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Northern Star
DeKALB – Following opposition from DeKalb residents and an hour of back and forth discussion, City Council members approved a special service area for Hunter Ridgebrook Properties at Monday’s meeting.
A special service area allows local governments to tax for and deliver services to a certain geographic area. In this case, the special service area would improve the public safety and security improvements for residents in the housing complex, according to the Oct. 12 city council agenda.
The discussion to make Hunter Ridgebrook Properties, 808 Ridge Drive, a special service area began in September due to an uptick in crime and a series of code violations for broken smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, bed bug infestations, security failures and more, according to an Oct. 9 Northern Star article.
Audio from the City Council meeting on December 14, 2020.
The new Special Service Area in DeKalb would mean that Hunter Properties would pay additional property taxes to foot the bill for security improvements near the Annie Glidden North neighborhood. Some community members, like Sasha Cohen, think the new designation shifts financial burden from Hunter properties to its tenants.
“A cost that will simply be passed on to the existing tenants, many of whom are low income, and even more of whom have been struggling with the inability to make rate rent payments as it is due to the ongoing public health crisis,” said Cohen.