FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7 P.M. CDT, July 28, 2009

Schaumburg Taxpayer Group Questions Municipal Parking Lot Expenditures

SCHAUMBURG, IL: The Schaumburg Freedom Coalition sounded the alarm over a $1.5 million “green” parking lot project in Schaumburg. The Old Schaumburg Center parking lot plan “is completely unnecessary, and an unfair advantage to a privileged few businesses at the expense of all other local taxpayers” according to Brian Costin, the President of the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition.

“There are hundreds of parking lots in Schaumburg and the overwhelming majority of them were built without taxpayer funds and special property tax exemptions.” Costin said.

Being voted on at the July 28th Village Board Meeting is a proposal for a 180-space “green” parking lot to replace an existing municipal parking lot of the same size.

“If Mayor Larson & the Village Board were really interested in conservation, instead of building “green” parking lots for campaign donors, they could donate the $1.5 million to The Nature Conservancy’s adopt-an-acre program and save 30,000 acres of rainforest, which would increase the amount of land conserved by the Village 100-fold.” said Costin.

Also coming into question is what role campaign donations played in going forward with the $1.5 million dollar parking lot plan. Mayor Larson and the Larson-anchored Friends of Schaumburg group have received a total of $3,390 in campaign contributions since 2000 from Mark Malnati and the Malnati Organization whose Lou Malnati’s Restaurant sits adjacent to the municipal owned parking lot.

SFC President Brian Costin said, “A much simpler solution to avoid even the appearance of impropriety is to cancel the project, sell the lot, lower taxes, and treat all businesses in Schaumburg on the same level playing field. Let the taxpayers of Schaumburg decide how this money is to be spent, “green” projects or otherwise.”

The Schaumburg Freedom Coalition is a nonpartisan, nonprofit citizen organization founded in 2008 to work for lower taxes, smaller government, and economic freedom in Schaumburg. Note: For more information on SFC, visit www.schaumburgfreedom.com or call Brian Costin at 630-589-9240.

SCHAUMBURG FREEDOM COALITION
74 Holmes Way, Unit C
Schaumburg, IL 60193
Contact: Brian Costin
Phone (630) 589-9240
E-Mail: bcostin@schaumburgfreedom.com

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UPDATE: On Tuesday Night the Village Board voted 6-0 to pass this proposal. Prior to the vote the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition read a statement in opposition.

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