Oregon officials learned more details Tuesday about the benefits and costs of establishing a Main Street program to help spur economic growth and aid existing businesses.

City Manager Darin DeHaan, who was tasked by council members earlier this month with providing more details about the Main Street option, said staff and costs for the program could be paid by moving all gaming revenue to the city’s economic development fund.

“If the council moves forward with this, it would come out of our economic development fund,” DeHaan said. “We would move the entire gaming income into economic development.”

DeHaan said he had researched Main Street programs in the surrounding area as well as across the state. He said Dixon, Freeport, and Sterling currently have Main Street programs.

The majority of Main Street programs in Illinois are operated as 501c3 not-for-profits funded by municipalities, DeHaan said, adding that Dixon combined Main Street, its Chamber, and economic development all under one umbrella.

Oregon is projected to receive $240,000 in gaming for fiscal year 2027, DeHaan said. He estimated a $135,200 annual budget for the Main Street program that would include costs for staffing, marketing, and economic growth initiatives, such as adding more festivals.

He estimated the starting annual salary for a Main Street manager for Oregon at around $53,000.

“If it’s a city position that may fluctuate a little bit because of retirement and some other things, and it depends how we build that out,” DeHaan said.

The Oregon Chamber of Commerce ceased operations late last year. DeHaan said the city had expended $8,000 to the Chamber annually.

“We don’t have somebody to be a central person to organize, like pop-up events or sidewalk sales or sip and stroll,” DeHaan said of the Chamber’s closure. “We’re missing that element of drawing more people into our downtown and supporting our local businesses.”

The Main Street program would be much broader in scope than a Chamber of Commerce but would continue to work on sustaining existing merchants and offering programs, while doing much more in the form of economic development, Mayor Ken Williams said.

“We’d be working for all businesses, not just those who have Chamber membership,” Williams said. “So every business will get the same amount of work from us.”

Council member Melanie Cozzi said she was in favor of streamlining services under one umbrella.

“I think it’s a nice idea,” she said. “I think, as well as social media, we’ll have all of our information underneath one house, so it’ll make our information far more accessible. I support the initiative.”

Council member Josiah Flanagan questioned the need for a full-time manager for a city of 3,600 people.

Williams said the workload - if done properly – would be too much for a part-time position.

“We have gaming that’s gone up. We have sales tax that’s increased hundreds of thousands of dollars. If we didn’t have that, that would have to come out of property tax. So we’re looking at a position that is not just going to be costing the city, but is going to be a revenue generator for the city as well,” he said.

Council member Terry Schuster said a job description for the manager position – including responsibilities and duties in terms of what the person is expecting to be able to do – would be needed before the city council makes a decision.

“You know, we talk about business retention, we’ve got many new businesses in town,” Schuster said. “How many of them will be here three years from now to five years? We want to be able to support those businesses with skills to help them be more successful in terms of the profit line. How do you do that?”

He said the Main Street manager would have to understand marketing, budgets, and bookkeeping and then be able to go to each one of those business owners and “sit down with them and say, you want my help?’ And they say, ‘yes’”.

And I think it does require a full-time person," Schuster said.

Williams agreed.

“I think that the next step is to look at it and say, if we need all these duties and responsibilities, then how much we’re willing to put forward to it,” Williams said. “And then once we develop that, then we have an idea of how are we going to hire someone?”

During the March 10 meeting, Schuster said 28 new businesses had come to Oregon last year and Williams said 138 Oregon businesses are registered with the State of Illinois to pay sales tax – although some of those businesses are service businesses that have to charge sales tax on products sold.

“I just want the council and certainly the public to know we’re not looking for additional money to come in. I think the money is there. It just would be allocated towards this position,” DeHaan said.

During Tuesday’s public comment period, John Dickson questioned using public tax dollars to help private businesses.

“If revenues go up, when does government downsize,” Dickson asked. “Maybe it’s time to downsize taxes and fees?”

DeHaan said citizens would be paying for the program but “it is gaming money and not tax dollars”.

The city council meets at 5:30 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.

About Illinois Main Street

Illinois Main Street (IMS) is part of Main Street America, a national movement of individuals and organizations with a shared commitment to “bring economic vitality back downtown, while celebrating their historic character, and bringing communities together”.

According to the Illinois Main Street website, member communities are Aledo, Alton, Batavia, Bloomington, Canton, Carbondale, Crystal Lake, Dixon, Elgin, Glen Ellyn, Freeport, Jacksonville, Libertyville, Matteson, Monticello, Morris, Mount Sterling, Park Forest, Paxton, Pontiac, Quincy, Rockford, Springfield, Sterling, West Chicago, Wheaton, and Wood River.

Illinois Main Street is possible through support from The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Foundation, and Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.