The public comment included both home schoolers and a Sycamore attorney who has some experience in this area. A companion post is here.
Category: Dist 428
Chronicle Editorial Board Hasn’t Lived Here Very Long
Chronicle staff should live in this county for awhile before commenting on certain issues, such as what one can find today in “Our View: Falling home values a trying trend in county“. When the housing market was healthy and new homes and businesses were built at a healthy clip, the opposite was true. Property values…
DeKalb’s Population Illusions
**Update: DHS enrollment projections for next year have been corrected from 17,000 to 1,700 and I appreciate receiving the email heads up.** Possibly the worst argument in support of the land swap deal between District 428 and Shodeen is this: The land near [DeKalb High School] offers more promise for the district than Kiwanis Park.…
Arguments Against New TIF Districts in DeKalb
Because somebody’s got to do it. Here are the general reasons DeKalb should not open up any new Tax Increment Financing Districts at this time. Pensions. DeKalb’s property tax levy is applied only toward pension costs, and pension costs have been accelerating. Every penny that gets swallowed by the increment has to be made up…
Land Swap is No Mystery: Here Comes TIF
A few days ago I was having an email conversation with a friend, who asked me what I thought of the school district’s proposed land swap deal that would put developer Shodeen next to Huntley Middle School. Here is how I responded, in part: At this point I am suspicious that a South Fourth TIF…
New Per Capita Debt Numbers
[Update 8:30 a.m.: Table headers edited for clarity.] You’ve seen most of this table before. I’ve updated it with FY2011 data from the new Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). [table id=49 /] Most of the overlapping increase came from DeKalb Community Unit School District 428. Mind you, these figures reflect only gross bonded debt. The…
Sampling of Electric Bills, Old DHS and New
This is a comparison of two months’ worth of electric bills for the old DeKalb High School on South Fourth Street, which is now Huntley Middle School, and the new DHS on Dresser Road. [table id=44 /] No, the figures for the June charges and balance due for the new DHS were not accidentally transposed!…
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.…
Error Correction: FY2011 TIF Surplus
In “City & School District TIF Surplus Budget Surplus Budget Estimates”, I put up a chart showing a City of DeKalb TIF 1 surplus for FY2011 (to be budgeted for FY2012) of $221,000. While this part is correct, I somehow at the time failed to understand that this was only the amount of the surplus…