**Update: More about this now posted at Barry’s Blog.** KishHealth System officials answered questions from the public following a presentation before the DeKalb County Board last night. While the Daily Chronicle chose not to address an exchange regarding who owns the real estate where Kishwaukee Hospital operates (as well as other KishHealth System holdings acquired…
Tag: local media
More on the NIU – Ron Walters Travel Funds Controversy
Earlier this month, the Daily Chronicle gave us an update: An audit of the university in March, completed by Illinois Auditor General William G. Holland, found that NIU had improperly reimbursed [Ron] Walters and also didn’t comply with a variety of guidelines for internal control and processes related to procurement and contracts. Walters had received…
FAC Using the Faulty Street Repair Numbers Too
Last night DeKalb’s Financial Advisory Committee began the work of figuring out how to pay for the claimed need of an additional $6.6 million per year for street repairs. Unfortunately, they are still using the same faulty numbers — faulty in the ways I explained here. If the FAC is working with bad numbers, so…
So DeKalb Has a Streets Problem — Is TIF or a Sales Tax Hike the Answer?
This week’s number: $33 million The city’s streets could need $33 million in repairs over the next five years, but a key funding source for the work will dry up by the end of the decade. That has city leaders considering options including increasing the sales tax to generate more revenue. Of the $1.5 million…
We Don’t Know if Dogs are Biting People in Forest Preserves or Not
The key word must be “verified,” though nothing in the story actually is. “Over the years, the amount of dog-walking has increased, so we’ve been getting more complaints and more problems,” said Terry Hannan, DeKalb County Forest Preserve superintendent. Although Hannan said more people have been bitten in DeKalb County’s forest preserves during the past…
How Much Change IS Afoot in DeKalb City Government? Maybe Not Enough
The Daily Chronicle notes that new DeKalb city manager Anne Marie Gaura has made some personnel changes. I am particularly gratified by this statement: The moves all deal with personnel issues, a subject on which employers are generally limited on what they can say, but they could have announced they happened. The Chronicle’s actual main…
Towing Fee Account Story Generates More Questions
The Daily Chronicle may have just published one of the most important investigative reports ever written about City of DeKalb finances. Since early 2013, the DeKalb Police Department has used around $300,000 of the $350,000 collected in administrative tow fees to buy a wide range of items outside of its regular budget. There are a…
Now We’re Getting Somewhere
Turns out, City of DeKalb’s press release this week about hiring outside help has a backstory, and the Daily Chronicle has unearthed it.. New DeKalb City Manager Anne Marie Gaura wants the city to hire an outside financial expert after staff recently broke rules for making purchases in excess of $20,000. … First, the council…
Chronicle on the Proposed New TIF Districts
The Daily Chronicle has come out against the proposed Sycamore Road TIF District, pointing to Mayor Rey’s recent comment that two developers are interested in one of the properties even with no incentives. So why bring tax increment financing into the equation? It certainly might give the city some more money it can spend on…
DeKalb – Firefighter Quid Pro Quo
The City of Springfield is expecting to approve a new contract with its firefighters’ union soon. Golly, I wish we had that kind of news coverage. Remember the last-minute hoop we had to jump through to find what the 2011 contract with our firefighters was about? The Springfield story reminded me that the longish closed…