(press release)
As the City Council begins another year of budget planning, we want to start the process by reaching out to the citizens of Peoria for input on where they would like to see their tax dollars invested.
Mayor Jim Ardis said, “It is vital that citizens have a voice in how their tax dollars are [...]

I just received the following press release:
Taxpayer Watchdog Group Urges Immediate Up-or-Down Senate Vote on Budget Transparency Bill
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), along with State Rep. Mike Tryon and three other citizen organizations, today called for Senate President Emil Jones to schedule budget transparency legislation for an immediate up-or-down vote. [...]

Links are via the Journal Star. The snarky commentary is my own:

We’re one step toward an involuntary county-wide tax to pay for a regional museum no one wants to pay for voluntarily. All it needs is approval from the House of representatives and the governor. Aaron Schock and David Leitch are already on board. I [...]

I’m asking Gary because he was the Peoria City Council member who moved to increase the city’s tax on hotel room rentals from the 1.5 percent called for in the Hotel, Restaurant and Amusement tax by another half percentage point to 2 percent.*

What essential city services– such as police and fire protection or infrastructure — [...]

Two downtown hotels want to increase the city’s Hotel, Restaurant and Amusement Tax. They say the teeny-tiny increase could be used to boost tourism in Peoria. The article isn’t clear how this happens but hey, what the Hell. It’s only a small amount of cash that’s going to be added to what folks pay at [...]

The links are via the Journal Star. The snarky commentary is my own.

Blago wants to give Baby Boomers free rides on mass transit. Growing up, I didn’t begrudge freebies for the geezers. But in my youth, old people were the people who fought in World War II and survived the Great Depression. Most of those [...]

Jim McConaughey hates me.
I don’t know why. I’ve always been nice to him. I print his press releases. I didn’t make fun of him when he said he remembered the Cuban missile crisis when he was an infant at the time.
So, why does he want to raise my taxes?
Yep. He most certainly does want to [...]

ITEM NO. 7 Communication from the City Manager and Finance Director/Comptroller Requesting Approval of the RESOLUTION Adopting the 2008 CITY of PEORIA BUDGET.

Barbara Van Auken, moves to eliminate Expo Garden consideration. Spears has been working hard to get a real asset to this city. Totally supportive. Will support in the future. [...]

Karen McDonald has a good catch in today’s column. It turns out Dick Versace has been describing himself as both pro-life and pro-choice, depending on the person he’s speaking to.
And John Sharp gives us the school on the City of Peoria’s budgetary shortfall and the possibility that this is the year they will seek a [...]

Settingsgaard: Says it it chief’s job to be spokesman for the city. People want to hear what the chief has to say about crime. NOT the assistant chief.
Gulley wants to go back over the saturation patrol. He doesn’t want to move saturation patrols from his district. He just wants to make sure we are consistent [...]

The meeting opens with a public Truth in Taxation hearing. On paper, they are seeing a 21-cent increase in rate. Actual rate will be set when they determine the levy. The actual rate will be determined by forumla, and Roberta Parks, Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce. Wants the city to “continmue to be fiscally conservative” [...]

“To tax the community for the advantage of a class is not protection: it is plunder.”
– Benjamin Disraeli

Question: When is a tax increase NOT a tax increase?
The answer: When it helps lower taxes in another area, for most taxpayers.
C.J. Summers reports on something he heard following last night’s Peoria City Council meeting, namely that is the city were to replace the revenue it collects from the $6 garbage fee with an equivalent [...]

Links via the Journal Star:

Oh, spare me. The headline and lede paragraph scream that the Peoria City Council is going to raise the property tax rate by 21 cents. The rest of the article explains that this is just a vote that puts a state mandated public hearing on the agenda. The actual rate is [...]

To paraphrase Rush Limbaugh’s dittoheads, mega-kudos to Journal Star reporter John Sharp for this article on how the City of Peoria is planning to raise property taxes, even though the tax rate will drop. I even approve of the tone of the lede, namely that politicians ought to not go around bragging about lower rates [...]