Endorsement: No on Deer Park sales tax increase

Largely at issue in a Deer Park request for a sales tax increase is who will pay for $400,000 a year in infrastructure improvements in the village. Voters approved a quarter-percent increase in their sales tax rate in 2010. Just eight years later, with 50 stormwater and street resurfacing projects in their sights, village officials are seeking another quarter percent to boost the overall sales tax rate to 7.5 percent. It's far from a devastating increase, but considering that the bulk of it will come from thousands of nonresidents who shop at the village's popular Deer Park Town Center mall, it seems a bit unneighborly, at least, to expect outsiders to pay for amenities and improvements that will mostly benefit village residents. We don't question whether the money will be put to good use, but we'd like to see the village find a better way to pay for the work it needs. We recommend a no vote.