Wednesday, May 16, 2012

What’s this $176,000, anyway?

Written by Bob Balgemann


BELVIDERE – Boone County’s finance, taxation and salaries committee found itself with $176,000 on the books and no one being sure where it came from.

The revelation occurred at the May 8 meeting, near the end of an audit report on the 2011-12 fiscal year, which ended Nov. 30, 2011.

It was pointed out that the money was in the “collections account,” where property tax money is kept. “It’s on the books,” county
Treasurer Curt Newport said. “I don’t know why it’s there.”

He said he didn’t know where it came from, either, adding, “I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t just leave it there. I have no plans to do anything with it.”

Committee member Laura Guerin-Hunt thought it probably was the result of “a lot of little mistakes and issues. There are a lot of different ways that it could get into that account.”

She said she thought the money should be divided among the various taxing districts. But that would bring up the question of “how to you determine who gets what?”

Sikich LLC representative Carla Paschal suggested an opinion be sought from State’s Attorney Michelle Courier, as to what should be done with the money.

Meanwhile, Newport said he would continue to report the money to the auditor on a yearly basis “until a judge or the state’s attorney tells me to do something with it.”

The above was taken from the Belvidere Republican’s on line versionhttp://www.belvideredailyrepublican.net/news/news-briefs-road-work-means-demise-of-boone-county-family-restaurant/

Eagle’s Club building sold; YMCA weighing its options | Belvidere Daily Republican

Written by Bob Balgemann

new owners of the club called and said they had purchased the building. But she said there have been no further conversations.

“We’re in the middle of (developing) a strategic plan right now,” she said. “We’re looking to see how we can expand our programs.”

Belvidere Township attempted to buy the Eagle’s Club building last year, but the proposal was roundly rejected by the electorate at a special town meeting in October 2011.

Mark SandersonReply

May 16, 2012 at 9:05 pm

Reporter Balgemann would have had a real interesting story on the Eagle building being sold if he had done some investigative reporting and found that when Belvidere Township had offered to buy the building with ‘taxpayer’ money, they had offered much more than the building actually sold for.

Does anyone know what the building sold for? 

Click on the following for more details:  Eagle’s Club building sold; YMCA weighing its options | Belvidere Daily Republican