City of Belvidere’s budget retreat presents limited revenue, difficult choices

 

Without doing anything, the city would face just over $1 million in deficit this year and just over $2 million the following year

[Suggestions form the retreat]:

eliminating janitorial service for city hall. Each department head would be responsible for their area and working collectively on common areas.

lay off three police department personnel and transfer $620,000 from the utility fund to pay for other police salaries.

layoffs would be two fire department personnel, and a transfer of $380,000 from the utility fund to pay for other fire salaries.

converting two building department personnel from full-time to part-time.

[Furloughs for fire and police departments]--the IAFF and the IUOE have contracts expiring in the spring 2010, the FOP’s contract doesn’t expire until 2011 and includes a wage increase of more than 3 percent for 2010. The furlough needs to be negotiated; it cannot be forced on the personnel.

Click on the following for more of the details:  The Belvidere Daily Republican. - City budget retreat presents limited revenue, difficult choices

Bidders snatch up delinquent taxes - Rockford, IL

snatched up $7,672,968 worth of delinquent taxes and attached up to 18 percent interest to the bill.

“I’d say that 99 percent of the time, people redeem their taxes and you get paid your interest. It can be a good investment if you know what you’re doing.”
Tax sales can be risky, though, and people like Beasley often spend hours researching parcels they plan to bid on before attending the sale

bid a percentage rate with a cap at 18 percent. The auction caller accepts the lowest bid to win. The property owner then has 30 months to buy back the taxes

But if 30 months pass and the property owner still hasn’t redeemed the taxes, the tax buyer lays claim to the property

Click on the following to read the complete details of how it works: Bidders snatch up delinquent taxes - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

BLOG Count for Boone County Watchdog: 584visitors since 9-28-2009; 236 unique visitors

**********************************************************

Rock Valley College’s Salary Schedule

The following is the teaching faculty’s salary schedule:

2009-10, 2008-09 plus 4.60%    2010-11, 2009-10 plus 4.75%
Lane Minimum Maximum              Lane Minimum Maximum
L7 49,071 96,377                                  L7 51,402 100,955
L6 47,276 92,561                                  L6 49,522 96,957
L5 45,483 88,393                                L5 47,643 92,592
L4 43,688 84,494                                L4 45,763 88,508
L3 41,892 80,596                                 L3 43,882 84,424
L2 40,098 76,698                                L2 42,002 80,341
L1 38,303 73,009                                 L1 40,123 76,477
 

Lane Advancement
Faculty will be eligible for lane advancement on the faculty salary schedule by successfully
completing pre-approved graduate courses as follows:
1. Graduate courses in the faculty member’s teaching area.
2. Graduate courses in education such as: Community College, Educational Psychology,
Philosophy of Education, Administration of Higher Education, Guidance, Evaluation and
Testing, Educational Statistics, Instructional Technology, or Adult Education.Applications for coursework approval shall be submitted to the appropriate Dean at least thirty (30)
days prior to commencement of the graduate course. Evidence of coursework completion must be submitted to the Dean as provided in Section 7.1.2.
Faculty members shall not be advanced to a lane for which the degree has not been earned. For example, a faculty member who has not been awarded a Master’s degree shall not be advanced to the Master’s lane or beyond until the degree is awarded and the coursework completed. A faculty member who has not been awarded a Doctoral degree shall not be advanced to the doctoral lane.

The initial step placement will be rounded to the nearest whole number (with .5 rounded up to the next number) and the initial step placement will not exceed Step 6.
All current faculty members will be advanced one step for each year of service from their step placement on the 2007-2008 salary schedule for each succeeding year of the contract.

Within each lane --a year of additional experience will be rewarded by $1000 or more per year of experience.

State borrowing $1B more to keep running - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register

 

looking at the third short-term borrowing plan in recent months to allow the state to pay its bills from November to February

spokeswoman for Comptroller Dan Hynes, said the state borrowed $1 billion in May and another $1.25 billion in August. All that borrowing and the new borrowing – topping $3 billion – is to be repaid by next summer.

State borrowing $1B more to keep running - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register

Why South American economies are rebounding first | csmonitor.com

Commodities-hungry China is pulling Brazil, Chile, and others out of recession. But Mexico and Central America, dependent on US sales, are lagging.

China has overtaken the US as largest trading partner for both Chile and Brazil. Other commodities exporters, particularly those with strong ties to China, are also rebounding, including Peru and Argentina.

The Inter-American Development Bank estimates that remittances [from US] to Latin America and the Caribbean will fall by 11 percent this year.

Click on the following for the rest of the story:  Why South American economies are rebounding first | csmonitor.com

Daley's 2010 budget includes property tax relief

 

will be confined to families whose total household income is $200,000 or less.

City officials say that roughly half of Chicago’s 400,000 homeowners will be eligible for relief. Grants will range from $25 to $200, with the amount of relief based on family income and the size of the tax hike.

A $25,000 income and a $350 tax hike would trigger a $200 grant, for example. The average check is expected to total $150, city officials said.

Daley's 2010 budget includes property tax relief :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: City Hall