Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Daily Herald: Suburbs bear the brunt of state's new sales tax fee
Many suburbs will find their coffers a little light this month.
That’s because towns with local sales taxes are getting 2 percent less from the state than they’re used to, beginning with monthly disbursements set to be issued this week. That’s as much as $35,000 a month less in Schaumburg or as little as $30 a month less in Sleepy Hollow, according to a Daily Herald analysis of last year’s local sales tax receipts.
Peoria Journal-Star: State budget change takes another bite out of local government funds
Local governments in Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton, Knox, Marshall, Mason, Putnam and Stark counties can expect to get about $22 million less this year from a longstanding stream of state tax proceeds, according to data released by the state Department of Revenue.
Partly it’s because there’s slightly less money coming into the fund that the state pays out to municipalities as part of the Personal Property Replacement Tax. But it’s also because under the new state spending plan passed in July, what last year was a $1.4 billion statewide stream of money is being cut by nearly $300 million to help fill in the Land of Lincoln’s budget gap.
State Journal-Register: Springfield aldermen approve tax incentives for proposed power plant
A deal to provide tax incentives for a Houston-based company to build a $1 billion natural gas power plant near Pawnee got the green light Tuesday from the Springfield City Council.
Tuesday’s vote brought out the largest crowd a security guard said he’s ever witnessed for a council meeting.
Chicago Tribune: Emanuel to introduce borrowing plan at today's City Council meeting
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to save the city tens of millions of dollars in borrowing costs is set to be introduced at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
The proposal would allow the city to direct a portion of its share of state sales taxes toward paying off certain debt. The structure puts buyers of bonds financed that way first in line to get paid, which in turn could increase bond ratings and lower city interest costs.
Chicago Tribune: City Hall to cover CPS security costs
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is making plans to pick up security guard costs for Chicago Public Schools to help reduce a remaining district budget hole of about $119 million.
To do that, Emanuel plans to include $70 to $80 million in spending on CPS security in his proposed 2018 budget that he’ll introduce later this year, spokesman Adam Collins said Tuesday.
Chicago Tribune: Comparing CPS safe Passage routes and shootings
Starting Tuesday, students at more than 140 schools will walk to school along Safe Passage routes, shepherded by trained adult monitors to watch over the children and protect them from street violence. The Chicago Public Schools‘ anti-violence program was created in 2013 and expanded after about 50 schools were closed that year. According to CPS, each school’s route will have a different strategy, based on the surrounding community, arrival times and student transportation.
Since Jan. 1, more than 2,500 people have been shot in Chicago, with about 860 of those shot during school hours (6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday). Despite a number of daytime shootings around Safe Passage routes, there have been few major violent incidents during the time when students are actually going to and from class.
Chicago Tribune: Giving Illinois' children a second escape route from bad schools
Great news: Thousands of Illinois children trapped in dismally performing classrooms soon will have places other than charter schools to break free and learn.
These schoolchildren will receive tuition scholarships for private schools, thanks to a $100 million program starting in the 2018-19 school year.
Chicago Tribune: City Council committee OKs record $9.5 million Taser injury payout
A record $9.5 million settlement for a man left paralyzed after being felled by a Taser-wielding Chicago police officer won approval Tuesday of a key City Council committee.
The Finance Committee endorsed the settlement, negotiated by city attorneys after a jury determined that Officer Stevan Vidljinovic used excessive force and unlawfully seized Jose Lopez but did not intentionally inflict his severe injuries.
Chicago Sun-Times: Great news: Thousands of Illinois children trapped in dismally performing classrooms soon will have places other than charter schools to break free and learn. These schoolchildren will receive tuition scholarships for private schools, thanks to a $100 million program starting in the 2018-19 school year.
Voters could cap the re-election bids of four Cook County commissioners over their support for the sweetened beverage tax, a new poll found.
It’s the latest in a series of We Ask America polls offering a snapshot into the unpopularity of the penny-an-ounce pop tax which took effect on August 2. The tax takes aim at sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks. We Ask America is a subsidiary of the Illinois Manufacturers Association — and the IMA is an ally of the tax’s main opponent, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.
Northwest Herald: McHenry Educational Support Professionals union rallies for fair wages
From paraprofessionals to translators, secretaries, custodians and maintenance workers, it takes more than only teachers to run a successful school, officials from the McHenry Educational Support Professionals union said.
However, support staff have been working without a contract since July, union President Pat Phillips said. Fair wages and rising insurance costs are the key problems the union hopes to change, she said.
Daily Herald: Spending fight keeps Elk Grove Township from authorizing bills
A spat in Elk Grove Township politics will cost taxpayers a couple thousand dollars and wasted workforce hours.
Last week, board members angrily ended a meeting without voting to approve bills for paying employees, assisting the needy and repairing roads. They’re having a makeup meeting Wednesday to complete their unfinished work.
Daily Herald: District 57 studying whether it needs to seek a tax increase
A task force of parents, community leaders, local business owners, retirees and Mount Prospect Elementary District 57 staff is studying whether the school district should seek a tax increase in a referendum next March.
The task force, created by the school board, will help the board decide if it should seek an education fund tax-rate increase and will make a recommendation about the timing and size of the request. District officials and board members, including those elected last spring, have said they generally believe there is a need to increase taxes due to a financial squeeze and rising enrollment.
Rockford Register-Star: City Council approves more homes for demolition
Aldermen tonight approved bids worth $206,445 to demolish 29 vacant and abandoned homes from its demolition list, inching closer to the city’s goal of eliminating 100 blighted properties this year.
Properties are chosen for demolition in Rockford using a ranking system that scores them based on structural integrity, whether the property is condemned and other factors. City Council approved adding another 16 properties to the list. City staff must conduct a legal procedure before they are demolished that can be delayed if a property owner comes forward to object.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Normal faces tough financial future
Finance Manager Andrew Huhn had bad news Tuesday for the Normal City Council.
“This is probably … in my tenure the most difficult year we’ve faced,” he said of the town’s 2018-19 fiscal year, which will start in April. “But we’re going into it in a strong position … and we have a strong budgeting process in place.”
Decatur Herald & Review: Decatur inner-city neighborhoods get $400,000 in new sidewalks
As he walks on the chipped, grassy sections of what are supposed to be sidewalks in the Old King’s Orchard neighborhood, Tyrese Johnson says it’s clear that work needs to be done.
“It looks rough,” he said. “It would be nice to have some of those sidewalks you see downtown.”
The Southern: Sen. Duckworth presses HUD to get its story straight concerning Cairo relocation effort
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth continues to push Housing and Urban Development officials to get their story straight concerning the relocation effort in Cairo.
Duckworth, D-Ill., has said on numerous occasions that the lack of consistent information from HUD officials is both frustrating and confusing to residents and other concerned city leaders and federal officials.