 As Conzo was delivering his report on revenues, he drew
attention to two payments received in January from the state of
Illinois. In January the state paid the local share of state income
taxes for the months of August and November, skipping September and
October.Conzo said in inquiring about the two-month omission, he
found out there had been a computer glitch of some sort at the state's
Department of Revenue. The glitch caused the two missing payments to
be skipped and the November payment to be made.
As he was explaining this, he noted that had the state made the
September payment as they should have, the amount paid to the city
would have been right at $118,000. However, the November payment
that was received amounted to only $70,735.76.
He drew several chuckles and comments from city aldermen when he
commented that he didn't mean to imply the Department of Revenue office was
lying about the glitch, but it did seem convenient that they paid
the least amount.
He also noted he learned the glitch would result in a delay in
receiving the two missing payments.
Moving on, he noted there were decreases in revenues received
from the motor fuel tax. He said this was not a surprise, as gas
prices are once again climbing and consumers are finding ways to
reduce gas consumption, therefore reducing the tax revenue.
Motor fuel tax is assessed on a per-gallon basis instead of on a
percentage of the dollar value. Therefore there is no benefit to the
city when prices rise. Actually the effect is just the opposite:
Rising prices hurt the tax revenues.
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Conzo routinely provides the council with year-to-year comparison
reports of various state tax revenues. Tuesday night Mayor Keith
Snyder commented on one such report, noting the state income tax for
the year 2011 was the lowest of the six years listed on Conzo's
report.
Conzo has access to information on what the payments would have
been if all the state money had been received. For the year ending
2011 the total state income tax revenues will be $1,169,910. In
2006, 2009 and 2010, the figure exceeded $1.2 million, and in 2008
the number rose above $1.4 million.
Conzo said this figure is a reflection of the state on the whole.
The income tax is divided among municipalities on a per-capita
basis, so Lincoln is not the only community looking at this type of
reduction in revenues.
He also noted this speaks to the real condition of the economy in
Illinois. The number of people not earning a wage in the state is
the cause for the reduction in this tax.
Ending on a little better note about Lincoln, Conzo did draw
attention to the municipal sales tax, saying these figures were up
slightly for 2011 over 2010.
[By NILA SMITH]
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