Looks like DeKalb is on track to eliminating the life and health insurance benefits for City Council members. This is an important move, and not just for the savings. When Council prepares to vote on health insurance plans and premiums for management employees and union workers, its own participation creates conflicts of interest. We’ve also…
Category: Payment Due?
Comments on 4/12 Meeting
I jumped in about 7:30 last night, in the midst of citizens’ comments so the proclamations must have taken a long time! Here’s my assessment of what I saw. The Bad The saddest part, of course, was Council’s approval of almost all of ReNew DeKalb’s wish list. With that they closed the door on the…
Voluntary Separation Clarification
Some are under the impression that the City of DeKalb’s Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) for Public Works and management employees allows for early retirement under Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) rules. That is not the case. IMRF does have an Early Retirement Incentive (ERI) and it’s a pretty good deal — so good, in fact,…
Voluntary Separation
The agenda packet for Monday’s special City Council meeting to discuss the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) is missing a few things: 1) An analysis of how much this program could cost us. Surely the city must know how many of its employees are eligible, since only those with 20 or more full years of continuous…
Letter: Council Puts Taxpayers on Hook
Freshly published in the Daily Chronicle: To the Editor: During the March 8 DeKalb City Council meeting, 4th Ward Alderman Brendon Gallagher made a plea to the community for support during the upcoming budget preparation period. According to the meeting minutes, Ald. Gallagher “asked that the citizens be empathetic with the current financial situation facing…
Property Tax Assessment Reductions: Guess Who?
From a public notice published March 24, 2010, “Notice of Changes in Assessments for 2009 Made by the DeKalb County Board of Review in DeKalb Township“: Michael “EAV won’t fall” Verbic. Verbic is president of the District 428 school board, as most of you already know, and as such made not one suggestion for downsizing…
Biernacki: “Widespread Community Support” for Skating Rink
Northern Star‘s article on the impending demise of DeKalb’s synthetic skating rink: Because The Skate School was not at fault for the decline in patronage, Biernacki said he is sure the council will relieve the contract. “We pursued [the ice rink] with widespread community support,” Biernacki said. “That support did not translate into patrons.” Biernacki…
A Second Reason to Leave the $45 Million Bond Issue to the Voters
When the airline fuel “order acceptance centers” settled in Sycamore (about 2004 give or take) it effectively doubled the County’s sales tax revenues to $4 million. Now the county will have money coming in from the County Home TIF that the City of DeKalb recently discontinued, and I was just reading in the Chicago Trib…
One Reason to Leave the Proposed $45 Million Bond Issue to the Voters
County of DeKalb, 2004-2008: Jail! Jail! Jail! Jail! County of DeKalb, 2009-10: No, wait! Courthouse! Then jail.
City-County Budget Comparison: Information Technology & Services
County of DeKalb 9 groups of elected offices (County Board, County Clerk, etc.) 9 appointed boards & commissions 18 departments 552 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions (approx.) 2010 budget for Information Management: $1,004,400* (PDF p. 6) 2010 budgeted regular compensation for IM: $542,000 2010 budgeted overtime for IM: $14,000 Number of IM employees: 10 City of…