residents clearly have said it's time for the township to trim its budget.
"It was a pretty solid 'no,'" Newman said. "The citizens of Evanston were given an opportunity to vote, and they were not convinced the township needed their money."
Payne said the township's struggles are based at least in part on the fact that 95 percent of its clients and 100 percent of its staff members are black. The predominantly white City Council has not made supporting the township a priority, she said.
Regardless of the referendum's outcome, the township will somehow survive with its existing resources, Payne said.
"As African Americans, our ancestors survived slavery, and we will survive the failure of a referendum," she said. "It will be a struggle, but everything for African Americans is a struggle. We're not going to sit down and cry and lick our wounds. You have to move on and that's what we're going to do."
The Daily's Negar Tekeei contributed to this report.
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