Some voters aren’t convinced Cahokia Heights consolidation will solve their problems
Not all residents of Cahokia are convinced that a consolidation with Alorton and Centreville will be beneficial to them or their cities.
During a town hall meeting at Cahokia High School Monday night, those citizens raised concerns about how much the merger will cost taxpayers and what the burden of changing addresses will be on local businesses. Others raised alarm about what they said has been either a lack of preparation or transparency by those pitching the plan.
“We should’ve been presented with more information about how much of our money will go into this,” Reco Dawson, 30, said after the meeting.
Monday night’s town hall was the first consolidation meeting held in Cahokia. Previous meetings were held in Centreville and Alorton where voters in March already approved a referendum that will merge their towns into a new city called “Alcentra.”
But that was just the first phase of the consolidation.
Voters in Cahokia, Centreville and Alorton now are being asked to consider a measure on the November ballot that would merge the three cities into a single municipality called “Cahokia Heights.”
Third and fourth phase includes the dissolving of Centreville Township and adding Commonfields of Cahokia to the newly formed Cahokia Heights, which will be voted on in future referenda or legislation. If the Cahokia Heights merger is approved by voters, elections for the new city government would be held in April 2021.
Not everyone is on board with the plan.
Don Dillon, who has lived in Cahokia for 16 years, said that there hasn’t enough information presented regarding the financial logistics of the merger.
“I’m completely against it,” Dillon, 55, said. “I’m here allowing them to try to change my mind. It’s great to dream and imagine, but it’s still imagination. It’s not reality. You start at the bottom and you build up. You don’t hope and dream about it. It’s a plan. You have to start a foundation to move forward and what I’ve seen here is a bunch of lip service.
“It’s not a personal thing for me ever, but I just want to see it done right. They’re talking about [population] numbers, well numbers are going to go down if you don’t give someone a safe place to live.”
City officials cited the population declines in the three cities as a main factor for supporting the merger. Within the past 10 years, Cahokia has lost about 9% of its residents, which is the steepest population decline among cities in St. Clair County.
“The numbers don’t lie,” Cahokia Mayor Curtis McCall, Jr., said. “Over the last 25 years, Cahokia has seen an exponential decrease in population. For those of you who follow municipal government, you know that population numbers equate to revenue, and revenue equates to streets being fixed, sewer systems being fixed, demolition of houses and tons of everything. The answer is in the numbers.
“We are in a state of emergency. We have got to do something now because if we don’t do something now, our years look very bleak.”
Jessica McClelland, a Cahokia resident, said she isn’t convinced either. Like Dillon, she expressed her financial concerns about the possible merger.
McClelland asked officials about the expenses related to the name change of the municipality.
“I know on a personal level, I’m going to have to go out of my way to change my bills, my driver’s license and other things, so that’s going to suck for me,” McClelland, 55, said during the question-and-answer portion of the meeting. “But let’s talk about the businesses like Cahokia RV Parque and Cahokia Library. Those names are going to have to change too and it would be a huge cost with that. Signage is going to have to change.
“Maps are going to have to change. How much money are we talking and who’s going to help pay with that?”
Antonio Baxton, a research consultant for the merger, said he didn’t have an answer to those questions, although he plans to take them into consideration when creating financial summaries to provide for residents. Baxton said he plans to have them completed ahead of the November election.
The only financial numbers that were provided to residents was the potential property tax savings if Centreville Township is dissolved. According to Baxton, each household would save about $430 a year in property taxes with the elimination of township government.
“If you have a loss of population, you have a loss of federal dollars, you have a loss of state dollars, you have a loss of tax revenue that fund our schools, our roads, our parks and all things that we consider are needed for the quality of life,” Baxton said. “The dissolution of Centreville Township is the most important part of this to me, because with the dissolution, there will be a property tax reduction for residents.”
Centreville Township Supervisor Curtis McCall Sr. said that although there’s a lot details to be figured out, he said the plan is what’s best for the community. He said elected officials, including himself, being willing to vacate their positions for the sake of their citizens is a great sacrifice.
“I want to thank Mayor Reed, Mayor Jackson and Mayor McCall and all the other elected officials from these cities,” McCall, Sr. said. “What these men and women have done is decide in the interests of their citizens because if this referendum passes they have to leave their seats. Every last one of them. Without them saying, ‘You know what, let’s put this in the hands of the citizens’, there wouldn’t be a vote on November 3.
“The life of Cahokia is on the ballot. The future of Cahokia and its residents will be decided in November.”
Dawson, who was raised in Cahokia, said Baxton’s inability to answer specific questions that were asked of him altered his position about supporting the merger.
“I’m not 100 percent with the merger because there were financial questions asked that they were not ready for, and they had all this time — since Centreville and Alorton was a part of the merger — to figure it out,” Dawson said. “You’re supposed to have all your ducks in a row when you’re standing in front of people on a topic like this, and they didn’t have it. They didn’t give enough information to prepare for this meeting because they probably don’t have it yet, but I mean, it’s just math, so it should’ve been done already.”
To accommodate for those who couldn’t attend Monday’s meeting, more town hall meetings on the consolidation will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Cahokia High School.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 1:09 PM.
