South West Illinois News

City of Waterloo Ordinance Committee met March 3.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Members in attendance

Alderman Kyle Buettner, Chairman

Alderman Jim Hopkins

Alderman Jim Trantham

Alderman Russ Row

Others in attendance

Alderperson Tina Charron

Alderman Joel Vogt

Mayor Stan Darter

Deputy Director of Public Works Nathan Krebel

Subdivision & Zoning Administrator Roberta Rohwedder

Collector / Budget Officer Sarah Craig

City Clerk Michelle Childers

Director of Public Works JR Landeck

Community Relations Coordinator Sarah Deutch

1. Petitions by Citizens on Non-Agenda Items – None

2. Hotel/Motel Tax – Ordinance No. 1898 – The committee has had discussions about this ordinance in past meetings. The new proposed ordinance changes the ordinance to reflect that unless you have more than eight units, you will not be required to pay the hotel/motel tax. Alderman Jim Hopkins made the motion to approve, Alderman Russ Row Seconded the motions. The whole committee was in favor, motion passes. There was a citizen that approached the council because she had been singled out by the previous administration to pay the hotel motel tax. She dutifully paid the tax since 2016. In 2021 she approached the Mayor Tom Smith to explain that she didn’t mind paying, but she was the only person that was paying for Airbnb’s. At that time, she provided a list of other Airbnb’s in Waterloo so they could also pay the tax that she had been paying for years. Nothing was done at that time; she came back to speak at a council meeting in the fall of 2024 to raise the issue again. It was the first time the alderman had been made aware of the situation. She requested a refund for the portion she had paid since 2021 when she made the previous Mayor Tom Smith aware of the issue. The Ordinance committee felt that was a reasonable request and she shouldn’t be penalized for following the rules while so many other people have not been following the rules. The amount of money paid into the hotel/motel tax since 2021 was $2680.71. Jim Trantham made a motion to pay her that amount of money back, Russ Row seconded the motion. All committee members in favor of the motion. Motion passes.

3. Comments – None

Motion made to adjourn at 6:29pm by Jim Hopkins, seconded by Jim Trantham, motion carries, meeting adjourned

https://www.waterloo.il.us/wp-content/uploads/Ordinance-Cmte-Mtg-Minutes-03-03-25.pdf