The city’s Public Safety Building Fund grew again Monday night.

DeKalb City Council passed the second reading of an ordinance to move $150,000 from the general fund to the building fund in the current Fiscal Year 2009 budget to help pay for the proposed $17 million police station.

Council also approved the second reading of the ordinance to increase the Restaurant, Bar and Packaged Liquor Tax from 2 percent to 2.5 percent effective July 1, 2009. This change will bring an estimated $300,000 to the Public Safety Building Fund each year.

Seventh Ward Alderman Brent Keller has been opposed to this move since the time it was brought up. He said it doesn’t make any sense to impose such a tax on the restaurants of DeKalb.

“It’s slightly ironic that in the midst of investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into downtown, we are now going to be taxing the restaurants which we have so heavily tried to support,” Keller said.

First Ward Alderman Bertrand Simpson understands the council and the city’s objectivity to raise taxes. He said he hopes all other options have been exhausted before they make a decision, but he said he didn’t want this ordinance to get voted down, and then not be able to re-visit it.

“I would rather never raise taxes to do anything again, and I’m sure all of us concur with that,” Simpson said. “I think what I hear the citizens asking is that we do everything we can before we raise taxes, but I don’t want to kill this thing and have no way back.”

Council also voted to postpone the proposed water meter surcharge until further notice. This charge would have paid for a majority of the police station.

Acting DeKalb Mayor Kris Povlsen proposed the postponement and said he doesn’t see why there has to be another financial burden on the homeowner in the current trying economic times.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on the discussion of this public safety building and we definitely need a new public safety building,” Povlsen said. “I see no reason at this point of time to put further burden on the taxpayer, the homeowner. I want to make it clear that my suggestion is that we move forward with the police facility.”

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