Monday, Sept. 30

 

No new information in the death of a Lincoln man

[SEPT. 30, 2002]  The Sheriff’s Department is still investigating the circumstances of a body found in Kickapoo Creek Park. There is no new information, and Chief Deputy John Garlits says, "There are no suspects."

The body of 18-year-old Brian Bobb was found at approximately 9 a.m. Friday morning in a remote, northern area of the park by a park visitor.

An autopsy performed Saturday morning by a forensic pathologist determined, "The cause of death was due to blood loss causing an air embolism in the lung due to neck trauma."

The Logan County Sheriff’s Department is the lead investigating agency. They are being assisted by Illinois State Police and the Lincoln City Police Department. Sheriff’s Detective Rick Bacon is in Springfield today working on evidences collected by Illinois State Police crime scene technicians.

Logan County State’s Attorney Tim Huyett was not available for comment.

[Jan Youngquist]


Committee finalizes
county budget proposal

[SEPT. 30, 2002]  The Logan County Board Finance Committee voted Friday morning to send to the full board a 2003 budget with a $150,000 deficit in the general fund and a $40,000 increase in the property tax.

Committee chair Rod White said he is certain the budget approved on Nov. 19 will not be the same as the one proposed, because the full board always makes changes. Nevertheless, this proposal represents six weeks of work by committee members Roger Bock, Lloyd Hellman, Dick Logan, Clifford Sullivan, Dale Voyles and White.

To bring the projected deficit to a manageable level, committee members voted to include in their proposal a 1.6 percent increase in the general fund levy to a tax rate of .2373. This is expected to yield about $250,500 more for the general fund. However, the committee also proposes to reduce two other levies, balancing $226,500 of the increase. In 2002 the ambulance service fund levied $125,000. Because purchase of an ambulance was deferred, the fund now contains more than enough to buy a new vehicle. The committee proposes to reduce the ambulance levy by $75,000 to $50,000. Similarly, the liability insurance fund currently contains enough to cover two years in premiums for worker’s compensation and liability insurance at current rates. The proposal reduces the liability levy by $151,500 to $8,500.

Accountant Gary Hetherington of Sikich Gardner in Springfield characterized reduction in the two taxes as a way for the county board to buy time until the economy picks up and revenues increase. He emphasized that the liability insurance tax especially must be raised again in 2004 or sooner. Insurance Committee chair Dale Voyles underscored the point by saying he expects liability coverage to rise again in 2003 along with the possible addition of a loss control policy.

 

"This is what we accumulated the funds for," said Lloyd Hellman, explaining his votes in favor of lowering the ambulance and liability insurance levies and raising the general fund tax. Voyles concurred, "We built up fund balances to tide us over."

Tax caps hold levy increases to the Consumer Price Index, or 1.6 percent this year. Besides the general fund, both the health and highway departments are slated for 1.6 percent increases in their levies. This is estimated to provide $5,000 more for the Health Department and about $11,000 for the Highway Department. These figures offset some of the benefit to the general fund produced by lowering the other two levies. This offset is already figured in to the $250,500 gain.

For county property owners the net effect of the tax rate proposals is to raise the total property tax levy $40,000 on about $390 million in assessed valuation. Hetherington and County Clerk Sally Litterly calculated that the owner of a $90,000 house would pay $1.68 more in property taxes if the county passes the budget as proposed.

 

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The budget for fiscal year 2002-03, which begins Dec. 1, also includes a one-half cent rise in the hotel-motel tax, the proceeds of which go to benefit tourism. Last week the Finance Committee recommended that the first $4,750 of the expected $10,000 gain go to the J.H. Hawes Grain Elevator Museum in Atlanta. Museum officials plan to renovate and restore a wooden boxcar and extend the railroad siding it sits on. Percentage distributions for Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County and Main Street Lincoln are unchanged from this year.

Atlanta Mayor Bill Martin questioned disposition of hotel-motel tax monies, noting that his city and Mount Pulaski have organizations that could be considered for tourism dollars along with Main Street Lincoln. He said that although the smaller cities have fewer hotels to tax, they do send customers to Lincoln establishments. White said the grant to Hawes Elevator would set a precedent, since fund monies have not previously been given to organizations not affiliated with the tourism bureau.

Despite paring departmental and other requests, the proposed budget includes pay raises totaling $12,000 for the 30 county employees not on union contract. If passed by the county, the increase would be distributed among the budgets of the various officeholders. The breakdown by department and employee is not yet determined, but the raise is somewhat higher than the 1.6 percent CPI.

The Finance Committee began with about a $700,000 general fund deficit several weeks ago, which it has pared to $150,000 in the proposed budget. Committee members shaved $265,000 from the shortfall last week. In one instance, $50,000 for two squad cars was cut from the budget of Sheriff Tony Solomon. In another, support for economic development was moved from the general fund to the farm fund, which consists of income generated by the county farm.

The revenue side of the balance sheet improved during Friday’s meeting, based on reports from Circuit Clerk Carla Bender and County Clerk Sally Litterly. They revised estimates of income from fines and fees upward by $148,000 for the current fiscal year. Of this increase, $88,000 is attributed to fines collected by the circuit clerk’s office, $45,000 to circuit clerk fees and $15,000 to county clerk fees. The new estimates are based on money collected through August 2002, representing 10 months of the fiscal year. Using the same information, budget projections for fiscal year 2003 were revised upward by $105,000 for the three line items, causing that amount to disappear from the deficit.

The decision to present the proposed budget to the full board was unanimous. Voyles made the motion and Sullivan seconded.

[Lynn Shearer Spellman]


Governor announces federal grant for planning third Chicago airport

[SEPT. 30, 2002]  CHICAGO — Gov. George Ryan announced Thursday that the state has received $3 million in federal funds for the next phase of engineering on the South Suburban Airport.

The federal funds will allow the state to begin Tier II work which includes the initial phase of the airport master plan and the environmental impact statement, or EIS.

The master plan will review the facilities for the airport using input from the advisory group formed this summer. It is the overall plan for development of the airport and will determine runway length, instrumentation, terminal development, air cargo facilities and other improvements. The EIS will study the impacts of constructing the airport.

"This is great news for the region and especially for the south suburban communities. The grant continues our movement toward construction of the South Suburban Airport," Gov. Ryan said. "The Peotone airport will provide an economic boost to the south suburbs and create tens of thousands of jobs."

The governor said the federal grant also shows the FAA’s support for the regional airport plan agreed to with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. The plan includes a new airport in Peotone, an expanded, modernized O’Hare and a commitment to keep Meigs field open for up to 25 years.

 

[to top of second column in this article]

"I want to thank the FAA for their support for our long-term plan for the region’s aviation needs," Gov. Ryan said.

The $3 million from the Federal Aviation Administration will be matched by $300,000 in state funds. The state will likely request additional federal assistance to complete the master plan and the environmental study in the next fiscal year.

The airport will be built on approximately 4,200 acres in eastern Will County, with one runway and a terminal. So far, the Department of Transportation has purchased 527 acres toward the project and will have made offers on nearly all the needed property by the end of the year.

[Illinois Government News Network
press release]

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Articles from the past week

Saturday:

  • Body found in Kickapoo Creek Park

  • Here kitty, kitty!
    Tiger loose in Bloomington/Normal

  • ‘Day of the Dozer’ reaps benefits for cancer patients

  • Illinois River basin conservation program gets $8.5 million

Friday:

  • No new postings on Top Stories page

Thursday:

  • Local volunteers and contributions transform Scully Park playground

  • Gov. Ryan breaks ground for women’s correctional facility in Kankakee County

Wednesday:

  • CILAs should pay real estate taxes, council says

  • Lincoln retailers receive kudos (Law & Courts)

Tuesday:

  • Early morning robbery under investigation

  • Motorists with September registrations reminded of deadline

  • Former Gov. Thompson to defend Gov. Ryan against lawsuits

Monday:

  • A valuable cell phone number

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