ReNew DeKalb wants to give more than $1 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) money to Preservation of the Egyptian Theatre. Who doesn’t love the Egyptian? I love P.E.T.’s director and its board because they follow the rules, and because they try to provide events for every budget. But we’ve given the Egyptian $592,500 since…
Category: City Watch
FY2012 Budget Comments, Smart-Alecky Edition
The proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 is now available. I’ve just begun reading it. Here are a few reactions so far. [From the 2025 Vision Statement] Its downtown is the heart of the community… Translation: We hate that the Super Wal-Mart is the closest thing DeKalb has to a town square.
Tune In to the Psychic Energy
Headline: “Quinn: Approve borrowing or lose local tax revenue”. Legislative leaders are considering a proposal that would authorize [Illinois Governor Pat] Quinn to shift money from other state accounts if he is not granted permission to borrow the money. The plan also includes a proposal disclosed Friday to suspend local income-tax payments to cities and…
City Manager Oversteps His Bounds
During the April 11 Committee of the Whole meeting, the DeKalb City Council discussed whether to outsource any or all of its legal services. Here’s how it ended. MOTION Ald. Gallagher moved to direct staff to prepare a Request for Proposal, using Version #1 to out source the City Attorney’s position; seconded by Ald. Verbic.…
New Developments in Reduction in Force Story
As reported in Reductions in Force Outcomes, one of the decisions the City of DeKalb made last year in implementing the Reduction in Force (RIF) was to lay off AFSCME-affiliated workers in June even though it was contractually obligated to pay them their regular compensation through December 2010. Nobody questioned it much at the time,…
Last in Line
As predicted in Sunday’s post, suddenly DEKALB’S FIRST RESPONDERS ARE #1 PRIORITY AND OMG WE MUST BUILD THE POLICE STATION RIGHT NOW, according to our city council. It offends me deeply, because the The NUMBER ONE PRIORITY statement is a BIG LIE. The people who really have made public safety the priority are the folks…
Special Meeting on Muni/Police Building & Financing
A special meeting Monday of the DeKalb City Council and the Financial Advisory Committee is set to examine two Municipal Building remodeling/building options with emphases on police station space needs and improved access for people with disabilities. The Good One of the options presented includes a proposal to sell off city property worth $2.2 million…
Code Enforcement & the Sign Ordinance
The City of DeKalb’s Safe/Quality Housing Task Force met Tuesday. Greek Row safety was a popular topic of discussion, and so were code enforcement issues. The Quality Subcommittee had several suggestions about the latter, including: Condense and summarize housing codes for public consumption where possible. Institute a tracking system for code complaints, preferably an online…
Workers Comp in DeKalb
You may recall that DeKalb would like to join the Municipal Insurance Cooperative Agency (MICA) instead of continuing to self-fund its liability “insurance,” but MICA calculated the premium at $1.1 million per year up front and we can’t seem to find the money. The premium was based in part on a five-year average of actual…
Redistricting Clock is Ticking
Recently while doing some lookups in Chapter 3 of the Municipal Code, I came across this: 3.02-5 REDISTRICTING THE CITY. The wards of the City of DeKalb as heretofore established and as may hereafter be established shall be reapportioned according to population. In the formation of the reapportioned wards the population of each shall be…