City finances improving    

Street improvements not far down the road

[SEPT. 28, 2004]  Lester Plotner, city treasurer, provided a monthly and year-to-date financial review of the city finances. He not only included the standard financials but also did some comparison tables so the council could see where we are compared with years past.

Included in those breakdowns was a table with a four-year sales tax revenue comparison, which did not include the special use tax. He said that he thought removing the special use tax and comparing the sales taxes with past years might make this year's figures more meaningful. You can see the comparisons by clicking on these links:

• Sales tax comparisons 2001-2004

• Use tax comparisons 2001-2004

Municipal sales tax figures are currently at 1 percent. These figures do not include the 0.5 percent sales tax that can be used only for infrastructure.

Plotner said he thinks the increased receipts may be attributed to all the new businesses that have come to town in the last year, such as Dollar Tree, Goody's, Ace Hardware and others. We can't know for sure if they are the source of that increase unless they choose to tell us, the way that Coy's Car Corner did recently, Plotner said.

Plotner said he has had some inquiry about the non-home-rule sales tax. It is at $245,000-plus right now. Of that, $32,000 is planned to transfer out for the downtown overlay.

Another factor is the yield bonds, which has $632,700-plus available. A total of $130,000 is scheduled to transfer out of that for the downtown overlay. In both cases, the transfers will be made if needed.

Between those two, without the transfer funds, we have $715,000 available for road work, Plotner said. There's $500,000 in the budget to transfer for road rehab. So if you want to do road work, there's money available, he said.

In addition, there is now $136,000 available from the telecommunications tax that has not been designated anywhere. "You've got a pretty good bundle of money to do some road work," he said. "So, I suggest you start planning and getting some done."

Mayor Beth Davis thanked Plotner for his report and said, "It is sounds like maybe we're turning a corner."

"It's certainly better than last year," Plotner said.

The council invited residents of Elm Street to a public hearing that was held on Sept 7. Elm Street is the first street project planned following a delay in projects. Dave Armbrust, chairman of streets and alleys, had hoped to get clear-cut opinions from the residents about their preferences for the street. He didn't get that.

A crowd did show up, but they were evenly divided in how they would like to see their street refurbished. There's one garage that will be 1 foot from the new street line because it was built on city right of way.

Some residents were in favor of little change to the street, preferring not to disturb their yards. They'd be happy with grinding the old pavement, chip and oil, and retrenching sewer lines, keeping the street much like it stands now.

Others liked straightening and improving the street with curbs and gutters for a more polished appearance.

Alderman Benny Huskins commented that one of the problems with the road is that the center is mounded by repeated buildups. Huskins recommended taking it all down and adding curbs and gutters and asphalt.

City engineer Mark Mathon said that it is currently planned for chip and oil but that asphalt can be factored in.

Alderman Buzz Busby concurred with Huskins, saying that when he was on the council before, "You either did a street project or you didn't do it." He is opposed to installing rollover curbs, as can be seen in Mayfair subdivision. Busby said, "I would say, go ahead with the project with high-backed curbs."

One suggestion was made at the hearing to do curb and gutter just for the first block off Fifth Street, giving it a nicer look for the commercial property that's there.

"We have the money put aside," Alderman Glenn Shelton said. "We ought to do the whole thing."

On Sept. 20 the council made the decision to go the full route in improving Elm Street by adding full high-back curbs and gutters. The project is slated to start this spring.

[Jan Youngquist]

SALES TAX COMPARISONS 2001-2004

	2001	2002	2003	2004	Received
January	$151,686	$137,756	$130,787	$154,258	April
February	$152,103	$145,432	$132,576	$159,109	May
March	$155,064	$148,187	$160,281	$163,646	June
April	$156,270	$174,283	$155,279	$161,070	July
May	$155,043	$164,856	$171,847	$167,655	August
June	$163,414	$169,784	$159,638		September
July	$147,414	$157,657	$155,015		October
August	$171,531	$153,297	$170,167		November
September	$158,886	$175,224	$158,398		December
October	$156,388	$159,484	$150,398		January
November	$156,211	$151,668	$162,659		February
December	$182,512	$181,980	$182,367		March
TOTAL	$1,906,522	$1,915,608	$1,889,412

JANUARY THRU MAY RECEIPTS

	2001	2002	2003 / June	2004 / June
	$770,166	$766,514	$750,770 / $ 910,408	$805,738 / $970,244 $54,968 / $59,336 7.30% / +6.57%

** THE ABOVE RECEIPTS DO NOT INCLUDE USE TAX

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USE TAX COMPARISONS 2001-2004

	2001	2002	2003	2004	Received
January	$14,231	$10,825	$10,271	$14,645	April
February	$13,015	$9,117	$8,600	$13,617	May
March	$5,747	$11,500	$11,630	$13,254	June
April	$24,243	$10,630	$10,989	$11,932	July
May	$11,279	$10,299	$10,092	$12,376	August
June	$12,528	$11,790	$12,823		September
July	$13,100	$10,476	$12,508		October
August	$10,819	$10,523	$11,370		November
September	$11,492	$12,599	$10,082		December
October	$13,825	$11,508	$10,540		January
November	$11,639	$10,694	$12,394		February
December	$17,841	$16,191	$17,163		March
TOTAL	$159,760	$136,102	$138,462
JANUARY THRU MAY RECEIPTS
	$68,515	$52,371	$51,582	$65,824

USE TAX IS A TAX IMPOSED ON THE PRIVILEGE OF USING IN ILLINOIS, ANY TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY THAT IS PURCHASED ANYWHERE AT RETAIL. REGISTERED RETAILERS ACT AS THE COLLECTORS OF USE TAX AND PAY THE TAX TO THE STATE WHEN THEY FILE THEIR MONTHLY SALES TAX FORM. EIGHTY PERCENT GOES TO STATE; SIXTEEN PERCENT GOES TO CITY; AND FOUR PERCENT GOES TO THE COUNTY.

[From scans of tables prepared by Lester Plotner, city treasurer]

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