Category Archives: City of Peoria

City of Peoria, Peoria Public Library

Peoria Library History and Organization

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This week’s Issues Update from the City Manager’s office had this interesting review of the Peoria Public Library’s history. Fifth District Councilman Patrick Nichting had asked staff for this review at the last council meeting because “several citizens had requested information regarding the history regarding how the City Council became the authority over the Library versus other Libraries being under a Library District,” according to the council minutes. Nichting went on to say that “other Libraries under Library Districts had a mill rate and increases were voted under public referendum and voters decided increases in budgets.” Here is the report back:

The Peoria Public Library is organized and governed by the Illinois Library Act, 75 ILCS 5/1-01, et seq. As a Local Library, it is part of the City, in the sense that as the City annexes more property, that property is automatically served by the Peoria Public Library and is de-annexed from any library district it may have been a part of. As a Local Library, the Peoria Public Library is managed by a Board of Trustees, consisting of nine (9) Trustees appointed by the Mayor, with the approval of the City Council. A review of the City’s ordinances reflects that even as early as the 1940 Code Book, the ordinance establishing the Library was in place.

Under the Local Library Act, it is for the City to levy taxes for Library purposes. 75 ILCS 5/3-1 provides that in a city of 500,000 or fewer inhabitants, the corporate authorities (the City Council) shall levy a tax for library purposes of not to exceed .15% of the value of all taxable property in the City. There is also a provision in that section for an increase in that amount by referendum.

Historically, the City of Peoria, as a home rule municipality, has far exceeded the .15% limitation provided for in the statute. Currently, we are at .34%. Occasionally, there has been some discussion between the Library Board and the City over the question of whether the City has a duty to levy amounts requested by the Library Board. Section 75 ILCS 5/3-5 provides that the library taxes provided for “in this Act” shall be levied by the City Council in the amounts determined by the Board. This Section requires the City Council to levy the not-to-exceed .15% amount in an amount determined by the Library Board. The City Council is not required to levy whatever the Library Board wishes, based on the City’s home rule authority, because there has never been a referendum increasing this amount,. The City’s home rule authority is not a tax provided for “in this Act” within the meaning of Section 3-5.

A review of the history of the library levy reveals that in 1968 the library levy was .12%, which continued until 1971 when the rate became .1505%, then raised to .1708% in 1978. In 1986 the library levy went up to .2256% and in 1989 it went up to .4094%. In 2006, the amount was .3398%.

The referendum conducted last April was an advisory referendum. It could have been mandatory had the question been:

“Shall the annual library tax for maintenance and operation in the City of Peoria be increased from .15% to .50%?”

If such a referendum passed, then the City Council would have to levy any amount requested by the Library Board up to the .50% figure.

There is another type of library district which is organized under the Public Library District Act of 1991, 75 ILCS 16/1-1, et seq. In this second type of library district, the district itself levies taxes and the members of Board of Trustees are elected.

The statutes provide three separate ways for a Local Library such as ours to become a Public Library District under the Illinois Public Library District Act. The first, found in 75 ILCS 16/10-10, provides that the Board of Trustees of the Library adopt a resolution calling for the conversion and certifying the question of the conversion to the Election Commission who shall submit the question to the voters at the next regular election.

The second method of conversion, under 75 ILCS 16/10-15, which provides for the conversion upon the resolution of the Library Board and requesting the approval of the conversion of the City Council. If the City Council approves the conversion within 60 days after the resolution is adopted, the Board of Trustees shall convert the Local Library to a Public Library District. That statute goes on to provide that library in a home rule unit converted under this section shall have a maximum tax rate not to exceed the greater of 0.15% or the last rate levied by the municipality for library purposes for the most recent year before the conversion and that rate shall not be subject to any rate limitations or referendum requirements imposed by the Act. An increase, however, would require a referendum.

Finally, if the Library Board of Trustees does not initiate the change by adopting a resolution, the change can occur through a petition signed by 10% of those voting in the previous election and a referendum.

City of Peoria

Race Relations Commission created

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From a press release:

At the Mayor’s State of the City Address this year, he announced the formation of the Peoria Race Relations Commission to focus on race issues in the community, and positive means to deal with them. Dr. Amir Al-Khafaji, [Chair of Civil Engineering and Construction] at Bradley University, has agreed to serve as the commission chairperson.

Persons interested in participating on this Commission are asked to send a brief resume and their reason for serving to the City Communications Director, Alma Brown at abrown@ci.peoria.il.us or City Of Peoria, 419 Fulton Street, Suite 207, Peoria, Illinois, 61602, no later than Wednesday, March 19.

Dr. Al-Khafaji intends to have the commission named by March 21. Meetings will be open to the public with community input welcome.

City Council, City of Peoria

Double standards

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Last October, Second District Council Member Barbara Van Auken made a motion to spend $183,750 of the $200,000 that was budgeted in the 2007 Capital Improvement Program for use on the Sheridan Triangle project. That motion was defeated 6-5. Why? Well, there were lots of concerns about the fact that starting this project would require money to be spent in subsequent years to complete it, and “the Council needed to recognize their limited resources” and “decide how to execute strategy to complete projects,” according to the Oct. 9 minutes. There was also a desire to “determine what the priorities were for the entire City” before committing to this project. So it had to wait until after the next budget cycle to get passed.

But my, how things are different when we get to the fifth district’s road project that was approved last night:

The $3.3 million project – $1.175 million of it paid by the city [emphasis mine], $1.175 million paid by Peoria County, $1 million from Northwoods Community Church and $150,000 from developers of the area – targets a road improvement of Wilhelm from Northtrail Drive to Allen and also on a stretch of Allen.

It’s not mentioned in the article, but Van Auken and First District Councilman Clyde Gulley asked Public Works Director Dave Barber if this was budgeted in the Capital Improvement Program budget. Answer: some of the cost was, but not all of it. And furthermore, they won’t know the total cost until after the project goes out to bid. Nevertheless, it passed 10-1. By voting for this project, the council committed itself to spending 2009 dollars above and beyond what the council agreed to budget in the last negotiations, even though the city is projecting a deficit in 2009.

Strangely, on this fifth-district road project, there was no concern raised about the city’s limited resources, or about setting priorities or executing strategies. There was no delay. There was no CIP budget amendment. There was no discussion on where that extra money is going to come from in 2009, whose funding was going to get cut to make up the shortfall.

This all begs the question: Why the double standard?

City of Peoria, Traffic

Proposed Northmoor Road Improvement Project Neighborhood Meeting March 18

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From a City press release:

An informational meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 18th at 7:00 p.m. at the Expo Gardens Youth Building, concerning the proposed Northmoor Road project to discuss the section of the proposed improvement between University Street and Allen Road.

City and County engineering staff, city officials, Senator Dale Risinger, and Representative Dave Leitch will present project information and take input from the community.

For questions regarding this News Release, please contact Office of the City Engineer 494-8801.

City of Peoria

Confidential info returned to city

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From a news release:

The information provided in error as a result of a Freedom of Information request, has been voluntarily returned to the City intact. The information has been shredded. We have been assured that the information was not compromised, copied, or distributed.

All of the employees affected by the release of information have been notified by mail that the personal information has been returned.

The City of Peoria regrets the error and has taken steps to ensure that this type of situation does not occur in the future.

City of Peoria, Form-Based Code

Sheridan Triangle streetscape improvement meeting March 5

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News release from the City of Peoria:

Peoria LogoThe City of Peoria will host a public open house at Columbia Middle School, 2612 North Bootz Avenue on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The purpose of this open house is for the public to review the scope of a study and master plan to implement a streetscape improvement project for the Form District known as the Sheridan Triangle Business District, and to provide input to the public master plan process. The intent of the project is to revitalize the character of the streets in the study area to create urban, pedestrian-friendly streets through narrower travel lanes, wider sidewalks and a tree canopy, as well as other improvements to be determined through this public master plan process.

For further information, please contact Scott Reeise, Civil Engineer, at 494-8801 or sreeise@ci.peoria.il.us.

City of Peoria, Comprehensive Plan

Beware of how Comp Plan survey results are reported

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Suppose I told you I was taking a survey, and I wanted you to rank the following four things:

  • family
  • freedom
  • health
  • justice

Now here are the rules: You have to rank them “1,” “2,” “3,” and “4.” You can’t rank them all as “1.” You have to rank them from “1” (most important) to “4” (least important).

You may object that they’re all important, and that you can’t imagine calling any one of them “least important.” But then suppose I assured you that we just wanted to see what was most important to the survey takers so we could set budget priorities. You begrudgingly agree, figuring that I have a good reason for setting up the survey this way and will use the results responsibly.

Then suppose I published the results this way: “Items considered important to survey-takers: freedom, justice. Items not considered important to survey-takers: health, family.” Do you feel like that would be an accurate characterization of your (and the other survey-takers’) feelings about those items? Or would you feel that your feelings are a bit misrepresented?

Well, that’s how I felt when I saw how the Comprehensive Plan survey results were being reported to the city council. The survey has several lists of items that survey-takers are required to rank from most to least important. The results were printed this way in a recent communication to the council:

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN SURVEY UPDATE. As of Wednesday, February 13, 912 online surveys have been completed and the www.planpeoria.com web site has received over 1800 visits.

Some of the results of the survey so far include:

  • Three most important services
    • Public Safety
    • Public Education
    • Economic Development

  • Three services areas with the highest level of satisfaction
    • Public Safety
    • Public Health
    • Recreation, Culture, and Natural Resources

  • Who’s Responding
    • 29% from the 61614 zip code
    • 24% from the 61604 zip code
    • 19% from the 61615 zip code

  • Top choices for amenities within walking distance from your home
    • Parks
    • Grocery Stores
    • Schools

  • Amenities not considered important to have within walking distance
    • Work
    • Restaurants

  • Top items that should be required as part of all new residential development
    • Sidewalks
    • Street lighting
    • Underground utilities

  • Items not considered important as part of new residential development
    • Required design standards
    • Required landscaping
    • Required building materials

  • Top items that would make an “ideal neighborhood”
    • Safety
    • Good public infrastructure
    • Good schools
    • Resale value of homes
    • Well maintained houses and yards

  • Items not considered as important to an “idea neighborhood”
    • Proximity to retail
    • Neighborhood associations
    • High density
    • Proximity to employment

  • 36% of respondents would like to live within walking distance from downtown and the riverfront

  • Preferred type of neighborhood
    • 62% Single Family only
    • 14% Single family & duplex / townhouse
    • 2.5% Single family, duplex / townhouse, & apartments
    • 22% Mixed use; all of the above plus retail

Interesting results, which is why I printed them in full. But I take exception to the sections that state certain items are “not considered important” or even “not considered as important.” Considering that survey-takers had no choice but to mark some items as “least important” on a sliding scale, and considering that all the items on the list were important, I don’t think this accurately describes the results.

I don’t know how the final results will be presented, but if this is any indication, I shudder to think what kind of conclusions the council will draw when they see that required design standards are “not considered important” just because sidewalks and streetlights were ranked higher on a forced scale.

City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria Public Schools

Joint City Council/School Board to meet

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AgreementThere will be a joint meeting of the Peoria City Council and Peoria Board of Education on Feb. 28 at 3:00 p.m. in City Hall, room 404, to discuss “the enhancement of communities surrounding new schools.” The agenda will be:

I. Review of the committee charge.

II. Review of the committee work.

III. Presentation of “School / Neighborhood Impact Zones” concept.

IV. Discussion of School / Neighborhood Impact Zones in the context of the committee charge.

V. Consensus agreement on plan to move forward with School / Neighborhood Impact Zones as presented or as modified.

VI. Adjournment

The facilitator for the subcommittee, Bill Collier, has also provided this additional information that was distributed by the city:

TO: PEORIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISTRICT 150 BOARD OF EDUCATION AND ADMINISTRATION, CITY OF PEORIA MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND DEPARTMENT HEADS

FROM: BILL COLLIER, SUBCOMITTEE FACILITAOR, EDUCATION LIAISON FOR MAYOR ARDIS

DATE: FEBRUARY 21, 2008

SUBJECT: JOINT CITY COUNCIL / SCHOOL BOARD SUBCOMMITTEE – AGENDA FOR UPCOMING MEETING.

A meeting of the subcommittee on Safe Schools / Safe Neighborhoods, established last fall by District 150 Board of Education President Dr. David Gorenz will be held at 3:00 PM on February 28 in room 404 at City Hall. Some might say that they thought that the subcommittee had died and that nothing had been accomplished. As the facilitator for the committee I apologize for the length of time that has passed; however, I want to assure you that a great deal of work has been done and we are ready to meet once again.

A review of planning activities would include the following activities:

  • Based on the December meeting of the Safe Schools / Safe Neighborhood subcommittee a concept put forth by Councilman Jacob, combined with a previously discussed concept by Councilman Manning, the facilitator put together a focused proposal for discussion among those councilmen and Pat Landes of the City staff.

  • Councilman Gulley was brought into the discussion and Ms. Landes expanded her conversations to include almost all City departments.

  • A presentation was made to Dr. Gorenz, Ms. Ross and Mr. Cahill with the intent to host a subcommittee meeting based on that presentation.

  • Councilmen Jacob, Manning and Gulley along with Ms. Landes continued to meet and work on details.

  • Tri County Planning Commission Executive Director Terry Kohlbuss then entered the picture and has added much to the discussion along with his staff’s support.

  • A “draft” proposal has been developed and is still being worked on, but the time for a subcommittee meeting is right. The “draft” proposal will be the focus of the February 28 meeting.

It is difficult to inform everyone of a proposal, and at the same time not create concern as to why a particular group was informed first. I am sensitive to that concern thus I thought it might be informative if I offered a couple of comments related to the path I anticipate this proposal taking.

First, the “concept” originated in the subcommittee meeting so it was my position that it should return to the subcommittee before going forward to the City Council, School Board, other governmental bodies and the general public through the media.

Since City Council members and City staff have developed the concept into a proposal the next logical step will be for a formal City Council presentation in the near future followed by a similar presentation before the School Board. Once we reach a consensus with those two bodies, we will take the proposal/concept to the Park District, County of Peoria, neighborhood associations, social service agencies—a nearly unlimited list of potential partners.

It is my hope that all subcommittee members will be present and I would welcome all school board members, City council members as well as all relevant administrative and management team members from both bodies. In my opinion this presentation is what I call BIG. I am very impressed with the time, energy and leadership that George, Bob, Clyde, Pat and Terry have given to this project. What has been most impressive, however is their passion to support District 150 and revitalize the neighborhoods. I really believe that if the proposal is accepted and given priority Peoria will be looked at for developing a comprehensive cooperative agreement among a large and diverse number of participants.

Please free up your schedule, attend this important meeting, offer your comments-suggestions-concerns and help formalize this far reaching, long-term neighborhood revitalization/stabilization project.

Thursday February 28 3:00 PM in room 404 at City Hall.

Thank you,
Bill Collier

City of Peoria

Tracy Cross to present market study for downtown housing Feb. 26

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I heard about this from Peoria Economic Development Director Craig Hullinger during the Heart of Peoria Commission meeting. He wouldn’t give any details, but he said they asked for an honest study of the market for downtown housing, and he wasn’t sure what to expect, but that the outcome is positive. So he encouraged us to watch or listen to the presentation at the next council meeting.

Here’s the city’s press release:

Market Study for in and near downtown housing – Presentation Feb 26 at 4:00 pm at City Hall

The City of Peoria has retained the prestigious housing market research firm of Tracy Cross to assess the market for new and rehabbed housing in and near downtown Peoria. The firm will present their findings at an open meeting at the City Council Chambers of the 4th floor of City Hall at 419 Fulton Street at 4:00 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2008. The firm will answer questions.

Anyone interested in urban redevelopment in Peoria, or in developing, building, or living in or near downtown Peoria is encouraged to attend.

Continue reading Tracy Cross to present market study for downtown housing Feb. 26 →