DeKalb city council had another goal-setting session Tuesday evening. It was a good session, as was last month’s, but at one point I had to laugh, and it was during the perennial make-DeKalb-more-business-friendly discussion. I dearly wish more council members truly understood that friendliness is impossible under city manager Anne Marie Gaura. Unless you are…
Tag: TIF
Going deeper on DeKalb Public Library’s expansion and promises
The main thing you need to know is that DeKalb Public Library made promises to DeKalb property taxpayers in 2015, and now is considering breaking its promises. But I couldn’t resist putting together some FAQs for anyone who might like more details. How much did the expansion cost? Total cost was $25.3 million. At center…
TIF spending for streets in FY16 did not come anywhere near what DeKalb is claiming
The setup: During the special Committee of the Whole meeting of Monday evening, DeKalb council members were discussing with staff a proposed budget reduction in 2018 for the street improvement program in our two TIF districts, specifically a staff recommendation to cut in half the usual $1 million budgeted for streets in the TIFs. During…
Where the city’s interest in Annie Glidden North comes from
***Update 8/12*** Added city manager Anne Marie Gaura and fixed clarity issues. As our city council prepares to discuss a revitalization plan proposal for the Annie Glidden North (AGN) section of DeKalb, we should be aware of the possibility of a “done deal” already worked out by NIU and private interests, promoted by city staff…
More Reasons to Put the Brakes on the STEAM Center Project
Several of DeKalb’s city council members balked at making financial or other commitments to the STEAM center project until they have in hand a thorough analysis of its most important source of funding, the soon-to-be-retired Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts. Even the most worthy projects are subject to resource limitations, so a peek into the…
This is why you didn’t even know DeKalb failed to spend streets allocations on streets
In my last post, I explored how Tax Increment Financing (TIF) dollars for FY2016 were budgeted versus actual spending. This time I hope to explain the discrepancies, at least partially. TIF districts have their own budgets in their own funds that are separate from the city’s general operating fund called the General Fund. DeKalb currently…
Did They Lie about How They Spent TIF?
City of DeKalb budgeted $1 million for street reconstruction out of its FY2016 Central Area TIF District 1 budget, but actually spent less than $75,000 that year for all street work in the district, even though one official budget document indicates much more spending than that. Here are the facts: FY2016 Adopted TIF 1 Budget:…
DeKalb’s Annual TIF Meetings are Finally Scheduled
***Update 3/28: I’m hearing that some are having trouble with the links to the reports, so here’s an alternative way to get at them: 1. Go to the Comptroller’s Local Government Division page, and select the menu item that reads, “Upload TIF Reports.” 2. Scroll down to the bottom of the “Upload TIF” menu list…
Barb City Action Committee & TIF
There are honest people of good faith who belong to the Barb City Action Committee. There really are. However, it makes good sense to try to tease out the motives for any organized political action, especially one that launched itself out of nowhere and appears to have “shadow” members as well. Recently I donned my…
Fighting Over Scraps
The Chronicle posted an article online last night about council’s fight over the proposed annual budget that begins January 1. The article says that city staff presented a draft budget with 75% cuts in the social services allocations. This is different from the online version available to the public, which shows the line item (account…