This week we cover Will Wetzel for School Board, leadership changes in the Health Department, an ADM Strike, fighting at Decatur Schools, and the City Council agenda.
The Council agenda includes a report on the budget, a resolution regarding TIF Districts, new spending contracts with businesses, and expansion of Enterprise Zones that offer businesses tax incentives.
This week's recap has a little more depth on some issues, but fails to cover some stories of interest as a result.
Candidates
Will Wetzel is running for Decatur School Board because he "[believes] in accountability, transparency, and always putting students first." He says every decision should start with "What does this do for the students? How does this improve their lives?" He says it's important the School Board follows the law, in regard to the Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act, but that is the bare minimum and more should be done for accountability and transparency.
Read more about Wetzel's platform, and watch his short interview or campaign speech.
Wetzel endorses Datrice Weathers in the School Board race.
Bill Clevenger, DPS61 School Board candidate, is on Thee Morris Code "to talk about academic achievement, identifying problems in education, and then the process of addressing the problem."
Hannah Wolfe, DPS61 School Board Candidate, is on Thee Morris Code "to talk about the platform she is running on, that includes stabilizing leadership in the district, rebuilding foundation, and strengthening partnerships"
Mayor Wolfe, running for re-election, is on Byers & Co "to talk about public transportation, emergency response, gambling, neighborhood revitalization, public safety, and fire union contracts."
Macon County Health Department
Interim Public Health Administrator Lindsey Munsterman lives in Mt. Zion with her husband and two kids. She has served as Assistant Director in the WIC & Family Case Management Division since November 2017, and had a goal to join leadership ever since she started at the Health Department. She has a Masters in Sience with a focus in Nutrition, from Eastern Illinois University.
Munsterman Hopes to raise awareness of & plug families into Health Department programs, such as WIC, Senior & Disability Services, Case Management, and Restaurant Inspections. She talks about eventually growing the department in areas of healthy eating, weight management, money mangement, and overall lifestyle management. She plans to apply for the permanment position.
Chief Financial Officer LaKeeya Funches was hired by the Health Department, with Munsterman leading the hiring processes. "Funches was already employed at the health department and had previously obtained her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Millikin University." "Funches’ appointment follows the resignation of Zalanka, following the announced resignations Public Health Administrator Brandi Binkley and Assistant Public Health Administrator Bethany Krieg."
ADM Strike
Kyle Bollinger, Teamsters Local 916 Business Agent, says ADM workers have been on strike since February 2nd, and have a meeting scheduled for Feb 14th for further negotiations. The Union has rejected "two last, best, and final offers," and ADM has "made no movement" says Bollinger. ADM has offered 10% wage increases over three years, but the union is asking for 12%. Bollinger says the union has tried making some compromises, but ADM has been unreceptive.
The Union's Press Release states "[Union Members'] efforts have led to the company’s third quarter profits for 2022 of $1.6 billion while their employees are dealing with inflation that has seen their paychecks dwindle."
ADM spokesperson Dane Lisser says ADM is negotiating in good faith and has offered an "extremely competitive proposal" to the union, which reperesents "fewer than 50" of about 5,000 workers at ADM in Decatur. Lisser says they have a plan in place to maintain production levels during the strike.
School Fighting
Dr. Rochelle Clark, DPS Superintendent, sent out a robocall message saying suspensions and expulsions may increase as a result of fights in middle & high schools, something she doesn't want to do. She asks for families to help.
This comes after a statement that Dr Clark received a "very concerning" email message from a staff member. I have sent a FOIA request, seeking a copy of that email.
Valerie Wells writes "Part of the problem, [Jackie Entrot Hargis, a parent of a Stephen Decatur middle schooler] said, is having only one middle school. Closing Thomas Jefferson was a mistake, she added, and the cost of private school is out of reach for many families, leaving them with no other choice."
Valerie's Article details statistics on physical altercations in the schools. Valerie also details steps the new security administrator, Valdimir Talley Jr, is taking.
Talley says "What people don't know is that 97% of our student population is doing the right thing all the time. So when we have those three fights or four fights in a week, it makes it seem as if we're not safe, and that's not the case."
Some of the new efforts include increased patrols, upgraded security cameras, teaching de-escalation tactics to school security officers, and looking for areas in schools that bullying might be taking place.
City Council
City Council Meeting on Tuesday February 21st at 5:30pm.
City Code 66 Changes were tabled at the last meeting. It proposes some new permits, new lakeside regulations, dock restrictions, "no wake" hours changes, and would separate Chapter 66 into 3 ordinances. See last week's recap for a more detailed summary.
Two properties may be annexed, several structures to be demolished, $176,000 contract to purchase concrete, and Kevin Hinton to be appointed to the Civic Center Board.
Monthly Reports are also available and may be covered in next week's recap.
Other items on the agenda are covered in detail below.
City Spending
Several contracts are proposed. About $80,000 to Tech Electronics (a Bloomington Company) for updated keypad and card readers at the Municipal Services Center on Jasper St. About $119,000 for traffic signal and road improvements around US 36 & IL 121. The total project cost is about $9.2 million, but most of it is covered by Illinois. About $850,000 total for two five-year Water Tank Maintenance contracts with Utility Service Co, Inc, a subsidiary of Veolia North America.
A ~$26,000 contract is proposed with Itron Analytics Cloud Hosting Services to continue storing Water Utility data and providing software that allows city staff to identify unusually high & low water usage and detect illegal water use. A 3-year agreement was approved in 2019 for ~$64,000.
The City may appropriate $250,000 for rent, mortgage, and utility assistance. These funds would be managed by Dove Inc. and come from COVID-related funding, which must be expended by Septemeber 2023. Through an agreement with the City, Dove provided such services during the height of the pandemic.
TIF Districts
City Staff Opposes new TIF District legislation. TIF Districts can be created by the City to address blight, at which time property values are assessed and total property tax income is determined. Without a TIF district, all of those property taxes are paid out to various local governing bodies (schools, city, parks, etc).
Typically, as real property values increase & total property tax income increases, those new revenues are distributed to said local governing bodies. When a TIF District is created, the amounts paid to those various bodies are frozen, such that any increases in property tax revenue will be collected by the City to be used for re-investment in the TIF District. Unless an extension is applied for, TIF Districts dissolve after 23 years, at which time all property tax revenue will be paid to the aforementioned local governing bodies, ending the freeze.
TIF Districts were created in 1977 and reformed in 1999, because of reductions in State & Federal Funding, as well as property tax caps, limiting municipalities' income. A new law, proposed by Senator Ann Gilespie and opposed by The Illinois Municipal League would make several changes to TIF districts, shortening the available time TIF districts may exist, and further limiting extensions. Additionally the law would allow school districts not to participate in the TIF (thus receiving increases in property tax revenue), require funds be transferred to a local chamber of commerce, and a few other changes.
Staff recommends the City Council oppose the new legislation. If City Council approves the resolution, it makes their position a matter of record, and asks the Illinois Legislature to reject the proposed legislation, Senate Bill SB2298.
Note: My summary of this TIF legislation is written from reviewing City Staff and Illinois Municipal League documents, two parties that oppose the legislation, and I have not evaluated arguments from supporters. This summary, therefore, is not representative.
Tax Incentives
Lewis Property Development & Rentals asked for five Mt. Zion parcels to be added to the Decatur Macon County Enterpise Zone, which would qualify Mr. Steven Lewis's business for several tax exemptions. He wishes to spend over $3 million developing a multi-enterprise commercial storefront around 1505 N State Route 121 and 1435 N State Route 121 in Mount Zion. This is expected to create 17 full time jobs during construction and up to 50 full-time jobs after construction.
Garfield & Durfee area proposed for addition to the Enterprise Zone. City Staff writes "In recent history the Enterprise Zone has been successful in fostering growth within the Decatur Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) by reducing the communities estimated poverty rate from 18.4% in 2015 to 15.2% in 2020." The Census Track #6, which these properties fall into, had an estimated poverty rate of 63.9% as of 2020. This totals around 60 parcels to be added to the Enterprise Zone, including several properties on N Jasper, E Locust, E Leafland, and E Grand.
City Budget
The City Budgets for $274.5 million in costs and $236.5 million in revenue this year. The General Fund, which covers most city services (Police, Water, Fire, etc) expects $87.1 million in revenue & $88.8 million in expenses, with a current cash balance of $25.7 million, which covers 110 days of City Operations.
General Fund revenue is about $6.5 million year-to-date, which includes about $1 million from State Income Tax, $500,000 from State Replacement Tax, $1.1 million from State Sales tax, $1.1 million from Local Sales Tax, $500,000 from Utility Tax, $350,000 from Food & Beverage Tax, and several smaller tax revenue streams.
Costs from the General Fund year-to-date are about $6 million, with about $1.2 million going to "General Government", $3.6 million for "Public Safety", $800,000 for "Public Works", and $288,000 for "Developmental Services".
The City's debts are about $158 million, and debt payments are covered by the 2023 budget.
The City has several cash-reserves, designated to different funds. Some of the largest are about $11 million for Revitalization, $8 million for Street Repairs & Maintenance, $3.4 million for Risk Management (insurance, worker's comp), $13 million for Sewer Projects, and $11 million for Water Projects. An additional $207 million is reserved for Police & Fire Pensions.
The City has 430 Full Time Employees and is budgeted for for 465. There are 18 part-time and temp employees.
Thank you!
Thank you for reading. This one was again very heavy on City Council. As a result, there's 15 articles below that I didn't have time to review, so I may re-assess this. My overall writing style and depth of coverage was a bit different, I think. And I organized the summaries a bit differently. I didn't review any crime news and don't intend to in the future. I didn't have time to review the city's monthly reports either.
HUGE Thank you to my $10 Monthly Sponsors on Patreon Drew Laney and Doug Schumann, which helps keep me going, even though I need a lot more sponsors to make Decatur Vote sustainable long term.
Notes & Disclaimers
- I'm biased in favor of the Union's position, in regard to the ADM strike. I reviewed an H&R article, a WCIA article, and the press release from the union.
Other Articles of Interest
- WAND Feb 6-10 Recap
- Local Crime & Court Cases Recap, Feb 10th
- Local Crime & Court Cases Recap, Feb 17th
- Letters to the Editor from February 10th.
Stories I haven't Forgotten
- Caterpillar strike - The Strike was approved, but I haven't seen any news about it since the vote, nor a chance to look into it myself.
Interesting Articles I didn't have time for
- Board gets first look at new American Dreamer STEM Academy plans
- Concert benefit to save Decatur Masonic Temple
- Job market strong in Macon & DeWitt
- First look at new DPS61 Magnet School
- Community Foundation announces new fund to assist Ukrainian refugees
- Decatur Peace Summit returns to Decatur
- Congresswoman addresses recent HSHS St. Mary's closures
- Local campaign seeks donations to fight food insecurity
- Decatur Township cemetery board to meet Thursday: "Agenda items include an update on cemetery road repair and culvert project and discussion and potential action on a flag pole project."
- The man behind the art: Local artist Preston Jackson
- Maroa-Forsyth Middle School's new building dedication
- Judge, attorney lament gun violence as another Decatur gunman is sentenced
- Macon County CASA hires new executive director: "Blaine Smith has been appointed as the new executive director of Macon County Court Appointed Special Advocates"
- Microgrant applications available for Macon County nonprofits
- Legal battle over Brent Fischer forgery case begins: "the fired state official now accused of fraud in cutting philanthropist and former Macon County Sheriff Howard Buffett an improper break on law enforcement training standards."