Alderman's plan for free vehicle stickers for veterans could cost city nearly $400K

BERWYN – A Berwyn alderman has proposed offering one free vehicle sticker each year to every resident who has served in the U.S. armed forces to show the city's appreciation for their service.

Exactly how much the gesture will cost the city has yet to be determined, but it could cost the city nearly $400,000 in sticker revenue.

The City Council voted March 10 to refer 6th Ward Alderman Theodore Polashek’s recommendation for free vehicle stickers for all veterans to the Business, Licensing and Taxation Committee, which will try to determine how the proposal will impact the budget and if the cost justifies the proposal.

The committee then will make a recommendation to the board for a final vote.

Polashek has proposed that any Berwyn resident actively serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, as well as those service men or women who have been honorably discharged from service, be provided one free city of Berwyn vehicle sticker each year.

Currently, disabled veterans, former prisoners of war and retired career servicemen or women are eligible for a free vehicle sticker from the city.

“We do offer stickers for people who had a career in the military,” Polashek said. “But the question that came to my mind was [that] any person who went through war deserves to be acknowledged and the least we could do was offer a city sticker.”

Polashek said he did not know how many veterans would be eligible for a free sticker through his proposed expansion of the program when he suggested it.

“The population [of Berwyn] is 56,000,” Polashek said. “My guesstimate is [that Berwyn has] about 1,000 [veteran residents]. Until I see hard numbers, I can’t give a straight answer.”

While the impact such a gesture would have on revenue for the city has yet to be determined, Polashek said he believed the loss in revenue to the city will be negligible.

“When you really come down to it, when you look at the city budget, it’s pretty hefty, but there’s not going to be a tremendous amount of abuse,” Polashek said.

Frank Amaro, U.S. Army veteran and chairman of the Combined Veterans of Berwyn, said his group believes that conservatively, 13 to 15 percent of Berwyn’s population of 56,000 may be veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A reduction of 15 percent would mean about 8,400 stickers would be available at no charge. Berwyn’s annual sticker fees range in price from $35 for motorcycles to $50 for a passenger vehicle and $125 for taxis and work trucks.

According to city administrators, a total of 31,404 stickers were sold from May 2014 to February 2015 which brought in $1,415,369.50 for the city.

Based on the cost of an average vehicle sticker of $45, the cost to the city could be as high as $378,000 if Amaro’s estimate of 8,400 veterans received a free sticker.

Based on Polashek’s guess of 1,000 veterans receiving a free vehicle sticker for a passenger car, the cost to the village would be $45,000.

Amaro served in the U.S. Army from 1979 to 1983 and from 1983 to 1988 in the Army Reserves. His wife, Tammy, retired from the Army after 30 years of service.

“I can think of other things to do to help our veterans than to give them a free city sticker,” Amaro said. “How about we get a van or bus for those veterans that need to get to [Edward J. Heinz Veterans Hospital] or Jesse Brown [VA clinics] on a weekly basis? Let’s do something that doesn’t continue to cost the taxpayers more money.”

Polashek said he expects some criticism for his proposal.

“This has nothing to do with politics,” he said. “To me it just makes common sense. We should find a way to make this work.”