Carillon Debt to be Paid Using SECA Funds

After much debate, the Naperville City Council agreed to pay off a $1.8 million debt created by the .

And that money—specifically, three annual payments of $600,000—will come from the city's Special Events and Community Amenities, or SECA, fund.

”We are using a tax for its purpose of supporting a cultural amenity,” Councilman Grant Wehrli said. “You may not like the Carillon and you may not like the music it plays, but it is a cultural amenity.”

After a lengthy discussion, the council approved the motion with a 5-4 vote.

The council had given the go-ahead in March to divvy up about $1.9 million in SECA grants after it received requests from nearly 100 local organizations. Those totaled around $3.6 million, council documents said. With the Wednesday decision to move $600,000 to the general fund, the total allocation comes to $2.5 million.

That value exceeds the $2.2 million in the fund.

Councilman James Boyajian said he supported the money movement because the carillon is a "brick and mortar investment."'

"You make better decisions when dollars are tight," he said. "Tonight's discussion is about how we should allocate the dollars that are there. I do feel … that this is a cultural amenity."

Councilman Paul Hinterlong wasn't a fan of the idea of using the money as what he said was a "council bailout plan."

"My chest hurt and my gut rotted (thinking) about this," he said. "I support spreading (payments) out a little further. We can make it work."

But not enough of the others agreed.

The SECA grant program started in 2004. It was that year that the city began funding the initiative with a 1 percent Naperville food and beverage tax, according to council documents.