Per an intergovernmental agreement, the City of DeKalb promised to declare a 50% surplus of the Central Area TIF (aka TIF 1) increment for each of the 12 years of the extended and amended TIF district. The surplus will be paid to all taxing bodies in the same proportions as the regular property taxes are,…
TIF & Schools
The Daily Register has reprinted a recent article by the AP’s Zachary Colman. LA SALLE, Ill. (AP) — One of the most popular rooms at LaSalle’s Dimmick Elementary School is the library-turned-computer-lab-turned-classroom. Children jostle for elbow room and can’t use the library at all when class is in session. Down the hall, the school counselor…
TIF Quote of the Day
TIFs aren’t just a tool for economic development. They’re a tool for consolidating power. By Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke, “Shedding Light on the Shadow Budget,” Chicago Reader.
State Employees & Workers’ Comp
Received this morning: this link to the Belleville News series of investigative reports on state employee’s Workers’ Compensation claims. The latest, published April 20, details the paper’s attempts to obtain information regarding successful claims. Recent and upcoming opinions delivered by the Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor that pertain to Workers’ Comp-related Freedom of Information Act…
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.
De Nile
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…
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…
Building Hope
Click here to access the Facebook page for Hope Haven’s Building Hope campaign.
Must Read: How Goldman Sachs Created the Food Crisis
Frederick Kaufman explains how our daily bread has become fodder for Wall Street speculators, at Foreign Policy.com. Since the bursting of the tech bubble in 2000, there has been a 50-fold increase in dollars invested in commodity index funds. To put the phenomenon in real terms: In 2003, the commodities futures market still totaled a…
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.…