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Daily Southtown: Audit finds $14 million in 'questionable' TIF transfers, University Park manager says
From 2012 to 2016, University Park shifted nearly $40 million from tax increment finance accounts into its general and payroll funds, according to an audit the cash-strapped community commissioned to assess its TIF debt.
While the majority of the transfers appear to have been made for legitimate TIF-related purposes, the auditing firm determined that approximately 35 percent of the transfers, or nearly $14 million, were “questionable,” village manager John Pate said.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Park District headquarters moving from its downtown digs as part of $50 million project
The Chicago Park District will move its headquarters to the Southwest Side Brighton Park neighborhood as part of a $50 million project, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Friday.
The Park District had sold its downtown headquarters to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in 2014, but remained in the building and kept many of its administrative jobs there since then, while some have been moved to parks.
State Journal-Register: 2018 Illinois State Fair attendance down 8% from 2017
The Illinois State Fair in Springfield saw 369,144 people walk or drive through its gates last month, a drop of 8 percent compared to last year’s fair, state officials reported Friday.
Fair officials noted, however, that visitors appeared to spend a little more money at the fair than in 2017, according to sales receipts and tax collections.
Daily Herald: St. Charles to repay South Elgin after sales tax mix-up
After erroneously collecting sales tax revenue from a South Elgin retailer for more than six years, St. Charles will repay the neighboring town hundreds of thousands of dollars to correct the mistake.
The business, which has not been named, relocated from St. Charles to South Elgin in 2011 without reporting its change of address to the Illinois Department of Revenue, St. Charles Finance Director Chris Minick said. As a result, the state had been distributing the municipal share of sales tax dollars to the wrong town until earlier this year, when South Elgin officials realized the mistake.
Daily Herald: Moody's removes negative outlook on Dist. 21 bond rating
Moody’s Investors Service has removed the negative outlook from Wheeling Township Elementary District 21’s current Aa3 bond rating, district officials announced.
The credit rating agency said the removal reflects the recent improvement of the district’s financial performance that is expected to continue through at least 2019. District 21 officials say they’ve reduced operating expenses by $19 million over the last three years.
Daily Herald: District 62 OKs contract extension, 11% pay increase for superintendent
Des Plaines Elementary School District 62 has agreed to a pay increase of about 11 percent in a one-year contract extension with Superintendent Paul Hertel for the 2020-2021 school year.
The contract approved Wednesday by the school board will pay Hertel a salary of $239,777, an approximately $24,300 increase over his current pay to lead the district with about 4,700 students and a dozen schools. The school district also will contribute $60,000 toward Hertel’s retirement plan if he retires after the two years and doesn’t enter another contract.
Bloomington Pantagraph: ISU to receive $5.2 million for building repairs
Illinois State University should soon get about $3 million for repairs to its fine arts complex.
The $3 million will come from a higher education emergency appropriation that also includes an additional $2.2 million for roof replacements at Turner Hall and the Ropp Agriculture Building.
Decatur Herald & Review: A $2 million state grant built 8 Decatur Housing Authority homes in 2017. They're still empty.
The Decatur Housing Authority may have to sacrifice a portion of proceeds to find buyers for eight modular homes that the agency has struggled to fill for more than a year. It is the second time an outside vendor has been hired to market the near-westside houses, which have never had occupants.
Executive Director Jim Alpi said the nonprofit arm of the housing authority, called Decatur Pilot NFP, has an agreement with Decatur real estate company Brinkoetter & Associates to list the houses. Brinkoetter will get a 7 percent fee based on the final sale price.
The Southern: Springfield releases $1.25 million for SIUC building repairs
Repairs to several buildings at Southern Illinois University Carbondale can move forward, after the state granted $1.25 million to SIUC as part of the capital funding portion of the state budget for Fiscal Year 2019, which begins on October 1 of this year.
Neckers Hall, the Engineering building, Pulliam Hall and the university’s performance venue, Shryock Auditorium, will all receive roof repairs or replacements, according to a news release from state Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo.