ComEd spokesman Paul Callighan set to retire, former Freeport mayor filling job - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

Gaulrapp came to ComEd following a two-term stint as Freeport's mayor from 2005-2013. He previously served two terms as the city's first ward alderman while also working in the sales department for Erickson Dental Laboratory and Supply.

Gaulrapp said he experienced a smooth transition to ComEd from city government, relying on his experiences as a northern Illinois native. He also is excited for the new challenge he'll encounter as the public face of the area's electrical supplier.

"I've been fortunate because the shift to ComEd kept me in contact with some of my friends who are mayors and aldermen in other communities," Gaulrapp said. "Having municipality experience has been great for working with the different city officials.

"When there are large events, it's important to get information out to the public as quickly as possible. I hope to do a great job like Paul did so that people throughout the area

Read the entire artic le by clicking on the following:  ComEd spokesman Paul Callighan set to retire, former Freeport mayor filling job - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Lisa Madigan says $70 million will help ease foreclosure woes - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

 

The geographic scope of this award includes Winnebago County, Boone County, Ogle County, Stephenson County, Whiteside County, LaSalle County, Lee County, Jo Daviess County, Carroll County and DeKalb County.

Purpose: Homestart and its partners will redevelop properties in three neighborhoods within Rockford, Freeport and Belvidere. Additionally, the money will support a pilot foreclosure mediation court program and a resource center providing counseling, financial literacy and other housing-related education.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Lisa Madigan says $70 million will help ease foreclosure woes - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Public Pension Web site now known in Freeport

Apparently Freeport received word of the site simultaneously with my first posting.

see:  http://blumdoggle.blogspot.com/2011/12/public-pensions-in-freeport.html

Local Government Pensions

The following are taken from Champion pension site.  Some of the list are only partial list of the highest paid.

All are taken from the following: http://www.webploration.com/Pensions/PBE.php?Employer_search=belvidere&sel_id=2544&pe_op=send&PE_submit=Find+Pensions

Belvidere Community Schools IMFR

Boone County

Rock Valley College—SURS

 

Other note worthies by name only:

The end of home rule? - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

 

“If the numbers come in below 25,000 then the city clerk is required to certify a question on home rule for the next election ballot,” Griffin said.

Still, it remains uncertain precisely when this decisive question would be raised.

Passage 65 ILCS 5/1‑1‑9 of the Illinois Municipal Code indicates that the question would have to be presented at the next general election, dictating that voters would be presented with a “proposition of whether the municipality shall elect not to be a home rule unit.”

Click on the following for more details:  The end of home rule? - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Stephenson County set to approve higher property tax levy - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

 

levy increase would appear quite large if one were only looking at revenue going into the general fund, Blum said. The 2010 tax levy contributed an estimated $1.7 million to the general fund, while the 2011 levy contributes about $2.4 million to this fund, Blum said.

“We had to freeze all the other levies to get the (levy increase) into the general fund,” Blum said. “All the other line items are frozen, some went down. The general fund, where we needed revenue to protect public safety, went up.”

Concerns Raised

Recently elected County Board member Jerry Clay said he objects to the way the county seems to be playing “accounting games” to balance its budget. He said the county is taking expenses that should be coming out of their revenue stream and putting them in closed funds, and then using borrowed funds to pay for the expenses.

Click on the following regarding regarding financial woes in Stephenson County:   Stephenson County set to approve higher property tax levy - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

City of Freeport seeks 22.5% hike - The Journal-Standard

add around $75 to the tax bill of a Freeport resident owning a $100,000 home.

“If we adopt (a 22.5 percent increase), in my opinion we will still face wage freezes and possible wage reductions in the coming fiscal year,” Joesten said.

contributions to employee pension funds have once again forced the city to look at a tax levy increase. This year, the requested tax hike has more than doubled.

“The pensions are mandated by the state, it is something we have to comply with,” Gaulrapp said. “We will have to decide which services continue through the council and through the citizens.”

Click on the following for more details:  City seeks 22.5% hike - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Stephenson County officials debate traffic enforcement deputy funding - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Did Boone County ever participate in such a program?  Why can’t Boone County’s Board get such details about the revenue side of the policing function?

A key issue being debated is whether the two traffic deputies generate enough revenue in citations to subsidize their continued employment. The deputies were assigned to specialized traffic duty in 2007, and their salaries have been reimbursed annually since then through a Traffic Law Enforcement Program (TLEP) grant.

This $150,000 annual grant, which includes federal funding administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation, will no longer be available to the sheriff’s office after 2010.

Nov. 1, 2008, to Oct. 31, 2009, county traffic citations generated $823,251 in revenue, of which about $478,310 went into the general fund. This includes tickets for speeding, driving while suspended or revoked, and DUI offenses, Curran said. The totals reflect traffic fines and some court costs, she said.

Click on the following for more details:  Stephenson County officials debate traffic enforcement deputy funding - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

The Stephenson Blumdoggle: Fake News is Headline News at the Journal-Standard

Blogger in Freeport accuses Freeport newspaper of fabricating a headline story. Take a look and see if the local media can be this far off.

Click on the following:   The Stephenson Blumdoggle: Fake News is Headline News at the Journal-Standard

The Beautiful Freeport Parks are Even Prettier if You're a Lawyer or Banker

Interesting blog posting concerning the Freeport Park District. 

Once the Freeport Park District approves these bonds they can then levy a special tax, without rate or limit, against the district's property tax payers. In 2005 (the last year Tutty has official records of) the "Bond and Interest" portion of the Park District's property tax levy amounted to almost forty-cents per hundred dollars of assessed value on property tax bills and represents nearly half of the Park District's property tax levy.
For the record, in 2005(the last year Tutty has official records of) the Freeport Park District levied just 4% less than the City of Freeport. And the City of Freeport must pay all the cops, firemen and street department crews with their property tax levy. Clearly, the Freeport Park District is collecting far too much money in these hard times, hard times for everyone but them.

Click on the following for information:  The Stephenson Blumdoggle: The Beautiful Freeport Parks are Even Prettier if You're a Lawyer or Banker

Stephenson County pays NIDA $20K -

For FY 2011 a $8,000,000 budget is being anticipated yet this large amount was allocated to economic development in FY 2010.

[Board approved] paying Northwest Illinois Development Alliance the $20,000, which is part of the county’s budgeted $100,000 allocation to the agency in the county’s 2010 budget

NIDA played a crucial role in several recent development projects, including the expansion of Tri Star-Pinnacle Metals, and the opening of the Pinnacle Transportation, LLC, dispatching center in Freeport, which is planned for this fall.

Earlier this year, county officials approved a measure to delay future payments to NIDA until the agency hires a new executive director, a process that is still ongoing.

Click on the following for more details:  County pays NIDA $20K - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

How bad, will county budgets be this year?

The following is taken from the August 9, 2010 minutes (Page 3) of the Finance and Procurement Committee of Stephenson County (Freeport): http://www.co.stephenson.il.us/board/Minutes/2010/Finance/08-09-2010.pdf--

 

The County Administrator distributed the proposed budget calendar and instructions, discussed last month, for developing the 2011 budget. Chairman Blum reviewed the process the County has used in the past, to develop the annual budget. The County’s budget problems have traditionally been associated with the General Fund, rather than other funds, like the several highway funds. He explained that the budget needs to be
built from “scratch” or “zero”. Chairman Blum reviewed the discussion that took place with the department heads, earlier today. The department heads are looking for a “fair and equitable” budget. The budget worksheets will come to the Finance Committee with the usual request from the department, but now with an alternative amount from the County Administrator. Chairman Blum asked that the General Fund
expenditures for 2011 be limited to $8,000,000, including the maximum 5% contingency. He recommended using 1994 to 1999 as the base years, for allocating
funds to the various departments.

Chairman Blum noted that the County Board has the authority, under PTELL to reallocate the levy among the various County funds. Not only does this involve County departments, but includes the service organizations, under the County levy,
such as Extension Education and Veterans Assistance. On a motion by Ms. S. Hooper, seconded by Mr. Koch, the Finance Committee recommended that the County Board
suspend the codified budget process for developing the 2011 fiscal year budget. On a motion by Ms. S. Hooper, seconded by Mr. Détente, the Finance Committee established $8,000,000 as the General Fund limit on expenditures, with department
head identifying all expenditures above the zero base.

Stephenson Board tries new approach - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Once[the county administrator] and the department heads agree on a budget that fits the county’s spending limitations, the documents will be forwarded to the appropriate oversight committees and then to the Finance Committee. In the past, department heads would bring their budgets directly to the oversight committees and not meet separately with [the administrator] Mulnix first.

Click on the following for more details:  Board tries new approach - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Seeking an end to Carnegie Library law suit

 

On Dec. 16, 2009, local [Freeport] business owner Steve Chesney submitted a $1,000 bid to purchase the Carnegie, after the library board voted to put the building up for auction. That bid was 25 times larger than the amount submitted by the city[of Freeport] to buy the Carnegie. City Council members later authorized matching the $1,000 bid, but a formal purchase of the property has not happened.

The taxpayers for the city and the library district have spent $26,000, [on legal fees] and we still don’t have a definitive answer on who owns the building. Who are the legal trustees?,”

City of Freeport believes that the title lawsuit is no longer necessary. We believe that recent interest shown in the property indicates that there is no hindrance to achieving the ultimate goal of putting the property back into productive reuse, while preserving the historical nature of the building

Click on the following for more details:  Seeking an end to Carnegie - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

A rocky road ahead - Freeport, IL

 

first concern will confront the city in August, when employees’ biweekly paychecks will be due during the first week of the month. The city will no longer be able to lean on sales tax revenues (which become available after the tenth of the month) to support these payrolls

next major hurdle will confront the city in October, when employees are poised to receive three paychecks instead of two

The biggest problems, however, could play out in November and December.

Click on the following for more details:  A rocky road ahead - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Layoffs on the way - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

The Freeport Police Department’s staff will likely be reduced from 53 officers to 51 officers in the next two months, Chief Jerry Whitmore confirmed Monday….The union did not accept the city’s request for a pay cut in its new contract, a decision that created the strong possibility for a staff reduction.

The police union’s refusal to accept a wage freeze last year — union members received a 3.35 percent pay increase — led to a reduction of four officers through attrition, reducing the number of officers in Freeport from 57 to 53.

Click on the following for more details:  Layoffs on the way - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Freeport City Hall closed June 4 - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

 

City Hall will be closed to Freeport residents June 4, marking the first of 13 consecutive Fridays that the facility will be unavailable to the public.

The cost-cutting measure, approved by the City Council on May 17, will allow the city to implement furlough days for non-salary employees

Click on the following for more details:  Freeport City Hall closed June 4 - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Rawleigh cleanup underway in Freeport

 

Contractors from William Charles Construction….[are]constructing an “engineered barrier” that will protect local residents from potentially harmful chemicals located in the site’s soil.

largely funded by a $200,000 grant from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, became necessary after soil samples on the Spring Street site revealed low levels of poly nuclear aromatic (PNC) compounds and arsenic.

Click on the following for more details:  Rawleigh cleanup underway - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Donate a dollar for a Cubs dream - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Grass root economics:  Little Wrigley Field in Freeport.

Funds donated to the effort will help the organization build bleachers in the outfield at the stadium on Empire Street, allowing as many as 400 people to attend events at the field. 

Last year the attraction drew visitors from 47 states and 26 counties. According to statistics gathered by the Freeport and Stephenson County Visitor’s Bureau, Little Cubs Field generated more than $130,000 in local economic impact.

Click on the following for more details:  Donate a dollar for a Cubs dream - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard

Stephenson County plans town hall-style meeting - Freeport, IL -

 

event, organized by the county, is being called an “open-forum” meeting, and is designed to offer the public a chance to speak to County Board members, department heads, and other officials about a “variety of issues,” Graham said. All county residents are invited to attend the meeting, which will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on April 26, 2010, at the Stephenson County Farm Bureau in Freeport.

“My vision is to at least do it semi-annually,” Graham said

Click on the following for more details:  County plans town hall-style meeting - Freeport, IL - The Journal-Standard