Is this going to be a trend?

Gee, this sounds awfully familiar:

Springfield’s public television station is in a financial crisis so serious that the station’s chief executive officer is warning it could go off the air…. Gruebel is appealing to viewers to donate $330,000 to get the station through the summer. If the money doesn’t materialize, “any number of negative scenarios can play out,” he said….

While the non-profit corporation hasn’t missed any loan payments, he said, it is at risk of violating loan covenants, including requirements to stay within a certain asset-to-debt ratio and have a minimum amount of money in reserve. The covenants are scheduled for review in September, he added.

Is this the new strategy for public television stations to raise money/pay off debt/get free publicity?

Quote of the Day

Across the nation, the realization is taking hold that rising energy prices are less a momentary blip than a change with lasting consequences. The shift to costlier fuel is threatening to slow the decades-old migration away from cities, while exacerbating the housing downturn by diminishing the appeal of larger homes set far from urban jobs…. More than three-fourths of prospective home buyers are now more inclined to live in an urban area because of fuel prices, according to a recent survey of 903 real estate agents with Coldwell Banker, the national brokerage firm.

Council to give library board $28 million

I realize I’m going to get criticized for never being happy no matter what the outcome, but nevertheless, the city council’s vote tonight to give the library $28 million with no strings attached left me scratching my head.

First of all, how did they come up with $28 million? One of the concerns about the library’s plan was that $35 million was too much in light of the city’s (and, ultimately, the taxpayers’) other obligations. Apparently, $28 million is not too much, since it was approved. But why? Why not $29 million? Or $6 million? Or $34.5 million? How did $28 million become the magic threshold?

Well, I confirmed after the meeting what I suspected was the reason: The $7 million reduction is the cost of upgrading the Lakeview branch. You may recall that several council members suggested that the library board wait to upgrade Lakeview until the effects of a new northern branch on Lakeview’s patronage could be determined. Fair enough.

But cutting the full $7 million pegged for Lakeview was rather simplistic. Lakeview is still going to need some upgrading. The library board isn’t going to just leave it to rot and they’re thinking: is it time to replace your ac unit? Even without expansion, it still needs capital improvements, such as air conditioning repair and technology upgrades. Professional AC Repair Services in Boca Raton can help achieve this.

So what should have happened? The item should have been deferred until after the library board met, put together a revised proposal — basically the same plan as before, but with the Lakeview expansion removed — and presented it with the new price tag to the council. I don’t know what that price tag would have been, but it’s a safe bet it would have been more than $28 million and considerably less than $35 million. Then the council should have voted on that.

Instead, we have a rather artificially-set limit that guarantees cuts will have to be made elsewhere in the plan, but no one knows exactly where yet, nor how little or how drastic those cuts must be. First district councilman Clyde Gulley realized this and asked if the cuts were going to come out the plans for the south side (Lincoln branch). Despite the equivocal answer he received, he voted for the plan anyway, just like almost everyone else.

I feel confident that the library board will make good decisions about where to cut, but just find it a bit boggling that the council wouldn’t vote for a $35 million plan with plenty of detail, but would happily vote for a $28 million plan that lacks some potentially significant specifics.

HOPC meeting rescheduled for July 25

From a press release (all caps in original):

THE REGULAR HEART OF PEORIA COMMISSION MEETING SCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2008, HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2008, AT CITY HALL, 419 FULTON STREET, ROOM 404, AT 8:00 AM.

The chair and vice-chair of the commission were both unable to meet June 27, hence the rescheduling.

One thing that will be on the agenda is the seeming lack of enforcement of the Land Development Code. One question I’ve been asked is whether the supposed lack of enforcement is real or merely perceived. I’ve been asked, for example, if I’m just pointing out all the exceptions and not acknowledging the alleged majority who comply. That’s a fair question, and something we will explore at the next meeting. No one will be happier than I to discover there is far more compliance with the LDC than non-compliance, but I have to admit I’m skeptical of that being the case.

Library district idea a quick fix, not a long-term solution

Establishing a library district sounds like a reasonable solution to the deadlock that’s been taking place between the appointed library board and the City Council. It would solve a couple of problems: (1) it would make the library board directly accountable to the voters, instead of being appointed by the Mayor; and (2) it would require that a referendum be passed by the voters before they would be able to raise their tax rate, which would keep the board fiscally conservative and force them to make a compelling case to the public before raising taxes.

But establishing a library district would also freeze the district’s boundaries at their current position, so library services would not automatically be extended when the city annexes more land. Territory annexed to the city could also be annexed to the library district if the residents there so desire, or they could go without library service. The library director sees this as a downside, but doesn’t elaborate as to why this would be a bad thing.

One argument could be made that the library district wouldn’t be automatically capturing the new tax revenue from the northern growth; but on the other hand, they wouldn’t have to provide services to them either, so it seems like a wash to me. More importantly, though, it’s bad at a more basic and philosophical level: The city shouldn’t be divided into “haves” and “have nots” where library services are concerned. We already have a city divided into three school districts (Peoria, Dunlap, Limestone), and we’ve seen how inequitably those services are delivered to city residents as a result. There’s no sense in creating the same kinds of problems with our library system.

I’m still hopeful that the library board and city council will reach a compromise that will update and modernize the library system at a cost that is reasonable and acceptable to all parties. They can consult on how they can do it through the Metro District.

I’m back

Just got back from California tonight — the family and I went to Disneyland for a few days and had a wonderful time. My oldest daughter got a hug from Snow White and Alice in Wonderland, while my youngest daughter got to see Tinkerbell fly from the Matterhorn down to Sleeping Beauty’s castle and set off the fireworks, so it was a magical adventure for both of them. (My 3-year-old son stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and had the time of his life here in Peoria.) Anyway, I’m back now and have a stack of newspapers to peruse.

While I was on vacation, I got some reading done (we took the train to California, so I had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery, play games with the kids, and read). I’ve been reading The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. I had started it some time ago, but never got very far. This trip I was able to nearly finish it, and I’m already looking forward to Morris’s follow-up book, Theodore Rex. What an interesting and remarkable man Mr. Roosevelt was!

Well, it’s good to be back home. I’m not sure what the joke is with all the song lyrics on one of my previous posts, but whatever. From reading Billy Dennis’s blog, it looks like not much has changed since I left — he has several more posts slamming the library expansion plan. Too bad he hates books and literacy so much. [/joking]

Talk to you all soon!

Open Soapbox: Steamboat Riot

(To the tune of “Zoot Suit Riot,” obviously):

Who’s that mob running in the haze?
Just some thugs at Steamboat Days
Hurdle fences, walk on vans
Who’s your daddy? Yes I am

Runners come to race
And young boys come to brawl
You’d best stay away
When they shoot pepper balls

Steamboat Riot (Riot!)
Race you to the county jail
Steamboat Riot (Riot!)
Use the prize money for your bail

Okay, so I’m not a lyricist. Or even a good satirist. But you get the idea. What did you all think of the Steamboat Riot the other night? Here are a couple articles from the Journal Star on it:

Steamboat Festivalgoers Arrested AFter Fights Erupt
Police Review Carnival Crime

Evaluating Cahill

The Controller-Treasurer for Peoria Public School District 150 is Guy Cahill. His contract, which took effect in February 2005, expires June 30, 2008. Renewal of Cahill’s contract was on the agenda for the last school board meeting, but at the last minute was removed from the agenda, so no vote was taken. I have no idea why that happened, but since we have some extra time to consider Cahill’s performance, let’s look at the performance goals in his 2005-2008 contract.

[Section 1] d) This Contract shall be a performance-based contract. The Controller-Treasurer, Deputy Superintendent and School Board shall mutually agree to financial improvement goals to enhance student performance and academic improvement, the goals shall be attributable to the responsibilities and duties of the Controller-Treasurer. The goals shall be attached to and become a part of this Contract as Appendix A. One goal shall be the removal of the School District from the Illinois State Board of Education Financial Watch List by June 30, 2006 It is understood that the attainment of this goal is not solely within the power of the Controller and the attainment of this goal will be judged based upon the efforts of the Controller-Treasurer to attain this goal and not necessarily upon the actual removal of the School District from the Financial Watch List within the time period.

And here are the performance goals as listed in Appendix A:

  1. Develop FY’06 Budget and present in a meaningful way for use by management as a decision-making tool; include, as necessary, “other sources” of funds to ameliorate expenditures exceeding revenues.
  2. Streamline and organize general ledger to facilitate improved reporting to the Board.
  3. Restructure depository and bank accounts to improve efficiencies and reconcilement.
  4. Provide periodic reports to the Board including statements of position, budget to actual, and cash flows.
  5. Develop long-range budget projections including revenue and expenditure estimates.
  6. Facilitate Structural Budget Imbalance Task Force work.
  7. Develop and implement necessary short-term financing strategy to address cash flow concerns and shore-up reserves.
  8. Provide leadership in developing and negotiating wage and benefit components of collective bargaining agreements.
  9. Develop a system and/or train staff individual to monitor compliance with state and federal grants and review the same for propriety.

I’m not going to go through each of these line by line, but I do want to point out some information that’s available through the Illinois State Board of Education’s website — that is, District 150’s audits. In the June 30, 2007, audit (large Excel file), there is a section called “Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs,” and it includes these statements:

In an ideal control setting, the District would have personnel possessing a thorough understanding of applicable generally accepted accounting principles staying abreast of recent accounting developments. Such personnel would perform a comprehensive review procedure to ensure that in the preparation of its annual financial statements that such statements, including disclosures, are complete and accurate. […] The District has not made it a practice to send District officials or other personnel to training classes to update them on the on-going changes and complexities of generally accepted accounting principles.

That’s pretty serious. But there’s more; this finding is listed as a “repeat from prior year,” meaning it was identified before but has not been resolved:

The overall internal controls over the District’s accounting system are not adequate to ensure that misstatements caused by error or fraud, in amounts that would be material to the financial statements, may occur and not be detected wtihin a timely period by employees in the normal course of performing their assigned functions. […] Reconciliation of many of the general ledger accounts to the underlying supporting documentation was not performed during the year (accounts receivable, payroll withholding liabilities, miscellaneous asset and liability accounts). […] Significant errors and/or omissions were not discovered by District employees and corrections were not made to the general ledger until the annual audit was performed at the end of the fiscal year. This resulted in inaccurate financial information being recorded in the general ledger for most of the year.

And, this was concerning as well, also a repeat from the prior year:

The District did not submit accurate [project] expenditure reports. Some expenditures claimed were either non-allowable, misclassified, reported inaccurately, or required additional documentation to trace to the underlying general ledger accounts. Total expenditures as reported on the project completion report were greater than total expenditures on the general ledger.

In the 2006 audit, there was a grant compliance problem. “The district claimed more administrative costs than were allowable on the Reading First grant.” Specifically, “The District claimed $20,577 of general administration expenditures,” but “allowable general administrative expenditures should have been $16,556” — a difference of $4,021.

This year, things have gotten worse regarding federal grant compliance. You may recall that District 150 spent $681,000 in Title I funds that the state said were not allowable. And District 150 is still very much on the financial watch list.

I think it’s worth asking how much of this is the responsibility of the Controller-Treasurer, and how much he should be held accountable for these (what I consider to be serious) problems which seem to be ongoing and increasing in severity. I trust the school board is doing just that, and perhaps that’s why the contract renewal was removed from the agenda.

Hurrah! Moratorium on payday/title-loan stores on the agenda

There are 27 payday and/or title-loan stores in Peoria, and almost all of them are south of War Memorial Drive. See for yourself:

Payday and Title Loan Stores in Peoria

I know, I know. It seems like there can’t possibly be that few, right? I was surprised, too. I thought we surely had over 100. And we might, too, unless something changes.

And change is just what the city council will consider at their next meeting, Tuesday, June 24. Here’s what they’re planning:

Payday Loan establishments, also known as Title Loan establishments, have proliferated within Peoria as may be seen by the attached map. Concentration of these businesses in one area appears to have an adverse effect on the neighborhoods where they are established. In order to pursue reasonable regulation of available locations for payday loan stores or establishments and/or title loan stores or establishments, it is recommended that the Council adopt a moratorium on granting zoning certificates for new establishments while the City considers reasonable regulations.

The proposed moratorium would be for 180 days. I wish it were a permanent moratorium, kind of like the death penalty moratorium in Illinois. These payday loan places are nothing but loan sharks who loan money to the poorest among us at usurious rates (cleverly labeled “fees” so as not to break any laws regulating interest rates). I think they ought to be altogether illegal. I’m glad to see the council is looking for ways to slow down and/or manage the proliferation of these places in Peoria.

I could think of no more fitting way to conclude this post than with PeoriaIllinoisan’s montage of Peoria’s payday loan stores:

Read also: www.evergreenfunders.com