Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Boone County finds $284k

First of all, what this is not.   This is not the $1,ooo,ooo (currently only $160,000) which the Treasurer/Tax Collector does not know to whom it belongs: [See:     http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2010/03/mr-treasurer-whose-1000000-is-it.html http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2010/03/accounting-under-freedom-of-information.html     ].

But rather this  is the reserve account for Tax Sales Indemnity .  Whenever a tax delinquent property is purchased the buyer is accessed a fee which is held in a reserve account.   If the tax sale proves to be legally defective,   the purchaser is  compensated from the fund.

Tax sale purchasers pay on average of $14,500 each year into this account and there has been no disbursement from the account for ten years, so the reserve balance is $284,184.  [See the photocopy below]

Since the 88th Illinois State Legislature (1993), counties which have Tort Liabilities Funds can pass a county ordinance and pay any claims for defective tax sales  from the Tort Liability Account.   After such an ordinance, both the reserve for Tax Sales Indemnity ($264,184) and future tax sales indemnity fees ($14,500 per year) can be used by the county’s general funds. It is quite amazing that Boone County would be unaware of the 1993 law change until now.

Well, county official are all ready to vote the ordinance.   The money may even be already spent.   Depending upon which side of the partisan divide has the votes,  the quarter million may plug  the budget deficit;  pay for overages for construction at the courthouse/administration complexes; prevent lay-offs for the sheriff/jail; or used next year when the State gives the county even less funds?

Click on the photocopy to enlarge: 

County finds $284,000

New state laws kick in Thursday

[public schools] no longer be allowed to transport students to extra-curricular events using large, 15-passenger vans.

a new law would prohibit cities and towns from telling people when they can and can't display political signs in their yards.

Some places have restrictions on what weeks during a year the signs could be displayed. The state will take away that right Thursday, though locals can still put reasonable size restrictions on political yard signs.

New state laws kick in Thursday

Kraft picks its top 10 'power' brands to promote in developing markets | Crain's Chicago Business

Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolates, Halls lozenges and Trident gum, three Cadbury brands…Oreo cookies, Milka chocolate, Lacta chocolate, Jacobs coffee, Tang drink mix, Club Social/TUC crackers, Biskuat/Tiger biscuits,

Falling out of the list are Philadelphia cream cheese, Carte Noire coffee and Toblerone chocolate.  Philadelphia, the cream cheese brand, loses out.

Kraft picks its top 10 'power' brands to promote in developing markets | Crain's Chicago Business

Madigan sues Countrywide, alleging discrimination

 

Madigan's office, which subpoenaed Countrywide in 2008, analyzed statistical data from more than 83,000 Countrywide mortgages in Illinois from 2005 to 2007 and interviewed company employees and borrowers.

It found black and Latino borrowers were three times more likely than white borrowers to receive higher-cost subprime mortgages.

The complaint alleges the company violated the Illinois Human Rights Act and the Illinois Fairness in Lending Act. It names Countrywide Financial Corp., Countrywide Home Loans Inc., and Full Spectrum Lending, Inc., a division of Countrywide.

The lawsuit seeks restitution and civil penalties of $25,000 for each violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act

Click on the following for the complete story:  Pantagraph.com | News from Associated Press

Op-Ed Columnist Paul Krugman - The Third Depression - NYTimes.com

Recessions are common; depressions are rare. As far as I can tell, there were only two eras in economic history that were widely described as “depressions” at the time: the years of deflation and instability that followed the Panic of 1873 and the years of mass unemployment that followed the financial crisis of 1929-31.

this third depression will be primarily a failure of policy. Around the world — most recently at last weekend’s deeply discouraging G-20 meeting — governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending.

Click on the following for more details:  Op-Ed Columnist - The Third Depression - NYTimes.com