AREA UPDATE
Area update
Sidney board schedules 2nd meeting on sewer proposal
SIDNEY – On the heels of a well-attended and heated meeting, Sidney officials have scheduled another informational meeting on a proposed sanitary sewer system.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 18 at the Sidney Town Hall.
To prepare themselves to answer the public's questions at that meeting, village trustees will hold a study session at 7 p.m. Nov. 11 to discuss various issues that were raised at a meeting on Oct. 28. The village's attorney, Paul Hendren, advised that although residents are welcome at the Nov. 11 study session, the board is not obligated to allow time for public comment.
Issues to be discussed include whether residents would have to pay a connection fee, what would be done with residents' septic tanks, who would own and maintain grinder pumps at about 20 homes and how to avoid charging sewer fees on water that didn't pass through the sewer system.
One of the most controversial subjects at the previous sewer meeting was a new water bill charge to help pay back a loan taken out in April for engineer Foth Infrastructure & Environment's planning and design of the sewer system. Some residents said the charge should be changed to a flat rate for all residents rather than being tied to water usage as it is now.
But resident Amanda Marlow submitted a letter to the village board opposing the idea of a flat rate.
"It's hardly fair for me, a single resident, to be paying the same as a household of four or five," Marlow wrote. "Elderly households and those with fixed incomes will be affected greatly."
Former trustee Jim Rector, who was on the village board when a sewer referendum failed in 2004, offered some words of advice to the board.
"We got blasted for exactly what you got blasted for," Rector said. "The first order of business is to convince the people of this town why we need sewers. You need to present data. You have to sell the need, not the project."
Another former trustee, Walter Hoffmann, suggested that the public might like to know the planning costs and land-purchase costs and to see handouts detailing possible user fees under various scenarios.
CHRISTINE WALSH
See details in next week's County Star
paxton city council
Retirement costs prompt tax-hike proposal
PAXTON – A proposed property tax increase up for approval by the Paxton City Council on Monday would cost the average owner of a $100,000 home an extra $45 on their tax bills next summer.
The majority of the tax increase is the result of a request to levy $44,000 more than last year in the city's Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund account for the fiscal year that ends April 30, 2010.
City attorney Bob Martensen said the request to levy more in the state retirement fund was due to a decision this year by the fund's board of trustees to increase the rates charged to the local governments it serves.
"It's not just Paxton" having to pay more, Martensen said.
Paxton's retirement-fund rate this calendar year was 6.57 percent, but starting Jan. 1 it will nearly double to 13.11 percent, Comptroller/Treasurer Julie Burgess said. The percentages reflect the amount taken out of employees' salaries for retirement, disability or death benefits provided by the retirement fund, Burgess said.
"IMRF increased the amount employers had to pay depending on what they had in reserves," she said.
Martensen said the retirement fund reportedly lost money in the stock market, which led to the decision to raise the rates. Martensen said the city has the option to pay the full increase immediately, or instead pay the money in installments over a number of years, which could cost "a little more."
"I'm going to try to get ours taken care of" now, Martensen said, noting, "Who knows what will happen next year."
WILL BRUMLEVE
See details in this week's Paxton Record, www.paxtonrecord.net
ludlow village board
New property-tax levy to rise by 4 percent
LUDLOW – The village board has adopted a property-tax levy request for 2009, payable in 2010, that is 4 percent greater than the 2008 levy.
The levy request is for $7,200 compared with the $6,907 levied in 2008.
Breakdown of the levy is $5,043 to the general fund, $1,480 for police protection, $500 for legal and audit services, $157 for trash pickup and $20 for ESDA.
In other business, the board changed the December meeting date from Dec. 6 to Dec. 15 because several board members will not be able to attend on the earlier date.
Mayor Pete Walker said village attorney Jack Waaler had advised conducting a public hearing by March 12 on renewal of the agreement with cable television provider Mediacom.
The board gave Water Superintendent Rick Chenoweth approval to spend up to $250 to replace the heater in the water plant's chlorine room and to have repairs made to the truck used for plowing snow.
Standing in for Police Chief Joe Navarro, board member Maggie Ansburg reported that police officers had investigated a report of truck tires flattened. Officers also assisted the state police with a drug bust and the county with investigation of computer theft. No problems were reported on Halloween.
DEBRA RAWLINGS, Rantoul Press
Mansfield Village Board
Mansfield board OK's tax increase
MANSFIELD – Village trustees voted 4 to 2 to seek approximately two thousand dollars more in property taxes in 2010 than in 2009.
Trustee Bambie Roy argued that an alternative to raising taxes would be to curb spending.
Treasurer Don Wack said that the three funds named as needing more money in 2010 were related to labor, including the police fund, which Manuel said was "always underfunded."
"Well, really, our labor shouldn't be that high when it comes down to it," Roy said. "We have one full-time employee, a couple part times ... Maybe we need to look at our labor."
Trustee Jeff Lindenbaum said that the increase would average about $3.50 to $4.00 more a year in property tax per household.
In other news, Wack said that six months into fiscal year 2009, the village has spent $11,000 more than it has taken in. The reason for the deficit is that the state is three months late in paying income tax money to the village, a sum of about $20,000.
Trustees voted 6 to 0 to approve an ordinance concerning animals and the removal of excrement from public and private property. If animal owners do not comply with the ordinance, they can be fined no less than $100 and no more than $500. The ordinance does not apply to individuals with guide dogs.
Trustees voted 6 to 0 to donate $500 to the Mansfield Village Christmas, which will be held on Dec. 5 in the village. Participants can buy gift items, go on horse-drawn carriage rides, listen to carolers, and view decorated homes and trees.
MARGO L. DILL, N-G Correspondent
farmer city council
Hearing set for latest land swap proposal
FARMER CITY – A public hearing on a proposed land exchange between Farmer City and the Farmer City Fair association will be held at 6 p.m. on Nov. 23.
The council expects to vote on the proposal during a regular council meeting beginning at 7 p.m. the same evening. Both will be held at the council's regular meeting room at city hall. Council members expressed a wish to allow only Farmer City residents to speak at the upcoming hearing. Each speaker will have to sign in and comments will be limited in length.
Asked about a plan if attendees exceed the room's capacity, officials said the meeting could be relocated that same evening. They do not, however, expect the large crowd that attended the last hearing on the subject in August 2007.
City Manager Trent Smith said the property exchange is much the same as proposed two years ago. He said the difference is in contract "language" and the fair board has agreed to language changes following the council's Oct. 19 meeting.
The fair board is offering the city 20 acres of land they have purchased near Interstate 74, valued at $200,000, plus South Park, valued at $150,000. In exchange, the city would transfer ownership of the fairground property, valued at $350,000, to the fair association.
The complete language of the proposal will appear as a legal notice in this week's Farmer City Journal. City statutes' minimum 15-day notice for such a hearing prompted the council to move its regular meeting date. As a result, no council meeting will be held Nov. 16.
JEAN NOELLSCH, N-G Correspondent
Also on this date
- State budget crisis endangers A Woman's Place
- Firefighters called to Rantoul house fire
- Final approval granted in consent decree settlement
- Vigil tonight for slain Mahomet woman
- Jury convicts Myrick in murder of Champaign couple
- Man charged with burglary to Champaign home
- Children's agency celebrates 115th anniversary
- Man sentenced for starting fire while he was a firefighter
- Champaign sets high school redistricting meeting
- Obituaries