Winnetka Restaurants Set For Cash Grants From Village

WINNETKA, IL — Trustees are set to approve a $100,000 in grants to support local restaurants that have suffered economic hardships during the coronavirus pandemic.

The proposed restaurant relief program would provide $4,000 payments for each of 25 qualifying restaurants, according to a memo to the village board from Assistant Village Manager Kristin Kazenas.

If an ordinance authorizing the program is approved Tuesday on first reading, Kazenas said the grants could be issued before the end of the fiscal year.

"The grant checks would be hand-delivered by Village staff, providing timely financial support to our struggling local restaurants," Kazenas said.

The money can be used for payroll, rent, utilities and payments to service providers and suppliers, according to guidelines accompanying the ordinance.

To qualify, restaurants must still be in business within village limits, must not be franchisees or part of a chain with five or more locations and must be open to the general public.

Funding for the grant program partially comes from leftover cash from a sales tax rebate program offered earlier this year.

Nearly $300,000 in sales tax rebates were provided to 76 local businesses in the program, leaving $77,500 in unspent money. That would be supplemented by $22,500 in funding from the village's economic development budget.

The ordinance noted that Gov. J.B. Pritzker's emergency orders aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19 have had a major impact on local businesses.

"[A]s a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Executive Orders, Village
restaurants have suffered a significant loss of business, which threatens the viability of these
restaurants and the Village’s business districts," it said.

"[I]t is of vital interest and import to the village that it maintain a vibrant restaurant community to serve Village residents."