***Update 1:30 p.m.: Their lips say no, but the timing feels like there’s some piling on.*** **Update 9:45 a.m.: Here’s the latest put up by RRStar. I do NOT agree that WCFPD has a credibility problem (stated at the end of the article). Instead, I’d argue that any credibility problem is Randy Olson’s alone at…
Category: County Watch
Lots of Good FOIA and OMA Action in Winnebago Forest Preserve District
*Update 10:45 p.m.: Olson is out as district president! The story is here. But that’s not all! Find bonus Chuck Sweeney here with free shipping!* The Rockford Register Star used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain e-mails to and from Winnebago Forest Preserve district president Randy Olson that trace the process of creating a…
Home Rule and the Real Estate Transfer Tax
**Updated July 31 at end of post.** Believe it or not, there’s at least one limit to Illinois Home Rule! Here’s a post from the blog of the Illinois Association of Realtors: I was discussing a transaction in the home rule community of West Frankfort. “My client was surprised to learn at closing she had…
Farmers & Traders State Bank in Shabbona Has Closed
[Updated with Deposit Insurance Fund info @ 1:40 p.m.] …and one of its former officers is a DeKalb County official. From an FDIC release yesterday: Farmers and Traders State Bank, Shabbona, Illinois, was closed today by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To…
Public Corruption Might Possibly Exist in DeKalb County, and if It Does, the State’s Attorney is On It
Back when I first worked in developmental disabilities (DD) adult services, it was very well known that abuse and neglect of persons with disabilities occurred only in Chicago and just couldn’t, and didn’t, ever happen in DeKalb County. But of course abuse and neglect actually can happen anywhere; and when we finally got around to…
Total Property Tax Rates in DeKalb County, City
Here are some property tax numbers expressed as dollars per $100 of assessed valuation. The DeKalb County averages come from this state site, the city’s from my own tax bills. [table id=40 /] Other 2009 Property Tax Rate Averages Statewide — 6.43 Cook County — 5.89 Collar Counties — 6.47 Rest of State — 7.71…
Latest FDIC Orders Include Bank in Shabbona
Farmers’ and Traders’ State Bank in Shabbona recently agreed to accept a Consent Order from the FDIC. FDIC issued the order one month ago and made it public yesterday, as is its usual procedure. Yesterday also a bank in Plano, Texas, became the 74th bank to close in the U.S. in 2011. Bank failures peaked…
A Closer Look at DeKalb Per Capita Debt
This table was part of Friday’s long post, but deserves some attention of its own. [table id=34 /] You can find the breakdown of the FY2010 overlapping debt in this document, on p. 153. FY2010 ended June 30, 2010. Let’s look at some of the GO bond issues since that date: DeKalb County: $16,000,000, 10/14/2010…
Town Hall Next Week at Conexion Comunidad
Third Ward Alderman Kristen Lash will hold a town hall meeting next Wednesday, August 31. So far, participants are: Kristen Lash, 3rd Ward Alderman Jim Luebke, DeKalb Township Trustee Paul Stoddard, County Board, District 9 Julia Fauci, County Board, District 9 Alderman Lash hopes also to include a representative of the District 428 school board.…
Another Denial of a Public Library Levy Request
Galesburg, November 2010: The Galesburg Public Library voted Thursday night to slash $20,000 from its earlier budget request in an effort to gain the City Council’s support in raising the library’s property tax levy. […] Relations between the city and the library have been increasingly strained due to disagreements on whether to increase the property…