Or: The Case of the Manager’s Embrace Due to multiple delays, DeKalb experienced some $1.5 million in cost overruns on two road and bridge projects that were completed in 2024. The city was able to cover the resulting budget deficits in 2025, but had to pull money out of the operating reserve to do it.…
Category: Payment Due?
A return to “meaningful and understandable” budgets begins with Water Fund dependency confessions
Last spring, DeKalb’s city manager was pushing for water rate and fee increases of 3.8% for infrastructure projects such as water main replacement. In the city council agenda for April 28, 2025, he wrote, “It should be noted that the Water Fund is an enterprise fund that should cover its operating and capital expenses from…
With a hoard like this, DeKalb must adjust its financial policies
DeKalb’s latest annual audit, completed earlier this month, shows the city added $4 million to its ending General Fund balance for fiscal year 2024. It’s a multiyear trend, and $4 million is the least amount added during this period. Since 2020, DeKalb has seen $23.7 million in annual operating surpluses, an average of $5.9 million…
How did City of DeKalb end up paying the library’s expansion debt?
Mr. Teresinski expressed his frustration that the library debt became the City’s obligation rather than the library’s. Mr. Teresinski commented there is no revenue that the City is using on the library’s behalf so it’s a pure add on to the City budget. City Manager Nicklas stated it was his understanding that the library needed…
We deserve an examination of the nursing home failures
The DeKalb County Board used more than an hour of its Committee of the Whole meeting last week to start discussing options in determining the fate of DeKalb County Nursing & Rehab Center (DCNRC) in responding to its financial crisis. In my opinion, the board and administrator have acted responsibly and transparently from the moment…
Unauthorized compensation of city commissioners: the fix should be simple
City of DeKalb has been paying compensation to at least two of its advisory commissions without proper authorization. Members of the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) and the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners both receive what look like meeting per diems in the expenditure records. But it turns out the payments aren’t properly authorized…
Addressing DeKalb Public Library’s proposed 14%-plus levy increase
During DeKalb’s public hearing on its property tax levy, which includes the library’s levy, several people spoke out about the library’s plan to increase its take by more than 14%. They requested the city council hold library trustees accountable for the request, which they view as irresponsible. DeKalb claims that it must approve any levy…
DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing: How staff retention issues helped lead to its financial problems
In the first post of this series, we looked at nursing home census as a measure of the financial health of a facility like DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing (DCRNC). In fact, DCRNC gave great census, its occupancy mostly in the 170s and even 180s from 2015 until 2019. Consistently high census numbers kept revenues…
Water is the new TIF
For years, DeKalb bailed out its general operating budget with tax increment financing (TIF) funds. TIF administrative fees helped soften the blows following the 2008 market crashes and assisted the hiring spree after that. Now the enormous “TIF 1” district is gone, replaced by the “Downtown TIF” that is but a shadow of its previously…
Looks like DeKalb Park District failed us too
The DeKalb Park District Code devotes 3-1/2 pages to protection of trees in the district. But when it comes to contracting IT services, the district can’t be bothered with boilerplate to protect the interests of its non-arboreal constituents. I decided to continue my comparison of the relationships the Housing Authority of the County of DeKalb…