You won’t be taxed to store your stuff in Belleville, at least for now
People who store their stuff in self-storage units in Belleville will not have to pay a 5% tax on their rental fees — for now.
That’s because the City Council on Monday decided to postpone a vote on the proposed tax until March.
Proponents of the tax say the new revenue it would generate would help pay for city services. Others argued that a new tax should not be implemented during the coronavirus pandemic. The council also heard from the owners of self-storage businesses who said the new fee would hurt people who are having trouble financially or have to downsize their homes.
Mayor Mark Eckert, who said last month he supported the plan, told aldermen that he is not opposed to the tax but he is adamantly opposed to implementing a new tax during the coronavirus pandemic.
“COVID-19 has affected the whole world and it’s certainly affected our country and it’s affected Belleville, Illinois and we got people hurting,” he said. “We got people dying. I don’t think it’s the right time to add a tax.”
Eckert, who plans to run for reelection next year, also said if the tax had been approved Monday night, some political opponents would produce “literature that gets mailed out that the Eckert administration raised the tax during COVID.”
Ward 8 Alderman Roger Wigginton and Ward 6 Alderman Chris Rothweiler brought up the motion to implement the tax but later agreed to amend their motion to postpone a vote on the matter until the council’s second meeting in March.
“If you want a certain standard of living in this city, you want police, fire and you want the streets taken care of, sometimes you have to step up to the plate,” Wigginton said.
“As a businessman who has been in business for 45 years, trust me, I get what you’re saying,” said Wigginton, who owns a clothing store on the west side of the city. “Retail and restaurants are being killed right now big time.”
He said he had federal taxes, state sales taxes and local property taxes due in July.
“I worked the whole month of July only to pay taxes. So trust me, I get it,” Wiggington said. “But I think right now, we have to have the guts to make the right decision at the right time and not backpedal and make a statement one way or the other.”
Rothweiler, who supports the tax, said he would expect the revenue raised by the tax would be used for public safety.
“I urge you to support this small, very small fee, $2 for some units, $5 on other units,” Rothweiler told aldermen. He also noted that the service offered is not a necessity for someone to live.
Self-storage tax proposal
Last week, the Ordinance and Legal Review Committee voted 2-2 on the proposal, meaning the committee did not make a recommendation to the full council either for or against the proposal.
If the tax had been approved Monday, it would have gone into effect on Jan. 1.
In August, the committee had asked City Attorney Garrett Hoerner to draft an ordinance based on the one approved earlier this year by Tinley Park, which is near Chicago. The Tinley Park 5% tax on self-storage fees was supposed to go into effect on May 1 but the implementation was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Other cities near Chicago also have imposed this type of tax in recent years.
Belleville has not determined how much money the tax would raise. but all of it would go to the city. There are about 15 self-storage businesses in the city.
The move to tax the self-storage units has occurred as new self-storage businesses have cropped up in Belleville, including a CubeSmart that recently took over a former Walmart on Carlyle Avenue. This building had been vacant for 11 years by the time it was renovated so storage customers can drive inside the building to unload their goods. Also, an Affordable Family Storage business is planned for the former Shop ’n Save site on North Belt West.
