Will You Be There?

So, are you going to the Jo Daviess County League of Women Voters mega dairy seminar so you can be an informed participant? I’m all registered with my stance issues and list of questions. I’m good to go.

Listening to the Nora mega dairy proposal back in 2008, I refused to pass a pollution time bomb down to my children. After researching and meeting neighbors of industrial farms, I learned that the pollution damage would be more immediate. When the pollution progressed, people would be driven from their homes. The equity in people’s homes would be lost. People, who could not move, would be stuck in an unhealthy environment.

Yes, I’ve formed my opinion to oppose the mega dairy based on lots of things. The (Jo Daviess) county board voted NO to allow the mega dairy, which the Illinois Dept. of Agriculture ignored because we have no local control. The Galena City Council passed a moratorium on no large CAFO. Two JDC referendum passed. 1. No large CAFO. 2. Greater setbacks on medium and large CAFO.

Scientific experts were recommended by the IDOA, and the Resource Conservationist for the Jo Daviess County Soil and Water Conservation District were all ignored. The attorney general filed charges against the proposed mega dairy as purple discharge from silage leachate entered waters of the state.

So why the repackage of the mega dairy issue? Unless you had a vested interest, or the nerve to introduce a like proposal, I would think this would be a dead issue.

Susan Turner

Warren, IL

I Will Be There

Yes, it killed me to send my $15.00 to the League of Women Voters of Jo Daviess County.

I’ve spent the majority of my life in urban dwellings. My move out here was a mile marker of acquiring a tiny sliver of the American dream. An elderly woman who has lived here all of life on a farm, told me that the “transplants” usually have a greater appreciation, love and respect for this land than those who never lived in the city.

I may not get a chance to visit all of our National parks, but I know they are there. There’s a connection that every human has with nature no matter what their situation is. People who spend their whole lives in the urban rat race are able to cope because they know that somewhere, something is being protected and done right.

Mega dairies aren’t one of them. Urbanites know it. With just a few corporations controlling our food supply, the public is demanding something better. In any other industry public demand for a better product would be adhered to, or risk failure.

I’m not willing to risk our future on the failures of industrial farming.

Vicky Grizzoffi

Galena, IL

Publisher’s Note: The seminar will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 11, at the Galena Middle School. It will include presentations from four speakers; two in the morning and two in the afternoon.

At the morning session, John Oncken, an agricultural journalist, will discuss the history of dairy farming, and how the industry has evolved over the years with the advent of new technology. Also, Jim Endress, a farm management and dairy specialist, will talk about the changing economics of agriculture in Jo Daviess County and the region.

Marcia Willhite, chief of the Bureau of Water for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and Warren Goetsch, the Illinois Department of Agriculture bureau chief for environmental programs, will be the afternoon speakers. They will discuss regulatory processes for mega-dairies and current siting standards for mega-dairies, respectively.

After each presentation, the public will have a chance to ask questions. The seminar will include a 45-minute break for lunch.

If you would like your comments to be included in the booklet that will be distributed at the seminar, you must make your reservations by May 27.

For cost information or to make reservations for the seminar, e-mail Bonnie Cox at , or call her at (815) 777-9282.

Morrison Paying Bills

May 23, 2011 the Morrison City Council held their meeting at City Hall. All council members present. It was an overflowing room! The Pons Squad from Morrison was given Certificates of Recognition for their achievements.

Gary Tresenriter reported his department was mowing a lot of grass, getting ready for the Memorial Day weekend, erecting flag poles at the Sport Complex and readying downtown. The state is going to pay 80% of the cost to replace the lights for three intersections with LED lights ($2,400 is the city’s portion).

Brian Melton reported the results of the sale of three vehicles by sealed bid. They received $3,469. The money will be placed in the Police Vehicle Replacement Fund.

Bills payable were $125,245.96. From now on, loans payments will be broken down with interest and principal. We paid the Bank of New York Mellon $25,681.25 (interest only) on series 2010 Debt Certificate Fund. Northern IL Environmental received $6,362.56 for Sludge Disposal-Contract for the Water and Sewer department-this is paid twice a year and can be for a different amount each time. The Bank of New York also was repaid $36,453.13 for principal and interest for the 2008 loan on the Sport Complex. (Another $8,380.99 of the bills was for other things at the Sport Complex-not including wages.)Hopefully, we are making some money to cover the expenses.

Harvey Zuidema stated he has an easement for an asphalt bike path to be built through his property. He signed it three and a half years ago and has never received a signed copy from the city. Mayor Drey found the signed copy in the office. Harvey signed it January 29, 2008. Roger didn’t sign it until February 3, 2010. Why the two year wait? Harvey said there is no money for the project and asked the council to vote “NO”. Rich Ayres asked the council to listen to Harvey and vote “NO” so money would stay in town.

Bob Shambaugh asked if the new codes could be confined to new structures only. Bob is to meet with Sarah Thorndike for more information.

William McNeal stated The Friends of the Park got word that a grant for a bike/snowmobile trail from the covered bridge to Damen Rd was awarded. One grant was for $312,560 (asphalt bike trail) and the other was for $11,085 (aggregate snowmobile trail). After lengthy discussion, noting that area is located out of city limits, the easements don’t jibe with what the grants are for and the initial expense would have to come from the city taking out a loan for the entire $400,000 (or more), the motion to pay for the project was voted down (5 to 3) due to lack of money in the budget.

Jim Dubois discussed protective netting for the Sport Complex. He is still getting quotes for various remedies. He also would like a separate checking account for the Complex (to be voted on at next meeting).

The next City Council meeting is June 13, 2011 at city hall. Be sure to contact your alderman so your voice can be heard. Everyone is welcome.

Quote of the week: A budget tells us what we can’t afford, but it doesn’t keep us from buying it. (William Feather)

A Morrison Taxpayer

Marti Wood

Clarification

In the May 25, 2011 issue of The Prairie Advocate News, the “Milledgeville Notes” article of the May 16 Village Board meeting needs some clarification. The last paragraph stated, “One bright spot in this year’s budget: this is the last year that the village is paying Shank’s Veterinary Supplies out of the TIF. That amount, which comes to approximately $9,000, will do a lot to help the TIF fund. And while that won’t help the General Fund, Ottens says that the village hopes to get further out of the hole this year.”

Tax Increment Finance (TIF) funds are generated by the difference between an increase in property values due to improvements to the property, and the value of the property before the improvements, as in the case of Shank’s Veterinary Equipment. In order to help explain the situation, the following information was graciously supplied by Jennifer Dettman, Secretary/Treasurer of Shank’s Veterinary Equipment, Inc.

Shank’s Veterinary Equipment, Inc. (not Shank’s Veterinary Supply) is an international business that has been located in Milledgeville for 22 years, and currently has 6 employees (5 of which live in Milledgeville). As a historical background, in 2003 a TIF Redevelopment Agreement was entered into between the Village of Milledgeville and the owners of the subject property (505 E. Old Mill Street). The business entity “Shank’s Veterinary Equipment, Inc.” was not directly involved in this agreement.

The owners of the property acted as developers for the the project that was to include erection of a commercial building. The Redevelopment Agreement was adopted according to Illinois state statutes and outlined how the property owners would be able to obtain reimbursement for a portion of costs incurred to prepare the empty land for development. These eligible costs were limited to: land surveys/professional fees, cost of the land, site clearing and grading, public works (water/sewer/electric/gas), relocation costs of the business entity, and interest charges.

Once the commercial building was finished, the re-evaluation and adjustments were made to the real estate taxes for the subject property on file with Carroll County. In 2004, the taxes generated from only the increased value of the subject property were then dispersed by the County to the Village and deposited by the Village into a specific TIF account within the Village’s TIF Fund. The Village controlled that account and kept the monies for this specific property parcel separate from all other TIF monies.

Each year since 2004, the owners of the property have received a reimbursement of a portion of the real estate taxes that they pay (and that are a TIF line item on their tax bill). The portion that is reimbursed to the property owners is ONLY a portion of the TIF Fund that is directly tied to that specific property parcel and specific TIF account. It is not monies from any other properties in the Village.

Just because a taxpayer has a TIF line item on their tax bill does not mean that their TIF payment is reimbursed to this specific developer/property owner. Instead, all other TIF funds collected by the Village are held by the Village for their use as a development tool or incentive to attract new business or do other development in the Village, as the Village Board deems fit.

The TIF reimbursement to this specific property owner also does not come out of the General Fund of the Village. The total accumulative reimbursement for this project is limited to only the eligible costs that were itemized in the formal Redevelopment Agreement signed with the Village. Once that total has been met, the annual reimbursement stops. It has taken the property owner 7 years to receive the total reimbursement, which will be paid in full in October of this year. If the property owners would not have been able to negotiate this development tool with the Village, then they would have had no other choice than to move their business to another community that had developmental incentives that helped make the total project cost effective.

The article related that “on a bright spot in this year’s budget: this is the last year that the village is paying Shank’s Veterinary Supplies out of the TIF.” While it is accurate to relate that a reimbursement is being made, it is not accurate to say that it is a “payment”, or that it is being paid to Shank’s Veterinary Equipment, Inc. It is a reimbursement of real estate taxes paid by the owners, that are traceable specifically to this property, and then are returned back to the owners in accordance with a formal written agreement.

Finally, I feel that It is also important to recognize that these reimbursements would not be available to the property owners, if they would not have taken the risk and invested the money to purchase the land, develop it, and erect the building. While there are developers across the country that purchase empty land and develop it specifically to turn a profit on the actual development, it is critically important to note that the property owners made this choice so that the ongoing business entity Shank’s Veterinary Equipment, Inc. would be able to to continue its support and investment in the community of Milledgeville and in Carroll County.

New Legislative Map Passed Over G.O.P. Objections

New legislative boundaries that will strongly influence the direction of the Illinois General Assembly for the next 10 years were rammed through the Senate by Democrat leaders May 27, despite a much fairer option proposed May 26 by Senate Republicans, according to State Sen. Tim Bivins (R-Dixon).

Senate Bill 1177 was approved by a strictly partisan roll-call, 35-22. The bill was passed earlier in the day by a 64-52 vote of the House of Representatives and now moves to the Governor’s desk for further consideration.

Bivins says the map passed May 27 does not reflect the concerns of people who testified at public hearings in recent months.

“I attended a redistricting hearing, two of them actually, one in Peoria and one in Macomb. One thing that was stated at both of those hearings by people who testified was their concern about communities and towns being split,” Bivins said. “And I could relate to that. In my district, we have Sterling, which has three different Congressmen. Or you go to towns like Erie, where the district boundary goes right down Main Street, right through the middle of town. On the east side of the street, your Senator is Tim Bivins; on the west side, your Senator is Mike Jacobs. You cross the street and you are represented by someone else. I brought those points up as people testified to let them know that I related to what they were saying.”

Lawmakers and citizens alike saw the Senate Democrat’s redistricting proposal for the first time May 19. Like Illinois residents, Senate Republicans have since then been reviewing the proposed map to assess its impact on citizens, as well as its compliance with the Constitution, the Voting Rights Act and other relevant statutes. The statewide map also drew close scrutiny from minority voting rights groups who want to determine if voting rights took a back seat to partisan political advantage and protection of incumbent politicians.

“Imagine my surprise, when the Democrat map came out, that in a 16-mile stretch of the same highway, the communities of Amboy, Sublette and Mendota are all split in half, and will be represented by at least six different legislators. That will be upsetting to citizens,” Bivins continued. “This was a common complaint.

“As far as our area goes, it doesn’t appear that the people in charge of drawing the maps were really listening to the public. Or maybe they were, but did what they wanted anyway,” he added with a wry laugh.

Bivins said he is frustrated because a much fairer option for Illinois citizens is available but has not been allowed a public hearing. On May 26, Illinois Republicans released a map that better reflects the fair representation, competitive elections and greater accountability Illinois voters deserve.

After years of pushing for a Fair Map for the residents of Illinois, House and Senate Republicans released a legislative map on May 26 that includes new districts that are equal in population and comply with the United States Constitution, the Federal Voting Rights Act, the Illinois Voting Rights Act and the Illinois Constitution. The districts proposed are compact and contiguous, and maintain county and municipal boundaries without consideration of incumbent politicians’ addresses or election data.

Community organizations and citizens across Illinois joined the GOP lawmakers in demanding a legislative district map that complies with the principles of Fair Map—and removes political advantage from the process. The Fair Map does not take into account political data, such as constituent voting records or the addresses of current politicians, except when required to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act.

The lawmakers took the public’s requests and observations into consideration within the parameters outlined in the law. They reviewed and incorporated proposals from minority rights groups, including the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and others, to give the rapidly-growing Latino population a better opportunity to elect candidates of their choice, than what was proposed by Democrats.

When analyzing the Democrat map, it was clear that partisan political advantage was given a higher priority than the rights of Latinos and African-Americans.

The Fair Map creates nine Latino districts with voting age populations (VAP) of 60 percent or more. That’s in sharp contrast to the Democrat map that created only four districts with VAPs of 60 percent or more. An additional majority Latino district is established, while Latino voters in other districts are enhanced and equalized.

In addition, the Fair Map creates two more majority African-American districts than did the Democrat map sent to the Governor.

In the Fair Map, neither party was spared from the pairings, indicating that the Republicans did not take into account incumbency when drawing the lines. Seventeen incumbent Republicans were paired in the House and 17 Democrats were paired, compared to the 19 House Republicans and only six House Democrats that occurred in the Democrat proposal—despite the fact that the majority of population loss occurred in Democrat areas.

The Fair Map maintains the integrity of more county boundaries. The Democrat plan splits 36 percent more counties than does the Fair Map.

The Fair Map is available to the public on http://www.ilhousegop.org/themap and at http://www.redistricting.senategop.net/. Accompanying data is available on the sites.

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

I couldn’t have been prouder. Friday, May 13th, Speaker Madigan addressed the House, congratulating us on passing a sustainable budget. We had started weeks earlier. As a member of the Public Safety Appropriations Committee, which is one of the five appropriations committees, we addressed each and every dollar the state had to spend. Each committee worked with the percentage of the $33,177,000,000.00 which is our anticipated income for fiscal 2012. The Governor’s office was using a $36 billion plus sum. The Senate was using a figure of $35 billion.

Rich Miller, author of “Capitol Fax” our daily publication dealing with anything and everything happening at the Capitol, said it with words I could not improve upon, “Each committee was its own “silo”. All five silos were filled with their own individual set amounts of revenues and were capped with corresponding spending limits. Cuts were made within each silo. If one education program needed to be spared, the money had to come from another education program.”

Here is the beauty of what I just shared with you - each committee sat around a large table, democrats and republicans alike. Each segment of a specific agency’s budget was projected on a screen and we addressed each line item. You quickly lost sight of who was a democrat and who was a republican. Each of us understood our mandate - spend no more than what is actually available.

My colleagues from the other side of the aisle were as good with the cutting axe as we were. My excitement comes from never having seen this process in my nine years here. Speaker Madigan stated that hasn’t happened since 1991 when, for whatever reason, the Governor and the four leaders with their staffs, started doing the budget.

Keep in mind what I shared with you is that it’s the House budget and is not approved by the Senate nor sanctioned by the Governor.

I would be shocked if any of you reading this would say anything other than “it sure makes sense to me.” Whether or not you accept the end result you simply cannot fault the process.

The frustration comes from my desire to say “why haven’t we been doing it this way right along”. My Senate colleagues on the other side of the Rotunda are proving it’s still partisan politics as usual.

Perhaps again Rich Miller said it best in his May 19th commentary, “The Senate has just two appropriations committees. Both panels essentially shut out the Republicans and took a holistic approach to the budget. The committees worked together, for instance, to find ways to make cuts in one program so that they could use the money to fund a completely unrelated program elsewhere in the budget.”

Rocket science it’s not. Common sense it is. My money is on Speaker Madigan and the House of Representatives approach.